FGN LIVE: Why the Big 10 Has the Edge Over the SEC | Week Zero Preview

Summary

Podcast Summary: FGN LIVE: Why the Big 10 Has the Edge Over the SEC | Week Zero Preview

Podcast: The Film Guy Network
Date: August 12, 2026
Host: Brooks Austin
Co-hosts: Kirby, Jonathan

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Episode Overview

In this lively edition of FGN LIVE, Brooks Austin and his co-hosts analyze why the Big Ten currently edges out the SEC in college football's power race. The episode covers the implications of financial advantages, coaching changes, and NIL dynamics, then pivots into an in-depth Week Zero preview with their annual “superlatives” segment. The team wraps with conversations on undefeated season candidates and early projections for the 2026 NFL Draft’s first overall pick, all in their signature brotherly, debate-heavy style.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Big Ten vs. SEC: Financial and Structural Advantages

• Northwestern Donation News ([05:35])
  • Northwestern receives a $35 million donation (over three years), highlighting how Big Ten schools benefit from donor networks.
  • Kirby quips: “First time in the show's history that Northwestern has led the show” ([05:35]).
• Big Ten’s Revenue Edge ([06:46])
  • Brooks: "Tony Petiti’s leadership as the Big Ten commissioner...the Big Ten simply makes more money...Their revenue split right now is $8 million a year more than the SEC."
  • Comparison of donor bases: “USC's got a plethora of Hollywood net worth individuals...Alabama is not one of these bottomless budget football programs. Georgia is not.” ([07:36])
• Impact on Coaching ([08:58])
  • Brooks notes the rise in coaching quality: “If we can pay players, let's go take jobs where we get a lot of money, like Bob Chesney did this last offseason. No thank you Arkansas...I'll go to UCLA.”
• Co-hosts' Takes
  • Jonathan: “You can just kind of follow the money and that'll point you to where the better teams are going to be...” ([09:17])
  • Kirby: “I don't know if money is the sole reason why the Big Ten has won the last three national championships...It's not just money that's playing into what makes these teams great.” ([10:41])

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2. NIL, Donors & Player Decisions – The Bryce Underwood Example

• Bryce Underwood Recruitment ([11:40])

  • Brooks: "Bryce Underwood was committed to LSU before Oracle and Barstool gave him $12 million over three years."
  • Michigan opts to “start from scratch” with Underwood, focusing on his development after a turbulent year.

• Quarterback Development Concerns ([14:14])

  • Brooks: “You can't talk enough about how bad it was from a coaching standpoint last year.”
  • Underwood’s progression has been slow, but coaches remain optimistic: “Hopefully they fix him. And there is a lot to fix there.” ([14:57])

• Co-host Views

  • Jonathan: “The money did pry away Bryce Underwood from the LSU Tigers, but I'd argue LSU might be a little alleviated that they didn’t throw all that money at him at this moment...” ([15:41])
  • Kirby: “It was a risk when he came there...the competition he was going against in high school wasn't that great.” ([16:23])

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3. Week Zero Preview & Superlatives ([18:03])

Categories & Picks:

• Game You’re Most Excited About
  • Consensus picks: NC State vs. Virginia (“Obvious candidate” – Jonathan, [19:12]; host points to the Ireland game for its “slop fest.”)
• Sneaky Good Game
  • UNLV vs. Memphis: “Will have playoff implications.” (Kirby, [21:52])
  • Plus, “Hawaii at Stanford” for West Coast sickos.
• Snoozer
  • Host: “Brian Kelly is calling the Jacksonville State at North Dakota State game. I will not be watching that one...he is going to rage bait me...” ([25:35])
  • Jonathan suggests Eastern Michigan vs. Sacramento State.
• Best Player in Week Zero
  • Deuce Robinson is a favorite (multiple mentions, [27:38]).
  • C.J. Bailey and Mark Bowman also receive nods.
  • Discussion of USC’s talent showcase against San Jose State (“They’re gonna put up 70.” – Jonathan, [28:12]).
• Upset Alert
  • TCU vs. North Carolina in Ireland: Host predicts UNC fans will be “absolutely drubbed up” ([30:28]).
• Best Uniform Combo
  • Kirby: Stanford vs. Hawaii (“The Cardinal red combined with Hawaii's deep green...I’m gonna give Stanford, Hawaii my vote.” [32:27]).
  • Memphis-UNLV and Eagles throwbacks also mentioned.
• Most Empty Crowd
  • Split between USC home game and Stanford-Hawaii:
    • “Stanford is a team that has been deplorable for the last seven or eight years...” (Kirby, [34:18])
    • “USC’s fan participation is disgusting...” (Host, [34:16])

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4. Teams with Undefeated Potential – 12-0 Regular Season ([35:40])

Consensus/top candidates:

• Georgia, Oregon, Indiana, Miami, Notre Dame, Texas Tech, BYU.
• Discussion highlights:
  • “Texas Tech is my number one team that has the best chance to go undefeated.” (Kirby, [37:24])
  • Notre Dame or Miami (“Whoever wins their head-to-head should run the table.” – Jonathan, [38:06])
  • “BYU...should walk through this conference if they get through Notre Dame.” (Kirby, [39:16])
  • Skepticism about NC State’s schedule, with both statistical and “gut feeling” debate ([40:06]).

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5. 2026 NFL Draft: First Overall Pick Candidates ([43:03])

Quarterbacks:

• Arch Manning (consensus favorite, “Owners would die to draft Manning” – Brooks, [45:32])
• Dante Moore, CJ Carr, Drew Messmaker (“There’s a world where it happens.” – Jonathan, [43:44])

Other Positions:

• Jeremiah Smith (WR, “Although I don’t know any instance where receivers been taken one overall...” – Kirby, [45:45])
• Edge Rushers: Dylan Stewart (“has a prototypical NFL frame...” – Host, [47:17]), Colin Simmons, Damon Wilson.
• Offensive Tackle: Jordan Seaton (“most recognizable name at the offensive tackle position” – Kirby, [49:44])
• Debates around positional value and “dark horse” picks.

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6. Preseason Rankings, AP Poll Skepticism & Predicting Who Will Disappoint ([53:06], [56:01])

• SVP Quote ([53:06])
  • Scott Van Pelt's take: “You're selling stories and people and programs right now in August without any real nods for sure about what's what.”
  • Brooks responds: “I think it’s pretty clear there’s a unanimous top 15 teams. We’ve always had misunderstood or underperforming football teams...Is that because we don’t know anything or because those teams underperformed?” ([54:11])
• Who’s set up for a fall?
  • Alabama, Indiana, Miami, USC, Oklahoma, and more discussed as top-15 teams “in territory for Tank” ([59:49]).
  • “They have potential for disaster and they could get to five [losses].” (Kirby on USC, [61:37])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Big Ten-SEC Dynamics:
  • “$8 million doesn’t sound like a lot...[but] $8 million buys you, I don't know, two or three really freaking good football players.” – Brooks ([07:36])
• On NIL & Recruiting:
  • “The money did pry away Bryce Underwood from the LSU Tigers, but I'd argue LSU might be a little alleviated that they didn't throw all that money at him at this moment.” – Jonathan ([15:41])
• On Week Zero Football:
  • “This is the sickos place. All right. Sickos will watch Sacramento State until their eyes bleed.” – Brooks ([18:38])
• On Broadcasting Personalities:
  • “I will not be watching that one or at least not have those volume up on that one because [Brian Kelly] is going to rage bait me into throwing my remote at the TV.” – Brooks ([25:35])
• On Undefeated Season Odds:
  • “Texas Tech is my number one team that has the best chance to go undefeated.” – Kirby ([37:24])
• On NFL Draft Hype:
  • “Owners would die to draft Manning.” – Brooks ([45:32])
• On Preseason Polls:
  • "I think it's pretty clear there’s a unanimous top 15 teams...Is that because we don’t know anything or because those teams underperformed?" – Brooks ([54:11])
• On College Football Fandom:
  • “I love the Jayhawks, man. I love you Jayhawks and I will never leave you. Don't worry. I'm holding it down for you guys.” – Kirby ([42:39])

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• [05:35] – Northwestern’s $35M donation and Big Ten revenue discussion
• [11:40] – Bryce Underwood, player payments, and Michigan’s QB situation
• [18:03] – Week Zero superlatives: Games, players, uniforms, upsets
• [35:40] – Predicting undefeated regular seasons
• [43:03] – First overall NFL draft pick contenders
• [53:06] – SVP’s preseason rankings skepticism and debate about poll value

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Tone & Format

The episode maintains the hosts’ energetic, deeply knowledgeable, and often irreverent tone, full of inside jokes (“sickos place”) and brotherly ribbing. The team balances high-level analysis with fandom quirks, making their show as much about football community as about on-field results.

