Colin Cowherd Podcast - Cowboys Potentially A Disaster, Bears Win Total, College Football Playoff Expansion, John Rahm LIV Champion

Summary

The Herd with Colin Cowherd

Episode: Cowboys Potentially a Disaster, Bears Win Total, College Football Playoff Expansion, Jon Rahm LIV Champion
Date: August 19, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Colin Cowherd (John) and guest Jake Hofer break down some of the most compelling stories in sports: the Dallas Cowboys’ instability and future outlook, the Chicago Bears’ win projections with rookie QB Caleb Williams, the shifting landscape of college football with playoff expansion and NCAA penalties, and the surprising popularity of LIV Golf, where Jon Rahm repeats as champion. The episode is a mix of analysis, prediction, and Cowherd’s trademark candid opinions, covering both big-picture trends in sports and week-to-week specifics.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Airline Experiences, Vegas Price Increases & Lifestyle Commentary

• Airlines: Colin shares his preference for American Airlines’ “Flagship Suite,” praising its “privacy doors, more personal storage,” and elevated comfort (04:19). He warns against flying discount airlines that cut corners, referencing a bankrupt Spirit Airlines flight nearly entering a hurricane.
• Vegas: Both hosts lament the transformation of Las Vegas from a discount destination to a luxury-priced one. Colin says, “Vegas just got way too expensive… This is higher than LA. Like, Vegas just got way too expensive.” (08:13). They explain how casinos all tried to become high-end, pricing out the regular traveler and losing their edge as a “deal destination.”
• Shift in Gambling and Entertainment: Jake reflects on the impact of legalized online sports gambling and entertainment streaming: “The Internet really hurt Vegas. I don’t think there’s any coming back for them.” (13:18).

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Dallas Cowboys: Approaching Disaster?

Segment: [16:36 – 25:06]

• Colin is pessimistic about Dallas’s prospects for the upcoming season, citing a weak offensive line, lack of elite running backs, and over-dependence on Dak Prescott.
  • “I think the Cowboys are going to shit the bed week one. I think it’s going to be a disastrous season.” (16:54)
• Mike McCarthy’s record is discussed—three consecutive 12-5 seasons—but the hosts believe he lacks long-term security due to Jerry Jones' management style.
  • “If the Cowboys are awful, and I think they will be this year, I think Mike McCarthy is going to get another job in an offensive league.” (17:43)
• They critique Jerry Jones’ habit of hiring coaches “indebted to him” rather than strong independent leaders.
  • “Jerry doesn’t respect coaches…He hires coaches who will be indebted to him.” (20:41)
  • “The coaches. Jerry doesn’t respect the coaching position, and… it’s really weird, considering Jerry usually has a pretty good sense of valuations of properties.” (20:41)
• The Giants' defense is highlighted as a threat to Dallas early in the season.
  • “Say what you want about the Giants, that defensive line…could overwhelm the Cowboys.” (23:38)
• Prediction: A “dark cowboy stage” is coming.

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College Football: NCAA Penalties, Playoff Expansion, and the Future

Segment: [29:44 – 56:30]

Michigan’s NCAA Sanctions & NCAA’s Dwindling Power

• Colin and Jake scoff at NCAA’s influence, especially as it penalizes Michigan for past sign-stealing and recruiting violations.
  • “I know I should be bothered, but the penalty of pay like 20, 30 million dollars, I’m fine with it.” (29:52)
  • “I do not care at all. I’m actually surprised that people still listen to the NCAA.” (31:43 - Jake)
• They note hypocrisy and the growing irrelevance of the NCAA in football:
  • “It’s not called the NCAA college football playoffs—so why are we listening [to them]?” (32:00 - Jake)
  • “We’ve just graduated to just understanding the world we live in. ...I don’t give two shits about somebody with an iPhone in the crowd.” (34:21 - Colin)

College Football Playoff Expansion

• Colin predicts major changes, possibly to a 24- or 28-team playoff, arguing for more big games.
  • “There is a lot of momentum to have like a 24 or 28-team playoff. My loyalty has always been to more big games.” (34:21)
  • “I think the perfect number is about 16. I wouldn’t be bothered by 20. I think if you get to 28, you’d have to give the top, like, four seeds [a bye]. ...I don’t want Georgia playing Liberty.” (37:03)
• Jake pushes back on expanding too far, worrying about blowouts and average teams:
  • “That, doesn’t that feel a little extreme? And we get a lot of average to below average teams in the dance in that situation.” (36:29)
• Both acknowledge the realignment and emergence of “NFL-light” super-conferences.
  • Jake: “That’s where we’re headed…two major conferences…[while others] just going to be playing…like Division 1, Double A.” (42:26)
  • Colin: “Change is inevitable...sports are going to change…Anything that’s poorly run, it will eventually get replaced or upended.” (43:14)
• Concerns about whether “middle class” programs survive, and how media deals are driven by the top 20 or so brands.
  • “USC was just, ‘We’re not carrying Washington State anymore. Screw you.’” (45:48 - Jake)
  • “Iowa football has never run the sport, has never been hugely valuable…but will always be a viable 7 to 8 win program.” (48:08 - Colin)

Notable Quotes

• “If you can pay high school football players, I don’t care. Nothing’s illegal. I don’t care.” (29:52 - Colin)
• “I just can’t get over people still listening to the NCAA. It baffles me.” (32:00 - Jake)
• “I want more quality.” (41:18 - Colin)
• “We are going to continue to merge and I think we have to acknowledge: how do we get the best games?” (41:18 - Jake)
• “The fat’s going to keep getting trimmed until we have 25 programs.” (45:48 - Jake)

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Chicago Bears Win Total & New Coach Assessment

Segment: [61:08 – 67:07]

• Colin and Jake go game-by-game through the 2025 Bears schedule, debating each win/loss.
• Prediction: Jake lands at 9-8 or 10-7; Colin gets to 8-9, agrees on a likely split with Green Bay, surprises like the Giants, and some tough road matchups.
• Is 9-8 a success?
  • “1,000%. They just fired the entire coaching staff. They drafted 10th overall. They have been losing for years straight. 9 and 8 in that division...That is 1 million percent a win.” (65:03 - Jake)
  • Colin agrees, saying 8-9 or 9-8 could come down to “a fumble bouncing your way” and says “going 9 and 8 is 100% a success.” (65:40 - Colin)
• High praise for new coach Ben Johnson’s tough approach with Caleb Williams:
  • “He’s kind of a hard ass and he even talks like, ‘I’ve been hard on Caleb and he hasn’t liked it all.’ ...He’s pretty candid... It’s a tight ship. He’s got some Dan Campbell qualities which I did not expect from an offensive guy.” (66:18 - Jake)

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LIV Golf: Popularity and Jon Rahm’s Repeat

Segment: [67:07 – 70:29]

• Jon Rahm wins the LIV Golf League Championship, taking home an $18 million check.
• Colin is surprised at the level of live attendance for LIV, especially in the Midwest (“50,000 seats, almost double Chicago...they doubled the tickets sold" [67:25]).
• Jake describes the atmosphere as “unlike any event. I’ve been to every baseball, basketball, football. This was very unique with the music and the vibe. If you’re a young 30 year old, you and your buddies want to go have some drinks...it’s just an easy event for a couple hours.” (68:24)
• They debate whether the team aspect of LIV works, but agree the merchandising is a home run.
  • “They are selling. Oh my God, they sell a lot of merch.” (69:45 - Colin)
  • “The merch they’re selling there is incredible.” (69:57 - Colin)
  • “It all kind of younger people just there to screw around, have a few drinks, eat a little food, watch a little golf.” (70:12 - Jake)

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Memorable Quotes

• Colin on Cowboys:

  “I think the Cowboys are going to shit the bed week one. I think it’s going to be a disastrous season.” (16:54)

• Jake on the NCAA:

  “I just can’t get over people still listening to the NCAA. It baffles me, like, why does football need them at this point in time, in 2025?” (32:00)

• Colin on Change in Sports:

  “Change is inevitable...sports are going to change… Anything that’s poorly run, it will eventually get replaced or upended.” (43:14)

• Jake on Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams:

  “He’s kind of a hard ass... He’s been very candid about, like...He’s got some Dan Campbell qualities which I did not expect from an offensive guy.” (66:18)

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Important Timestamps

• [04:19] – Colin on airlines & American’s Flagship Suite
• [08:13] – On Las Vegas becoming too expensive
• [16:36] – Sunday Night Food Ball: Cowboys analysis begins
• [20:41] – On Jerry Jones and the Cowboys’ coaching problems
• [23:38] – Giants defense vs. Cowboys
• [29:44] – College football: NCAA penalties, Harbaugh, and NCAA irrelevance
• [34:21] – Playoff expansion prediction; NCAA’s waning power
• [42:26] – On the emergence of “NFL-light” college super-conferences
• [45:48] – Why big programs will keep trimming the “fat” in conferences
• [48:08] – On the persistent lopsidedness in college football
• [61:08] – Bears win total game-by-game predictions
• [65:03] – 9-8 as a successful season for Chicago
• [67:07] – Jon Rahm and LIV Golf’s Midwest boom

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Episode Takeaways

• The Cowboys are poised for trouble this season, with coaching and depth in doubt.
• The escalating costs and luxury positioning of Las Vegas and airlines reflects shifting lifestyle trends.
• College football is entering a new era with playoff expansion, conference realignments, and the practical irrelevance of the NCAA—change is both inevitable and ongoing.
• The Bears should be thrilled to hit 9 wins in the new regime, and Ben Johnson’s toughness is already shaping the team.
• LIV Golf has tapped into a young, festival-like Midwest audience—with Jon Rahm and merch leading the charge.

