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John Middlekauff
With AMEX Platinum. Welcome to the Centurion Lounge. You get access to the Centurion Lounge so the sounds of vacation start before you get there. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Terms apply. Learn more@americanexpress.com with Amex.
Colin Cowherd
If you're a maintenance supervisor for a commercial property, you've had to deal with everything from leaky faucets to flickering light bulbs. But nothing's worse than that ancient boiler that's lived in the building since the day it was built 50 years ago. It's enough to make anyone lose their cool. That's where Grainger comes in. With industrial grade products and dependable, fast delivery, Grainger can help with any challenge, from worn out components to everyday necessities. Call clickgrainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done. Jon Stewart is back at the Daily show, and he's bringing his signature wit and insight straight to your ears with the Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. Dive into John's unique take on the biggest topics in politics, entertainment, sports, and more. Joined by the sharp voices of the show's correspondents and contributors, and with extended interviews and exclusive weekly headline roundups, this podcast gives you content you won't find anywhere else. Ready to laugh and stay informed? Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts.
Jon Stewart
Or wherever you get your podcasts.
Rufus Griscom
It's hard to read the news these days without asking yourself, how did we get here? Fiasco is a history podcast for the co creat of Slow Burn. In our first season, Bush v. Gore, we examine an unmistakable turning point in American politics. The 2000 election, which resulted in a high stakes stalemate, ended with one of the most controversial rulings in Supreme Court history. So if you're trying to make sense of the present moment, check out Fiasco, Bush v. Gore. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Colin Cowherd
I'm Rufus Griscom, host of the Next Big Idea. The future is coming faster than you think. AI is reshaping, soc, scientists are cracking the code of longevity, and new tools are helping us live better and work smarter. Each week I sit down with big thinkers like Bill Gates and Malcolm Gladwell to separate hype from hope. Listen to the Next Big idea on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
John Middlekauff
The Volum.
Colin Cowherd
What is going on, everybody? How are we doing? John Middlekoff 3Now podcast hopefully everyone is having a great day. We're going to go with a little curveball today because we had intern Jackson, who's been coming on the last couple weeks to just pepper me with questions about college football. And we ended up going for about an hour and I said, you know, just make this the show. There's not much happening in the NFL world. I'll do a big mailbag tomorrow on top of whatever happens NFL wise. Really, the only news today was the Al Shire suspension. Casario went on a rant. I had given my thoughts on just the violence in football, protecting of the quarterbacks and, you know, where we're at and why it's such a slippery slope right now on Monday Night Football's podcast. So I guess it would have been Tuesday show. So if you missed that, you can go back and listen. Today will be college only and a lot going on. We got conference championship games, which teams will be basically making sure they have home field advantage. Whoever WINS the big four games, that being the Big Ten, the SEC, the ACC, and potentially the Big 12. Though it could be Boise, which would be pretty nuts. But we will talk about all this. It's been a really good year for college football in terms of interest and ratings. And though I did see Thanksgiving Day, the games averaged like 35 million people watching. So safe to say football is pretty popular right now. You know, it's just, it's one of those things that you go into most homes on Sundays or on holidays and you just look and the TV's got, you know, people throwing the pig skin around, making tackling, blocking and kicking field goals because we just like football. So we will talk a lot. Basically only college football today. But you guys know the drill. Subscribe to the three and out podcast. If you listen on Collins feed, make sure you go to the YouTube page. All of this content is up on the YouTube. We do everything, audio and video, like basically any human alive in 2025. And before we dive into Intern Jackson, I do got to tell you about my friends, my partners and the official ticketing app of this podcast. If you want to go to a game, if you want to go to one of these college football playoff games, if you want to go to an NFL playoff game, if you want to go to a concert, do you know what a great gift is for somebody? Like, here are super bowl tickets. Here are spring training tickets. Here are concert tickets to X, Y and Z, whoever their favorite artists are. I did it last year. I highly recommend you do it as well. It'll put a smile on someone's face. So take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, use the code John for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again, create an account, redeem the code Johan for $20 off down the game Time app today. Last minute tickets, lowest prices guaranteed. Okay, back at it again with, with Intern Jackson here. And he sent me a visual. He's from Arizona, somehow played football at Montana, yet he's a Notre Dame fan. And he's celebrating, going stone cold slamming beers after Notre Dame. You know, pretty impressive win, right? I mean, multiple pick sixes, I think. Did I hear a stat that they had more pick sixes than any team in college football history this year?
John Middlekauff
Yeah, and they had a 99 yarder and a hundred yarder back to back series. But I mean, look, you know, USC, say what you want to say. I think they're 6 and 6, 7 and 5.
Colin Cowherd
I don't think they got 6. They're 6 and 6.
John Middlekauff
They're definitely better than their schedule. I mean, their record shows. But for Notre Dame past years, that's been a trap game for them. That's been the game where you think they're going to make the playoff and they lose the last week. So for them to win that game, for them to have a home playoff game, hopefully it snows in South Bend. Dad's from South Bend. That's where I get the ties there. But we'll get to Notre Dame in a bit because I know you don't like Notre Dame. Not don't like them, you're just not for them.
Colin Cowherd
Your dad grew up in South Bend, Indiana?
John Middlekauff
Yeah. Yeah.
Colin Cowherd
How's that possible? How does he end up there?
John Middlekauff
He's just born and raised there. And then he went to Central Michigan and then I kind of got the, the ties from him to be a South Bend obnoxious Notre Dame fan. And then now we make our way here. Yeah, it's confusing, but no, I'm happy for Notre Dame. And you know, you gotta show a little extra motivational, extra excitement on the social media, you know, to help. Help get some more engagement by shoving some beers down your.
Colin Cowherd
You know what's funny is that you might only have your coach for a couple more games because the Chicago Bears rumors are that they're interested. He did play in the NFL. He did play in the NFL.
John Middlekauff
I was going to ask you about that though, because those rumors are spiraling. Why would you leave Notre Dame where your recruiting classes are starting to develop? You control everything you have, like you control the Nil is great there. Whereas the Chicago Bears, I Mean, it's a shit show right now, and I don't know the GM polls and stuff like that. I just, I don't know why you would leave Notre Dame where things are going smooth and go to Chicago Bears, where I think you said on your last show, it's, it's, it's a disaster there.
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, I think, you know, Freeman's 38 years old. He's like Robert Saller, right? He has about 10 kids. He makes a lot of money relative to society, but I think relative to the big boys, this might be okay. Can I get my 8 year, $80 million extension? Especially if I think if he wins a playoff game. Right? Let's just say it's. What are they? It's hard to tell. What would you guess? Six seed, seven seed somewhere? Notre Dame.
John Middlekauff
Yeah, they'll probably play, let's say SMU or maybe Alabama or Indiana, most likely as a 10 or 11.
Colin Cowherd
Well, okay, so to me, there's a big. You play Alabama even though there's a bad Alabama team relative to Saban's, it wouldn't be the worst loss in the world. Like Alabama would be Georgia, you play SMU or you play Indiana. You know, obviously following the program, you have to win that game. You win that game and then you. The next round, you play whoever who's really good. Coin flip, whatever. It's a good game. Even if you lose extension time. Like, I want to stay here. Notre Dame's a better job than the Bears. Notre Dame does a better job than the jets, and Woody Johnson, better job than Trevor Lawrence. Plus, you're 38 years old, right? So I think that it probably makes sense for him to stay, unless he just has, you know, he was a player at Ohio State, right. Drafted, played in the NFL for a little bit. You know, it's. I think once you get to like the top five or six programs, Texas, Georgia, lsu. What Notre Dame is obviously Ohio State, Alabama. It's basically like an NFL job, except you're also the gm, you know, So I think in Notre Dame, until you, you guys join the Big Ten, it's actually an easier path, as Brian Kelly learned this year.
John Middlekauff
Yeah, that's the biggest knock on Notre Dame right now is they're like, man, why don't you guys join a conference? But Notre Dame gets to pick who they play every single year. You've only got to lose one game and you're basically in the playoff. I think they're fine being the five seed. You look at the 12 team playoff right now, you're the five seed. You play the worst team as a 12, which would be Arizona State or Boise State and then you would play the worst conference champion and then you find your way in the semifinal and would probably have to play Oregon, but you guarantee yourself one or two wins. Honestly, the five spot might be the best spot in the whole bracket.
Colin Cowherd
Basically they have to go 11 and one every year to get the five. Maybe depending on the schedule. Right. They could go 10 and two.
John Middlekauff
And if they didn't have the A and M win the first week, they didn't have all the other ranked wins, which I don't know how army and Navy ended up being ranked. They would not even be in the equation to be in the 12 team playoff. But that's where we see the A.
Colin Cowherd
And M was a legit win. It's a road win. That, that's, you know, Texas gets a lot of credit for that. So yeah, let's, it's exciting time to be a Notre Dame fan. Let's, let's fire into some college football talk because shit, we got a lot going on.
John Middlekauff
Yeah, exciting time to be a Notre Dame fan. Not exciting time to be an Ohio State fan. As they lose their four straight to Michigan, Ohio State's continued fourth quarter struggles. A little stat here for you. The fourth quarter in this game, Michigan had 23 plays for 121 yards. Ohio State only had seven plays, 10 yards. So I first asked you, let's start with Ohio State. How does Ohio State keep losing to Michigan and then we can dive into Ryan Day.
