← The Hard Count with J.D. PicKell
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Let's make it legendary. See betmgm.com for terms 21 only US promotional offers not available in New York, Nevada, Ontario or Puerto Rico gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER available in the U.S. call 877-8-HOPE NY or text Hopeny for 467-369. For New York, call 1-800- NEXT STEP Arizona 1-800-327-5050. Massachusetts 1-800-Bets Off Iowa, 1-800-981-0023. Puerto Rico first bet offer for new customers only subject to the eligibility requirements. Rewards are non withdrawable bonus bets that expire in seven days. In partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel, we spend all off season talking and posturing and trying to get a angle on these teams. Now on my way into work I was thinking about this. Now get to say something definitive. If you've been watching this show, you've seen us slowly but surely start to throw you some record predictions. A couple here, a couple there. Usually it's like three a show, give or take. But if you've been been keeping track now we have not taken any swings at the sec. Record predictions. Wanted to wait till after media days. Wanted to look some of these guys in the eye, shake their hands, ask them about who the most football guy on their team is. We have now done that. We got a bunch of record predictions from for the SEC for you today. Also little Ohio State record prediction sprinkled in there towards the end. As always, the hard count brought to you By Brett by bet, MGM Hule riding shotgun. 40 grams of protein ready to drink. Excuse me. Also ready to drink. A good way to go with fuel. The Black Edition powder. A good way to go. Looking to get all your vitamins and nutrients dialed in. It is a Tuesday, July 28, 2026. Last one on the face the planet was we're back from Tampa. We're fresh off Radio Rokato on the ones and twos. I want to waste no more time. I want to jump right into it. One of the top comments we've gotten from doing Oklahoma videos is, hey JD When's the Oklahoma record prediction dropping? Right now for you, son. Okay, we'll jump into it. The Sooners, ma'. Am. Vegas got the over under win total set at seven and a half. And I get it, I get it to the degree that there was a lot last year where you watch the Sooners play football and say, man, that does not look pretty. I mean heck, we we compared him to the Komodo dragon all season long. Hey, kind of ugly. Not the most aesthetically pleasing brand of ball, but gosh dang it, if they bite you, they're lethal. Said as much on Fine Bomb. We're in Tampa for SEC media days. Oklahoma last year made the College Football Playoff with zero technique. It's like that guy you see in the gym who's deadlifting like, 405 and his back is arched over. You're like, that dude's about to snap in half. But somehow, some ways, you got enough brute strength to lift that bar up off the ground. That was Oklahoma last year. Which begs the question, now, do we see better technique in 2026? Do we see some more things work together with the run game and the material being healthy and the defense hold up there in the bargain? Or is it like, hey, man, you live with bad technique for long enough, eventually you strain something, pull something, tear something, and you fall flat on your face. And maybe Vegas does get the last laugh. I do want to preface this record prediction saying this. Over the last three seasons, we have been off by one game total on the overall record for Oklahoma. Now, specific game by game, sure we've been off, but you take a step back, look at the overall record. We've been off by one game. So we took the heat when we said we're going to be six and six out there. Norman, Oklahoma finished six and six last year. We were way higher on Oklahoma than most people had them at nine wins. And then Oklahoma, obviously 110. So we look a little bit foolish there. But here's my thing. The things that Oklahoma was bad at a year ago, most notably running the football, protecting John Mateer, John Mattier in general, staying healthy, I have a hard time believing those things will stay holes in the boat for Oklahoma in 2026. I said it on. On Radio Row. I want to say it again to y' all here watching the show now with us back in studio. Brett Venables is a lot of thing. Psychopath, probably caffeine addict, probably horse most of the time. Brent Venables is a fixer from one year to the next. It is very rare to see Oklahoma have the same struggles in a specific department of their football team. Carrying over year over year. A great example. He gets there, Norman, and the defense sucks. And you're like, wait a hang on, hang, hang on. We just hired this dude because he was a great defensive mind, and now we can't stop a nose like, what's up with this here, brother? Go to the portal, get a bunch of pieces in that front seven, and you are worlds better defensively the following year. Talk about 2024 Jackson Auto Rules out there and whether it was a Jackson Arnold thing or an offensive line thing, I guess we'll never know. I think there's a pretty good amount of that blame pie to be split up between both of those guys. It was not good enough last year. It wasn't at the quarterback position. So Brett Venable says, hang on, hold my root beer goes out, gets John Mateer, gets Ben Arbuckle, gets John Kuzci, all from Pullman, Washington. They are seemingly now to start the season looking like a brand new outfit offensively now, you didn't see the full fruits of of those labors from Brent Venables and that staff bringing all those guys to Norman because of what we said a second ago. John Matier wrecks his thumb and he's not the same player. But still, that defense found a way to carry you to the college football play. So that to say I'd be surprised if the run game, as bad as it was last year, isn't fixed with the efforts Brent Venables has made to fix that department of his football team. Adding Jason Witten to oversee the tight end room, adding more big bodies to that tight end room. Like they got a Couple dudes now, 6 foot 4, 2502, 60 plus. Like it's not an extra offensive lineman. But it's definitely going to help you when it comes to the outside run schemes, especially some wide zone, which there are some murmurs now in Norman we could be seeing more of for Oklahoma just to get the defense flowing left and right. I think Oklahoma, maybe they're not knockout, jaw dropping, level of great running the football, but I think they're good enough to be balanced offensively. Okay. The other part of this, John Matier and what he was last year, there's a lot of different opinions on the guy. Some people say, hey, no, I saw that dude in the beginning of the season, have a couple of throws that look squirrely and got away from him when he, when he was healthy. Like, yeah, he's a great player when he's healthy, but he's also pretty unpredictable when he's healthy. It's fair to say, I think that John Matier going into his second year as the guy in Norman and going into, I think it's like year four, Ben Arbuckle's offense will be so much better. Sure. Physically, like yeah, we had the whole sit down with him at media days and he can't button the top button of his shirt so he's put on some pounds there, he's worked with his receivers, all that's well and good. Great thumbs, healthy, cool. I think it's gonna be so much better from the neck up playing the game. He's seen the live bullets in the sec now he knows what it is when it comes to the speed of that game, the caliber of athletes he's dealing with, and the kind of shot clock he has to have to be successful. He knows what he can do and can't do in that conference relative to the level of competition he's playing against, that really freaking matters. In addition to that, the way that he has approached this offseason from all we can gather from watching tape with Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford, watching tape with Brent Venables, giving him the defensive filter on what to assess for with these defenses, I think that's going to excuse me getting choked up thinking about it. I think it's going to lead to some really good things for Oklahoma offensively and I think John Matier will be a lot closer to what he was in September a year ago. But to be honest now, with how good that defense was, there's got to be some pressure relieved from John Matier to know, okay, I don't have to be what I was in September last year for us to get back to the College Football Playoff. Like if I can just be a guy that doesn't turn it over and allows us to be complimentary on offense and get it to our playmakers here, like we got a chance to do some really good things because that defense carried us last year when we scored less than 20 each of the last two games in November to find our way into the College Football Playoff. I don't think that defense is going anywhere. I really don't. I think Taylor Wine still a psychopath. I think Bowen is still going to be a problem for them. Getting all choked up thinking about it, man. I think PJ Adebarare is a name that I think Oklahoma Sooner fans are aware of because he was