Local Hour: Head-To-Head

Summary

Podcast Summary

Podcast: The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Episode: Local Hour: Head-To-Head
Date: December 1, 2025
Location: Elser Hotel, Downtown Miami

---

Main Theme & Purpose

This “Local Hour” dives deep into South Florida sports and college football, focusing intensely on the University of Miami Hurricanes and their position in the contentious 2025 College Football Playoff (CFP) selection. The hosts and contributors passionately argue Miami’s case, dissect the flaws of the playoff system, mock selection criteria, and engage in playful banter about sports bias, head-to-head results, and the subjectivity pervading modern college football. They also sprinkle in local sports legends discourse and reflect on NFL and other college teams.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Miami Sports 'Local Legends' Debate

• The crew jokingly debates which South Florida personalities, like Mike DePasquale and Steve Shapiro, qualify as true “local legends.”
• Tandems are compared, with playful banter over longevity and impact.
• Discussion shifts toward Miami Dolphins figures: OJ McDuffie is lauded; Channing Crowder is debated, with a humorous story about Crowder and Steve Smith’s “on sight” mall confrontation from years prior.

Notable Quote:
“I’m not calling him Robin. I’m saying in terms of tandems...”
— Dan Le Batard (02:03)

---

2. Despair and Frustration With Dolphins Performance

• Hosts vent about the painful experience watching the Dolphins play poorly but narrowly defeat the Saints.
• The sense that anger toward a team is better than apathy.
• The AFC’s overall weakness is ridiculed (e.g., Bengals “in the mix” at 4-8).
• Discussion of missed opportunities, player mistakes, and questionable outcomes.

Timestamp:

• Dolphins–Saints Despair: (04:38–07:22)

Notable Quote:
“If you’re fighting that way to beat the Saints at home, you stink.”
— Dan Le Batard (07:11)

---

3. The College Football Playoff Debate: Miami Left Out

• Miami’s Resume: Hosts lay out Miami’s domination this year—pointing to physical wins, a potent offense, and back-to-back 10-win seasons.
• Systemic Gripes: Frustration at the CFP’s shifting criteria (“quality losses,” then “quality wins”) and the lack of consistent logic.
• Head-to-Head Obsession: Mario Cristobal and the hosts hammer home that direct results (“head to head”) should outweigh statistical resumes or computer ratings.
• Comparisons: Miami is unambiguously compared to teams like Oklahoma, BYU, James Madison, Texas, and others for the final CFP spots.
• National Media: There’s mockery of ESPN and pundit rhetoric—accusations of bias, ignoring Miami’s on-field proof, and normalizing Miami’s exclusion despite the “eye test.”

Notable Quotes:

• “There’s just no one who’s watched college football this year who wouldn’t look and say, I don’t care what the computers say. Miami is clearly one of the 12 best teams in the country. It’s obvious.” — Jonathan Zaslow (16:02)
• “We are at a point in 2025 where we’ve distorted this thing so much that anybody who’s watched college football this year would just simply tell you… Miami is one of the 12 best teams in the country.” — Jonathan Zaslow (17:17)

Timestamps:

• CFP System Critique Begins: (07:54)
• “Head to Head” Rant: (28:34; 29:05; 36:01)
• Jeremy’s Counterargument: (25:58–28:22; 32:53–36:14)

---

4. Role Reversal: Jeremy as Devil’s Advocate

• Jeremy is tasked (“Kevin Spacey in Seven” manifesto style) with arguing why Miami should not be in the CFP—presenting resumes for BYU, James Madison, Texas, etc.
• The crew mock-complains that Jeremy’s arguments (ironically) strengthen Miami’s case and even joke that Miami’s odds improve as he speaks.

Notable Quotes:

• “Instead of having Mario Cristobal do post-game interviews where he’s saying the obvious, we should actually hire Jeremy to make an argument against us … it actually helps Miami’s case.”
  — Dan Le Batard (41:14)

• “He finds a way to make Miami’s case more compelling when he argues against it.”
  — Dan Le Batard (41:35)

Timestamp:

• “Jeremy Time”: (25:58–28:22; 32:53–44:09)

---

5. Miami’s Historic Grievances and Playoff Exclusions

• Reflections on Miami’s past near-misses (e.g., 2000 FSU/Washington season, lack of instant replay costing titles) and habitual snubbing by the system.
• Passionate case that Miami is a “physically special” team worthy of playoff contention.
• Playful, recurring jabs at the inconsistencies of selection (e.g., how head-to-head apparently matters everywhere but for Miami).

Notable Quote:
“Every single person that is either a common opponent or a head-to-head advantage is ranked against the other … There is one outlier … Guess which one that is … It’s Miami.”
— Dan Le Batard (37:35)

---

6. Meta Comedy, Show Traditions, and Self-Awareness

• Moments of self-deprecating humor about podcast technical difficulties (e.g., on-air power outage).
• Recurring in-jokes: “Put it on the poll” (re: Ed Hudak handshake strength), ad read interruptions, and poking fun at their own passionate biases.

Notable Moment/Quote:
“I lost my power button to hit him with the—stop talking. Because the power went out earlier in the segment, during his segment, as he just stopped doing …”
— Jonathan Zaslow (41:49)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |------------|---------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:03 | Dan Le Batard | “I’m not calling him Robin. I’m saying in terms of tandems...” | | 07:11 | Dan Le Batard | “If you’re fighting that way to beat the Saints at home, you stink.” | | 16:02 | Jonathan Zaslow | “There’s just no one who’s watched college football this year who wouldn’t look and say, I don’t care what the computers say. Miami is clearly one of the 12 best teams in the country. It’s obvious.” | | 17:17 | Jonathan Zaslow | “We are at a point in 2025 where we’ve distorted this thing so much that anybody who’s watched college football this year would just simply tell you… Miami is one of the 12 best teams in the country.” | | 25:58 | Jeremy | “Yeah, I was going to say you’re wrong on invoking Kevin Spacey’s name. We could have done literally anything else.” | | 29:05 | Mario Cristobal | “You get to settle it on the field where head to head is always the number one criteria for anything regarding athletics and football.” | | 36:14 | Jonathan Zaslow | "...I'm never going to notice. The Pringles should be running. It should be Fletcher. Every time. I'm going to hit you in the face mask again. What you got? What do you got, Rhett Lashley. I got this." | | 41:14 | Dan Le Batard | “Instead of having Mario Cristobal do post-game interviews where he’s saying the obvious, we should actually hire Jeremy to make an argument against us because I think it actually helps Miami’s case.” |

---

Important Segments by Timestamp

• Local Sports Legend Debate: 01:35–02:28
• Dolphins Frustration and NFL Parity: 04:38–07:22
• Miami Playoff Case and CFP Critique: 07:54–13:10, 16:22–17:02, 29:05–41:00
• Jeremy’s Counterarguments/Devil’s Advocate: 25:58–28:22, 32:53–44:09
• Historic Miami Football Grievances: 24:55–25:57

---

Tone and Style

• Language: Candid, irreverent, passionate, and frequently sarcastic.
• Energy: Heated and fast-paced, blending insightful criticism with comedic riffs.
• Self-awareness: Frequent acknowledgment of their own local bias and how it colors perceptions.

