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Dan Le Batard
You're listening to Giraffe Kings Network.
Austin James
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Jessica
Visit MyFreestyle US to see all terms and conditions. Certain exclusions apply. Data on File Added Diabetes Care for prescription only Safety info found @freestylelibre us.
Stugotz
So you're getting hungry. Really hungry.
Mike Ryan
Head to Jack in a Box and.
Stugotz
Pick up a smashed Jack.
Mike Ryan
It's a juicy, delicious smashed burger topped with cheese, pickles, grilled onions and Boss.
Stugotz
Sauce and it's now available on Sourdough. The Smash Jack Only a Jack in the Box?
Mike Ryan
Order one on the Jack app today.
Taylor
This is the Dan Levator show with the Stuttgarts Podcast.
Jessica
Today's episode is sponsored by DraftKings. Stay tuned because you'll hear more about DraftKings and all it has to offer throughout the show. DraftKings the Crown is yours.
Mike Ryan
I will tell some of our favorite listeners who come out and see us even if we're on the edge of the Everglades watching the Dolphins wheeze past the jets in overtime. Aaron Rodgers. Those are the best two games I've seen Aaron Rodgers play. The last two are the best two I've seen him play. He's auditioning for a new job because.
Stugotz
Or the same job.
Mike Ryan
The only reason the Dolphins lost yesterday is because the jets insist on being losers. That's and. And two is great. He's got the highest completion percentage of anyone who's ever thrown a football.
Stugotz
Yeah.
Mike Ryan
Yeah. In season career wise, nobody's ever been more accurate than this person at people being throwing the football and catching it.
Stugotz
I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I want Aaron Rodgers back. The thought.
Taylor
Shut up.
Stugotz
The thought of Aaron going somewhere else and being great somewhere else. I'd rather him just be bad as a Jet. I'm serious. I can't watch Sam Darnold every week. I can't watch Geno Smith every week. I don't want to watch Aaron Rodgers win somewhere else. I don't lose here.
Mike Ryan
First 300 yard game since 2021. He has not been good but he's auditioning for next season and the last two games he's looked Good like that. The Dolphins deserve to lose that game. They could not, though, because the jets are losers.
Taylor
Do you think that Aaron Rodgers documentary is going to help him at all? Because I feel like it's only going to hurt him, right?
Mike Ryan
Hurt him how? He wants to be seen as unusual and eccentric, and he's got some of that function in.
Taylor
In terms of getting a contract next year. I feel like we're all going to watch be like, yeah, it's probably best not to go down that rabbit hole.
Jessica
I don't think he wants to be seen as any of those three things.
Mike Ryan
You think blacklisted for having kooky theories is what's going to keep him out of the league.
Taylor
Not blacklisted, but I mean, his play hasn't been great and at a certain point you're like, is it worth this headache?
Mike Ryan
But then he can claim that he was blacklisted because he had two good games. He just threw for 300 yards. He shredded the Dolphin defense. Those were dimes. Like everything he was throwing on third and fourth down, I'm like, oh, that's what Garrett Wilson is supposed to look like. Oh, look, devonte Adams. That's what a million reps looks like. Like, that's not possible to stop. He's going to drop back third and four, and you're not going to be able to stop it. The jets didn't have to punt like the Dolphins win that game in overtime, but didn't deserve to. Your boy Sanders is the most accurate kicker in the league.
Taylor
Yeah, we workshopped this idea, Dan and I put the kibosh on it because it's not fully fleshed out. But I would like to run it by you because I feel like you're going to like this idea, just not in its present form. So we didn't go to air with it. Right. So I was told by Taylor, who's a singer songwriter of our generation, some are saying, and he was saying, tomorrow you need to literally eat humble pie when it comes to Jason Sanders. So what I was going to do is I was going to go to Burger King, go to the Drive through, get a piece of Hershey sundae pie, which is absolutely delish. And it's like $1.85, which is a great deal. So I was going to get a slice, but then I figured eating a slice of pie would not suffice. But also eating an entire pie, I mean, my sugar would be crazy right now. Like, I'm not diagnosed pre diabetic, but I know that my diet is not good. And I know I'm headed in that direction, so I don't want to be eating an entire pie. I feel like that's going to. And poorly.
Mike Ryan
So what are we going to do?
Taylor
Well, that's the thing is we need to figure out. We need to figure out what type of pie is. Is eaten here. Because I feel like you like the idea of a segment called eating humble pie. When someone is proven wrong, however, the payoff is just. You're watching someone eat a pie. So what is the actual payoff there? Besides just making.
Mike Ryan
I would imagine eating a whole pie would hurt. I imagine would be unpleasant.
Billy
Yeah, but it's a pie.
Stugotz
Eating pie is far.
Taylor
It's also.
Mike Ryan
That's the thing is that if Jessica. Jessica makes good things. An entire pie. Like, you went to the hospital for an onion. You might go to the hospital from eating an entire pie.
Taylor
Yeah, well, that's the thing is, like, if I go. If I go next door and I'm just eating a slice of pie, and I'm like, dan, I'm doing this new makeup.
Mike Ryan
Make us a humble pie.
Stugotz
Yes.
Taylor
Eating a humble pie, and I'm just eating a slice of pie, you'd be like, this is a giant waste of everyone's time. You're just enjoying a pie you like. And you'd be right.
Jessica
I am curious as to how Jess would design and curate a humble pie. As you know, baking is her core culinary discipline.
Mike Ryan
I. Well, let's ask her, because thank you to everybody who came out yesterday. We do not take that for granted that you come from all over the United States to hang out with us and watch a football game. I have a cringe story for you here. Billy was a magician on stage. He had such a rhythm with the crowd that they were guessing his numbers on the first guess when he was asking them to pick a number between 1 and 100. Do you know how hard that is? Do you know what the odds are?