a five star get for them out of high school off the edge. I think it's his time now to really pop up and do some good things for them. David Stone, one of the best interior defensive linemen in the conference, not the country. There's still enough there for the Oklahoma defense to say, all right, maybe we don't have our fastball every single game. Offensively you can lean on us, right? Lean on me when you're not strong. So with that being said, let's get to the game. By game record prediction for the Sooners starting out, you got utep. God bless utep. But I think you do horrific things to Them on that Friday night to start the season. Now you're at Michigan now for Michigan. This one's in Ann Arbor. Looking to get your lick back, I'm sure, for what happened last year in Norman. Here's my biggest thing with this game and, you know, we'll see what happens when we get to that actual week of this game. But here's how I feel about it right now. This will be Bryce Underwood's first Power 4 start against a another defense. A Power 4 defense, rather, in Jason Beck's new system. Now, if this game is played in September, maybe I feel different about it with it being the second game of the season and it being that spot for Bryce Underwood and Jason Beck. I think Brent Venables is your boogeyman, dude. I don't love that at all. I mean, Brett Venables against quarterbacks with their first five starts, I believe he's darn near undefeated. This won't be Bryce Underwood's first start, but it'll be his first start in that system. It's going to take a big jump for Michigan offensively to be able to do something in this Oklahoma defense. So for that reason, man, I think Oklahoma wins that game in Ann Arbor and at that point now Oklahoma. Poke the chest out a little bit, shoulders back. You beat New Mexico, you go to Georgia. Now listen, man, it's in Athens. It's a hard to kill Georgia football team. I think that you dropped that game. I think the fact that you were able to get one against Michigan early on is going to be really valuable for you down the stretch. But I think the loss to Georgia is just kind of a situation where it's like, hey, they're so deep. There's so multiple. Now, I do think this one, you kind of flex your muscle a little bit and people start to take Oklahoma more seriously. Even from the way that you look against Georgia, they you drop that game going into the bye week, then you play Texas and Red River. I think we see a very urgent Oklahoma here. Now, there should also be urgency from Texas because Texas missed the playoff last year. Texas has got the weight of the world on their shoulders here to go win a national championship. John Mateer getting back for this game a year ago, I think shows how much it means to him, which isn't to say it means more to him than somebody else, but I just kind of filed that one away going into this game this year, man. I believe in Arch, but I'm going to have to see it against that Brett Manables defense, man. Now he looked good last year. It wasn't a world beater. Ryan Nibble ended up winning that game for him. And this is coming from someone who even likes Texas this year. We'll talk more about them later in the show. I think Oklahoma wins that game. So Oklahoma, now, one loss coming out of Red river, start to feel themselves a little bit. Okay, Kentucky should be a win. South Carolina, Lenore Sellers, always sneaky, frisky, should be a win. You're at Florida now. We'll see what Florida is, the quarterback position. But with there being a question mark at quarterback and a question mark on the offensive line, I don't love that recipe against a Brent Venables defense in that front seven and all the problems they're going to present. Now, do you factor in some magic of what the Swamp could be at that point in the year? Sure. With all that being said, it's too many variables that we don't have a good gauge for. For me to predict Oklahoma to lose that game. So to get that one in the Swamp, they. You play Ole Miss now. Ole Miss, a team that. Talk about magic, man, they, they were the magic team last year. One score win after one score win. Trinidad Sham, best returning quarterback in the sec. It's in Norman. I like Trinidad. I don't know if I, I feel as confident that that's something they can recreate with no Lane Kiffin this upcoming season. I think, I think Oklahoma wins that game. Right. So at this point now, you got one loss staring down A and M and at Missouri. A and M is a good football team. Okay. But they got to come to you. I like Marcel Reed. I think he's a little bit, a little bit squirrely. I think that brand new offensive line is going to be something to monitor, especially against the elite of the elite defenses. And Oklahoma wins that game. I think they get a win at Missouri to finish the year, man. I think Oklahoma finishes at 11 and 1. Now, I was sitting down doing the segment for myself this morning and full transparency, I felt like Oklahoma would be closer to 10 and 2. That was the, that was the record in my mind. I was comfortable to see Oklahoma landing at. But you go through the schedule and you look at the teams they're going to play, you look at the matchups they have, man. Of their nine power four opponents, seven of them will have either a new play caller or a new quarterback advantage, Brent Venables advantage. Every single freaking time. Every time. And even that's assuming that you don't get John Mattier back in his bag like he was in September. I think he'll be closer to that. I think this is a team now that you throw around the world, like, mental toughness in this sport a little bit too casually. I think this is a team that's mentally calloused. I think they are very comfortable winning a number of different ways. Whether it's John Mateer doing what he did in September, whether it's that defense finding a way to get a pick six to flip the game against Alabama like they did a season ago in Tuscaloosa, I think they're very comfortable in uncomfortable situations, and there is no way to overestimate the importance of that. Now, last year made the playoff, and I told you, we compared them to the Komodo Dragon. Anesthetically pleasing, kind of ugly, still lethal, but, like, not. Not the most pretty thing to look at in the world. There's. There's a potential now here for Oklahoma to go from Komodo dragon to killer whale, right? And y' all that have watched National Geographic or turned on Blue World, whatever it is. Blue Planet on Netflix, you see an orca hunt in the wild. It, dude, it's pretty, right? There's raw power, there's precision. You see them breaching, and there's their strategy, the way they're knocking seals off of, like, these. These icebergs. I'm just saying now, do not be surprised in the slightest if Oklahoma turns the lights on offensively. The defense is back to where they were a year ago. And we see Oklahoma now at 111 with their only loss to Georgia on the road early on in the season. And they're a problem for everyone else, the rest of the college football world. And in the College Football playoff with that 11 on record. Now, let's say this, too. This will only matter so much as what Oklahoma does in the College Football Playoff, because I think they've. They've reached a point where, like, okay, cool, make the playoff. We made the playoff last year and we lost at home like that. J.D. that sucked. That's. We don't want to sign up for that again. There should be a good level of hunger for Oklahoma when they get back to that field of 12. They'll be judged by what they do when they get to the playoff. Understand that at the same time, you've earned that expectation. You've earned that pressure. Oklahoma, congratulations. You're back where your logo and your brand is expected to be, which is contending and aiming for national championships, not just playoff births. Okay? So I say that to Say, that's great. You made the playoff at 11 and 1. Can you reset effectively and go be a problem for everyone else in that field of can you truly be a problem? Not just on paper, not just as we break it down in July. Can you truly go be a team that can make a run? I will say this, though. If that happens, if they do finish the regular season 11 and one, all those things. No more Brent Venables questions. None. None. There's still some people look at last year a little bit sideways and think it was a little bit fugazi and you caught too much magic in a bottle. And can you do it again? If they go 11 and 1 this year with that schedule and only lose to Georgia, I don't want to hear another peep about Brent Venables being a coordinator who's just playing head coach. Dude's a really good head coach and we're going to see it this year. Oklahoma, final record prediction going in the next season. 11 and one for the folks in Norman. All right. Again, it surprised me. I thought I had him at 10 and 2. We had 11. One roll party roll latte for Keenan. That's me. Hey, you're. Yeah. Buying a car online on Autotrader. Really? But unlike other sites, you can start online, test drive with a local dealer, then finish online or at the dealership. Really? Wait, are you. Yep. It's Keenan.
