CFB Playoff Complaints, Debates & Predictions w/ Danny Kanell, Plus the Chiefs’ Necessary Reset w/ Mike Sando

Summary

The Ryen Russillo Show

Episode: CFB Playoff Complaints, Debates & Predictions w/ Danny Kanell, Plus the Chiefs’ Necessary Reset w/ Mike Sando
Date: December 8, 2025

Main Theme & Purpose

This episode centers around controversy and debate in college football following the release of the playoff bracket—specifically, why Notre Dame was left out and Miami included, SEC and Group of Five dynamics, and the consistently thorny issue of playoff selection criteria. Russillo is joined by Danny Kanell to break down college football's latest playoff drama, then pivots to NFL talk with Mike Sando, focusing on the Kansas City Chiefs’ struggles and the state of AFC/NFC contenders. The show closes with Life Advice, as always, providing a lighter counterpoint.

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CFB Playoff Controversy: Committee Rationale, Notre Dame’s Outrage, and Broader Implications

Timestamps: 03:00 – 17:00, 17:50 – 66:15

The Committee's Process and Criticism

• The playoff committee’s decision to exclude Notre Dame in favor of Miami led to widespread outrage, particularly among Notre Dame fans. Russillo opens with reflections on transparency in the process, how it can both help and harm, and why everyone is perpetually dissatisfied, no matter the system.
• Russillo (04:25):
  “If you only got one ranking on a Sunday, you would lose your mind… we want to see the work, but when we see work that we don't like, then we're just going to be mad about that and say the whole thing is stupid.”
• The weekly rankings are both a TV product and a lightning rod for criticism, fueling fan frustration, conspiracies, and accusations of favoritism, especially regarding blue blood programs.
• “Too much transparency” can make teams feel secure for weeks—until a late shift yanks that away, as happened to Notre Dame.

Notre Dame, Miami, and Tiebreaker Chaos

• Notre Dame fans are incensed, feeling the committee unjustly dropped them behind Miami, despite a season-long edge in the rankings and without playing a game.
• The complexity of conference tiebreakers, expansion, and unbalanced scheduling in the ACC muddied the waters even more.
• Notable Quote, Russillo (08:48):
  “Think of all these scenarios that had to go against Notre Dame for this to happen: lose the head-to-head, lose the head-to-head to a team of the same record, lose the head-to-head to a team right next to you in the rankings…”
• The Group of Five’s expanded playoff inclusion contributes to the shakeup, sometimes at the expense of more “deserving” Power programs—an outcome the new format only partly anticipated.

Head-to-Head, Eye Test, and Changing Minds

• Kanell and Russillo agree that, while Miami’s inclusion can be justified by head-to-head and resume, the committee’s shifting justifications and the optics around Alabama’s inclusion are more questionable.
• Kanell (18:24): “I understand Notre Dame’s frustration… but I also felt like the best possible outcome for the committee, I thought they were handed on a silver platter… Instead they took this way, which I totally understand Notre Dame's frustration.”
• Russillo points out the persistent dissonance between what committee spokespeople say and what actually happens, especially regarding “tiers,” “pods,” and when head-to-head is used versus ignored.

Playoff System Flaws and Future Adjustments

• The deep flaws of the current playoff criteria are acknowledged by all. The committee’s “flexible” (read: inconsistent) criteria allow them to cherry pick arguments for the teams they want.
• Kanell (28:24): “It’s quite possibly the worst job in America that you don’t get paid for… They can pick the teams and then the criteria is written in such a way that they can cherry-pick the things they value the most to justify the final 12 teams.”
• Looking forward, it’s expected the system will change again, particularly around Group of Five protocols and Notre Dame’s pathway into the field.
• Russillo notes: fans will complain no matter how the system is set up, referencing past disdain for both the BCS and the committee.

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Deep Dive: Bracket Impact, Group of Five, and Power Conference Outlook

Timestamps: 33:30 – 54:28

Group of Five Over-Representation or Opportunity?

• Debate about whether Group of Five schools deserve two playoff spots in some years.
• Kanell (34:43): “Group of Five thing is interesting … There will be some team from the group of five that could compete. I think they earn it, they deserve it. But I think everyone now is starting to realize this just does not work and it’s going to get worse when we see these games unfold on the field.”
• Arguments about scheduling prerequisites and ranking thresholds for these teams.

Power Conferences’ Strength, SEC vs Big Ten

• The SEC is seen as having depth but fewer clear championship contenders right now; Georgia is the only team Kanell sees as a true national title threat.
• Kanell (51:58): “I really only think Georgia’s the only team that I can picture winning a national championship out of these teams.”
• Big Ten’s resource influx (via NIL and conference additions) and the changing competitive landscape are discussed.
• Transfer portal and NIL are flattening depth in the SEC, creating parity.

“Best Wins” Debates and Resume Handicapping

• Russillo and Kanell spar over the logic of resume versus “eye test,” especially in relation to Alabama’s tough schedule versus Notre Dame’s friendlier win streak.

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Historic Context: Playoff Arguments and the 1993 Example

Timestamps: 61:22 – 66:15

• Danny Kanell recounts the 1993 FSU-Notre Dame-AP poll controversy as an analogy, advocating for resume over brand or head-to-head as a tiebreaker when the body of work isn’t comparable.
• Kanell (62:07): “If resumes are similar, then head to head has to matter the most. If not, totality of the resume wins.”

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NFL Segment: AFC/NFC Playoff Picture & the Chiefs’ Necessary Reset

Guest: Mike Sando, The Athletic
Timestamps: 66:19 – 106:17

Chiefs’ Demise and What Comes Next

• Kansas City’s loss highlights a broken offense suffering from drops, schematic staleness, and a need for major retooling.
• Sando (67:42):
  “This group needs somewhat of an overhaul … There's going to have to be a reckoning. And I do think there's some schematic reckoning on offense too... missing the playoffs would be the best thing for them because it forces reflection.”

AFC Overview: Houston’s Defensive Emergence

• Houston (Texans) lauded for a dominant four-man rush and true top-tier defense by recent statistical measures (EPA, 3rd down D). Sando suggests their ceiling is perhaps higher than Jacksonville's due to the defense and a future “next gear” for Stroud.
  • “Numbers say … this Texas thing in a smaller sample of the last five years … actually a different level than even what we’re seeing from Denver.” (72:22)
• AFC teams all have flaws; no team is dominant. Playoff picture remains wide open.

Jaguars, Bills, Patriots, and AFC Uncertainty

• Jaguars—statistical improvements on defense, questions remain about Trevor Lawrence’s plateau.
• Buffalo gets discussed as a lurking contender: Josh Allen seen as an MVP dark horse, Bills still dangerous despite regression on defense (87:00).
• Sando points out: “I think you take the field over any one of these teams, and that includes Buffalo.”

NFC Check-In: Packers, Rams, Seahawks

• Packers: flashy but not consistently trusted on defense—Sando and Russillo agree they’re more fun than title favorite.
• Rams (with Stafford back): Sando calls this possibly McVay’s best NFL team even post-Aaron Donald, highlighting defensive depth and schematic balance.
• The in-house stadium entertainment at games is “the best part of the broadcast” (144:31).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Russillo on CFB anger cycles (04:25): “We hate it and love it at the same time … but when we see work we don’t like, we’re just going to be mad about that and say the whole thing is stupid.”

• Kanell on committee jobs (28:24): “Possibly the worst job in America that you don’t get paid for … you have to explain away 12, 13 people in a room.”

• Sando on Chiefs: “Missing the playoffs would be the best thing for them because it really does give you more time and forces you to reflect.” (68:35)

• Russillo on playoff weirdness (13:10): “This is what we’re thinking right now, that the final rankings are a reset. They exhale. They use that term: full body of work.”

• Kanell’s FSU v. Notre Dame analogy (62:07): “If resumes are similar, then head to head has to matter the most.”

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Life Advice & Odd Sports Takes

(Timestamps: 106:21 – End)

• Hilarious stories and interpersonal dilemmas, e.g., buying a new car, handling strange sports takes from friends, what to do when your ex’s friend wants to date you, and navigating awkward airplane etiquette.
• Greatest running gag: “Bad roommate sports takes” and how to navigate those discussions—sometimes, just agree for your own happiness.
• Russillo’s tongue-in-cheek brainstorm for NBA relegation/expansion (139:09).

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Key Segment Timestamps

• 03:00 – Deep dive into CFB Playoff transparency, Notre Dame’s disappointment
• 17:52 – Danny Kanell joins to break down the selection controversy
• 28:24 – Cherry-picking playoff committee criteria
• 34:43 – Group of Five debate and bracket impact
• 52:06 – SEC, Big Ten, and Power Conference breakdown
• 61:22 – Historic perspective & 1993 FSU/ND debate
• 66:19 – Mike Sando on Chiefs’ woes and AFC/NFC tiers
• 72:22 – Texans’ defense by the numbers
• 83:54 – Steelers, Packers, Rams, and NFC contenders
• 106:21 – Life Advice (romance, cars, friend drama, and weird sports takes)
• 139:09 – Russillo’s NBA “pro-rel” brainstorm

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Overall Tone & Style

• Classic Russillo: analytical yet conversational, with sarcasm and a respectful, well-reasoned tone even during heated sports debates.
• Kanell offers level-headed takes and an insider’s edge; Sando brings data-driven, even-handed analysis to NFL discussion.
• Banter remains fun, occasionally self-deprecating, and always sharp: the hosts and guests freely disagree but rarely lose sight of the big picture.
• Life Advice keeps the latter half breezier and laugh-out-loud funny.

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For Listeners New & Old

Whether you missed the episode, want to revisit the CFB playoff debate, or just catch the best NFL analysis of the week, this episode offers both passionate argument and statistical deep-dives, plus trademark Russillo humor and wisdom. If you follow college football or the NFL (and enjoy lively Life Advice), it’s must-listen content.

Transcript

[A]

Hey barstool listeners. You can find every episode of the Ryan Roso show on Apple podcast, Spotify or YouTube Prime. Members can listen ad free on Amazon Music.

The Ryan Rosilla show is presented by DraftKings. We are packed today. Obviously a bunch of NFL contender stuff including the demise of the Chiefs. With Mike Sando, the Rams, we've got everything. Basically any of the contenders, we talk about them today. But more importantly, the College Football Committee has selected the playoff bracket and predictably some people are pretty upset about it. Danny Canel is upset about it this weekend. We're going to discuss that with him and just my thoughts on the entire process in general. They're probably not like anybody else's. Stars are going off, rookies are making noise and the action doesn't stop. DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA is where you can get in on all of Tells me here to talk about a breakout player this NBA season. This sounds like a perfect time to talk about Con Knippel. Ever heard of him? He plays for my favorite team in the NBA, the Charlotte Hornets. The Hornets standings wise, not what you'd hope, but only two and a half games behind the Milwaukee Bucks in the standings for the play in the Hornets 7:17. Not great. Knipple though he's not the leading scorer for the team because that would be arrogant. He's not going to do that now as a rookie with Lamelo and Bridges on this team he's like no, I'm cool with my 18A game. I'm cool with just taking 14 shot attempts per game. I'm cool with shooting splits at 46 and 40%. 40% from the floor on 83 point attempts per game. But did you want some dimes? I've got a few of those for you as well. He had a steal on a cut. The two man game. Maybe the most dangerous two man game in the NBA. Jokic and Jamal Murray who's been going crazy lately, right? I think kids say goes crazy. But Jokic back cut to Murray can nipple off the ball defensively picks off the patch. He picked off a Jokic pass so that's a player I could talk about that's having a breakout Missouri Fans. Listen up. DraftKings sportsbook is now live in the Show Me state. With more live markets and non stop action, it's no wonder DraftKings is the number one sportsbook for live betting. And don't forget the Emirates NBA cup is heating up. Big games, big moments and plenty on the line. New customers bet five bucks to get $200 in bonus bets. If your bet wins, download the DraftKings sportsbook app and use the Code Ryan. That's Code Ryan. R, y e n bet five bucks, win and get 200 in bonus bets in partnership with DraftKings. The crown is yours. Gambling problem Call 1-800- gambler in New York. Call 877-8-HOPENY or text hopeny 467-369 in Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org Please play responsibly on behalf of Boot Hill Casino and Resort in Kansas. Pass through of per wager tax may apply in Illinois 21 and over. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Void in Ontario. Restrictions apply to receive bonus bets which expire in seven days. Minimum odds required for additional terms and responsible gaming resources. See dkng Co Audio limited Time offer I'm disappointed the Notre Dame's out. I'm not outraged this became more about Notre Dame in Alabama than it did Notre Dame and Miami, which was not the case for weeks and weeks and weeks. And it's kind of funny too that we're talking about whether it's Notre Dame and Bama, probably even a sprinkling of Miami. But with Bama success and Notre Dame's history as an independent, these are teams that generally every other fan base is united and absolutely despising. So the first problem we have is that we have too much transparency. I've heard arguments for years talking about the selection process from the committee starts back in 2014 post BCS that the weekly rankings are a made up event for TV content. And I would say, all right, yeah, you're fine. I've heard how stupid it is all the time for years, but if we never had any access to this process.