Stugotz
It was amazing.
Taylor
I felt like I was asking owes the Mentalist to pick a number. And you were amazing.
Mike Ryan
You had the crowd in your hand. Jessica was out there with us, and I've been wanting to get her thoughts because college football stocks. We haven't even gotten to this. Okay? SMU gets in. Clemson is the first to steal a bid. I'm sure all of you are thrilled for Davos winning. Clemson steals its way in. Everyone knows that team's not good enough. Yeah, everyone knows it.
Stugotz
The committee ranked them 16th.
Mike Ryan
Everyone knows that team's not good enough. We've seen that team it's not just look. You don't give committee. Don't need numbers. Don't need a scoreboard. Nope, nope. Not good enough. Stole a bid. Stole a bid. I'd rather see Alabama or Miami or byu, but Dan Lanning is claiming SEC bias, which is hard to do today.
Stugotz
Or South Carolina, who beat Clemson two weeks ago.
Mike Ryan
That's correct. That is correct. Because everybody in the sport has lost recently. But, Jessica, your overall thoughts. And welcome. Your overall thoughts on everything that just happened, because I expect a ton of arguing, but once Clemson throws this chaos into it, you gotta shrug your shoulders and say, okay, fine, SMU's the loser in there, and then you keep Alabama out. You look like you did it clean.
Dan Le Batard
Yeah, I mean, I think my initial reaction is, man, this Sunday television show is very silly. I sat there and I waited and I waited, and I was like, just tell me who the teams are. Just show me the teams. And I had to keep waiting. And I think I watched like a full hour of the show before they even got to the full 1 through 25 ranking. And I was like, I have to go to Dolphin Mall. I don't have time for this. But, yeah, I mean, Clemson, you could say they stole a bit. They don't. They don't get a bye. They're the only conference champion in the playoff that's not going to get a bye week. But they. They won the game that was in front of them that they had to win to make the playoff. And there's a lot of teams that were in that position this season, Miami, that they didn't do that. So I guess, you know, have fun playing in Austin against Texas. Texas, by the way, they didn't look very good in the SEC championship game. So that game actually might be interesting because that.
Mike Ryan
That conferen conference isn't actually that good. Georgia's not actually that good. They beat Texas by three points. And now Georgia gets to be good when none of those teams are actually that good.
Jessica
It is an interesting look when Georgia Tech takes the SEC champion to eight over times. I was very curious to see had Georgia lost that game. Just when we established the Jordan Travis precedent, Carson Beck status. If Georgia loses that game by a wide margin, do you think the CFP applies the Jordan Travis logic and keeps Georgia out, or is that just exclusive to screwing the acc?
Dan Le Batard
Not. Not at all. Because the situation last year was that Travis got hurt, and then we watched Florida State's backup play a couple games and the committee was like, it's not the same team. And I'M not saying I agree with that.
Jessica
I mean, they won an ACC championship there, right?
Dan Le Batard
Yeah, right. But I, I'm. I'm not saying it's right. I'm just saying they, they wouldn't have done that because, I mean, it's Monday morning. We still don't know what Beck's injury is. I assume it's pretty bad. It looked really bad, but I don't know what his test results were. I don't know if Gunnar Stockton is going to start in the Sugar bowl against either. The winner. The winner of Indiana, Notre Dame. So, yeah, I think it's sort of a different situation. Not saying that it was right last year, just that it would have been just they wouldn't have done that this year.
Jessica
It's just awfully convenient that it's always a different situation for one conference. You try to apply the same logic and the goalposts keep moving for whatever.
Dan Le Batard
Reason when it comes to the SMU's in, right? Like Alabama didn't get an over.
Jessica
Well, SMU is in. Jess, do you think SMU is in? They fought back in that game because it felt like all of Saturday, the ESPN media machine and all the CFP partners were basically laying the foundation to screw SMU out of this. SMU battles, loses on the last second 56 yard field goal. And that's the way that the committee.
Stugotz
That's ridiculous though. Having a good fourth quarter is a ridiculous reason to put SMU into the playoffs.
Jessica
You got all these reasons are ridiculous. We're parsing. These teams don't play each other enough. Like Texas. You hold up Texas resume right now and the fact that they actually made it to the conference champions is really the only thing that they have going for it. Because if you give Miami that resume, their oli. So it's all a little bit ridiculous.
Mike Ryan
I think one of the things. Jessica, please walk me through what you saw from yesterday and tell me where it is that me and Mike have this wrong because Mike is getting on X. Man, all that crying against the SEC by Mike Ruiz sure does look a little sad right about now, I think.
Jessica
And I did not tweet that about myself.
Mike Ryan
Just so you know.
Billy
Very self aware.
Mike Ryan
Mike Ryan is. Has been telling us about the SEC for a while and I don't know how many more results you need.
Jessica
Okay, Lane, I actually Dan, I felt like Saturday went pretty well. Everybody watching that game was like, this is pretty disappointing. This is an SEC championship game. I mean, we were over here pivoting and selling the defense and I understand every Game's in a. In a vacuum. But I saw Georgia tech put up like 500, like, close to 600 yards of offense against that.
Mike Ryan
Georgia Tech is obviously very well coached. And Georgia Tech, we can all agree, you take Georgia there, you take Miami there. You're probably a pretty good football team.
Dan Le Batard
Like, what is the question? And we ended up on tweet. I told me the question.
Mike Ryan
I do. I will. Forgive me for the ramble.
Stugotz
It's a fair request.