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Able to finish in person without starting the process over.
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Really? Your info stays with you every step of the way. Cool.
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Enjoy.
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It's Keenan Thompson. Buy your car online on Autotrader. Really? Ever walk past a place for rent and wish you could just take a peek inside, maybe even explore the layout? Envision the natural light streaming through the windows, or plan where your vinyl record collection would go. At apartments.com you can. With tools like their 3D virtual tours, you can see the exact unit you could be living in. Really envision yourself in your new home with apartments.com the place to find a place. All right, moving on here. Alabama. What's their record prediction here in 2026? Excuse me. Okay, so with Alabama, it's funny to try to predict them or to tell somebody you're going to try to break down their. Their upcoming season. Because the thing you hear from the naysayers is, oh, well, you're just guessing. Yeah, we're all just guessing. That's what. That's what a preseason prediction is. And with Alabama, I think you're guessing a little bit more than you would for other teams because you're like, who's playing quarterback. Is it Keelan Russell? Is it Austin Mack? Pretty much a brand new offensive line. How do those new pieces fit together? We'll see. I feel like when I'm breaking down Alabama going into this season, I feel like I'm playing that, that jelly bean guessing game. I think it's called bean boozled. It's like it could be popcorn or it could be earwax. With that quarterback position of that offensive line combo, it could be, I mean phenomenal. With what Keon Russell brings to the table with Ryan Grubbing, Kayle Nabor. I've already told you where I lean on that conversation. I think it's Keelan Russell. I think the quarterback position will be pretty freaking good. But the offensive lineman, you're breaking in a whole new group and it's the se Freaking se. I don't know how I feel about that now. Far be it for me to just assume they're going to suck up front but like is it good enough to. To cross the threshold of what they expect in Tuscaloosa to be a college football playoff team and then some this year? I don't know. I don't know. But again, you look at what that group is and you say, could it be as worse as it was last year? I don't think so. Last year was an embarrassment to the entire Alabama football lineage. Like Bear Brian, if he saw that, would probably throw up. Bear Bryant would pull trig. Watching the Alabama run game last year, I don't think that's a statement he'd feel uncomfortable with me making. Now secondary and the defense in general should be good enough to keep them in just about every single game. Like I will be shocked if we see Alabama just get absolutely obliterated. Like we saw them lose to Georgia in the SEC championship game. I think that especially on the back end, man, they have the personnel and the pieces to match up and limit explosives. So when you limit explosives, what it means is you make teams earn it over the course of a four quarter stretch. Like you're not getting a whole lot of, you know, will throw a slant and it's a 10 yard completion turned into an 80 yard touchdown because our guys can't tackle or cover and you know, we're just a problem on the back and I don't see that happening. So if that's the case now you go back to traits and if it's Caleb DeBoer and his trades, I think it's a pretty good way to, to live for your Alabama. Even with the questions on the personnel side, as you look at that team in in 2023 that played for a national championship when he was at Washington, they won one score game after one score game after one score game. And it terrifies you to live that way. But I also want to make sure we mention this. It goes back to who your personality is at the top. Kaylan Deboer, Ryan Grubb did not flinch. Had their teams ready to not flinch. And you can feel some confidence if you're a Bama fan. If it comes down to one score games, hey, we're going to have a shot. Okay? Now do we feel that way going into this year? Let's break it down game by game record prediction should be noted. The schedule somewhat favorable relative to what the SEC can present more on that a little bit later. East Carolina, that's a dub at Kentucky. Sneaky. Okay. Sneaky. I promise you, Jay Bateman, the folks out there in Lexington, they will have that place on fire that defense will try to heat. I believe Keelan Russell or Austin Mack up tbd. That should be a win for Alabama. I'm going to go ahead and call it as such right now. Florida State it is joyless murder ball and then some. Bama it is. Cut it loose. It is. It is. Leave no doubt, run it up. It is. We blitz all night like it is all of that. If you're Alabama in this game, okay, should be a width Alabama, South Carolina, Frisky, sneaky, Lenora Sellers. For whatever reason, the South Carolina team, even when they're not great have given you trouble. I think you win that game. I think that defense is solid enough on the back end to limit the explosive that we mentioned would eventually keep you in most games. So it's just a matter of you would think the offense finding their footing in that spot, which I think they eventually do. You win that game, you go to Starkville, Mississippi State. I mean I love Camario Taylor and what he could be. It's just, it's a lot to ask me to pick him to be Alabama by himself. So I think they, they win that game through the Crimson Tide, then you play Georgia. Georgia is a team that you've had their number for the better part of the last several years going back to when Nick Saban was the head coach. I mean shoot before the SEC championship game, Kayla Naboer was 2 and oh against Kirby, that's saying something that's impressive. With that being the case, you look back at the questions you have for Bama, brand new O line Brand new quarterback. I don't love that combo playing against A Glenn Schumann, Kirby, smart defense and a group in Georgia now that on that side of the football should be as well seasoned as they have been in the last couple years. So I think you dropped that game to Georgia at Tennessee, a place that Josh H had success now against Bama especially. I mean beat Nick Saban when they came to Neland. I think Kayl Nabo writes that for them first year starting quarterback for Tennessee makes me too nervous for the Vols. Think they dropped that game and Bama wins that game. So again, keeping track at home. Only one loss right now for the Crimson Tide before you play A and M. This is interesting because A and M also is breaking in a lot of new pieces, especially up front like the four of the five new offensive line for A M is the thing I keep saying it scares me to death. Brand new offensive coordinator for A M scares me. All right, with that being said, I think A M wins that game. I think that with Mike Elko and his specialization on the defensive side in the pass rush and just the trench play overall, I believe A M will bring to the table here for the that first year starting quarterback, whoever it is, I just, I don't love that equation. And I think that A and M now with Mike Elko and just his overall personality, if you will, as a head coach and what will be at stake for A and M in that spot, I think that it's a close one, it could go either way. But honestly I'm going to go ahead and roll with A and M here, getting it done in Tuscaloosa. Then you got a bye week. Then you go to LSU with two losses. Mind you, for the Crimson Tide it's in Death Valley and Bama has some good players. Now don't get it twisted. I think Bama's roster is really solid. I think LSU has better players full stop. The LSU has better players. It'll be late enough in the year to where I think they will have gelled and I think that spot in general with it being Death Valley, you would imagine at night, I just think that's a spot that LSU takes that game. So LSU wins that one, you drop that game to get your third loss. But then I think you rattle off the last three at Vandy, Win Chattanooga, win Iron Bull. Now to win over first year head coach Alex Gollish. So you finished nine and three, right? And there's a lot of Bama fans already throwing stuff or turned off this podcast or whatever and Hey, I hear you. I totally hear you. But when you. When you turn this show back on now and finish the rest of the segment, if you choose to do so, this does not mean that Kaylin DeBoer sucks. In fact, the