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Colin and Jake’s dynamic delivers engaging opinions grounded in sports history, business savvy, and current trends—making this episode a must-listen for fans tracking the seismic shifts across football and beyond.

Transcript

[Katie Couric]

This is an iHeart podcast. On the latest episode of Next Question with me, Katie Couric. I sat down with Jasmine Crockett, Democratic representative of Texas. She's holding down the fort for her party in one of the most conservative states in the union. I think that ultimately who will become the Democratic nominee for president will be someone that has been out there and has shown that they won't allow themselves to be punched and just say thank you like they will punch back. Listen to Next Question with me, Katie Couric on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jake Hofer]

I'm Jake Hofer and this is back 40, a limited series show on Wire to Hunt, part of Meat Eaters Podcast Network. Each episode I'll be asking eight whitetail hunting pros a focused, thought provoking question about hunting and land management. How do I hunt the best part of the farm with less than ideal access?

[Katie Couric]

Should you?

[Jake Hofer]

That's what the real question is.

[John]

Stand without good access is not a good stand.

[Jake Hofer]

Listen to Back 40 on iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Katie Couric]

Welcome to Pretty Private with ebony, the podcast where silence is broken and stories are set free. I'm Ebony and every Tuesday I'll be sharing all new anonymous stories that would challenge your perceptions and and give you new insight on the people around you. Every Tuesday, make sure you listen to Pretty Private from the Black Effect Podcast network. Tune in on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[Jake Hofer]

Who cares about truth when the lies More entertaining.

[Katie Couric]

Welcome home. I'm Angela Ride, co host of the Native Lampod with Andrew Gillum and Tiffany Cross, and we want y' all to survive and thrive in this political moment.

[Jake Hofer]

We're having the same debates that American households are having all over the country.

[Katie Couric]

I am terrified that in our rest we're going to the moment. You want me to stop resting? What specifically are you asking me to do? Stay informed and take action.

[John]

Listen to Native Land pod on the.

[Jake Hofer]

Iheartradio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[John]

The volume at the end of the season, there's only one team that can call themselves NBA champs. Only one player that can call themselves the number one pick in the NFL draft. Well, there's only one electric SUV worthy of the title. The ultimate. The all electric BMW ix. What I love about the IX is that it delivers legendary BMW performance. I've had several. While its sleek design exudes innovative style from the inside out, not to mention how Much space and utility. It provides over 75 cubic feet of cargo space. The IX is completely changing the game. With an all electric suv, the greatest legends of sports never compromise any part of the game. So why would you settle for anything less from your SUV? After all, there's only one ultimate the BMW iX. Everything you love about the ultimate driving machine, electrified BMW. All right, so I got to do something. This is, this is. You know, John, I have to fly a lot. And because of that I always have takes on airlines. I'm like a bad 1970s comic. I've always got airline material. So story today I have this theory. I always tell my kids, don't fly any airline that has bright colors. And so Spirit Airlines is one of those airlines. It's bankrupt today. A Spirit Airlines plane flew into Hurricane Aaron, into one of the bands of Hurricane Aaron. Some idiot pilot, he had to make an exit stage right to get out of the hurricane. He literally, you know, when a hurricane's coming, basically, if you stay fairly aware of what's happening in the skies, they will tell you, stay away from the bands of a hurricane. A Spirit Airlines pilot flew into it today. I can't even imagine being on that flight. Can't even imagine it. So that's the first thing. Now I want to compliment an airlines. This is not an ad. So I used to be a Delta guy. I think I probably travel more than you do currently. I could be wrong, but I think I do more long travel. Boston to la. Is that right?

[Jake Hofer]

You're a jet setter? Yes.

[John]

Okay, so I was always a Delta guy. Mostly because I went to Park City a lot in Utah and LA and Utah Salt Lake are big Delta hubs. So now I'm in Chicago and Boston a lot and they're United and American hubs. American Airlines has come up with something called the flagship suite. Now, I know it sounds really bougie, but yesterday I was just. And they've done this on some of their Airbus, you know, I wrote it down. Airbus 321XLR, they're using it on this. So it's a smaller plane. The first eight rows are. You get your own cube. That, that's privacy doors, more personal storage. I was in the next 12 and you shared it with somebody, but it was like, you know, your classic comfort. Plus when you go in an airline behind first class, it was so good. And then there was only about 30% of the plane max, maybe 25. That was even economy. And those looked better. So folks, if you're flying American Airlines and you Want an elevated experience and you don't want to buy first class. I am telling you, flagship suite is what you fly in. American Airlines you do not have to fly first class. Even the economy had better seats. I was in like the, the economy plus seats. They were unbelievable. They had live flat beds. It's a smaller plane. It doesn't look like my entire life. That's when you fly to Europe or something, you know, or Delta 1. You get these massive planes. It's a fairly small plane and American figured it out. Our domestic travelers want that too. Not just European jet setters. So I know that sounds incredibly bougie but I'm on planes constantly. Avoid planes that fly into hurricanes and keep your eye on American Airlines flagship suite.

[Jake Hofer]

I'm actually going to Hawaii Saturday through the following Thursday and we're taking American Airlines there. I think like any young person I definitely in my 20s because you just go to Orbit or Expedia and, and Frontier, you know, the cheap airlines all you just always fly here for to Nashville or Chicago for 100 bucks.

[John]

When I was in my 20s, I, I flew Vegas in the summer to San Diego for 29, 29 or $39. I did it about four times a summer. I lived on Southw airlines in my 20s.

[Jake Hofer]

But the one thing you learn in Southwest is like this and Spirit is like this. Southwest is now charging for bags and they now you have to pay for a seat. They're not just lining up. You know how they did it A, B and C. Spirit always screwed you that way. You're like oh, I just got a hundred dollar flight. Well then they charge you an extra $150 to get take your bags each way. So they screw you that way. And then the experience is, I mean terrible, right? I mean it's, it couldn't be any worse. And I do think Southwest you used to be able to fly really, really for those of us live in California, whether you're flying to Vegas or Los Angeles, Southern California, you can fly for like $49.99. Those are done. I mean we go back to Northern California, see family. Sometimes it's hard to find a ticket for less than $250. So you might as well just fly the nicer airline if it's a difference between 50 or $100 and get the way better experience because before you used to get a really good deal that anyone that flies Southwest occasionally you can, it is much harder to find.

[John]

Well, it's like Vegas everybody. You're reading all these stories. Well there's two things. Number one is I lived in Vegas in 1990, 91, 92, 93. The reason you went to Vegas was for deals. That was the market, that was the brand. You went there because you didn't have to go to Paris. You could go to a hotel that kind of looked like a knockoff of Paris for 1/4 the price. I noticed this, my kids were with their mom several years ago and I would go to Vegas and I would take my son to the fountains. Is it Bellagio? And we would go to eat dinner at this nice restaurant overlooking the fountains. Now that was, I think it was, I forget what it was. It was one of those famous LA chefs, Spago. So it was kind of my treat to him whenever I was in town. Like Friday night we would go have an early dinner and look at the fountains. He loved it. You know, he's 13, 14, 15. We loved it. And it was expensive. Like that was a treat. That's like the norm now. Like they, they have Rodeo level, Rodeo Drive shopping. Like the last couple years I went to Vegas, I, I told my son, I'm like, Because you can see the prices of food sometimes out front of these restaurants, I'm like, this is higher than la. Like Vegas just got way too expensive. And remember these are 5,000 seat hotels. So they're, you know, I mean, we know what we're dealing with here. Everything's packed. You went to Vegas for a good discount, but you never got like scarcity. You never got, it was never exclusive or premium, but it was pretty darn good for an incredible price. It's more expensive half the time than New York and la.