Mike Ryan
It is a fair request, but what I'm watching is I think that everyone came into this with what their preconceived notions were about what SMU is, what BYU is, what. What Georgia Tech is, what Georgia is, what Syracuse is. And nobody got their minds changed when everyone started playing. SEC starts playing each other, and we're like, well, they all must be good. And we're like, no, they're all kind of the same. Vanderbilt's in there, Missouri's in there. They all look the same. And so Miami does. Miami and others are like, of course it's gotta be Alabama with three losses. They played in the sec.
Stugotz
What is the question?
Jessica
I mean, that's a question. Miam. Miami doesn't deserve to get in anymore because of how things broke. But I'm just curious what the question was.
Taylor
Do you want to be told you're the first two out?
Jessica
No, I'd rather just not the question, honestly, like, but I think to the original question that I had twice before. Do you think the committee would have screwed SMU out if they didn't battle back in that fourth quarter?
Dan Le Batard
The question that. I don't know. I think that the question with SMU was going to also depend on what they did with Penn State in Texas. So I think, like, going into Sunday, if they were going to treat the conference championship games differently, they had to at least do it uniformly. So, like, Penn State in Texas didn't really get punished for losing those games, even though those were both their second losses of the season. So you can't punish SMU for doing it either, even if there's a bigger margin. But, I mean, they didn't get blown out. So I can't say that, Mike. Like, it was a. It was a close game. It came down to a ridiculous kick by Clemson's kicker that and like a return that SMU should have stopped. It was a ridiculous end of the ACC championship game. Also the only exciting Big Ten championship game of, like, the last decade. I to say. So I can't tell you what would have happened because it didn't happen. SMU started out the game with a bunch of really costly turnovers and it looked like they were letting it get away from them and they battled back. And I think that, you know, an 11 win team that makes it to the conference championship game, even if they do lose by a wider margin, shouldn't be treated differently than Penn State, who also was down by 14 or 18 points at one point in the Big Ten championship game. And Texas, who couldn't beat Georgia's backup quarterback after Carson Beck went out with that really nasty injury and then came back in, by the way, in overtime when everyone was like, oh, he's going to hand the ball off. And then he handed the ball off and they were like, oh, the game's over. We didn't, we didn't realize they were going to do that.
Jessica
Jess the transfer portal has opened officially today. There's all sorts of unofficial ugliness going on behind the scenes with players that are in the portal, players that are not in the portal. We have so many rounds of football to go with this portal thing hovering over it. How do coaches navigate this? Because players and their reps are reaching out regardless.
Dan Le Batard
Oh, it's. The whole thing's crazy. I mean, national signing day was like four days after, like, the season ended last week. And then you have the portal opening and there's already tons of player like Tulane's quarterback who's really good, just went in. There's also. The coaching carousel is still ticking. Mike. I have no idea. I think that is one of the things where you see teams with bigger staffs that have the resources to, like, manage all those things at once while their team's in the postseason. They're, they're going to be all right. But I don't know. It's. This is why they get paid like $10 million to be, to be the head coach. That's what the money's for. Have fun.
Mike Ryan
I can't believe that it's taken us this long to get into the show. And I don't know what the reporting is, what's accurate here, because I saw a report that Steve Belichick has been promised the job once Bill Belichick hands that over. And that doesn't seem sound or reasonable to me, but I haven't seen a second source on that, so I'd like.
Dan Le Batard
Somebody to tell me last Taylor, what's going on? Where is Taylor?
Stugotz
Yes, where is Taylor?
Jessica
What's the latest on this Bill Belichick stuff? Because the Steve Belichick thing is out there.
Samson
Yeah, I'VE been telling people that Belichick is happening. I called Stu last week.
Stugotz
He did.
Samson
The expectation from people in Chapel Hill is that Belichick is going to be Carolina's next coach. There was pressure to get it done Sunday, and everybody that I kept talking to was saying, it's very close. It's going to happen. We're into Monday now.
Mike Ryan
And this is former North Carolina walk on Taylor.
Stugotz
He's plugged in. Dan.
Mike Ryan
Who's. Who's.
Dan Le Batard
He's a Carolina insider, Dan.
Mike Ryan
He's our Carolina.
Samson
I broke Freddy Kitchens coaching the bowl game.
Jessica
Well, he did.
Mike Ryan
Taylor alleges to have all the information, and then we read about it somewhere else. So what are you breaking? What do you know exclusively as a former walk on for the North Carolina football team?
Samson
Well, I also broke that Carolina was playing in the Fenway bowl against UConn.
Stugotz
If you.
Samson
If you want to give me.
Taylor
Don't forget, you tell them if you.
Dan Le Batard
Want to give me.
Mike Ryan
All right, you're kind. Look, you're kind of an insider in that you used to be a walk on. On the team, and occasionally you get morsels of information that you break late.
Taylor
He also told us that Mac Brown was out, but told us we couldn't say anything.
Stugotz
He did? Yeah.
Mike Ryan
Well, where. Where are we on this? This seems to be a pretty seismic story. Belichick. Look, Belichick's got to be insulted by what just happened with the NFL. Is it indeed tied to his son? Is it indeed tied to. Because that. That'd be crazy if the way you get Belichick to run your program in North Carolina. Because Belichick still got value. No, like, we. We would agree that you bring Belichick to your program and now you bring in a brand like Deion Sanders. Hey, we're going to play with the big boys on nil. We've got a kingmaker. Like when you're buying one of these coaches. He just did sort of a reverse Brian Kelly, didn't he? Like, where. Oh, I'm not valuable up here. Okay, I'll show you, and I'll bring my son along.
Samson
I don't think there's any talk of a succession plan with Steve Belichick or the head coach in waiting, but there's obviously something that's kind of holding up this deal because from. From everybody I've talked to, this was supposed to be kind of finalized.