We would bitch about that non stop. Imagine a scenario where we don't know what the committee thinks the entire season. The reason they don't do it at the beginning is we don't like rankings because of how that influences our perception of these teams. But if you got rid of the ap, you got rid of the coaches poll, then you would just be giving it all to probably somebody like ESPN that's like, hey, we have our own rankings. And then we would talk somebody would fill that void because we hate it and love it at the same time. So when it gets back to the committee's weekly rankings, like yeah, it's probably dumb that we see it every single week, but can you imagine the other version? Can you imagine sitting around yesterday as a college football fan and having no idea what they're thinking, and then we just get one ranking at the end of the season. Can you, like, do you realize how bad that would go? So in this case, I think we want to see the work, but when we see work that we don't like, then we're just going to be mad about that and say the whole thing is stupid. Maybe both of those things are fair, but I'm telling you right now, if you only got one ranking on a Sunday, you would lose your mind. The second to last ranking had Bama number 9, Notre Dame 10, BYU 11, Miami 12. Final ranking had Bama 9, Miami 10, Notre Dame 11, and BYU 12. It's really easy.

To say, hey, how does Bama lose its final game? Look as bad as they did, stay at nine. And then Notre Dame drops behind Miami when they didn't play. Like that is a convincing sentence, but it's also, I think, a little misleading. Is it a conspiracy? Notre Dame seems to think so. I mean, they're, they're on one right now deciding that they're not going to play in a bowl game, somehow blaming ESPN for making money off of the team. Obviously super mad at the ACC for the pro ACC stuff on Miami and the head. Head, which you can totally understand. All right. But I get it. Like, I, I, this is, this is usually a process where somebody is going to be really disappointed. And in Notre Dame's case, you're like, well, how could we have been ahead of them this entire time? Maybe our resume isn't better, maybe we lost the head, but we were higher than them the entire time. So that transparency in this spot actually hurts them much more because they thought they were good this entire stretch. Yeah, again, it's, it's tough, it's tough to say, yeah, you didn't do anything, and now we think that you're worse. But we'll get to that.

You know, not playing in a conference championship game, I don't know that it matters. I don't care. That are independent. I don't know why people get upset about that whole thing, but we don't really have conferences anymore. Like, what's joining a conference?

It's, it's essentially a scheduling association. So many of these teams don't even have anything close to the same experiences because with all the expansion, they've destroyed what was like at least some sort of balance and felt like a fair representation of. If you win this conference, that means you're the best team. Some Years it feels like you won this conference or you were in the conference championship game because the schedule worked out in your favor. Have you looked at Penn State's 26 Big Ten schedule yet? Probably not. Feel free. The other problem that Notre Dame had here is that when you look at the ACC and the tie breaking scenarios where they had five, six and two teams trying to figure out who was going to play Miami, they screwed it up. You know it's funny though because back in the day, the Big 12, and I remember this in 2008 where Texas had that unbelievable month where they had to beat all of these ranked teams, they end up losing two, Texas Tech, but they had beat Oklahoma in the head to head. Well, the Big 12 is trying to figure out who between Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma is going to play Missouri in the Big 12 championship game and they use a tiebreaker amongst three teams of using the highest ranked BCS team. Then they added in the Texas rule in 2010 that was like, well, wait a minute. If we're ignoring the head to head there, then we should figure out something where if the two teams are within a spot of each other, even if Texas is in this scenario behind one spot in the bcs, if they've won the head to head, then let's go that way so that we're prioritizing the head to head. The point is we've been doing this every single year for the most part and trying to fix this stuff on the fly. And that worked against Notre Dame's favor as well because the ACC is like, what are we doing again? Duke's in it. Oh, that's because they didn't play the other top teams except for like one. So if you look at the ACC's role in this with their own tiebreaker, then Duke winning in the scenario where like, hey, this is going to be kind of funny, Duke's going to win and they're going to have so many losses they're going to leave them out and then we're going to have a group of five team in. No, we're going to have two group of five teams in which shouldn't happen.

You know, the group of five thing is nice in theory to make them feel included. When you're trying to expand and get this thing to 12 teams, it's like, hey, hey guys, you're going to have a spot. It's like, okay, now they have two spots. Should we have thought about this ahead of time? The same way that when they put together the seating last year they were like hey, this doesn't make a ton of sense. We're going to change this after only one year. So when you're running through the Miami and Notre Dame part of it, think of all of these scenarios that had to go against Notre Dame for this to happen. Lose the head to head. Lose the head to head to a team of the same record. Lose the head to head to a team that's right next to you in the rankings. And again, I'm going to get to some of these tier rankings that the committee talked about all the time. You have to have an extra group of five team get in because the team that you've lost the head to head to is from a conference that it's conference championship game participants aren't good enough to be in the playoff. So that rules out the automatic qualifier. So Miami takes an at large and the second group of five team also cost you a spot. That's a lot of stuff. Bama. For the record, yes, I know my history here, but just to remind you, I did not argue Bama to be in the playoff last year. Even before that final weekend. I didn't argue in any of those SEC teams. And honestly towards the end of it I liked Bama the least between South Carolina, Ole Miss and Bama before the loss to Oklahoma. And another little reminder here because we seem like we hate human beings right now with thoughts on stuff the computers for ESPN, the FPI. Their ranking system had Bama 4th and FPI after the season when they had a 94 record. Not saying we have to get rid of the committee and only use FBI, but just a reminder that everybody hated the bcs. Everyone hated it. And part of the calculus for the BCS were two human polls, the Harris and the coaches poll as well. So let's get back to Notre Dame. Notre Dame fans, be honest. You would never in a million years dismiss head to head if it had gone the other way around. You wouldn't. I know who you are. Not specific to Notre Dame fans, but I've dealt with college football fans for a long, long time. You're 10 and 2. You win 10 straight weeks or 10 straight games. Two ranked wins, USC and Pittsburgh. It's not the same as what Bama did this year even if you look like the better football team. But you probably look like the better football team because in those wins you played Purdue, Stanford, Cuse and Boston College in that run while Bama for one month played Georgia, Vandy, Tennessee and Missouri. They're easy games against South Carolina, LSU and then finished off With Oklahoma, Would you ever, if that were reversed, argue that the other team with their wins looking better, that it was the same challenge? You would never do that. And it sucks. I know it sucks for you. Look, I don't have to argue. Bama hasn't looked great because they haven't looked great. It's not an argument.

The second half of the season they're an incredibly one dimensional team that has a worse loss against Florida State at the very beginning of the year. That's far worse than losing to Miami or A and M, especially with a freshman quarterback getting his first snaps ever on the road. But it seems like the committee didn't want to punish Bama for playing in a conference championship game and losing. They didn't want to punish SMU last year that lost to Clemson. A Clemson team that wasn't great, that lost by a combined 51 to 17 of the two SEC schools they played in 24. Now you're going to tell me, hey, the SMU game came down at the very end. That's different than Alabama. Look, we can do this all day. You can say what's more important to fit your argument. I'm trying to find the argument where it makes sense of something that feels nasty. And you also have Bama beating Georgia earlier this year, which, by the way, BYU people. What are you doing? How are you comparing yourself to Alabama? Well, we lost the coverage championship just like they did. Did you beat Texas Tech the first time or did you look like that time also? You don't belong on the field with them. I didn't understand the BYU stuff that was happening over this weekend. Maybe you worked for a media outlet and you went to a Big ten school. I don't know.

The last thing that I want to close with here is comparing the word compare because the committee and you're a check who's the commissioner, you know, the chair. Right. Of. Of this playoff committee. He just wasn't great at it. He wasn't great at the public speaking part of it. They kept explaining their own definition of like, hey, Notre Dame and Miami have to be next to each other for us to then use the head to head. Right? That's where this whole thing went crazy and why Notre Dame fans got so mad, which I totally understand because it's like the guy who represents this whole thing was telling you. He was telling you, well, wait a minute. Like if you're saying that we're not close to each other, then the head to head thing doesn't matter. I thought we were good here.

But what I never quite understood because I've done two of the mock playoff scenario things when I was back at espn, and Rhys Davis, to his credit, kept reminding everybody, and he was doing it again on the show yesterday, was like, hey, by the own definition of how they're comparing teams is that you have everybody vote, and then they kind of put them into these pods so you don't have to be eight and then nine. Like, that was driving me nuts. Like, oh, if you're 8 and 10, we can't compare you to head to head. But if it's 8 and 9, now, we're going to use it. But that's not really what the standard is. Based on their own explanation of that, hey, pod wise, then we kind of like rank the teams, put them in the pods, and we kind of rank those teams inside of the pods. There's no reason why Miami and Notre Dame shouldn't have been in that for weeks. But on November 19, Jurecheck said, quote, they're not in the same pot. So that's why Notre Dame fans are so pissed off, because you're like, hey, your explanation of this goes against everything that happened here at the very end. Right? But that was wrong then. And I was wrong when I talked about Notre Dame and Miami being like, look, I just kind of think Notre Dame's better. And what's wrong with. What's wrong with just going, hey, I'm in the room and I just think there's a better football team. And I thought that at the time because I thought, Carson Beck and the wheels are going to fall off here, right in that moment, that's how I felt about this team. And in that moment, that's probably how Miami and Notre Dame were discussed in that room. But it doesn't need to be a 0, 12 to 12, 0 swing to change these rankings. A couple people can change their mind inside that room. And the committee has told us this from the very beginning with over a decade of this stuff. Okay, Whatever the fake TV show is. And hey, this is what we're thinking right now, that the final rankings are a reset. They exhale. They use that term, full body of work. You may not like it, but look, it happened to me this year with Notre Dame and Miami. I thought, the Carson Beck wheels are going to fall off again. The Louisville game, I'm like, oh, here we go. You know, the SMU game, that. That bad pick, I'm like, all right, you know, felt better about Notre Dame. And then Miami figured it out, and I would have Liked to have said at the time, like, hey, what's wrong with just saying if I. If I'm in the room, I think this team is better than that team, even though that head to head is staring right in the face. Well, I changed my mind. And clearly people in the committee changed their mind. And they probably changed it for something that should always make sense with all the flaws in this sport.

Look, every year we're going to have a different set of scenarios. And with this sport, I guarantee it'll probably be next year. Foreign.

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It is time we had had this plan. We're excited. With the college football rankings out, the bracket is set. Danny Cannell joins us from Dusty and Danny every day on Sirius XM and of course, the COVID three podcast. Okay, so I've seen the canal content. I've kept mine close to the vest. Was saving it for this, but I already explained it in the open. How, you know, look, I think it sucks that Notre Dame's out. I understand why they're out. I think it's an incredible string of circumstances in a system where we've only had two years for it. So ultimately with the rankings, your biggest.

[B]

Issue was what.

The three teams that we thought we knew there were going to be two spots for three teams, right? It was Alabama, Notre Dame, Miami, and there was only going to be two spots for that. Like, we knew that was going to be the case. And I think they got one right. Like, I just feel like Miami getting in was. Everybody was blown away by that. And I did think in the argument, I did think if you had similar resumes that you should have Miami ahead of Notre Dame. And I do think they were there. But I also felt like the best possible outcome for the committee. I thought they were handed on a silver platter. Exactly what they needed to make an easy decision that would have been easy to explain away. It wouldn't have any optics of, you know, SEC favoritism or, you know, conspiracy theories. You could have said, you know what, we watched Alabama play. We saw what happened against Georgia. I know they beat him in the regular season, but they are not playing good right now. They had lost two out of their last four. They had almost played, you know, played a tight game with Auburn. I just thought everything that they needed to happen, BYU gets beaten and they get drubbed. So you had two blowouts. You could have even said, we treat everybody the same. And so Alabama, you have to show that you look like a team. They didn't. So I thought if that was their easiest explanation would have been said Miami, Notre Dame in Alabama, sorry, it's your third loss. You haven't looked competitive, you're out. Instead, they took this way, which I think I totally understand Notre Dame's frustration. Like, I get it, I get why they're ticked off. We, we didn't even play. We didn't even do anything. And they just decided all of a sudden that now the head to head matters. So, like, I understand Notre Dame's frustration because I think they're better than Alabama. And so I, I think that's where I think they had an opportunity to really put it in. And making an easy explanation. Now it just like they didn't even dock Alabama for that performance in the SEC championship game. They didn't even drop.