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Transcript

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[Host]

Welcome in LA and gentlemen to mbr or as we like to call it around here, nothing but rants to show where I find topics that I'm oddly passionate about and I pontificate upon them. These are not hot takes but rather takes that I'm hot about. Let's shut up and grab some tape. What is up? Ladies and gentlemen, welcome in to the Film Guide Network on a fabulous Tuesday evening. Got an absolutely loaded show for you but I gotta stop. Why you keep it. Giving him so much. Yeah, it's real fun giving him so much crap.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Yeah. What did I do?

[Host]

He just. Little bro, all pre show. What's going on?

[Co-host Kirby]

First off, Jay, we're not gonna act like you don't do the same thing to me.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Okay? What did I do?

[Co-host Kirby]

Dude, you were rage baiting me earlier. I don't even remember what it was exactly. I blocked out my memory.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Wasn't that significant apparently.

[Host]

It was just so distracting. I'm like I'm over here trying to do my intro and I got Kirby giving Jonathan hell. I'm. He's giving him hell to start the stream. Literally like tapping him on the hat. Just like, hey, good job buddy. Way to do your job. Good job. So disgusting to have you guys tonight. Great to have the whole team together for the second straight night after Kirby decided to go on vacation last week. I mean, can you believe this guy? Jonathan?

[Co-host Kirby]

Nope. I had to take one vacation.

[Host]

We got a great show.

[Co-host Kirby]

There was not much resting.

[Host]

We're two and a half weeks away from week zero. We've got a very special edition of week zero previews for you guys tonight. We're also going to be playing a game of 1:1. Who goes?

[Co-host Kirby]

1:1.

[Host]

We're going to talk about that tonight. Undefeated regular seasons. We're going to predict football teams that might be able to actually do that. It's slim pickings for me. I don't know how you guys feel.

[Co-host Kirby]

Yeah, it's not, not a very wide net.

[Host]

I mean I even like this time last year, I think I said if anybody goes undefeated anymore, they are now the official greatest team of all time. And then Indiana went on to do that. And now everybody wants to argue about 2019, LSU still, but I get it. We're going to talk about undefeated regular season tonight and some preseason rankings talk again. Maybe we might get to this. Somebody had A take about that. Make sure you're liking, make sure you're subscribing, make sure you are telling a friend about this place. Over101,000 subscribers. We're very thankful for that and thankful for things to come on this network. Let's start with the news. Northwestern got a fat bag today.

[Co-host Kirby]

I think this is the first time in the show's history that Northwestern has led the show. Has not, not even led the show. But like Ben mentioned in news, I think they got a shout out for their stadium revitalization, but they got Chip Kelly.

[Co-host Jonathan]

That was in the news.

[Co-host Kirby]

That was.

[Host]

That was in the news.

[Co-host Kirby]

Certainly first time they've led with it.

[Host]

Chip Kelly's. They've gone viral this off season for that photo of Chip Kelly with a hard hat on.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Yeah, I'm sure that will definitely not resurface over the Internet.

[Host]

The builder out there sure did inside the stadium. But we got a loaded show for you guys. Let's start with Northwestern. Hashtag things I thought I would never say on this network, but Indeed, Northwestern got 35 million dollars donated to them over the next three years. So it's. It's three payments that equal 35 million dollars.

[Co-host Kirby]

That seems to be the way it was.

[Host]

35 million year over year.

[Co-host Kirby]

No, it is not. It is a. The total value of the. The deal or the donation is $35 million. I think from everything I've read from ESPN and other articles, it's sp. Spaced out over three years. So.

[Host]

All right, so here's the deal. Spaced out over three years from a very proud Wildcat family.

[Co-host Kirby]

Here.

[Host]

Here's my half baked take on this. Y' all ready? This is part of the reason why the Big Ten is up and the SEC is catching up right about now. We are in an era of college football where everyone can officially legally pay for their players, can go out, crowdsource things, bring in as much money as they possibly can, and then go put together a roster. And I'm not specifically applying this to Northwestern, but I'm applying this to the league as a whole because due to Tony Petiti's leadership as the Big Ten commissioner, the Big Ten simply makes more money on an annual basis than the sec. In an era, like I said, where we can actually pay players, right? Like their TV contract, their revenue split right now is $8 million a year more than the SEC. $8 million doesn't sound like a lot when we're talking about $80 million of TV revenue per school as opposed to $72 million per school as it is in the SEC. But $8 million buy you, I don't know, two or three really freaking good football players. That, that, that goes a long way when we're talking about ultimate talent pool. Yeah, Texas has a couple billionaires. Yeah, Texas A M has a bunch of oil money, but that's kind of where it resides with regards to the halves of the halves in this conference. Whereas USC's got a plethora of highwood net worth individuals that graduated from that program. Ohio State is the largest public school not named UCF in the entire country. Indiana has the largest alumni base from a really prominent school. Oregon has a bottomless budget with Phil Knight. Right. The list goes on up there with regards to the amount of donors that they have. Whereas down here, Alabama is not one of these bottomless budget football programs. Georgia is not one of these bottomless budget football programs. Florida is not. You see what I'm saying? Like they have the assets that this conference might not have right about now. That's not the sole reason. There's also a point to coaching. Coaching up there in the Big Ten has gotten better, which I would point to the fact that, hey, if we can pay players, let's go take jobs where we get a lot of money, like Bob Chesney did this last offseason. No, thank you, Arkansas. I don't even want to call for the job. I'll go to ucla, a program that hasn't been relevant in my lifetime. Okay. So that I think is a little bit of the offset of where we're at right now in college football.

[Co-host Jonathan]

I mean, it certainly makes sense. Like in this sport now it, you can just kind of follow the money like wherever the money is. And the abundant of money is that typically inclines where the better football players are going to go, where the better overall product is going to be. So I mean, that's just a generic way of like saying maybe that's why they have it. Don't worry, I, I fixed it, we're good.

[Host]

Yeah, I just don't know. I, it's, it's frustrating. I, I think we need to switch operating systems. I don't know. I've been saying this, but I, I hate seeing the. And it's so inconsistent with the complaints too. Not that it's pretty consistent.

[Co-host Kirby]

Not everyone's watching at this very second. Some people, you're correct, turning in late.

[Host]

There's not that much latency though, anyway. But if you, Yeah, I see what you're saying. If you start it and you can watch from the stop. I got it. Go ahead. Sorry.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Oh, no, no, no, you're fine. I mean again, like you can just kind of follow the money and that'll kind of point you in the direction of where the better teams are going to be, where the better players are going to go. I am interested if like, if that is true, what your take is, if that is like one of the many reasons why the Big Ten has an edge over the sec. If like when we do maybe get a cap in, an actual cap in this sport, like when spending is limited

[Host]

in the hard cap.

[Co-host Jonathan]

A hard cap and the actual like in the field of play in that regard is actually leveled out a little bit if that continues. Like, because better coaching I would say is probably the more premier reason why the Big Ten has an edge right now. They've had some great hires. Obviously they've had some good coaches already there before that. That'd be my premier reason why they have the edge at the moment.

[Co-host Kirby]

Yeah, I mean there, there's obviously you can't deny the effect that money has had on some of these teams and some of the players going elsewhere like certain programs. But I don't know if money is the sole reason why the Big Ten has won the last three national championships. And I also don't know if like the SEC is a second rate conference. Like, yeah, USC has got a really big budget and a really big donor base. Sure, Northwestern just got this money. But Northwestern is one of the worst teams in college football and USC's been underperforming in UCLA. So I don't know if it's just money that's playing into what makes these teams great. Like we talked about Indiana all last year and how great they were. They weren't necessarily a team that was going out and buying rosters and doing all this spending. So I don't know if there's an exact correlation with how much money a team spends is how much they win games. Obviously it helps, but I don't, I don't know if that's the sole reason why the Big Tens won the last three titles.