[Jake Hofer]

You and I talked about this when I was in Chicago. Most people that go gamble in Vegas are not Charles Barkley or Michael Jordan. They're not gambling $50,000 a hand. You cannot go to one of the main floors of the casino, especially in, in the evening and find a blackjack table for under $50 a hand.

[John]

Impossible.

[Jake Hofer]

So that to me, when I went to Cal Poly, used to be able to get a flight from Santa Maria. I think it was like 49, 99. And you could go with no money as a college kid, maybe $100 to your name and have a good weekend there. You might have to do a credit advance if you were, if you were loans of money, but you could spend easily a couple hundred dollars between your hotel eating, you could eat really cheap from. I haven't been to Vegas now since the Super Bowl a couple years ago. But me and Maria went to a Toby Keith Concert and we spent a couple days there as well. And it, I just remember everything being extreme, like you said. La Scottsdale, New York. It's like, what are. There's nothing. Even I can't find a piece of pizza for under $20 a slice.

[John]

Well, the, the big draw now is the sphere. They, they say the Sphere just signed a deal. They're going to show the wizard of Oz. Wizard of Oz, the movie in the sphere. And they think that 15% of people now that go to Vegas will go to the Sphere. It's about 10% now. So they think the wizard of Oz movie in the sphere, which I'd love to see because I watched that 10 times as a kid, they're going to put it there. That's the big draw for me. John, again, this was six years ago when I was going to Vegas and I would go to like Mandalay Bay. And maybe during the day I didn't watch. I try to avoid the casinos because I'm not a smoker. So I just try to stay out of those things. And that's the place. They had a great pool. I take my kid to the wave machine out back. We had a really, really good time. And the pool was expensive, so I would never look at the floor during the day. But like once when we would go to dinner at night at the Mandalay Bay, we would walk through and I would look at the tables. Nothing under 50 bucks a hand. I've never in my life, I don't think I've ever. I shouldn't say that. If I did, it was infrequent. I've never bet $50 a hand in my life on blackjack. And I lived in Vegas for seven years. Never once. I mean, I'm like a $20 guy. Maybe 30 double down occasionally. I just, it's, it's just incredible that these executive. Can I give you a theory on what happened to Vegas? So Steve Wynn built the Encore in Wynn, like high end art, real luxury villas by the golf course. And it was unique. Like if you had some money from Europe, Southeast Asia or New York, you know, you'd stay at Encore or Win. And then I think a lot of the executives with their egos felt like, well, we don't want to have second tier operations. So they try to compete with the Encore and the win. And then the. So, you know, a Caesars is like, well, we want to do that. And then the people just below Caesars thought, well, we're falling behind, we want to do that. And so these companies got into Debt. They spent way too much money on their suites. And now there's very few places to go in Vegas in the better parts of town where you can get a reasonable deal. Everybody copied Steve Wynn, but Steve Wynn, even Steve Wynn made a huge mistake 25 years ago when he started. He said, you know the future of Vegas, we want to bring families here. And then about two years later he's like, yeah, kids don't gamble. I made a mistake. And he went back to like high end places and I think Vegas tried to copy him out of. They, they didn't feel like they didn't want their properties to look second and third tier and they priced out their demographic.

[Jake Hofer]

I also think the Internet obviously sports gambling, I mean it was a really big deal when I was young to go to a sports book in Vegas. It was the only place you could do that. And it was, it was a thrilling experience for a guy in their early twenties that love sports. And it's something that for most people up until it became legal you had to go there to bet, right. Unless you had a bookie. But there was nothing like than walking into the MGM or one of the big casinos to the sportsbook. Well, I live in Arizona. I just use DraftKings on my phone, right. I mean I actually down the street from my house have a DraftKings sportsbook that is five minutes away from where I live. It's right next to the golf course. So that world has been changed. I also think the consumer now which it's not this is not a positive but spend so much of their entertainment value. This is why isolation has become just on the Internet and on their phone. So going to Vegas was a treat people had to get. I think less and less people travel for entertainment because now we, I mean just think of what we have access to on our TV for entertainment. Right. I got a, I got a million apps with a million different shows and I just think all the, the combination of sports betting you can just, you can also play cards and stuff on the. I think there are way more cards games. Isn't Nick Wright, he plays card games all over the. It's way easier to find stuff now that way. I think the. I think the Internet really hurt Vegas. It took a little time, right. I mean it's 2025. The Internet's been around for 30 plus years but it's. I don't think there's any coming back for, for them.

[John]

No. And I, I also, this isn't even a political thought but I think Canadians, you know, they have cut their travel to the United States because of, like, tariffs and the negativity and kind of the aggressiveness of, you know, our current president. Canadians have. And I've seen this in the grocery store business. Canadians have just decided, you know, they're going to thumb their nose. Well, good luck in the winter, you know, thumb in your nose at Florida. But I think there's a, you know, international travel is down to America, Canadian travel is down. The Internet, the sports gambling angle. And I, I just, I. I know again, when my kids were there about six years ago, I would go, and I just remember thinking, jesus, there are no discounts. And it's funny because when I would check in, you know, you sit in that line and you look around the line and it's not a rich, it's not a ritzy crowd. It's like just. It's Iowa, it's Madison, Wisconsin. It's just like regular people in T shirts and jeans or flip flops and board shorts, and they're pricing stuff like it's a European travel. It's like, what are you doing here?

[Jake Hofer]

Well, the other thing is the indie casinos in California, and there's one in Scottsdale is extremely nice. Talking stick in Scottsdale is. I mean.

[John]

Oh, talking sticks, great.

[Jake Hofer]

You could put it in Vegas and it would fit right in. So these casinos, if you want to go play cards, you just. You don't even need to leave your state anymore. So think how many people that from California or whatever. I mean, there are a ton of Indian casinos in Northern California, in the Valley, in Fresno. So I just, I do think, big picture, though, Vegas, with their tax benefits, a lot of companies are moving there. The city and the area might be okay. They just have to transition away from the casino business, I think, has seen its heyday.

[John]

All right, time to look at this weekend's tastiest matchup in this week's Sunday night Food Ball, brought to you by Uber Eats, a company I use all the time, looking at this cowboy thing we were talking about on the show. So John Middelkoff is going to be on FS1 all week, and one of the rants I did today was about Mike McCarthy. I think the Cowboys are going to shit the bed week one. I think it's going to be a disastrous season. I don't like their defensive personnel. They've got two or three things that get in the way of winning. One, their division's gotten better. Two, their offensive line is really in flux, and they don't have elite running backs to Begin with. So it's going to be very Dak Prescott dependent, which is not good. I mean, you. He's not the kind of quarterback that can carry a franchise. He needs help. No run game o line work in progress and the defense was terrible last year. But if you go back and look at Mike McCarthy and this happens all the time, it's a big brand and you run people out of town. I mean, the Lakers have run through a lot of coaches and a lot of those coaches have gotten good gigs. But Mike McCarthy went 12 and 5. 12, 5, 12 and 5. And then Dak got hurt. He won more games than he lost with Cooper Rush. They had the second best offense in the league behind Josh Allen and the Bills in his tenure in Dallas. And I think if the Cowboys are awful, and I think they will be this year, I think Mike McCarthy is going to go from the packers to the Cowboys. I think he's going to get another job in an offensive league. Am I not saying that?

[Jake Hofer]

Well, why do you think he wasn't a bigger candidate this offseason? Because I thought, you know, those three straight years of 12 wins, what he did last year, I mean, most an average to below average coach last year with Dak being injured, they end up winning two or three games. But they went 7 and 10 and Cooper rush was good. There's a branding issue with Mike, right? Kind of bigger guy, kind of goofy guy. When he got fired from the packers, it felt like his relationship with Aaron had deteriorated. Aaron's kind of pivoted and is like a supporter of him now. Sometimes a year away with coaches will do him well, you could argue. I mean, the Giants are going to match up really well against the Cowboys, right? Because they have a really good defensive line and if that offense, well, they.

[John]

Have a dominant defense, they have second best D lines arguably in the.

