Drafting Playoff Teams, Brad Crawford talks preseason Top 25 & Shane Beamer

Summary

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The OG Kickoff w/ Connor O'Gara and Will Ogburn

Episode: Drafting Playoff Teams, Brad Crawford talks preseason Top 25 & Shane Beamer
Date: August 6, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this deep-dive episode, hosts Connor O’Gara and Will Ogburn kick off the true start of college football season with a “draft” of playoff teams, blending serious SEC analysis with their trademark banter and friendly competition. They’re later joined by national CFB writer Brad Crawford, who discusses his preseason Top 25, thoughts on Miami’s national title chances, how Shane Beamer is handling pressure at South Carolina, and the SEC’s shifting status in college football’s power structure.

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Episode Structure & Key Moments

1. Preseason Vibes & Episode Setup

Timestamps: 01:04–03:49

• Fall camp is underway; Connor and Will are refreshed and ready for the season.
• Announcement: OG Kickoff will soon increase to two episodes per week.
• Will jokes about summer sports doldrums and itching for live SEC football.
• Friendly trash talk resumes regarding last year’s SEC “draft,” setting up this year’s playoff draft with a modified points system.

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2. 2026 College Football Playoff Draft

Timestamps: 03:49–75:34

Draft Format & Rules

Timestamps: 05:36–08:18

• Each host drafts five teams; points are awarded for (1) making the playoff and (2) advancing through rounds.
• The draft is designed for depth/strategy, not just picking the national champion.

Picks & Rationale

Round 1

• Connor 1st Pick: Oregon

  • Belief in Dan Lanning, favorable Big Ten schedule, strong backup QB situation.
  • “Oregon checks so many boxes... I think Oregon is way closer to tier one than tier two.” —Connor (13:12)

• Will 1st Pick: Notre Dame

  • High playoff floor, light schedule, “recession proof”.
  • “We've seen a congressional edict that says this team has to make the playoffs.” —Will (15:36)
  • Stat: 7 power-conference opponents’ combined conf. record last year: 10–49 (19:06)

Round 2

• Will: Miami

  • Easy ACC path, elite recruiting/talent, lingering trust issues with Cristobal but “recession proof”.
  • “I think the ACC is so easy to predict... They have firmly planted themselves as the most talented now.” —Will (23:20)

• Connor: Georgia

  • Highest floor in CFB, proven playoff program–but questions about offensive upside and pass rush remain.
  • “Questioning if Georgia is going to win a national championship, but questioning if they're going to get to the playoff is kind of a foolish endeavor.” —Connor (30:56)

Round 3

• Will: Ohio State

  • Talent/recruiting elite, but host disagreement: schedule is daunting (six dangerous games), possible 3-loss scenario.
  • “Their path is… unbelievably treacherous.” —Connor (34:16)
  • “You got my ass.” —Will, after accidental risk (39:44)

• Connor: Indiana

  • Belief in post-title focus, high floor under Cignetti, weak noncon schedule, loaded trenches/skilled positions.
  • “IU is loaded in the trenches. They add Nick Marsh… stacking the skill positions in ways I'm not used to.” —Connor (41:51)

Round 4

• Will: BYU – major surprise!

  • Big 12 favorite, culture transcends portal chaos, veteran roster, perception-changing potential.
  • “Having a culture matters so much in the portal era... BYU is a sleeping giant.” —Will (53:09)
  • “I hate you for this. I want to BYU… This is heartbreaking.” —Connor (49:25)

• Connor: Texas

  • SEC title or bust, revenge motivation, tough schedule, but unmatched program momentum.
  • “Texas is the only team in the country where, if they don't make it to the national championship, this year is going to be considered a significant disappointment.” —Connor (55:19)

Round 5

• Will: Ole Miss

  • Competitive edge, key returnees, favorable early schedule, but high variance/offseason “breakup energy” difficult to sustain all year.
  • “They are the first team on this list where if they went 8-4, it wouldn't be shocking.” —Connor (66:52)

• Connor: Alabama

  • Questions about upside, but proven program, favorable draw; Keelan Russell picked as breakout player.
  • “Maybe this is exactly what they need. Saban has outlined that his unbiased opinion [is still valid]. My unbiased opinion is that Bama is worth a selection.” —Connor (67:13)

Draft Board Recap:

• Will: Notre Dame, Miami, Ohio State, BYU, Ole Miss
• Connor: Oregon, Georgia, Indiana, Texas, Alabama

Left on the Board (Discussion)

• Oklahoma, A&M, Michigan, LSU, USC, Washington, Penn State, Utah as possible “just missed” playoff teams this year.

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3. Brad Crawford Interview: Preseason Top 25 & SEC Trends

Timestamps: 75:37–92:59

Shane Beamer’s Hot Seat & South Carolina Outlook

• "If this team goes 5–7, that's probably it for Shane Beamer"—Brad (77:02)
• 6+ wins likely saves his job; expectations have “outpaced reality.”

Brad’s Top 10 (Key Talking Points)

• Miami at 1: “I love what Mario Cristobal has coming back, but I am infatuated with that Darium Mensa acquisition in the portal.” —Brad (80:53)
• Big Ten bias: “I would take the Big Ten against the field... top four teams win the next two or three national championships.” —Brad (78:20)
• Georgia at 7: Questions about offensive ceiling under Gunner Stockton and Mike Bobo; defense must create more havoc.
• Ole Miss: Not concerned offensively, but replacing nine new defensive starters is worrisome; doubts they’ll make playoff with a tough schedule.

Scheduling & CFP Access

• 9-game SEC schedule will “separate men from boys”, hurts chances for 9–3 teams to make CFP vs. 11–2/11–1 teams from other leagues.
• Committee shown to value record heavily over schedule toughness.

Noteworthy Quotes

• “I'm probably the only national guy who has Miami at number one.” —Brad (80:53)
• “I'm not a huge believer in Gunner Stockton and the Mike Bobo marriage.” —Brad, on UGA (85:34)
• “If there's one 9–3 potential team that can get in the playoff, it's Ohio State.” —Brad (89:01)

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4. Rapid Fire & Notable Segments

Timestamps: 92:59–108:42

Lad of the Week

• Josh Heupel, Tennessee: For defending Aryan Carter over the NCAA’s questionable suspension – “That's ammo. That is legitimate ammo for Tennessee.” —Connor (97:06)
• Will roots for Heupel’s underdog energy: “The more I see out of this Tennessee situation, the more I feel myself rooting for them.” (97:06)

Listener Interaction

• Email from Tyler: Affirms the Jay Cutler “don’t care” legend, recommends Nashville food and commends the show’s quality.
• Discussion of Culver’s, In-N-Out, and favorite hot chicken spots in Nashville. (105:52)

Quick Takes/Wider Sports

• Briefly on the Dodgers as MLB’s “villain” and the increasing need for a payroll floor in baseball.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• Connor re: Oregon at #1: “Finding a staff where you have a head coach, OC, and DC all under 40... those teams aren't usually winning national championships. Oregon has a chance to be an outlier in that way.” (10:32)
• Will on Notre Dame’s schedule: “Those teams were 10 and 49 in conference play last year.” (19:06)
• Brad on fans using Top 25 for motivation: “People will put anything in their back pocket to try and fuel their team.” (83:21)
• Will on BYU: “Having a culture matters so much in the portal era... and what BYU is, and what they do, it goes beyond football.” (53:09)
• Will on Ole Miss: “They got to come out and punch Louisville in the mouth. If that game is a loss, things could get sideways.” (65:32)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |---------------------------------|------------------| | Show Introduction/Setup | 01:04–03:49 | | Playoff Draft Explanation | 05:36–08:18 | | Draft Rounds 1–5 | 08:18–75:34 | | Draft Board Recap/Leftovers | 73:47–75:34 | | Brad Crawford Interview | 75:37–92:59 | | Lad of the Week | 93:47–98:56 | | Listener Email & Nashville Chat | 103:02–108:42 |

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Tone & Format Notes

• The entire episode is loose, witty, and irreverent, but never at the expense of incisive CFB analysis or genuine reporting/local insight.
• The chemistry between Connor and Will is ever-present, with banter and self-deprecating humor woven throughout the draft.
• Brad brings a more analytical and slightly contrarian but data-driven perspective, especially in discussing Miami at #1 and Georgia’s “down” ceiling.

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For Listeners: Why Listen?

This episode provides an energetic, insider-minded preview of 2026’s playoff landscape—a mix of Xs-and-Os, schedule breakdowns, and authentic college football personality. If you want a big-picture look at the emerging playoff favorites, hear sharp disagreement about the paths for teams like Ohio State and Ole Miss, and get a national journalist’s read on the power shift from SEC to Big Ten, this is essential listening.

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Notable Teams Discussed in Deepest Detail:

• Oregon, Notre Dame, Georgia, Miami, Texas, Indiana, Ohio State, BYU, Alabama, Ole Miss
• Plus topical takes on: South Carolina, Texas Tech, LSU, Oklahoma, Washington, Michigan, A&M, USC

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“You took the two easiest paths to the playoff.”—Connor, on Will’s early picks (23:48)
“I hate you for this. I wanted BYU. This is heartbreaking.” —Connor, after Will’s shock BYU pick (49:25)
“People will put anything in their back pocket to try and fuel their team at this point of the year.” —Brad (83:21)

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Contact the show: [e-mail]
Twitter: @theOGkickoff
YouTube: The OG Kickoff
Subscribe for more two-episode-per-week SEC football discussion.

Transcript

[Conor McGara]

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[Conor McGara]

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[Will]

Hey what's going on?

[Conor McGara]

This is the OG kickoff, a double down to next round media production. I'm Conor McGara. Will we are back. Fall camp is back. It's good to see you man.

[Will]

It's great to see you too man. It's good to see your face in place, your feet in the seat. We did an interview with Brad where I was like what is Streamyard? It's been so long.

[Conor McGara]

No, yeah, so we did the it just met more which everybody should go back and listen to. 2022 Alabama, Tennessee. We did that before SEC media days because I was on vacation last week, little solo trip with Claire and got to see my mom's lake house which I've been to before she had never been to. So it was really, really fun and enjoyable. But it did kind of feel like the last week of summer and now we're in mid season form because we got camps opening up everywhere. We're very soon going to be going to two pods a week by the way, that's coming up in two weeks. So we're looking at like the latter half of August essentially is when we're going to make that transition back to two pods per week. We'll let everybody know what that schedule is going to be looking like. But yeah man, it is a a wonderful time of year. Do you agree or disagree that August is the slowest month of the year because you're just waiting for games to start?

[Will]

Yeah, I'm actually lining up to go to the protests with my torsion pitchfork against the LA Dodgers. I think that's the biggest thing that's going on in sports right now. I think that hating the LA Dodgers is All there is in the sports calendar currently? No, but I'm right there, man. I. I feel like maybe I'm too in on the coach speak, where they say, like, we're ready to hit people in different jerseys and everything. Like, I feel I smell the grass in Tiger Stadium for week one.

[Conor McGara]

School's not even that good. Just go ask the Cubs about that. Just saying.

[Will]

There you go.

[Conor McGara]

Great pod lined up. Brad Crawford, our guy, he's coming up in a little bit. We're gonna talk about his preseason top 25. I yell at him for ranking teams based on strength of schedule. We get into it. Just. I've been having that debate with Brad for like 11 years, so that's nothing new. And then some South Carolina stuff as well. And then we're gonna close with Lad of the Week and an email that we got from our guy Tyler, so stick around for that. But first, Will, it is basically the start of this season, the start of fall camp, but our last draft of the year. We have to do it. We are going to do something that is prediction based. We always kind of like to do that with our. Our last draft of the year. And we couldn't just repeat what we did last year with drafting SEC teams, which we did with former co worker Adam Spencer. And we can't do that because I beat you guys so badly that it made me think I was Bama and you were Mercer.

[Will]

Okay, that feels unnecessary. Can't even be offered. You got to be.

[Conor McGara]

No, no, no, no.

[Will]

You.

[Conor McGara]

You wish you were offering.

[Will]

Come on.

[Conor McGara]

Come on, buddy. Four playoff teams and a 10 and two team that missed the playoff. They were my five. Georgia, Ole Miss, Texas a M, Oklahoma, Vandy. That five. That's never going to be repeated ever again. Ever. So I'm. I'm walking off into the sunset.

[Will]

That.

[Conor McGara]

That iteration of. Of the draft that has been print, you know, print the shirts, championship plaque, all that stuff. I. I need a new challenge. That was too easy for me. Can't do it anymore.

[Will]

Okay, fine. You know what? I'm ready now. We got some. We got. He's. He's gotten off the lakes of Wisconsin. You were in Wisconsin?

[Conor McGara]

Yes. Had some Culver's. I had Culver's. So I. I teased it all week. Culver's. Welcome to Delicious. I had Culver's within five minutes of being in Wisconsin. We flew into the Appleton airport, which is like the smallest airport that I've ever been to, and. And my mom's fiance picks us up to make the two hour drive up to Ellison Bay Door County. If you know, you know. And immediately, Fish sandwich in hand. Cheese curds for the car. Kids meal for Claire. We were ready to go. Man, the fish sandwich is so good. I'm not kidding. Like, call it a fast, casual fish sandwich. It is so unbelievably good. I had more fish and cheese in that state than one human being should eat, probably. I don't even care. It was great. No, I, I'm a man of my word. Of course. I lived up to it.

[Will]

Yes. I like fish and cheeses. There's Chicago.

[Conor McGara]

Anyway, together, but separate, you know?