[Host]

We watched a football player today and Bryce Underwood that was committed to LSU before Oracle and Big and barstool gave him $12 million over three years. So let's talk about Bryce Underwood. I think this also ties into this, right? We just got done talking about these programs with extremely rich people behind them backing them. Oracle, pretty big company, multi billionaire. Also a Michigan graduation, or at least his wife is. I think that was the story of Bryce under. But we watched Bryce, today, if you haven't watched it, you should. By the way, the Michigan film study already surpassed the Ohio State film study. So Michigan Wolverine fans a little bit more ball curious than Ohio State fans. That's all I'm going to say. I'm not challenging you. I'm not telling you you are lesser than. However, you've watched your quarterbacks less than Michigan watch theirs. So just throwing that out there. Not that you guys hate each other and are competitive at all. We'll just leave that there. I said yesterday that they need to break that down to its studs and start completely over. And I got calls from sources today at Michigan. That's exactly what they're doing. They are starting from scratch with this football player in the form of Bryce Underwood and they are starting over is what I've been told. As you would imagine, with a new head coach, new offensive coordinator, knew everything out there. But I think they are starting with building blocks. With a player who started 12 games last year, 13 games last year in college football, I think that's good news for the overall, you know, future of this football player as a whole. So there is that. I was also told they're going to run him a lot more this year, which is something we pointed out in our film study. Jonathan, that needs to happen. Look, if he's not going to be able to, at least last year wasn't able to be a pure progressive passer coach couldn't really work through reeds then the only way for us to maintain offensive efficiency is to be willing to run that guy. All right? And be willing to, you know, add him into the run game and get him far more involved with the run game. I also think the other thing I heard from Michigan people today was that

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[Host]

And I know everyone's talked about it and everyone's made jokes about how bad it was from a coaching standpoint last year, but some of the things that I've heard, there's no, there's no over over talking about. You can't talk about enough how bad it was from a coaching Standpoint there. Some of the things that I've heard are just flat out unbelievable. Flat out unbelievable about how bad a Power 4 football program was ran last year. I also didn't love hearing that hasn't really changed all that much. At least from the spring game. He hasn't. Yeah, Bryce Underwood hasn't progressed that much. But the way I looked at that Kirby before I said oh. And I wanted to say oh. In my mind, the. The way I look at that is they only had 15 practices to really break him in.

[Co-host Kirby]

Very true.

[Host]

And really get rid of the bad habits. You had an entire off season to get that together. Now the entire summer you're going to have an entire fall camp. Hopefully they fix him. And there is a lot to fix there. Got to become a better layer of the football. Got to be far more disciplined with our lower body mechanics. Can't just get away with the things that we got away with in high school. Can't be locked into primary reads and staying locked in. Can't just throw the ball up at times like he did last year. There's a lot of things there to clean up and they've had pretty good time to clean those things up. A little bit more bullish on him after talking to Michigan people, but still a long way to go before he is playing the rate at what he is paid right now.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Yeah, that's what I was going to mention when you started off this segment of. Yeah, the money did pry away Bryce Underwood from the LSU Tigers, but I'd argue the LSU Tigers might be a little alleviated that they didn't throw all that money at him at this moment at least. I know that we're only one year into this and we talked about that during the film study of like, it is just one year into the Bryce Underwood experience over there in Michigan. And there's a whole lot of moving parts since last season as well. Probably in the right direction, if I had to guess under Kyle Whittingham, but definitely one of the more intriguing prospects at the quarterback position heading into this season. Because it doesn't just need to be a jump in most people's eyes for Bryce Underwood. Like, it needs to be a massive leap of like, this guy becoming one of the best quarterbacks in the country this year.

[Co-host Kirby]

Yeah, I don't think there's any denying and it's obvious even without all the stories that we've heard since then that coaching failed him last year and he was really not given a space where he could flourish into the athlete, into the player that he was but. Or is it was expected to be. Let's. But let's also be honest. It was a risk when he came there. I remember people saying, like, the competition he was going against in high school wasn't that great. So, like, it could also just be that it's not what people thought it was when he first got there. And then the dollar signs certainly indicate that he's a top player, but that might not always be the correlation there. So I don't know. But hopefully it sounds like things are going in the right direction there. Hopefully he can continue to develop into a player that can help this Michigan team get back to where they were two or three years ago, but we'll see.

[Host]

Sorry, I'm getting anonymous texts from SEC coaches in my response to the SEC anonymous coaches article that came out today. We'll be addressing that in the local hour, but here we go. Enough on the Bryce Underwood study. If you haven't watched it, please go do. It's good stuff. It's been watched a pretty fair rate at this point. Go turn that thing up a little bit more. Week zero is two and a half weeks away, boys.

[Co-host Kirby]

Thank God.

[Host]

Two and a half weeks away. Football is on our doorsteps. They are playing football all across the country in practice format. We're about to actually get some football games played now instead of going through these, which as we get actually much closer to week zero, we'll do previews, we'll do predictions, we'll do all that good stuff. We'll do guess the lines. That segment returns pretty soon. So we'll have all that stuff coming up forward. But we want to do some. What do you call these? Superlatives?

[Co-host Kirby]

Yeah.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Yes.

[Host]

We'll do some superlatives for week zero. Do you want to hear the superlatives?

[Co-host Kirby]

Let's hear them.

[Host]

We got game. You're excited about Sneaky Good. A snoozer game. All right. You're just probably not going to watch it all that much. Best player in week Zero. Upset alert. Kirby's favorite category. Best uniform Combo. We also have Most Empty Crowd.

[Co-host Kirby]

I wouldn't say it's my favorite category, but. What?

[Host]

It's my favorite category of yours.

[Co-host Kirby]

Okay.

[Host]

How about that? By the way, I will hear zero. And I mean zero. Week zero. Slander.

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[Advertiser 2]

None.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Thank you.

[Host]

None. I'm not gonna have it. Not gonna listen to it. All we do is complain about not having football during the offseason. What I'm not going to complain about is the slate in week zero. Definitely not complaining about slate in week ones, week twos, week three. No. No complaining about slates. That's not what we do around here. This is the sickos place. All right. Sickos will watch Sacramento State until their eyes bleed. All right, so that's how we do it around here. And that's how we love to do it around here. All right. Game you are most excited about. I think there are two candidates on this list for game you're most excited about.

[Co-host Jonathan]

I think there's one obvious candidate, in

[Host]

my opinion, NC State, Virginia.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Yeah, that's the one that I'd be most excited to watch, partially because C.J. bailey excited to watch that. That plays a huge role in it. I'm just like North Carolina, TCU could end up being a good game. Now, the games over in Ireland do not have great history of being good games. Typically they aren't.

[Co-host Kirby]

But they're close. They're just not great.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Yeah, exactly. But considering how North Carolina opened their season last year against this opponent, boy, I don't know if I'm looking forward to that one. Exactly. So I think it's NC State, Virginia.

[Host]

I'm looking forward to the Ireland game because it's always sloppy as hell.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Yes.

[Host]

I mean, it's some of the grossest football we ever watch. Mainly because it stays raining in Ireland.

[Co-host Kirby]

Yep.

[Host]

And for some reason, they don't have an enclosed stadium, so that field is an absolute slop fest and it leads to sloppy football.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Yeah.

[Co-host Kirby]

And I think that's why I had it in mind. There's also a lot of storylines there, like the Bill Belichick thing. We know where that's been at. We. We know all the off season stuff going on there. It's gonna be very interesting how that plays out.

[Host]

We had a father son fight last year. Is there a potential. Is there a potential that we see a father son fight between the Belichicks? Well, come on now.

[Co-host Kirby]

Isn't the stunt.

[Host]

Is he not gonna be there?

[Co-host Kirby]

Leave of absence?

[Host]

It's a under. It's an undetermined amount of time that he is leaving the program.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Yeah. Anytime I hear undetermined amount of time, I take it as a long time

[Co-host Kirby]

he's gone for a minute.

[Co-host Jonathan]

That's how I read those things, you

[Co-host Kirby]

know, and probably not coming back to fly out to Ireland.

[Host]

Probably not. Yeah, probably not.

[Co-host Jonathan]

That's also.

[Host]

Did they name an interim defense coordinator? Probably not. It's just Bill.

[Co-host Kirby]

Probably. He's probably.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Now, I will say, if you did want to make the argument that North Carolina and TCU is the game you're most excited about for the sole reason that it is the first one we get to watch. I'm here for it. That's a valid reason.

[Host]

That is a solid reason. It is NC State at Virginia though. I think that's going to be. Is that one of those. You talked about this pre show. Is it one of those games that's an ACC matchup but it's not an acc?

[Co-host Kirby]

I believe so because if people remember the ACC had a bunch of schools join in while they were still not technically conference opponents but we're on each other's schedules so they said you know what you're going to still play these games but they're not going to count towards your conference record. So I think think that's what's going on here. But I'm not 1000% sure what's the

[Host]

sneaky good football game. I think there's a a home run.