[Jake Hofer]

So yeah, I mean it could, it's really. I, I thought was a little premature a couple of years ago, but the, the Al Davis comps, I mean, the Al Davis thing, it got ugly because he started hiring coaches that had no business being the head coach. And that's what Brian Schottenheimer feels like right now. And what's going on there, I mean, if they're an injury or two away from being a disaster, and unlike Mike McCarthy that knows what he's doing, who's to say that it couldn't just unravel? I mean, what if Dak rolled an ankle? All of a sudden you're like, oh my God, here we go. And Brian's Acting tough. Here's the other thing. The play, like, with Al Davis, the players know that Jerry's in charge. So it's like, why am I going to. Why am I going to listen to Brian? And that Mike Lombardi talked about this forever once everyone realized, like, the coach doesn't matter here. Just go to Al. You know, like, you do that. You know how he's the boss. You know, McVeigh is the boss, or Kyle's the boss. Obviously, they don't sign the checks, but the owners deal with. Even Jimmy Haslam was like, Miles Garrett was like, I want to trade. He's like, deal with the gm, Talk to him. He's in charge of football. That is not the way it works with the Cowboys. And when you get one thing, Mike had a pelts on the wall, right? Had coached. Aaron Rodgers had won a Super Bowl. You're like, Brian Schottenheimer guy. Some of these young coaches had never heard of his dad. So it's not like he's this famous coach's dad. I mean, he is to me and you. But if you're 22 years old, you don't remember Marty Schottenheimer coaching the Browns, right? Or coaching the Chargers. And so some of his credibility with that name doesn't resonate like it does for an older person. Or even Jerry, who. I've heard Jerry say part of the reason he loved. I think he thought, maybe I'm getting a Kyle Shanahan or a McVeigh, you know, from a football family. I think that's what he's thinking. It's like, Jerry that's. Yeah, it ain't quite the same.

[John]

No. I think I was talking to Matt Mosley on one of my pods, and he said, like, Jerry doesn't respect coaches. And it's very. There's a very clear line. He hires coaches who will be indebted to him. I, like Jason Garrett, didn't think he was great, thought he was good. Jason Garrett would not have gotten another head coaching job. Mike McCarthy was on the beach. Chan Daly, Jan Gailey was not a hot prospect. Nobody was even offering a top OC job to Brian Schottenheimer. The coaches. Jerry doesn't respect the coaching position, and which is really weird, considering Jerry usually has a pretty good sense of valuations of properties. He's a very, very good businessman. And I think Jerry overvalues his football IQ and feels like, by and large, we could win 12 games with Mike McCarthy. I can win. I can win 10 to 11 games if Dak comes back Healthy. It's just remarkable to me that in the most important sport for coaching, football, where the league has gotten much more sophisticated and intelligent with its offensive coaching, Jerry's going the other way, which is coaches don't matter. It's really remarkable to me. Everybody, I mean, now maybe it's this. He looks at Nick Sirianni and thinks, well, they want a Super bowl with Nick Sirianni. Maybe he looks in his own division and says that. I mean, I mean Sirianni to me is a bit of an outlier. Where I understand Dan Campbell, who I wasn't initially a fan of. I don't really get Sirianni still, but it works.

[Jake Hofer]

He's got Howie Roseman. I mean, I mean he's got a guy that's going to be probably a first ballot hall of Famer one day as a general manager. I think Jerry is just, he had an opportunity. Sean Payton worked for him. Dan Campbell played for him. You could argue a couple years ago, Dan Quinn, who was this rising star, if you're going to get rid of Mike McCarthy, just fire him then and hire Dan Quinn. I think a mistake he made is two years ago when Mike lost to the packers and everyone freaked out and he got his ass kicked. He let him coach on that, that year where his contract ran out. He probably should have just given Mike like a three year contract extension after that year. Wouldn't have had to be crazy money. But Jerry Prideful wasn't going to do that after they lost. And now he's in a position where Brian Schottenheimer's his head coach. I'm not as down on the, on the Cowboys roster being some joke like two, three win team. But the way they're built, I mean they are an injury to away. And if the coach is over his head, this is a sport where it's like, it can get ugly and it can get ugly fast. And if Dak were to get injured and he has a history now, who's to say they can't end up like a four win team and be last place in that division? If the Giants just the quarterback play stabilize a little bit and their defense is solid, we know Washington, the Eagles are good.

[John]

Well, I think you nailed it. I think the New York Giants are. Say what you want about the Giants, that defensive line now again, Philadelphia's O line is good enough to keep it at bay. I think the Giants D line could overwhelm the Cowboys. I think Abdul, Carter Thibodeau on the other side, Dexter Lawrence. I'm trying to think of defensive lines I like more than the New York Giants. There's not a lot of them. There are some individual players that are great. I think the Rams defensive line is really, really good and getting better. Philadelphia's obviously. But I, you know, there's some teams in this league and the Giants are one of those teams. I actually think they're a quarterback away. I think if you gave them the right quarterback, you'd look up in the Giants. They wouldn't be flashy. If Malik neighbors could stay healthy, they could actually win 11 games. That's why, you know, Dable, I think it works a little bit with this franchise because he is good at taking average B quarterbacks and making them a half grade higher. But I don't know, I just, I History repeats itself and I think we're going into a really dark cowboy stage. That was this week's Sunday night Food Ball brought to you by Uber Eats. When football makes you hungry, get game day deals on Uber Eats. I do every week. The official on demand delivery partner of the NFL. Order now. I just did.

[Katie Couric]

I think Democrats have for a very long time allowed Republicans to play them. So essentially Republicans came up with a narrative and Democrats decided to play into that. And that only hurt the Democrats. I'm Katie Couric. Jasmine Crockett, Democratic representative of Texas, is not known for holding back. And our recent chat on Next Question is no exception. But when you hear how she got to where she is, her intensity makes perfect sense. It's just hard to imagine a world where you don't have enough people that care to do right by people. And so that same passion that carried me through as a public defender, that led me to want to change laws and thinking about the harm that will happen not just to my constituents, but just generally like I carry that weight with me because you've seen it up close. Yeah. Listen to next question with me, Katie Couric on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Noah. I'm 13 and as you might have seen from the news, I got a podcast and I explain those fake headlines like your uncle would, like your cousin would, if he actually did the research. Honestly, adults don't ask the right questions. Now, you know, with Noah de Barrasso is a show about influence. Who's got it, how they use it, and what it means. For the rest of you, it's not the news. It's what the news should be if someone Gen Z or Gen Alpha made it. When I'M watching everything.

[John]

Sheesh.

[Katie Couric]

Majority of the youth 18 through 24 say they trust Republicans more than Democrats to fund the economy.

[John]

You kidding me?

[Katie Couric]

Politics is wild and I'm definitely not here to tame it, but I'm here to make sense of it. Just what's happening, why it matters, and what it means for us. Bring your brain. Listen to now youw Know with Noah de Barrasta on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[John]

When I became a journalist, I was the first Latina in the newsrooms where I worked.

[Katie Couric]

I'm Maria Hinojosa. I dreamt of having a place where voices that have been historically sidelined would instead be centered. For over 30 years now, Latino USA has been that place. This is Latino USA, the radio journal.

[John]

Of news and cultura.

[Katie Couric]

As the longest running Latino news and culture show in the United States, Latino.

[John]

USA delivers the stories that truly matter.

[Katie Couric]

To all of us.

[John]

From sharp and deep analysis of the.

[Katie Couric]

Most pressing news, they're creating this narrative that immigrants are criminals.

[Jake Hofer]

This is about everyone, freedom of speech. Nobody expected two popes from the American.

[Katie Couric]

Continent to stories about our cultures and our identities.

[Jake Hofer]

When you do get a trans character like Emilia Perez, the trans community is.

[Katie Couric]

Going to push back on that colorism. All of these things that exist in Mexican culture and Latino culture.

[John]

You'll hear from people like Congresswoman aoc.

[Katie Couric]

I don't want to give them my fear. I'm not going to give them my fear. Listen to Latino USA as part of.

[John]

The of the My Cultura podcast network available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts.

[Katie Couric]

Or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jake Hofer]

Who cares about truth when the lies more entertaining.

[Katie Couric]

Hey everybody, I'm Angela Rai, co host of Native Lampa with Tiffany Cross and Andrew Gillum. Through the lens of politics and culture, we talk with you every week to make sense of this madness. I've been telling Angela I don't even know how to fight back right now. So what I'm focused on is just looking at out for ourselves.

[Jake Hofer]

That's the truth. We're having the same debates that American households are having all over the country.

[Katie Couric]

Rest is certainly a form of self care, but if you are watching your full neighbors starve, not be able to pay bills, your rest is selfish. But the thing is Angela, this is not the mess we created. So I do understand black folks feeling like, you know what, y' all got it.

[John]

We're like family but we disagree all the time.

[Katie Couric]

And we love.

[Jake Hofer]

I love when our listeners chime in.

[Katie Couric]

What would happen if we built our own little Wakandan communities in the rural South. Tiffany, do not run to no rural South.

[Jake Hofer]

I don't know what you're on.

[Katie Couric]

What our audience is asking is. Okay, fine, you want me to stop resting? What specifically are you asking me to do? Stay informed and take action.