opposite. I told you. I think the fact that the guy's been as successful as anyone else over his time as a P4 head coach without winning a national championship deserves some praise. It's just a tough freaking job. And it's a tough spot to walk into. Like when we zoom out now. I think the Alabama logo is doing quite a bit of work if you're picking them to be in the play. I'm just. My humble opinion. I mean, there's confidence, Elon Russell, and that's all well and good, and I don't have anything to push back on against that, but if you just took the logo off Bama, five new starters up front, brand new quarterback in the sec. I just. I don't love it. It's a lot for me to believe in. So if. If I'm wrong, I'm going to go ahead and be wrong. Betting on those new pieces take some time to jail in that conference. I don't believe now that you can flip those rush numbers, both offensively and defensively with the pieces they brought in. Again, leaving more than room for me to be wrong. It's happened before. I won't lie to y', all, But I think 9 and 3 is about where Alabama lands, and there will be a lot of frustration in Tuscaloosa. They'll be upset, and they should be. With what that place demands. They should be. But understand now, with all that newness, I have more confidence in other pieces within the conference, rather from an LSU to an A and M to be able to put their new pieces together and the overall raw ingredients of their new pieces more than I trust where Bama's at right now. Okay, so Alabama 9 and 3. Final record prediction for the Crimson Tide. Staying in the SEC here. Moving right along the Florida Gators. All right. Hey, man, John Summerall, couple of notes here. One, he won SEC media days. Dude is. Dude is electrifying. All right? Every single person that heard him at the podium speak that was in that building walked out of there like, okay, I, I, maybe I don't cover Florida. Maybe I cover Georgia, Alabama, Texas, but I hope that dude wins. Just has a very. Has a very real rootability factor. Okay. I'll say that. Also, my guy gets pedicures. No problem with that. Confidence in yourself as a head coach. In college football to walk into that parlor or salon and say, go ahead and get my dogs right all the way here for that one. Also, God forbid a guy keep his feet clean. God forbid someone has some good. Some good hygiene on the feet, all right? And how you do anything, how you do everything, okay? If you're going to have your feet in a good spot, probably means have your staff in a good spot, have your office in a good spot, have your roster in a good spot. I'm just saying. All right, Now, Florida, they're all over the place when I break them down, okay? And anytime you have, you have to make a definitive decision, right? As we do on this race. Record prediction for the Gators. What I'll do usually is make a pros and cons list, whether it be in my head or whether it be actually on paper. So I did the same here for Florida. I mean, for those of y' all that are watching on YouTube, full on t chart, got the record prediction covered up there. Pros and cons list. All right? So pros, I'd follow John Summerall anywhere, and I don't even play for the guy. You think about someone that sits in his team meeting room every day, you don't think that matters. I promise you it does. Believing in your head coach and buying into who they are as a person in their process at Florida, man, they. They're not lacking on the roster at a base level. Like, they're good enough to go beat some teams this year, which isn't saying much. But I just. I mean, that. That's a massive pro in my mind. You can't over account for the John Summerall winning in the margins theory that could exist here for Florida. Cons, I don't know who's playing quarterback now. There's a lot of places you know who's playing quarterback this year. Could be Aaron Philo, could be Tramell Jones. Pro, though, they seem to feel pretty good about both of them. Talk to Vernell Brown iii, leader that football team as a young buck playing receiver for them, and John Sumrall both at media days, they both kind of said the same thing. Like, we feel good about both, man. John Summerall is like, yeah, they live together. They both play for Florida, and they understand they both play for Florida. It's not like an individual thing here. Like, we'll. We'll see, man. But we like both of them. All right, Con. I hate, hate, hate the buzz around the offensive line. This is a hard one for me to get past, and maybe it's just a thing where, like, hurt people. Hurt people. Because last year your boy picked LSU to win the whole thing and the offensive line sucked. And we kind of heard during spring practice, hey, the offensive line is going to be a work in progress during the fall camp period of the year. Was like, hey, the offensive line, if they can just be good enough. Should have known. Should have known. So maybe this is me overcompensating, but if so, you know, ball up top. I hate the fact that we're asking questions about the offensive line, man. John Summerall, even at media days, to paraphrase, is like, if we don't get better up front, we're going to get beat up. Again, paraphrasing. He used some other choice words there. But if the head coach is saying something like that in media days, I don't think it's like a ringing endorsement. Now, within that, this is the same guy that felt like every post game interview a season ago at Tulane on the field was saying how bad his football team was and saying, we're not very good. We're this, that and the other. We found a way to win. Da, da, da. Like, okay, is there some summer all knees to account for here, like you just telling me your offensive line is not that good, but it's like, by your standards, not that good when. When it comes to winning the sec, actually, they're more than good enough. I digress. Hate the fact that we're asking questions about that, though. When it comes to the Southeastern Conference pro, you hand off to 13 now, you still gotta get a push to give it to Jaden Bob, but you have a top three back in the sport, a guy you can also feel pretty confident in using in the past game as well as a receiving threat. That dude's going to go off this year. Especially with Buster Faulkner calling the show and how they're going to utilize him. He's going to have a huge year. That's a massive pro. Another con. I hate the questions at different pressure points in the defense because you hear people talk about Florida's defense, you talk to people close to Gainesville about the defense, and it's not like, man, we don't have the guys. It's the, hey, we have good personnel. But there are certain points within this defense that make us lose a little bit of sleep. Like, for example, the middle of the defense. I don't want to have a question about our defensive tackle spot. When we're playing in the grown man's conference, the secondary. Some people feel a little Bit uneasy about that. I don't, I don't love that with the fact that you got to play an Ole Miss, you got to play a wide choice team at Auburn, so on at Tax. I don't, I don't love that equation personally, but that's just me. Last pro here. They have a top 10 wide receiver room in college football, maybe higher. Top 10 is as confident as I can speak to right now in the month of July. Like they are deep. They're so deep to where you start to list off names, you inevitably leave somebody off. Dallas Wilson, Micah Mays, Eric Singleton, Fernell Brown, Bailey Stockton. I mean, you can fill in the blanks. I'm sure I missed a couple of guys there, but there's so many guys to account for within that system to where if you can scheme it up to where those guys get their one on one matchups. I like a lot of those guys winning one on one, y'. All. I really do. So do you have enough time for your quarterback up front? Do you have enough balance to get a push up front? Do you have a quarterback that you truly feel good enough about? As they say they do in Gainesville, tbd. But like there's, there's, there's a lot there. So here's where I settle on Florida before we get to the record. Prediction life and college football is about winning ugly, dude. Because everybody has, you know, their itinerary put out perfectly. And okay, once this happens for me in my life, then I'll do this, that and the other. Once I get this job, then I'll get married. It doesn't really work that way. You don't get to pick the perfect circumstance. You just got to freaking find a way. And I think John Sul freaking finds a way. So winning ugly and being adaptable is I think what Florida will be. And it's the same thing