[Co-host Jonathan]

I don't does count as a conference

[Host]

game according to Goa.

[Co-host Jonathan]

It says although the matchup was originally planned as a non conference game the ACC made it part of the official league slate as the conference moved to nine game schedule.

[Co-host Kirby]

Interesting.

[Host]

What a whacked out conference that place.

[Co-host Kirby]

Yeah. They got no clue what's going on. None.

[Host]

What's a sneaky good football game Week

[Co-host Kirby]

zero I don't know how sneaky this one would be because it is kind of two of the bigger names in their section. But UNLV versus Memphis I think will have playoff implications. Is that weird to say?

[Co-host Jonathan]

That's not weird to say. I mean those are two of the better programs.

[Co-host Kirby]

Weird to say for a week zero game between 2G5.

[Host]

It's also in my notes for the opportunity to really test my sicko standards. We're gonna watch a 10 o' clock kickoff between Memphis at UNLV out there in the Raiders dome. Do they still play at Allegiance Stadium stadium?

[Co-host Kirby]

Yes.

[Host]

So that's always. I know that. You know I know that because I've been Grant grinding Anthony Calandria tape. That's how I know that spoiler alert is coming at some point. We're gonna get to Nebraska tape at some point but that game is really going to be the first warm up for that late slate football game that you're watching until 2 o' clock in the morning going what am I doing? I need to go to bed. What you're doing is being a sicko and praise to you. Praise to you because football is back but it's Hawaii at Stanford.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Yeah, I agree.

[Host]

That's why it was A good football game. It's Hawaii at Stanford.

[Co-host Kirby]

That game was so magnetic last year. Yeah, man.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Did you.

[Host]

Do you see Andrew Luck spinning it?

[Co-host Jonathan]

Yeah, I did. He. He was out there throwing routes to somebody.

[Co-host Kirby]

Another NFL player, I think.

[Host]

Zach Hertz.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Yeah, that's who it was.

[Host]

Not some random former.

[Co-host Jonathan]

No, I didn't say a random. I just said another former.

[Host]

Oh, I thought you said another random.

[Advertiser]

No, no, no.

[Host]

First of all, neither of those guys are random. I knew it was random, but yeah. Micah Alejandro gonna be throwing missiles in that football. Alejado gonna be throwing missiles in that football game.

[Co-host Jonathan]

I don't know if he's gonna be throwing.

[Host]

Who's Stanford's quarterback, by the way?

[Co-host Kirby]

Well, let's take a look. I not sure, but all I know is that game is going to be very exciting to watch.

[Host]

Could it be?

[Co-host Jonathan]

You don't sound very excited to the

[Host]

gills for that one.

[Co-host Kirby]

I'm thinking about how fun that matchup was last year. Him hobbling down the field. What's that?

[Co-host Jonathan]

Davis Warren, the former Michigan quarterback.

[Co-host Kirby]

Interesting.

[Host]

Was he a walk on in Michigan?

[Co-host Jonathan]

I think he was labeled as a walk on.

[Advertiser]

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[Co-host Kirby]

Any start a game for them because things got so bad and.

[Host]

Oh yeah, yeah. Oh yeah, he got it. He got a start against whoever in the bowl game the year before Bryce Underwood got there.

[Co-host Kirby]

That's right.

[Host]

Yeah.

[Co-host Kirby]

Huh.

[Host]

Interesting. Snoozer. Snoozer. Football game.

[Co-host Kirby]

None.

[Host]

Doesn't exist.

[Co-host Kirby]

Watching all I'd see.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Look, I understand that for the sake of this we want to say that it doesn't exist, but there's a home run.

[Co-host Kirby]

There's.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Yeah, there's games.

[Host]

Not the one you guys are going to pick.

[Co-host Kirby]

There's games we're going to love more than others.

[Host]

There's an absolute slam dunk option here for Snoozer. I'm going to fall asleep during the game.

[Co-host Kirby]

Who is it?

[Co-host Jonathan]

Which one is it?

[Host]

No, you tell me yours first.

[Co-host Jonathan]

It's Eastern Michigan and Sacramento State.

[Host]

Nah, dude.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Yeah, it is.

[Host]

Nah, dude. I think it's going to be a war.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Okay. Based on what, the fact that it's

[Host]

going to be a war?

[Co-host Jonathan]

Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

[Host]

All right, Eastern Michigan, probably writing that one down as a dub.

[Co-host Jonathan]

I don't know. Probably.

[Host]

I don't get many opportunities to do that at Eastern Michigan. Yeah, Nah, dude, there, there's an obvious candidate. Look it over. Pay attention to the off season headlines.

[Co-host Kirby]

I really, I'm really confused,

[Host]

buddy. If you don't think I'm gonna fall asleep and pay no mind to Brian Kelly calling a college football game, you don't know this platform. Brian Kelly is calling the Jacksonville State at North Dakota State game. And yeah, I will not be watching that one or at least not have those volume up on that one because he is going to rage bait me into throwing my remote at the TV because he's not going to know what he's talking about. Do you think Brian Kelly has been spending a week before that football game grinding those two rosters? Do you think he knows anything about those football programs?

[Co-host Kirby]

I mean, I know, I know he knows a lot about the game.

[Host]

$57 million buyout, Brian Kelly. You think he's been grinding to do this job or do you think he just got this job?

[Co-host Kirby]

I mean, he probably just got it. As long as. Look, as long as you're entertaining, I think that's your first job as a color commentator. Like the idea of like this guy doesn't know everything about the game or. And he clearly hasn't analyzed every single rock. Like, I'm not really worried about.

[Host]

Yes, because entertaining is the word I would connote for Brian Kelly.

[Co-host Kirby]

He is, dude, he gets plenty of, plenty of hot mic moments and things like off the wall.

[Co-host Jonathan]

All the play by play guy has to do is ask him about the lack of explosive runs from one of these offenses and Brian Kelly is just gonna jump in the. Just let it rip.

[Co-host Kirby]

You don't have to like Brian Kelly because he does a lot of things are not likable, but you can't deny that he's entertaining. I mean, the, the family, the, the 360 camera on the recruiting trip, the slamming the fist down the desk, the player execution comment, like all of it plays into the Brian Clay. He is entertaining. There's no denying that. Whether or not you think he's going to be good at the job, like,

[Host]

I think those are entertaining things that we enjoy laughing at about him.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Just put the game on mute, bro.

[Co-host Kirby]

So that's entertaining.

[Host]

Dang dog.

[Co-host Jonathan]

I'm just saying, if that's your crux

[Co-host Kirby]

with this game, the sole reason you don't like this game put it on you.

[Host]

Best player in week zero, boys. Who's it going to be and why is it C.J.

[Co-host Jonathan]

bailey could make an argument for Jaden Mayava?

[Co-host Kirby]

Yeah, I think it's going to be

[Host]

between I, oh, he's already got 300

[Co-host Jonathan]

yards but I think there's honestly a clear winner here again.

[Host]

Deuce Robinson.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Deuce Robinson, man. Come on.

[Co-host Kirby]

I'm, I'd like to just throw out maybe a possibility that Mark Bowman is the best player on the field during this week.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Maybe not this week.

[Co-host Kirby]

Like if they, if they utilize him in a way and everyone's like, oh this is why they gave this guy $8 million.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Like maybe not week zero, but yeah, I mean it could, it could end up being that quick. I mean it could be one of those impacts.

[Co-host Kirby]

It's San Jose State. It's an opportunity to get a young kid some, some real game touches. Like I'm not saying it's going to happen.

[Host]

Nobody beats the hell out of mid major football programs like Lincoln Riley.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Oh, they're gonna put up 70.

[Host]

Nobody.

[Co-host Jonathan]

They're gonna put up 70.

[Host]

Nobody is willing to just absolutely give themselves football curses than Lincoln Riley against Leicester. Than football programs.

[Co-host Jonathan]

And I will say you bring up an intriguing point about the USC game because we talk about, we've talked about a lot of their past recruitment, their most recent recruiting class and how loaded it was. This is going to be the first test we get and first really look at that we get of that entire recruiting class because I would imagine all those guys are probably going to get some burn in this one. You're going to get to see just how many hits early on they have in that class.

[Host]

Mike Alhado needs a shower here. He gonna be slinging it. Is it? I think it's Turkey Slammer. Turkey Slammer in our chat has been commenting on every single quarterback study. Where's that Allah Turkey Slammer? Where's the Allah breakdown? Where's. Spoiler alert. It's probably not coming.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Turkey Slammer definitely has a Hawaii rebuild going right now.

[Host]

You think so?