Dan Le Batard
Yes.
Stugotz
The NFL.
Samson
It's probably the Jaguars.
Jessica
Yes.
Stugotz
You're doing great, Taylor.
Mike Ryan
Okay. All right. Get out of here, Taylor. Jessica, do you have any thoughts on this, Mike was yelling that this was a good job, that this is a good job to have. And I did not have, have Bill Belichick saying, okay, forget it, never mind. Greatest coach in NFL history. I'm going to go do it in college.
Dan Le Batard
I love Taylor's headshot. It is a good job. North Carolina football is a good job. Obviously, you know, North Carolina's primary resources go into basketball, but you're in the acc. You can recruit down there, you can win a bunch of games and make the playoff. Now, even if you lose a couple of those games, it's a. It's a great time to be a college football coach of a team with like a 10, 9 or 10 win game season ceiling, I should say. So. I don't know. Good. Good for Bill. Good luck, my guy. It's going to be. It's going to be weird.
Billy
Jessica, I'm still curious. What goes into a humble pie? Yeah, make it for us, please.
Dan Le Batard
I would probably just, like, get whipped cream and write the word humble on it. Honestly, I don't think it would be like an ingredient that's humbling. I think it would just be like a decoration.
Billy
First of all, that sounds incredibly lazy. Second of all, shortcut.
Mike Ryan
Yeah, I think he was saying, like, turds. Like, he's trying to make a tie.
Jessica
Like I said, boring ingredients.
Mike Ryan
That if you were to actually make a humble pie, to make it edible but also a little bit foul. What are the ingredients? That's what that.
Jessica
Some crumble. Like, make it a crumble pie.
Taylor
But you just crumble pie.
Mike Ryan
It's got to be a punishment to eat it. Right.
Taylor
Because you're being humbled, punishing people.
Stugotz
You're being humble, but you're eating humble pie.
Jessica
No, but the pie can just say humble on it and delicious.
Billy
No, but it should not be an enjoyable experience. Right? You got humble pie. You gotta eat like, oh, my God, I gotta eat. Well, no.
Dan Le Batard
Who's eating the pie? Is it Dan? Because it's going to be full of stuff he's allergic to. I think that part will be humbling.
Taylor
So much gluten.
Stugotz
You have to dread eating the humble pie. Of course, it's a punishment.
Jessica
Answer does bring up a good point.
Stugotz
Thank you.
Taylor
I'm Dan. I'm doing some research on this North Carolina situation because I'm not going to sleep until this thing is resolved. And we have answers here. And there is talk about Steve Belichick getting a head coaching job as a result. Now, Stugotts told me and the audience yesterday, exclusively on the show that Bill Belichick going to North Carolina was deeply tied to his ability to participate in the lacrosse program as well because he loves lacrosse.
Stugotz
And what I told you is Dave Petromala, one of the great defenders in lacrosse history is part of the recruit. He is one of Belichick's best friends and he is recruiting Bill Belichick to the University of North Carolina.
Mike Ryan
You broke this on stage. God bless football. As part of God Bless Football American tour, you punctuated yesterday by live on the air during football breaking the news that Bella Belichick was tied to lacrosse in North Carolina.
Stugotz
One of the great long poles in lacrosse history. I mean, what good for him Defenders, they have longer polls.
Jessica
Howdy folks. It's Mike and guess what? It's Miller time. The holiday season brings around lots of joy and also lots of family. Lots of family gatherings at your home. You're inviting people in there and you want to make sure they're happy. Why don't you make their time at your place? A Miller Time. Pass around that beautiful white can of triple hops brewed Miller Lite and watch the smiles adorn those faces. Make Miller Light the official drink. The official beverage of your holiday get together. You know why? Because it is a perfect beer for the holiday season. You'll take a sip, you'll look around and you'll think immediately, yeah, I made the right call. It's got tastes that you can depend on. No games, no gimmicks. Just great beer for people who like beer making memories at year end gatherings. Tastes like Miller time. Go to millerlite.com dan to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Co. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. Fewer calories and carbs than premium regular beer.
Stugotz
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Unknown
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Dan Le Batard
Don Levitard Mr. Mr. Schur, if I may say for a second, Miami, they were circulating the snap count the entire game and they were clapping at the line of scrimmage. And the only thing I want to see clapping are them cheeks on Mrs. Matt in my face, Mike Scher. All right, so that's one thing.
Mike Ryan
Stugots.
Dan Le Batard
They're a bunch of cheaters, Dan. And you know who should be? Che. This is met on Mr. Met, and he can watch if he wants.
Taylor
This is the Dan Levatar show with these two gods. Taylor said something must be up. Something's happening because the news is supposed to come out on Sunday. It hasn't come out yet. It's Monday. So I've done some digging, and I think that there may be more to this story that's not being reported. Just a hunch. I don't know this for a fact. Now, if we look at we look at Bill's other offspring, Amanda Belichick. Amanda Belichick is the coach at Holy Cross women's lacrosse. So I said, you know what? Maybe he's trying to get a twofer here. Bring all his children in and get them head coaching jobs. Now. Here's the hang up.
Jessica
You're looking at the wrong nepo baby media.
Taylor
Yeah, here's. Here's the hang up here. North Carolina women's lacrosse.
Jessica
Pretty good.
Taylor
Head coach Jenny levy or Levy. I'm sorry. I'm not sure coach hasn't won enough, though.
Stugotz
I'll tell you.
Mike Ryan
So much more qualified than Steve. Well, Steve's gotten all the fame in the family. So much more quality. Steve has just been hanging around sidelines, creeping around sidelines for 25.
Stugotz
Amanda's actually a heck of a man.
Mike Ryan
Actually doing the work. Steve is daddy's boy.