---

Summary for New Listeners

For anyone not tuning in live, this episode is a raucous, impassioned exploration of college football’s broken playoff system as it affects Miami, seasoned with local sports nostalgia, NFL gripes, and the show’s trademark absurdist humor and friendly squabbling. The cast channels the South Florida sports psyche—combining pride, paranoia, and a comic sense of injustice—while using Miami’s snub as a springboard for broader commentary on how modern sports is determined far less on the field and far more by the whims of judges and pundits. If you want an authentic, rollicking South Florida sports conversation, this episode delivers.

Transcript

[Dan Le Batard]

Now's a good time to remember where Tequila's story truly began. In 1795, Cuervo invented tequila. Cuervo what are you doing here?

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Cuervo? Anytime someone says Cuervo, I show up.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, I do know that to be true. But even during ad reads like Cuervo, I think he could lay out especially for one of our great partners.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Sweet, delicious Cuervo.

[Dan Le Batard]

Since then, Cuervo has stayed true to its roots. The same family, the same land, the same passion.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Cuervo.

[Dan Le Batard]

So enjoy the tequila that started it all. Cuervo. Cuervo the tequila that invented tequila. Proximo Cuervo.com Please drink responsibly.

[Commercial Announcer 1]

Cuervo There's a reason Chevy trucks are known for their dependability because they show up no matter the weather, push forward no matter the terrain, and deliver. That's why Chevrolet has earned more dependability awards for trucks than any other brand in 2025, according to J.D. power. Because in every Chevy truck, like every Chevy driver, dependability comes standard. Visit Chevy.com to learn more. Chevrolet received the highest total number of awards among all the trucks in the JD powered 2025 U.S. vehicle DEP Awards based on 2022 models. Newer models may be shown. Visit jdpower.com awards for more details. Chevrolet Together, let's drive Black Friday Savings.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

Are here at the Home Depot, which means it's time to add new cordless power to your collection. Right now, when you buy a select battery kit from one of our top brands like Ryobi or Milwaukee, you'll get a select tool from that same brand for free. Click into one of our best deals of the season and stock up on tools for all your upcoming projects. Get Black Friday Savings happen Coming now at the Home Depot limit 1 per transaction exclusion Supply full eligible tool list in store and Online.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Is Mike DePasquale a local legend? No. Oh, there's some longevity there.

[Dan Le Batard]

Pretty sure he was a local legend last week. This is a sliding scale.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

This. I don't think I asked him about Deepa's quality last week.

[Ed Reed]

How about because I specifically remember being asked and not answering.

[Dan Le Batard]

Because if someone mentioned Steve Shapiro, like I'm right there with the deepest quality. It's like Batman and Robin. Whoa.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

You got to give Steve Shapiro local legend.

[Dan Le Batard]

I'm not calling him Robin. I'm saying in terms of tandems, you've.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Got to give Steve Shapiro local legend. You have to. And if you have to, give it to him, Deep Esquale has been doing it longer. No, at this point, isn't Shapiro retired a few years ago.

[Ed Reed]

Yeah, but Shapiro not. I think Shapiro still.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

I think we could look that up. But before we do that, Channing Crowder. No. Ooh, that was quick.

[Dan Le Batard]

Whatever, man, is he speaking for, like, the committee?

[Jonathan Zaslow]

You gave OJ McDuffie local legend and not Shannon Crowder channel.

[Ed Reed]

OJ's an all time great Dolphin receiver.

[Dan Le Batard]

Crowder's a legend.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Yeah, but no, I was. This wasn't about. Wait a minute.

[Ed Reed]

It plays a part.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

You gave McDuffie local legend. Based on the playing career, it plays a part. But nobody else we were talking about had that fumble return.

[Dan Le Batard]

That was a big one. Dan was like, all season, he doesn't touch the football. And then Channing Crowder touched the football in a big spot.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

I heard a great story the other day. It was great about Steve Smith 15 years ago, okay, Channing Crowder is running across the middle, and Steve Smith blindsides him. It's not even a legal block anymore. And Channing Crowder goes sliding on his back like 10 yards. And when he gets up, because it was like a wet field when he gets up, he told Steve Smith, anytime I see you anywhere around the world, I'm gonna bleep you up. I'm gonna. Anytime I see you. He says this to Steve Smith, that's called on site. Yes, it is now. It wasn't then. It's called on site now, but he was saying, I'm gonna bleep you up. And so 15 years later, 15 years later, Steve Smith sees Channing Crowder across a mall somewhere and starts to take off his hat and his wristwatch and starts to take off his shirt. Because he's assuming, if I see you 15 years later. And Channing Crowder, who was a notorious badass, like, people feared Channing Crowder. He, like, wrestled boars in the off season. Channing Crowder was like, oh, no, I don't hold the grudges that long. Like, I don't. Channing Crowder's like, ah, that's funny. And Steve Smith's like, no, I wanted to. I would have fought. I would have fought 15 years ago in a mall. In a mall. Just seeing something.

[Ed Reed]

Do you know what on site means?

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Well, didn't you say. But he. Steve Smith was reminding him. Didn't you say, say that it was on site any other time, like, Steve Smith did that to get him to back down in a mall. Or they could have fought. Or like, Steve must have been the.

[Fantasy Football Analyst]

Expensive part of Sawgrass.