[Co-host Jonathan]

100%.

[Host]

100% on college football. 27 for sure. Yeah. I don't know if we're trying to reach the Hawaii warriors fan base in the algorithm.

[Co-host Jonathan]

It's not a superlative on our list but I think Micah Alahada would win be the winner of the category of player that takes over social media that day. He's good for that of he's a player that people typically do not watch during the college football season. And as soon as they watch it like, oh, my gosh, this guy's a dog, bro.

[Host]

Said he's gonna break his femur in the first quarter and still throw for 400 yards.

[Co-host Kirby]

I believe it.

[Host]

He is tough dude. Gritty football player. First quarterback I've seen a long time that makes me think lunch pail.

[Co-host Kirby]

Yeah.

[Host]

Yeah. All right, who's on upset alert? Week one or week zero?

[Co-host Kirby]

I don't think it's any of, like, the big, like, USC is not going to lose their football game. I don't know if you could consider the winner of North Carolina or TCU really being an upset. I know that one of those teams is probably fairly favored, but I, I, I do we put Florida State.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Well, you know, I was going to say this. If I were to have a source that showed me the lines of these games, which I don't, I don't have this source yet, maybe soon we will have one of those. Maybe I would assume that maybe TCU is favored here. Maybe they're on upset alert.

[Host]

No, sir.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Yeah.

[Host]

You know who's on upset alert in that football game? UNC fans that are going to fly all the way across international waters to watch their football team get absolutely drubbed up in week zero. I got TCU winning that game by,

[Co-host Jonathan]

like, I mean, at that point, if you're a UNC fan going to the game, you're, you're purely going to see Ireland. You're not going there anticipating that this is the start of the dynasty. You're just going there like, oh, we want to go to Ireland. Might as well catch a football game.

[Host]

Yeah. But I would be rather pissed off to fly all the way out there and watch us lose the game in the first quarter.

[Co-host Kirby]

That would certainly put a damper on the trip.

[Host]

Does anybody got optimism for what's going on in Chapel Hill right about now? I don't think so.

[Co-host Kirby]

I think the, the name Belichick kind of is what is causing the optimism. If, if his name was Jeff Smith, I think that people would be calling for his job.

[Host]

I think they already all are calling for his job.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Not even the goat is safe from this.

[Host]

I don't think he survives that, like, the whole season. It's gonna take and just eat that one chat saying, unc ad's got to go. The AD had no choice. If you, if you remember what happened in that hiring process, the biggest booster in the entire realm up there in North Carolina did a backdoor sweetheart deal with Bill Belichick and then went in there and held the, the board of trustees hostage and said, I'm pulling my money from the entire program if y' all don't hire this guy. And then they didn't even go through an interview process. It was done. They had to hire this guy. Now, you could say that's on the ad for being willing to do so. You could also say their basketball program isn't what it's supposed to be. So maybe there's more reasons than one to get rid of the ad up there, But I don't think he really had a choice in the day and age where donor money is more important and more paramount than ever before in the world of college athletics. So, yeah, there's going to be some absolute beatings delivered this year to North Carolina. I am, I believe, best uniform combo.

[Co-host Kirby]

Kirby, if tc, I don't know what the uniform combination will be for. If TCU wears white and UNC wears normal colors, it'll be that. However, Stanford versus Hawaii is going to look really, really good. I think the. The Cardinal red combined with Hawaii's deep green. I don't know what the uniform combinations are going to be, but just going off their colors, I'm gonna give Stanford, Hawaii my vote for this.

[Co-host Jonathan]

I kind of want to go unlv, Memphis here. I think both of those programs have some pretty solid uniform combos. For whatever reason. That's where my mind's going.

[Co-host Kirby]

They do. They. They absolutely do. I. I like UNLV uniforms. The Memphis, the Tiger part of it, I think will kind of clash with that.

[Host]

But yeah, the amount of green on the field between Sacramento State and Eastern Michigan would make Gumby happy.

[Co-host Kirby]

Definitely. There's a lot of green on that field. My Lord.

[Host]

So much green. Too much green. Has anybody made green look good in a uni before?

[Co-host Kirby]

I would say Oregon's done it a few times.

[Host]

Oregon, Hawaii looks good several times. Hawaii's black. And the whites in those uniforms are the most noticeable things. The green is an accent color for Hawaii in both uniforms.

[Co-host Jonathan]

This isn't college football, but the Philadelphia Eagles throwback uniforms, those are clean.

[Host]

You're a Kelly Green guy.

[Co-host Jonathan]

I wouldn't say I'm a Kelly Green guy, but I think that those uniforms are clean, solid.

[Host]

Most empty crowd. It's an absolute layup. It's always usc, but Stanford plays the same week at home.

[Co-host Kirby]

It's going to be Stanford versus Hawaii.

[Co-host Jonathan]

I'll die on the sword. Usc.

[Co-host Kirby]

Well, think about this, buddy.

[Co-host Jonathan]

I watched a ranked USC matchup last season and the stadium was not packed full then. You think these people are going to show up for a Week 0 game game against San Jose State.

[Co-host Kirby]

You do not have to tell me twice.

[Co-host Jonathan]

I apparently I do. It's usc.

[Co-host Kirby]

I know the fan participation is disgusting at usc. Stanford is a team that has been deplorable for the last seven or eight years. Combine that with a team they're playing is quite literally as far away as you can be. They're going to have no visitor presence there. I don't think there's a lot like it's not like Andrew Lux is having his first year there. It's not like there's a lot of exciting things. There's the Stanford Stadium is going to be.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Andrew Luck can pull more fans into his stadium than USC's football team can.

[Co-host Kirby]

I'm not going to argue that it looks sad but I'm going to go USC or Stanford. Hawaii.

[Host]

By the way, that's Christian Kirby's penmanship in the bottom right hand corner of that whiteboard. I have no idea what it's saying either. You are rage baiting the entire chat with your penmanship so don't ever give me smoke on mine. There will be more people at the Ryan Stadium than there will be a USC and Stanford. Any guesses where Ryan State.

[Co-host Jonathan]

I just looked at it so I know.

[Co-host Kirby]

I have no clue.

[Host]

That would be Eastern Michigan Stadium. Sacramento State and Eastern Michigan will have more fans in attendance than the Stanford football game. You heard it here first. Unless it doesn't happen. How about that? First time we dropped that line in a minute.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Yes.

[Host]

Love it. All right. That is our week zero superlatives.

[Co-host Kirby]

Yes.

[Host]

We enjoy that. We enjoy that won't be the last

[Co-host Jonathan]

time we talk about those games.

[Host]

No, it will not be. We will be hammering those as we get closer and closer to week zero. Guys, who's got a chance to go 12 and oh undefeated regular season? That is what we are discussing tonight. Who's got a chance to go undefeated?

[Co-host Jonathan]

I have five candidates. Now I will say four and a half.

[Co-host Kirby]

Four and a half.

[Host]

Four and a half.

[Co-host Jonathan]

I'm not sure that that works for this segment.

[Host]

Candidates four and five play each other.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Yeah, they both.

[Host]

They both can't be on this list.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Correct. But I mean for the sake of. Could they go 12 0? Yes, that. That would be. Yes, they count.

[Host]

Okay. They're like four and a half. Go ahead.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Whatever. My can't. Now I will say I did not dive through every single schedule in all of college football for this segment. But based on the limited research that

[Host]

I did do, I actually have five and a half.

[Co-host Jonathan]

I Have Georgia as a potential. I have Oregon as a potential candidate as well. Indiana, Miami and Notre Dame.

[Host]

You have Indiana and Oregon simply because they don't play each other. And they don't play Ohio State.

[Co-host Jonathan]

I think Oregon or Ohio State.

[Host]

Oh no, Oregon, Ohio State. Play each other.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Yes.

[Host]

Yeah, but I got Indiana and Oregon.

[Co-host Kirby]

Indiana also played Ohio State.

[Host]

I'm pretty sure I got Indiana and Oregon. I got Indiana and Oregon simply because they don't play each other.

[Co-host Kirby]

Okay.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Yeah, I think that's valid.

[Co-host Kirby]

Yeah, I mean like 10. That is also based this off of just programs that have shown they can do this. Like Indiana obviously is capable of going 12 0. Oregon did so two years ago. Georgia did it three years in a row from that time. So those are three teams. I think it's fair to assume that. And the schedules, like we all point out, are not grueling, are not terrible. It's. It's really like, hey, you've got two or three really, really tough games that you could win, but you could also lose and the rest will be games that you should win.