[A]

No, they didn't. And I know that like other things have been pointed out and it's, I don't even really allow myself to get as mad about it as I've been all day on Sunday. But the BYU Alabama comparison is so fucking stupid. I just, I'm like, so I don't even need to stay on it. Ohio State wasn't really penalized at all from losing the Big Ten championship game. A game where, sure, you know, field goal here, something goes that way. But Indiana looked like the better football team for three hours. And it was one of those games where it was 1310, and you're like, this is still only 1310. Like, Indiana feels like they're completely in control of this game. So I don't really think that Ohio State was docked at all because you probably could have gone, hey, one loss, SEC title, get Georgia, you know, like, let's go with them. I thought they might do that. They didn't. So, look, I understand the Notre Dame frustration and all that stuff, but I. I think the committee, for you to say the easiest thing was there on a platform. Well, that should never be their priority, though. That should never be. If anything, it speaks to. What I think is always lost in this is that at the end of Saturday, it's like, okay, now we have it all. Whatever the rankings have been week to week, let's really just run through all this stuff. And I know no one wants to hear, like, the total body of work, but I just think it's funny, even though I'm frustrated for Notre Dame, the same arguments that people were making against Notre Dame to get Miami ahead of them, now those are conveniently being ignored because more people would rather Alabama be out just because of the way we felt Alabama has been treated throughout this entire run going back. Like, look, earlier Saban years, those teams were really that good. Clearly, there's a lot of years in there like, oh, Bama found their way back into this whole thing, which I know, you know, drives a lot of people crazy.

[B]

So. But here's what I think. Like, if I'm Texas, right, And Texas finished the season nine and three, they had some really impressive wins, but they had a couple bad losses that really stood out to you. And it's like, well, you can't lose to Florida, you know, a bad Florida team, and you can't get blown out against Georgia. All of a sudden, Bama has an awful loss to Florida State, which they were lost by two touchdowns. They got beat convincingly by Georgia. And you're sitting there and you're saying, well, wait a second. Well, I thought that was our. That what they used against us, like, why Texas shouldn't have been in the top 15. I just think in all of this. And then what if you just came back to. This is the thing that blows me away with the coaches that are in that room and the, you know, and Wesley Walls, a former player, if you were just talking and said, do you think Alabama is one of the best 12 teams right now, or best 10 teams, because we have the Group 5. What would. What would cause you to stand up and pound the table and say, yes, because, you know, Notre Dame. And Notre Dame's resume was weak. Right? I mean, and so was. So. So was Miami's, but at least Miami. And they kind of had that win against Notre Dame. At least they had that signature win. But when we heard the committee early, when they referenced Notre Dame, they were like, well, they've won six games in a row now. Seven games in a row. And then it was eight games in a row. And even for Miami at the end, when they started to close that gap, they started to say, well, they're playing a lot better now. And then it culminated with the game against Pitt, which I thought was their best game of the year potentially. So they were talking about, where are they playing right now? They even referenced that a couple times. If you use that logic with Alabama, how can you say that's one of the best teams in one of the top 12 teams in the country? I just. And I just didn't think they had a lot of weight behind the Alabama other than to say, this is a team that played in the SEC championship game. There's no way we can penalize them and keep them out, you know, because then that would diminish the sec and it would, you know, decent advise making that game. Which you talk to Oregon, you talk to Oklahoma, you talk to any team in the Big Ten or SEC who doesn't have to play in that game. And they're probably like, thank goodness we don't have to play in that game. We get fresh. We get a bye week. There is this massive issue. Issue that's unfolding with conference championship games.

[A]

Yeah, look, the conference championship game thing goes all the way back to, like, the Big 12 controversies that I was looking up again from, you know, over 15 years ago, because I remember early days of like, well, how does the Big 12 decide all this stuff? And they used to use the BCS tiebreaker, but then they didn't. Like, then there was a version of it where, if it was division tiebreaker, the SEC used to have something where it was like, lowest of the three is dropped. Then you go head to head to avoid nullifying head to head like you had in 2008 with Texas and Oklahoma. So you said something, though. It's like, well, if the committee had said this about momentum, you know, we don't. We don't give any leeway to anyone. That is a Public representative of the committee. Okay? And I think if we took a step back and we're, like, a little more fair about this stuff, we realize how out of control we can be based on any piece of, like, information that they want to share with us. Okay? Because if I were the committee chair and say, hey, how come you like this team? I got to come up with a reason why I like the team and why the room likes the team, and I could say, well, hey, they've played really well. And smu, if we're talking about Miami, like, SMU is not a bad football team at all. Like, they're not as good as they were last year, but, like, losing to smu, especially with the penalty, you know, there's. There's some things in there. All right, so now I've said this thing, but now I have to survive this whole fucking circus. It has to be, like, an unassailable opinion, and that's just impossible for people that talk for a living, okay? And because of all the things that we try to do now and avoid these landmines and we qualify everything, every one of us has become worse at this because we're not just saying what we think. We're also trying to find a way to say it in this perfectly crafted way that avoids any resistance or any counterpoint. And it's like, man, it is so hard to do. So when you ask the guy, like, hey, why do you like this team? Here's a reason. And it's like, yeah, but wait a minute. Why are you not saying the exact same thing about this other team that is kind of. And it's just like, we. We don't allow for, like, do you know how hard that is? Hey, why don't you like this team? Well, you know, the last few weeks, it hasn't been as good. So now you're taking every one of these things, whether it's 25 or any of the other years that you've had the committee chair up there, and you're basically like, yeah, but remember when you said you didn't think this out of conference was as big of deal? Or you remember when you said that they had a bunch of injuries in this game, but now you're not doing it this way? It's like, who. Who operates day to day like that? Who actually is able. Like, you wouldn't be able to survive? Like, imagine it's like dating somebody who's like, hey, remember in 2021 when you said you never wanted to live in the South? You're like, it was a Tuesday in October, and you're like, well, did I say that? You know, it's. It's like. It's like the committee is dating somebody with the greatest memory ever, and they're constantly telling them all of these things that they said, and you're. You're just like, I don't really know. And I'm not sitting here, like, defending the committee. I just don't know that that's the fairest way to attack them on things that feel like they're inconsistent. Look, it's clear in the conference championship game that some years, the loser they're not going to want to penalize. And some years, maybe when it's two teams right next to each other, the person that is publicly representing all the people in that room is then going to say, like, hey, why did you drop this team down? And you're going to go, you know, with all the data points and it being this close, and they're going to sound like they constantly contradict each other. And I don't know that we're giving them any leeway on any of this stuff ever.

[B]

Oh, it's. It's quite possibly the worst job in America that you don't get paid for. Right. That is a volunteer position. And so you're up there with this thankless job of having to explain away 12, 13 people in a room that. Oh, by the way, you can't go back historically and look at track record because there's turnover. The term's only two years for those committee members. So if you tried to go back and looked at an entire decade, I mean, what, this was the 12th year of the College Football Playoff with a committee, you know, I know went from 4 to 12, but if you tried to do that, you can't figure that out either, because other years have had different philosophies. And I think I've always maintained that if you had one big voice in that room, and maybe it's not the spokesman, but it's somebody with a very strong opinion. In my. In my personal opinion, that would be like a former coach, you know, somebody who's in there who's like, wait, I know the game. Like, you can't tell me, you know, that this team isn't better. I think that could sway the committee. And I don't know if that person is in the room. Like, I don't picture Mark Dantonio being that guy. You know, there was a time when Barry Alvarez was in there. I was like, oh, he could be driving this whole room it's sort of like the jury duty when there's the foreman, somebody's a loud voice that could clearly impact it. And then the thing I always have to remember myself, remind myself, and you brought it up, is they can pick it. They can pick the teams and then the criteria is written in such a way that they can cherry pick the things that they value the most to justify the final 12 teams, but they.

[A]

Have to be allowed to cherry pick. That's the point. And nobody seems to be okay with that because like it's like, oh, the criteria says this and all these different. It's like, hey, have you not figured it out yet, right? That every year there's going to be like a different set of circumstances and we've only had two years of this. So like I saw a graphic on Fox. It was like Alabama looking to become the first three loss team to ever be in the playoff. You're like, no shit. Really? It's never ever happened before. How is that possible? Could it be that we've only had this version of it for two straight years? Look, I don't love Alabama right now, but I know that month where they had to go through Georgia, Vandy, Tennessee, Missouri, and sure, like all you guys can shit on Missouri right now. Missouri's a good football team. I'm not saying that they're great, but like that month and then, hey, by the way, you're, you're other good Tennessee as well now. That's ridiculous. Look at Tennessee's losses.

[B]

But okay, but pointed to their wins.

[A]

You think Tennessee's like not a good win?

[B]

I think it's an okay win, but I think it's very similar to SMU or Louisville. Like when we were talking about Miami being a loss. Oh, I think so.

I think Tennessee is a team who does.

[A]

The ACC sucks.

[B]

You want me to stand up here? I really, I missed an opportunity because if you, when you said what upset you the most, I should have said Duke being left at home. Like, how dare they leave out an acc.

[A]

How about Manny? And I don't blame Manny Diaz. I didn't. I don't blame anybody for having to sit there and like stick up for their conference or their team after the fact. But like, you know, look right, like Vandy in Texas feeling left out. Like, hey dude, get in line.

[B]

Also like Kelani Sataki who said, boy, I'd love a third shot at Texas Tech. I'm like, would you really? Are you sure about that? There are some where they're just. It feels sad. You don't even have to.

[A]

So, no, let's go back to this because like, I, I can't believe that you think Tennessee. See, I think you're, I think you're married to like the records. I really do. I think.

[B]

Which I think is okay. I mean, after 20.

[A]

No, but they're different, they're completely different experiences now with these expansion, these conferences. Like, even within the same conference, like, if you don't want to get into the SEC thing with me, fine. We're probably not going to be able to avoid it. But within the same conference, you have teams experiencing completely different things. And I don't know how any reasonable person could look at The Notre Dame 10 game stretch versus whatever stretch you want to pick there from Bama, as disappointing as Bama was in that game. But at least they had already beaten Georgia at their place. Which, you know, again ends any of this BYU comparison that people seem to want to get into on Saturday and Sunday. Yeah, I just, I don't know. I mean, even, even you, that, that, that is, that has fought this for years. Like, you really think that Notre Dame stretch from the 10 games on and their best wins are the same as Alabama's best wins?

[B]

No, absolutely not.

[A]

No.

[B]

Notre Dame's. Notre, Notre Dame's 10 game run. And that was my case against Notre Dame when you were comparing it to Miami.

[A]

I know, I remember.

[B]

Like, how do you think Miami would have fared against those 10 teams? Probably pretty well. You know, they would have. Oh, look, look how they're getting better each week. A lot of teams will look like they're getting better each week. The scheduling is a major issue. And that's, that's why I even look at Texas A and M and you start asking the same questions about them where they're kind of propped up by the Notre Dame win. And then they played every bottom dweller of the sec. I mean, I think for their opponents, the coaches were fired. And then when they finally go against a team like Texas, it's like, oh, so like when I look at Texas A and M going to the playoff, I'm looking at them a little bit differently now. Now they play at home, but I think that's an opportunity for Miami to potentially get a win.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, if you start talking about the bracket part of it, I mean, that's the other thing that drives me absolutely crazy with this and we can get to the group of five. Part of this is that to have this new system, it's like, hey, you know, it'd be really nice Let the group of five know that we got a spot for them, you know, and you're like, you know what? That's right. That's good. You know, feels like the NCAA tournament. Maybe somebody can go on a run here. And then you have this disastrous ACC season where you're like, what's happening now? And like everybody kind of thought it was funny, right? Like, if Duke wins this game, then they're going to be left out and then we're going to have another group of five. And I just think of like Ole Miss playing Tulane and Oregon playing JMU and then A and M's like, and who. What are we doing? Like, oh, we're playing Miami. Like what? Like this is, this is a bit like the Penn State part of it. Like, granted, I'd rather have the buy, but when, when you start doing this, you're like, this isn't the same thing.