is true about winning a life in general. For my estimation, in my short time on this planet. All right, record prediction time. Fau, that's a dub. The Campbell Camels, that's a dub you go to. Auburn went back and forth in this one a lot. We may have a different pick for you in game. Quite frankly, it's injured and hair. I don't know who's playing quarterback for Florida. I think Auburn at this point too will be more battle tested. Nay, they will be more battle tested than Florida. I mean if you think Baylor is that much better than FAU and Campbell, I would, I would co sign that thought. I think all those factors lead me to lean towards Auburn winning that football game. So I'll pick him on that football game right now. So Florida drops that one. But here's the thing now rolling into town after you're licking your wounds and Ole Miss either just beat LSU or, or they just lost LSU comes a team that was within a minute of playing for a national championship and they're at your place. This is the promo cut of all promo cuts to start the John Somer all era. That's a win for Florida. Ole misses Lick. I mean, Ole Miss is just down horrendous at that point in time. I really believe. Now you talk about a spot for Florida to capitalize and to ignite the fire of what their team should be this year. To that is the game. So you beat Ole Miss. Send a message to the rest of the college football world, hey, we still have some things working out here. Hey, it's, it's not perfect. Heck, Florida may play two different quarterbacks between Auburn and Ole Miss. John Somerville said as much during his press conference. The guy who starts game one may not be the guy that starts game 12th. But with that being said, I think you beat Ole Miss. I love that spot. I think you got the swamp rocking and I think that is a huge, huge win for Florida. Now I just mentioned huge win. Vibes are immaculate. You're feeling great. You got to go on the road now and go to Missouri. Sleepy Columbia, Missouri, Eli Drinkwitz in the visor, all that. How do you handle Success is going to be a big part of whatever Florida accomplishes this year. I think you drop that game at Missouri, quite frankly. Okay, so it's weird. You got this win over team that was in the semis last year, but you just lost at Auburn before that game. And coming off that huge win, you lose on the road to Missouri. Like J.D. what is. What's going on? College football. College football is what's going on. Then you play South Carolina. Poor South Carolina, man. I like South Carolina, but they got to go to you. And I think this is kind of a get right spot for Florida. I think you win that game, you go to Texas. The Texas game I think is a loss for Florida. But I do want to just add this caveat I think we see in that game against Texas, okay, this is, this is kind of the, the edge Florida is going to have because like I think old Florida would have rolled into a game like that. And it's funny to use Texas the example, but the stretch here where they could be Texas off the buy. You play Georgia and Atlanta, you play Oklahoma. I'm just going to go ahead and jump ahead here. I think they're all three losses. Okay, so I think you lose to Texas at Texas, Georgia off the buy in Atlanta and Oklahoma. But I jump ahead and kind of group those three games together to say I don't think any of those games are blowout losses or oh my gosh, Florida doesn't even belong in the same field as those teams. I think it's a, hey, they're still not there yet. They still have some real limitations. But the fact that you're playing in games like that, maybe it's 10 points to one score and all three of those things. Right. I think it's a very clear again billboard. This is where Florida football is going. This is how we're trending. We're not there yet. It's year one, so no one's asking you to be there right now. But this is where we're going competing with those kind of teams and those kind of games. And I think it's a really good optics boost for Florida. As funny as it is to say with losing three in a row like that, get a win at Kentucky, you beat Vanderbilt and you go to Florida State and whoever's head coach at Florida State at that point doesn't matter. Florida absolutely rolls in that one. So I thought I would lean more towards 8 and 4 for Florida. I think that's very possible. It's hard for me to say 8 and 4 right now without having a great gauge on the offensive line and alongside that, a really, you know, confident gauge on what the quarterback position will be, I think they have a guy that can pull the trigger. Do they have a guy that can pull the trigger with imperfect circumstances up front, that's my question mark. So seven and five feels pretty fair. But we said this before the record for Florida. While it's important to pass that six win threshold for the fan base and seemingly for John Sumrall's overall health, the vibes after this season I think are just as important. Right. Like it needs to look right in terms of physicality, which I think it will needs to feel right in terms of excitement about the future. And I think there's three ways to discern whether or not this first year under John Sumrall checks the box as satisfactory. Okay. Not saying success because success is a word you probably reserve for, you know, 10 win team that makes the playoff and so on and so forth. In Gainesville, three things. One, recruiting is booming. There's belief in the program. They have a top 10 class. People are buying into John Sumrall left and right. You're excited about the future to the degree where you have guys committing to your football team as at the high school level. Hand in hand with that, you would like to think there's some portal acquisitions made. But for for a rankings perspective, we'll go ahead and say recruiting super important. Second piece of this, you do not take a portal quarterback after this season. That'd be that checked the box for me. I mean if you got to go get one, so be it. But like to say, hey, no, actually we have our guy and we get to roll into next year. Year two in the sec. Year two under John Sumrall and Buster Faultner system with the guy that speaks the language fluently, that has taken some, some bullets here in the sec. I think that would be extremely important because then you're saying at the most important position on our football team, we have it right. Got to build around him, but we have it right. I'm of the opinion it's a lot more advantageous to build around that quarterback than to try and go find a quarterback that's going to be a good fit for you and can speak the language of your system and win in the SEC and all those things. Like once you get the quarterback right, man, that solves a lot of your problems. All right, that's thing number two. Third thing, this is maybe the most important probably thing number one and thing number two in recruiting and quarterback play. Follow, follow this, this thought in terms of how we talk about Florida, both nationally at a fan base level, this year can be qualified as satisfactory. If you're talking about the future of Florida football, which sounds sort of funny, but think about the conversations we've had about Florida but over the last, what year and a half, hey, this is how Florida used to be. Hey, Florida under Urban Meyer was this way. Hey, Florida, when they were really humming was this way. It was like nostalgia row every other day talking about Florida and what they had been in the past. Very rarely have we spent a ton of time saying, hey, outside of that 2024 finish where they won those last two games and they finished 7 and 5 and DJ Lagway and save million ape your job, all that. Outside of that sugar high, it has been very infrequent. We've talked about Florida football saying, hey, they're going in the right direction. Hey, the future of Florida football is really freaking bright. I can't wait to see what they are. If you're saying things like that after this season, regardless of record past six wins, I think that's a success. I'm not trying to sell you hopium. I'm not trying to pander. I'm just saying seven wins and that kind of conversation, I think, is the right place to be if you're Florida. Okay, so final record prediction. Thought I'd go eight and four. There's too many. Too many things I'm insecure about with this roster to put them higher than the seven wins. But seven and five, looking the right way, feeling the right way, that's exactly where Florida needs to be coming out of 2026. All right. Coughing a little bit. We're getting through it here, baby. All about finding a way, man. All about finding a way.