Taylor
Well, here's the thing. Coachell is entering her 30th season as north carolina's head coach and is a hall of famer. So it's going to be hard to force out coachella here to bring in amanda, I would think. But I don't know. This could be the hang up. Maybe look into this, Taylor.
Billy
Wait, what about the men's team?
Taylor
Oh, men's team is fine.
Billy
Men's lacrosse?
Stugotz
No, I think. I think angling for amanda belichick to take over for jenny levy once she retires or is forced out. I mean, the football program is more important than the basketball program if you want. Than the lacrosse program. If you want to force jenny levy out, the way to do it would be with bill belichick. He could get that done. It means more.
Billy
But if you're Bill Belichick.
Stugotz
Yes.
Billy
You want to make a splash. I want my daughter to coach the men's team. That's right. You want me to coach. You see what I'm saying? I'm not only putting my kids in positions of power, I'm putting them in historic positions like, oh, she broke the gender barrier.
Stugotz
Yes.
Jessica
Jess, I have a question for you as it regards to these matchups, because it takes. You didn't cover it enough. The takes are flying. Joel. Clyde's out there saying this path is easy. I leave it to you. I'm interested in your take. One of the things that bothers me about this is everyone goes to these takes thinking that they actually know what's going to happen, which kind of pisses me off. In a year that's been a little bit more unpredictable, what do you think the best game of the fir of the first round is going to be? And do you think there is such a thing as an easy path in this thing?
Dan Le Batard
Ooh, I'm. I don't know if there's any easy path. I think the 89 playing Oregon is definitely really difficult and I actually think that half of the bracket is pretty hard. There's a lot of speed on that side of the bracket. Like, there's, there's a lot of really good players and a lot of really fast wide receivers over there. So I think that, that, you know, if you're Oregon, you're like, oh, I'm getting rewarded for going undefeated by having to play against Tennessee or Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. You don't really love. You'd probably rather play, you know, Penn State versus SMU or Texas versus Clemson or Notre Dame versus Indiana. So I could see that argument for sure. But I really don't think that there's any like, easy path. I think that the thing that's great about the 12 team playoff this year is that all the teams in the playoff are really good and are, I think all capable of winning at least a game. But they're all teams with, with tremendous flaws like Georgia has, especially if Beck is out.
Mike Ryan
I thought everyone agreed that number five was the slot that you wanted to be in if you were going to be with a, with a buy that if you, that you wanted to be where Notre Dame?
Dan Le Batard
Well, I think the assumption, the assumption was that the group of five team would be the 12 seed. When we all saw the playoff format and the PAC12 cease to exist any longer, it'd be like, okay, well, you know, you'll probably get like the G5 winner and the 12 spot. So the 5 seed will play Boise State or Tulane or army or whoever. And like that's the easiest path forward. But obviously that's not the case. Boise gets a buy and Penn State, the winner of Penn State SME, will have to play Boise. And I think like Boise, Boise defense is not very good. They're probably like, I want to say they're like 38th and F plus right now or something like that. So yeah, I could see like wanting to play Boise for that reason, but the other side of that is that they have the potential Heisman Trophy winning running back on their offense. So I don't think you want to play Ashton Jenty, but yeah, I think Penn State, Penn State's in probably the best spot. But at the same time, like, we know James Franklin, he doesn't win these games. He doesn't win the top 10 matchups very often or at all. So like, it's just like, I don't know. I think it's, I think it's going.
Mike Ryan
To be really fun country. I think the entire country would be okay with, like, Penn State now you're not going to win anything. Get out of here. Like, you're not allowed in. It doesn't make sense. You've got a record to get in. But, no, you couldn't score on the goal line in Ohio State. Get out of here.
Stugotz
If that happens, though, you're getting SMU or Boise State.
Mike Ryan
That's fine. Just get out of here.
Jessica
Guys, Taylor's tugging on my leg. He has an update.
Samson
All right, last update for today. The only candidate being discussed right now at Carolina is Bill Belichick.
Jessica
Wow.
Mike Ryan
Okay.
Dan Le Batard
Thank you, John Summerall. I saw he tweeted this morning the Wolf of Wall street street meme. So I. They must. That must be over for sure. I thought Matt Campbell might be an option there, but, man, I wouldn't want to play Arizona State either if I'm Texas, they like pretty good.
Mike Ryan
They've looked. They put up big point totals like they. They. I. Billy, get in here, because I want to get you in here. Samson wants to get in here. He's upset because he hasn't had any ability to get into the show because we're talking college football, and he's bothered that we're not still talking about Soto.
Taylor
I'm following up on this big men's lacrosse lead that we got earlier in this show, and I looked up Joe Bresci, who is the men's head coach. Yeah. So I'll just read you one quick line. He's entering his 17th season, and this is how his bio on the website starts. Joe Bresci's coaching philosophy is summed up in three words. Family, academics, lacrosse.
Billy
I thought it was F you, Soto.
Stugotz
That's what Bresh is all about.
Mike Ryan
Can you guys get me the sound of Dan Lanning here? I want to get Jessica's response to this Dan Lanning and people. And I want to get Mike Ryan's response to everyone braying with laughter about his SEC tears.
Austin James
You know, apologies to espn, but those.
Mike Ryan
Guys are SEC honks. And so all they do is they talk about how great the SEC is.
Austin James
And, you know, to your face, they're.
Mike Ryan
Going to tell you how great you are, but behind your back, they're going to tell you how much they love those SEC teams.
Austin James
You know that you're in the SEC bills, right?
Mike Ryan
I mean, doesn't pay their bills. I mean, who's their contract with? Is this your stands contract?
Taylor
Yeah, that's how it works.