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, they're just not as tough. And I mean that's Michigan is like Mike Tyson, they're Muhammad Al, they're a heavyweight fighter. And this year's the worst team they've had right. In a long time. And it's going to be the worst team they have moving forward. But the one thing they can do is they can get into a brawl, right. And if you're going to run it up the gut that they're going to be tougher than you and Ohio State just isn't tough under Ryan Day. You've been in a football locker room, you've been around football coaches. I was telling this to Coward. Some guys are tough guys, some guys are not. And I don't mean like physically. You know, some 55 year old guy could beat you up. Some of them can. But I just mean like you're like, God, this guy's an intimidating guy. And Harbaugh, the Harbaugh family going to his dad, they don't. They don't have to fake it, right? Mike Tomlin's a tough guy. Dan Campbell's a tough guy. Kirby Smart is a tough guy. Hell, that guy that he embraced, Brent Key, the coach at Georgia Tech, sure looks like a tough guy to me. Ryan Day is not a tough guy. Chip Kelly is not a tough guy. They can't fake that. And like the Michigan program, the soul and the ethos is just toughness. And it's like, how could you get into this rock fight when you have all these Ferraris on the outside? Will Johnson, I mean, if he's healthy, he's probably going to be, I don't know, top six, seven pick in the draft, not even playing. So your best DB is out. You've lost a bunch of defenders from last year. Their only, you know, strength is that interior defensive line. Their linebackers are good, and you just kept running it up the gut. So I. And the visual of him after the game, you know, I will defend him. I think he just. It'd be like he just saw his family got murdered. Like, that loss he had just said on, like, Tuesday or Wednesday, we could never lose this game ever again. My family, for me, like, so I. I do think the fight or flight, I do think he was in such a shell shock, you know, now he. Would he have been in the middle, mixing up? Probably not. But I do think I will defend him standing there, because not in his wild, not in his worst nightmares did he envision losing that game at home for the last 365 days. So I think they're a loss away now. We'll see who they end up playing. I think he could easily get fired now. I also think when you look around, you go, okay, fire Ryan Day. Who are the candidates out there? Your guy is Ohio State guy, you know, and Notre Dame's obviously a fantastic job in this current climate, but Ohio State is the best job. I think it's the best job in college football because you recruit SEC players and you play Big Ten teams. I would imagine Marcus Freeman would be one of their first calls because Mike Vrabel's not taking. He's going to the NFL. So that would be. That would have to hurt your heart if he just jumped out. But like Mario Cristobal a couple of years ago when he left Oregon, it's like, this is my home. This is my spot. Something to keep an eye on.
John Middlekauff
People are throwing Deion Sanders name out there. I think every job available in college football or even the NFL, they're going to throw his name out there. But sick that that program under Deion Sanders, and we talked about it too. I mean, I feel like in today's college football age, you know, a lot of kids are more sensitive. They kind of want someone that they can relate to. Deion Sanders, a swagger. He has the big fan base behind him. I mean, he's won big games, also lost some big games too. That would be a sweet fit just for him to go over to Ohio State and have that nil collective behind him, have all the talent playing the Big Ten.
Colin Cowherd
Well, here's the thing too. Like, prime is progressive in terms of social media and being all over the place. He's got, you know, one of his sons with the camera all over. He is like a 1950, 60 coach in terms of they go full pads. You saw, you know, the media is always like, oh, they don't have to.
John Middlekauff
Play the bowl games.
Colin Cowherd
And Prime's like, these guys, Shador and Travis are playing and like that zero, like period, point blank, end of story. And he has kind of the swag and the gravitas to do some of these things that. I mean, the traditional media would be destroying any coach that said that about those two type players, but obviously one's a son. But still, like Travis isn't. I mean, Travis probably more likely to end up going number one than Shador. And if one of those guys were to get hurt in some random bowl against, I don't know, you know, you pick the, you know, the team, it's going to be a enormous story. And Deion does not care. He does not care. So I actually think from a toughness standpoint, like these dudes from the 70s, the 80s and the 90s. I remember when I was with the Eagles, our special teams coach, Bobby April was with Deion in Atlanta in the early 90s. And I was just, you know, like, you young eyed, you know, young, bright, bushy tailed and just excited for life. So you're just peppering people with questions. And I was asking about Dion. He's like, you know, for all the Dion, like the rap videos and just the way that he was portrayed in the late 80s, early 90s, he was nothing like that when he came into the building in terms of he sat in the front room, he took incredible notes. He was just an. He was a grinder on the practice field. Like it wasn't some lollygagging bullshit festival. And you hear that about a lot of the great players, even though their public perception is a lot different. It's like even Antonio Brown, he Was like, until he really fell off the rails, was like the hardest practice player in Pittsburgh and even for a short little stint with the Raiders. And I think Deion, like there's just toughness that Deion has, which is ironic because as a player he was famously said, I didn't get paid to tackle. Like he didn't want to tackle. Now granted he was small, he was a cover corner, but I do think Ohio State would be dramatically tougher than under Ryan Day and Chip Kelly, which are just, you know, Chip Kelly was once upon a time good, but his whole scheme is kind of soft, you know, it's just, it's what it is. It was weird against Michigan. He like tried to. I think they ran it up the gut like 14 times.
John Middlekauff
Yeah. Or how about the back to back timeouts later in that game that wasted 10 seconds which ultimately did not matter. But you could tell in that moment I felt like when he called those back to back timeouts, that's when you knew Ryan Day was just panicking.
Colin Cowherd
Well, you said the seven plays in the fourth quarter when the walk on quarterback from Michigan, what the hell's his name, throws the pick in.
John Middlekauff
Davis Warren. Yeah.
Colin Cowherd
So when he throws the pick right, and it just hits Jack Sawyer in the hands and they, I think there's like seven minutes left on the, you know, on the clock. It's 10 to 10. You're thinking Ohio State is going to win this game, right? This is. They're going to put the pedal to metal. They went three and out in like the blink of an eye. In the blink of an eye, it was like run up the gut screen pass that got tackled behind the line of scrim. It was like, Jesus. And then that's when Michigan had the, you know, essentially the game, I mean, not the game ending drive just was like, I don't think they threw a pass.
John Middlekauff
They didn't really target Jeremiah Smith at all in the, in the whole fourth quarter. I mean, I think he had zero.
Colin Cowherd
Targets in the, in the second half.
John Middlekauff
Yeah. And like you mentioned with that Will Johnson, I want to talk. What do you. You've covered the sport, you've scouted a lot of players. The talent of Mason Graham and what he does for that defense, like, I mean, do you compare him? What do you compare Aaron Donald? Is that too far fetched to say? Like what do you, when you evaluate Mason Graham, what sticks out to you? Because that's another guy who played. He's a top five, gonna be a top three pick next year's draft.
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, I Honestly, gotta study him more in terms of like his style of play. Obviously. I think he's universally agreed on as one of the best players in this class. After the game, when they got in the, in the scuffle over the flag, which I saw today on Instagram, Jason Avant, who when I worked with the Eagles was our slot receiver, was the dude in the hoodie with the mask on ripping the flag back. So he must have been. I don't know if he works for the program. He played at Michigan. He might have just been there as an alumni. He was the dude ripping the flag back.
John Middlekauff
Wow. And I didn't know that was him. That's crazy.
Colin Cowherd
That's when Sawyer's screaming at them to get off and Mason Graham's looking at him and just calling them pussies over and over. And Sawyer keeps going like your season's over, you know, and it was. I really enjoyed that. Yeah. As a player, I don't know, you know what makes her breaks defensive tackles. To be the elite guys like you got to have pass rush ability clearly from a strength moving him, just a dominant physical run suffer. But to draft top, I don't even have a stats in front of me. But like, you know, the Aaron Donalds when I was with the Eagles, Fletcher Cox, Jalen Carter, it's like I got to be able to dominate as a pass rusher on top of stuffing the run. Jared Verse, who probably has been one of the better rookies this year from Florida State for the Rams. His pass, he's a good run defender because he's so strong, but his pass rush is awesome. So to me, to justify taking a D lineman really, really high. I think where you get problems historically is when guys don't have great pass rush right now, you know, hello. De nada. There have been guys that aren't. I would call great pass rushers that do well. But like Jordan Davis, I think if the Eagles had a do over on that one, they just would have taken Kyle Hamilton probably. Right. And you know, he's a good run suffer. So that's going to be the question on Mason Graham. But I got, I haven't studied them. I didn't watch that much in Michigan this year because they were so terrible after the USC game. It's like you didn't have to really watch them. And the one good player you always heard about was him and the running back and Will Johnson. But those guys are hurt. Number seven and Will Johnson got hurt like weeks ago.
John Middlekauff
Yeah. And the fact that they won this football game and my last question, in terms of Ohio State, we can move on after this. Can Ohio State bounce back after this loss against Michigan? And then for Ryan Day to save his future, is it basically a national championship for him to regain his position back at Ohio State, or you think it's basically, if he doesn't want a national championship, he's. He's done.
Colin Cowherd
I don't think they would fire Ryan Day right now unless they had the plug and play candidate. You know, like, and there's not, like, Urban Saban, like, those guys don't really exist. Like, who is that version at 50 years old that you would plug and play, assuming Vrabel doesn't want it. Marcus Freeman's a good example. But you could argue what's really the difference of the two, right? Because the thing is, like, Lincoln Riley, that's a shit show at usc. Ohio State's devastating because they keep losing to Michigan, but they're still 10 and 2, 11 and 1 every year. And they're going to be in the playoffs every year. And their recruiting is awesome. So it's like, it could be way worse. He is good enough to survive if there's not another candidate. It's like, when you're in a serious relationship, you're like, yeah, I'm probably not going to marry her, but she's definitely cool enough. I don't have any other options right now. You don't necessarily dump her or vice versa. She might dump your ass. Right? But if she doesn't have a better option, to me, if, like, Vrabel said he was in, he'd be fired yesterday. They would fire him right now. But, like, I just. You look around, like, Iowa State had a good year. So has Campbell kind of come back to the forefront? Like, who are. Like, who's the next Kirby Sark kind of out there right now?