[Host]

So Texas Tech is an obvious candidate.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Yes. How did I omit that?

[Co-host Kirby]

Texas Tech is my number one team that has the best chance to go in the field. If you beat byu, you should be home free. Just don't get upset by anyone else. Second team I have ranked on like the number two team for this is, is Notre Dame. I think Notre Dame is very similar to, hey, if you beat Miami at home and then are able to fend off a BYU upset, which you should be, you're a better team by them and basically every metric you should be 12 and 02 because there's really nothing left on that schedule that's going to give you a sweat or not enough

[Host]

thumbs up buttons on this stream. Not enough. Let's get some more there. I'm with you all the way on that one. I have Miami or Notre Dame. Whoever wins that game will be undefeated.

[Co-host Kirby]

Yeah, more than likely they should be. And I have Miami on my list as well for that reason. Like the ACC is just not really enough. The reason I didn't have Miami hires because Miami's been the better team that they've played for basically 95% of their games and they've still managed to lose four regular season games over the last two years. I'm not saying it's going to happen again, but it is worth noting that like they find ways to shoot themselves in the foot, especially in the regular season.

[Host]

I could see it. Texas Tech, another one of these teams that constantly finds a way to lose.

[Co-host Jonathan]

They did last year.

[Co-host Kirby]

Last year and for honestly like granted

[Host]

backup quarterback against Arizona State, but you're technically playing your backup quarterback all year this year.

[Co-host Kirby]

Yep, it's true.

[Host]

Even though fall propaganda. I don't know if y' all saw it, but Will Hammond was cutting off the knee. He, he had a plus move in the pocket off the knee with the knee brace. Good.

[Co-host Kirby]

I'm glad he's back.

[Host]

He might be Will Hemmond.

[Co-host Kirby]

I, I think the team that also deserves.

[Host]

Do it. Yeah. Go ahead. Sniff this glue right quick. Do it. Do it. Oh, that's not the one. That's not the one. Just wait. He's not sniffing glue for that one. He could be sniffing glue in a minute. Go ahead.

[Co-host Kirby]

BYU only has really one like really, really daunting challenge. It's Notre Dame. It's a tough game for sure, but you get at home and you get it mid season like after that they should walk through this conference. And if you look at last year they did this except for when they ran in Texas Tech couldn't beat them. But they're better than basically everyone else on their schedule. So I think if BYU can get through Notre Dame, like undefeated isn't way out of the world for them.

[Co-host Jonathan]

It's a valid team to have on there.

[Host]

It is, it is their baseline 11:1. I think this year it's whether or not they can beat Notre Dame at home at night in Provo. So we'll see.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Now you had another candidate.

[Host]

Yeah. Are you going to do this?

[Co-host Kirby]

Yeah.

[Host]

Do this full throatedly?

[Co-host Kirby]

No, because I don't believe it. Hold on. You want, you want me to lie to our audience and deceive them and think I believe something? I don't.

[Host]

You wouldn't be the first national media analyst to do something like that.

[Co-host Kirby]

We are, we are a different show. We're better than that. I. I asked Jay Will earlier in the while we were doing show notes of like, am I crazy for looking at how disgustingly bad NC State schedule is in thinking maybe there's a world where they can go into. I know NC State nowhere near the program and the caliber that other teams are. But it's Virginia, which is, you know, a tough outing for them. But Richmond, Vanderbilt, App State, Louisville, Wake Forest, Stanford, Cal, Duke, Syracuse, Florida State, North Carolina. Like that is a schedule of 12 not good to really, really bad teams. And I understand that NC State is on the the near end of not good. But if C.J. bailey is everything that some people believe he is, it's 12 and oh that unbelievable.

[Host]

You're not going to blue hand me right now.

[Co-host Jonathan]

What Delaware?

[Host]

Yeah. You're not going to blue hand me right now.

[Co-host Jonathan]

I'm not going to. Not for this conversation.

[Host]

Ride the minicooch.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Look, Nick Minicucci can over only do so much for the blue Hens and despite his val valiant effort last season, I think they still lost six games. So there's only so much he can do for them out there. They managed to hold on to him. Shocked he didn't enter the portal and go somewhere else. But yet he remains loyal to Delaware. Not throwing them in this conversation. Going Back to your NC State conversation. Not the right ACC team to be saying they would go 120 with that schedule if that was Miami's. Oh yeah, absolutely.

[Host]

It basically is Miami State.

[Co-host Jonathan]

But they got Notre Dame.

[Host]

Notre Dame game.

[Co-host Kirby]

Yeah, I think there's probably.

[Host]

There's not a tough schedule in ACC.

[Co-host Kirby]

I think there's 10 to up to 15 teams that if you had this schedule going undefeated should be the expectation in college. Like it is one of the. Like Louisville at home is their hardest out. Florida State's not good. North Carolina is not good.

[Host]

Maybe.

[Co-host Kirby]

Maybe Vanderbilt's better than everyone's expecting to. Maybe Jared Curse is the real deal. Who knows? Virginia's kind of been a pretty decent ACC team but there is not one difficult to oh my God. They should lose that game on their schedule and they're NC State.

[Host]

We need to find a new spoon.

[Co-host Kirby]

No, I like my spoon. I like Kansas.

[Host]

I'm out. We've been out on the Jayhawks for a couple.

[Co-host Kirby]

I'm not giving up on him.

[Host]

Dude, we need to find a new spoon that we can't put down.

[Co-host Kirby]

I'm holding.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Oh, it'll happen. It'll happen at some point.

[Co-host Kirby]

We'll find it. Don't you worry.

[Host]

Boy, I got off that Lenore. So is narcotic narcotic real quick.

[Co-host Kirby]

Really good.

[Host]

I don't know. I might regret it this year. Yeah, he's definitely have some withdrawals this year.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Yeah, very well could happen.

[Co-host Kirby]

I love the Jayhawks, man. I love you Jayhawks and I will never leave you. Don't worry. I'm holding it down for you guys.

[Host]

What an odd angle to be holding down.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Yeah, look it man. It was fun while it lasted, but I think it's just time.

[Co-host Kirby]

I still believe. I still want to believe so badly. They'll turn it around.

[Co-host Jonathan]

You've never sounded like a Raiders fan more than you have right now, said the Falcons fan.

[Co-host Kirby]

Crazy.

[Host]

Oh man, who's going to be the first overall draft pick this year? Who's in the running for this?

[Co-host Jonathan]

I came up with six candidates.

[Host]

I have seven.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Okay. So I thought I may have had too many potentially.

[Co-host Kirby]

I have seven as well.

[Host]

I think we have the same seven.

[Co-host Kirby]

Okay.

[Host]

I have three quarterbacks and four position players, but I haven't named the one of the four position players. It's just someone.

[Co-host Jonathan]

I have four QBs.

[Host]

Four, four QBs.

[Co-host Kirby]

Your fourth quarterback. Let's.

[Host]

Let's hear it.

[Co-host Jonathan]

All right, my four quarterbacks that I have. Arch Manning.

[Co-host Kirby]

Yep.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Dante Moore. CJ Carr.

[Co-host Kirby]

Yeah, I think we all had him. All had those three Drew messmaker.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Come on, man. You tell me that that is the quarterback to have a really good season again, maybe lead the causeful on passing again and walk to the NFL combine and it's just, oh my gosh, this guy, Josh Allen. This is it. This is everything we ever wanted in a quarterback. He has the physic, he has all the physical traits that you would want. And then he puts up the numbers too. I don't know. There's a world where it happens.

[Advertiser]

Maybe.

[Host]

I don't know if Darion Mensah has enough arm strength to be in this conversation, but he's gonna light it.

[Co-host Kirby]

Is there, is there a world where Lenore Sellers has such a bounce back year that he becomes.

[Host]

I think Todd McShay believes so.

[Co-host Jonathan]

See with a guy like Lenora Sellers though, like even let's say he has a slightly better year than he did as a redshirt freshman, there's still going to be that glare on his stat sheet of the 2025 season. And I think it's really going to make people hesitate.

[Host]

And he's still to me, a relatively limited thrower of the football. Yeah, we're talking about these other guys like C.J. carr and Dante Moore are light years ahead from an arm talent and arm strength standpoint than when Norris Lenoris is just a. He is so much more of a freak athlete that he gets listed in these conversations by NFL mock draft people for sure. But that's not how the position's played on the NFL level. Everybody out there is a freak athlete. Like you have to be an elite thrower of the Football to go 1, 1. The Arch Manning thing like his. His tape is good enough to be a first round draft pick. I think he would have been a first round draft pick last year based off tape and name. And name does matter. And I don't know. That's crazy to say in these situations. But there are going to be NFL scouts that look at that and go, the tape's better than, Than what? So and so's was coming out and he's a Manning. Yeah, so. And not to mention general managers and owners play a role with these number one overall picks.