[John]

Listen to Nativeland pod on the iHeartRadio.

[Jake Hofer]

App, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

[John]

Okay, so I think we're both so fired up for Texas, Ohio State. You and I love college football and I can't wait for that game. So the Michigan penalties came down and basically Harbaugh can't coach in college football for the next decade. He won't. They're probably gonna have to write $30 million in checks. They didn't have to vacate any wins. The best punishment you can give a huge brand is cash. I mean, they can make payments. But I gotta tell you, Jon, I know I'm supposed to really be outraged when the NCAA says, hey, listen, they were outta control, they didn't follow rules. John, the coaches I've talked to with the transfer portal, it is so sketchy. And the nil is the wild, wild west that Connor Stallions. I know I should be bothered, but I think the penalty of pay like 20, 30 million dollars, I'm fine with it. And I know I sound like I'm a big ten homer here, but I would say this. We all know the SEC was paying guys for years through the church. I mean, Nick Saban basically stopped recruiting late cycle Ole Miss players because if he couldn't get them committed early, he knew he'd lose late. He knew he had no chance to win. They'd get paid out. So. And then, you know, Hugh Freeze got busted. I mean, it was. I went on the air multiple times. There were. Ole Miss was not the only school, but they were the worst offender with Hugh Freeze, who by the way gets rehired again because nobody really cares. But in the end is if you can pay high school football players, I don't care. It's. Nothing's illegal. I don't care. Do you feel as strongly as I do or are you bothered that they were a little bit of an outlaw program with Harbaugh?

[Jake Hofer]

Yeah, I mean, I do not care at all. I'm actually surprised that people still listen to the ncaa. You know, they're not in charge of the money generation of college football. Obviously they have more of a pull when it comes to basketball because they have a lot with the NCAA tournament.

[John]

But it's not Madness.

[Jake Hofer]

Yeah.

[John]

It's not.

[Jake Hofer]

It's not called the NCAA college football playoffs. Like, so why? Think how stupid it is that your own Moore got suspended for games three and four because they play Oklahoma. Like, what are we doing? How does this make any sense? And the ncaa, it's been laughable for a long time. It's like, no, I witnessed John Calipari go to the finals. Like, you can't just take that away. Reggie Bush, I saw him. He's one of the best college football players I've ever seen. Can't take away his Heisman. What are we talking about? Because he took some shoes and an apartment from an 8. Think how dumb that sounds. Now, you talked about that today. But Michigan, who has a quarterback, which I would imagine is going to start the Underwood kid, who they stole from LSU because Larry Ellison cut a 15 to 20 million dollars check. And we're mad about a guy with binoculars and an iPhone sitting in the 70th row at an Iowa Michigan State football game. The other thing is, I always defended Belichick when I got to the NFL with Andy, like, stealing signs because technology changed a lot over the last 10 years. Now it's like everyone's in the headset. But before stealing signs, everyone was doing it. Now, Belichick was a little more brazen on the sideline, but he was doing something no different than everyone else was doing. Everyone had signs, stealing ability, and tried to decode everything and had people with cameras. So no one you notice. People in the NFL weren't that offended. Who was offended? Fans. Roger Goodell, who's never, you know, and this is the pushback with NFL people. With Roger, great with business, but he doesn't know, like, the inner workings of play calls, player acquisition, the strategy of football. That's. And that's not his job. So sometimes, like, bounty gate and things with Roger Goodell overreacted. I think a lot of people in the NFL, it's like, yeah, this is football. You know, I think a lot of people in college football now, did Michigan just beat Ohio State when he was gone with no counter stallions? Like, it's just. They got really good players. They got a bunch of NFL guys. But I just can't get over people still listening to the ncaa. It baffles me, like, why does football need them at this point in time, in 2025? I don't get it. Because clearly they had to just wave their hands and wave the white flag on all of the money stuff. So why are we listening to them about anything else?

[John]

I will make a prediction. In the next three years, some venture capital group will buy March Madness and they won't change much. They may shrink it a little bit to like 58 teams or something that, you know, fewer teams is probably better for a little leaner tournament. But, you know, I just heard a story yesterday from a very good network source that there is a lot of momentum to have like a 24 or 2018 playoff. And my loyalty has always been to more big games and you just can't get me worked up. I, Auburn, Alabama, it's great, but it's regional and the highest rated game. Last year, I think it was Texas, Georgia, that's not a rivalry. It wasn't Texas, Oklahoma. So I don't, I'm not. When I heard everybody say, well, you're going to kill the rivalries. Listen, if you're a Michigan fan, in Ohio State, did that game feel smaller last year to you when Michigan, Upstate. Ohio State feels smaller to me. You know, so, I mean, the reality is when the Rams play the Niners, it's intense. They could play three times a year. Years ago when the Steelers and Ravens and Ray Lewis was around and so was Big Ben, they play one year, three times. The third game felt bigger than the first two because it was a playoff game. So I, I, there's just certain things in 2025, I can't get worked up over somebody having pot in their car, same sex marriage, NCAA coming down on payments to players or any kind of scandal. Like we've just graduated to just understanding the world we live in. I said it today. Unless you're like a cop from Reno911, you got a roach in your car, nobody cares. That mattered in the 70s. And I just, if you can buy high school players, I don't give two shits about somebody with an iPhone in the crowd. I don't care if you have 40 of them. I don't care.

[Jake Hofer]

I do think the 24, 2018 College Football Playoff, that's where I might get a little worked up. You know, we saw the 12 team. That first round was a blowout, you know. You know, there have been arguments about 1624. Again, more. I love football as much as the next guy, but that, that, doesn't that feel a little extreme? And we get a lot of average to below average teams in the dance in that situation. It's been your argument for March Madness forever. We always scream over first in, last out, or whatever. Those teams never matter, right? Who are your one and two seats? They usually determine the Tournament.

[John]

So I think you'd have to make it half the size of March Madness because football is a sport of attrition. So the little guy has no chance in a 2018 tournament to ever win like a third straight game against the bigger, deeper roster. I, I, but I, I, I, I think that I've said I think the perfect number is about 16. I wouldn't be bothered by 20. I think if you get to 28, you'd have to give the top, like, four seeds, you know, you, I don't want, I don't want Georgia playing Liberty. I'm just not interested in that at all. I mean, Notre Dame played Indiana and that was kind of embarrassing for the Hoosiers.

[Jake Hofer]

I thought it was very, I mean, Boise State, Penn State had a guy drafted in the top 10 at running back, and he had no chance. You know why? Because the offensive lineman had no chance to block the Penn State guys. And that's always going to be the big problem. You get a 2018 playoff. But here's the other thing. It's like, it's one thing if the fourth or fifth team from the Big Ten and the SEC get in, but when you're taking the third and fourth team from the Big 12 and the ACC, that's when it could get really ugly. And that's, we don't need to see those teams play. Now. I get it's all about television ratings and football. I was thinking today, watching Sunday Night Football with Caleb Williams. What do you think the first 30 minutes of that football game did? I mean, it just had to blow everything out of the water on Sunday night on Fox. Right. So the advantage, I never argue against, like, more of these games. Like, I completely understand or argue against the people that want more football in terms of working in the networks or part of the revenue generation, because it's only going to bring in more eyeballs. It's like, listen, I hate the doubleheader on Monday night. I think it's, I think a huge part of playing Monday Night Football or Sunday Night Football is getting the solo game. But their argument is, you put the double header, it accumulates millions upon millions of more people watching football. And that's the business. Roger and ESPN or Fox or whoever's in. But sometimes the product does get worse. When I get a double header on Monday night, I don't know who's asking for it. Beside, we're just going to get more people. We can sell more ads and make more money.

[John]

Yeah, I mean, I, I know people get worked up over my Take on college football. I'm not a traditionalist, but I've always truly felt that if you're absolutely honest with yourself, Alabama fan, Ohio State fan, you get bored with the season because the Michigan game is great, the Penn State game is great, the Oregon game was great. But there's about six times that you're paying for a game that is over at half. And if you're really honest, I would and I. This is something I pay attention to. On any given Sunday, the one o' clock window, those are not the best teams in the league. Those are. That's a lot of Tennessee, that's a lot of Carolina. That's a lot of, you know, Chicago. Saints, Washington. Saints, Washington, pre Jaden Daniels. Any given Sunday, there are four electric finishes in the one o' clock window. And then you're getting standalone Fox games, CBS game, Sunday night game, Monday night game 30. You get at least six tremendous games every weekend in the NFL. And that's out of how many games? I mean, how many total games do you have? Like 14, 12. So in college football you have 100, what is it, 135, 140, Division 1 programs. There are weekends that you get now, again, you probably get close games with teams nobody's watching. But you may get six great games a weekend. And a lot of times four of the six, you know, can be like army against, you know, Boston College and it goes down to the wire. That's not the highest quality of football. So to me, I'm rooting for anything that gives me, you know, like I said, I get now Oregon against Michigan and Penn State and Ohio State or Oregon against Washington State, Callan, Stanford. To me, it's just not a hard choice. I want more quality.