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Latte for Keenan.
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That's me. Hey, you're. Yeah. Buying a car online on Autotrader. Really? But unlike other sites, you can start online, test drive with a local dealer, then finish online or at the dealership. Cool.
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Enjoy.
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Buy your car online on Autotrader.
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Really?
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Can Texas find a way this year? What's Texas final record going to be in 2026? Everyone's putting out the number. Hey, they got to win this many games, that many games, they got to win a national championship. That's what it's about here for Texas. Okay. There's a lot to, like, borderline love about this team, man. Like, I think for Texas, five Hour Energy doesn't sponsor the show, but I'll give him a shout here. I love five Hour Energy. I didn't always trust five Hour Energy because I didn't know, hey, when I take that, that five hours of energy straight to the Dome, is it going to cause me to feel jittery and nervous and lose my sense of balance? Like, am I going to be a different person after I try this five Hour Energy, or is it going to be the wind beneath my wings and. And caused me to actually roll through this act or this book report, whatever it was I was using it for in high school. Tbd. Kind of feel the same way about Texas. There's a lot to like. I love them. How much do I trust them? I'm not 100, sure. But if we're going off potential, man, like, there's not really a limit to what Texas can be like. If you tell me that Arch reaches his potential, Texas is probably one of the national championship. Right. If you tell me that. That receiving core plays to their potential. Same thing. The defense, same. Like, there's not a lot of questions, really, when you speak to the Roster. But again, you don't play the games roster versus roster. You actually spot the ball during Saturdays in the fall and you go see who's better. And a big part of that for Texas last year, as to why they didn't reach their potential, in my estimation, was what was going on between the ears. And Texas, in different ways, has gone about saying this. Hey, we felt a lot of pressure last year. Hey, last year we felt the weight of the world. Once we kind of hit our stride. Arch side of the Mississippi State game, when he talked to us as being like that, that release valve point for them. Once we kind of took the pressure off ourselves and just played ball, we were a different team. Okay, that's great. I'm here for that. I believe you. I believe in that. Can you do that now for an entire season where if you thought you had pressure last year, here go two more for y'. All. Double down on the pressure for Texas, man. Like last year it was, can they be a team that, you know, competes for national championship? Sure, we were saying that. But like, this year now, I think that national title conversation is more turned up than it has been before in recent memory, since Sarks got there in my mind. All right, for this football team now, Arch is the headline, and I get it, he's going to be extremely vital to whatever they accomplished this season. Surprise, surprise. Your quarterback has a lot to do with your success. Not breaking news to me for Texas, though. They will go so far as that black Air Force One energy allows them to like, yeah, Arch wasn't great last year, but he would have been better with the run game. Hey, Texas, they were good defensively last year. They weren't like, let's take over this game. Good. Like you see national title caliber teams be. I need that from Texas in the run game. And on the defensive side, we got a guy calling the show who's nicknamed Coach Boom. Let's. Let's have that nickname live itself out in terms of how we play. Let's. Let's bring the boom here. Texas. Two big booms, if you will. Record prediction on deck. Here we go, Texas State. That's a dub. Then you play Ohio State at your place, mind you. And I've gone back and forth on this game a number of times. The thing that I can't shake, the thing that I can't get out of my mind's eye is what when Texas went to Tuscaloosa and played that Nick Saban team, I believe it was 20, 23, and they rolled in there and it was like, man, Bama's at home. Like Bama's got this roster and that roster. But in the back of your mind you're kind of saying, okay, if it's going to happen for Texas in terms of beating a team like that, getting a win like that kind of feels like this would be the spot. And I say the same thing for this spot. If it's going to happen for Texas, wouldn't it be week two at your place? The other side is eight new starters, your quarterbacks in year two much like their quarterback now. You went to the portal and got a lot of key pieces. Like if it's going to happen for Texas, it feels like this is kind of going to be the spot where it would happen. Now there's a lot of things that I would give the edge to for, for Ohio State in this spot. But I think as we sit here right now breaking down Texas record, I think Texas wins that game in Austin. All right, moving right along. You beat utsa, you go to Tennessee. Sneaky spot here, Sneaky spot because Tennessee now remember you're riding the high of we speed Ohio State. You got to go to Neyland, play a raucous away environment. Who knows who's playing quarterback for Tennessee at that point in time. That wide choice offense gives you problems. I think Texas wins, but I think they win ugly going into the bye week. Then you got Red River. We already discussed it, man. I think it's an, it's an urgent, hungry Oklahoma team. Texas at this point undefeated, probably feeling pretty good about beating Ohio State. Texas fans will hate this. I think you dropped that game. I think you're losing Red River. All right, moving right along. You play Florida. Florida. I just said a second ago they're gonna be frisky, they're gonna tough out, they're gonna be brutal. I think you win that game though, like you win that game over Florida which is huge and you play Ole Miss and this is gonna be, I mean every one of their mom is gonna have a take about the Manning bowl and oh well, hey, Eli went there. Hey, Archie went there again, man. I trust the personnel of Texas too much. I'll say this too. I trust the toughness of Texas in this spot. Ole Miss last year, not great against the run. Won a lot of one score games. One score games. When you don't stop the run. Well, don't usually carry over year over year at Texas with how they're going to run the football this year will be I think a good bit improved okay, so I think they beat Ole Miss, you beat Mississippi State, and you go to Missouri, you beat Missouri. So then you got a couple of games left here. You're at lsu, you play Arkansas. God bless Arkansas, and you're at A and M. The game at LSU is a spot where, I mean, with it being lsu, you would hope all these games are at night. For them to finish the season just because that plays at night is, I think, like college football pageantry and cinema at its finest. But in this spot now, you're playing a good LSU team. I think Texas now understands like, hey, man, if we win this one, yeah, we still got to play Arkansas. You still got to play at A and M. But if we win this one, we essentially clinch a college football playoff berth like we're seeing. Seeing red at this point. You would hope, if you're the Longhorns, I think you get a win at LSU. All right, so you get your 10th win, you beat Arkansas, but then you go to A and M. And this is where. I mean, we may get Texas fans fired up in the comment section. And y', all, I mean, if we've been accused of pandering in the past, show them this video. I think you lose at A and M. All right, here's why. Getting three in a row against a coach like Mike