[Will]

Yeah. This is like, this is the closest aura you're gonna get, right, Silverfield. Like, you got a little hand.

[Conor McGara]

Good.

[Will]

You're full of fish and cheese. You're coming off the Wisconsin beach. I'm ready to go. Let's get up to a draft, man.

[Conor McGara]

All right, so here's what we're doing today. We are drafting teams for the playoff and national championship. And this is how this is going to work. Okay? So we're, we're doing this very straightforward. We're not going to come up with, like, some crazy scoring system or anything like that. I don't want to confuse the people. We're each drafting five teams for the playoff. And you get one point for making the playoff and one point for each round that one of your teams advances after that. Okay, so that's, that's a way to basically saying, like, hey, if you get a. A team that, that earns a first round buy, you get rewarded for that. All right? So that way you're not like, getting a raw deal if you select a team that, like, gets a buy and then they lose in their first game. No, no. Like, you should get a. A point for that in this system. So last year, for example, if you had drafted Georgia, who made the playoff, got a buy and then lost.

[Will]

Speaking of teams that can't get out of the bye week.

[Conor McGara]

Yeah, Right. You would have gotten two points from them. Right, because you get a point for them making the playoff and then you get a point for them advancing past the first round. So a team like A and M who made the playoff but then lost in round one would have gotten you one point. The most points that you can possibly get from a team is five points. Okay, I would. IU would have gotten you five points last year by virtue of the national champion. Will get you five points by doing it this way. It won't just be, hey, did you pick the right national champ? Which I always talk about that with Like March Madness pools and stuff. I hate it when you join a March Madness pool and then you're like, oh, great, there's 32 points if you pick the right national champion and one point for a first round game. This is fun, but this basically allows us to have a true draft, and depth is probably going to matter. I would tend to think that if you're hitting on, like, at least three of your playoff teams, then you're probably going to be in pretty good shape. But odds are that one of us will pick, with these 10 teams, the future national champ. Though if we're doing that

[Will]

last year

[Conor McGara]

we would have, you know, like, it's possible. Maybe. Maybe that's the era that we're in where a team like IU could just pop up and win a national championship and we're gonna look really dumb with, with our predictions. Does that make sense? Would you like any sort of corrections to that system?

[Will]

No, this seems really straightforward. Yeah.

[Conor McGara]

And this was, by the way, Will's idea, because Will was like, look, I can't do the same thing we did last year. No, I had actually scoring systems.

[Will]

That's how he gets me. He gets to write the rules. It's all smoking beers, folks.

[Conor McGara]

Yeah. Last year I just. We just did based on wins. Crazy scoring system worked out for me.

[Will]

None of that fake news wins metric. Okay. We're doing championships or bust here.

[Conor McGara]

Yeah. Can we do success rate?

[Will]

Could we do that?

[Conor McGara]

No. Anyway, yeah, let's. Let's ask the favorite question. Will, first pick or second, too? What do you want?

[Will]

Okay. I got a clear a tier of three teams, so I'm certainly going last or going second here. Okay.

[Conor McGara]

I'm good with that. I'm actually good with that. I think you're gonna take my two and three. I will take my one. I'm gonna be a man of my word. Give me the organ. Ducks first pick. Okay. I. I probably could have gotten them on the, on, on the. The other side of this, but I. I have to. I have to be true to this. I am begging AP voters not to have Oregon as the preseason number one. When the coaches poll came out and I was like, oh, good, Oregon's not number one. Maybe that's going to work out pretty well. A lot of teams got first place votes in that. But I do think that if all of a sudden they were number one in the AP poll, I'd be like, can I change my pick? I, for right now, am all in on Oregon. Okay. And I was talking to our guy, JD Pukel. Last week when I was on vacation. Because once again, don't you know, JD and I have the same national champ for very like minded individuals in that sort of way, we will die together. The biggest question mark for Oregon is replacing both coordinators. That was something that we had talked about. Like, you know, we kind of go back and forth. We're like, yeah, but you know, other teams have faced that and have had to overcome that in the past and have gotten two national champions. And if you have a really good head coach and a really good roster, history tells us you find a way. Okay, it is a legitimate question. I don't mean to dismiss that. It is really rare and I'd have to really dig into the archives to find this. Finding a, a staff where you have a head coach in an OC and a DC who are all 40 and younger. Those teams aren't usually winning national championships. Okay. So Oregon has a chance to be an outlier in that sort of way. I should do like the added age of those three and come up with like an age composite or something like that of like past national champs that have had, you know, those three coaches and how old they are. I guarantee you Oregon's would be at the lower end if they do go on to, to win a national championship. But you know, I remember watching Oregon get smoked by Kirby Smart's team and Dan Lanning's debut and being there at Mercedes Benz to kick off 2022. It was like, man, he's got a long way to go. This, this is going to be tough. Uphill climb, maybe a bit of a rebuild for a first time head coach since that game. Oregon is 48. 7. Okay, including that game eight total losses, six of which have come against teams who have gone on to play in the national championship. The last time that Oregon lost to a team that didn't reach the national championship game was November of 2022. Will, off the top of your head, do you know what team that was?

[Will]

22? No, I do not. Was it Ohio State?

[Conor McGara]

It was a pre. DJ Uiyangalay. Oregon State team. Yeah.

[Will]

Oh, okay. Yeah, sure. Yeah.

[Conor McGara]

Ben Gilbranson.

[Brad Crawford]

That's.

[Conor McGara]

Yeah, there's a name for Damon Martinez before he went to Miami. I trust Dan Lanning. I do. I also trust a schedule that has really one true game against a national championship contender. And it's at Ohio State. No, Indiana in the regular season. And here's the other floor raiser. It's not an end all be all. But it's one of those things that if you're wondering, how does this team collapse and not make the College Football Playoff? This is a thing that you have to look at. It's the best backup quarterback situation of any of the contenders. Okay. And I'm not 100% all in on Dylan Raiola, especially after his comments to on3.

[Will]

Dude, I love how every part of the Nebraska conversations has to involve Cord. He's like, he commits. He's like, yeah, I love Cord. And he's like, hey, that's the thing about Oregon. It's got great scenery. It doesn't have any corn.

[Conor McGara]

Yeah, man, look, you know what you signed up for and Lincoln's a lovely place. You know, Lincoln's a lovely place, so don't even go there. He is many things. He is also a two year power conference starter who, if you had to turn to him, you would feel like this guy can keep the thing afloat. And especially if you felt like he had a formidable offensive line, which I think they're going to be good enough on that in that area. They've certainly got the skill players around him to be able to make that work. So, again, and that's just talking about if Dante Moore were to go down. So, yeah, I just. I think Oregon checks so many boxes. So I'm okay taking them at 1 overall, even though I think I could.

[Brad Crawford]

Will.

[Conor McGara]

Could I have gotten them at three?

[Will]

Certainly. I mean, I like how you went in like the big time time machine to imagine the time when Oregon got smoked, Connor, or you got smoked by your Indiana Hoosiers. The last time we saw him play football.

[Conor McGara]

I know, I know.

[Will]

Back in the olden times against Kirby. Smart dude. The other day I watched Ponds.

[Conor McGara]

We've watched this team and, and Tom Luganbill brought this up when he. When he went on with. With an. Our friends over here, obviously at the next round and brought up this point of how close is Oregon to a national championship if their season has ended in such humiliating fashion each of the last two years? Once upon a time we used to mock Oklahoma for getting to the semifinal and then just getting their doors beaten. Like, there is definitely a world in which Oregon is that team that is viewed as Tier one, but is actually more Tier two. And if this season ends up being disappointing, I think that's a fair takeaway. I really do. I still think they're way closer to tier one than Tier two. I do. And the success that they have had transitioning into the Big Ten already, at a time in which everybody's looking at the Big Ten going, look it's either the best conference or it's got a really good argument to be the best conference, and they are one of the contenders. Like, there's no doubt about it. I think that they have a really good case, and that's why I'm okay getting them at one, even though I definitely could have gotten them at three.

[Will]

Yeah. I think the ceiling is certainly there. The floor is my question to your point about the new coordinators. You know, have a lot of respect for our guy Will Stein, and the great things I think he's going to do at Kentucky. But that being said, I think they have a lot of variants. Right. It could be one of these lightning in the bottle situations where we've seen time after time in college football where a new staff gets together and just gels and then suddenly all the stories of the old staff don't matter. I could certainly see that. I. I do think, you know, getting to that upper crust of the Big Ten, whoever that would be. Right. If it's Ohio State, if it's Michigan, if it's Indiana, pick a Big Ten team, Oregon has found a way to kind of lose to him. But I do see it. I do see the talent. I do see the depth. That being said, I had them fifth. Now you've done the thing. Yeah. In this exercise. Not the one entitled. In this exercise, because of the floor. Now, you see, you love doing this. It's actually such an elite strategy because I say there's three teams, you go off the board, and then you make me make the decision to take two of the three, and then whoever I draft first is, like, funny. So, you know what? I'll just. I'll just do this in order. Oh, man. Okay. Okay. I'm gonna go Notre Dame. Yeah.

[Conor McGara]

You had to. I. I knew I wasn't gonna get Notre Dame if I. If I didn't take him at one overall.

[Will]

Yeah. And here's the thing about Notre Dame. I think that they are so recession proof. We've seen a congressional edict that says this team has to make the playoffs. So at that point, the odds of them missing the playoff, when we'll just have somebody come in and intervene and say, actually, four lost their name by the will of God, they're gonna be minus 700.

[Conor McGara]

Like, and I've seen other words like minus 900 or minus a thousand for them to make the playoff, which, if you don't follow gambling, like, whatever, that's. That's perfectly fine. Essentially, that means they are the most likely team to make the college football playoff of anyone that we have seen so far. And I know they're only three years into the 12 team playoffs, so that is interpreted differently now than it was even just as recently as four years ago. Notre Dame missing the playoff would be like one of the biggest stories of the year in college football.

[Will]

100%. And the funny thing is you also have the ceiling of this coach taking them right, you know, to the doorstep of a national title. And so that's the thing is that even if this were a fraud Brian Kelly team, I'd be like, hey, appearance, I'll take it. But they have shown that once they get there they can, you know, play, play with anyone. And so yeah, I think that's, that's my caveman math on Notre Dame that it feels like the, you know, highest floor and a pretty high ceiling.

[Conor McGara]

I agree. And look, this new stipulation of if They're a top 12 team in the playoff poll and that final playoff poll, they, they get a spot automatically and they don't have to worry about, you know, like this team or that team that's probably factoring into this. I don't know that it's going to come down to that. I, I think their floor is 10 and 2. And the conversation is this because you look at the schedule and it's really three games that could push them and three games in which if they're playing in a 60 minute game, you shouldn't necessarily be surprised. Okay.

[Will]

At North Carolina,

[Conor McGara]

sorry, I can't wait to tune into that game in Dublin and just see how much of a mess it is for uncle. Or alternatively Bobby Petrino just cooking Robert Patrick in his bag. And Belichick just throwing a smirk, being like, see Michael Lombardi, he didn't know. I knew I had everything the whole

[Will]

time, the wrong stuff.

[Conor McGara]

Well, everybody's pointed this out. Okay, like the game at BYU is going to be tough. It's potentially the first top 10 game ever in Provo. You're going to have the Miami game at home and the Catholics first convicts rematch, whatever you want to call and then don't sleep on that late season game against, against SMU with a very capable quarterback in Kevin Jennings. And we like Rhett Lashley, but it's just a schedule that it broke so, so well. Well, like I wanted to look, I wanted to look at the record of the other seven power conference teams that they face because they do face 10 power conference teams. And oh, by the way, an 11 win Navy team is part of it. But Navy significant drop off with what? They lost. We support the troops. But I looked at the seven other Power Conference teams that they face and the combined conference record of those teams. Will, I want you to guess this.

[Brad Crawford]

Okay.

[Conor McGara]

I'll give you the total of conference games that they play. Like 59 conference games that we're talking about here. What do you think the record was of those other seven Power Conference teams that Notre Dame will face this year?

[Will]

I'm gonna say they're about 10 games under.500.

[Conor McGara]

They. Buddy, not even close.

[Will]

Not even close.

[Conor McGara]

Not.

[Will]

Oh, my gosh. What's the number?

[Conor McGara]

10 and 49.

[Will]

Oh, my.

[Conor McGara]

Those teams were 10 and 49 in conference play last year.

[Brad Crawford]

Okay.

[Conor McGara]

It's like there's some Big Ten teams

[Will]

in here, but these are not like heavy hitter coverage. No, it's.

[Conor McGara]

It's like, you know, they open against Wisconsin. They've got like Michigan State and, you know, they've got Purdue and they've got all these teams that are very much either like in transition type phases or it's like a year. One coach that just really didn't work out, you know, like UNC as well with, you know, with the Belichick thing. So. Yeah, I mean, Stanford, even, like Stanford had the most wins in conference play among those other seven with three conference wins. Yeah, that's another team with a new coach. Like, the schedule just broke. Really, really well for them.

[Will]

And then.

[Conor McGara]

Yeah, as you mentioned, it's a good team. It's a team that's number one in the country in percentage of returning production with a capable quarterback, in theory, the most replaceable position on the field at running back, which not necessarily a given with Hyenas Williams and kind of what they're going to replace Jeremiah Love to Darian Price with. But still you feel good about it. Even, like looking at the Miami matchup against Malachi, Tony with Leonard Moore probably going to be shadowing him that whole game. You're just like Notre Dame checks so many boxes and they. If you had taken him number one overall, which they were number one on your board. Correct, Will?

[Will]

Yes, absolutely.

[Brad Crawford]

Yeah.