Between six and seven. It shouldn't be that big of a difference between who your opponent is. And that's what we're going to have. And we're going to have two of them.

[B]

The group of five thing is interesting because, you know, we were, we were together when I was making the case for UCF, the 2017 co national champion UCF to get the right because it.

[A]

Wasn'T an SEC team that's 100% reasonable.

[B]

Group of five team. And then I was making the case. So I was, I was a group of five hero for a long time. Then all of a sudden, boy, that has flipped like group of five programs. I got athletic directors all upset at me, but I do think so. I saw this coming in early November when USF was the team that had beaten Boise. They beat Florida and so they were like the trendy team. And then they got beat by Miami. I think it was 49 to 10, something like that. It was pretty ugly. So that was their loss. And then it was. You started looking at Tulane and tulane went down 45 to 10. And so I started seeing some of these teams and they were the favorites from the odds makers perspective to be the group of five representative. And so I said at the time, and this was just when it was the American. James Madison wasn't even really in the conversation. I was like, are we sure we need to guarantee these teams a spot? Like, I think they're. And I'm okay. Like last year I was totally okay with Boise. They went toe to toe with Oregon. They lost by a field goal. They had a generational talent, Nash and Genty. Like, I was okay with Them playing in that, in that one. I didn't love the seating and they fixed that. But like, I think years there will be some team from the group of five that could compete. I think they, they earn it, they deserve it. So then you start looking at that and then all of a sudden it was funny because I, I put out a video that I had and a lot of people were like, you're such an elitist. How much are they paying you to say this? You know, and you're just, you're just sticking up for the power for. And, and then now like to where we are now, where most people are, like, this doesn't make a lot of sense. Like we're going to see some carnage in here. And I do think this gets addressed and there's different ways you can do it. If you just said you have to be ranked and I don't even know necessarily think it had to be the top 12. If you just said the top 15, top 16 was the marker they used for the new year six for the group of five, like there's a way you could make this so it's close. I think you should have to play multiple Power 4 teams, not just one. James Madison only played one power four team that Louisville, and they lost by two touchdowns. I think there's some prerequisite requisites you could put on there. Like you have to do this to make it. But I think everyone now is starting to realize like this just does not work and it's going to get worse when we see these games unfold on the field.

[A]

Yeah, I'm totally for it. I don't care if I sound like an elitist here, but I just. It's not the same experience with those teams.

[B]

It's a different level of play. It's a different level.

[A]

It is. Like I'm okay with one because I think there's certain years in the past where it'd be like kind of exciting to see how this is all going to line up. And it's funny because like back in the day when everybody used to hate some of the carve outs for Notre Dame in the old bcs and like my whole point would be like, well, if we're talking about bowl assignments and Notre Dame is ranked that high, like the bull's going to pick them anyway. So this isn't that big of a deal. And when you see it play through this way, I, you know, the whole Notre Dame not being in a conference thing, I don't know understand why everybody gets so upset about that thing, like just let them not be in a conference. They don't want to be in a conference. Sure. If they had played in the conference championship, maybe they have the other data point. They're in Bama's home. There's certain years, as we know it can work against you, the people arguing against Bama being in it right now. But, you know, maybe there's something like, hey, if there's a non. If we have a group of five and then an ACC scenario where the conference champ is not going to be, you know, because we kind of looked at the playoff structure and it's like, hey, just remember, like the 4 autos are not for the 4 power 4. It depends on like this scenario. And then the scenario happens in the second year that maybe there should be some sort of rule or. I thought I saw some hint at like a rule. Like if Notre Dame is ranked a certain part like beyond whatever the group of five thing is, the second group of five, then they should be able to get in.

[B]

But I think that starts next year. That's what I've seen is that next year, the note, they're ranked in the top 12. They'll be guaranteed a spot, which is kind of crazy.

[A]

Yeah. Wait, so that's the tweet that was going around.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

From their.

[B]

It was Ross Dellinger from Yahoo. He brought it to the attention because I think it's. He like looked at the paperwork and was looking at contracts and discovered that. And that even. I think if it expands to 16, it becomes. If they're in the top 16. Because that was my big thing was. I just. I don't. I do think you should have to earn it. Right. So Notre Dame shouldn't just get this free pass. So like some years like this one, we should be able to evaluate their schedule and look at it and say, all right, is that schedule as tough as an SEC or a Big Ten team? And in some years, maybe it is. In some years it might not. So that you have a better evaluation.

[A]

Well, it's not with all these ACC games. It's not right, you know, with. With this current structure until the ACC figures their way to turn this around. Like, look, if you look at the. The Power 4 and Notre Dame combinations here, and the Notre Dame thing's a little weird because the ACC scheduling partnership there. But if you go power four against other non conference power four, the ACC was seven and 19. Now you can say, oh, well, that's because Notre Dame, we had all these different losses. Well, the Big Ten went 5 and 7. The Big 12 went 8 and 6. The SEC went 12 and 6. I don't know. I don't love the SEC contenders. I've said it all season long. They came off a disastrous bowl matchup against the Big Ten last year. But I haven't heard Big Ten fans talk about any of this stuff as it pertains to at least one year. And maybe that one year is too small of a sample. So I'm glad you cleared that up because I saw that going around. I was like, how does that work? Just a warning to everybody if that happens and then Notre Dame gets in because of that rule. Not one of those people can bitch about it. That is now bitching about Alabama being in. Just, just warning ahead of time.

Indiana, Ohio State, what did you learn?

[B]

Ohio State's vulnerable. Like they're not unbeatable. I think there were a lot of people that if you and I would never take this bet, but if you there, I think there were a lot of smart football people. If you said, you can have Ohio State or the field, a lot of people would have said Ohio State. They're just that much better. They looked better than last year's team. The way that Julian Sam was playing as a first year quarterback, it was okay. Like, he looks the part. The defense, historically great. I think it looked like Ohio State was about to run through this whole field. Like I think everybody had to. I was glad because last year when Indiana played, it was like, who have they beaten and are they really that good? I think everybody realizes Indiana is a really good football program. But even still. And it was funny because I was there and I was asking people on the field, I asked Urban Meyer. I was like, hey. I was like, I knew he was going to pick Ohio State. Was like, do you think Indiana can keep this close? Like, we're on the field, players are warming up. And I was thinking the same. I picked Indiana. But once I saw Ohio State on the field, it was like, oh man, did I just screw this up. I mean, they had a clear, distinct athlete advantage. And so I. But I do think their offensive line, which they had not been running the football great the majority of the season on the back end. They started to fix things. And Bo Jackson had four games out of five. He went over 100 yards. But I remember watching them because you were trying to find a weakness and they looked so perfect. Like that goes back to the conversation about how good they were. It's like, I don't know if they do. I think the offensive line really Cropped up to be a potential flaw in this team that they can fix. They could get better. But that was the one thing I thought Indiana really exposed. I mean, they had five sacks. Ohio State only gave up six sacks all year. That's insane for Indiana to have that performance. So I think, and I think. But I like, did I learn anything more about Indiana? No, I already thought they were really good. I think it was more about Ohio State. Isn't this unbeatable juggernaut was probably the thing I learned more.

[A]

Yeah. The way the schedule's closed for both of those teams, it was like this really tough thing to figure out. Like, are they this dominant? And you know, when Indiana is destroying teams like that, you know, that's usually a pretty good indicator. Like, it's one thing to have a really nice record. It's like, oh, it's another 2414, 2417. It's like, no, this is 50 to 10 again, you're doing something right. And I wish I had had the balls to kind of look past just the history with it, you know, I, I didn't know what was going to happen in that game at all. And I don't mean this as a play calling criticism, criticism of Ohio State, but I, I look at play calling tendencies to see what they trust. And so those two red zone possessions for Ohio State, third and one, they roll it out to Jeremiah Smith's side. So they don't want to run it on third and one. And so I was like, okay. And then they sneak sands and they're probably thinking, hey, we're going two downs here. Anyway, so that's, that's the right. The process. And then a fourth and one. I love the Fox broadcast, but on that play in particular, when saying sneaks it and we go to commercial thinking he's got a first down. And then we come out of commercial, it's like, hey, by the way, he was short. It's like, this is a, an enormous spot. Like, we need to be with you during this a little bit more. Hey, just a little critique, you know, a little media guy doing a little stuff. That's fine, it's fine. Love the broadcast. But you come back, you're like, oh, man, sans knee is down. All right. So then you're like, all right, what's going to happen? So then they, they've got a third one again and they don't want to run it. Incomplete pass. They kick the field goal. They missed the field goal. So that told me a lot about this matchup and how you know, you could see what was happening with the Indiana's front. And these guys are just incredible, man. There's depth there. They do an unbelievable job. And even though it's 1310 and I kept thinking to myself, this game is only 1310, it's only 1310, but Indiana just feels like the better football team. And then on third and two for. For Mendoza to let it rip, to put the game away, man, I mean, to take that shot on third and two is.

[B]

Was it third and two or third and six?

[A]

Was it third? Check it.

[B]

Because I thought it was a little longer because I was sitting there watching the games with Cardell, with Cardell Jones and we're like, is he going to let Mendoza, you know, are you going to put the hand.

[A]

If you were there, I'm going to guess you were right, but I don't.

[B]

I could be wrong, but I feel like it was long enough where it wasn't like it was sort of like a passing situation. And you're like, you have to make this decision.

[A]

Yep, you're right. 33 yards, third and six.

[B]

Yeah. So that was the thing. But even still, 80% of coaches would run the football there, maybe 90%. No matter who you have at quarterback, they just play the odds and say, let's just run it, let's work more clock and then we'll let our defense stop them. It probably had to do with Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate and the weapons. They have been like, I don't know if we want to take this into risk and put it back in them. Let's try to close this out with our best player. Which I do think that comes down to Signetti, man. The dude, he is such a good coach, man. I think his confidence oozes and it has from the minute he stepped into that program. But I think that's his call in that situation is like, no, let's win this, let's not. Let's not play it safe and trust our defense. We've got the best quarterback in the country. Let's trust him. And I think that's a hard decision for a lot of coaches to make and to make that sort of that decision in that crunch time situation. I think that's one like small thing that makes Signetti really good.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And that's also without Cooper, who goes down immediately, who you know, I probably like better than anybody as far as the receiver. Surratt's terrific. And Becker just goes off and that deep shot there, I was like, man, you know, they don't there's so many teams that just would go, if we're doing anything, we're doing some sort of rollout. And then maybe keep it with Mendoza. Then he slides down after three yards and we keep the clock and.

[B]

Right.

[A]

You know, so, yeah, you know, it.

[B]

Gets overlooked in this game, too. Fernando Mendoza probably took the hardest hit of the season to start the game. I mean, I was like. And I was. So, again, everybody's like, he's done. There's no way he's coming back. Like, he's done. And it was going to feel like Texas Bama When Colt McCoy gets knocked out of the game, or like, oh, Indiana's got no chance now. It literally had that feel. And then the eruption of the crowd when he comes back on the field. But even then, you're like, are you getting the best version of them? Is he that, you know, that, to me, is one that'll just resonate with the NFL GMs and scouts that show, like, toughness, like, to be able to come back and make the throws he did throughout the game. That was awesome. I. I have a comp for him. Do you have a. Because I've heard. I've heard two different names for Fernando Mendoza, and it kind of goes specifically to the personality of, like.

I have not heard that one. I have not heard the Bubb and I have not heard that one. I've heard a lot of Kirk Cousins and probably more Kirk Cousins.

[A]

Was it because the interview after.

[B]

Yes. Like, the way he carries himself, he just. He's goofy. Like, he. I think he's got Andrew Luck. Like, Andrew Luck was different with a microphone in his face. And if you went back to college, I think it would have been very similar. I mean, he's out there, he's. They're holding them together. Ryan. I mean, he's giving you luck. I mean, it was luck.

[A]

I love it.

[B]

Like, I love it.

[A]

I had been on the sidelines for a couple of the Stanford games, and Luck, to me, was a psycho in the best way, though, on top of everything else. Like, sure, he had a flip phone still. Like, when we went out to the farm and we're like, talk to us about this guy. And they're like, he only watches one TV show. He watches the office. And then, you know, like, he has a flip phone and he's. He's like, seriously into this architecture thing. Like, how serious he's going to be the number one pick. Like, he really is into the architecture. So you're like, all right. But then there was a couple games Where I would just watch him on the sideline going, well, there's no, there's no question about like where this guy is at. And you know, maybe it looks a little different when Mendoza, but.