John Middlekauff
I mean, Dillingham, definitely his name would be thrown in the equation. I mean, it'd be a bold move, though.
Colin Cowherd
Like, he's had two years. He had one good season.
John Middlekauff
True.
Colin Cowherd
I think if you're at Ohio State, like, what you did with Ryan Day was pretty unique. He had never been a head coach. He had barely even been a coordinator. You know, typically, like, I talked about this on the podcast yesterday. Like, think about Sark. Sark was a head coach.
John Middlekauff
1.
Colin Cowherd
He was an offensive coordinator for one of the best teams of my life at usc. Then he was a head coach at Washington, head coach at usc. Then he went to Bama and Atlanta Falcons. Like, he. His resume was long before he Got the Texas job. Even Marcus Freeman had been, like, with fickle. They had developed this BCS program. A bunch of people wanted him. Then went to Brian Kelly as the defensive coordinator. So, like, he had been other places as the coordinator. Ryan Day had never been the coordinator until he went to Urban Meyer. So it's like that was, I would say, one of the riskier hires in recent memory. It's worked out pretty well. I mean, their standards are so high, right? Anything beside a 10 out of 10 is a disaster. But, like, what I think they would want is the equivalent of, like, what Bama did with DeBoer. Like, a guy that, like, is one everywhere. Brian Kelly, when Notre Dame and LSU hired him, where if it doesn't work, at least you go like, shit, what were we? Look at Lincoln Riley. It's now, you look back, it's like, yeah, he inherited a pretty sweet deal at Oklahoma. I mean, the team he took over that Bob gave him was like Baker Mayfield and like 15 other NFL guys on offense and defense. Then he was like, go build your own program. Like, if Ryan Day just had to, like, I'm trying to think of a program in disarray, like North Carolina or something. If he just got fired in North Carolina, hired him, I would say it's less than a 50% chance that he would. He would be good there, maybe, but he's never been in that situation where Sark is, like, kind of seen it all. So he got to Texas. At least he understood what it took, like, to go from nothing. That's where Lincoln goes to usc. It's like, this is going to be a tough job, man. Well, how does he know? Like, all he's ever seen is he went to Texas Tech as a player and then as an assistant coach when they were good with Mike Leach. And then he starts coaching for Bob Stoops when they're sweet. The NFL season is rolling along and the contenders are separating from the pack. The one thing that hasn't changed this season, DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. And it's the number one place to bet touchdowns. Long bombs, fades to the end zone, big runs, you name it. We do not care how you get them. We just want to Bet touchdowns at DraftKings, and it's the best place to do it. Ready to place your first bet? Try betting on something simple, like a player scoring a Touchdown. Go to DraftKings Sportsbook app and make your first pick. Here's a reason for new customers to do a touchdown dance on their own. Bet five bucks to get 150 in bonus bets. If your bet wins, score big with DraftKings Sportsbook, the number one place to bet touchdowns. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use the Code John. That's Code John for new customers to get 150 in bonus bets. If your bet wins, just bet five bucks only on DraftKings. The crown is yours.
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Gaming resources Jon Stewart is back at.
Colin Cowherd
The Daily show, and he's bringing his signature wit and insight straight to your ears with the Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. Dive into John's unique take on the biggest topics in politics, entertainment, sports and more. Joined by the sharp voices of the show's correspondents and contributors, and with extended interviews and exclusive weekly headline roundups, this podcast gives you content you won't find anywhere else. Ready to laugh and stay informed? Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts.
Jon Stewart
Or wherever you get your podcasts.
Rufus Griscom
In the aftermath of a transformative election like the one we just had, it's hard to read the news without asking yourself every five seconds, how did we get here? That's exactly what we're always trying to figure out on Fiasco, a history podcast from the co creators of Slow Burn. In our first season, Bush v. Gore, we examine an unmistakable turning point in American politics the 2000 election, which came down to a recount in Florida and ended with one of the most controversial rulings in Supreme Court history. In many ways, it's the beginning of the story we're living through right now. So if you're trying to make sense of the present moment, check out Fiasco Bush v. Gore and find out how a statistical tie in the Florida vote count put the nation into an unprecedented holding pattern during which American voters waited with bated breath to find out whether Al Gore or George W. Bush would be the next president of the United States. Listen on the IHEARTRADIO app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Jon Stewart
Good people. What's up? It's Questo, Questlove and Team supreme and I have been working hard to bring you some incredible episodes of Questlove supreme with guests you definitely don't want to miss. Now, one of the things I love about this Questlove supreme podcast is we got something for everybody, every type of music lover. We enjoy speaking to the people who were the face of some movements and some people you've seen on stage or TV or magazine covers. But we also love speaking to the folks who are making it happen behind the scenes and they paved the way for those that followed. You know, keystones to the culture. This season we've had some amazing one on one conversations like I'm PayPal chatting up with hitmaker Sam Holland, Sugar Steve chatting with the legend Nick Lowe, and I've had pleasures of doing one on one conversations with Willow Sonata, Maitreya, Kathleen Hanna and the rza. These are conversations you won't hear anywhere else, so make sure you go back and you check those episodes out. All right? Listen to Questlove supreme on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
Colin Cowherd
Experiencing the news each day can feel like a journey with up first from NPR, though it doesn't have to be. Welcome to 15 Easy Minutes of breaking news, clarity on international and national affairs, and a casual tone that you can take in with breakfast. Begin your day informed, ready and refreshed. Begin your day with Up first. Subscribe to Up first from NPR on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
John Middlekauff
Hey everyone, I'm Madison Packer, a pro.
Colin Cowherd
Hockey veteran going on my 10th season in New York.
John Middlekauff
And I'm Anya Packer, a former pro hockey player and now a full Madison Packer. Stan, Anya and I met through hockey and now we're married and moms to two awesome toddlers. And on our new podcast, Moms who Puck, we're opening up about the chaos of our daily lives. Between the juggle of being athletes, raising children and all the messiness in between.
Colin Cowherd
We'Re also turning to fellow athletes and beyond to learn about their parenthood journeys.
John Middlekauff
And collect valuable advice like FIFA World cup winner Ashlyn Harris.
Colin Cowherd
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John Middlekauff
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Colin Cowherd
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John Middlekauff
Speaking of a coach that you talked earlier went to Oregon, then went over to Miami, his home. Mario Cristobal, Miami. They lose to Syracuse and what was another team that control their own destiny, a Syracuse, a team where I don't think anyone had a better weekend than Kyle McCord. I mean you beat six Miami, your old team, Ohio State lose to Michigan again. What do you make of Mario Cristobal in Miami where you get the transfer quarterback guy and Cam Ward probably not going to play in the bowl game and you lose a Syracuse and you have probably one of the worst defenses in the country. I mean 42, 45 points that Syracuse scored. You're up at 21 0, it's fourth and goal on your own 10 or on Syracuse's 10 yard line. You decided to kick the field goal and just hope that your defense stops them. Like I don't know. I was puzzled by that move because it was one of those things where oh, here we go. Mario Cristobal makes a dumb headed coaching decision and now it kind of cost Miami their season. What do you make of that game and Miami losing the Syracuse, I didn't.
Colin Cowherd
Watch that much of that game. But throughout the season they have been flirting with disaster, right? They trying to pull up. So the Virginia Tech game, which they easily could have lost on that Hail Mary play, the cow game, they were getting their ass kicked and had a crazy comeback in the middle of the night. Louisville game was back and forth. The Georgia Tech game, they lost. So I look at Miami and I go, Mario's a good example. He is an elite recruiter. He is like Edo the he's this version of Ed now that Ed's retired, like he's Ed Otran. I think people question like, does he know what he's doing? Like the one thing Nick was really good at. Who was. This is why Nick was John Wooden of college football. He was the best recruiter and he was the best schematic guy. Kirby is like the, you know, I would say the watered down version of that. He's not going to be Nick Saban, but he's freaking good. He's an elite recruiter and clearly no scheme, especially defense. Nick was like, I think the old in his older years like had a very good idea of what he wanted on offense. Kirby, like, you know who, if you're as Kirby's offensive Coordinator. It's pretty good gig. You get to run it. I just questioned as Mario Cristobal because you go back to Oregon, the knock on him was like he just couldn't out scheme anybody. And that's not really his baby. He's kind of a meathead, kind of Ogeron. Well, when did Ogeron win? The Natty is. Who are his two coaches? David Aranda was the bald dude was his defensive coordinator. Right. Who ended up getting the Baylor job. And I think, I don't know if he's going to get fired or not, but he's an excellent college defensive coordinator. And Joe Brady, who we see with the Buffalo Bills. So it's like if you get lightning in a bottle with your coordinators at Mario, you got a shot. I do think like their defense sucks. They will give him money and he will recruit defensive players. That won't be the problem. Like talent over the next five years is not going to be the issue at Miami. I would say Miami will have as much talent as any team in the South. Like not named Georgia, Bama or lsu. Like they will be right there with anyone, talent wise. But it's like they're not going to. Who would you take in a coaching matchup? Kirby DeBoer, Brian Kelly. Like those guys have proven, that's Mario. That's the problem. And I get it. He's their guy and he's passionate about it. But can you imagine sitting here December 3rd, like a month ago if you would have said, like, Miami's not going to be in the conference championship game and just out of the playoff. That's pretty crazy. Even when they were kind of, you know, skirting by. They're like the college version of the Chiefs where they were winning some of these crazy games. But at the end of the day, the Chiefs still have Mahomes and Andy Reid where you're like, I don't know if Mario can hold on to this. Rope is getting thinner and thinner. And then all of a sudden it breaks. And now you're like, yeah, they're just done. They're not even in the conference championship game. That's. That's insane. They're not in the conference championship game. That's wild.
John Middlekauff
Wild.