[Conor McGara]

So, like, I wouldn't have been able to push back on that at all. And I only didn't take them because I wanted to stay true to my Oregon number one ranking.

[Will]

Yeah, and that's the thing where, like, it's kind of like the Craver pick with the receivers. It looks weird in a graphic. This guy's number one overall Notre Dame when you think about it. Yeah. And that's the point that I was making about the. The Power Conference. Part of it is it's like, hey, not that the SEC is BL and all. I know there are Big Ten teams here, but we're mainly talking about the ACC, like some Big 12 teams. It's not like the. You could bottom feed and get to about 10 games under.500. That's not what these teams have done. Yeah.

[Conor McGara]

And to be clear, I mean, you had the USC cancellation, which they're going to play again starting in 2030. Whether or not. Allegedly Riley. Yeah, allegedly. Whether or not Lincoln Riley and Marcus Freeman will be there for that. Tbd. But things broke. Well, it just spoke really, really well with the way that it lined up this year. And Notre Dame is not going to obviously get any sort of sympathy for that. But I will say, like, if they go 10 and 2, I don't think it's a lock that they have a top 12 spot. We saw that last year with the way that this was something that's played out. And I realized that the rule was made in part because of that, but still, I, I think because of the conversation surrounding this schedule, it's considered such a light schedule that, man, the margin for error is very, very minimal. It's still an ideal spot. And if they are in that conversation at season's end, it's not going to surprise anyone. Well, who was present the last time Notre Dame won a national championship?

[Will]

Reagan. Right.

[Conor McGara]

Amen. He was.

[Will]

Hell yeah, brother. Anyway, so that being said, let me go to my next one. I've decided there's an easy answer here. Out of my. Is there? Oh, I believe so. Out of my top three. I'm going to force you to go back into the Big Ten. I'm going to go with Miami because that way, that way, whoever wins that game is for sure making it. So I've. I've just auto nominated one team because the odds of both of these teams missing it are. I mean, like, I would go hang gliding, you know what I'm saying, of both of these teams. Because again, I'm looking now we have another game at Chapel Hill. You can't, you can't discount the Fighting Michael parties. But that being said. Yeah, I mean, these are games that, like, you know. Oh, no, at Clemson, like, they're, they're versions of some of these games that could be scary. But if you look at Miami schedule, it's. It's really just kind of Miami beating themselves, which we've seen them do. They will do that. Like at least one of these losses, they will find in here trust. And I'VE been a guy who's a little bit like wary to bet on Miami's continued success. But again, you look at the schedule, the way they've been able to dominate, the way that the conference is kind of realigned for them, the way that they play physical, hard nose football. It's not like they like benefited from matchups last year. It's not like they got an easy road to the cfp. It's not like they played some high flying team and punched them in the mouth or got lucky. No, I mean they went through the gauntlet. And a lot of the reasons why we like that offensive line play. Mario Cristobal, don't think he's forgotten about offensive line. We hit that in our interview. You know, there. The ACC can kind of handle one or maybe two good teams and I think they have firmly planted themselves as we are currently the most talented now, we're the most physical. We, we are getting the recruits we have. We've built a program here. And the ACC is so easy to predict in my mind when it's like that because we've seen all these teams kind of just line up and take their lumps. So counting Notre Dame is kind of a half ACC team. I think either way, one team obviously has to win that game. It's going to be probably a top five matchup even by that point. November 7th. And I think both these teams easily get in what they do from there. They both have a history of doing it in the big stage.

[Conor McGara]

You have picked the two easiest paths to the playoff. I won't push back on that for a second. I did lower Miami on my board because you have been the biggest advocate this off season of Miami's going to find a way to puke on their shoes.

[Will]

They will.

[Conor McGara]

And I had this thought. This is a dumb thought, but it came across my mind and this is perhaps just off season brain, whatever. But when I saw Brett McMurphy report that Mario Cristobal got that extension and look, I thought that extension was inevitable. Like you go to a national championship in this day and age, you're getting a new contract to be very strange if you didn't. It's par for the course. Okay. My mind went to a dark place, though. I thought surely there's no way that Miami is going to be staring at 8 and 4, having backups play in the Pop Tarts bowl and having everyone wonder again if Mario Cristobal is an elite coach. Surely that can't happen. Well, I don't know why it took that inevitable development for me to go to that dark place. But it kind of did. And for all the reasons that everybody already knows. Malachi, Tony, Mark Fletcher, Darian Mensah. This team is stacked to the gills with talent.

[Brad Crawford]

Okay.

[Conor McGara]

And I even, I'll even bang the drum. I still think the Miami defensive line is going to be really good as a Reuben Bane Respecter, Akeem Mezador, Respector. They're going to be just fine. Like Justin Scott is the next guy up there. Damon Wilson, the second coming over by way of Mizzou and Georgia is going to be awesome for Jason Taylor. I have this kind of bold prediction that Corey Heatherman is going to get a head coaching job at season's end and he's going to take Jason Taylor with him to be his. His DC Even though Corey Heatherman is going to call place. I, I think all those things are on the table.

[Brad Crawford]

Okay.

[Conor McGara]

And I have Miami going to the College Football Playoff. The thought did creep into my mind. Here's the good news for you though, and why it's not just path anymore. There are very few coaches in this sport who can say, yep, I've got three playoff wins. Do you know how big that list is? Well, take. Take a guess of active coaches in the sport who have at least three playoff victories.

[Will]

I mean, Kirby Davo, Ryan Day, I think that's the list.

[Conor McGara]

Signetti last year.

[Will]

Oh, yeah. He was he as of last year.

[Conor McGara]

Yeah, yeah. Marcus Freeman, like it's 60. It's 60. So this, this thing that once I think very fairly hung over Mario Crystal Ball with the fact that he was at Oregon in Miami, this thing that hung over him, it doesn't anymore. And maybe history is going to tell us, look, that he just had that one elite team and it was a 20, 25 team that kind of went on that run once it was found that it was actually going to be going to the playoff and that it had jumped Notre Dame. But maybe that's kind of a microcosm for Mario's career. Like maybe, maybe he just needed that get over the hump breakthrough type of run and this is just going to now become the standard form. Like that's. That's on the table too. So it sounds like a bit all over the place with Miami. I had lowered them on my board, hoping to be able to get the value late. Like I had him at 6 on my board. Even though the path is. Is 100 there. And I, I like that you took them here because I already feel like I'm losing this Drought.

[Will]

And by the way, of course he got his in a row. Right? Like that just goes to show like how quickly things can shift. But I will say this too. This is like a storybook Disney schedule here, right? Where you have. You get FSU at home. Okay. You go to Chapel Hill. Can't write that off. You go to South Bend, but then your next three games are at home. These boys had the audacity to make Duke their homecoming game. This after.

[Conor McGara]

I wonder when that was. When was that announced, man? Because that's disrespectful.

[Will]

That their former coach, they stole their quarterback, Duke1 like took their spot in the ACC champion.

[Conor McGara]

And their best receiver too.

[Will]

Right. Duke has every reason to be like what? Like we technically we were in the ACC championship. Technically we built up Darian Minson. You illegally sold him. You gonna make us homecoming in front of 12,000 people. What do you mean? So that is like, it's not even a trap game. It's like a disrespectful. So they might lose two straight to Notre Dame and, and Duke because that's like, you know. But doesn't matter because again, all their other hard games are at home.

[Conor McGara]

Yeah, it certainly sets up well again if we are sitting here at season's end with Miami having not won the ACC once again, like it's just never going to happen. Just change conferences.

[Will]

Take.

[Conor McGara]

Do the, the, the new thing of like the protect college sports that is. Is now if you leave a conference, you have to be independent for five years like before your contract is up. Just, just go independent. Just, just go back to doing that. You're just never going to win the acc.

[Will]

Oh no. Don't make us go back to the Big East. No. We were terrible back there. Yeah. But I, I. And also they've proven that they don't even need to play in the, the, the conference championship to get in. So. Yeah. Feels, feels recession proof.

[Conor McGara]

Okay. I am getting the team of the 2020s so far. Give me Georgia boring pick. It's. It's the pick that needs to be made. The highest floor of any team in America. It's nine consecutive years of top seven finishes. It's eight SEC championship appearances in the last nine years. And as we saw last year in the 12 team playoff era, getting to the SEC championship is essentially an auto bid because Bama got in even though it lost that game by a few touchdowns. You can question the upside of this team, which we've talked about a ton. Brad's going to talk about it as well. Do they have the dudes in the passing game. Do they have the scheme to win a national title? I, I also think Georgia needs more consistent pass rushing. That, that's kind of been the overlooked thing nationally. I know Georgia fans know about this but like if Elijah Griffin becomes Jaylen Carter 2.0, something that can happen that changes what Georgia's pass rush looks like. If all of a sudden they have this menace on the interior. But it also helps too. And I keep thinking about this with the Georgia pass rush that K.J. bolden and Ellis Robinson the fourth, those guys on the back end are going to allow Georgia to kind of pin its ears back a little bit with the pass rushing. And I do think that's going to play into what they would like to do. So I think you can question if Georgia is going to win a national championship, but questioning if they're going to get to the playoff is kind of a foolish endeavor. It's just such a high floor team. I mean Georgia suffering three regular season losses is such a hard thing to imagine. And, and it'd be different if we felt like this was one of the toughest SEC schedules. I don't think it's one of the toughest SEC schedules. I think it's more forgiving than most. So I have yet to see anyone leave Georgia out of the playoff. So to me they are very obvious to be one of the first picks off the board here.

[Will]

Yeah, I mean Georgia is as close as we have to set it and forget it to your point and I probably talked about this before in the pod, but one of the most eye opening moments for me about Georgia, I was talking to our guy Emory, whose real name is John and he was like yeah man, think about all the 10 win seasons Georgia has had. And like me as an, as an LSU fans just completely can't even get that way because LSU is either like mid or awesome, sometimes terrible. But the 10 win perpetual 10 win season is just not something most SEC fans can claim in the way that Georgia fans can. And I think that that's exactly what they're built to do right now is just be basically make the playoff every year. I think that, that a 12 team playoff, even though Kirby is kind of struggled in these bye week games, I think that the worst Kirby smart team is still a dang good team. And especially in an SEC that's, let's call it flat. It's called competitive, you know, cannibalizing. I think that you know they're, they're set to compete so a nightmare Situation for them is them chomping at the bit and, and, and getting. Having to prove themselves with their backs against the wall going into the playoff. But with Gunner returning with. You know, I'm not going to say worst case, but I just feel like it would be hard for us to regress offensively from last year with all the weird stuff that happened. Basically, we're gonna know either there's going to be radical changes with the offense or. Or they're gonna have something finally figured out. But I think either way, they're sitting at worst case scenario. Nine wins and. And with a fighting chance to get in.

[Conor McGara]

Yeah, Georgia just being sort of in the, the middle of the pack in the conference and all of a sudden just being 6 and 3 in conference play. It would have to take a real, real regression offensively. I mean, I'm talking like Georgia fans want Gunner, Stockton benched for that to happen. And I just.

[Will]

They're throwing things at Mike Bobo. You think Bobo.

[Conor McGara]

The, the discourse on him is loud now, buddy. Wait till you see what that looks like. But again, I don't think that's the case. So picking them to be able to, to make the playoff and then potentially, potentially make a run, even though obviously they've gone three consecutive years without winning a playoff game, it still feels like a safe bet on Kirby Smart.

[Will]

Come on, man. The SEC championship, that's a de facto playoff game right there, man. That's all that really matters.

[Conor McGara]

Anyway, who's your next pick?

[Will]

So, okay, I could. God, I could go chaos mode here, I could go chaos mode here, but I'm gonna do the safe thing, I'm gonna do the respectable thing and go Ohio State. I think they've hung out for long enough. I think that again, what is your floor in that conference? I think that ultimately, you know, when you talk about losable games, when you talk about the talent, I mean, would you rate Ryan Day as like a positive or a negative factor right now at Ohio State?

[Conor McGara]

Yeah, positive. It's undoubtedly positive. I mean, they've been in the top three in the playoff pool in every season that he's been there.

[Will]

Well, yeah, not the preseason, but in terms of our, Our late season, because we've.

[Conor McGara]

Yeah, that's what I mean. Late season was playable. Like, that's what I'm talking about.

[Will]

I see what you're saying. So, like, that being said, you know, we've seen them struggle again in the regular season, but I think that ultimately, I think that brand name is going to help them a ton. I think that Even if they do lose kind of all their losable games, they're still at a favorable, favorable position. And here I'm almost betting more on the top end that we've seen them lock in. We've seen even with them losing the amount of talent that they did, like the first rounders on defense and all that stuff that offensively they just have too many weapons to really be dead in the water, if that makes sense.

[Conor McGara]

This is the first one we're going to disagree on.

[Will]

Interesting. Okay.