[Dan Le Batard]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the stu guts Podcast.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

The worst team A. The worst feeling a team can have locally in a market is that its fans don't care. So if you're angry. If you get angry, that's better than fans not caring. I got angry at the Dolphins yesterday for making me watch that and forcing me to have to talk about that today when I'd like to talk about the University of Miami and Inter Miami playing a championship game. And Aaron Rodgers very much looking at this stage of his career like somebody in a Survivor movie who is being hunted by humans. You tell me I'm wrong when I say that at the point. Like, he's got a cast on his arm. He's got blood all over his face and he's looking around like, what am I doing this?

[Dan Le Batard]

Why?

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Why am I doing this? And it's because the AFC is that bad. Cincinnati's in the mix at 4 and 8. They're in the mix. Cincinnati's legitimately in the mix. But I was. I was mad at the Dolphins yesterday. Zaz for making me watch any of that and deserving to lose it. And the Saints are God awful. Like, who are these people? Who. Who? Veil. Val. You got a quarterback with two H's in his name. You cannot win with one of those. You cannot point. You've got a kicker who does not have a vowel in his name. His last name of any kind. No vowel. Who were those people? You've got a guy named Stutz. Man. Hitting. Hitting hn cleaner than anyone's ever hit him. And I'm mad the entire time at my television. I don't want to be watching any of this. Holy shit. Too is bad. We're going to do this for another 16 games.

[Dan Le Batard]

How do you pronounce that? Shock. I don't get it. Shock doesn't look like Shaw. Shaw.

[Fantasy Football Analyst]

Shock.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Shock.

[Ed Reed]

Tyler Schalk.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

The Dolphins should have lost that game. Olive should have lost. No. They hit him in the hands.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's Olave. A Cuban catching touchdowns in Miami. That was a good moment for us.

[Fantasy Football Analyst]

How did he not catch that ball?

[Jonathan Zaslow]

He. That was. The Saints had the game in their best. They're only good players. Kamaru's not playing. Olive, did you make a Miguel Olive.

[Dan Le Batard]

One Cuban wide receiver. Get his name right.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

They should have lost that game. And I don't actually want to talk about it. Except the despair of the Dolphin fan around. Tua must be so large because that game. That game was torture to watch. I understand that. That league. In that league. Six of the seven games in the one o' clock window. A lot of bad football. Six of the seven games, one score game in the fourth quarter. So of course, I don't know how that league does it. I really don't. How these shitty, shitty teams that Tennessee is the only one yesterday that's slaughtered or Minnesota on its seventh quarterback is the only one that's getting slaughtered. So all the games are going to be close, but if you're fighting that way to beat the Saints at home, you stink.

[Ed Reed]

Yeah, well, we know the Dolphins stink, but I had a different experience than you watching that dolphin game yesterday, because I was watching it on an airplane home from Norman yesterday. So if you can, like, if you could find a way to watch your, your favorite team on the airplane, like you're just, oh, thank God I got something to watch.

[Fantasy Football Analyst]

It's a great feeling.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah.

[Ed Reed]

So, like, I didn't have that.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Yeah, but you're trapped, okay? So you've got three hours of entertainment. It's not like you're going to read a book like you're going to sit there.

[Ed Reed]

I don't look like I read. Is that what you're saying?

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, did you watch that football game in Norman? Yeah, of course. For the game.

[Ed Reed]

I left at halftime.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, I would too.

[Ed Reed]

I left it half terrible football. I watched the rest of the game of the hotel bar.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Okay, so let's, let's go, let's get there quickly because Oklahoma is not better than Miami. I've watched both of these teams all year. All Oklahoma has is a defensive line. If they got a quarterback with a broken hand like that, they cannot do anything offensively. They have no chance to win the championship. But Miami's better than byu. Miami's better than Utah. Miami is better than Oklahoma. Miami is better than both of the teams playing in the ACC championship game. You cannot have a system that does this. And all of a sudden the acc. You know what it is? It's a small conference.

[Ed Reed]

That ACC title game is an abomination.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

You're treating the ACC now like a tiny, like a tiny conference. Manny, come on.

[Fantasy Football Analyst]

That's funny.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Manny Diaz playing in a championship game before Miami does in the acc. That's insane.

[Jeremy]

It's ridiculous.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

That's Duke.

[Fantasy Football Analyst]

Even man, he's got to be like.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Look what, look, look what's going to happen to Miami here. This is unbelievable. It really is. Okay, Malachi, Tony is an unprecedented player in the history of the program. There's never been a guy who can catch the ball one handed and be a jitterbug in the open field and beat you Deep and also he's going to be the greatest non passing statistical quarterback they have in the history of the program. He's a threat in so many ways. You must see him in the top 12. Like this is clearly one of the 12 best teams in the country. Don't give me computers, don't give me voters, don't give me anything. Anyone sitting in front of a television. If I Show you the eight games the Hurricanes have won by 17 or more points in a way that ravages physically ravages opponents like South Florida, a very good opponent. I know the ACC is bad, but Miami is clearly an obviously to the eye and anyone who's ever watched football would say yes, that's got draft picks all over the field. That's one of the 12 best teams in the country. It's not half a team like that's not even half a team like Oklahoma. It's all Oklahoma is, is pass rush. They don't, they don't have anything else.

[Ed Reed]

We were so close to this not even being an issue. If LSU wins that game like it's over. Canes are in.

[Dan Le Batard]

There have been about three dozen games over the last three weeks that Miami.

[Ed Reed]

Needed, but that was like the one.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Auburn, Auburn to Auburn Auburn.

[Dan Le Batard]

Auburn's been doing that all year to us. Like come on. War Eagle one time.

[Ed Reed]

But LSU was up like all game in Norman this weekend.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's weird. Itest doesn't seem to apply to SEC teams. Miami got held out of the cfp, rightfully so, because their defense was a disaster. Oklahoma's offense is every bit that kind of disaster. But they're going to get in and Miami's going to get screwed out of this one. I think it's pretty obvious now that they've conditioned the audience and the nation to normalize head to head, not mattering. And all these other arguments bring in the computers. Miami's got very good advanced stats ratings, very good. But like there, there isn't a big gulf between Miami's numbers and the other teams. We're just, we're already used to Miami being left out of this discussion. They've spent the last month doing that.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