Colin Cowherd
Syracuse. Syracuse is good though. They went nine and three. And I was telling this to a buddy the other day. My entire life in college football and then my couple years at Fresno State. Players, like, if you were a Division 1 player and you had, you, you had NFL talent, you were going to go through a period and maybe a year, whether you were at Fresno State, whether you're at usc, Oregon, Miami, whatever, where you might have a bad year, even if you're a starter, you know, or a year that like this is not. I can't hang my hat on this. I'm not going to get drafted off it. I'm going to have the entire off season. I'm going to work my ass off, I'm going to come back and I'm going to parlay my adversity and my struggles into good play. And then all of a sudden it's like, yeah, he had a rough sophomore year, but his junior year, Borderline All American. Second round pick Kyle McCord is a good example. My entire life Kyle McCord has, I don't even want to say a bad year at Ohio State. It just felt like, oh, they just need a little more Kyle McCord, he comes back and then it's like, what if he won the Heisman at Ohio State this year but instead they blamed it on him. He transfers to Syracuse, he's clearly pretty good. He's a better thrower of the football than Will Howard.
John Middlekauff
He's the leading pastor in the country right now.
Colin Cowherd
Will, I think Chip likes more of a mobile runner.
John Middlekauff
Yeah.
Colin Cowherd
So it's like Chip wouldn't really, you know, Saban would have liked like a lot of other teams, like the way this guy Kirby would like Kyle McCord, like that type player Chip wants. Will Howard in theory was like a bigger, stronger Mariota type. But it's like at the end of the day you had to, you need to throw the ball, which is let them down in some of these big spots because Will Howard, like your guy, is not really viewed as like some big time NFL thrower. But they can be athletes. Kyle, like you can't tell me if Kyle McCord was the way that he looked this year. Like, they're not better. They have fucking three NFL receivers. They got one guy that's like 17, 18 year old that would probably be a top 20 pick right now. Him and him and Ryan Williams, honestly, they might go top 10. You just be like, yeah, it's going to be hard for him year one to get them a little stronger. But those guys could be like the top five picks in three years or two years.
John Middlekauff
Speaking of another team with a quarterback that's been up and down, has your outlook changed on Texas? Going on the road at Texas A and M? It was a little rocky, you know, two red zone turnovers by Quinn Ewers. But they got the job done on the road against Texas A&M 17 7. Although it wasn't pretty, man, that defense continues to keep them in games.
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, the receiver 7 is Mon's hurt or Bond. Right. He looks, he looks banged up right now. Which to me, if they're going to win the Natty, they need him healthy because they're running backs. Good. So I'm not a Quinn Ewers guy. And that game was a classic example. He had a pick and a fumble that got him right back in the game. And if the play calling on the goal line with an athletic quarterback to just run it up the gut was a head scratcher. But Texas, I think if they play a M 10 times and both teams are healthy, Texas winning that seven like Texas is the better team right now. How about Arch sneaky getting some more run the team?
John Middlekauff
I feel like their energy is so much different with Arch Manning versus Quinn Ewers where I. I don't know after that run where he's hyped up and all the players are coming up to him that same and that different energy from Arch Manning versus Quinn yours. And you just wonder if Arch is in that position, if he can make those throws. But I mean I was at that Georgia Texas game. He looked, he looked flustered. But part of that was because the offensive line was just getting bullied.
Colin Cowherd
They were getting destroyed. And that's. You have to wonder this week. I think they had seven sacks when they played Georgia last time and it felt like 25 pressures. If that happens again, they will lose. You know, in that Georgia Tech game, C.J. allen, number three, the linebacker for Georgia, looked like Ray Lewis in his prime. He was a man amongst boys. And against Texas it wasn't just. It was Walker, number 11. So to me, like Quinn yours, what makes me nervous and that's what if George is just an elite matchup against these guys. Like your offensive line is a little overhyped and we dominate up front. Right. Because even against Georgia Tech, what's his name, Haynes King is getting absolutely killed. But he just keeps getting up and it's, you know, Quinn yours? I don't know, man. I think the downfall this year of Texas is ultimately going to be quarterback play. Quarterback play. So when you look, it could be Georgia as well. But I would say Carson Beck, when he's got in rhythm in stretches in games. Carson Beck is a better player in my opinion than Quinn yours.
John Middlekauff
He hasn't thrown an interception in three weeks.
Colin Cowherd
Who's that?
John Middlekauff
Carson Beck?
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. He's playing better right now than yours.
John Middlekauff
Yeah, 100% they've utilized a titan a lot more to Oscar Delp. And then Cash Jones had a good day, too. But when you look at that Texas Georgia game, do you think it's pretty much it comes down to the quarterback position to who can not turn the ball over and put their team in bad spots in a big game like this?
Colin Cowherd
Well, Ewers, who got benched in the game, you were. You got benched, you know, for a, you know, basically told to take a deep breath on the sideline, a benching. He comes right back out at halftime.
John Middlekauff
He know, I'll be not that game when. When he threw that second interception. And, you know, some people when they kind of move their legs, they kind of rattle it back and forth because they're just so anxious. That was Quinn Ewers in that game. And you wondered. Because I thought he was hurt, I'm like, I don't know why they pulled him out. And then Arch comes in so loud. Stadium goes crazy having Arch Manning go in there. But yeah, I mean, Quinn Ewers is one of those guys. I feel like when he's in rhythm, he's relaxed, he's calm. He's one of the best quarterbacks in the country. But if he can throw his interception and he gets rattled early on, it just continues throughout the game. And it's tough to get him back in that calm matter. I feel like.
Colin Cowherd
Well, to me, the one thing cool about the NIL era is because back, you know, before three years ago, you couldn't have jerseys of players with their last name. How many Manning jerseys did you see at the Texas game on the ratio, what was it? 90 of the jerseys that you saw were, say, Manning on the back.
John Middlekauff
Oh, yeah. Or they had the 16, no Manning name on the last name, but you knew it was him.
Colin Cowherd
Carson Beck, if I remember, threw multiple interceptions as well in the Texas game. So it's not like he was.
John Middlekauff
Two of them were his receivers. They dropped them. But yeah, he threw, I think, three interceptions. And then Quinn Ewers had two or three as well. But for Quinn Ewers, it was his interceptions were in his own territory, which Georgia was like, okay, we're going to have the ball in the 25. Like, this is easy, this clockwork.
Colin Cowherd
One thing that'll be, you know, historically right with before Texas and Oklahoma got here. And really since in the Kirby era, it was Georgia versus LSU or Bama, basically, right. And even though it's basically a Georgia home game, because it's in where the Falcons play, it's not that hard for LSU fans or Bama fans. Like they're going to be there too. They might not be 50, 50 split, but they were going to have a big presence. I'll be very interested in the Texas presence. Like do they treat this like a Super Bowl? Like it's like we're 50, we will do anything to be there or is it just one of those, like we know we're going to the playoffs no matter what. Georgia's ends up having 80, 90% of the fans. Right. And because that's, that's a sneaky thing to me in these games. I saw it last year in, you know, Oregon, Washington, which was the Pac12 game where Oregon was a huge favorite. And it's an easy place for them to travel. Washington traveled pretty well there too. And you know who shows up because these are neutral site games, but they're kind of not because you do get a big, big presence. That's always a thing in Indy. Like if Ohio State or Michigan are there, like it's a, it's a home game for them. And if this is an 80% people of Georgia, like that's going to be a Georgia home game. That's a very, very tough thing to overcome in terms of the noise. It's in a dome, you know. Kirby, I guess they get the extra night arrest, right? Because they played Friday night. This is, on paper, I think the, this in Oregon, Penn State are just fantastic games. I, based on what I see, I'm not a huge believer. And it just gets back to Quinn Ewers. Not that I like Carson Becky either. I just think that defensive line, I mean those guys, I wonder if they took Georgia Tech a little. They just weren't that focused in that game. And all of a sudden they had themselves a game, right? They were down multiple touchdowns in the fourth quarter and it took all they had just to tie the game, get it to overtime. Obviously the overtime is a little quirky and weird, but I like, I just feel like I like Georgia.
John Middlekauff
Let's talk about the Big Ten championship then Penn State, Oregon, Penn State. I mean, they weren't expected to be in the Big Ten championship. Ohio State loses a short period of time. You wonder if that plays to an advantage of James Franklin, where before he kind of knew of the big time games a long time before and couldn't get it done. Now it's a short week playing Oregon. How do you see this? Do you think James Franklin and Penn State can get it done against Oregon? Or do you think Oregon's just too much for Penn State.
Colin Cowherd
Well, I was thinking about this today. You know, he takes a lot of. Right. Everyone says he can't win a big game and for the most part it's true. When he plays Ohio State, when he plays Michigan, there looks like there's a discrepancy. And because he has rosters like them in terms of five star players, when he plays most of the other scrub teams in the conference, they just overwhelm them with talent. This would be a moment if James Franklin won. With Ryan Day losing. It'd be a pretty big moment for the guy. It'd be one of those where I mean he makes a ton of money, he's on a huge contract. It's not like he's in danger of getting fired or going broke or whatever because he's done a good job. I just this, the line is like three and a half points. It's not like Oregon is some 8 point favorite in this game. Last year, Oregon against Washington, who ended up beating Texas, obviously got boat race by Michigan, but was really good. And who had beat Oregon two times in a row in the regular season with DeBoer I think was an 8 1/2 or 9 point favorite in Vegas. So this is Oregon, especially the second half of the season post Ohio State has been good, right? They look awesome. That number is a little weird. I mean it's like Vegas is screaming at you, I dare you to lay the points of Oregon. I dare. So it's just. I don't know.
John Middlekauff
I.
Colin Cowherd
What is that weird to you?
John Middlekauff
No.