You know, he was the better quarterback.

[B]

Awkward. Like I, Andrew Luck was awkward, right? And I think Fernando Mendoza is kind of awkward. I think that's the, that's the similarity to me and I think they're both. I don't think he's in the class. I don't think you'll see McShay up there being like, hey, this is the best prospect since Andrew Luck, but I do think he's got the skill set where he should be and will be the first quarterback taken.

[A]

Do you think that because Indiana got this one, it's going to be hard for them to do it a second time, or do you just like the matchup now that you've seen it in person?

[B]

No, I, I have a feeling it's going to be tough to do it a second time. Like that's. I still think Ohio State, I still think they're clearly the more talented roster and it did feel like Ohio State played their worst game and I think they'll fix some of their offensive line issues. You know, I think with, with game planning you can kind of protect that because it was clear Indiana was moving the pocket and kind of protecting their offensive line versus Ohio State's defensive front. I think Ohio State would make. Will make adjustments against the better teams that they play, including if they have a rematch with Indiana.

[A]

Does Georgia have the best chance of any team in the SEC to win the whole thing?

[B]

Yes. Yeah, they're. They're kind of give me your SEC.

[A]

Breakdown then, because it, like it just so I'll jump in. The Stockton up and down stuff is, is tough to get past. You're like, all right, can you win three games right? You know, with this passing offense now, I think that front for them looks a lot more like Georgia from what I, what we all would expect. I would have had an Emma Held Ole Miss if we were just going eye test.

I think Ole Miss is screwed around with a bunch of inferior teams this year and I think that's a massive, massive, like, advantage. Just go, hey, the sixth seed. This is who we have for the first game here. And if there's a team that could go in a college station, like I was kind of looking at that be like, hey, if they're the seven, then who's going to go in there and beat that team? Even if we thought maybe it's not as great as people are making out to be because they're default the best SEC team because of the record prior to the Texas loss. But you know, if there's a team that should be able to go in there and be back with his experience and that defense, like I might even pick Miami in that game, which I didn't expect to do knowing a team was going to be coming from out of conference, having to go play there, there.

[B]

So yeah, the wild card is. What version of Beck do you get? You know, like he. Right. I mean that's just. But I do think if he plays and just plays clean, I think Miami has the dudes. I mean, this is the Miami team that a lot of people after the first five games were like, oh, they should be the number one team in the country.

[D]

Right?

[B]

I mean they went through that first slate. It's still those same guys. They just had a couple bad games. I mean they. And even the game against Louisville Carson, Beck threw four picks, should have had five. They still only lost by a field goal. Like they still could have probably should have won that game.

[A]

So I watching those games, like those are the games. We were all off of it again. You know, it almost took them a couple weeks of winning for us to start to pay attention to the whole thing. Thing. And you know, I went into that pick game going, nothing will be funnier than them losing this the way they lost against Q last year. Just with all of the chatter the entire time, it's like, you know what, they showed up and whatever you think of pit, like eventually those all of us have to concede that. Okay, fine, like the team isn't awesome. But that's, that's a, that's a good team. Like going up there, beating them, it's has to be something.

[B]

So your sec. I really only think Georgia's the only team that I can picture winning a national championship out of these teams.

[A]

Yeah, it would be Georgia A and M. Oklahoma's offense is so bad, I cannot imagine it winning four games. And Bama is so one dimensional that I thought, you know, you could sit there and say, hey, J.M. miller's out. But it's like, oh, oh. Because it's looked so much better all the other weeks. Now if you want to talk about like Jam's ability to pass block.

[B]

Yeah, but it's more the offensive line for me with Alabama, not even so much Jam Miller being healthy or not, I think the offensive line is more of a liability. You know, that's where for Alabama like They, they have not been done a good job protecting Ty Simpson. And really since that Oklahoma game, he, They've just sort of spiraled and I think it's a crisis of confidence, but with Ty Simpson, because he's not able. Do you remember the first time they played Georgia and he was like patting the ball. He had all day to throw and he was ripping, he was shredding them. And then they kind of dialed it in. And I do think you mentioned Georgia's defense. They were, I think it was going to the Mississippi State game, which was like three or four games ago. They were dead last. They only had 11 sacks on the season. It's like, what is wrong with Georgia?

[A]

Well, the big thing with the Georgia deal was like, we thought their defense was disappointing last year based on their standards. And then midway through the season, to your point, I looked them up again. I'm like, even worse, right? We were bummed out last year for them and now they're getting right at the right time.

[B]

Some of these younger players are getting more experienced. Glenn Schumann starting to dial up some more pressures. Like that's where I think. And so Stockton. I do. He does. I mean, he kind of reminds me of Stetson Bennett. He hasn't been as consistent, but he does have. And I know he's a white kid that looks like a frat boy, you know, seven on seven player, take it easy.

Apologies. But he's still like at his best. He's played really good on the biggest stages. Like, so I do, I think Georgia is the only team I could picture from the SEC, Texas A& M. To me, you mentioned the dudes like their, their defense, Cassius, how they've got a lot of weapons back there. If they get their backfield healthy, they still have great weapons in Craver and Concepcion. Marcel Reed, like, he's very streaky, like if you get the bet. But can you get multiple games of that from Marcel Reed? Like if he's good, then yes. I picture him winning, but I don't know if I trust him to go out there and put that many games together in order to win, win the national championship.

[A]

No, I don't really trust him, but I trust Elko and his receivers and depending on the health they have at running back, I think what they do with their corners and just how athletic those guys are. And look, you'd expect any of the secondaries at this level to have a bunch of athletes out there, but you know, the third down numbers were off the charts and maybe the third down numbers were a Little weighted by the fact that they were playing a much lighter SEC schedule than some of these other schools. So, you know, I think it's the deeper conference. It's why, you know, I make the Bama argument here, but I can't remember a year where I've been this down on their contenders. You know, I can make a case for liking Oregon. So if you wanted to get in all the big 10 sec stuff all over again, not necessarily that we have to do it another time here, but.

[B]

So I have a theory on that.

[A]

Right. But I just to finish the thought, you're like, okay, so you may be admitting that you like three teams better to win a national championship than anyone in the sec, and that's a hard thing to get past if I'm a Big Ten fan, you know.

[B]

Right, right. So I have a theory on the SEC versus the Big Ten. Like, the SEC was probably one of the first. And I know this has been like a joke and it's been. People have made fun of it, but, like, really since nil and the portal has opened up, like, everybody is above board. Right. Everybody is still paying. And I think in the sec, like, teams that maybe had dabbled in it, like, we're like, all right, we're all in and we're investing. And so I do think you've seen the talent disperse in the SEC that has hurt Georgia, hurt Bama, hurt Florida. Like, teams that traditionally could hoard that talent, like, I do think it's hurt them. And in the Big Ten, I just don't think there's an appetite across the board to, you know, really invest the way that the teams. Now it's coming. I think they're waking up and they're starting to see Indiana, like, they clearly invested and. But I think, like, Michigan State just got the $400 million gift. I think they're like, wait a second, we can. We can get that much better fast. I think it's taken longer for the majority of the Big Ten teams to invest. And. But the ones that are really good, like, think Oregon, Ohio State, Michigan, they're the ones out there buying the. Buying the players. Indiana even is one that's come there. I think they've been able to hoard kind of. Whereas why you don't see the depth and why there is such a big drop off that I hope evens out. Like, I don't want to see a completely lopsided Big Ten where, you know, you don't have competitive games half the time. And I think it will, but I think that's, that's. And then if you look at recruiting, recruiting rankings are like the top three out of the five teams or Big Ten teams, which is something you never stall historically. So I think there is a little.

[A]

Well you didn't because you're also adding in sc, you know, you're also adding in, you know, some of the stuff that's happened in just a couple years. You're like. Because my argument used to be like, hey, if you have to come up with five teams that can win a national championship and not say holy out of the Big Ten, right? It used to be a pretty fair argument. Now it's yeah, I can come up with five. Washington's just in a title game. I mean whatever. SC has been as far as disappointing under Lincoln Riley's run with this recruiting class and with them not necessarily being like a new school team when it comes to investing in players, you'd think, you'd think SEC is going to figure it out one of these years, right? So yeah, yeah, I'm with you on that. And it sounds like Caleb Downs agrees with us too. So.

[C]

He does.

[B]

But he did say at the end he's like, but I still see great players. You know, he wanted, he had to be very careful. He's had great environments too, which I'd never second I get those SEC stadiums are the toughest to play in. Without question.

[A]

Hey, we got to talk a little big 12 here because it seemed like my boy was down on both of those teams. I totally understand the BYU like, okay, thank you.

[B]

Right.

[A]

We've seen it, we've seen it twice now.

[B]

And you know, so I have a question for you and all this is.

[A]

A Tech, this is a pull up Texas Tech.

[B]

I'm already prepped because I do, I'm. Now this is where, look, the ACC is trailing, right? But I do think it's a two. There's two super conferences and then there's the next level, right. And I think the Big 12 and ACC are right there. So this is where I'll pound the table a little bit for the ACC and say maybe they're not as far off because they've been pitched as, oh, they're so far behind the Big 12. When you look at Texas Tech schedule and their defense has been incredible statistically, who's the best quarterback. They have shut down and embarrassed that they have looked that great against. And I'll tell you, it's not one of the three non conference opponents because as much as strength of schedule was supposed to matter, they didn't play anybody and neither did byu. BYU beat Stanford. That was their only non con. So like I. That's one thing I think we have to start looking at is how do you do against like the Big 12 had a lot of teams in the top 25 at one time. So they were kind of propped up similar to what benefits the sec. And they're like, oh, these are really good teams. But when you dive into it, who's the great offense that Texas Tech has shut down?

[A]

Was it Scotty Fox Jr. West Virginia? The freshman who took over? Is that who you're asking?

[B]

Maybe, yes. Really though, the best quarterback they faced was Sam Levitt.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And he threw for 300 yards against them. And now you didn't have Baron Morton for you, like he was out. I think that was the game Will Hammond played. So I get some of the issues that you were dealing with.

[A]

Yeah, but it's, it's also a very like, it's an, it's an aberration statistically for what they've done defensively against everybody because it wasn't some like fluky game against Levitt. Like they put up a yards against them.

[B]

So that's what I'm like. I think they're a little bit like fraudulent's a very strong word. I don't think they're a national title contender. I think they're very similar to Oklahoma. Like I just, I don't trust their offense is better, but I don't trust Baron Morton. I don't know if the coaches do either. They throw a lot of underneath stuff. He misses some throws Again, I don't think it's as bad as Oklahoma. They are terrified to expose John Mateer because of the risk of interceptions. But I just, I don't think Texas Tech is a serious national title contender. And I think Oregon, you mentioned them, kind of whispered it before. It what? I think Oregon is a team that can win the national championship. They get healthy and I think Dan Lanning has just been flying under the radar all season long. If you look at the way they finished the season by, you know, getting the win against usc, getting a big road win against Washington. I think beating Iowa the way they did, nasty conditions, having that game winning drive, I think they're going to get healthy at the right time and I think they could replicate what Ohio State did last year. You know, a team that didn't play in the conference championship game. People were wondering. They're just. I like Dante more a ton. Unfortunately for a lot of these teams, I don't know how they handle it. It's like both coordinators taking other jobs. How much does that impact their preparation? You know, the team like structure, dynamic. We haven't really seen that with this super deep run that they would have to make. So that, that's one thing that makes me hesitant about Oregon. But that's all almost, you know, half the field is dealing with these issues with coaches at other jobs.

[A]

A last thought, because the head to head was a big, big argument and ultimately the decider between Notre Dame and Miami for the committee.

Even if I, you know, again, I still understand Notre Dame's frustration. I mean, it's going to just be an awful feeling. But there were some stuff said that I was like, all right, I think this is going a little too far. If you were an AP voter in 1993, who would you voted for number one?

[B]

I'm so glad you asked this question because I have, I've given a lot of thought to this question. So I would. Do you know what I would do? Because I don't like paying attention to brands. I would have a blindfold on. I would say, don't even tell me what logos they're wearing. Just gimme the data. That's what I would want to see.

[A]

Right. So how you shop, that's why you're a TJ Maxx all the time. That brown shirt looks great.