All right, let's do this this way. Okay. Because you can tell me if you've watched all of the football this year, you can tell me you think the ACC stinks and that's fine. I'd argue that over the course of what happens to these teams during a season, Louisville and SMU now are not the same team. They, they played Miami like these games are Physical Justin Herbert's out there with one hand. Like you understand or I understood the last two weeks of what I've seen of Louis Bill. Louisville football is not that Louisville is bad. It's that they got healthy against Kentucky. Louisville's very good. That's not a bad loss to lose to Louisville. But I understand how it is. People look at this conference and are now treating it. When you have Duke and Manny Diaz playing in the championship game and Miami still never played in one of those, you can't tell me Mario Cristobal hasn't fixed this. I'm seeing one of the best teams in the country. Like I'm watching it every week. It's not just that they're interesting. They've got a team that was built to win a playoff. This, this is as balanced a team as there is in the country. Yes, they lost a one score game against SMU in overtime. So that game the entire conference is basically coming down to. SMU was in the playoff last year and now SMU beats you in overtime because they pick off a ball and it's one play. And it's the worst loss you have in four in two season seasons it's six points. Because in two years Miami will have lost four games and not be an either playoff. That doesn't make any sense to anybody rational who's ever watched football. Like just nevermind if you haven't seen the last two years just on the history of what football is. You don't do this to this program because you gotta get BYU. And I saw BYU dragged by Texas Tech like BYU. I saw Texas Tech. There are three teams in the country that have beaten people 17 or more. Okay, it is Texas Tech Tech. It's Ohio State defense, obviously championship. Good. And when you, when you look at what's happening to Miami, you see what's happening here, right? Utah is one of those teams. Utah also dragged by Texas Tech because Texas Tech is good enough to beat anybody. But so is Miami. Like that's that. I can't say that of many teams. I could say it of Ohio State, I could say it maybe of Indiana. But you've just made college football so different that Ohio State, Indiana for the championship there doesn't matter at all.

[Dan Le Batard]

You could say it about Notre Dame too. Notre Dame is very good.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Ohio State and Indiana are playing a game and it doesn't matter at all. That would have been the biggest of all big games. And now it's not even a playoff game. It's a game that doesn't matter because they could all rest their players. Well.

[Ed Reed]

Well, no, because you're not guaranteed to get the buy if you lose the Big Ten championship game. That's important.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Okay, fine. You get the buy. Ohio State shows you that they don't play close games. They haven't played anybody. They will win with defense. They might be half a team too, for all I can tell. Like there are a lot of FL in college and pros and injured. There's a lot of flaws. This is the most wide open NFL we've seen, is it not? Like where the afc, you've got. If I had told you before the season, the top of the conference, Broncos, Patriots, Bears. Nobody has that right, right? No, nobody has. If I had told you before the season, San Francisco's going to have that many injuries, but they're coming in at the bottom of the NFC at 9 and 4. At 9 and 4, they're the bottom of the NFC while Bengals 4, 8. In the mix football at the highest level is a bunch of people being hurt. And now us playing random ball as the Colts might miss the playoffs because look at their schedule the next five games.

[Ed Reed]

Dolphins are one game worse than the Chiefs.

[Dan Le Batard]

Daniel Jones has a broken what?

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Broken fibula.

[Dan Le Batard]

I feel like you need one of those.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

It seems like you would have them not broken would be the best way to play football.

[Fantasy Football Analyst]

I know we kind of moved on the NFL here, but it's just at some point I'm going to need someone to explain this tiebreaker thing and how Duke is in this ACC champ.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's a joke.

[Fantasy Football Analyst]

Have you seen who they beat in the acc? They beat all. Like, I think Clemson's their best win. Have they beaten any of the teams.

[Jeremy]

That they're tied with?

[Dan Le Batard]

You have a House head to head. Not Chris. You have an sec. You have an ACC championship game which features two teams in it. Neither of those two teams has a win over the top five in the conference. You have a team in Virginia that lost to NC State. That doesn't count in the conference. And you have a team in Duke that lost to UConn that's 7 and 5 and again played nobody.

[Ed Reed]

Dan, if Duke wins the ACC championship, come on. It is a very real thing that they're going to be two group of five teams in the playoffs and not the Hurricanes.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Okay? So I know that people hearing this and I would not blame them for this. All they would hear in my voice of this biased show is some form of the wonderful tears that you've wanted emotionally because all of this is ridiculous. Like we're doing it with judges, we're doing it with scorecards. It's gymnastics. It's made for television. Boxing. It's nonsense. We are at a point in 2025 where we've distorted this thing so much that anybody who's watched college football this year would just simply tell you, watching all of the games. Miami is one of the 12 best teams in the country. Clearly, physically, they've got something that feels a little professional. Offensive line and defensive line, they've lost two games to Rhett Lashley, to two of the best coaches in Brom. And that's going to happen to Mario at least once a year. We didn't expect to happen twice, but we know that's going to happen to Mario at least once a year. And SMU in Louisville. Louisville gets a interception game, three great interceptions. There's just no one who's watched college football this year who wouldn't look and say, I don't care what the computers say. Miami is clearly one of the 12 best teams in the country. It's obvious.

[Dan Le Batard]

And Miami's offense looks way different. We knew what was. We were fearful headed into that SMU game that you have your tendencies, you're pretty predictable. You're trying to win these games in close margins when you're the more talented team. Also absent from the national discussion was that was one of the worst officiated games that, that we've seen for a very. A very poorly officiated conference. But I'm happy that we've got back to back 10 win seasons. Mario Cristobal has done what he set out to do. Even though everybody that you would ask before the season is, oh, it's got to be the playoffs or Charlotte. The fact that you're sitting at 10 wins and you're neither in the playoff nor in Charlotte is something worth criticizing. But it was a great season. A lot of people stuck their neck out over the last four weeks.

[Ed Reed]

You're waving the white flag.

[Dan Le Batard]

No, I'm not.

[Ed Reed]

No, that sounds like you're waving the white flag.