[Conor McGara]

At Ohio State, at seventh on my board, not nearly as high because I picked Ohio State to miss the playoffs. So I don't want to just put them at three or four. Yeah, fair. I think they, you know, you've picked based on path. I think in large part for the first two and this one, the path is, it's unbelievably treacherous. It is. There are six games I look at on that schedule and I would not be surprised if they go down to the wire or we're tuning in like, hey, Ohio State needs to pick up a first down to be able to keep this defense off the field to try and lock up this game. Like that's what we're talking about here. So you've got at aforementioned. Well, I shouldn't say aforementioned. We're gonna get to Texas in a second here. I feel like you have that game on the road. You are at Iowa, a place where dreams go to die. Ohio State is familiar with that. At Indiana, at usc, home against Oregon, home against Michigan. If Ohio State is playing in a 60 minute game against any one of those teams, you're like, okay, yeah, that kind of makes sense. Even if you feel really good about their offense, even if you feel like Matt Patricia defensively just worked wonders and is going to be every bit as good as he was last year, albeit maybe with a little bit less talent this year. I think that's fair to say. But I don't think it's crazy to say that Ohio State could split those six games and they're looking at three losses at nine and three. And I, I realize like all the positives working in their favor and if you ask Ohio State fans, they'll tell you, you know what, Brian Hartline is the first time play caller actually didn't really work out that well and it's not really a loss that he's gone and it's going to be an upgrade to have Arthur Smith in there because Ryan Day to this point in his career when he's done the hey, NFL guy, Come do these things in college. It's worked out. Not just with Matt, Patricia, it worked out really well with Chip Kelly.

[Will]

So that's so wild to say.

[Conor McGara]

I get that. I mean, Ryan Day is living proof of it. Yeah, his college background was limited and, you know, Urban Meyer really liked what he was able to do with the Eagles. And there was a feeling of like, oh man, this guy came to the college game and kind of was everything Urban needed at that point in his career. And so I think that's just always kind of been something that Ryan Day has gravitated towards. But I do question a little bit of what the Arthur Smith offense is going to look like. And here's the thing that I keep wondering about. Julian saying in those late game moments is unproven, not good. They didn't play competitive games last year. Credit to them. They had a historically great defense. They would get off to awesome starts in these games and it was off to the races and they were not playing competitive fourth quarters and they essentially were kind of like a 2018 Bama with how much, how little their starters had to be on the field in the fourth quarter and then, well, they actually needed to be on the field in the fourth quarter. Those Indiana game, the Miami game, you kind of saw some things that made you go, well, that looks a little bit different. And I do think that could, that could prove to be Ohio State's downfall this year because roster wise, like again, top three team in the country preseason, absolutely no problem with that whatsoever.

[Will]

Top two maybe.

[Conor McGara]

Yeah, that's perfectly fine. But I think the path is so difficult and so, you know, maybe you could spin it as being like, well, if they get there, they're going to be so battle tested, which is true. And they'll already know what it's like to play in playoff or bus type games. They'll have plenty of experience. Or the flip side is that they're going to have all those games that are going to push them for four quarters and they're maybe going to be a bit too banged up going into the playoffs. I, I think that Ohio State has a tougher road to the national championship than what all the preseason conversations would suggest.

[Will]

Connor, I'm still here. I have a list of teams written here that says do not draft at Ohio State is at the top of them. But I saw the value here and now I'm realizing why I had put them on this list. Because I thought you were going to draft them. I had thought, I schemed this out and I was like, don't touch Oregon. Don't touch Ohio State. And then I got greedy and I did a little bit of the Cleveland Browns draft thing where I drafted the wrong guy with the same name. Anyway, that. Whoa, whoa, whoa.

[Conor McGara]

That was the Raiders.

[Will]

Raiders. There we go. Yeah, it's like, it's one of those two things. Yeah, no, but, but I'm with you. Like the. I. I'm not going to then defend it because that's why I literally have written down schedule in all caps.

[Conor McGara]

Yeah, exactly.

[Will]

Looking at it, their schedule is not what you would think it would be. And I lean back on their talent. But again, even I shouted out that they've lost all these guys on defense. I think that ultimately, if you go like, am I scared of at usc? No. Right. But at the same time, I think the big three that we circle here is Oregon, Indiana, Michigan. Now I feel better about Michigan without getting all traces of that old Michigan staff that just had Ryan Dave's number for whatever reason. Maybe awesome, but I think they're more confident downgrade. No, that's what I'm saying. I think they have more competent coaches now. That's what's so frustrating, is that when they were bad teams, they still found a way to beat Ryan Day. So as much as I want to be like, oh, surely that can't happen again, I thought that like three years in a row. And so, yeah, Ohio State, I'm right there with you, man. I think at the value, like, it would be hard for me to see them missing the postseason, but you're making a compelling case, like, exactly what you said. They're a high ceiling team if they make it, because by that point, they would have had two or three very impressive games. So I'm going to stick with that because I got the easy path. I don't want to be Mr. Schedule Guy, but you're absolutely right. I think that maybe they're not quite as talented as a usual Ohio state team, maybe 80%. And then the path for them sets up pretty horribly. So not loving this one. You got me. You got my ass.

[Conor McGara]

Well, there's. And you got you.

[Will]

Totally.

[Conor McGara]

I mean, look, to that point, I feel like I'd been played in this draft. But if you. If you could look into the crystal ball and you knew that Ohio State was already in the playoff, you would feel like your chances are really good. And the scenario that I mapped out of them being maybe a bit too banged up and kind of following maybe the Georgia path that we've seen in recent memory, you wouldn't feel like that's as likely you'd feel like, look, we already saw this two years ago. Just get Ohio State into the field and talent's going to take over with that roster. That's certainly on the table. It is. So I'm in the minority by saying this. Like, I realized that they were going to get picked. They were going to get picked. You just maybe could have waited another round, that's all.

[Will]

Okay. Okay. This pick is really what hinges it. What you got here?

[Conor McGara]

I got Indiana unbiased.

[Will]

I'm actually gonna sell. Okay. I actually was not gonna take them next. Okay, let's go.

[Conor McGara]

Let's go. Okay, so our guy, Doug Lee Maurice, he does the unofficial Big Ten poll every year because the Big Ten, for whatever reason, they've copied everything that the SEC has done to this point with like the media day stuff. And, and. And some of the conversations about non conference scheduling. The Big Ten. Is it, for the most part, like, copied the SEC and what the SEC did in the 2010s. I don't know why they don't do a preseason media poll and they rely on Doug to be able to do this every single year. I was pretty stunned that Ohio State was the pick to win the conference. Knowing that. I think Indiana's path to be able to do so is better. I think Oregon. I mean, Oregon's my pick to win the Big Ten, so I'm not even saying that I think Indiana is the most likely to win the conference, but they're over under 10 and a half wins for a reason. And it's not just because they won a national championship, though. That's certainly part of this. This is before the. The Stephen Daly news broke on Tuesday where we found out, oh, yeah, like this guy last year who had 19 TFLs for Indiana, who didn't even play in the postseason because he got hurt celebrating the Big Ten championship. Like, oh, yeah, he's gonna be one of those five and five guys. And they can. They're very likely going to be able to bring him back again. Nothing's final on that, but just throw them on that defensive line. No big deal.

[Will]

Starting to hate y' all so much, man. Oh, you heard him so sober in the Big Ten championship. Hey, you would have a blast.

[Conor McGara]

First world problems. Very much so. IU is in this spot with what will be its highest preseason ranking in program history. Will hear muff this, please. Ear muff this. Because all signs point to Kurt Signetti being the total inverse of post 2019 at odron. Okay, we Know that he is wired the exact way you would want a coach wired coming off a national championship. All the Saban comms, whatever, time will tell if that's going to prove to be prophetic. But this, this mindset that he has had with Clear, like hiding his trophies and stuff like that, only bringing him out. Like I heard him say I'm part of my take. Like he's only going to bring him out when recruits are coming in and stuff like that. Like this guy moved on so quickly and talking about being behind on recruiting after he celebrated the national championship is like a very Sabanesque thing to say. And it doesn't guarantee any of that stuff. But so much of this is going to depend on what that complacency factor looks like. And if you're not in that position where that's a concern, which I don't worry about with this coaching staff. So that's really good news. So much of this will also depend on Josh Hoover replacing Fernando Mendoza. Don't forget the Curtis Rourke, a guy who played the latter half of the season on torn acl. That guy finished ninth in the Heisman voting as well. So like you're talking about potentially third consecutive guy finishing top 10 in the Heisman voting. IU is loaded in the trenches. They add Nick Marsh to that receiver room that already includes preseason All American and late season hero Charlie Becker. Like they, they're, they're very stacked now at the skill positions in ways that I am not used to talking about with Indiana football. All right. Like Turbo. Richard coming over from Boston College is kind of an underrated move. They're loaded. Richard, just a great running back. Name your running back. His name is Turbo. Like come on dude, sign him up for a thousand. I don't care if he's 5. 9. The schedule is Notre Dame ish. And it's not being discussed in that same sort of way because it's the Big Ten and it still looks tougher than what it was in 20. They do have that Ohio State home game and then they go on the road against Michigan right after that. And then they have the late season trip to Washington. We do not sleep on what it means to win as a visiting team in Husky Stadium. But the non conference schedule is a joke. It's ridiculous. It's the single worst thing that Kurt Signetti and Scott Dawson, the AD do. Okay. It just is like hand up. I admit that. But the defending basketball team. Say it again.

[Will]

He said that's the worst thing him in the AD duo. I was like have you seen the basketball team? I'm just kidding.

[Conor McGara]

Signetti's not part of that.

[Will]

I was just giving you crap. Yeah.

[Conor McGara]

Signetti's done the single best thing for Indiana basketball, which is say that Purdue sucks in Ohio State. So does Ohio State, Michigan, during an Indiana basketball game. That's the best thing that's happened to IU basketball. Recent memory. But then making it back to the playoff feels very realistic. I've said enough unbiased things.

[Will]

Yeah, I mean, okay, but devil's advocate, how much of that stuff do you think is performative really as far as like hiding the trophies and like, oh, we're not smelling our own. Like, do you think he's really like that on a day to day basis?

[Conor McGara]

Yeah, I, I, every, everything that I have gathered from him for people that I have talked to is that he's, he is a unique cat. He just is. And that's the way that he treats players. That's the way that he treats coaches, who he is behind the scenes. I, I, maybe some of it is performative. Certainly what he said at Big Ten media days, he had that in the holster. That was performative and ready to go. He was trying to prove a point with what he said about the SEC without naming the sec. But I do think that this guy is just wired in a very unique way that if your coach, if your head coach was saying and doing the things that he was doing, be like, well, yeah, why would I pick against that guy? That's, that's everything. That's not sitting there looking at press clippings. That's not being a guy that's too into himself. No, no. Like, this is, this is ideally the way that you, you're supposed to be wired. And I, I think that it's just in his personality. I really do.

[Will]

Yeah, I mean, if you were to be a hater of Kurt Signetti, right, You'd say, okay, you know, the rules are changing. Although that's actually helping him this year. To your point about the, the guy who hurt himself, like, you're getting some guys back that you wouldn't have. And, and like, so if you could compare it to like Kirby Smart, right, You'd say, okay, maybe Kirby got a little bit too set in his ways. Maybe the same thing will happen to Signetti. But if that were to be the case, I think it would take two and three years. So I think projecting out one year, I'm with you. I think that him being kind of a cartoon character in a good way helps him. And I think that whatever adjustments he has to make, he won't have to make for a minute. So I think he's going to be a fixture. I'll say it to you like that. I think that they will be year in and year out competing for the Big Ten, you know, playoff or bust. Does that mean that they're going to be a wagon every single year? Probably not. But I think what you're talking about is the floor as far as the coacho comparison, and I think it's very true.

[Conor McGara]

Yeah, I think the floor is. Is still incredibly high, and we'll see what more money does to that program. But I can't sit here and project them to all of a sudden fall off the face of the earth. Okay, this is your fourth pick.

[Will]

Chaos. We're back again with some chaos. I'm going byu, baby. Let's go. Let's. No. Yes.

[Conor McGara]

Let's. Come on.

[Will]

Yes. That's who I was gonna take instead of Ohio State. That's why I celebrate. When you got iu, you homework. Now you got two Big Ten teams and I'm spreading out the love. Look at this. This is another team that plays. I've got this triumvirate of teams that play nobody with each other. You can't stop me. And so that being said, now, the biggest alarming thing about this team is that they had such a special year last year and we are Pop Dart bowl respectors, but it ended up in the Pop Tart bowl. The committee has shown you that this team has to overcome something that no team we've talked about has so far. But ultimately, I think that they can build on that momentum. And part of that momentum for them is not having to play Texas Tech in the regular season. Part of that momentum is Texas Tech taking a step back from last year, I believe, right? Hard to say, but I think that this conference in the Big 12 is theirs to lose. I think that BYU has a ton of momentum coming out of last year. Like I said, I think their schedule is very favorable. And I think that in their mind's eye, you know, they can look at Texas Tech as the other and say we're the team to beat in this conference. Right. That. That everything kind of runs through us. We have our culture, we have our head coach locked up. Long term, we are sturdy, right. And I think they have more of a case for disrespect than Notre Dame does. And they made that their whole personality last year.

[Brad Crawford]

Right.

[Will]

So I think that turning in back to back impressive seasons will be enough to get Maybe that, that, that kind of benefit from the committee. Now, again, you play Notre Dame at home. Just play them close. This is, this is 2026. This isn't the old days of yonder. Play them close. We're not predicting a dub there, right? We're at Utah. That game can always get a little bit, a little bit scary in a

[Conor McGara]

row in that they've won three in a row, right?

[Will]

No, no, no, no. I know. And of course, Utah Sweatingham. Like I get all that, but at the same time, like, I'm just looking at potential downfalls. But they're not losing at the bounce house. Let me put to you like that, like in terms of games that they can actually foreseeably lose, I just don't see a ton in here. We have kind of newer Big 12 teams in here. We have some Cincinnati, we have teams that haven't really shown me much lately, as in Kansas and Baylor. And so, yeah, I think overall, you know, even if you lose both of those games and Notre Dame at Utah, it's a rivalry game, you never know, Right? We just talked about this in Michigan, but I think even in that situation, you can go into the Big 12 championship, win that game and still get in.