[B]

Exactly. So I would look at a team and I would have one team in the regular season that would have beaten six, excuse me, five. They would have played six top 25 teams and beaten five of them by an average margin of victory of 23 points. That's in the regular season. So then I would have looked at the other team that would have only played three top 25 teams and would have lost to one that was ranked 17th. By the way, the other team lost the one that was ranked number two. And their average margin of victory in those top 25 games was five. So like you got a pretty good body of work there to compare. So then you go into the bowl season, you had one who beat the number two team in the country and the other beat the team that was number seven in the country both by like a field goal. One was by two points. So I would say that the totality, if you looked at those resumes, they are not similar. And that's the standard that I would use. If resumes are similar, then head to head has to matter the most. So that to me would be a pretty easy clear cut. This resume is so much better that it's not even close. I would award team A and that team would be your 1993 Florida State Seminoles.

[A]

Right. But ND did have to go into the Cotton Bowl. They had to go into Dallas to be A and M. So that's.

[B]

That is a good point. I mean, that is a good point. They did have to go out. So that's like kind of a road game for them. And we had a home game for us against enemies. Do you realize that the geography of the state of Florida, it is a seven hour drive from Tallahassee down to Miami where the Orange bowl was. So, yeah, I've. I've heard a lot of that criticism and I've actually, I got to break out my 93 national championship ring and give it a little polishing and break it out maybe.

[A]

Do you have a snap in that season?

[B]

I did, I did. I don't like. I don't like. There are some quarterbacks who get credit for national championships that you didn't start the full season for.

[A]

Oh, my God, 49 attempts against Maryland.

[B]

I got to start a game. That was my first start. I started a game against Maryland, against.

[A]

John Starks was on that team.

[B]

Yeah, John Stark.

[A]

Just one.

[B]

No.

[A]

I was like, no wonder. He and Charlie Ward.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, I had to start a game. And so the game that I started was the week before Notre Dame, which was the game of the century. And Charlie had messed up his ribs. Like he had a. Some sort of rib issue. He tore some cartilage in his rib. So I. They didn't tell me all week until right before the Maryland game. They were like, they didn't want to give the other team, you know, let him prepare for me.

[A]

Oh, my God. If they had to prepare for you, no wonder you lit it up.

[B]

That's right. So Mark, Rick came the day before, like the morning before. He's like, hey, you're starting today. I was like, all right, so we win that game. But there was they also going into the game against Notre Dame, they were like, we're not sure if Charlie's ready or not. Is it going to be Canel? And I just remember, like, being terrified, being like. And I would talk to Charlie, I'm like, are you going to play? And he's like, yeah, I'm good. I was like, thank goodness. I mean, going against Maryland, I mean, it was in College park, which is one of the toughest places to play in America, you know, and it was a cold, cloudy day, but it was not going to be the same as that. Notre Dame defense. So thankfully Charlie was able to come back, which again, he was rusty in that game. So in their only loss of the season, I don't even think Charlie was full strength. I mean, he was probably 60%.

[A]

So if you were on the committee, if there was a committee back then, you could have been like, hey, look. And he's worried about losing his job to this kid. Local guy.

[B]

Yes. There was a lot going on there, distracting him. So it just made my case even stronger.

[A]

You know what I think? I think you did a great job, great job representing your position there. That is Danny Canal. It's always good to catch up with our guy again. Check him out on SiriusXM. Dusty and Danny in the mornings in the COVID 3 podcast. Thanks, man.

[B]

You got it.

[A]

Mike Sando joins us after week 14 from the Athletic has picked six column must read on Monday mornings. And we're going to run through a lot of stuff here, but I want to start with the afc. Houston's dominant defense taken one in Kansas City, a must win spot for Kansas City, whose offense let them down a bunch of different ways. You know what? I'm actually going to start with a loser because I still think Kansas City is the headline below. 500 likely out of the playoffs. When that offensive line got introduced against that Houston front, I was like, okay, this is going to be interesting. Add in the drops. Adam Mahomes, like absurd, off the charts, career worst rating in a football game. What do you see? And what are people saying about the Chiefs?

[C]

Yeah, and I don't even think Mahomes played that bad, you know, to get those worst numbers, which is very indicative of just partly the opponent. But I just think they've reached a little bit of a crossroads here. They need to play. They needed to rally and play a perfect game kind of.

On the biggest stage and the biggest moment. And when their tight end dropped the early pass, I just saw the reaction of Mahomes. Like, that's what we're talking about. You got to make these simple, basic plays and they can't do it when they have to. That is a huge indictment and the opposite of what they've been. So I think it tells us that.

This group.

Needs somewhat of an overhaul. And I was joking in my mind last night, boy, wait till you hear what kind of shape Travis Kelsey's going to come back in next year. Right. They just can't keep doing that. So there's going to have to be a reckoning. And I do think there's some schematic reckoning on Offense too. As great as Andy Reid has been, I think the criticisms are fair about the structure of his offense and just sort of getting this watered down run game watered wider. Probably formations, they've got to reset a little and give little teeth to run threat for them to just sort of almost get with the times again, have another reinvention because the league has trended back that way away from where it was several years ago. So I think I wrote this two weeks ago. I think missing the playoffs would be the best thing for them because it really does give you more time and forces.

You know, reflection. You don't really have to reflect when it just sort of works out for you. Right. For any of us in anything we do.

[A]

All right, the Houston side of this, let's put into context, like what this defense has been able to do. So whether it's this year compared to other supposed dominant defenses, you could see this happening. But Stroud's out for a few weeks in the middle of this with the concussion part of it. And it went from like, oh yeah, that's Houston again, who never really feels like a threat. But now with this AFC picture that's all over the place. Maybe it's, it's better to talk about their defense, but then also how it compares to the rest of this field where I don't know that anybody should be afraid of any of the teams that going to make out this conference.

[C]

Yeah, I do like Houston. You know, Houston was one of those teams that was showing up really strong in some of the indicators that I look at throughout a season, even when the record wasn't good. And one of those things that I got into a little bit this year was just looking at how every team performed compared to against, against each opponent, compared to everyone else who played those opponents. I was looking at some of those things and just, just, it was just really like point margin. So if you beat, you know, if you beat the Chiefs by more than anyone else beat them, you would get a one by you, you know, and that sort of thing. I went throughout and Houston's been like in the top five the whole whole year. So it tells me they're, they're a good team, it's competitive, they can play close games with the, you know, with the defense. I'm just not sure that, you know, how many ways they can beat you besides suffocating you with that defense. It was funny last night on Deadline with the column. I was going through it with the editor that I work with, and we were debating whether to put in Something about their offense and he was feeling it a little more like, hey, there's some potential here. And I just wasn't feeling it. I didn't put it in there. I just, I just kind of wanted to wait. So I do think there's hope that Stroud's back. I thought he made some. Even though their offense dried up for like a whole quarter at least last night, I thought he made some plays. You know, there was some flashes. So there's still a month left. They're still in the first year with his offense. I do think that, you know, the offensive line has probably made some gains for them. So I kind of put a little check mark by him thinking that defense is going to be there every week, it's going to be there in the playoffs. I don't know if they can muster it all the way through, but like you said, I'm not sure there's a lot of teams that can. So I like their chances as much as anybody really.

To do it.

[A]

Is there a way to like what, what numbers have you looked at there that compare what their defense is that maybe stands out a little bit more than some of the other teams?

[C]

Well, the format rush is unbelievable. So that, that, I mean everybody dreams of having that. But four man rush, I mean you don't have to take people out of coverage, which by the way, they have good coverage players too, but they can just kick your butt up front. And so there were two things I was looking at. One was, you know, historically, third down defense, when you do not blitz, they're, you know, One of the four or five best in the last, I think since 2019 was how far back I looked just with the data that we had through pff. So that's outstanding. And then, you know, I think I was also looking at maybe the, the last, I think the last 160 defenses, meaning, you know, there's 32 a year times however many years was that five years, something like that. They were like number two in the EPA per play. So that is really something. Denver's defense this year is like 30th out of those 160. So there are, you know, a standard deviation or whatever better than that. And so without being super complex, you know, I think they, they just got a system with good players and they run it well and they're hard to block.

[A]

So the numbers say, and that's what I was kind of picking up on from the column this morning. The numbers say, like even though Denver, we talk about how they're built defensively and like, look, it's a. It's a really good defense that this Texas thing in a smaller sample of the last five years, that it's actually a different level than even though we're seeing from Denver.

[C]

It is. Yeah. And I actually learned that looking. I thought Denver. I was looking last night. I was like, how's Denver? Like, sixth on defense this year? They feel better than that to me. So, you know, the stats aren't everything, but there's something, when you compare that many teams, Houston to come out that far ahead, pretty good. Pretty good for them.

[A]

Should all of us like Jacksonville more?

[C]

Probably. Yeah, probably now. You know, because they. It's funny, I was looking at them and I was like, they're basically what they were in 20, 23. Inconsistent team on offense that's really good on defense. I don't know what happened last year to their defense. They fired the coordinator, but the defense is really what fell off last year. And so you bring in Liam Cohn and we're all thinking, okay, if everything goes to form for Jacksonville, Liam Cohn's going to do with Trevor Lawrence kind of what he and Tampa Bay did over the years with Baker Mayfield, and get that offense going. And I just haven't seen that. I think Trevor Lawrence was better yesterday, but he's, you know, still.

Not consistently accurate. And maybe there's some growth there, but. But it's hard to see. It's really hard to see. They've made the biggest gains on defense. They're about 10, 11 points better per game on defense, which is, I think, the biggest jump in the league from an EPA standpoint. So I don't know who you credit for that. You know, they brought in a defensive coordinator who's known for taking away the ball, and he's taken it away. But, you know, if you're a little bit turnover reliant on defense and you have a somewhat inconsistent quarterback, like, I think I'd take Houston, wouldn't you, over them as a better team?

[A]

Yeah, if I'm looking at all of it right now, I.

I mean, this is. It's tough. It's really tough. I mean, just so the audience knows, one through seven seats here in the afc, Denver, New England, Jacksonville, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, the Chargers at six, then Houston at seven. And so, you know, we're all looking forward to this Jacksonville Colts game. We're like, all right, you know, looking. The Colts get right the tough part of the schedule. This Jacksonville team that, you know, whether it's a win against the Chiefs, Houston's Week 3 win, they lose the rematch, but it's only by a touchdown, which was a really strange game. They destroy the Chargers the week after that. You know, like there's, there's a lot of stuff. If the Jags were a college football team, we'd be looking at the resume going, hey, there's like a lot of good stuff in there. And yet I can't get past that. Trevor Lawrence isn't any better statistically that it's been the same thing. I think their offensive line is often overlooked because they grayed out really, really well in both the pass block win rate stuff, the rush rate, you know, run blocking win rate stuff as well. And there fear is like, there's a few weapons on this team. And so, you know, I don't know what to do with yesterday's result because it ends up being Riley Leonard instead of Dana Jones.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, I agree with you. I think they're gonna. What do they got? They got the Jets, Broncos, Colts and Titans. So, you know, I think they're winning. They could easily win three of their next four. Right. I mean it'd be a 12 win team. I do come back to, you know, when they had to play Houston most recently they lost by double figures. And when they played before that, they played the Rams and the Seahawks, two really good teams.

[A]

And they lost a touchdown game though, right? That was the 26 points they gave up in the fourth quarter. It was like the strangest game ever.

[C]

Yep, yep. And then they lost 35, 7 to the Rams and 20 to 12 to the Seahawks in a game that didn't really feel that close. So they do have, I believe, five wins against teams that currently have winning records. But when you look at it, it's Carolina, Houston, I'll give them that. San Francisco, I mean, how do you feel about them? The Chargers, how do you feel about them? Right. The Colts without Daniel Jones and with.

[A]

Them like, but framing it that way and then coming back to the Chiefs like now doesn't count. And to me, like when you watch that game, that a really nice win.

[C]

I agree, I agree. So I do think that it's, you know, we have to be careful with teams that have just been bad for so long to not take them seriously, to, to wait too long to take them seriously. So I did look at our, you know, our playoff model last night had them as a 9% chance to reach the super bowl, same as as Houston and just behind only New England, Denver and I believe Buffalo. So that's pretty good respect without any bias. Right. Without much bias. I mean, I'm sure there's some preseason stuff that goes into it, but that's a pretty. That's a pretty good. Don't you feel like, okay, fourth best chance in the afc. That's some decent respect.