Colin Cowherd
How are they not like a seven point favorite?
John Middlekauff
Yeah, I actually thought that too. When you look at. Because all the, all the conference championship games are around two and a half, two three point spreads. And you're right, I thought in this one Oregon the how dominant they've looked this season, them beating Ohio State, Penn State not beating Ohio State at home. The line being two and a half three. That's got to give you a little hope that Penn State can keep it close. I just wonder what type of Penn State are we going to see the Penn State at USC when drew hour through for like 250 yards, 300 yards, they got Tyler Warren involved, had like one of the most catches by a tight end. Or are we going to see the Penn State where they kind of don't throw the ball on the outside, they just keep everything in and just run the ball and don't really kind of threaten the ball downfield. So I wonder if for this game at Penn State the wide receivers and The Titans can be effective against Oregon and for Oregon side, I mean, they've looked great all year. When they get punched in the mouth, how will they look against Penn State? Penn State's defensive line's dominant. Oregon's got a good offensive line. You know, which coach is going to be more aggressive? Is Dan Laning going to be kind of, you know, the four downs in midfield? Is he going to go for it earlier? Is he going to be kind of conservative? But yeah, I think you're right. I think Penn State being a three point underdog, it's like, what are the sports books know that we don't know?
Colin Cowherd
Well, the other thing is now the conference realignment. This game has been an indie. I feel like ever since I can remember, it's kind of like the accent. Huge geographical advantage for Penn State. Not as far, same thing. Clemson, where's that? At the Orange bowl or wherever?
John Middlekauff
It's in Charlotte, at Charlotte Panther Stadium.
Colin Cowherd
So it's like, what is that going to be? SMU's coming from Texas, Dallas or whatever and they just driving down the road. Oregon travels, I mean, at a very, very high level. That's a pretty long travel for a game that matters, but doesn't really matter. You know, they're, they're a lock. They're either going to be the 1 seed or the 5 seed. And if they're the 5 seed, they would be playing a home game in two weeks. So you're like, couldn't I just stay at home and watch this on tv if I, if I'm a West Coast Duck fan, where before it's like, oh, let's go to Vegas, we're playing Friday night against Washington. It's our rival. It's sweet. I wonder if big advantage Penn State in terms of geographically home game like that, that's something that sticks out to me in these games. If it's 50, 50, then whatever. But I wonder just is it going to be like 70 to 30 Penn State just based on closeness? It is a bigger game for Penn State because that's a big deal.
John Middlekauff
I think it's really big deal to me because we talked about it too. On how December 20, when the first round starts and then the national championships, January 20, there's about like 10 days in between each round. So if you're an Oregon or Texas fan, you say, hey, do we go out and go to the Big Ten or SEC championship or do we hold back and say, well, we either be in a New Year's six game on the. What is it New Year's Eve weekend or we could be at a home game December 20th and kind of hold back less. Less flight tickets. Like I think it's a good point. I mean you wonder how many fans are going to show up because it's a disadvantage for Texas and Oregon in those games.
Colin Cowherd
Would Oregon, let's say they lose a tight game like Penn State game winning field goal or whatever wins 20 to 19. Oregon would be the five seed. Right. They'd be the highest rated non conference champion and they would host a game where they would be I would imagine 10 point favorite against an Arizona State against a Boise like it'd be big 10 might even be feel might be like 13. The Boise played them well early this season which I my one issue with this is I understand these conferences are so big. I mean how many teams are in the Big Ten? Like 18. Like it's. It's a ton of teams and eventually Notre Dame will be in there and they'll add another like these conferences are essentially the AFC and the nfc. I don't really like rematches in the conference championship. That was cool to me about you know the PAC 12, the north and the south or the divisions in the. In the Big Ten though a little unfair because it was Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State on one side.
John Middlekauff
SEC was divisions last year too. Yeah.
Colin Cowherd
And it's been it forever. And once Kirby got there in Florida and Tennessee were down it was just like him every year while lsu, Bama and like Ole Miss and Texas A and M battled it out. But I like I'm glad Ohio. I didn't want to watch Oregon Ohio State again. Right. So I this is a cool matchup that we get as a one off scenario like Texas and Georgia. Like I've already seen that game now I wouldn't mind seeing that again in a playoff game. But we could potentially get these games if it had been Ohio State and Oregon and Texas and Georgia three times. It's basically like the NFL. It's like Green Bay and the Lions. I played you twice in the regular season and I play you get in the playoffs. It's a little much for me.
John Middlekauff
I want to talk about. There's so much more to talk about in college football. We're recording this before the rankings and bracket comes out and I gotta the list of bubble teams we texted back and forth Saturday night about which teams are locks to get it in. I think we can both agree. Oregon, Texas. Let me pull it up real quick actually. Oregon, Texas, Penn State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Georgia, Tennessee, Indiana 8 teams all locks to get in. And then you've got the ACC champ which could be either SMU or Clemson, Big 12 champ, which could be Arizona State or Iowa State and the most likely the Mountain west champ, Boise State or unlv which if SMU beats Clemson and leads up one spot. If Clemson beats smu, then you get into this, which I ask you bubble teams right now, SMU 11 and 2, Alabama 9 and 3, Ole Miss 9 and 3, South Carolina 9 and 3, Miami 10 and 2. Who gets in that last spot? Right now draftkings favorite is Alabama.
Colin Cowherd
So I ask you who gets in, Miami's out. I think most people that cover and watch college football agree that South Carolina is playing the best. I mean if Clemson were to beat SMU, SC just beat them, I'd have no issue. Now they're kind of like branding. This is ultimately a TV product. So when you see that Alabama has gone from like a plus 200 to get in to now minus 200, the brand kind of matters. And say what you want. Like their coach last year was in the final four and won a playoff game. So. And Jalen Milroe went toe to toe with Michigan. I'm not going to get caught up like I'm not going to go J. Billis on the first four teams out freaking out. I just don't care because I think all these two team, all you know, the three teams you listed, this is the other thing with these big conferences and adding all these teams, they're not all playing the same schedule. So that's why these records like Indiana's record is not the same as Penn State or Ohio State's record is not the same as like Georgia or Alabama depending on who you play on a given year. And one thing I would change and I get they probably did this so they didn't get sued by the non Power 5 programs. They had to throw the bone. And listen, I got my start in football at Fresno State so I understand the non power programs. I don't think you should get an automatic bid. Right. So if Boise wins, no issue there. They went toe to toe with Oregon, they got second best player in the country in Gentee. No one's going to have a problem with that. But like what if they lose which they easily could. UNLV is pretty good. Should UNLV just automatically get a spot because they have to give a spot to one of those. When you say it's probably between like who's even another option? Tulane.
John Middlekauff
Yeah, Tulane. But they just lost to Memphis last week. So you would say the ranking, they're 17. Why.
Colin Cowherd
Why do these teams have to get a spot? That's. That would be my issue. If I'm like South Carolina, Ole Miss or Alabama, like, how are we all equals? That's the thing if you're in the NFL or not. Well, we all agree the power four conferences are harder, and then even within those, like the Big 12 is easier than the secular. Or even the Big 10 if you have to play Oregon, Ohio State or Penn State. So I. That kind of throws everything off because I think it would be easier. You just be like, South Carolina, Alabama, let him in. Right. But I think when Boise, assuming they win, which I would not assume that, you know, Barry Odom, they're pretty good at unlv. So let's just say they lose and all of a sudden, like, UNLV just gets to go to the playoff. That seems kind of crazy to me.
John Middlekauff
Yeah, they don't have any wins.
Colin Cowherd
Which is very possible. Which is very possible.
John Middlekauff
Yeah. Which would. Which would benefit the Big 12, because I think they would get in as a top four seed or potentially the ACC two. And UNLV would definitely be the 12 seed.
Colin Cowherd
I think the thing in the Mountain west, though, Boise hosts the game. So that's. Which I do like, right?
John Middlekauff
Yeah. If it was at a stadium, man, that would be a disadvantage for them. But you talked about, you know, comparing conferences, and there's a bunch of coaches tweeting about, I saw Chris Kleiman saying how they play nine league games versus the SEC plays eight. And Nick Saban going on and saying, well, the committee should say, if Ole Miss played In the Big 12, what would the record be? All these comments back and forth between, you know, whose conference is best. We all know SEC is 1, Big Ten 2. And the Big 12 feel a little disrespected. So I ask you, how can they fix the constant comparison of conferences? Is it. You take away SEC playing Mercer in November and inserting a non conference game with either the Big Ten or the Big 12, there's non conference. Instead of having in the beginning of the season, you kind of have in the middle or the end of the season, like, how. How does this change because. Or are we just going to have to deal with the coaches just bitching about which conference is better and which conference is getting disrespected?