Mike Ryan
Like, let's not pretend like it doesn't work different than that. But, you know, there's A secret to all that, John. Just win. Just win. They can't deny you could just win. You can't complain if you just win. So you know, if you lose three games, shame on you. Right? If you lose two, shame on you.
Jessica
Right?
Taylor
Win.
Mike Ryan
That's right. Win. Shame on you, my guy. That's right. That's right.
Dan Le Batard
My favorite thing that happened yesterday was Greg Byrne getting community notes on Twitter for his annoying. There was like so many SEC fans that were like, why would, why would any SEC team schedule a tough non conference game? And it's like I, you guys know they added Oklahoma to the sec, right? That was a conference conference loss for Alabama. What are you talking about? And also the SEC as a conference. You guys know you didn't have to add Oklahoma and Texas. No one made you do it. So I guess you're kind of like net neutral because one of the new teams you added got in the playoff and one of them prevented your darling from not getting in the playoffs. So like I, we came out, we came out neutral that you got three teams in. Good job. Everyone should be happy. Congratulations. One of them might win the national championship. And then what are you complaining about?
Jessica
Yeah, we have this, the tweet from Greg Byrne here where he says that they have to reevaluate how they, they schedule out a conference when all their losses actually came from in conference. Like you scheduled usf, Western Kentucky and Mercer. Mercer, like they had a Wisconsin in there too. But it's just maybe, maybe you shouldn't.
Dan Le Batard
Have hurt Tyler Van Dyke. Maybe you shouldn't have injured Tyler Van Dyke. Just I know they didn't do that on purpose, but that didn't help because then Wisconsin ended, ended up sucking the rest of the year.
Jessica
Offensively, schedules out of conference schedules are a difficult thing because they're scheduled several years in advance. Right. Like Miami actually scheduled in the last 10 years. They've scheduled Bama, they've scheduled LSU, they've gone to College Station, they played Texas AM at home, they've gone to the Swamp. Does it work out? Sometimes you're playing the greatest team of all time. Sometimes you're playing a Texas A and M in a down year. But it buys them nothing, that ambition because at the end of the day the CFP is going to go for from oh, you play who's in front of you. We're not going to hold that against you. To actually ranking these teams and boosting their own arguments like Miami doesn't have a ranked win. We're being told that by the committee that's doing the ranking. That has done something pretty unprecedented. Taking a Power 4 team in Duke that has nine wins and not ranking them flatly. Doesn't happen. It's happened twice in like 15 years.
Dan Le Batard
My favorite was Jim Nagy was tweeting. He does like all the Senior bowl stuff. He was tweeting about how, like, if you just take all the NFL talent from the top teams in college football, like all the SEC teams are clearly ahead and blah, blah, blah. And I tweeted something in response where I was like, look, if you guys want to crown a champion of the sec, you did that on Saturday. You already have that. The College Football Playoff is supposed to be like the, you know, the entire rest of the field, like, everyone plays against each other. And then someone responded to me on Twitter and said we should have an SEC tournament and a college football tournament and the winners play each other for the championship. And I was like, my guy. That's the regular season. That's the whole point. That's what we're doing here. That's why they play the conference games and then they have the champion, and then the Big Ten has the conference games, and then the champion and the acc and then there's the at large bids. Like we already do that. That was the whole point. I don't know what you're talking about.
Billy
Guys, I've gotten deeper onto the bellatech story.
Stugotz
Tell me more.
Billy
It's all about leverage, right? He's got all the leverage. We just heard from Taylor. He's the only candidate being discussed. Right. So that means he's got all the leverage. Not only get Steve Belichick the job after he's done, not only get Amanda Belichick.
Stugotz
Yep.
Billy
That the men's.
Stugotz
Yeah.
Billy
But here's another one. Basketball. Men's basketball in North Carolina. Been struggling recently, right?
Stugotz
Yep.
Billy
Really struggling. Bell doesn't have any other kids, though. But I'll tell you what he does have in his close circle. He has a Jordan. Jordan Hudson. His girlfriend. Make her look Jordan last time worked really well for the North Carolina basketball team.
Taylor
There you go.
Jessica
Part of the brand.
Stugotz
Last time they had a Jordan Jordan brand.
Mike Ryan
We're bringing back Jordan. I wanted to ask you guys something about that. Believe it or not, do you know how much the Nike Swoosh was originally sold for the original Nike swoop?
Billy
Like 12 bucks.
Mike Ryan
$35.
Billy
What?
Mike Ryan
$35. I wonder how haunting that is for that person that got ripped off to see it everywhere.
Billy
Dan, I got a great corollary to this. My cousin was telling Me. He remembers when one of our friends told him years ago, hey, there's this thing called bitcoin. You should invest in it. And I said, how much was it going for back then? And he said, 15 cents. And so I just said, like, 100 bucks. If you put on 150 bucks on Bitcoin back then, you'd be worth $100 million. And he said, that's bad. But you know about the story about the guy from Florida who bought two Papa John's pizzas with bitcoin that is now valued at $700 million? That guy. You want to talk about someone hitting their head against the wall and be like, I can't believe how stupid I am, that's got to be the guy who feels worse, right?
Taylor
You guys are saying you can't believe how bad the guy that designed the Nike swoosh felt, right?
Mike Ryan
The woman. The woman. The woman.
Taylor
Yeah, fine. There's a woman. Caroline. Dan Davidson.
Mike Ryan
The woman. Yeah.
Taylor
Carolyn.
Mike Ryan
Thank you, Billy. I love you being the vigilant police on that one. Jessica, last thing before we let you go. I have this essentially right. If you didn't watch any college football this year and you went into the season with whatever you thought the ACC was and whatever the SEC was and didn't watch any of the games, the results of what just happened is the SEC got credit for things that didn't happen on the field, and the acc, for example, does not. Yes or no?