[A]

Third or fourth.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

I just like Houston so much better. And maybe it's because I feel like there's another gear for Stroud. There's also some statistical stuff you could look at with Stroud this year and then his rookie year and go, he's actually better. But it was just so exciting because it was brand new and it was a new coach. And even though we didn't necessarily think that team was any good, Stroud's momentum as a quarterback, like, wherever he is, it'll be really interesting to see where your QB tiers are now. Look, if they have some kind of run, then he's going to get a massive bump from all the people that you talk to. But it feels like he has no momentum even close to where he was thought of. Of like, hey, all the talent, the composure and all this stuff and he's already in a playoff game as a rookie. It's. That's.

[C]

Can't wait to. Can't wait to see where that goes from a contract standpoint, too. You know, maybe they just sign up like everybody else does, but so many of those deals don't look great.

[A]

I feel better about him than some of the other ones. Let's stay on that, though. Because of the Daniel Jones injury. Knows the Achilles. So what? And this is the part that I, that I look, because I'm, I'm sure, like, were you getting a bunch of texts from people and asking you what you thought or what other people were saying to you as far as people that work in the league? And look at the Jones question that the Colts have this off season.

[C]

Absolutely. So one of the. So one of the comparisons that will be used for and against him will be Kirk Cousins, because Kirk was coming off of an injury and got a really good contract. So if you're the agent for, for, you know, if you're the agent for Daniel Jones, you can point to that, but if you're the team, you can say, yeah, how'd that work out for. How did that work out for Atlanta? They would do anything to get out of that deal. We're not going to do bad business just because of. You are. So I do think there's a number and an extension that, to me, I would think he gets definitely a raise off of this year. But Maybe the best thing is to do something a little shorter term that gives him respect because I think that locker room respects him. I think you make a mistake when you start jerking around players and off of an injury. I think that's bad for your team, especially when you think he's going to be your guy. And he's younger than Kirk was with.

[A]

The injury, so eight years younger by the time.

[C]

Now here's the thing though. I think him getting injured actually spares them and him from a really bad end of the season that he was going to be a part of and be a reason for because I think he does have limitations. And I think one of the things I was working on that I wrote about was, you know, before this, before this game yesterday, you know, I was talking to a coach about this. We're like, you know, New England or Indy has this unsustainable way of winning where they're so reliant on the traditional run game. And so what I looked at was basically I said, okay, let's filter out second half rushing when you're ahead and just running to run at the clock. But if you look at their, if you were to stack their games before yesterday by first half rushing.

It'S like correlates almost 100% with their record. They're like, they were like something like 6, 0 and they're. When they rushed for more than 50 yards in the first half and like 2 and 4 when they didn't. And yesterday they were at 53 or 54. Some, some number like that doesn't really matter. They lost their quarterback and fell behind. But that's not a, you know, getting the 80 yard touchdown runs on early downs is not a sustainable formula. When you're not so good on third down, you're not so good in the red zone. You know, some of those things I think is where the limitations of Daniel Jones show up. So obviously they should, he's probably, he's better than what they've had. They can win with them. But I think they were going to be a team that would come up short probably in the playoffs and you could see it trending that way.

[A]

All right, so does anyone. I'm just trying to like get a combination of like what you hear on what people think think of the afc like, hey, this New England thing is real because how great May is. And Vrabel, you know, Bo Nicks doesn't get enough credit. I know Jacksonville, you use your cook index and you've talked about them kind of changing their philosophy. At least here offensively, and we haven't even got to that Bill Shootout, which is probably the game of the weekend, and how much fun that was with a healthy burrow back despite the mistakes at the end. I don't feel like, look, this is what this league is, but I don't feel great about anything in the AFC right now.

[C]

So why don't you feel great about New England? To me, New England's the team that I would probably circle. What. What is it that holds you back on New England?

[A]

I think it has to do with the schedule.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And.

Their defense isn't. It's not what these other defense, like these other defenses that we're talking about. And look, May's been better than every single one of these guys that we've talked about, other than, you know, what Josh Allen maybe means to his team. And there's some stats you can get in there and say, hey, May's done it at a higher level than anybody playing the position this year. Like, maybe he wins the mvp. He's been everything you could ever hope for when you draft one of these guys. And the fact that it feels like this answers, this question is answered this soon in his career is like, you know, long term for this year. You know, I don't, I don't love the collection of weapons. Even though they found a way to make this work. And I do think it is a little scheduley.

[C]

I do think there's some schedule stuff to it. I do see them winning a bunch of different ways. So they can blow out, they can win close against Buffalo, they can just run out the Giants, you know, they can win comfortably, like over teams they should, like the, like the Jets. I agree the schedule is a thing, but I think of all these teams, if we're. I'm just going to stack them here on my screen. Of all these teams in the afc, who can we say is already good but has not reached their peak and is ascending?

[A]

Yeah, because the, the Denver thing is very easy. Like, I don't like Bo Nicks. I think this run of, like these games are like, hey, Denver won again. You know, even if there's. There's a bit more seasoning on it than them. No, you're right. Like, if you frame it that way, who hasn't reached your peak and who could get even better and who is.

[C]

Likely to get better? Like, who is trending better? And I look at these teams and I'm like, so, you know, Denver. Denver's one of 57 teams to win 10 or more in a Season with by far the lowest point margin of the 57. So, okay, that tells us what we see. You know, they're the type of team that, you know, is going to run across a, you know, they're going to. It's not. That formula is not going to work that they have where they don't. A lot of times they don't play good on offense till the end of the game. And the defense is really a big part of that. We'll see. You know, Jacksonville, we talked about Pittsburgh, we're not feeling that well.

[A]

The Pittsburgh. You want to go, like, just to get them in real quick with that game yesterday. It's the best Rodgers has looked all season long, even with the huge points against the jets in week one. You could see from the jump, like, I don't know if he was on the Peptides or something, but man, he, like, he came out. He, he looked like a different cat altogether when you add in because, like, it was very. I think you were probably doing the same thing I was. It's like, okay, this Baltimore thing's a mess. They're healthy, Lamar's back, they're going to play Pittsburgh two more time. They're going to win the division, they're going to be back in the playoffs. Lamar, this is just a bad year. I don't know that this derails his career here at 28 years old.

[C]

Oh, my gosh.

[A]

But he's just been bad. That's fine. Maybe he's just going to have a bad year and he's going to be one of the best quarterbacks when we started Open 26. But this year, that game yesterday is like the epitome of what this league is. It's just when you think, okay, I've seen this for 10 plus weeks now. I kind of have this whole thing figured out. And now Pittsburgh's in this thing. So great weekend for Pittsburgh, but I'm, I'm not afraid of him.

[C]

I'm not afraid of him either. But I, you know, it's funny, I was talking to a coach yesterday about the tier one quarterback, you know, and we were talking about, you know, there's a couple things about them. Usually one is they're just about always available. You know, Rogers breaks his wrist or whatever, he's out there. Justin Herbert's trying that too. And then ideally they, they help coach your team. And I think one of the problems with Rodgers in recent years, the perception has been that it's all about him and he's more criticizing the team than coaching them. And contributing in that way. Whenever we've seen these other guys, Peyton Manning or Brady, you know, go to places, even Philip Rivers, who's a notch below but still a great player, they're like, they're elevating. And so I wonder internally with Pittsburgh if, remember, he called out the receivers last week, did they have a really good, productive meeting? Because it looked better to me. And he, like I wrote, he completed four passes more than 20 yards downfield, which he hasn't done since 2020. And he's only done more than that six times in his 274 starts. So there was something different about him. And maybe they do get a little mojo here and, you know, finish a little bit better to be perfect for Steelers fans who want a new coach. Right.

And then Rodgers retires after the season when they win the wild card, you know, and when wild card, you're out and you're like, hey, we did it.

[A]

Yeah, did it. Mission accomplished, Bills. Great win. I don't know if Allen has an outside track and MVP here.

[C]

He does.

[A]

You. Do you think it's to.

[C]

I think he does. I was watching yesterday thinking that. Yes.

[A]

So what's the argument for him compared to like, how many contenders do you have that are still alive for mvp?

[C]

Well, I think you got to have Drake, May and Stafford probably are the betting favorites. I think Stafford might even be the number one betting favorite. And then I would put. I think Allen is in that lurker category. For me, where I was looking at it last night, just some of the metrics I look at. I have one that's just like quarterback epa, meaning how much EPA on quarterback plays, basically. And he's number one in the league right now, quietly. So I think that those types of games like yesterday, where their defense isn't what it used to be and he's got a rally on a, you know, and carry the team. That's what a tier one quarterback is, and we know that he is that. So if they get the team results, you know, they're. They're what? They're nine and four now. They've kind of been, you know, if they Buffalo and look at their schedule here, Buffalo's. If Buffalo. Let's just say they're going to get New England this, this next week. If he outdoors May, let's just say I think in one week he can be. He can move the needle on this thing. If he like totally outplays May and they win at New England and it's a Josh Allen show, which totally could happen. Don't you think then that he could easily be.

Even. Could he go past May in the mvp?

[A]

Yeah, yeah, I think so. I mean, Stafford's turnovers, you know, dinged his odds a little in the Carolina game, but it was also on pace to be one of those great historic touchdown interception split seasons that, you know, we see from some of like, it feels like Rogers got a couple of them, Brady's got a couple, Rogers has. Yeah, yeah, right.

[C]

I think he's great. And the Rams may be the best team in the league. I mean, they're, they're really, really good. I think it may be McVeigh's best team. But, yeah, on these AFC years, I think Buffalo we were going to talk about, and I feel like they're just lurking. I still think they can do it this year, but their margin for error is not even close to what it was. And we see that in their, their bad record the last two years. If the offense does have an off day, they're owing to for this year, one and seven last two years versus being maybe 500 before that, when the offense is below average, statistically, just negative epa. And then they are, you know, they become more of a 500 team on the road when they used to win most on the road. So that tells you there's what we see, right? It tells you what we see, that they're still pretty good. They're still going to have a good record, but they do not have the defense and they're super. Josh Allen, Reliant.

You know, to, to. To go all the way. Best thing for him is Kansas City's out of there probably. So that has to help them. But are you. You know, I think you. I think you take the field over any, any one of these teams, and that includes Buffalo.

[A]

What's the Buffalo road record? Because I know you had that in your piece. I don't know you have it up in front of you because Even, yeah.

[C]

Bills three and three on the road this year, 12 and 11 over the last three, a lot of teams would take that, but they were 23 and nine away from home over the previous four years. So that tells you. That shows the regression that we feel, right, that they're still a good team, but they're not as consistently great. They're just not as complete of a team.

[A]

Yep, that's good. That's. That's really good because it's, it's that stuff that you're like, is this actually happening? And look, I think it's the worst team with the Best chances because of who. Who else is in the AOC around them and the betting odds would favor that because they still have a better chance of winning the Super Bowl. I think they're super bowl odds. Let me just double check it again here for us. But which would be third in the AFC betting odds? They're still the favorite in the AFC ahead of New England and ahead of Denver and by the way, Kansas City super bowl odds are still higher than Pittsburgh's. But if we go to odds on the MVP that we wanted to finish off this staff are still the favorite. Then it's May, then it's Jordan Love, then Josh Allen is slightly behind him. Do you want to guess at who the first non quarterback is available for MVP odds?

[C]

Yeah. Would it be Jackson, Smith and Jigba?

[A]

It would be. Oh well, yeah.

[C]

I live in the Seattle area so I, I ought to.

[A]

That was tough.

[C]

Be aware I was trying to think of who else it would be. I don't think it would be Puka on the same team as, you know, as Stafford. I don't know that his. I'm sure he has great numbers but JSN came off the pace a little bit. What's he at now? I'm going to look him up because plus 10,000. No, I want to see what his numbers, what he's on pace for because he is a great player. That was one of the things, you know, maybe you'll chop this out but has anyone had a better.

Year in a front office than John Schneider at the Seahawks?

[A]

Well, you would answer that better than I would.

[C]

It's unbelievable. I mean their, their second round pick. Nick Iman worry yesterday joined Julius Peppers and Adrian Adrian Wilson, the only guys last 25 years to block a field goal, pick off a pass, half a second a game. I think he had two tackles for lost too. He's a baller. He's one of these Kyle Hamilton guys who's playing like edge rusher, inside linebacker, safety, corner, slot, you know, all of these things. Star going to be a superstar. But they're off season guys yesterday I think. Or they're veteran acquisition guys. Rashid Shahid from the Saints scores on 100 yard touchdown catches. Four balls. Obviously Darnold, you know, was a pickup for them. You're moving on from a starting quarterback. You know that sort of a deal is hard to do. Cooper cup catches a touchdown for him yesterday as well. DeMarcus Lawrence has been a great player for them, a great addition. Good for the young guys. Plays the run, plays tough on a really Great defense. So I'm probably leaving a couple guys out. They're Gray's able, their first round picks starting on the offensive line. They got really nice receiver in Horton who's hurt right now, but the tight end, Arroyo. I just think that team.