Colin Cowherd
Well, you have to have universal rules. The reason the NFL works well, not every team at the end of the year, like the Lions schedule and the Eagles schedule are not the Same. But every single year we play the same amount of conference games, division games and teams from other conference. And it rotates. So it's. It's over time. It equals out. And I don't. I never get to play a UFL team. So you have to get away. And this is where like your team, Army, Navy, any independence, like props to byu, you got to join one of the conferences and then you basically play on a rotating basis. Let's just pick eight games. You play eight conference games, or nine if you want. And then the other games are rotated through the other conferences. So this year we play maybe two Big 12 teams and an ACC team and then it flips two ACC teams and an SEC team, you know, and it just rotates. Whatever. So everyone over time is playing. Now, obviously, on a given year, a couple of the teams that you play might be down. Other teams might be whatever. But that's part of football, right? If you got the Bengals this year, it was easier to get the Bengals in previous years, but you can't have. Or maybe you get one, maybe nine conference games. You have to do a rotating other Power 4 conferences and then you get 1D1 program, like a San Diego State, a Fresno State, a Boise State, Tulane, whoever, but, you know, more D1 double A's. And I'm a D1 double A guy. You're a D1AA. There is a dramatic difference. I went one day I was at Cal Poly. Two weeks later I'm at Fresno State practice. And it was like, this is crazy. And Cal Poly at the time, we were a playoff D1 double A team. And the level is not even comparable. So. And then we all know the level at Boise top to bottom. Like, if you put Boise in the Big 12 this year, do they win it? Probably not. Do they probably have an extra loss or 2. 100%. Because it's just. You're just playing better players on a weekly basis. I don't blame Alabama or, you know, was Alabama that played Mercer or. Yeah, you know, and they've been doing that forever. And I think Saban would say, well, twofold. Our side of the conference forever was harder. We had Ole Miss, Mississippi State for a long time with Dan Mullen, was good with Dak Prescott A&M's had moments with Johnny Manziel, the Jimbo to now Elko, obviously lsu. So it's like our comp. Arkansas, like, it's just. It's hard. Our conference games on our side of the bracket. And we're always play a tough game week one or week two. But like, you can't have them playing Mercer. It can't happen. But there has to be like Notre Dame can't be an independent. Like, everyone has to be in a conference and they all work together universally. And I think that's where inevitably we're headed. And then I think it makes it easier on the playoff situation. Like, we don't have this issue in the NFL, Right. Your record, your record, everyone's record is the same. Like my 9 and 3 is 10 and 2. Well, 10 and 2 is better. 9 and 3. But now we're like, well, Miami 10 and 2, but it's cheater. 9 and 3. If this was the NFL, Miami would just make the playoffs and Alabama and Ole Miss would not, right? Yeah. When was 10 and 2 and you're 9 and 3?
John Middlekauff
Yeah. When was the last time in the NFL they talked about strength and schedule in terms of teams making in. It's. It's no strength to schedule. Every game in the NFL is tough to play.
Colin Cowherd
Like, you know, the only curveball is when a division really sucks and a team's like 8, 9 and I win the division, which is the one thing people bitch and moan about. And I'd have no problem. If you're an under.500 division winner. You just get ranked with the. You might miss the playoffs. I would have no problem. I don't know if they'd ever do that, but I wouldn't have. That's never going to be an issue in college football. But it's going to be like, my 9 and 3 is better than your 10 and 2 or my 10 and 2 is better than your 11 and 1. I mean, that's happening this year. Like is. Is Ole Miss, South Carolina and Alabama better than Indiana? I think we all agree if you put them on neutral field, people would bet if you made any of those three SEC teams underdogs, the money would flow in on those teams against Indiana.
John Middlekauff
Something that kind of was an underrated.
Colin Cowherd
I mean, do you agree now I understand Montana, Cal Poly, whoever. It's a big deal to play an Iowa, to play in Oregon to play a Stanford. You get paid. But I think the world we're living in now with this, that has to end. Which is sad because I think it would be hard for those programs. That million dollar check when Montana plays Oregon or Cal Poly play Stanford or UCLA is a pretty big deal for the athletic program. But like, it's 2025, it's not 2010 anymore. So we, we gotta change.
John Middlekauff
I feel like you could do that week one or maybe once in a while, like maybe every other year you play an FCS opponent. Like I remember when I was at Montana, we played Oregon in 2019 and then we played Washington in 2022. So it was kind of like a spread schedule thing. But I feel like Mercer is always playing an FCS team or Ken State from the Mac. They're playing like four or five power four teams in their first three weeks just to make more money for their program.
Colin Cowherd
But I think Saban, you know, would say, why do you care if we play Mercer Week 11 or Week 1? What the hell's the difference?
John Middlekauff
Yeah, yeah.
Colin Cowherd
And I'd say, well you, I know why you're doing it because you're trying to basically give your guys a bi week game where they get a little sweat on. That, you know, is a lock win into Auburn, into the SEC championship game, into the playoffs, where you don't want to do that week two because it doesn't really do much for you. Right. Because the next week you might have a real opponent. Next week you got Arkansas and all of a sudden you just fucking cruise through and you don't, you don't need the energy. So I, yeah, I mean, I mean a lot of these programs help. When I was at Fresno State, we would open up against like three straight Wisconsin, Oregon, ucla and that, that, that money that you would get paid to go play those games, I mean probably paid for half your programs, right? You're paid for softball, baseball, bat, you know, women's basketball, all these sports. I just think that you can see the light at the end of the tunnel that is going to end. It is going to get morphed into why are we spreading our money around to these other people that aren't our equals where we can all just consolidate it together like Notre Dame. You just play Ohio State's, Penn State's, Iowa's, Nebraska. You just stay in that region South. This is why Clemson, Florida State and these teams are going to eventually migrate to the sc. You just keep it all and then we all go to the playoff together and maybe rotate throughout the season playing each other one game or two games for these non conference that include the Big 12 and the Big 12, ACC, SEC, SEC and Big 10 and just keep all the money together. Jon Stewart is back at the Daily show and he's bringing his signature wit and insight straight to your ears with the Daily Show Years Edition podcast. Dive into John's unique take on the biggest topics in politics, entertainment, sports and more. Joined by the sharp voices of the show's correspondents and contributors, and with extended interviews and exclusive weekly headline roundups, this podcast gives you content you won't find anywhere else. Ready to laugh and stay informed? Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts.
Jon Stewart
Or wherever you get your podcasts.
Rufus Griscom
In the aftermath of a transformative election like the one we just had, it's hard to read the news without asking yourself every five second, how did we get here? That's exactly what we're always trying to figure out on Fiasco, a history podcast from the co creators of Slow Burn. In our first season, Bush v. Gore, we examine an unmistakable turning point in American politics, the 2000 election, which came down to a recount in Florida and ended with one of the most controversial rulings in Supreme Court history. In many ways, it's the beginning of the story we're living through right now. So if you're trying to make sense of the present moment, check out Fiasco, Bush v. Gore and find out how a statistical tie in the Florida vote count put the nation into an unprecedented holding pattern during which American voters waited with bated breath to find out whether Al Gore or George W. Bush would be the next President of the United States. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Jon Stewart
Good people. What's up? It's Questo, Questlove and Team supreme and I have been working hard to bring you some incredible episodes of Questlove supreme with guests you definitely don't want to miss. Now, one of the things I love about this Questlove supreme podcast is we got something for everybody, every type of music lover. We enjoy speaking to the people who are the face of some movements and some people you've seen on stage or TV or magazine covers. But we also love speaking to the folks who are making it happen behind the scenes and they paved the way for those that followed. You know, keystones to the culture. This season we've had some amazing one on one conversation like I'm PayPal chatting up with hitmaker Sam Hollander, Sugar Steve chatting with the legend Nick Lowe. And I've had pleasures of doing one on one conversations with Willow, Sonata, Maitreya, Kathleen, Hannah and the rza. These are conversations you won't hear anywhere else, so make sure you go back and you check those episodes out. All right? Listen to Questlove supreme on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
Colin Cowherd
Experiencing the news each day can feel like a journey with up first from NPR though It doesn't have to be. Welcome to 15 Easy Minutes of breaking news, clarity on international and national affairs, and a casual tone that you can take in with breakfast. Begin your day informed, ready and refreshed. Begin your day with Up first. Subscribe to Up first from NPR on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
John Middlekauff
Hey everyone, I'm Madison Packer, a pro.
Colin Cowherd
Hockey veteran going on my 10th season in New York.
John Middlekauff
And I'm Anya Packer, a former pro hockey player and now a full Madison Packer. Stan, Anya and I met through hockey and now we're married and moms to two awesome toddlers. And on our new podcast, Moms who Puck, we're opening up about the chaos of our daily lives. Between the juggle of being athletes, raising children, and all the messiness in between.
Colin Cowherd
We'Re also turning to fellow athletes and beyond to learn about their parenthood journeys.
John Middlekauff
And collect valuable advice like FIFA World cup winner Ashlyn Harris.
Colin Cowherd
I wish my village would have prepared.
John Middlekauff
Me for how hard motherhood was going to be. And peloton instructor and Ratchet Mom Club founder Kirsten Ferguson. And I remember going in there a hot mess. So listen to Moms who Puck, a production of iHeart Women's Sports and Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Colin Cowherd
Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports.
John Middlekauff
Something that kind of went underrated last week. Gus Malazon leaving UCF as the head coach to be the offensive coordinator at Florida State. We saw this last year with Chip Kelly leaving UCLA to go be the OC at Ohio State. Both team, both programs, ucf, ucla, bad seasons. Kind of on the downhill. Is is this move by Gus Malzon, like we're going to see more of this because of maybe just a new age of college football where these older coaches are kind of, you know, sitting the tea leaves and saying, hey, my time's done. I want to be an oc, not do with the nil. Like, what do you make of a guy who was a head coach at a university going on and being OC at a Power 4 school?