[Conor McGara]

I hate you for this. I hate you for this so much. I want to byu. DYU is going to be my last pick. I assumed I was getting BYU with my last pick. This is heartbreaking to not to see. It's. It's senior ex with somebody else. It's just, it's painful. It really is, man.

[Will]

Like they can handle a couple exes. Come on now.

[Conor McGara]

Yeah.

[Will]

Goodness. Could have a thruffle with byu. It's okay. Oh, golly.

[Conor McGara]

I talked to some very informed people in the Big 12 this year before the Brendan Sorsby thing happened and they're like, BYU, man. Just trust BYU. They've learned that. Gone 15, three in conference play the last two years. I understand the Texas Tech hurdle is, is still going to loom large and until you overcome it, it's a thing. Kind of like what we talked about with, you know, Penn State against Ohio State, you know, it's still a thing and it could be a thing for them going into that conference championship game if they get it. But you're right, I mean, I think the schedule is a little bit different this year in that you have the Notre Dame opportunity, you have that marquee opportunity in non conference play and that could be a statement type game. And if you beat an undefeated Notre Dame team with what should be an unbelievable crowd that that is the type of perception changing game for you. Like I love Bear Bachmeyer. I think people forget to that last year, you know, Jake Red Sloff was the plan and then all that stuff came out with him in July and they had to pivot to this 19 year old which is not something, well, 18 year old at the time Bear Bachmeyer was. That's not something they do at byu. Like they love the old dudes. All right. And part of the reason why it's like I, I still get comments on this for my playoff, my playoff bracket that we posted like two months ago in the next round and Ibyu beating Bama in the first round and Bama fans don't know that it'd be whyu's year if that's okay. But I just close my eyes and I picture a team like that that is going to be really old in the trenches dominating a team like Bama that's kind of doing like the, you know, the two year plan with that. And I love so many elements of this team and even if I'm a little bit skeptical of them losing Jay Hill, the defensive coordinator to Michigan, I just think Kalani Sataki is the guy. I do and I hate that you got him. Here's another thing Will like, this is, this is big picture and BYU is certainly part of this conversation. It's a dwindling conversation, but it's something that I keep in mind for teams like BYU and USC here. So far in the 12 team playoff era, we have seen a lot of new faces make the field from the power conference ranks first time playoff participants. So let's exclude the, the group of five for this conversation because it's a little bit more likely that you're going to see a new team, you know, make the playoff for the first time in class year with Tulane or even like Boise State making it for the first time. Like we're just, that's kind of baked in just power conference teams making the playoff for the first time. In 2024, the first year of the 12 team playoff we had five Penn State, Indiana, SMU, Tennessee, Arizona State. Last year in 2025 we had four new power conference teams make the playoff. Texas A M, Miami, Ole Miss, Texas Tech. That number's just likely going to go down as there are less and less teams available. Like I was reading a PFF article of like the most likely teams to make their first playoff appearance and you realize like it kind of thins out a bit. It's like byu, usc, Utah, Florida and then Everybody after that, you go, oh, yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I think it's realistic to project two or three of those teams to make the field this year. And I'm kind of wishing, going back that I could have done that, because I don't think I did that. But BYU being that team to break through this year, I hate that you took them well. I really do.

[Will]

It's. It's spreading the wealth, right? And I'm going to say this, and, like, I'm not kidding, like, a positive way. Having a culture matters so much in the portal era of college football and what BYU is and what they do and what they sell, honestly, similar, similar to Notre Dame is, I think, something that goes beyond football. And ultimately, you can't litigate the things that create BYU's inherent advantages. Right? You can't. You can't litigate the way that, like, people from around the company, the country, people from around the world feel compelled to come to byu. You can't litigate that. You know, they have these, like, trips they go on that don't really count against your eligibility. And, I mean, maybe they will make a special rule for that, but it doesn't feel necessary for just kind of this one special situation. And what you've seen or what we've seen on the basketball side really makes me feel like BYU is a sleeping giant. And that's why I kind of say that about Texas Tech. Where I go, I feel like they could have a little bit of sour grapes and go look across the aisle and go, everyone's giving all this love and all this drama to Texas Tech. We're the real sleeping giant in this.

[Conor McGara]

They've ramped up. They've ramped up big time. Like the contract that Kalani Sataki got. I know everybody made a big deal about Crumble Cookie and, and keeping him from taking the Penn State job. They have really, really ramped up the last couple years. And those losses to Texas Tech probably only helped out, literally.

[Will]

And that's. That's exactly where I'm going, is that, you know, doing what they've done on the basketball side is much harder than believing in selling BYU as a football team. And so when you start to see these little, like, traces of, like, things that are starting to come together where with donors, it's all about momentum. It's all about, we gave a dollar, what does it give us? Every dollar this donor raises spit has come back to them, like, five or six fold. So I think as they continue down this path of stability and of Having a culture in this very scary world, I think it's only going to go up from here, honestly.

[Conor McGara]

Yeah, I, I'm amazed that that BYU came off the board this early, but nonetheless, I will continue. Give me my pick to win the sec. Texas. Getting them here feels probably like a value, I would think. Well, agree or disagree with this. Texas is the only team in the country where, if they don't make it to the national championship, this year is going to be considered a significant disappointment.

[Will]

Do you agree with that? Yeah, yeah, we talked about that. I had to. I had to kind of think about it. We talked about it before. Shark talked at media days. I, I think that it would be harder to sell again. Going back to the donors and everything. You know, when Sark is making the comments about we're basically cutting guys and we have this, like, pro roster and we have all these, like, you know, structures in place to then immediately turn the page and go, okay, but now we're gonna win a national championship. Yeah, Arts has moved on, but now, you know, so, yeah, I think this is really it for them. You don't fire our boy PK if you think you're happy with participation. I agree.

[Conor McGara]

Some might say Notre Dame, but if we're just talking about making the national championship, Marcus Freeman's already been there, or Notre Dame.

[Will]

As long as they have Marcus Freeman, I think their fan base is happy because he's made it clear that lots of teams want him. I think they could be perpetual 10, 10 win participators. And that fan base would be, thank God you're not Brian Kelly.

[Conor McGara]

I would agree with that. I would agree. So that's why I would. I would struggle to put them in that. But every other team that I would look at and go, well, if they. They didn't make it there, would we feel that way? You know, like, Mario Crispball doesn't get back with this Miami team. Be like, yeah, well, they made it last year, you know, and they still have ridiculously good funding. And I, like, I just think that Texas is the only one that's truly in this spot. And maybe that adds too much pressure to them. But look, it's. It's such a pivotal year for other. All the reasons that we've already outlined, of course. But Sark can also sell the revenge angle to his team, which is something that we know coaches search for as much as possible. He's telling his team, they didn't want you in the field at 9 and 3. They didn't want you there. You could have Been there. You could have beaten anyone in the country. Not Florida, but they didn't want you there. And I think missing out last year, but still finishing strong, that should have added some, some juice to those, those off season workouts. And obviously knowing that you have guys that are competing for spots in a very literal sense, as Sark outlined that, that certainly helps. I always think that when a team has that early headliner, not conference game, it ramps up what, what you're doing in the off season. They have that with the Ohio State game week two. I, I do think the schedule floor is nine and three, so I don't want to pretend like that's impossible. But Sark doesn't have to face in the regular season at least the two SEC coaches who have had his number. Kirby DeBoer. It's a no excuses team. If Texas is on the outside looking in at the college playoff again this year. Woof. I don't think that'll be the case.

[Will]

It's so funny because you said like, revenge. I'm sitting here going, okay, they beat Oklahoma pretty convincingly. They beat A M pretty convincingly. They're not playing Georgia. Yeah, they play Ohio State again. And I've got. That is the most Texas brain thing ever. But you're so right where it's like, oh, you're died at 3. We were disrespected. It's like, yeah, buddy, again, worry about being Florida. Like, worry about that. But you're right. Like within Steve Sarcasian's brain. You're so right. And I think that does like, add a little bit of fire and he's gonna be fiery. Is it gonna work out? I don't know. But I'm, I'm right there with you. And I would also argue to your point. I think Oregon's getting into that championship for bus. I think we have another year let down for your boy. We might be in trouble.

[Conor McGara]

I thought about that and I think you could probably. It's. It just depends. Because if another team for the Big Ten emerges and passes Oregon up as like a. This team wins national championship or something like that, then okay, we're having, we're having those conversations. I do think there's a little bit more stability there. It depends. It depends on what missing out a national championship would look like if they get blown out again. And that's the way their season ends with a third consecutive blowout loss in the playoff. Eek. But if they, if Oregon loses in the semifinal by a touchdown or something like that to Georgia or to Texas is it all of a sudden. Dan Landing's never going to win the big one. For some, it will. For, like, Brandon Walker and people like that, yeah, that's fine. But I think for people that are looking at this objectively, if they were to get that far, I still would tend to think that's on the table. Maybe I should include Oregon in that conversation, though. Yeah.

[Will]

And again, it's just, like, vibes can be whatever you want them to be. Right. And for them, they might just, like. I'm not saying this to period. Like, they might just be happy with what they've gotten because they never want to know, you know? So, like, maybe this is what the Oregon kind of brand is, but back to. Back to Texas. Yeah. I mean, getting them this late, I think is for sure a steal. I think that in terms of the two teams that we'd feel good about, obviously the two teams that are projected to play for the SEC championship, I think this is our last safe SEC pick. So I think getting them both really puts you in a good spot.

[Conor McGara]

An Oregon, Texas semifinal would be great theater.

[Will]

Feed families now. I mean, like, those two coaches, the pregame handshake would be so icy. You would hear, like, electricity. Like two pikachus, like, hugging in the middle. Like, they just be.

[Conor McGara]

Would be a really bad day to be a Steve Sarkeesian security guard card. Good Lord. All right, your last pick. Who you going with?

[Will]

Oh, okay.

[Conor McGara]

This gets tough right. Right around here.

[Brad Crawford]

This is.

[Conor McGara]

This is where I. I thought BYU was going to be my wild card, and I was going to get to go a little bit off. Off the board here. But I. I think we've established kind of the most clear past teams.

[Will]

I mean, I'm gonna pick an SEC team here, and there's three that I could pick, and every one of them is gonna make me upset. I. Okay. Two of them, I'd hate myself, and the other one, I'd be called Homer. Oh, God. This is a real nightmare.

[Conor McGara]

By the way. By the way, Will is saying LSU for the former style, and then. Yeah. And then Ole Miss and Alabama for the one.

[Will]

Yeah. Because if Alabama just come. But I already rooted for Alabama last year. It wasn't fun. Oh, gosh. Okay, you know what? You know what? You know what? Just to hedge my bets, give me Ole Miss. Give me Ole Miss. I have said consistently, I'm going to follow your. I'm going to follow your thing here. Even after talking to our guy, Brad. He's the word Ole Miss. I think he's a smart Guy, I think that this year 2026 is going to be a good old miss year 2027. Don't worry about that. I think this year there was enough hangover from Lane Kiffin. There's enough talent on the roster. Pete Golding's defense didn't need to tackle last year. I think this year they are going, they're going to ride that momentum and, and actually kind of be smelling their own Kool Aid and be in a great position because it just sets up too well for them. Like I said, you know, keeping your quarterback, keeping your running back again, whatever you needed on defense, you had it last year. It's not like you really. I know they lost a lot, specifically to LSU. And again, Brad talks about that in Daughtery and. Mr. Yep. And so that being said, like, I know they lost a lot, but I, I think that just in terms of where they're at as a team, they're so unified and I think that adrenaline can take you so far. I think they beat LSU and Oxford and I think that is the difference between these two teams. Honestly, I think that Elaine having to build something from the ground up and Pete kind of keeping the train rolling, I think that that game will determine a playoff spot. I think it almost wins at home.

[Conor McGara]

I would have taken them if you didn't, so it's a good thing that you took them. What's the win the breakup energy week to week with this team? Can you sustain that? It's like when you listen to a pregame hype song, something like that, and you're thinking to yourself, does that matter in the middle of the third quarter? Because it's got to be more than that. And I do think that Ole Miss has the pieces to make sure that it's more than that. Obviously I picked him to go to an SEC championship. I've said I think Trinidad Chambliss is the best returning quarterback in the sport. You've got a head coach in Pete Golding that has already won multiple playoff games. So you check a ton of those boxes and I'm, if there's any sort of over under on their projection this year, I'll, I'll take the over. I'll be right there with you. The only thing I wonder about besides just the schedule because the schedule is just an obvious Achilles heel, is if they all of a sudden in mid November don't have that energy anymore and it's an off season of talking about this and yeah, maybe you got some of those big time emotional victories early in the Season one being against lsu and they're like, man, we had that energy there, but it wasn't quite able to be sustained in what's a really difficult schedule. Again, I'm just playing devil's advocate here. I agree with you. I think they are worthy of being taken. It bothers me when I see any preseason ranking that doesn't have them in the top 10. So all those things can prove to be true. I liked the edge that we saw from them at media days. I loved the response that we got from Kiwan Lacey when Matt Mascone is sitting there asking him like, hey, what's your relationship like? Blank Kiffin, he's like, well, he's my old head coach. Last year, I. That's the type of thing that can fuel you to have the right off season mindset. Will that be enough late in the season with those games that are really going to define how this is going to go? That's kind of the, the ironic thing is that as much as we feel like that is a fork in the road game against, against LSU to win the breakup, their season won't be defined by that. That might define whether or not they win the breakup, but their season is going to kind of be defined by what happens in November with some of those games down the stretch. So I'm right there with you. I like that you took them. I hate the BYU and Ole Miss. That really. That this draft did not go as I thought it would at all.