[Co-host Kirby]

Oh, I mean, I think our owners,

[Host]

especially an owner, would die to Dr. Manning.

[Co-host Kirby]

Certainly Arch Manning is the clear cut favorite to be in this position, but there's other guys that, like we said, are competing for it.

[Host]

Who are your position players?

[Co-host Kirby]

I think the, the first one that's kind of obvious for everyone would be Jeremiah Smith. Although I don't know any instance where receivers been taking one overall. See, I can't, I can't.

[Host]

Calvin Johnson. No, he didn't go one one.

[Co-host Kirby]

He was not one one. I mean like top five is not crazy, but one like you're using the first pick. That's pretty wild. So I think Jeremiah Smith probably won't

[Co-host Jonathan]

be this keyshawn Johnson in 1996. Yeah.

[Co-host Kirby]

And he was a. That was a hit.

[Host]

Excuse me. What?

[Co-host Kirby]

Joking.

[Host]

Say, whoa, Keyshawn was a hit. Yeah, Jeremiah Smith was on my list. I have. So this basically has to be an edge rusher or an offensive tackle or a quarterback.

[Co-host Kirby]

Normally, Pretty much, yeah.

[Host]

That's almost exclusively what one one is.

[Co-host Kirby]

That's about it.

[Host]

So edge rushers to me are Dylan Stewart and Colin Simmons.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Yeah.

[Co-host Kirby]

I also threw Damon Wilson into my list. I, I don't think that he gets that. But I mean, if Damon Wilson puts

[Host]

up 13 sacks, it would have to be something crazy. Yeah, I mean, it'd be close to 14.

[Co-host Kirby]

I mean, they're gonna, they are going to make him like the, hey, you're the peel your ears back and go get the quarterback guy. And he's not going to be going up against the talent that he was facing when he was at Georgia or Missouri. So there's a world where he racks up 13. So it's, it's a long shot. But I think it's worth mentioning at

[Host]

least Colin Simmons is a lock for a top 10 pick. I think Dylan Stewart is going to get a little bit more hype from NFL analysts and NFL draft people because he has a prototypical NFL frame.

[Co-host Kirby]

Oh, for sure.

[Host]

Simmons is going to get knocked for size. I'm just letting you know that right now you're going to have to draft him in the top five knowing that he is going to be Von Miller. And I think to me, he is the closest guy we've seen in college football to Von Miller since Von Miller, that I can project that your size is not going to be a problem.

[Co-host Kirby]

Yeah.

[Host]

Because you are that freaking good.

[Co-host Kirby]

Yeah.

[Host]

Because he is. I mean, he's 6 3, 240 pounds, where the, the prototypical NFL edge rusher is 6, 5, 2, 60. So that's why I do think the, the Dylan Stewart thing is going to be real now. His statistical production is going to drop off like a rock off a hill from year one to year two to year three because he has no help around him. He's going to get double teamed to death out there at South Carolina for the second straight year.

[Co-host Kirby]

Yeah, I think that his hype will slow down greatly this year. Not, not through any fault of his own, but because you are this, you are not the freshman that people kind of overlook now. Like you are the star of the show. You are the household name.

[Host]

I don't know as much being overlooked as a true freshman is they have Luke Canard on the other side.

[Co-host Kirby]

Yeah. And that's what I mean.

[Host]

Like, we just can't do anything but pay attention right now.

[Co-host Kirby]

We gotta worry about Luke Canard and Tonka Hemingway and all the other guys. Like the freshman, like J.T. sanders. Yeah, he's a freshman, whatever. And then it turns out he's really damn good. Now it's. Stop him. That's all you have to do.

[Host]

I see Chat talking about it. The cutups are absolutely insane. If Dylan Stewart, most of those cut ups are from his freshman year. Did he take over a game last year?

[Co-host Kirby]

Not that I can remember. I mean, he had moments, obviously, but nothing where it was like, oh my God, like this guy, no one can block him right now.

[Host]

He does play really hard. I appreciate that about him.

[Co-host Jonathan]

There's no doubt about that. If Trinidad Chambliss was 2 inches taller, would it be in this conversation?

[Host]

Yes.

[Co-host Kirby]

Yeah.

[Host]

But I don't, I mean, you guys were in the room with us up there in Indianapolis.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Yeah.

[Host]

The first thing NFL GM said were like, hey, you guys are college guys. How much money are they giving Trinidad to come back to college? And we were like, I don't know. Reports are 5 million. They're like, yeah, we had a fifth round grade on him.

[Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Host]

And we're like, that's insane, man. But I think a lot of that was college system playing for Lane 511.

[Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Host]

And those things kind of knock you down. I don't think Sam Levitt enters this conversation.

[Co-host Kirby]

No, don't think so.

[Host]

Even though somebody's, somebody's gonna do it. Yeah, somebody's gonna watch that this year. And they're gonna do it.

[Co-host Kirby]

I do have.

[Host]

They're gonna think, oh, my God, we got the next Bo Nicks.

[Co-host Kirby]

Yeah. Staying. Staying in lsu. I do have Jordan Seaton as a potential for this just because I think right now he's the most recognizable name at the offensive tackle position.

[Host]

I just wrote down a tackle.

[Co-host Kirby]

Yeah, that's a much safer bet.

[Host]

And I don't know who it's going to be. Carter Smith, NCAA 27, thinks is really, really good. I think he's good. I don't know if he's one one good. Jordan Seaton has all the traits in the world also, by the way, every time I see Jordan Seaton or basically anybody that leaves Colorado, I'm like, oh, my God. Yeah. Your strength and conditioning program was indeed that bad. It was indeed that bad. Travis Hunter's put on 30 pounds since going to pro ball. It looks like. Or however much weight it is. Jordan Seaton looks like a completely different football player. And I'm not even talking about the clips that we see out of Colorado practice, which are what they are. Maybe that's a Dion thing, though. He seems to be recruiting nothing but small people.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Yeah.

[Host]

Now, they're great high school football players, the high school kids he recruits, but all of them are 5, 11, nothing.

[Co-host Kirby]

Yeah, I mean, it's. We'll see what happens in Boulder this year, but I have, I don't have a lot of faith. It's going to be fantastic. Or we're going to have discussions of, is Deion Sanders a better coach than Nick Saban on first take this year? It's probably going to be. Is he. Oh, my God.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Oh, yeah, dude.

[Co-host Kirby]

Oh my. Dude. You do not remember them starting out three, zero, fire everybody in 2023, people were talking about, is he a better head coach than Nick Saban? Is he the grace of all like it was? I mean, it's peak first take, so take it with a grain of salt, but my Lord, that was a rough time.

[Host]

What is. What do you think is one of the most sought after tickets weeks 1, 2 and 3 this year?

[Co-host Jonathan]

Texas, Ohio State.

[Co-host Kirby]

Texas, Ohio State.

[Host]

Haven't we already looked that one up?

[Co-host Jonathan]

I believe we have.

[Host]

We've already done lsu, Ole Miss. Let's look at this. I'm very curious what this Oklahoma, Michigan matchup looks like a Seat Geek standpoint. I want to give a shout out to our friends over at Sea Geek, if you haven't downloaded the SeatGeek app yet, what are you doing? You are not supporting those who support us, I'll tell you that much. With over 35 million downloads, Sea Geek is the number one rated ticketing app in the world. There are more than 70, 000 events listed on Sea Geek, including concerts, sports festivals and much, much more. College football is two and a half weeks from being back with the start of week zero. The MLB playoffs are right around the corner and of course the NFL and NBA seasons are set to kick up as well. Let's take a look right quick. Jonathan, at this Oklahoma at Michigan game. They're in the big house. Looks like you can get us a ticket right there in section 8, row 38 or section 6, row 38 for $281 plus fees, which your fees are basically going to get taken care of because of our promo code Film Guide10. Again, that is promo code Film Guy10 for 10 off any tickets over there at Sea Geek. If you make sure you click the link in the description of this video to download the app and have the code automatically added to your account so you can use it later. Again, that is SeatGeek and promo code Film Guy 10. Head over there today and support those who support us. Had a little bit of a problem with the SVP take that made the show notes. So explain to the people what SVP said on his show.

[Co-host Kirby]

Yeah, so basically it's Van Pelt for

[Host]

those of you who are uninitiated into the goat.