[Dan Le Batard]

What I'm saying is, welcome to the watch. You guys got it from here. I was ranting Raven, sticking my neck out, terrified that this team would fall on its face in November like they do every year. Mario Cristobal had my back. This team looks incredible. It's playing its best football. And now I'd much rather Dan LeBatard do the yelling and shouting. Jonathan Zazzle, welcome to the party. It's the holiday season. Fantasy football probably not going your way like most of America, your football team. Hopefully you're still in the mix. If your college football team is in the mix, congratulations. You've made it this far. Why don't you toast your friends with some Miller Lite at the holiday party? It is a surefire winner. It's the holiday season right now, so why don't you celebrate the 50th anniversary of my favorite beer, Miller Light? Every time I crack open a Miller Lite, I look around at my friends and family and I think, yeah, this was the right call. It's a taste you know you can depend on. Brewed for flavor with simple ingredients like malted barley, rich, balanced toffee notes, and that iconic golden color. And at 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces, it lets you enjoy the season without weighing you down. The best holiday beers are the ones you don't expect. Miller Lite great taste. 96 calories. Go to millerlight.com dan to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. Tis Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Co. Milwaukee, Wisconsin 96 calories, 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. The World cup is coming back to North America for the first time since 94. 48 teams, these giant stadiums, the whole continent turning into one massive party. I cannot wait. But actually getting tickets to any of this, yeah, that part is brutal. That's why the gametime app has been a total lifesaver. It gives the advantage back to us, the fans. You can track price drops in real time, get alerts when seats open up, grab tickets the second they hit the app app, all backed by the game time guarantee. I'm on the app looking at World cup matches in Miami because, you know, I'm not missing that. I'm scrolling through every section in the building, behind the goal midfield, lower bowl, upper ball, and the deals are good. I had great seats locked in within minutes. The experience is so simple and intuitive. Two taps and I'm done. And the price? No surprises. Fees are included. The seat views are my favorite feature. You get a full panoramic look before you buy. And I love zone deals. Gametime picks the seat and you save even more. Take the guesswork out of buying soccer tickets with GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account and use code DAN for $20 off your first purchase terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code dan for $20 off. Swipe, tap Ticket.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Go.

[Dan Le Batard]

Download the GameTime app today.

[Jeremy]

Folks.

[Fantasy Football Analyst]

Fuel your game day with the unbeatable crunch of Hampton Farms, the official peanut of bowl season. Perfect for sharing with friends, tailgating outside the stadium, or cheering from the couch. Grab a bag from the produce aisle of your local grocery store and savor the game one peanut at a time. Let's get nutty.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Don Libertard.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's not my favorite rejoin. Context needs to be applied. Going for a joke and thought the context was applied. We. We'd like to rip that out of context. I was going for a thing and you're gonna have a family.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

You're gonna pretend here that you don't love Matthew Tkachuk more than you love anybody you've ever loved.

[Dan Le Batard]

I. I don't love Matthew Tkachuk more than my daughter. Now it's pretty damn close. This is the D Ler show with the St. GS.

[Ed Reed]

Did Chuckle help out at all this weekend?

[Dan Le Batard]

It did. From what I was told.

[Fantasy Football Analyst]

They learned their lesson. They learned their lesson. There was like a three or four minute stretch late in that game where Miami fans would have been rubbing their nipples listening to it. They were like one of the best teams in the country.

[Jeremy]

The eye test.

[Fantasy Football Analyst]

This is the performance they needed. They were saying all the things that they didn't. Didn't say last week.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Look, I will say a couple of things that I found interesting about the last couple of weeks of coverage. If you were listening to this show and listening to the end of that broadcast where poor Louis Riddick and Bob Washoes and had to descend into the muck, they've got an uninteresting game. Miami is dragging Pittsburgh by the neck around the field. What do we talk about? Oh, I know. Chuckle will show that he's been influenced by Mike Ryan and his co conspirators. Lou Riddick will be asked all sorts of questions that put Lou Riddick in the corner where both of them were saying, yeah, Miami is one of the best teams in the country. Obviously, again and again, Louis Riddick is saying of Malachi, Tony, he's saying, no, no, this is the best there is. Like, he's like, this is the very best of special. The way that they're using this football player on the field. And you heard in the broadcast that Chuckle and Lou Riddick had been bought and paid for by the Miami propaganda army.

[Jeremy]

Or Miami just played better.

[Fantasy Football Analyst]

And they're saying what they said.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

No, they. That's not the way Chuckle was talking a week ago. It is not.

[Fantasy Football Analyst]

Like against Virginia.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

No. Well, you said it and it's not true. But they didn't look great.

[Fantasy Football Analyst]

Maybe not. I mean, somewhere in the middle, between.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

And again, again, I will just give you the stat again. There are four teams in the country that have won this many games by 17 plus. Those four teams are not Indiana. Indiana is not one of them. It's Ohio State, it's Texas, Texas Tech, it's Utah, and it's Miami. So on the full slate of whatever their schedule is, if you think it's that much weaker than Ohio State's or all those frauds in the sec, it's. It's not.

[Dan Le Batard]

Am I wrong in thinking this is an apples to oranges comparison? But this feels like the 2000 season where Miami lost to Washington but beat Florida State, but it was Florida State that ended up going to the national championship.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Totally different system. Now this is the history of Roy. Roy's got it exactly right, of course. And Roy is sitting here saying, you were this upset 20 years ago, Dan. You cared like this 20 years ago. And it is the last time I cared about this because this is clearly a wrong.

[Ed Reed]

Like it's just that year was the all time bullshit.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

But Zaz, when I simply say, okay, it's always been about judges and you know, voters and influence. I saw many years, Nick Saban pleading on television, just running propaganda everywhere. Where Nick Saban, what I would was doing interviews that I thought were beneath him because he realized that part of the job was this time of year the way to get into the playoffs with judges. Argue your way in. Get in the most old fashioned way. Argue. So I saw Mario Cristobal with Mike Ryan in his ear. I saw Mario Cristobal. He gets the post game interview and he doesn't care what the question is. His only job here I got TV time is to swagger in front of the microphones and say out of nowhere. No one asked him about Notre Dame. No one asked him about Head to Head. He just went straight in. And the only God given American thing that I know about football is that Head to Head matters.

[Ed Reed]

It would have been great if instead of actually letting her ask the question, he just took the microphone. Just took the microphone. Wrestling. All right, my turn.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

He practically did.

[Dan Le Batard]

Mario's a big time old school 80s wrestling guy too. He learned from the best.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Chris, do you have. Do we have. I know our computers have been buffering. There have been some video. Okay, so that's not helpful to me now. Is Jeremy ready in the other room? Because Jeremy has been listening to us talk the entire time. Lest you think that this will only be Miami bias. Roy, file that away. I want to come back to yes, we've always been doing it this way but this will be one of history's great wrongs when it comes to this program. It would have another championship if not for instant replay. Not yet being around when Cleveland Gary was fumbling at the goal line the before Alabama, Miami was in the position that Alabama was where they they were the ones with all the pros.