[Will]

Yeah. And, and I'll say this too, I agree with you. But I'll take the other perspective on this. That Louisville game, they gotta win that Louisville game, they gotta win that.

[Conor McGara]

If I've done a bad job of talking about that game, and I need to be better about that because Isaac Brown against the defense that struggled to tackle last year could be a poor problem. Jeff Braum, with all that time to prepare, could be a problem. You're right.

[Will]

You're right.

[Conor McGara]

I, I've just missed that game.

[Will]

I am, I am honestly of the opinion, because I'm with you as far as the, the new boyfriend, new coach energy, you know, sustaining them early. They got to come out and punch Louisville in the mouth. I mean, they gotta, they gotta. Really. Because if that game is a loss, you could very easily sell me that things get sideways on them. But they win that game, I think they win the LSU game and then to me, if they can just go one and two through. I know, but at Texas, at Oklahoma, Georgia, in like a four week stretch. No bi. Week, four week Stretch, if you just go one and two in those games, I think people would get it. You know, I think that among SEC teams, you're not exactly going to have like the hellish gauntlet argument that some teams will. But I again, it's beating Louisville, beating LSU and then being competitive in, in those games. And like, I think there's some ways that like, you know, the way you beat Georgia could matter. If you beat Texas, the way you beat Texas could matter. But I think their whole season, to your point, you talk about mid November, that's exactly when it's going to be rubber meets the road. Because they host Georgia, they go to Norman and man, the Brent Vendable's defense at that point in the season, when you're talking about a play caller that's his first year at a place like Ole Miss could get a little bit scary. But I think that ultimately they have just enough this year to get over the hump.

[Conor McGara]

Yeah, they are the first team on this list where if they went 8 and 4, it wouldn't be shocking everybody else if they went 8 and 4. Some might say that about BYU, but they don't know that it's BYU's here. Everybody else would be like, touche, touche. Very fair point. All right, my last pick.

[Will]

Should I do it?

[Conor McGara]

What do you think will go ahead? All right, we'll take Bama. We'll take Bama. And you know what? I know for all the reasons that people are going to tell me that this team is not going to be in contention, doesn't have national championship upside, maybe it's going to get to the playoff, but then what's it actually going to do when it gets there? Look, we get to this point, I don't really feel like you could make the case that so many of these other teams that I could have picked in this spot would have a better case of making noise once they get there. Then again, you would have said the same thing last year about Miami. But I think you look at Alabama, know that they are in a favorable spot with the draw that they got in conference play. Not conference play too. With a coach who has won all these big time games and that's. That's. Those are two good boxes to check for this discussion. Will they be good enough in the trenches to be a perfect team? I highly doubt it. Can they overcome their weaknesses in similar ways to what we saw last year? Yeah, I think so. I picked Keelan Russell to be the SEC freshman of the year. I did like SEC individual awards and all that stuff as well on, on Texas you can go check that out with like order, finish that. People already know that I've done and you know, awards and, and whatnot. It's kind of fun to map that out. But that's sort of a lame award too. The more I think about it should just be true freshman of the year. I don't know why they do that. Keelan Russell's a redshirt freshman. Nonetheless. I think he's going to be a mixture of keeping defenses off balance and guessing because there's pretty limited film of him at this point of his college career. And then he's just going to run into a couple of those defensive coordinators that are elite defensive minds or maybe not even defensive coordinators but elite defensive minded head coaches who just know how to confuse an inexperienced quarterback. And Bama will lose multiple games in regular season. Okay. But the path is still good enough and when push comes to shove, I don't necessarily have the same fear about Kaylin De Bor and big time games. I do some of these other coaches, okay, like some of these other coaches that you go down the list and you're like USC I guess you could put in there. But with the difficulty schedule and it's Lincoln Riley, I don't really feel great about that. Brent Venables would check that box. I think he's won big time games. I think he's, he's been able to, to kind of, you know, push some of those narratives to the side. Like Mike Elko. I would, I would say I have more concerns about the finishing. It's not so much a big time game thing. And then Michigan with all the new pieces with Kyle Whittingham, like I'm giving you all the teams that I think others would have probably taken in that spot ahead of Bama but I just find myself going, maybe this is exactly what they need. Saban has outlined that his unbiased opinion. My unbiased opinion is that Bama is worth a selection. You considered it. So I'm not crazy here.

[Will]

Yes. And here's the question I was grappling with. So I'll ask you this. Who's the absolute dog water team that's going to be Bama this year.

[Conor McGara]

Nick Roush said the Kentucky is going to beat Bama when they come to Lexington. I love Nick. Not quite getting there. South Carolina, two competitive games.

[Will]

Yeah.

[Conor McGara]

Very competitive game so far.

[Will]

Yeah, it would be electric if they were to lose at Bandy but I don't think Vandy is there yet. I mean, I don't know if we consider Tennessee to be bad, but I could see them losing that game. There's gonna be one. That's the beautiful thing is that Bama has one minimum, pretty much two inexplicable losses every year so far into Deborah. And so I think that's the one that's hard to pick for them. If you could just contain those poor performances to a one like one against a good team, you'd probably be better. That would actually make them a better team if they could just play like crap against one good team and not one bad team that they could beat. But anyway, yeah, I, I, I'm interested by them this year because, like, when I asked you that was like one of my favorite fights during media days was like, hey, if you had to pick somebody to bet on to be an all American from Bama, you're like, Keelan Russell's like, oh. So I'm gonna ask this one more question and we'll get out of here. You got to pick one. Are we taking Ryan Grub or Mike Bobo?

[Conor McGara]

It's a good question. Am I getting. So am I, am I the head coach? I'm asking, do I get the pack? Like, is Ryan Grub, am I getting them in their current situations? Like, am I getting Ryan Grub with Kayin Debor or is it just like it's my team and Ryan Grub is running the offense?

[Will]

That's a great. I would say situate, let's just say offense versus offense to make it easier.

[Conor McGara]

I'd still probably go Ryan Grub, but I have to think about it. I do. And I, I think both of them have their weaknesses. Man, if, if Ryan Grub fails this year with, with this team and, and this offense feels like it's got too many obvious weaknesses and all these areas that you should have addressed in the off season. That just looks like it's, it's not going to be a part of Bama's DNA. I, I do wonder. We'll see the loyalty tested. Those are the two OCs in this conference where, like, their head coach is going to go to bat for him. Public, public opinion might be this, but their head coach is telling you that those guys are tied at the hip. It's a good question though, because week to week it does feel like it changes.

[Will]

Yes. In the backstory here, guys. I know we have some new listeners and everything from Alabama, but I was all over Alabama last year. I was like the biggest Bama supporter last year. I thought Ryan Grubbing had changed their offense and I was wrong. And so ultimately I'm not gonna do it two years in a row. You know, it was a coin flip or a chance I took last year. So that's why I was like, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing twice. But I'm not even really lower on Alabama than I was last year. I do think they're going to figure it out. Last year was just shocking to me. So this is the classic Alabama, classic Kaylin DeBoer back against the wall. We end up somehow winning 10 games.

[Conor McGara]

We have seen the last two college offenses that Ryan Grubb has run. It has yielded a first round quarterback. Just saying. Michael Penix still counts technically. Don't ask about the NFL stuff. All right, so our draft, the way that this shook out in very surprising fashion. You took Notre Dame, Miami, Ohio State, byu, Ole Miss. I took Oregon, Georgia, Indiana, Texas, Alabama. No group of five teams.

[Will]

I feel like I cooked there.

[Conor McGara]

I think you did too. I hate that. Was there one team off the board? I kind of, I named Oklahoma A and M, Michigan, lsu, usc. It feels like if you do this exercise there's a separator and it's like a, a top maybe 15 or 16 as well. So I'm gonna include Washington in that conversation as well. If you want to talk about path, Washington a very favorable draw in the Big Ten. Some are looking at Penn State year one with Matt Campbell going team that could actually have a higher year one floor than what summer. What some would. Some would think. But is there a team that you looked at? You're like, ah, that, that, that very easily could have been my last pick.

[Will]

I think the group of five stuff is very feast or famine, right? Because one game is completely like you have zero points. Obviously, like I said, I talked about my, my last three was Alabama, Ole Miss, lsu. I think LSU is again about a year away. I, I cannot say enough. I think the fortunes of those two teams are going to flip after this year. So it's going to take our lumps to LSU fans. But yeah, I mean again, I think, I think Michigan, same situation there. I think let's look out for them in 2027. That might be a situation. We're just getting an adult in the room and, and I'm so big on Bryce Underwood. I think they're going to improve because of serious, like it's going to be a serious program, but not quite there yet. So I think we're going to see a lot of lower building, a lot of basement or foundation building this year.

[Conor McGara]

What if I had taken Michigan instead of Ohio State instead? I'm sticking with my playoff bracket.

[Will]

Yeah, that would have been hilarious. I mean, like I said, I kind of got faded into Ohio State because I actually kind of thought you were going to take Michigan. I was like, hold on. Yeah.

[Conor McGara]

No. Nonetheless, fun exercise, though. I like being able to do that. And if I win by a significant of a margin this year, as I did last year, then we'll do something else next year. Does that sound good?

[Will]

Sure. I got you. I'm coming.

[Conor McGara]

I think so, too. I think so, too. I'm in trouble. All right, let's get to Brad Crawford. Great to be able to talk about his Pre preseason top 25 talk some South Carolina stuff with him as well. Brad is just so on top of it. Follow Brad on all. All of his social media. You can find him posting college football content just seemingly around the clock. So here's our guy, Brad Crawford. I'm now excited to be joined by a very special guest. One of my favorite guests, of course it is Brad Crawford. Brad, before we get into your preseason top 25, where are you at with Shane Beamer right now? Have we. Have we made up? Do. Do I. Or maybe Justin Kane? Do we need to play peacemaker in this whole thing after the Virginia Tech, that whole deal last year? Like, where are we at with Shane bringing that up?

[Brad Crawford]

Topic one.

[Will]

Wow.

[Brad Crawford]

I have not spoken to Shane this off season. Obviously he's on the SEC's hottest seat, so he's got his own issues right now to worry about. But me, Me and Shane, as far as I know, are on good terms. I think South Carolina has a top 25 roster. Whether that translates to a top 25 season for the Gamecocks, who knows? But I'm looking forward to the season getting started and seeing how well they do.

[Will]

Brad, we know you're sorry. Good.

[Conor McGara]

As far as, you know, on good terms. That's what I love.

[Will]

Brad, you're a national guy now, but we'll always see you as our favorite South Carolina guy. So I gotta ask you, man, it's been a little bit of a roller coaster for. For Shane, right? What would. Where are the fans at right now and what would it take to kind of meet their expectations going into the. Into this year?

[Brad Crawford]

Yeah, to be honest, Will, I think Gamecock fans expectations are always. And maybe a different stratosphere than they should be. That's just the fact that this. This fan base loves this team so much. But I think a seven or eight win Season would more than appease this fan base. As long as one of those victories maybe comes against Clemson and then you win one of those games, you. You're not supposed to against Alabama or Texas A M or Oklahoma or something, but if this team goes 5 and 7, that's probably it for Shane Beamer. I'm on the record saying that as long as they get to six wins in bowl eligibility, I think he'll stick around. Obviously, that's up to Jeremiah Donati and some of those deep pocketed boosters in Colombia. But for me, the only reason he's on the SEC's biggest hot seat is because, what, five coaches got fired last cycle, you know, and. And Shane would have been like number three or four this cycle had a couple of those guys been retained. So Shane knows the expectations are high. I think they're pretty high nationally as well. But I could see this team finishing anywhere from maybe six to eight wins.

[Will]

So we all came up at Saturday down South. Right. But kind of doing a little bit of research for this. Brad, I saw you just made a prediction. It was interesting to me. It was like a Big Ten team is gonna win it all this year. Not exactly a specific one, but just the Big Ten loose or how'd you get there?

[Brad Crawford]

Yeah, I would take the Big Ten against the field. I mean, you give me the Big Ten's top four teams, I think they win the next two or three national championships until Lane Kiffin gets things rolling. Really in Baton Rouge. Maybe that happens this year for Lane Kiffin. I don't. I don't think it will. They will be a playoff team. Lsu, that is. But I don't see him winning at all. I just like what the Big Ten has right now in terms of elite coaches at the top. Ryan Day, Dan Lanning and Kirk Signetti. Man, you're not going to find a better threesome than that in any other league. I know SEC has Kirby Smart. Steve Sarkeesian needs to still prove it on a national stage and actually win something at Texas before I put them in that realm. But I like Oregon as a team that maybe hasn't won one yet, but could potentially be the Big Tens four straight winning its first. See Michigan, Ohio State, Indiana do it. Maybe Oregon now is that team. But there's so much hype right now behind the Ducks. I'm a little bit wary now. I heard Dan Lanning say on a podcast maybe last week that, you know our expectations CFP title or bus, and he kind of balked at that notion. So that, that worries me a little bit that maybe he's not buying into all that hype either.

[Conor McGara]

I Oregon winning a national championship preseason number one. So it's a lot.

[Brad Crawford]

It's a lot.

[Conor McGara]

It is a lot. And I think he said that on part of my take too. Which look, I think that Lanning is, is in a spot that everybody's going to point to him and go, well, he's if, if anyone's going to be next, it's to going it's him. And it makes a lot of sense. But you went in a different direction. Your preseason top 25 it is out. You had a top 10. For those who haven't seen this, by the way, Brad Crawford on Instagram. Are you just Brad Crawford on Instagram now that you're just cranking out college football content on there?