[Co-host Kirby]

It's that time of year where people are starting to review rankings and I think the AP poll comes out next week. So people are really starting to hammer down who should be where and all these things. And basically Scott Van Pelt on his show was talking with Stanford Steve about, you know, who's going to be good right now. And he gave a quote that was kind of like these rankings don't really matter. So I'll give the quote right now. The point is that you're selling stories and people and programs right now in August without any real nods for sure about what's what. Look at last year as an example of where teams began the season in rankings. It will happen again because there will be teams that you just presume are going to be good based on the pedigree of their past. Some people that, you know, looking at the portal acquisitions and thinking that should work, but you don't know. So basically his entire sentiment was we don't know anything about anyone who's going to be good at all in college football right now, which I don't hate. I don't agree. I think we don't know nothing, but we know a lot less than we try to believe that we do.

[Host]

I think it's pretty clear there's a unanimous top 15 teams. I've talked about this over and over again. Now you can say that we thought we had a unanimous top 12 last year and Clemson sucked and Penn State sucked and yada, yada, yada. But that's been the nature of this sport well before the Portal. Well before the Portal, well before the nil era of college football. We've always had misunderstood or underperforming football teams. Is that because we don't know anything or is that because those teams went on to underperform? Yeah, you guys were fans of the 2008 Georgia team that was ranked number one going into the season. They finished nine and three. Is that because all the AP voters suck at their job, or is it because they underperformed as a football program? I think it's probably the latter. I think it's also really hard to sit there and criticize preseason top 25 teams because we, quote, unquote, don't know anything about team 16 through 25. It's really hard to predict who's going to be an average 9 and 3, 8 and 4 team that makes the final rankings at the back end of these lists. Like, that's never going to be the case. Also, this is the only sport where we have preseason top 25 teams. They don't have this in the NFL. They don't have this in the soccer worlds. They don't do this in basketball. Everyone just does their own and they go out and make takes and shows and comments about them. This is something that we actually have as a set precedent. And I do think there are legitimate metrics to actually look at this for. Hey, I do think looking at who you bought out of the Portal and whether or not they're quality football players does have a good indication of what you're ultimately going to be. Or you just sit on your hands otherwise. You know what I'm saying? Like, yeah, if you go out and buy good football players and you bring them onto your football team, I don't think you're an idiot for thinking that football team might be good for sure.

[Co-host Kirby]

And I. I don't think that you should just sit back the entire offseason and throw your hands. I don't know anything until the games start being played. Like, you make educated assumptions based on what we just talked about, the acquisitions in the offseason, what your recruiting class look like, who you had from Coaching staffs, all of these things. You make educated assumptions with the, with the. I think you should head into every season at this point in the year when you're in early August with the notion that it could all fall apart. We could all be absolutely wrong on this. Not that we don't know anything, but the information that we thought we had wasn't technically was not lived up to.

[Co-host Jonathan]

You know, funny enough, since you brought up like we have a concrete top 15 and going past that, trying to figure out who's going to be those teams is a lot harder. Coincidentally enough, 16 through 25 in last year's preseason AP poll had a much better hit rate than it did in the top 15. These are the, these are 16 through 25. Last season in the preseason poll it

[Host]

included the national champion, I'll tell you that much.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Smu, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Texas A and M, Indiana, Ole Miss, Iowa State, Texas Tech, Tennessee and Boise State.

[Co-host Kirby]

Yeah, I mean it makes sense and I think that you could play that into the fact of like, we don't know anything. I don't think it's a we don't know anything. I think it's, we shouldn't be as confident in the information that we have. I don't think we should look at the information right now and go, yeah, this team has this many returning starters. This is their schedule. They're going to be great. They should be in the playoffs. I think it's worth like the predictions are fine, but the confidence in those takes I think is where we run.

[Co-host Jonathan]

It does.

[Host]

I blame Garrett Riley, I blame James Franklin. That's who I blame. Yeah, it's those guys fault, not mine. It's not my fault. It's those guys fault.

[Co-host Jonathan]

It does really make you think though, like which teams in this year's top 15 are to going going to be those teams.

[Host]

That's a new segment we just stumbled into who is set up for absolute catastrophic falling out of the game.

[Co-host Kirby]

We did have like a who's going to be Penn State?

[Co-host Jonathan]

Like South Carolina was 13 in the preseason poll last year. LSU was top 10. You hit on Penn State and Clemson last year. Texas was number one and they didn't make the playoff last year. Like that's going to happen again more than likely this year. That many teams, I don't know, is it going to be that much of a drop off? Like are we going to have a team in the top 13 that's going to end up not even making a bowl game? Maybe. But last year, I mean, gosh, there were Some critical misses.

[Co-host Kirby]

I will say this, and this is what I would say my prediction is. And it could, you can say it plays into the. We don't know anything. You can say it plays into the other. We've got the, you know, the 15 teams that we think are going to be the, the playoff teams. I would not be surprised if a third of those teams are not in the call. So playoff this year.

[Host]

Well, one fifth of them are already eliminated based off spots.

[Co-host Kirby]

Okay. I would not be surprised if 8 to 9 if half of them were not teams that we saw representing the College Football Playoff. Like no one looked at Ole Miss last year. People didn't really think Indiana, everyone had Ohio, everyone had, you know, Texas, Clemson, lsu, Penn State, like a large majority of teams inside the top 10, the top 12 to, hey, they're top 15 but they should make the playoff. Did not make the playoff last year. And I think that's going to happen and I think that will continue to happen.

[Host]

All right, so the most recent preseason top because the AP hasn't come out yet. The most recent college football preseason top 25 that I've seen on my timeline is from on three and it's Ohio State, Oregon, Texas at three, Georgia at four, Notre Dame at five, Indiana at six, Miami at seven, Oklahoma at eight, Ole Miss at nine, A&M at 10, Texas Tech at 11, LSU at 12, USC, Alabama and BYU round out the top 15. So of those 15 teams, who, who is in territory for Tank?

[Co-host Jonathan]

I hate doing this because you know, you really hate to like just to piss on someone's parade before the season even gets started. Like I don't know, like immediately like just for the sake of this argument of it's shown that it can happen somewhat in the past and who's to say that this doesn't create more havoc for him? Like a team like Alabama with a new starting quarterback and a head coach that has shown the propensity to lose games that he shouldn't. Who's to say it couldn't happen at a worse rate this season? Like that's just me speculating again. Like I'm pretty high on Alabama coming this season. I had him in my playoff for goodness sake. But just kind of throwing that out there for this argument.

[Co-host Kirby]

I mean, I think a team like, I mean the, the two teams that played in the national championship last year I think are not scot free from this. Like there's a real world where Indiana comes out and yeah, they're one of the best coach teams but maybe the, the losses they had last year in the quarterback position is things are different and they lose two or three games and they're not in the playoff. Maybe Miami, maybe Darian Mensah doesn't quite fit there. Maybe the talent that they've got on the roster, maybe the players that they lost from the defensive side, they regress. Like, I think people look at results of last year and expect like, okay, we have a baseline of how good the coaching staff is or how good the pieces around it are. And that's going to be what factors in the next year. Like, we did this with Penn State, we did this with Clemson two years ago. We, like, we've done this before to where, oh, what we saw last year shapes our view of this year, which I think is kind of what Scott Van Pell is getting at. And to a certain degree there are programs that deserve the benefit of that. I don't think it's crazy to assume Ohio State and Georgia and other teams like that are going to be good just based on the decade of work

[Host]

that they've shown USC at 13 on that preseason top 25.

[Co-host Kirby]

Art.

[Host]

I'm already writing down three losses on that schedule.

[Co-host Kirby]

They have potential for disaster and they

[Host]

could get to five.

[Co-host Jonathan]

Sure.

[Co-host Kirby]

Oh, I mean, yeah, that's a. That is a, hey, you might get fired.

[Co-host Jonathan]

That's the most valid answer so far.

[Co-host Kirby]

Definitely. Yeah.

[Host]

Super chubs. This comes from Bryce Brown. He says, can we get an in depth video on O line protection, slash identifications. I think you kind of get that in every single video that we do, especially during this quarterback series. But yeah, at some point I will do a, we need to do a football basics, essentially. But every time I do one of these, it hits the algorithm like a dagum fish out of water just flopping around. So everyone claims they want that and then I do something like that and it doesn't do any numbers and we have to do things that we know people are going to watch, unfortunately. I hate that that's the way that this business is, but that's the way that this business is. With that being said, that is it for the national hour. Let's go to the local hour. We got a whole another hour content coming up after the break.