[Jake Hofer]

Yeah, I'm probably more of a traditionalist than you when it comes to college football, but it's over. Like the battle has been won and those traditions are done. Right. We are going to continue to merge and I think we have to acknowledge how do we get the best games. I'm all for not allowing some of these matchups anymore, basically mandating that you have to play your peers in the non conference and maybe that if we go to a bigger playoff schedule of, of 20 or 24 teams, then Alabama would never play a Mercer because remember, Saban used to bitch and moan about no one being in the stadium at kickoff.

[John]

That's right.

[Jake Hofer]

It's like, well, Nick, you're playing Cal Poly, the sisters of the poor and UC Davis. And then he'd go, well, our schedule is so hard and it's true your SEC schedule is hard, but you still got three or four other home games that no one cares about. And let's face it, there are a couple SEC games, you know, Vanderbilt before last year in a Mississippi State where you're going to kick the crap out of them. So it's not going to be an enjoyable experience for the consumer. So how do we fix that? And maybe go into 24 teams enables us to. Because where we're headed is going to be the NFL light.

[John]

Right.

[Jake Hofer]

We're going to have two major conferences and they're all going to play each other. And that's where like the, even the Boise states and the New Mexico, they're eventually just going to be playing like there's just going to be division one and then there's going to be like Division one, Double A. And right now there's still kind of that middle ground of some of these teams. I don't think they will exist in 5, 10 years because financially they won't be able. It's like business, right? I mean think how often Amazon or Target or some of these big companies, Oracle, Meta, you know, have just wiped people out. And that's kind of what like Ohio State and Alabama and USC and Oregon. And it's why I read a story recently that like Duke in North Carolina, well, trying to get to the sec. Well, they're not going to let Clemson, Florida State just go like we're coming with you. You know, we got to follow the money if we want to survive.

[John]

Yeah. And I think change is inevitable. I mean you and I, I think are pretty safe when it comes to AI. But I mean look at what's happening in AI. Like if you. I would. I just read a story in the Atlantic today how AI has changed universities and academia and 100% of students use it and you know, universities and they were quoting some of the kids talking about it and they're like, listen, man, I work hard, but sometimes I just want to go lift weights. I don't want to write another 16 page essay and which is, you know, a lot. I mean, do you remember anything from college? A lot of it's nonsense. I really do. I think finally over the course of my life people have come to terms with a lot of college and a lot of universities as status unless you're a doctor or unless you're a lawyer and you're getting a certain license or degree. But in a lot of instances you end up getting in sales. But I think like AI job displacement, like this is the way of the world. And sports fans like I never got adults that collected baseball cards. I guess there's a financial benefit, it's a watered down diluted market now. But I think you just have to get comfortable with sports are going to change. And I felt for years that boxing was screwing the fans and here comes UFC and knocked it out. And I felt for years that college football was the worst run, $8 billion a year sport boom. The network stepped in, Fox and espn, NBC and said, yeah, we're going to take it over, we're going to make the decisions. And so I don't have a problem with it if you're a well run company, like people can bitch about the NBA, they just signed a $76 billion 11 year deal. You can complain about the NBA, but nobody in venture capital country is going to buy the teams. The league is incredibly profitable. College football was a poorly run mess. Boxing was a mess, Horse racing is a mess, golf with a PGA being a charity never took care of its stars. So get look at what's been upended. Poorly run college football, poorly run boxing and the poorly run PGA stuff that's well run. Nobody's buying Meta, right? Like nobody's buying Amazon. Like they're buying companies that are, you know, vulnerable so or significantly smaller. So I don't feel bad for sports that change. They only change when they're poorly running.

[Jake Hofer]

But my question then is when does it ever end? Like in the NFL we can make fun of the Brown family or I feel like the Davis family. Marcus pivoted much better with Tom and his crew coming in, so they got more financial backing. But at the end of the day, the Cowboys and the 49ers and the New York Giants, they're partners with the Cincinnati Bengals and the Arizona Cardinals, right? But if you're Ohio State and now USC and Oregon come, you start looking around like why are we carrying Maryland and in Minnesota? And that's, that's the problem in Alabama, lsu, Georgia, Florida go, what do we need Mississippi State for? Vanderbilt? Great academics, who gives a shit? We're not even going to be associated. Our kids aren't even going to go to school in five or 10 years we're just going to have a siloed football program. And that's the problem with college athletics is there is a lot of kinks in the business plan because how many programs truly carry it and can and can splinter? Where Jerry can say all he wants is like we're the most watched team or the Chiefs now, but you're in business with all these other people. And that's how you sell the business model to the networks. In college football, you buy the Big Ten. But I mean, you've been at Fox like, they've rode Michigan, Ohio State. If Maryland disappeared tomorrow, besides Scott Van Pelt, who would notice? And that's what. Like that, that still matters to me. I mean, I grew up around cows. Read the athletic article on Andrew Luck. It's. It's pretty good about him going to become the GM and a lot. It's a, It's a really good article came out today. If Stanford football just disappeared tomorrow, no one would notice. And it's like, how long is this sustainable when everyone is just kind of backstabbing? You know, the big guys are just constantly back. Like, ultimately, Jerry can't ass out Mike Brown, he's. He just can't. Right? Or Jed York can't just screw Michael Bidwell. Like, they're all in business together and in college they kind of are, but kind of not. I mean, why did USC and ucla, USCLA just kind of piggybacked off usc? But USC was just. We're not carrying Washington State anymore. Screw you. So why can't USC and Ohio State and Michigan just go? Why are we carrying Minnesota and Maryland? I'm picking on Minnesota. Maybe they're bigger than I give them credit for, but. And we just start trimming the fat and that's. It's. The fat's going to keep getting trimmed until we have 25 programs. This is Alabama, Florida, Clemson. That's what, that's where it feels like inevitable, right?

[John]

Yeah, I mean, but like, listen, the English Premier League has relegation. Like, I, I just think like Major League Baseball right now has and for my entire life has had six to eight teams that can't really compete when the season starts. I don't know. I. Let me rephrase that. So baseball has no salary cap. No salary cap. So this should really be a sport in which big markets dominate. Yet the Milwaukee brewers are clearly the best team in baseball. The Dodgers, until they just swept a series, were reeling the Yankees and the Mets, you know, they're chasing, you know, the Blue Jays. The Yankees are. The Mets are no longer in first place. Not really a very good baseball team. So I think in the sport of baseball, in which it really should be a have and have not sport, if you look at the last 11 World Series champs, the Yankees aren't in there. The Dodgers are in twice. One of those is sort of the much maligned Covid World Series title It's the Rangers, the Astros, the Nats, the Royals are in there and the Yankees aren't. And so my take is, Iowa football has never run the sport, has never been hugely valuable to the sport, but will always produce quality teams because it matters to the people of that state, and they'll always be a viable 7 to 8 win program. And that's what they've always been. And if you look at the history of college football, you can go back 30 years, there's only one new top 10 program, Oregon. That is it. It's always been ridiculously top heavy. But the difference is when it was top heavy and we were paying guys behind the scenes, or it was top heavy because of topography, geography or population centers, everybody was okay with it. But when things get lopsided because of money, we feel it's very unfair. And the truth is, Ohio has always had far more good players in it than Indiana. And Indiana is a basketball state and Ohio is a football state. And the Buckeyes and Michigan have been kicking everybody's ass in that conference for my entire life. But now it feels like it's money that's separating them. And I think people get worked up over money. They just, especially men. They don't, they don't like. People don't like to talk about money. And the truth is, the Big Ten has been lopsided my entire life, since night, since I started watching sports in 1972. It's been, I mean, for years Penn State was independent. They joined it later. It was. It's always been. There's been the occasional Barry Alvarez, Wisconsin team, or Hayden Fry had a good Iowa team that goes to the Rose Bowl. It's been Buckeyes and Wolverines my entire life.