[Brad Crawford]

I think it's B. Crawford, cbs. But you search Brad Crawford, you'll find me on Tick Tock IG X yeah,

[Will]

out there on Tick Tock. What's the Tick Tock by Blake Crying Man Goodness.

[Conor McGara]

All right, so your preseason top 10. You've got LSU at 10, USC at 9, Texas Tech at 8, Georgia at 7, Indiana at 6, Notre Dame at 5, Texas at 4, Oregon at 3, Ohio State at 2, Miami at 1. So like you're talking like first time national champ in Miami is obviously not like a historic first time national champ. But like I think for this era of college football that would be considered a different way of being a first time champion. We know that Miami is overwhelmingly, you know, the favorite in the acc. But why did you go with the Canes at number one above all the rest, knowing that you could probably pick some flaws with every single one of those contenders.

[Brad Crawford]

Yeah, I think I'm the only national guy this off season that has Miami at number one. They the Canes were number seven in our post spring ranks at CBS. I was the only guy of our 10 or 12 analysts who put Miami in the top spot. I love what Mario Criswall has coming back, but I am infatuated with that Darium Mensa acquisition and transfer portal. I watched him a lot last season living here in North Carolina at Duke. Fantastic quarterback. I think he fit Shannon Dawson's offense. Great man. And, and I asked Shannon Dawson last year outside the locker room after that lost Indiana, like who are y' all going after? And he, you know, he kind of had his lip sealed. But they, they had a guy in mind and that guy was Darian Mensah. Obviously. That whole shebang in January with Duke suing Mensa and all that and Miami overpaying for him, but they feel like they got a potential Heisman front runner. I think he is going to be a Heisman finalist. Got a thousand yard back and Mark Fletcher returning. There's been a lot of question about the offensive line losing four starters. You signed the top ranked left tackle in the country in Jackson Cantwell. He's an immediate starter. You've got guys behind him you feel good about. You sign two stars out of the portal. And then the defense, despite losing Mezador and Ruben Bane, man, they're going to have the best defense in the acc. So I don't, I don't see these glaring holes that others maybe who have slotted Miami outside the top five. See, I like Miami at worst finishing 11:1 and getting to that ACC championship game.

[Conor McGara]

True or false, Brad. And maybe this is the, maybe this is people that are texting you right now. Miami called you after ranking them number one.

[Will]

They did.

[Conor McGara]

Look here, you don't have to go into depth about that from Miami, but

[Brad Crawford]

I, I got a phone call, a long phone call.

[Conor McGara]

I'll just say that this, this is the funny thing about, about this stuff. And like, I, we'll keep the contents of that conversation private, but people will put anything in their back pocket to try and fuel their team at this point of the year. And even someone who literally has a national voice and is willing to go out there with something like that and, and go and like basically give Miami the, the biggest attaboy that they can possibly have, they will still try and find the flaws in what you have to say. And if I've learned anything in this business, it is that. So I do find that funny. Miami will definitely do the chip on the shoulder, nobody believed in us thing, even though like literally everybody is believing them, including yours truly.

[Brad Crawford]

And then, and then Kirk say he's gonna do the same thing at Indiana. Coaches put him outside the top five despite 14 first place votes. To me, that, that kind of showed this week that there's a third of the country that just loves Kirk Signetti and respects him. Then there's 2/3 that are like tired of all this, you know, tangent. He goes off of Big Ten media day. That, that was great, by the way.

[Conor McGara]

What, What?

[Brad Crawford]

Signetti. And then for the Big Ten to have him go last just to dig the SEC at the end. It was, was Magic man.

[Will]

Yeah. So, I mean I, we kind of teased it at the top here. You kind of predicted the power continuing to shift. I won't say shift it's just staying with the Big Ten and Connor talked about that in your top 10. You know, we've only got a couple of, of. We don't have the biased ESPN rankings here. We have SEC teams, you know, kind of lower in the top 10 is

[Brad Crawford]

a big 10 entity.

[Will]

There you go. There you go. No, but that being said, what does the SEC have to do to kind of claw its way back other than waiting for our savior Link Kiffin to, to save us?

[Brad Crawford]

I think it needs some of these new first year coaches to be ahead of schedule maybe. And then a guy like Mike Elko who is ahead of schedule at Texas A and M. Is this going to be a one year wonder for the Aggies, that that's one team will that in the SEC? I've got A&M 15th in my preseason poll. I think A and M could be a top five team or A&M could be seven and five and be outside the top 25. Like it's, it's very polarizing right now in College Station. I don't know if Marcel Reed's going to be a better player this season or worse without Casey Concepcion. I know they love Mario Craver and some of the guys they have in that wide receiver room, but it just feels like Texas A M last season took advantage of a favorable slate by SEC Sanders. This is still a team that was down four touchdowns at home to an eight loss South Carolina team. I, I can't get that out of my mind, you know, after watching that game. So A M is a team that is super volatile and I think for the SEC to get back and potentially win outside of the season, they've got to have their good teams, Georgia, Texas, lsu. Be elite and look really good in November.

[Conor McGara]

Brad, I'm probably bearing the lead by saying this. Georgia only at number seven. That feels noteworthy. Why do you hate Georgia?

[Brad Crawford]

I was shocked. Georgia was number three in the coaches poll and I think that was out of respect for Kirby Smart, obviously. Since coaches vote on this. I think Jordan is going to be outside the top five of the AP poll here in two weeks. I'm not a huge believer in Gunner Stockton and, and the Mike Bobo marriage. He's done some good things on third down, but there, there's no defensive coordinator, I think on Georgia's schedule this season that sees that game like, oh no, Georgia's going to score 45 points on us.

[Will]

Can't.

[Brad Crawford]

Can Georgia score 45 points? I don't, I don't know. There were some issues for me last season despite A solid secondary. There were some breakdowns against Ole Miss and, and really both those games they played Ole Miss, I know they split them, but the CFP law specifically. And then offensive line has a couple new starters. Defensive line should be better. Georgia was at the bottom of the league last year and like havoc stats defensively and that, that's, that's worrisome. I know they're hard nose and they tackle well, but you got to get after the passer and get that quarterback down. Georgia didn't do it. So out of respect for Kirby Smart, I'm not going to be the guy that picks Georgia to go 8 and 4 this season. But it's certainly a team that is probably going to get to the cfp and it wouldn't surprise me if they lost in the quarters for third straight year.

[Will]

Another team that I feel like you're a little bit lower on is Ole Miss. You know, they're obviously bringing a lot of talent back. They're bringing back like kind of half of the coaching staff. What's your read on that situation?

[Brad Crawford]

Yeah, I'm not worried about Ole Miss at all offensively despite losing really both masterminds, Lane Kiffin and, and his OC to lsu. But defensively that's nine new starters. Defensive line I like a lot. But losing, you know, losing a guy like TJ Daughtery to LSU was huge. Losing your top edge rusher to LSU was something that the Rebels probably can't replicate. And unless they beat LSU in September, it's a schedule that is not as favorable as it was last season. So I've got Ole Miss inside my top 15, but that's a team that I think is going to border on that 8 and 4, 9 and 3 range. And if there's an SEC team with three losses that gets in the playoff, it won't be Ole Miss because the schedule, like I said, it's not as hard as say Oklahoma's or even Alabama's.

[Conor McGara]

I do think straight the schedule is irrelevant when it comes to preseason rankings. Like I, it matters.

[Brad Crawford]

It matters.

[Conor McGara]

Why? Why, why does it matter to you? Like why, why do you do that?

[Brad Crawford]

Okay, so my preseason rankings, I, I try. If I've got Miami at one, I think Miami is going to be one entering the 2026 CFP. I, I am trying to project win loss records for all 25 teams. I do my preseason. I don't go based on summer hype. Schedule favorability means a lot to me and what they got returning and that's how my top 25 goes man, yeah,

[Conor McGara]

look, I, to each their own. I, I think that, that it's different, it's like, I think we're having different conversations if we're talking about like predicting what the playoff field will look like. And obviously like I, I, I respect your, your mindset. Like that's the, that's the thing that's tough for me with Ole Miss is like I, I do think this schedule is really, really difficult. But I'm not going to punish a team that was 20 seconds away from national championship in the preseason ranking when I feel pretty good about what they return. Whereas like Ohio State, if I were doing that exercise, I'd look at Ohio State schedule and go, well, no, I don't think they're worthy of being like a preseason two or top two or preseason top three teams. Like how do you factor that in for a team like Ohio State?

[Brad Crawford]

Yeah, if, if there's one 9 and 3 potential team that I think can get in the playoff and shake, that no. 3 loss team has gotten in. By the way, Alabama was a three loss team and got in, but the CFP just nixed that title game loss to Georgia. Didn't care about it. I think Ohio State would be the team because they're, they're going to lose at Texas in week two. That's like one of my locks of the year. Sarkeesian has been awaiting that game since losing in Columbus last year. And then Ohio State still has to go through, you know, that gauntlet during the second half of the season. But Ohio State's a team roster wise man. They can compete with anybody in the country. And Right now with LSU, Ohio State has spent about 42 million on this roster, which is just insane. You got a couple of true freshmen too who are going to play and play a big role. So Ohio State, I'm, I'm fine in my preseason top five with the Buckeyes

[Conor McGara]

talking about Tech, that Texas team, Will Muschamp will be an upgrade, a downgrade or more of the same for that Texas defense.

[Brad Crawford]

I think he'll be an upgrade because Steve Sarkeesian isn't going to be in that defensive room whatsoever. Steve Sarkeesian, by hiring Will Muschamp can now get back to being one of those ace in the hole play callers that we've seen him be during his career. Texas didn't call a bunch of great plays last season, but a couple years ago when they made back to back CFP semifinal appearances, Sarkeesian was in his bag. That didn't happen last season. So I Think Texas offensively will be much better with Will Muschamp on the defensive side of the ball and Colin Simmons. You know, Will Muschamp likes edge rushers who can get after guys and he'll probably be a nine or ten sack player.

[Will]

Now that I know that, you know your methodology for this whole ranking. How much does the nine game conference schedule factor into that? Is it kind of a strength of schedule thing across the SEC where some people are looking at preseason and how everyone sits right now and you're more so looking at how things are going to play out throughout the year?

[Brad Crawford]

Yeah, I had a column like two weeks ago that sort of detailed the SEC's move to a nine game schedule is going to be detrimental to that conference long term. I don't, I don't think that the CFP committee, unless it changes its way of thinking from the last two years is going to necessarily like a 9 and 3 team from the SEC versus an 11 and 2 BYU. What if BYU goes 11 1, loses the Big 12 championship game at 11 wins, they're still getting in over a 9 and 3 Texas. It's going to happen because the committee cares more about win losses than they do strength of schedule and schedule metrics. So the, the nine game schedule for me I think is going to separate the men from the boys in the coaching ranks. You know, guys like a Mark Stoops for instance, former UK coach, great year for him is 8 and 4, 9 and 3. I don't know if he could have done that. A nine game conference schedule and you're going to see some of those mid to lower tier coaches pile up more losing seasons because another weekend every year you got to play an SEC team. That's, that's tough, man.

[Conor McGara]

Brad, last one for you. How long until Dabo joins you on the pickleball court?

[Brad Crawford]

Clemson doesn't have a pickle ball court yet at their state of the art facility. Probably Dabble Sweeney. This, this is very interesting to me, man. He's like getting the gang back together with the. Chad Moore is higher. I, I do not understand that I have Clemson as a preseason top 25 team because I think the Tigers are going to finish in the top 25. Whether that's 8 and 4, 9 and 3, it'll happen. I don't see Clemson winning that opener though. And maybe the main headline, Connor, coming out of week one is, you know, LSU wins by 20 points and has Dabo not just lost his fastball? Does he have any pitches anymore?

[Conor McGara]

What kind of pitch would it be if Dabo. If Dabo's on the mound and he's thrown out a first pitch, what's Dabo doing? Is he bringing. He's probably bringing the gas because he runs down that hill like he's got, you know, hamstrings for days and he just can't possibly get hurt. What kind of pitch is Dabo throwing?

[Brad Crawford]

He's probably so. He's probably so confident. Yeah, he's gonna, he's gonna hang one and just dare you to hit it because he doesn't, he doesn't do portal. He doesn't like Nil, doesn't like all this SEC and Big Ten boasting. So yeah, he's going to go with his best pitch and dare you to

[Conor McGara]

swing at it if he does. Chad Morris, though, don't take that one out of context.

[Brad Crawford]

That's why Dabo's era is like 850 now.

[Conor McGara]

So goodness gracious. Brad, you're the best. Really appreciate the time, man. It was, it was frustrating not seeing you at SEC media days. I'll be honest. We missed, we had, we had enough former SDS people there. It would have been nice to add one more miss. Miss being able to sit with you right there in the, the main media area. But you, you were miss. Hopefully you'll get to see you soon, man.

[Brad Crawford]

Y' all know SDS holds a special place in my heart. Fellas.

[Will]

Good seeing you again, man.

[Conor McGara]

All right, well, let's close with some lad of the week. Mind if I start?

[Will]

Go ahead.

[Conor McGara]

Big topic of conversation. The type of thing that we would have talked about last week if we had had a regular show. My light of the week is Josh hypel.

[Will]

Okay.