Elko is a lot to ask of me right now. A and M replacing 4 or 5 on the offensive line, as I mentioned already during the show, I don't love that Marcel Reed scares me to death. I think that the defensive output from A and M in this spot and the fact that A and M has lost this game the last two years, and quite frankly, the needs this game, I think A and M finds a way to get that one. So, Texas fans, you let me know in the comment section here. Would you take this record of 10 and 2 with losses to Oklahoma and A and M, probably the most bitter 10 and 2 you could have. And so I didn't draw it up this way, just how. How I think it's going to unfold. But that still gets you in the playoff. Now, here's what I do want to make sure we say there's too much with this Texas roster, as much as the questions scare me about them, to think that they won't get it done. Because the questions that scare you are, hey, what's going on upstairs? The reason why it's scary is because you have no way to qualify or put a stat to what's going on between the years for Texas. But I do think now they've upgraded the roster in such a way to where their B minus game is going to be good enough to win a lot of these games. Not all clearly, but B minus for Texas has a different level of heat to it. Like last year, you could argue that Texas rolled out there against Florida and played C plus, B minus football, got beat, couldn't protect arch defense was not nearly physical enough. So maybe Texas fans are saying JD that was D plus game. Get out of here with that. My point in all this is the floor has been raised for Texas with the talent you have on this roster. And so when the talent is that high, I have a really hard time believing they won't be a playoff team here in 2026 and they can just talent their way through some of these spots even if they're not in their P's and Q's. Now for everyone, I want to go back to the A and M loss here for a second. Everyone that is super upset about us predicting that. Here's what I would say. Understand again, the number of wins for Texas this year, so long as it equates to a college Football playoff birth does not matter. Doesn't matter. Well, JDB want to win the sec. Cool. I'm not here to tell you that's not important. It's one of the things that we stand on on this show is like conference championships still absolutely matter. We love them, we value them, all that. But this year for Texas is about winning a national championship. And the feeling I get the comp we've made a couple of times for Texas is very reminiscent of that 2024 Ohio State team. They were breaking it down during fall camp of Natty or Bust. Essentially like it was very clear we are here to win a national championship. That is it. That's all we're about. That Ohio State team played Michigan the final game of their regular season, double digit point favorites and blew it. Lost gut punch flag gets planted like that was embarrassing for Ohio State. They took that loss, gathered themselves, hit reset on the season which is what the College Football Playoff is played to their potential, won a national championship. I'm not here to predict Texas to win a Natty right now. We'll do that in the future, the very near future mind you. But if you hate the A and M loss, I get it because you're supposed to hate it. But two of the last four teams that played for national championship in the 12 team playoff both had losses in the month of November. Ohio State won it. Miami lost to I Believe it was SMU in the month of November and then ended up playing for national championship, losing in November. As much as it sucks, maybe, just maybe for Texas, maybe it refocuses you. Maybe it causes you to play your best football in December and January. I digress. So we'll see what happens here. But final prediction for Texas 10 and 2. Love them on paper. Love them, dude. A lot to. A lot to like and love about them. How much do you trust them? Remains to be seen. But I trust them to win 10 games, be a playoff team, and we'll see where we are when it's time to spot the ball in the College Football Playoff. All right, final team here, a team that will play Texas Week 2 of the College football season, the Ohio State Buckeyes, baby. Yeah, there's questions if you've watched this show. One, make sure you're subscribed. But two, unpacking questions for the better part of the last, what, 50 minutes? That's what we're talking about right now in the month of July. Everybody has questions. But I think for Ohio State, when it comes to how you answer those questions, how you feel about the Buckeyes in 2026, in large part can be traced back to how you feel about the answer to those questions of. Yeah, but it's Ohio State, which sounds lazy. And I understand why it sounds lazy, but I think it's also very real. Like, they replaced eight starters on defense. Yeah, but it's Ohio State. They're going to have really good talent. They went to the portal, they recruited a high level. Had they replaced their offensive coordinator. Yeah, but it's Ohio State. Arthur Smith's going to be in the mix. Hey, the O line was not good enough last year. Julian saying kind of folded in the College Football Playoff relative to being big at the moment. Needed to be big, right? Yeah, but it's Ohio State and the game against Miami, he actually played pretty well. I digress. Yeah, but it's Ohio State, okay. Which again, maybe it's lazy. I think it's also a little bit of just calling it how we see it here, like Ohio State replacing a starter is not a good thing. But Ryan Day knows what that place demands. He's not replacing the starters that he lost from a year ago with a bunch of Jimmies and Joe's and just saying, okay, Matt, Patricia will get us, right? No, like, he understands we got to go get guys that are going to be good enough to have us uphold the standard of what this place presents and go win a national Championship. That's the standard every single year here. An impossible standard, but the standard nonetheless. Okay. I think that the offensive line of the quarterback, Julian S. Learned a lot from the last two games. Just my opinion on this. I think that the lack of resistance they faced during the regular season hurt them when they played Indiana. Hurt them when they played Miami. He's your roll out there against two of the best D lines in college football. By the way, those 2D lines played for national championship. So you're not losing out here to like the Savannah Bananas or anything. I think that that ultimately was a bit of a. Bit of a shock, all right? Bit of a, bit of a, of a. Of an ice bath to the system. Okay. Ohio State did not seem ready for that. Julian saying did not seem ready for that. Now, I think that this record they earn this year and the schedule they'll have to go through to earn that record, there will not be a shock value when they make the College Football Playoff if they end up getting to that. Like, if they get to the College Football Playoff. Now, it is a scarred, bruised, beaten up team. And I tell you what, that, that's the kind of, the kind of dog that I fear seeing him in the street. Man, you don't, you don't fear the dog with a nice collar on it and got a little, little tag on it says Fido. You, you fear the dog has got one eye missing, bunch of scratches up and down its face, and is growling at you. That would be Ohio State if they get through the schedule and make the College Football Playoff. We're big on personality when it comes to hires for your staff. The personality of Arthur Smith is trenches. That's his job. His job is offensive line. He is from the offensive line. That's where he played football at in North Carolina. That is his specialty. Yes, he's calling the show, but we said this a year ago with Brian Hartline. Where was Brian Hartline from the world of throwing the football, the world of I'm open. Get it to our playmakers. Let's go eat. He played receiver in the NFL. Dude, like, you