Colin Cowherd
I do think the money's changed. I didn't. I haven't seen his contract, but I would guess minimum one and a half million, maybe two million dollars a year. I mean, Chip Kelly makes a large amount of money to be the offensive coordinator at Ohio State. Remember Dion? The guy's not there anymore because Sherman's offensive coordinator when he got hired at Colorado, I Think Kent State's coach became his offensive coordinator. So it's like, how do you win at these programs? That's the thing. Like, I think there's a big difference of being at Montana or North Dakota State or South Dakota State where you can win. You got a specific kind of niche. But then there's that middle ground of like, what is Boise the next five years. Once gentees, like, they're not getting a gentee again. They were lucky to keep them this year. So you can't keep players that the turnover isn't the moment. You get multiple NFL guys that are freshmen or sophomores, they just leave and it's like, well, I can get a three year contract for maybe take a little haircut. Maybe I'm making $3 million. I get paid 1.8 and I just get to coach football now. I also think, you know, he's 59 years old. When's the last time Gus was viewed? Is this a little Chip Kelly ish? You know, Gus was sweet a decade ago. Well, it's 2024. Is he still now? Florida State's pretty desperate. You know, who's going to be their quarterback? Is their offense going to be much more of the clap and the, you know, because Norvell is an offensive guy, right? That's where he kind of cut his teeth of being like an offensive play caller. And my buddy Derek Ray, who I had on the podcast this off season, who's the gm Somehow, you know, I have them on, I jinx the program and they barely win a game. I remember him telling me, he's like, I think Norvell is one of the best play callers I've ever been around. And he spent a lot of time with Jonathan Smith at Oregon State. Like, so you're hiring Gus to basically take that off your plate. Maybe he thinks he needs to run it. I think these type moves are when you get desperate. And I think you look back at Ryan Day, it's like he kind of felt some heat last year after not beating Michigan. But like, I hired Norvell, I hire Ryan Day, I want that guy to call plays. I said this about Sark, who I've been critical on over the years. I do respect that. Like his program, he is the play caller. So he's the college version of like lafleur, Kyle or McVeigh. Like, yeah, I'm the boss, but I also call the offense. That's why I got the job. I just don't like younger coaches. Like being a CEO. Most CEOs in Fortune 500 are. I would imagine the average age is like over 55, 60 years old. I don't want my coach in his 40s being the CEO. Like, I want you to call plays and be the leader. So I don't know. I mean, that, to me, is a little weird. And I think that's. You get pressure from boosters. Maybe there's a booster that's tight with Gus that like, forces us on your hand. Like, there are a lot of cooks in the kitchen with these college programs of people cutting the checks.
John Middlekauff
What'd you make of the flag planting this weekend in the rivalry weekend? Because for me, I mean, as a football fan, I loved it.
Colin Cowherd
I'm.
John Middlekauff
Obviously, you don't call for all the brawl at the end of the Ohio State Michigan game, players getting pepper mazed, but I feel like in a time with a transfer portal when there's so many guys moving, the fact that there's still hatred in rivalries today, I feel like as a football fan, you got to be floored about. But I think the flag planting thing, the symbolization of it, Baker Mayfield started it, but I never saw that many in one day. And of course, the NCAA is probably going to put something out there. But what were your thoughts about the whole flag planting saga this last weekend?
Colin Cowherd
If I gave you $10,000 today and took you to a field where there was turf, not a grass field, a turf field, do you think you could get the flag to stick in the turf?
John Middlekauff
I try my hardest.
Colin Cowherd
No tools. You just use your hands and the flag. I think it's impossible.
John Middlekauff
No shot.
Colin Cowherd
The only one that.
John Middlekauff
The only one that did was Arizona State because they've got that spark. So he just shoved it in the ground and it's stuck in there.
Colin Cowherd
But so what, what was it? It was North Carolina, North Carolina State, Arizona. Arizona State, obviously started the morning with Ohio State, Michigan. You know, in a day and age where nil and everyone's freaking out about people being mercenaries in college, you do like to see people care. Now, it's basic human reaction. If someone starts fucking with something that you view as yours, whether it's sports or not, if someone start doing that to your front yard, it's just a natural reaction. So of course, you know they're going to push back. I also think, though, like, Arizona wasn't the final score, like, 49 to 7, you got destroyed.
John Middlekauff
I feel like you have permission to do that if you beat a team 49, seven at their place.
Colin Cowherd
And Baker, like, Nick Bosa was talking about it, like, up Till last year. Like, it's something these guys never forget that the flag, when people basically make fun of you on your home field. Where I think in a lot of, you know, it was all rivalry week. Like, is this happening on a random game? Probably not, because guys don't care enough. So I like to see the passion. I'm for it. And clearly they're going to ban it and find guys and, you know, suspend guys. It'll probably never happen again. But I really enjoy watching brawls at the 50 yard line. You have no clue what's going on. It's hard to even figure out. I give Fox credit. I feel like a lot of times they change the channel or they go back to the studio, they just kind of kept it there and they just watched. You're like, this is nuts. And it was going on for a little while.
John Middlekauff
Yeah, I was looking to see, I'm like, which players are in the fight for Ohio State? Like, are they going to suspend these guys for throwing punches? Are they going to kind of let it go back and forth?
Colin Cowherd
But no, MI 91 that slammed a dude on Ohio State to the ground. Slammed him. That's when the brawl really got out of, like, then it kind of got crazy.
John Middlekauff
Yeah, that was, that was awesome. My last question for you, a great podcast today. Obviously a bunch of college football stuff. It's being talked about because of the 44, 42 Georgia win over Georgia Tech, the overtime rules, the back and forth two point conversion, sudden death after second overtime. Are you in favor of this? Because I know there's a lot of complaining about how they should change it up. Maybe like first and goal from the 10 or even back them up. I know Scott Van Pelt said back them up to the 50 and make him just go forward from there. Are you, are you not liking the overtime rules? After that being eight overtimes, you kind of just like, I don't care. Just play football, kind of see who gets creative.
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, I'm not bothered by quirky stuff. You know, in baseball, put the runner on second in the 10th inning during the regular season, all for it. No one wants to watch a game go to 17 innings. I think you see in hockey forever, I think they used to have ties, now they have shootouts, you know, to end regular season games. Don't quote me on that. Not a huge hockey guy, but I'm pretty sure that they've instituted that lately over the last, I don't know, five years. Is there a right way to do this? Like, is it right in the NFL that both teams get a chance if you score a touchdown in the playoffs, but not in the regular season. You know, part of what makes it kind of cool is like watching that game, you're like, are they exhausted? And then you realize, well, after a while they're just having one play on, one play off. So you kind of get a legit break. Even though it started at the 25 yard line, if they get a couple first downs and they get to third down, like you could have an extra, what, eight, nine plays. So if you had a couple back to back overtimes, all of a sudden, you know, or you know, overtime one, overtime two, that could add up, let's just say to like 12, 13 plays where once I get to the third overtime, it's, it's basically five plays from overtime three to eight. So I felt like they were pretty rested on each play, which I'm, I'm, I'm cool. It doesn't bother me like it does, you know, Scott, freaking out, it feels like a lot of college football people think like, this is not football. You hear that from everybody. Yeah, I agree. But like is starting at the 25 yard line, like, where'd they pick that? That's the red zone's technically the 20, you know, so it's just halfway between the 50 and the goal line. Like, how do they determine that? Flip a coin? Like, yeah, that's kind of a good idea. That's. You could argue that's stupid. How come on the second overtime you just randomly have to go for two. Because that's part of it, right? First overtime, do whatever you want, kick field goal. Second overtime, you score, you have to go for two. Third, it's just two point conversions. Like, you could argue it's stupid at the second if you don't like just the two point, it's all, let's just figure out who can win the game. And there's. If you have 60 minutes to win the game fair and square. And if you can't. Yeah, sometimes quirky stuff happens. You see the, there's, in baseball, they might just add a golden at bat. We're like, at any point during the game they're talking about this. In Major League Baseball you can just pick like, I want one Soto to hit in the seventh inning, base is loaded. Even though it's like my eighth hitter, I get a golden at bat. The purists are going to hate it. I can already tell. I see him on social media like, this is bs this is not the sport. My reaction to that type stuff As I get older, I kind of like it. Why not? I think it's this entertainment, this entertainment that was extremely entertaining. Georgia. Georgia Tech. That ending. If they were just playing normal football, you know, like, I kick off, you kick off, we kick field goals, we're not even scoring touchdowns. It just goes to over. It just keeps going. It would not have been as entertaining. It just would not have. I feel like it's.
John Middlekauff
I like it's fun because as a play caller, I mean, you've only got maybe a couple, maybe four or five two point plays and then it comes down to that eighth overtime. It's like you're just drawing up something like, hey, let's just draw up whatever we have in the bag. I think it's fun to see the creativity on both sides and just to see who wants it more. Sudden death. One play. One play like Georgia Tech. Georgia got stopped. Georgia Tech had the ball. It was like, oh my gosh, is Georgia going to lose? And then they stop them and then it goes back and forth. So I think you're right. I think there's no real. I'm not really panicking about it.
Colin Cowherd
Refuse to run the ball. You're at like the. You're not at the eight yard line. Just how George ended up winning. They ran a run play. They would not run the ball. Both teams, like, they're running their quarterback left and right. It's like, what are we doing? Run a run play. Just call an off tackle run. You just got a game. Whatever. Five feet, it's not that far. But they were only calling pass plays.
John Middlekauff
Yeah, I think Georgia Tech went in.
Colin Cowherd
Like rollout one where it's like, guys, it's in the. It's in the end zone. So the field's not that deep. The moment they bite, when you start going right, there's no room. You got to hope you stop. And then guys cut back. It was the same thing. It felt like over and over where it's like, just run the ball. That's where I felt. Kirby kind of drew the line. I can imagine he got in the headset, like, call run play here in the eighth. He didn't even know at the end. He's like, what was that? Like nine overtimes. They're like, no, it's eight because you're so in it. Kirby is guys a maniac. I mean, he's on. He's halfway between the huddle and the sideline. I mean, he is on the field the entire overtime. I'm not even talking about him running out and Calling time out every time, which I don't blame that. Why would you not? But he literally watched the game from. It felt like, I don't know, the 30 where. The 30 yard line where it says three zero. He just stands there. I mean. And they called a sideline, whatever infraction on them. They got penalized. I don't even think he moved. They tried to bring him back. He just stood there. Guys a fucking lunatic, which I like. I mean, I'm pro. Kirby being a lunatic.