Dan Le Batard
I. Can you extrapolate that?
Mike Ryan
The ACC's reputation and the SEC's reputation is what actually did. We didn't have to play the season. We didn't have to watch any of the games.
Dan Le Batard
I mean, then Florida State would be in the playoff because we were all like, oh, they're going to be good this year. Right? Like, I don't know. I don't agree with you. No one thought SMU was going to make the playoff. They. They were in week zero. They played Nevada. And I was like, oh, this is going to be a rough season for smu.
Mike Ryan
Okay, but the fact that sm. You can play with Clemson and the fact that we know that Clemson's not that good this year suggests that Miami is what was the top of that conference, perhaps.
Stugotz
Why can't the SEC just be the better conference?
Jessica
Like, I understand the argument that Miami could have been. I think ultimately they could have been.
Dan Le Batard
They really only had to beat Syracuse and they're in the playoffs, so. Yeah, like, they came down to four points. Really?
Jessica
Well, it's just you have these three teams that are in the mix and for a long. For like three fourths of the season. Pitt was also in that mix. And it was frustrating as a Miami fan in that you don't even have common opponents, really, amongst these conference teams. I don't have the ability to show you, for example, like, SMU beat up on, like, six of the bottom teams in the acc. That obviously plays a factor in their appearance in Charlotte. Now, Miami just doesn't do what it has to do to get in there. But it's a little frustrating that we put together all these massive conferences and already in year one, we see how someone can game the system, how someone can be fortunate if Texas doesn't make it to the SEC championship game. You can hold that resume up under a microscope. Indiana is playing Notre Dame, and I'm curious your thoughts on that game because it could be an interesting one because they played three teams with winning records all season long in one of these mega conferences in which you couldn't even imagine that. So I think we have a huge issue with being able to decide who truly is the best team in these conferences if we're going to have situations where you could have four teams in the mix who don't even play one another.
Dan Le Batard
Yeah, the conferences are giant. The scheduling's uneven. There's never been a really easy way to choose a national champion in the sport, and there never will be. We will argue about it till the end of time. That's why, you know, enjoy the regular season while you have it. Enjoy the bowl games. They're fun. Beat your rival. Like, there's more to the sport than just picking the playoff games and the national champion at the end of it. Like, it's. It's 134 teams and a billion games, and they're awesome. And we'll just keep arguing about it until we die. Eat at rb.
Mike Ryan
Yes, let's do that, Jess. Thank you for being Ward manual.
Stugotz
He wins.
Jessica
What do you guys think? There's a. There's a clip out there of Cam Ward saying he's going to play in the Pop Tart.
Mike Ryan
No, he should. No, he should not.
Stugotz
No, he should not.
Dan Le Batard
It's a premier ACC destination.
Mike Ryan
No, he should not. He should not play in that game. He should opt out of that game.
Jessica
Damian Martinez has already announced that he's going to be playing in it.
Mike Ryan
No, they should all opt out. You should not play against Ohio, Iowa State for no reason.
Dan Le Batard
Don't forget, you shouldn't get to eat Pop Tarts for the rest of your life.
Mike Ryan
Thank you Jess, we appreciate the time. David Sampson continues to fume. I couldn't ask the question succinctly, but the way that I would just ask you, Stuart Gods, do you know that Georgia is that much better than Georgia Tech?
Stugotz
Yes, I think Georgia is a lot better than Georgia Tech.
Jessica
A lot better. They went to overtime, dude. They were up 14 with five minutes left, and Georgia got all the calls. Like, this is infuriating. We saw it, right?
Stugotz
So no one knows anything about college football other than you? He asked me a question. We saw them play, right?
Mike Ryan
We saw them play.
Jessica
Dude, you don't know. Yesterday you were asking on the stage, like, Boise State hasn't played anybody. I'd like to see them play Georgia and Alabama.
Stugotz
No, no, no.
Jessica
They were within a touc of Oregon at Eugene.
Stugotz
I was making a larger point that this is the playoff I want to see. I don't care about the playoff. I don't care what you want to see. I care about what I want.
Jessica
How do you watch.
Stugotz
What I want to see is Alabama.
Jessica
How do you. This is infuriating.
Taylor
Well, you can't argue with him.
Jessica
Yeah, no, I can't. But he wins again. But I can't argue, like, Georgia's a lot better than Georgia Tech. When we saw them play against one another and we know that Georgia escaped against them, I. How do you formulate that take place, like, less than two weeks.
Mike Ryan
The reason I say it is because we come in with whatever our opinion already was and the game doesn't end up mattering.
Jessica
Even as well, we have to ban preseason rankings because all of that couches.
Stugotz
All of this.
Jessica
Until a month into the season because all of it exists as confirmation bias.
Taylor
How do I know who choked? If you don't have preseason rankings, this is what's great.
Mike Ryan
We get right back to Amin's original point, which is is it's so much more fun to watch sports the way that he does. He is a Georgia Tech fan. All he's checked in on is, yeah, we're better than we thought you were, or some form of yelling drunk of Georgia Tech was actually good this year. Nobody respects Georgia Tech, even though when FSU lost him, we were all like, oh, okay, that was the first note of the season. Was Georgia Tech get drags. Fsu.
Jessica
Their. Their top two quarterbacks were out for, like, three games. Okay, like that Georgia Tech that severely impacted their record. They went undefeated at home.
Mike Ryan
Do you know how much better Miami is than Georgia Tech? I do. Georgia Tech beat you with one quarterback who was so hurt that you Couldn't keep him in the game. And another one that told you that every time they were throwing because he came into the game, they beat you with that because.