[Conor McGara]

The two game suspension for Aryan Carter over a 427 flight was 100. The byproduct of the NCAA basically taking exception to Tennessee after the Nico Yamaliava ruling. That basically was the beginning of the end for the NCAA if you want to go back of realizing no, they have no power anymore. Nonetheless, the NCAA, as it is still somehow capable of doing, suspended Tennessee's defensive leader for multiple games for accepting a pre draft flight. But then coming back to school he was working out at a one of those facilities and Josh Hypo was rightfully upset. The PG version of what he said was that it was BS and that is an outdated rule. Again, PG. The irony is that Carter reportedly paid back the $427. And he is likely making hundreds of thousands of dollars from Tennessee this year. Directly from Tennessee. Yet the NCAA still just pretended like it was 2014 and threw the book at him with a multi game suspension from a football standpoint. Well, this is significant because Tennessee is going to be without their best linebacker against Georgia Tech, who added Justice Haynes this off season, who very much has best running back in college football potential. And that's, I mean that's after the Chaz Coleman thing unfolded. We've already talked about the questions year one of the Jim Knowles defense. So like that's not nothing. It's not like he's just getting suspended for a couple of, you know, a couple of cupcakes. That's a real game on Tennessee schedule that could shape perception of Josh Hypo this year. But I love that Hypo got out there and defended his guy. You know, you can be bold in this day and age. Like you can get out there, especially if it's against the ncaa. Like everybody's going to be on your side there. I try not to cuss because I think strong language should actually mean something. And I think in our society we're a little bit too numb to it. It's just kind of part of our culture. I'm not trying to sound preachy or, or that's just the way that I have tried to approach it as an adult. And I understand like it's different for every other person. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but I think it means, it means something coming from Josh Hypo in that way to come out and say this. That's a rallying cry for his team and he can sell within that locker room that there are actual outside forces working against them and not some media poll or this person said you're going to be that or something like that. Like no, literally the governing body or the thing that still moonlights is the governing body of this sport came out and is telling you that you're best player on the defensive side of the ball cannot play because of an outdated rule. That's ammo. That is legitimate ammo for, for Tennessee and it does hurt their on the field product. But man, for being able to kind of get that locker room going, I do think that Josh Hyple can and will play that to his advantage. And I just thought that this, this whole situation was another reminder of why Josh Hpel continues to be the adult in the room.

[Will]

You know, man, the more I see out of this Tennessee situation, the more I feel myself rooting for them. And I know it's toxic. I know it's Date Mike. I know it can't last. But, like, I just feel like it's like, can last. You see.

[Conor McGara]

How do you like your eggs in the morning?

[Will]

I'm really rooting for, like, how do you like me now? Shout out you and karaoke.

[Conor McGara]

How.

[Will]

How do you like me now? Situation for Josh Hypo where he's like, hey, I'm getting kind of screwed on one end by the NCAA with these outdated rules and getting screwed on the other end by Chance Colvin and giving this guy a suitcase full of money and hoping it'll help. And it's just all these things have broken against him and he's like an underratedly kind of funny guy. He's got, like, kind of awkward timing, but if you really listen to him talk, he's got some zingers in there and people like, again, the way he looks, the way he emotes. That doesn't exactly lend itself to that. But if you really listen to him, he's a pretty insightful guy. So I'm right there with you. I think that, like, they could surprise some people this year, maybe negatively, but I find myself rooting for him. I do, too.

[Conor McGara]

I. I really do, too. Josh Hypo can't have a hottie like me now season. He definitely can. It's very much on the table. This. This would be a good preamble for by the way, at karaoke when I did how do you like me now? Go search the my Twitter. That's that video somewhere. Posted the last couple weeks, I almost tore my acl. That would have been tough that you can't turn your to ACL on karaoke, by the way, like, two beers deep. So we're not. We're not talking about, like, actually drunk. The stage was just a little bit smaller than I was anticipating. Did not have good spatial awareness. Need to have a better feel for when I'm out of balance. It was tough. Your boy just almost stepped right off the stage, like, mid chorus. I was like, this. This would be a tough way to go. I. I mean, that video would have definitely done. Done some serious numbers. Had that happened, it would not have been a how do you like me now? Moment for me.

[Will]

Look, here's what you do. You tear your ACL doing how do you like me now? You got to just seamlessly transition to I ain't as good as I once was. Right? You're on the ground. You're. You're writhing around. I. Good. They're. They're carrying you out like a stretcher. You're giving the thumbs up the whole crowd's cheering. That would be the coolest moment of your life. So you just got to hit the. Hit the marks there.

[Conor McGara]

Oh, well, I don't wish that would have happened, but that's the play.

[Brad Crawford]

Oh.

[Conor McGara]

What? That would have felt too. That would have felt a little too staged, but, man. Ah. A seamless transition that could have been. Oh, well, maybe next time.

[Will]

Yes. Set it the vein of guys we missed out on. Gotta shout out our guy, the tiny raccoon, Jimothy. I know we're a couple weeks past the discourse there, who was an absolute lad. There have been all these, like, tracings of Jimothy, where they found his dad, they found his siblings. As an online veteran, I'm a little scared. Have you ever heard of the phrase milkshake duck?

[Conor McGara]

You know, I haven't. Why do you ask me that?

[Will]

So milkshake duck is like, we love this guy. It's like, Freddy, you know, we love this guy. Or the. The soccer guy. We love this guy. He's awesome. And then someone, like, finds an old tweet and they're like, actually, we found out milkshake duck is like, in a culture. And then we all hate them. I'm scared of what? Like, if people are gonna start, like, overfeeding Jimothy or something. But as of right now, it's a really pure online moment, so I love that. And I wanted to do a baseball related one, and this is not me blowing smoke, but I was, like, writing down, okay, who are the best homegrown guys in baseball? We got Pete Crow, Armstrong, for not demanding $500 million in requesting a trade. I feel like that's exactly. I think baseball's head for a lot guys. I could have just as easily gone for the Japanese or Korean baseball association, which we'll probably be watching in the off season for a couple of years here. But, yeah, it's our. It's our unite again. It's our uniting against the Dodgers. I feel like we're at this point where, you know, like, I've gotten more and more into baseball the last couple of years, and it feels good, like, to root for these homegrown players and these rosters that are kind of built the right way, even on bigger teams. But then you see the Dodgers kind of assembling the Avengers, and you're like, man, this is pretty rough. And this feels very much like soccer F1, where we got need to have some kind of a cap here.

[Conor McGara]

Technically, PCA was traded from the Mets just in case that wasn't enough. For the Mets to digest.

[Will]

Well, that's an American hero right now. He escaped the Mets oppression and ended up, you know, coming on a real

[Conor McGara]

organization, not an American hero probably for saying that he questions if Babe Ruth actually existed. Tough. Look, that was a bit.

[Will]

That's if people thinking that wasn't a bit. I'm lost because he's like, oh, you know, would be a funny one. What if I thought that everyone started laughing and then like people just assumed he was being serious.

[Conor McGara]

Christian Cavallari, you mean, wasn't the person that was going to check him on that. She wasn't gonna be like, wait a minute, there is footage. Maybe you just haven't seen it. It's, it's there. He very much existed. We have first hand accounts of people that can confirm that he existed. Yeah, look, I, I don't hate the Dodgers in the way that I probably should. Talk to me in late October when my team inevitably doesn't have enough firepower to beat them in a seven game series. They did just, you know, take care of the first two games of the series so far this week. But yeah, I more so am frustrated that baseball owners that are on the opposite end of the spectrum choose to continue to be on the opposite end of the spectrum. And yeah, there probably does need to be a cap. I don't hate the Dodgers for trying to just do everything they possibly can to win. Even the deferred payment stuff. Like, it's ridiculous that they have like over a billion dollars in deferred payments to these guys. But they're operating within the system. It's not necessarily their fault that they continue to do these things. And like, I thought the package for Scuba was going to be much greater than it actually was, you know, and it didn't end up being this, this insane thing. So, you know, they were able to play that card. And who knows if, if maybe we need this in baseball. Like maybe we need, you know, just a constant villain because the Yankees haven't been good enough to be a villain for 15 years. The Dodgers have certainly morphed into the villain for all those reasons. But I, I don't hate them in that way. Like, I, I don't. It's more so the, the Pirates of the world and like spend more money. That's kind of the name of the game.

[Will]

Yeah. And that's the thing. This is the only topic I think ever I've struggled to find an actual lad of the week to talk about the thing that's going on in sports. Right. But I Would say a salary floor is my biggest number one issue. Like, I think if we could pair a cap with a floor. But floors, if I could have one wish it would be, hey, if you can't afford to have a baseball team, probably don't have a baseball team, you know. And I think that's what's getting lost in all this is like on the top end you have like 15 Scott Boris clients who, yeah, their earnings would be docked, but I think on the other end, it would create so much more wealth for the laborer and the working class of baseball to just say no. A's owner, Ray's owner. You got to spend more money, dog.

[Conor McGara]

Yeah, what a concept. But making too much of a profit and they don't feel like they have to, which sucks. But yeah, baseball definitely heading for a lockout. More emphasis than ever to win a World Series this year. Definitely feels like that. I want to get us out here with an email. Got an email from our guy Tyler. Speaking of Chris the Capillary. We're gonna get to something in a second here. Okay. Tyler says, by the way, email us the OG kickoff gmail.com Would love to be able to hear from you thoughts on this episode. Thoughts on us, thoughts on anything. Let us know. Tyler said, you guys are getting me extremely excited for the 2026 season College football with all the SEC coverage at media days. As sad as I was to hear that you left sds. Different verb than I would have used, but that's okay. It's clearly evident that the quality of product you produce is still top notch with the OJ with the OG kickoff. The games, drafts, predictions you do are amazing. Fun to see how they play out by the end of the year. The interviews you do with all the SEC coaches and other analysts are fantastic. I listen to Josh Pate and others you've interviewed, so it's great to see a crossover. I love the crossover editions of Lockdown SEC podcast for the same reason. Shout Out Our guy, Chris Gordy, of course. Speaking of karaoke, Connor, it's hilarious. You mentioned the Jay Cutler don't care story. I'm originally from St. Petersburg, Florida before moving to Nashville. Both cities have experienced a huge boom in residence in the past decade. Plus I have a hat from from St. Pete that says thank you for not moving here, which is meant for Florida but works in Tennessee as well. Whenever I wear it in Nashville, locals love it and ask me where I got it. Shout out to my high school buddy's company, blah blah blah. Vint local.com thanks for that free shout out. Whatever. I saw Jay Cutler out in Franklin one day at a restaurant having lunch. He lives nearby, about 25 minutes west, so not necessarily a surprise. I was wearing that hat and hoped he saw it and said he liked it, so I could have replied don't care loudly in a sarcastic, funny moment. Unfortunately, the interaction didn't happen, but definitely could happen in the future. Not that you and will need another reason to visit Nashville, but all this talk about food on the pod. Maybe want to mention that there is a Culver's 13 minutes from my house and an in N out just moved its headquarters eight minutes away.

[Brad Crawford]

Wow.

[Conor McGara]

I have not had in and out in my life. Don't know why. Been to California. It just didn't happen. Didn't happen. I was there for a week. Didn't happen. Don't know why. Keep up the great work. As always, hit me up when you visit for a tour of all that Nashville has to offer. From Tyler. Thank you, Tyler, for confirming the Jay Cutler don't care thing is real. I did not make that up. I'm still saying it often, even when we had the ruling on Friday night. SEC in Big ten protect college sports. Don't care. Don't care.

[Will]

Tell me who is eligible and how they're eligible. That's all I care about. Yeah.

[Conor McGara]

How many yards did he have after first contact?

[Will]

There you go. Now we're talking analytics, Connor. Yeah, I mean, as it relates to Nashville, I'm probably part of the problem there. If you want to move into Nashville, get yourself a signature home. But I am actually going there in two weeks for a little summit up there. It's a beautiful place, really excited to see Nashville and. And honestly, it's a credit to our team up there that I haven't been there a ton because they're really, like, ahead of schedule. They're crushing it in our Nashville kind of division. And so I've told them, like, you guys are doing such a good job. I just end up going to Birmingham. And so, yeah, shout out. Shout out Nashville again. Like, I've been a couple of times. I love it out there. It's one of the few cities I could see myself relocating to. I'm sorry, but it's a. It's a beautiful place. And when you live somewhere that is awesome, people tend to move there. I saw that with Atlanta. I think that boom is more or less over. But, yeah, it's a. It's a really, really great spot. And I couldn't be more thrilled to be slightly associated with it.

[Conor McGara]

We had ICC meeting days in Nashville next year. Just saying hot chicken all week. Not all week. That'd be tough. Heartburn's real. We don't disrespect heartburn. We never do. But Princes Hattie Bs there are more authentic local ones. I get that. I understand. But yeah, full tour. Full tour of all that Nashville has to offer. Courtesy of Tyler. Thank you for emailing us. Like I said, theogkickoffmail.com caffeine. What are we doing? Caffeine. Get ready for the season. We got to have our caffeine routine locked in right now. This is not the time to necessarily be tinkering or like I'm taking like

[Will]

a three week break from caffeine.

[Conor McGara]

No, no, no, no. Lock in. Let us know. We'd love to be able to hear from you if you participated in any of our live live shows that we had at SEC Media days in Tampa. Thank you for following along. It's really, really fun to be able to do that every day that we were there. A lot of great stuff that came out from that Follow along with all of our content on social wheels. We cranking out graphics and videos and stuff like that that we had from our our four days in Tampa. So check that out. Leave us a five star review. Subscribe to the next round on YouTube. Subscribe to the OG Kickoff on YouTube as well. Follow us on Twitter @tjogara@ Go so hard at the OG Kickoff. Thanks guys. Talk soon.

[Brad Crawford]

It.