don't think that whenever you play college football, the video game, your position doesn't matter. Like, I played running back. I'm calling Reed option. Dude, we're pounding the rock now. We'll have some play action for you and get our guys in space, too. But understand like that, that is my bread and butter. I say all that to say I think Arthur Smith and his personality will be a. A shot of adrenaline to the offensive line. I will be shocked if we're talking about the offensive line being a weak point for them. If we get to the months of November and that's still a thing for Ohio State, I don't see that being the case. Last thing too before we get to record prediction. I get the Julian saying disbelief or I need to see more from him. I'm just like why is there Julian saying slander like completed 77% of his passes his first year doing this at Ohio State. Got the training wheels taken off right around like mid October and he was slinging that thing dude. Now yeah, he's got to be better when it comes to pocket awareness and mobility and be more definitive and decisive in those key moments when he feels pressure. But dude, like I'm. I am a believer in Julian saying full stop record prediction time. What's going to be all right, you play Ball State. That's a win at Texas. I already told you it feels like it's got to be the spot for Texas to get it done. Go back and forth in that game but I think you dropped that game. That's a loss. Then you play Kent State. Win Illinois, win at Iowa at Iowa is not easy. This is one of those places going back to like that junkyard dog metaphor a second ago. This is one of those places where you earn a couple of scars. Believe it or not at Iowa's a win, Maryland's a win at Indiana, Big Ten championship rematch. Signetti on the other side with the eyebrows. Josh Hoover out there reimagined life with the run game and a defense. Vibes are good in Bloomington. I still trust Matt Patricia at this point. I say still I now trust Matt Patricia at this point. Famously I was out on the hire. Didn't like it didn't make sense to me. You're removed now. It worked out okay I would say. I think that he and the different looks he's going to give Josh Hoover as talented as Josh Hoover is. As much as I still believe in Indiana, I have Indiana as a 10 win football team. I think Indiana does not have the answers for Ohio State on defense in that spot. I think it's personal for Ryan Day in that spot and I think they get that win in Bloomington into the bi week. Then you play usc. USC is going to score some points now. This is where the versatility of Ohio State as a roster is going to matter a lot. I think the defensive line for Ohio State shows up big there. Kenyatta Jackson, big bow. I think he shows up big in that spot. I Think you end up winning that game? Maybe a little bit ugly. All right, it might not be the cleanest game, but you find a way to beat usc. Orga is going to be huge. Man, I can't wait to watch the Oregon game. If this game was in Austin, I might feel differently, but it's in Columbus and Ohio State in terms of the heavy bar they lifted under this point at Texas, Illinois, at Iowa, Indiana, usc. Like I just. Oregon does not have a cakewalk. Don't get it twisted. But I think at this point, man, you would hope Ohio State is in that mode, frothing at the mouth. Come one, come all, let's. Like we'll play in the parking lot. Not that Oregon isn't playing that way too, but I just think the game in Columbus and the momentum Ohio State should have and quite frankly, the feeling of a loss already on their schedule with that game against Texas, I think that propels them. I think they beat Oregon, you beat Northwestern, God bless Nebraska. You beat Nebraska, you play Michigan. The final game of the regular season. Kyle Whittingham, Urban Meyer disciple of sorts. New offensive Bryce Underwood. Michigan's had Ohio State's number the last couple of years outside of last year and last year. Let's call a spade a spade here. Who knows what was going on with Michigan's head coach going into that spot. I love Kyle Whittingham. I think it's going to take a little bit longer than one year to get one over on Ryan Day. Ohio State finishes the season with a record of 11 and 1. And tell you what, man, the vibes for the Buckeyes at that point in time, there's still people listening to this show or watching the show and saying, JD 11 and 1, we're 12 and oh, have us losing to Texas. What are you talking about? There's a big vibe demand at Ohio State at a fan base level and I love that and I appreciate that. There's also, though, a big demand on our side for vibes. And Vibecasting from Zen AI is a great way for you to capture your own vibes. All right? Vibecasting is a new way to capture and share conversations. Okay? In the same way, vibe coding apps like Lovable and Claude Co Work made it possible for just about anybody to bring their big ideas to life. With zero coding skills, Zen AI helps anyone turn a conversation into something worth sharing. Podcast Real TikTok. No production skills required. I keep saying it, man. We are very fortunate and blessed to have Kato on the ones and twos. Not everybody is sometimes you just got to bootstrap it and say, how can I. How can I find a way to get this podcast out there when I don't have any production skills myself? Zen AI a great way to help you get closer to doing that. Okay, so. So Zen AI currently an invite only beta. Join the Waitlist today for a chance at early access, go to Zen AI to sign up or head to our Show Notes for a direct link. Going back to what I said, there's going to be a lot of people that hear that record prediction and are pissed that you lost to Texas based on our preseason record prediction. Good. That's what Ohio State is. That's what it is like, that is what that place will always demand. Anything short of 12. 0 in a Big Ten championship and winning the national championship is not good enough at Ohio State. And yeah, that probably leads to a pretty difficult quality of life at different points in time when you lose. But at the same time now, you wouldn't want to be somewhere else where you expect to just make a bowl game and keep it moving like it's a privilege to have those expectations. It's a privilege to say, if we don't beat Texas at Texas, we're rioting. Not literally, but you hear what I'm saying? To be unhappy about it in a really real way for Ohio State. I'll say this again. If you make the College Football Playoff, as we predict you to do based on this record, it's going to be super, super vital to be able to draw back on those experiences and not have those experiences drain you. Because on one side you say, J.D. you just gave us this metaphor about this dog that's got these scars and one eye missing and a little bit angry looking at you in the alley. Right? It's Ohio State, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah, it could be. It probably should be. But at the same time, promise you that, that, that junkyard dog, man, a little bit beat up, a little bit wounded. How many rounds can that. Can that junkyard dog go with you if you get in a fight? Remains to be seen. So it's going to be really important now for Ryan Day to be able to channel what they did in 2024. Keep this team hungry, keep this team locked in and have them play their best football for those last three to four games. Because again, 11 and 1. Cool. We don't care unless we win the national championship. And you shouldn't if you're Ohio State. But that's the final record we have for the Buckeyes. Finishing the year with the hardest schedule in college football, for my money, with a record of 11 and 1. Not too bad. All right, so we got more predictions coming for you on the channel. A lot more predictions. So make sure you're subscribed for Cato on the ones and twos for myself, Judy Paquel. Appreciate y'. All. Love y' all gonna keep this party rolling. We will see y' all next time.