[Dan Le Batard]

Miami's legitimately got three national titles that they were boned out of but this.

[Ed Reed]

We could probably say that about most big programs.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

No, not, not three. No, no not There's a penalty flag in the air like just one, one call decides a championship. Not very often but this is the best team I've seen since those teams last year's was not. It had the best player Cam Ward made that the best offense. What I've seen from Miami this year has been championship good. I believe this team can beat anyone and also lose to a well coached team that's a two touchdown favorite as they did twice this year. But Jeremy has been eating it for weeks on the Miami subject and Jeremy has had no room whatsoever to make the argument on behalf of everyone else. So I've told him please put your own your notes outside over there and you tell me what you think when I can go to it. So he's been in this Kevin Spacey and seven kind of manifesto stage of arguing the other side of this. Where am I wrong, Jeremy? On anything I've said over the course of these 25 minutes and how do.

[Ed Reed]

You feel about the Kevin Spacey.

[Jeremy]

Yeah, I was going to say you're wrong on invoking Kevin Spacey's name. We could have done literally anything else. But look, there are five automatic qualifiers, right? You're going to have osu, uga, Texas Tech, Virginia if they beat Duke and then the winner of Tulane and North Texas and then in terms of at large bids, Dan, you tried to make the argument that Oklahoma doesn't deserve to be there over Miami. They have two losses. Those are to number five Ole Miss and number 14 Texas with wins over number 10 Bama and Missouri, which I know how Mike Ryan feels about the AP. We don't even have to count number 25 Missouri, but they do have a top 10 win there. Better losses than Miami does. Tougher schedule when we're bidding for numbers 11 and 12. I think the first team that you have to mention, Dan, BYU, they have one one loss this season. It's to number five Texas Tech. If they have a second loss it'll be to the same team in their conference championship game because they actually made it to their conference championship game. They also have two top 25 wins with wins over number 15, Utah and number 21, Arizona. So we have to include BYU.

[Fantasy Football Analyst]

We have to.

[Jeremy]

You have to include BYU. It would make no sense in terms of resume when you're looking at each and every one of those. When you're nitpicking. Even if they lose to Texas Tech, that's crazy. Two losses, both to a top five.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

They're gonna get dragged.

[Jeremy]

That's fine.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

They're gonna get dragged the same way they were last time. Texas Tech is a good deal better than byu.

[Jeremy]

That's right. And I think Miami, you would make the argument, is a good deal better than SMU or Louisville, but they lost both of those games to unranked teams. I want you to look at the rest of these resumes here, Dan.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

This Texas Tech team is the best Texas Tech team I've ever seen. It's better than anything that Michael Crabtree was doing at the top of when they were beating Texas. Like this is the best Texas Tech team there's ever been. And. And they're going to drag BYU again anyway.

[Jeremy]

You're making the argument on behalf of BYU then, because if their loss is to a better team, if Texas Tech is maybe the best team in the country, the best Texas Tech team ever, those two losses to Texas Tech shouldn't knock you down so much. So to me, BYU is an obvious number 11 there. But when you look at the rest of these teams, you've got Miami. Now let's start looking at losses. Obviously they have the head to head win over Notre Dame, but when you start looking at losses.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Hold on just a second. Let me influence you a little bit before you get going too much further Worth, here's Mario Cristobal getting a question after the game, ignoring it entirely, and just chirping Mike Ryan's thoughts into a microphone.

[Mario Cristobal]

Well, the fact that this is a College Football Playoff team, I think we've all seen it. We know it. Proud of the way our guys came out, dominated from start to finish and certainly we left a lot of points on the board as well. But, you know, we're really starting to click. We're getting some guys healthy. We still didn't have our top corner back and he's going to be back in about a week. Our defensive tackle is still out, so we're. We're looking at even getting way better here in the next couple weeks.

[Commercial Announcer 3]

You don't want to stump for Your team until this game was over. For the selection committee watching today, what do you hope that they saw out of Miami football?

[Mario Cristobal]

Complete dominance. You know, a team that just. We've got great players in all phases and we're playing great football in all phases. And you know what the best part about football? You get to settle it on the field where head to head is always the number one criteria for anything regarding athletics and football.

[Commercial Announcer 3]

I appreciate the time. Congratulations.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

No one asked him about that. It was good to see the floating head of Ed Hudak still protecting, still protecting coaches. Let's put that up on the screen so people could see that Ed Hudak has been doing this for um coaches for a long time, protecting them from all people around them. Them who might be scary. Look at that. That is the face of um football for real. Yes. Go ahead and do that close up because people do not know this, but go. Look. Mario Cristobal always has Ed Hudak whispering things like in his ear. Yes, look, that man, his.

[Fantasy Football Analyst]

Hey, what's up with that question?

[Jonathan Zaslow]

He protected Mario's coaches. That guy protected Mario's coaches. And that guy has been in his ear and he's proud of Mario right there. There.

[Fantasy Football Analyst]

Just went full tell the handshake. That guy's got.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Oh my God.

[Dan Le Batard]

Rip your wrist clean off.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Put it on the poll at Lebiton show. Will Ed Hudak rip your wrist clean off with a handshake? And he will. He's been law enforcement for this town. Do you know the scars that leaves protecting that program for 40 years? How many times Dennis Erickson had to be driven home?

[Commercial Announcer 4]

This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Listening to this podcast. Smart move. Being financial, financially savvy. Smart move. Another smart move. Having State Farm help you create a competitive price when you choose to bundle home and auto bundling. Just another way to save with a personal price plan. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings and eligibility vary by state.

[Commercial Announcer 3]

Kay Jeweler's Black Friday sale is on. Now's the time to get up to 50% off Black Friday deals. With savings this big, you can get gifts for everyone on your list. Plus, if Black Friday lines aren't your thing, skip em at Kay. You can buy online and pick up in store or get free shipping right to your home. This holiday season, unwrap love and savings with Kay. Exclusions apply. See kay.com exclusions for details.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Close your eyes. Exhale. Feel your body relax and let go.

[Commercial Announcer 3]

Of whatever you're carrying Today while I'm letting go of the worry that I wouldn't get my new contacts in time for this class, I got them delivered free from 1-800-contacts. Oh my gosh, they're so fast.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

And breathe.

[Commercial Announcer 3]

Oh, sorry. I almost couldn't breathe when I saw the discount they gave me on my first order. Oh, sorry. Namaste. Visit 1-800-contacts.com today to save on your first order.