[Jake Hofer]

I do think part of sports, though, especially college football, which is, you know, in the NFL, a big upset is in the playoffs or the Super Bowl. Upsets happen all the time in the regular season. Regular season games don't. One game doesn't determine your success. We're in college football now. It determines less of your success. Ohio State lost to Michigan. It didn't ruin their season. They still won the national championship. But some of the biggest moments in my life have been Appalachian State beating Michigan has been, you know, some of the. Aaron Rodgers almost beating the undefeated Pete Carroll team and then. And then Vince Young fight. Like an upset happening in college, college football. And the little guy and whether that's, you know, Minnesota or a Maryland beating Ohio State once every six, seven years. Last year, Vanderbilt beating Alabama for the first time in 50 years. And you do need like Tiger woods needed Chris DeMarco every once in a while to give him a run for his money. That's, that's good drama. I mean ultimately this is the drama of Michigan. Ohio State can't play every single game, right? So who's Ohio State or Alabama or Oregon going to play? I mean last year I was on the edge of my seat thinking, is Ashton Genti and Boise State going to beat Oregon? Which is ironic. They used to, they beat him multiple times in the past with Chris Peterson. But it felt like this is going to be pretty nuts. And you just wonder if that goes away and it just becomes which it feels like it's going to become like 40 teams. It's just going to be every single week. It's like, well, Ohio State plays their non conferences now. Florida, Georgia, Clemson and Scott.

[John]

But I'm going to argue you're going to watch that and it's going to get bigger ratings than playing Purdue again. And that's my takeaway. Like I watched so much college football last year. I loved college football last year. You and I both really are heavy college football leaners. We love the sport. John. I went through about an eight year cycle with Clemson, George Obama, I was watching less. The sport was incredibly lopsided. Well, now Texas gets to play Bama, lsu, Georgia, Florida, I get USC schedule, Penn State, Michigan. Like to me, I had more fun watching college football last year than I have had in a decade. And so I'll go back to this. I know it's money and it makes people uncomfortable, but if you're telling me Ohio State, I mean, let's just do this, let's do this. So I'm going to read Ohio State schedule. Texas, Grambling State, Ohio at Washington, at Illinois, at Wisconsin, Penn State, Purdue, ucla, Rutgers, Michigan. You know the two games you'd get rid of tomorrow, Grambling State and Ohio. And everybody says, oh, that's part of the fabric. Those are the two games you would eliminate immediately. And in the third game that you'd probably eliminate would be Minnesota at Ohio State because it probably be a blowout. So my takeaway is in the new world, if we have a bigger playoff, you're going to get more Texas, Ohio State, more Ohio State, Washington, more Ohio State, Wisconsin, more Penn State, Ohio State and more Michigan, Ohio State. You're just going to get more of those games, are you not?

[Jake Hofer]

Yeah, I'm not arguing for Grambling or Ohio to be on the schedule. I do wonder. There has to be, there has to be Some hierarchy though of like eventually are they backstabbing the Purdue's, the Minnesota's and Marylands and killing them all off. And we're just talking 25, 30 teams just playing in college football. I mean that's, that's, that's what like D1 double A almost feels like, right? North Dakota State, Montana. And I just wonder like there has to be some sort of balance. I have no problem with. You're not allowed to play Grambling if you're Ohio State. And Ryan Day would be like, well, we're opening up against Texas. I'd say, great. Ask Sean Payton. He's like, yeah, we open against the Chiefs, then we play the Chargers. Welcome to football. But that's the way, that's the way college football works. And that's, that's always Saban's excuse. It's always, and I respect all these programs that play real non conference games, but they, they do that and then they justify their other three non conference games are against me, you and the dude down the street. And they're like, see, we played Texas on a neutral field. I'm like, great. Then you played three teams that, I mean, you feel bad for those kids. I got. Is it safe for Grambling in Ohio to play Ohio State? I mean, I don't know if it is, but that's just the nature. I guess my ultimate thing is, and this is why college football has been, you know, it's been really successful. I mean it's the second biggest sport in America in terms of viewers, but in terms of it's chaotic. A lot like golf, the leadership, everyone just kind of stabbing each other in the back out for themselves. Where in, in the NFL, even the NBA. You're kind of with it as a group and there's just, and maybe that's just the nature of their business model with these conferences. It was always destined as it got this popular to be so fractured and be through this period of time. But I don't think we're even close to being done. Like the traditionalists. They lost, but I don't think we're close to being done, to being situated. Like, I think we still got 5, 10, 20 years of a lot of moving parts here.

[Katie Couric]

I think Democrats have for a very long time allowed Republicans to play them. So essentially Republicans came up with a narrative and Democrats decided to play into that. And that only hurt the Democrats. I'm Kitty Couric. Jasmine Crockett, Democratic representative of Texas, is not known for holding back. And our recent chat on next question is no exception. But when you hear how she got to where she is, her intensity makes perfect sense. It's just hard to imagine a world where you don't have enough people that care to do right by people. And so that same passion that carried me through as a public defender, that led me to want to change, change laws and thinking about the harm that will happen, not just to my constituents, but just generally. Like, I carry that weight with me because you've seen it up close. Yeah. Listen to next question. With me, Katie Couric on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Noah. I'm 13, and as you might have seen from the news, I got a podcast and I explain those fake headlines like your uncle would, like your cousin would, if he actually did the research. Honestly, adults don't ask the right questions. Now, you know with Noah de Barrasso is a show about influence. Who's got it, how they use it, and what it means. For the rest of you, it's not the news. It's what the news should be if someone Gen Z or Gen Alpha made it. When I'm watching everything, Sheesh. Majority of the youth 18 through 24 say they trust Republicans more than Democrats to fund the economy.

[John]

You kidding me?

[Katie Couric]

Politics is wild, and I'm definitely not here to tame it, but I'm here to make sense of it. Just what's happening, why it matters, and what it means for us. Bring your brain. Listen to now youw Know with Noah de Barrasa on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[John]

When I became a journalist, I was the first Latina in the newsrooms where I worked.

[Katie Couric]

I'm Maria Hinojosa. I dreamt of having a place where voices that have been historically sidelined would instead be centered. For over 30 years now, Latino USA has been that place. This is Latino USA, the radio journal.

[John]

Of news and cultula.

[Katie Couric]

As the longest running Latino news and culture show in the United States, Latino.

[John]

USA delivers the stories that truly matter.

[Katie Couric]

To all of us.

[John]

From sharp and deep analysis of the.

[Katie Couric]

Most pressing news, they're creating this narrative that immigrants are criminals.

[Jake Hofer]

This is about everyone's freedom of speech. Nobody expected two popes from the American.

[Katie Couric]

Continent to stories about our cultures and our identities.

[Jake Hofer]

When you do get a trans character like Emilia Perez, the trans community is.

[John]

Going to push back on that.

[Katie Couric]

All of these things that exist in Mexican culture and Latino culture, you'll hear.

[John]

From people like Congresswoman aoc.

[Katie Couric]

I don't want to give them my fear. I'm not going to give them my fear.

[John]

Listen to Latino USA as part of the My Cultura podcast network, available on.

[Katie Couric]

The iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[John]

Who cares about truth when the lies.

[Jake Hofer]

More entertaining.

[John]

Welcome.

[Katie Couric]

Hey, everybody. I'm Angela Rye, co host of Native Lampa with Tiffany Cross and Andrew Gillum. Through the lens of politics and culture. Talk with you every week to make sense of this madness. I've been telling Angela, I don't even know how to fight back right now. So what I'm focused on is just looking out for ourselves. That's the truth.

[Jake Hofer]

We're having the same debates that American households are having all over the country.

[Katie Couric]

Rest is certainly a form of self care, but if you are watching your full neighbors starve, not be able to pay bills, your rest is selfish. But the thing is, Angela, this is not the mess we created. So I do understand black folks feeling like, you know what, y' all got it.

[John]

We're like family, but we disagree all the time.

[Jake Hofer]

And we love when our listeners chime.

[Katie Couric]

In what would happen if we built our own little Wakandan communities in the rural South. Tiffany, do not run to no rural South.

[Jake Hofer]

I don't know what you're on.

[Katie Couric]

What our audience is asking is. Okay, fine. You want me to stop resting? What specifically are you asking me to do? Stay informed and take action.

[John]

Listen to Native Land Pod on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome home, y'.

[Katie Couric]

All.

[John]

Okay, I want to play a game. I'm gonna go through the Bear schedule because I did this flying back Boston to LA yesterday, and I was surprised at what I landed at. Okay, I'm going to give you the game and just your kind of gut instinct. Win or lose for the Bears, Minnesota Vikings come to Chicago on September 8th. Brian Flores against Caleb Williams. Win or a loss?

[Jake Hofer]

Win.

[John]

Okay, you have a win. Bears then go to Detroit in one of the louder environments against Dan Campbell and two new coordinators.

[Jake Hofer]

Loss.

[John]

Okay, they get a host. The Dallas Cowboys and Brian Schottenheimer win. I think that's one of my favorite wins. Then they go on the road to face Pete Carroll, Aston Jenny, Brock Bowers and the Raiders.