John Middlekauff
You imagine being the ref, the main ref, saying, hey, can you. Can you push Kirby to the side? He's on the field. I'd be like, oh, I don't think I'm. I don't think I'm a talent. I don't think I would do that.
Colin Cowherd
Good try there. Well, Jackson, I. How's the. How's the new place? You got any girlfriends down there in old town Scottsdale yet?
John Middlekauff
No girlfriends yet. But when I did pull up, though, that's when I knew, like, that's what I knew. When God told me that I was supposed to be here was when I rolled in. First move, trying to get all the stuff here. Saw three smoke and blondes on my way up here. I said, yep, this is where I'm supposed to be.
Colin Cowherd
Well, it's the equivalent of like, you know, when someone takes like the Florida job or the USC job. It's in prime recruiting spot, you know, Southern California or Miami, Dade county or wherever I would say Old town Scottsdale is. I just. I'd go for walks a lot if I were you. If I don't have much going on, I would just. I would just go for walks. Maria called that the circle of death. Which is, you know, the clubs and stuff down there.
John Middlekauff
Yeah.
Colin Cowherd
In that area. I'm not a big club guy, but you can find whatever you're looking for down there, bro. So I hope so. I'll keep you updated. Yeah, definitely will keep. Keep me updated. Okay, Jackson, I will see you next week when we got a good idea what's going on.
John Middlekauff
The volume.
Colin Cowherd
If you're a maintenance supervisor for a commercial property, you've had to deal with everything from leaky faucets to flickering light bulbs. But nothing's worse than that ancient boiler that's lived in the building since the day it was built 50 years ago. It's enough to make anyone lose their cool. That's where Grainger comes in. With industrial grade products and dependable, fast delivery, Grainger can help with any challenge, from worn out components to everyday necessities, call clickgrainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done. Catch Jon Stewart back in action on the Daily show and in your ears with the Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. From his hilarious satirical takes on today's politics and entertainment to the unique voices of correspondents and contributors, it's your perfect companion to stay on top of what's happening now. Plus, you'll get special content just for podcast listeners, like in depth interviews and.
Jon Stewart
A roundup of the week's top headlines. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts.
Colin Cowherd
Or wherever you get your podcasts.
Rufus Griscom
It's hard to read the news these days without asking yourself, how did we get here? Fiasco is a history podcast from the co creators of Slow Burn. In our first season, Bush v. Gore, we examine an unmistakable turning point in American politics. The 2000 election, which resulted in a high stakes stalemate, ended with one of the most controversial rulings in Supreme Court history. So if you're trying to make sense of the present moment, check out Fiasco Bush v. Gore. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Colin Cowherd
I'm Rufus Griscom, host of the Next Big Idea. The future is coming faster than you think. AI is reshaping society, scientists are cracking the code of longevity, and new tools are helping us live better and work smarter. Each week I sit down with big thinkers like Bill Gates and Malcolm Gladwell to separate hype from hope. Listen to the Next Big idea on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Experiencing the news each day can feel like a journey with up first from NPR, though it doesn't have to be. Welcome to 15 Easy Minutes of breaking news, clarity on international and national affairs, and a casual tone that you can take in with breakfast. Begin your day informed, ready and refreshed. Begin your day with Up first. Subscribe to Up first from NPR on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Podcast Summary: The Herd with Colin Cowherd – Episode 3 & Out: Kauff on Campus Release Date: December 4, 2024
Hosted by iHeartPodcasts and The Volume, "The Herd with Colin Cowherd" delves into the most pressing college football narratives of the season. In this episode titled "3 & Out - Kauff on Campus," Colin Cowherd engages in a dynamic discussion with John Middlekauff, exploring team performances, coaching strategies, and the evolving landscape of college football.
Timestamp: [02:39]
Colin Cowherd opens the episode by shifting the focus exclusively to college football, citing a lack of significant NFL news. He mentions that the show will center on current college football events, including conference championships and team performances.
Cowherd: "Today will be college only and a lot going on. We got conference championship games, which teams will be basically making sure they have home field advantage."
Timestamp: [06:00] - [10:04]
John Middlekauff commends Notre Dame's recent performance, highlighting their record and critical victories that have propelled them into playoff contention. He expresses optimism about their chances, especially with the potential for favorable matchups.
Middlekauff: "Their record shows. But for Notre Dame past years, that's been a trap game for them. That's been the game where you think they're going to make the playoff and they lose the last week."
Colin adds that Notre Dame's consistent performance makes them a strong contender in the current playoff structure.
Cowherd: "I think it's pretty easy... Notre Dame's a better job than the Bears. Notre Dame does a better job than the Jets, and Woody Johnson does a better job than Trevor Lawrence."
Timestamp: [10:36] - [20:45]
The conversation delves into Ohio State's struggles against Michigan, emphasizing issues such as defensive weaknesses and quarterback protection. Cowherd critiques Ryan Day's coaching, suggesting that his lack of toughness is detrimental to the team's performance.
Cowherd: "Ryan Day is not a tough guy... Michigan program, the soul and the ethos is just toughness."
Middlekauff shares statistics highlighting Ohio State's underperformance in critical game moments.
Middlekauff: "Ohio State only had seven plays, 10 yards in the fourth quarter."
They discuss potential coaching changes, including rumors about Brian Kelly potentially taking over, and the impact of losing key defensive players like Will Johnson.
Cowherd: "I think they're a loss away now. We'll see who they end up playing. I think he could easily get fired now."
Timestamp: [22:22] - [36:49]
The hosts explore the implications of potential coaching changes within Ohio State, comparing Ryan Day's situation to other successful coaches like Brian Kelly and Marcus Freeman. They debate the suitability of current candidates and the challenges of replacing an established coach.
Cowherd: "It's one of those where I mean he's an elite recruiter but he just couldn't outscheme anybody. And that's not really his baby."
Middlekauff raises the possibility of Deion Sanders being considered for coaching roles, discussing the blend of charisma and toughness required for modern coaching success.
Middlekauff: "I think there's just toughness that Deion has... Ohio State would be dramatically tougher than under Ryan Day and Chip Kelly."
Timestamp: [43:43] - [54:01]
The discussion shifts to the upcoming Big Ten Championship game between Penn State and Oregon. Cowherd analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of both teams, questioning Penn State's ability to challenge a high-performing Oregon team.
Middlekauff: "Do you think James Franklin and Penn State can get it done against Oregon? Or do you think Oregon's just too much for Penn State."
Cowherd highlights the unpredictability of the game, considering factors like conference realignment and travel logistics. They also touch upon the potential impact of the game's outcome on national rankings and playoff seeding.
Cowherd: "This is Oregon, especially the second half of the season post Ohio State has been good, right? They look awesome."
Timestamp: [46:38] - [60:11]
A significant portion of the episode examines the ongoing conference realignment and its implications for the college football playoff system. The hosts debate the fairness of automatic bids, the disparity in strength of schedules across conferences, and the challenges of maintaining competitive balance.
Middlekauff: "How can they fix the constant comparison of conferences? Is it... have everyone join a conference and rotate games?"
Cowherd: "Everyone has to be in a conference and they all work together universally. I think that's where inevitably we're headed."
They argue for a more standardized scheduling system, similar to the NFL, to ensure fairness in playoff selection.
Timestamp: [69:55] - [80:52]
The conversation addresses a recent controversial flag planting incident during rivalry weekend, discussing its ramifications on sportsmanship and NCAA regulations. Cowherd praises the passion displayed by players but acknowledges the potential disciplinary actions.
Middlekauff: "What were your thoughts about the whole flag planting saga this last weekend?"
Cowherd: "It's basic human reaction... the fact that there's still hatred in rivalries today, I feel like as a football fan, you got to be floored about."
Timestamp: [73:29] - [77:23]
The hosts debate the current overtime rules in college football, particularly following a high-octane eight-overtime game between Georgia and Georgia Tech. Cowherd expresses acceptance of the existing rules, appreciating the entertainment value they bring.
Cowherd: "I'm not bothered by quirky stuff... it's nothing that bothers me like it does Scott freaking out."
Middlekauff: "I think it's fun to see the creativity on both sides and just to see who wants it more."
They discuss potential rule changes but ultimately conclude that the excitement generated by prolonged overtimes adds to the spectacle of the game.
Timestamp: [35:53] - [60:11]
The episode touches on individual player performances, particularly quarterbacks, and the influence of the transfer portal on team dynamics. Discussions include the likes of Kyle McCord at Ohio State and the strategic decisions surrounding quarterback play.
Cowherd: "Quinn Ewers is one of those guys... I feel like when he's in rhythm, he's relaxed, he's one of the best quarterbacks in the country."
Middlekauff: "He hasn't thrown an interception in three weeks."
The conversation highlights how pivotal quarterback performance is to a team's success and the broader implications of player transfers on team chemistry and season outcomes.
Timestamp: [79:44] - [81:23]
In wrapping up the episode, Cowherd and Middlekauff reflect on the intensity of current rivalries and the future of college football. They anticipate continued discussions on team performances, coaching strategies, and the evolving playoff landscape.
Cowherd: "I just think there's a big difference of being at Montana or North Dakota State or South Dakota State where you can win. You got a specific kind of niche."
Middlekauff: "This is the year. It's crazy... they're not in the conference championship game. That's insane."
In "3 & Out - Kauff on Campus," Colin Cowherd and John Middlekauff provide an in-depth analysis of the current college football season, focusing on team strategies, coaching effectiveness, and the broader structural challenges facing the sport. Their conversation offers valuable insights for fans seeking to understand the complexities of college football, from on-field performances to behind-the-scenes decision-making.
For those interested in the latest developments in college football, this episode of "The Herd with Colin Cowherd" is a must-listen, offering a comprehensive overview of the season's pivotal moments and future trajectories.