[Jeremy]

1-800-Contacts.

[Dan Le Batard]

Don Lebatard it sounds to me like.

[Jeremy]

Everybody could use a hug because a hug is always the right size.

[Dan Le Batard]

Stugats.

[Jeremy]

All I have put in my body today is three cups of coffee and an entire cup of don't let him fool you.

[Fantasy Football Analyst]

He said in the break that he's jittery.

[Dan Le Batard]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugats.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Ed Hudak has been protecting coaches in this market for 50 years and Mario Cristobal did him proud with his team and his argument. But let's go back out to Jeremy to see if he can argue the other side of this.

[Jeremy]

Well, he's just looking at head to head. Dan, There are several other teams that qualify here. I already mentioned BYU should be the 11. You have Alabama. Now they lost to FSU. That's a tough look. Their other loss to Oklahoma, they could end up with a third loss to Georgia in this scenario. It's going to be tough to overcome that in my personal opinion, despite their three top 25 wins. But there's two teams you can look at here. Dan. Let's start with James Madison. Now they have one loss this season. They will be a conference champion with one loss that lost Dan to Louisville. A team that you all are trying to convince me is not a playoff eliminating loss for Miami despite the fact that they also lost to unranked smu. James Madden Madison as a conference champion with a dominant win over Old Dominion. Old Dominion. Dan who beat Virginia Tech by 30 plus points. A win that Miami is trying to hold up as a great win over the last month. Showing you the type of team that they are.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Keep it moving Jeremy. Be a professional. The power went out and it's you gotta just keep going. You gotta keep doing show. You gotta keep Jeremy like if we're on live television.

[Ed Reed]

Jeremy, you know about being a professional.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

The power went out. Jeremy.

[Jeremy]

I know about being a professional. Professional me.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

James Madison is the argument you're gonna make.

[Jeremy]

James Madison. James Madison be there over the University of Miami. But if you want to do it, the Other way. If you want to do it the other way and not go based off of who's a conference champion, but go based off of who has the best wins, who's beat the best teams, who's actually shown that they can beat playoff teams. That's where you look at Texas. They have a win over number seven, Texas A M over number eight, Oklahoma, over number 13, Vanderbilt. Their losses coming to two automatic qualifiers in Ohio State and Georgia. There is the tough loss of Florida. But how do we stack up that Florida loss as compared to 2 unranked.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Jeremy, I don't think you heard me the first time I said this because I haven't heard something from you about Notre Dame yet. Did you hear him the first time he said it?

[Mario Cristobal]

Head to head is always the number one criteria for anything regarding athletics in football.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Well, that's what I'm showing you. You want to put James Madison in there? Fine. Take Notre Dame out.

[Jeremy]

I don't have Notre Dame in there. I have BYU and James Madison as your final two teams getting an at large.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

You're not hearing him.

[Jeremy]

Notre Dame over Miami. Head to head is irrelevant if Notre Dame also doesn't.

[Dan Le Batard]

You get one school named after a person. You get one school named after a person. Pick one. Brigham Young or James Madden. You can't put two schools named after a person head to head.

[Jeremy]

If Hudak could help Miami protect the ball, maybe they wouldn't.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Can you put on the poll juju at lebatard show? Can you put two people in the playoffs named after a person? Two teams in the playoffs. Because this is James and Madison. Well, this is the other thing. Thank you for doing that again.

[Mario Cristobal]

Head to head.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Do you realize that the only reason Mario Cristobal is not undefeated is because what he believes about football is right at his core, is I'm going to try and run up the middle and I'm going to beat you.

[Mario Cristobal]

Head to head.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Right up the middle with Fletcher.

[Mario Cristobal]

Head to head.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

I'm never going to notice. The Pringles should be running. It should be Fletcher. Every time. I'm going to hit you in the face mask again. What you got? What do you got, Rhett Lashley. I got this.

[Mario Cristobal]

Head to head.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

What do you. What do you. What do you got?

[Mario Cristobal]

Head to head.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Just straight up the middle.

[Ed Reed]

I got to be honest, I think Mario Criswell is wrong. I think he's wrong when he says head to head matters in everything in athletics and football. I would argue head to head matters in so many things outside of athletics and football.

[Mario Cristobal]

As well, for anything. Regarding athletics and football?

[Ed Reed]

No, just for. For anything.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Anything for anything. Anything, yes.

[Ed Reed]

Not just athletics in football. For anything.

[Mario Cristobal]

For anything.

[Ed Reed]

If something is going on in the world and there's anything head to head happening that matters.

[Mario Cristobal]

For anything.

[Dan Le Batard]

You know what, you're making good points.

[Ed Reed]

But.

[Dan Le Batard]

But I feel like Jeremy cooked my ass with that James Madison win over Old Dominion. Cause that Old Dominion beating Virginia Tech worse than Miami did. Like you're right, man. I. I'mma lay my sword down. That one hurt.

[Jeremy]

I'm not the only one who's talking about wins over teams that other teams didn't play as well. That's been the argument for Miami all the way through. Is beating down opponents that maybe other teams couldn't compete against beating teams that beat other teams. If we're going to constantly be doing the transitive process property, you have to look at a team that's a conference champion or not and has dominated their entire schedule outside of Louisville, a team that Miami holds up as a loss, that is not that bad.

[Dan Le Batard]

I mean, I hear your point, but we're actually not doing head to head as Mario Crystal Ball points out or common opponents. We're doing it literally everywhere in the CFP. If you look throughout the top 15 in the CFP, every single person that is either a common opponent opponent or a head to head advantage is ranked against the other, especially if they have the same record. There is one outlier throughout the entire top 15 where common opponents do not matter and head to head does not matter. Guess which one that is. Guess. It's the obvious one. It's Miami. We look what they say when they say Notre Dame, they lead with equality losses. Okay, that's the argument. That's a barometer. Why is Alabama ahead of Miami all of a sudden? Sudden the criteria shifts to quality wins. We're literally shifting the criteria team to team rather than holding one consistent. If you're invoking quality losses, then invoke it. When. When it comes to Alabama, they lost to fsu. Now then the conversation changes to quality wins. It's clear as day what's been happening over the last month. Been trying to.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Is it clear as day? Is it clear as day? Because Jeremy, you're not listening to Mario when he says head to head. You're still here arguing for James Madison and invoking old Dom. You do not believe with a straight face that Miami is not one of the 12 best teams in the country. You don't believe that best teams in.