[Jake Hofer]

That's a tough game. Going to be loud. Seattle's going to have a fast start.

[John]

The Raiders or the.

[Jake Hofer]

Oh, never mind. Win. Win.

[John]

Okay, so you have a win. Win. I think it's. I think it's a really good game. Bears then go to The Commanders.

[Jake Hofer]

Side of the crime last year, right. The. The Hail Mary.

[John]

It's a late NBC level game. It's a 5:15 start. So that's a big Washington at home. Late game. I'll go L. That's what I did. Okay. Saints go to Chicago.

[Jake Hofer]

Is that a double win?

[John]

Bears at the Ravens. Loss.

[Jake Hofer]

Yes.

[John]

Bears at the Bengals win.

[Jake Hofer]

I think the Bengals could just be not as good as people think.

[John]

Okay, Giants at the Bears.

[Jake Hofer]

That's one of those sneaky tough matchups where I think most fans would give the Bears a W. I could see an upset city. They're going to get upset wherever they might start feeling themselves, you know.

[John]

Okay, you give them an L. Okay. This is getting interesting now. The Bears are at the Vikings L. Okay. Steelers at the Bears.

[Jake Hofer]

Win for the Bears.

[John]

Okay. Bears at the Eagles. Probably a loss.

[Jake Hofer]

Yes.

[John]

Bears at the Packers.

[Jake Hofer]

They've beat him once in like 30 years, right?

[John]

Yeah.

[Jake Hofer]

Going out, loss.

[John]

Okay, now getting near the end and we'll see what this means. Browns at the Bears. That's probably a W. Yes. Packers at Chicago.

[Jake Hofer]

Now I'll go split here. Win.

[John]

Bears at Niners.

[Jake Hofer]

Win for the Niners. Loss for the Bears.

[John]

And finally, Lions at the Bears.

[Jake Hofer]

Win.

[John]

Okay, what do you think their record is? What have you predicted?

[Jake Hofer]

9 and 8 or 10 and 7?

[John]

9 and 8. I got to 8 and 9 and so I went through it last night and I said instead of predicting I'm going to go every win and I was like you, they're going to split with Green Bay. I think I had him losing on the road. I think I had him like losing to a Giants. I thought the Commanders was a loss. So here's my thing is they're a 9 and 8 football team and they're out of the playoffs. And my question to you is, will you deem that a success at nine and eight if Ben Johnson and Caleb cut the sacks in half? He does make mistakes, he ad libs. But they're a 9 and 8 football team and Caleb looks like a top 12 quarterback, maybe number 12. Do you think it's a successful season?

[Jake Hofer]

1,000%. They just fired the entire coaching staff. They drafted 10th overall. They have been losing for years straight 9 and 8 in that division. Even if you missed the playoffs, which I would think the last couple of years, you've had a decent chance in.

[John]

The NFC to last weekend. Determination.

[Jake Hofer]

That means you play important football the entire season. That is 1 million percent a win.

[John]

Okay. I don't think people in Chicago agree, but I agree with you. I got to 8 and 9 and I was like, wow. And I feel pretty good about it. You won the games at home. You should win.

[Jake Hofer]

I would say this 8 and 9 and 9 and 8 might be the difference of a fumble bouncing your way or bouncing in someone else's arms. So really might not be that big of a difference over the course of a season. But that number there, it feels pretty big when you say it out loud. I do think going over 500, I also think 8, 9 with the 17 games, it's kind of the old 7 and 9. Like 7 and 9, a lot of people got fired. 7 and 9 and 8 and 8 was actually much more respectable. It's like, oh, 500, they were solid football team. Or 7 and 9 felt like, oh, that kind of sucked. Even though again, it might have been one tipped ball that landed in another guy's hand for a pick six. But I do think going nine and eight is 100% a success. Where eight, nine. I think people would be a little. Just because the hype on Ben Johnson, I mean, let's face it, he's. He's considered immediately the next Shanahan McVeigh, Kevin O', Connell, like, he's, he's very highly regarded by fans and football circles. I mean, he's just impressive. I've been impressed. He's not just some pushover. He's kind of a hard ass and he even talks like, I've been hard on Caleb and he hasn't liked it all. I was like, I kind of respect that. You know, he's been, he's been very. I mean, you're back there. Seen his local press conferences. He's, he's pretty candid about, like, it's not, it's not. He's not running some. It's pretty tight ship. I would say he's got some Dan Campbell qualities which I did not expect from an offensive guy.

[John]

Wrap it up. John Rahm repeats as the live golf league championship. $18 million check to him. That's pretty handy. The team champion will be determined this coming week in Michigan. Did you see the attendance in Indianapolis?

[Jake Hofer]

I did. It looked Fantastic.

[John]

They sold 50,000 seats, so that's almost double Chicago. So I was talking to an executive at Fox today and I said, I don't know if it works on tv. I don't know. Some stuff does. Some stuff doesn't. You know, boxing is captivating in person. It doesn't necessarily work on network television. You know, for whatever reasons, hockey doesn't work on tv. It's Unbelievable in person. But the live, I mean, to sell 50,000 seats and the merchandise they sell as you and I saw crushes. So literally they doubled in a smaller area, they doubled the tickets sold. So this weekend they wrap it up in Michigan. And I think they're onto something with this sort of Midwest swing involved because it feels like the PGA has gone very coastal, very Florida. And I think they've kind of found a little bit of a niche. It took them a while to do it, but I think they found it in the States.

[Jake Hofer]

Well, I think you could probably work six or seven events in that Midwest swing you could find somewhere in Missouri or Kansas City area. Obviously, Chicago's an easy one. I mean, going to Michigan, Indianapolis, I do think. And I've told a couple people that have asked me, like, what do you think? And I said, listen, I've been to, I've been to US Opens, I've been to multiple PGA events. This was unlike any event. I've been to every baseball, basketball, football. This was very unique with the music and the vibe. If you're a young 30 year old, you and your buddies want to go have some drinks. If you want to bring, like, just go hang out. It's just an easy event for a couple hours. It doesn't, it doesn't take a lot of time. They all tee off at the same time, you know, so it's like you go for a couple hours and leave. And I do think they've struck something with the, with the musical acts. They had a. Riley Green is a country Star played. I follow DJ and Paulina. They're all taking pictures with them. So I think they kind of got something going there. I disagree, Scott. And you know, talking about the team element, you know, I don't know how big that, you know, golf is an individual sport. It's why, I mean, think about why they've had some. John Rom is an individual star, Bryson's an individual star. So they got something there in the Midwest. And I would keep hammering home the individual aspect, but they're big on the team, which I understand that was kind of their point of difference.

[John]

But I'll tell you what, they're selling a shit ton of merch. They are selling. Oh, my God, they sell a lot of merch.

[Jake Hofer]

They really do. And it's been a lucrative move for some of these. I mean, $18 million.

[John]

I mean, that's pretty good. John. The only merch I've ever seen in my life sell for golf is the Augusta hats. Yeah, those are all over the country. But if you take out the Augusta hat, I don't see golf. Birch, the merch they're selling there is incredible.

[Jake Hofer]

Yeah, they're doing. I mean, he's got something going. I, I was really impressed how many people were at the Chicago one we went to. And obviously the visuals in Indianapolis, just people go there and it all kind of younger people just there to screw around, have a few drinks, eat a little food, watch a little golf.

[John]

It's the Phoenix Open. Yeah, it's the same thing. All right, John, good stuff. Talk soon.

[Jake Hofer]

See you tomorrow.

[John]

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[Katie Couric]

Of Next Question with me, Katie Couric. I sat down with Jasmine Crockett, Democratic representative of Texas. She's holding down the fork for her party in one of the most conservative states in the union. I think that ultimately who will become the Democratic nominee for president will be someone that has been out there and has shown that they won't allow themselves to be punched and just say thank you like they will punch back. Listen to Next Question with me, Katie Couric on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Pretty Private with ebony, the podcast where silence is broken and stories are set free. I'm Ebony and every Tuesday I'll be sharing all new anonymous stories that would challenge your perceptions and give you new insight on the people around you. Every Tuesday, make sure you listen to Pretty Private from the Black Effect Podcast Network. Tune in on the iHeartRadio app app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[Jake Hofer]

I'm Jake Hofer and this is back 40, a limited series show on Wire to Hunt, part of Meat Eaters Podcast Network. Each episode I'll be asking eight whitetail hunting pros a focused, thought provoking question about hunting and land management. How do I hunt the best part of the farm with less than ideal access? Should you? That's what the real question is.

[John]

St stand without good access is not a good stand.

[Jake Hofer]

Listen to back 40 on iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast.

[Katie Couric]

This is an iHeart podcast.