Jessica
Loves that dude's passing numbers.
Mike Ryan
They're pretty good. Georgia Tech, obviously, but Stugotts will never say so.
Stugotz
Well, five losses. Losses.
Jessica
But they were missing two of their quarterbacks for, like, three of the games.
Stugotz
The point is to win the games. They lost five.
Jessica
Well, no, the point is not to win the games. Otherwise Miami would be in the goddamn college football playoffs.
Stugotz
Yeah, they lost to Syracuse. Too late, though.
Jessica
I mean, but that's one fewer loss.
Stugotz
I know, but it's when you lose that also matters.
Jessica
Alabama lost this month.
Stugotz
Does it?
Jessica
They're out three points.
Stugotz
They're Alabama.
Mike Ryan
All right, Samson, what can you. Samson, what can you add to this? Samson, what can you add?
Austin James
I'm sorry, I was just trying. Could you repeat the question?
Mike Ryan
Is Georgia Tech as good as Georgia?
Austin James
Didn't they go to, like, 15 overtimes together?
Jessica
That's a great question.
Austin James
Aren't they sort of the same?
Stugotz
Yeah.
Mike Ryan
No, not in reputation. No, they're not. I thought before the season that they weren't the same. They played the game, they looked the same, and now I'm back to thinking they're not the same.
Austin James
765 million. Are we talking about that still?
Mike Ryan
He's. He's not adding nothing. Do I. He was bored by our college football conversation. Because he wants to keep killing me.
Austin James
You're trapping me.
Jessica
He's saying the obvious and that. That's why there's this whole bias, because the investment.
Mike Ryan
Go ahead, talk all the Soto you want. What have we not gotten to.
Jessica
Oh, that was a Soto thing. I thought he was talking SEC TV deal.
Austin James
I could have been. I was a little shocked. If we want to talk college football for just a petite second with the chaos of Clemson winning, I love the fact that we got Ward Manuel off the hook by saying, oh, SMU played so well. They were in it to the end, so we didn't have to put them out and bring Alabama in. That's why the thought of those guys sitting in their comfy couches and watching the game and wondering after the first quarter about the chaos and then saying, phew, SMU had a good final three quarters. The whole process is rigged in a journey. But that said, it's the process that you all wanted. And the complaints come as they come.
Jessica
Howdy, folks. It's Mike, and guess what? It's Miller time. The holiday season brings around lots of joy and also lots of family. Lots of family gatherings at your home. You're inviting people in there and you want to make sure they're happy. Why don't you make their time at your place? A Miller Time Pass around that beautiful white can of triple hops brewed Miller Lite and watch the smiles adorn those faces. Make Miller Lite the official drink, the official beverage of your holiday get together. You know why? Because it is a perfect beer for the holiday season. You'll take a sip, you'll look around and you'll think immediately, yeah, I made the right call. It's got tastes that you can depend on. No games, no gimmicks. Just great beer. For people who like beer, making memories at year end gatherings tastes like Miller time. Go to millerlite.com dan to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Co. Milwaukee, Wisconsin 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. Fewer calories and carbs than premium regular beer.
Episode Overview: In this episode of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, hosts Dan Le Batard and Stugotz delve into a variety of hot-button issues in the sports world, primarily focusing on recent developments in the NFL and college football. The discussion is rich with opinions, controversies, and humorous exchanges, making it a compelling listen for fans keen on the latest sports debates.
The episode kicks off with a heated debate about Aaron Rodgers' recent performances with the New York Jets. Mike Ryan praises Rodgers' recent games, highlighting his impressive statistics and questioning the Jets' losses.
The hosts discuss the paradox of Rodgers potentially outperforming expectations yet still being linked to the Jets' underwhelming season.
This segment underscores the frustration among Jets fans and the complex dynamics of star players within struggling teams.
A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to dissecting the recent College Football Playoff (CFP) decisions, particularly the inclusion of SMU and the exclusion of traditionally strong teams like Alabama and Miami.
The hosts debate the merits of SMU's performance versus the perceived underperformance of SEC teams, questioning whether the CFP is operating fairly.
Mike Ryan further elaborates on the unpredictability of the playoff selections, expressing skepticism about the strengths of various conferences.
The conversation shifts to college football coaching dynamics, focusing on the rumor mill surrounding Bill Belichick potentially taking a coaching position at the University of North Carolina (UNC).
The hosts speculate on the motivations behind Belichick’s rumored transition, including the integration of his family members into UNC's athletic programs.
This segment highlights the potential seismic shifts in college football coaching landscapes and the blending of high-profile coaching families into collegiate sports.
The hosts introduce the concept of "Eating Humble Pie," contemplating how to structure a segment where someone must eat a pie as a form of humbling experience after being proven wrong.
The team humorously debates the logistics and symbolism of humble pie, emphasizing the need for the segment to have a meaningful payoff beyond mere theatrics.
This playful exchange showcases the hosts' chemistry and their ability to blend humor with thought-provoking segment ideas.
Beyond the main topics, the episode features various light-hearted moments and side discussions:
Notable is the humorous exchange about the humble pie segment and its potential execution, revealing the hosts' creative process and camaraderie.
The Big Suey: Eating Humble Pie offers a comprehensive look into current sports debates, blending serious analysis with the show's trademark humor. From quarterback performances and playoff controversies to coaching rumors and innovative segment ideas, Dan Le Batard and Stugotz provide listeners with a multifaceted exploration of the sports landscape. The episode exemplifies the show's ability to engage listeners through informed opinions, entertaining banter, and a deep passion for all things sports.
Notable Quotes:
This detailed summary captures the essence of the episode, highlighting key discussions and providing valuable insights for both regular listeners and newcomers alike.