[Jeremy]

The country is not the conversation that I thought we were doing this based off merit. If you're going to constantly argue that the singular game between Miami and they settled in on the merits.

[Dan Le Batard]

Who won more games, that's merit.

[Jeremy]

Who's winning more of their games? There's a team that's going to be a conference champion, there's going to be a conference prince champion that is excluded from this conversation in a 12 team playoff, of course, unless Duke ultimately beats Virginia, in which case the ACC should not have a single team in the playoff. If that's the case, including Miami, because BYU would get in there, James Madison would all of a sudden become an automatic qualifier with either Two Lane or North Texas. Virginia shouldn't make it. And as you can see here, Duke lmao.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

All right, Jeremy, thank you for your contributions. The. The argument I would make. All right. This. I am indeed a little late to this, so my humble apologies in not articulating this this way earlier because I have failed the region and my alma mater in whatever it is that I aspire to around neutrality. But my argument in 2025, after many years of watching championship football in this market taught to me by this program. Okay, my argument for the computers and the voters and however it is anyone measures this stuff, whether it's Herb street or Fine Bomb or however it is that the advanced metrics are measuring sports better than ever today. My argument in 2025, after 40 years of experience in this market, is my argument on behalf of Miami is look at the. Just look at them.

[Dan Le Batard]

Or the most obvious one. They beat the other two.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

No, but just look. Just look at them going up and down the field, mauling people on. On the offensive side of the football, only to get bleeped where their coaches will bleep it up because they're obviously. Look at them. Look at them. Physically, they're stronger than everyone they're playing.

[Dan Le Batard]

I just had an epiphany watching Jeremy do that fairly uninterrupted. I was on the FPI College Football Playoff predictor and Miami's chances actually went up as Jeremy was tough.

[Ed Reed]

Really.

[Dan Le Batard]

And I think that this is a bold new strategy we should put out. Let me reach out to Cam Gorby over at the University of Miami.

[Ed Reed]

Go on.

[Dan Le Batard]

Instead of having Mario Crisbal do post game interviews where he's saying the obvious, we should actually hire Jeremy to make an argument against us because I think it actually helps Miami's case.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

I think it's a good strategy.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yes, he is that unlikable.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

No, it's not.

[Dan Le Batard]

He finds a way to Make Miami's case more compelling when he argues against it. Hear me out. I think this is the way numbers.

[Fantasy Football Analyst]

Literally went up 3% while he was.

[Dan Le Batard]

The more he talks, the more people like Miami. Keep it going, Jeremy.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

I lost my power button to hit him with the. Stop talking. Because the power went out earlier in the segment, during his segment, as he just stopped doing.

[Fantasy Football Analyst]

How about us?

[Dan Le Batard]

That was the Lord. That was the Lord showing us a path. But we can't cut off. Jeremy. He must keep speaking.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Jeremy, are the Heat broadcasts so lean and mean that there's never a mistake where the power goes out out?

[Jeremy]

Like there's never been a mistake on if you broadcast. No, not by me or anyone else.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Wow.

[Fantasy Football Analyst]

Other than the action being like four seconds. Eric Reed.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

I mean, geez.

[Ed Reed]

Wow.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

He's looked at him. He's pissed off. And I don't think this is about him being unlikable. I think the moment you mentioned. Oh, you don't. No, I. This is what I would say.

[Jeremy]

Not this time.

[Dan Le Batard]

You're finally giving him the usage rate he wants. Give him more. Feed him the rock. I need him there.

[Jeremy]

The.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

The argument on the other side of it, once you've gotten to. I concede on Notre Dame. You guys are the same. And I can't. I can't do it head to head. I'm going to make the argument around head to head. And here I'm going to go get James Madison. I'm going to go get James Madison. And what I'm going to look at and say to people is an Old Dominion beat Virginia Tech by more than Miami.

[Dan Le Batard]

That was good shit, Jeremy. You keep doing that.

[Jeremy]

You're welcome.

[Dan Le Batard]

Hey, look, I love that point.

[Jeremy]

Losing to Louis. Louisville, you both did the same thing. Except Miami also has another loss.

[Dan Le Batard]

Louisville.

[Jeremy]

And there's going to be a conference champion right here staring you in the face. There's also going to be Texas, that has a bunch of good wins. Three top 15 wins right there. Now, they have a loss, Jeremy, that Miami beat, so I won't include them. They have Alabama, fsu. Hey, I thought you wanted me getting the usage rate.

[Dan Le Batard]

No, no, I'm saying. But you. You just mentioned Texas, which went to overtime with Kentucky, a team that just lost to Louisville. Florida, a team that just lost to Louisville, 41 0. That team, Kentucky, took Texas to overtime.

[Jeremy]

Oh, now we're not even doing the results of the game. We're doing if they went to overtime. Do you want to talk about the first quarter against Florida in the swamp? I mean, what are we doing they.

[Dan Le Batard]

Texas also lost to Florida in the swamp, a team that Miami thoroughly dominated. It's just like out of all your metrics, when you want to invoke Old Dominion and you want to do common opponent stuff. The most obvious common opponent thing is head to head. Okay, then I won't pass the matter.

[Jeremy]

I won't do that. I'll do James Madison's going to be 11 and 1, 12 and 1 and win a conference championship.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

You can't win an argument against this. You're losing to Mario Cristobal head to head with your charts, the number one criteria for anything and your whiteboard and your your Kevin Spacey in seven for anything. Right?

[Jeremy]

I am white and making you bored.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Manifestos.

[Dan Le Batard]

Now's a good time to remember where tequila's story truly began. In 1795, Cuervo invented tequila.

[Commercial Announcer 4]

Cuervo.

[Dan Le Batard]

What are you doing here?

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Cuervo? Anytime someone says Cuervo, I show up.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, I do know that to be true. But even during ad reads like Cuervo, I think he could lay out especially for one of our great partners.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Sweet, delicious Cuervo.

[Dan Le Batard]

Since then, Cuervo has stayed true to its roots. The same family, the same land, the same passion.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Cuervo.

[Dan Le Batard]

So enjoy the tequila that started it all. Cuervo. Cuervo, the tequila that invented tequila. Roximo Cuervo. Com. Please drink responsibly.

[Jonathan Zaslow]

Cuervo.