For where they were has really made a jump.

[A]

I want to pivot here into the NFC. Let's, let's @ least start with the Chicago Green Bay game. Okay. Yeah. Green Bay is a perfect example of just what the NFL is, the beginning of the year. Hey, they look like they're better than everybody else. Cleveland game, like, what the hell's wrong with them? Oh, no, they are better than everybody else. The Dallas game, you're mad. The Carolina game, you're mad. But then it's like, oh, well, Carolina's sort of weird. And then, yeah, you know, they run off these last few and you go, okay, Jordan Love is that guy. You know, after the, the, the Philly loss, which was their last loss of the season, I'm not saying that they're going to go undefeated the rest of the way. And they beat the Bears and what was a game I couldn't wait to see. I wasn't shocked that the Bears lost it. But.

Do more people in the NFL.

Like the packers more than the Rams or the Seahawks or like, how are the packers talked about in comparison to the other.

[C]

Contenders? I don't think so. You know, in fact, I was talking to a coach yesterday who watches, you know, watches the NFC north pretty closely. You know, he's got a home in that area and, and he was like.

Loved the game yesterday. He's like, this is what the rivalry should be about. Got chippy at one point. I mean, they're both trying to run the ball. It's cold, it's competitive. Yeah, the packers are a better team right now, but the Bears have an edge to them and, and it was awesome. And that's good for the game, good for the league. But as we were talking, he said, I don't think either one of those teams are good enough defensively like the Rams or Seahawks are, to really go all the way. And that's what's going to be what holds them back. And you say, wait a minute. Green Bay, good defensive team. They got Micah Parsons. It was pretty cold out there. I didn't study the game, but I didn't. Was Parsons making a huge impact late in the game? Didn't feel like it to me watching it. Maybe he was, but I think there's some inconsistency with Green Bay Being. I don't know if it's just because they're always the youngest team in the league or what, but I do think they're really good on offense. At their best defensively. You know, maybe it's. I don't put them in that upper tier. Do.

[A]

You?

There's more weeks. I really love their defense than. Than having. You know, so maybe Parsons didn't have the game that we've all expected, but I just think there's been so many games where he's actually wreaked havoc on everybody that I wouldn't. I wouldn't hold that against him. And look, he had. We're also dealing with Caleb Williams where as frustrating as he was, awful start to the game, one of seven, awful close to the game. The decision on the interception in the end zone. He's just a lot. Even if you don't like Caleb Williams, pass rush against him is a pain in the.

[C]

Ass. No, it totally is. It totally is. I agree. It's different. He's the great escape artist. This is true for a lot of teams. So I'm not going to hold this too much against Green Bay, but here's their really super good defensive games were against Minnesota, against Washington, against Cleveland and against Philly. And now Philly, super bowl champs also against Pittsburgh. Pretty good defensive game. Well, I think most of those teams have major issues this year where they're talking about the quarterback or the coordinator or. Or that's a backup in the game. Right. So when you look at who they have really struggled against Dallas, the Giants, I have no idea how Detroit, in their victory, 31, 24, you know, they were okay against Cincy, but.

I don't put them in a. I don't think they're. I think they're a defense. You have a major game plan consideration with Micah Parsons, but you also feel like you can get some things on them too. So do they improve down the stretch? Are they a team like we mentioned, New England, you know, that can still get better and I think they probably are. The interesting part is that they were probably loved more before the season than they are now at 9, 3 and 1. I think everyone was on them to start the year and I think more people are just kind of lukewarm on them even though they've won 73% of their games.

[A]

Right? Yeah. I think that's. If we're just taking a temperature of a team, which doesn't necessarily mean that it's right or not. That's. That is at least accurate on how we Talked about them. I have to. Before we do like the Rams and Seahawks in comparison to them, then I've got to ask you about Caleb Williams, because as a believer.

You know, there's a lot with this team. Right. Like I was looking at the turnover percentage, opposing drives, opponents drives ending in a turnover. It's 20%. Just under 20% for Chicago. Seems like an insane number that one out of five drives ends that way. If you look at the rest of the league, like 18 teams are at 11% or less. You know, you've got the commanders. You know, 6% of opponents ended up turnover, Giants 5%, the Jets 0.8%, which maybe is as impressive as a number as the Bears leading the NFL in it. There was another number they showed yesterday, Caleb Williams, which makes sense because, like the frustration that I have with him is I can just, I've been able to figure it out this year is like, clearly there's a read that he doesn't like, the way that Ben Johnson would like him to like that first read a little bit more and let him rip into whatever it is that they've called which leads to them. I mean, you just can see it now. And I think 21% of his past attempts are while running, which is second highest in the.

[C]

NFL. And the one last week, the great one to come at, you know, this is a great play, throwing left. He's got two guys open for the first.

[A]

Down. So I don't want to ask this after a game losing pick into the end zone with more running.

[C]

Underneath.

[A]

Yeah. All right. But I'd say the collective is better than the Caleb Williams.

Referendum that you shared with us when we did QB tiers where I was like, hey, is this one or two guys? And you're like, no, it's like 17 guys from. I don't expect that 17 guys are going to check in with you after yesterday's game. But what is. Do you get texts from guys that didn't like him saying, see, I told you, Because I imagine that's human nature. What are people saying about him now that you talk to about.

[C]

Caleb? I think it's. I think it's a little bit of a generally positive shift. Okay. On Caleb because I. Is one of the great lines coming into the year was like, this guy's either going to be a tier 2 or tier 4 really quick. You know, it's going to go one way or the other. I, I kind of feel like the way he was dumped on coming into the year and there was that big article you Know that Tyler Dunn wrote like, I feel like it's been a real pleasant shift for that where you can see the issues within the offense and you, but you, you do see some progress. I mean, I do think there's some improvement in this. I don't think he's. The number one thing is he's not taking a bunch of sacks and that demoralizes your offensive line and team and gets coaches and everybody else who votes in quarterback tears down on you as fast as anything. It's such a non team thing when a quarterback is doing so much on his own that he's ruining plays. So Caleb still does a lot on his own and probably too much on his own. He's finding that balance. But I think there's no question he's better and eliminated so many of the negative plays when he's holding the ball longer and, and that has to be seen as progress. So, you know, I still don't know that he goes into tier two.

You know, do you think he would. I just kind of off the top of my head would feel like he's got to have a pretty good finish to do that. I think he'll get some two votes. Maybe some people will bet on him to be a 2. I do think it's generally positive though. I don't think the people, the nay, the naysayers aren't rubbing anything in at this point and maybe the team context of winning is helping that. But he's a part of that as well and I don't think he's done anything.

That turns off people in the league with like just the way he's talking about the games and stuff that. Don't you feel like when you watch him after the games it's pretty good.

[A]

Now. I don't know that anybody brings up any of that stuff. They would if he looked as bad as he did in 24 again this.

[C]

Year. Yeah, I just, I think it's a general positive, you know, general positive, but I still think he's.

I don't think he's done enough to be that established tier 2 guy yet. He's consistent enough now. Maybe he gets it on talent.

[A]

But just my gut, I don't think he'll be in tier 2 if it stays like this the rest of the year. The difference is after last year you're like, is this guy going to get the second contract? Or now you look at it and be like, hey, if you can build a lot of this, I really would look forward to him being in Ben Johnson's thing going into next year. Like, that's when we're going to kind of know who he is. Because I think there's always going to be the plays that dazzle you, the plays that frustrates you. I don't know that he's ever going to lose that part of it, but I would say letting it rip, being a little bit more aggressive on covered routes within reason. Not. Not risking turnovers necessarily. It seems like he's shied away from some of that stuff with how I watch it this year. You said something before that I thought was interesting that I want to follow up with just to make sure we cover the Rams and the Seahawks. You think this is the best Rams team McVeigh's ever.

[C]

Had? I do. And I was ready to write it until they lost at Carolina. So sometimes the results are anyway, sometimes things are true. But the results in any one week prevent you from discussing.

[A]

It. You know, I would have loved to have you just, hey, I know they lost to Carolina, but here's my thought. I. I would have loved it if you had done.

[C]

That. Yeah, I probably should have done that. I just. Other things were going on and I wanted tip my cap to Carolina instead. But.

Yes, I do think that, number one, their defense is really good. I think Chris Shula is a very good coordinator. I think Sean McVay is more than just an offensive coach now. I think he, you know, behind the scenes is into the defense a little bit too. And I think they've got a great combination of coaching defensively. They are in some ways and to update the stats, but they moved on. This would probably be something I do as part of an analysis. They moved on from one of the five greatest defensive players in the history of the league and got better. No one's talking about life after Aaron Donald, are.

[A]

They?

[C]

No. That is unbelievable. And so. And Donald also retired in his prime. That makes him different than some of these other. I put him on a list with Lawrence Taylor, Reggie White. Right when we're talking about the absolute greatest players to ever play defense. And J.J. watt could have been. And maybe he is. You know, he had some injury issues, but it's probably. I'm going to have to go look who of those guys. This will be my research.

Walked away when they were still the best player in the league at their position, which I think Darnold probably was. And then what happened to their teams? Where's this fall off? Did they go sign a bunch of guys in free agency to replace them? No, they drafted a couple guys from the same school. Because I think they get a bump out of that, you know, Vers and Fisk and here they are.

With.

[A]

A. Wait. They think that. They think, like there's a.

[C]

Camaraderie. Like they think there's a synergy, like a thing to get two guys that can play out, that have played together. They think there's a bump off of that. That's one of their scouting.

[A]

Things. That's.

[C]

Interesting. And so is there some sort of exponential effect off that? Well, you know, the sample size is too small. We don't get to run a thousand samples of that to know. But looks pretty good for. For them, I think. And so that is really remarkable to me to be a better defense than you were with Aaron Donald. They would be better if. They'd be even better if they had Donald Donald on their team, obviously. But that's amazing. And then I think they have found a sweet spot on offense to where they, you know, they have a good mix between the run game and the pass game. I think the scheme, you know, McVeigh is out of that realm where he'd gotten solved for a few years. I think they're probably in their best spot of having a prime elite quarterback with the scheme good, the people around him good. Obviously Puka Naku is a great wide receiver, but they have other guys. I think Devonte Adams has been a nice ad for them as a great two.

For them. And if we were just. If we were to put every team up on a board and say, what's your weakness? What's your fatal flaw? What do you got for the Rams? Because we can come up with one for just about everybody. Right?

We can come up with one for Seattle until Darnold plays better in a big.

[A]

Game. Yeah, I don't know what it.

[C]

Is. So that's. I just wrote my next. You know, I wrote. Previewed it. It's great to talk to you because it gets my mind going, but that's probably something that I'm going to write here that I feel. I just feel like that's them and now they're going to play they in Seattle. Each have a game this week and then they play each other in Seattle on a short week Thursday. That could be for the.

[E]

Division.

[C]

And could be for the number one.

[A]

Seed.

Did Seattle do enough in slowing the Rams down the rest of that game with the Darnold turnovers? Like there's a way to talk about that first matchup in LA a few weeks ago where you go, hey, you know what? Seattle maybe should feel good. Like, who will you pick in that rematch at.

[C]

Seattle? I'll probably pick Seattle in the rematch at home on the short week. I don't know that if they win, it makes me feel like they're necessarily for sure better. But I do think that you could come away from that game. I don't think after that game, the Rams were like, we want to play these guys a bunch more times. Same time. I think there's something to the Darnold stuff. Even did it yesterday, early in the Atlanta game. He makes silly interceptions. He forces the ball in there and tries to do tier one throws. You know, rolling to the side and just forcing it in there. Just live for another play. Defense bails them out, they end up rolling. You know, Atlanta, they get a kickoff return touchdown. That ain't happening against the good teams. So that is still a concern for me that I don't think that. I think people used to have that a little bit with Stafford, the gunslinger, but he's obviously done a much better job protecting the ball. And so I do think Seattle probably wins the rematch. In Seattle, I thought they might even win the first game and lose the second one. I think there'd be a split there. But I still think the Darnold thing is an issue until he shows it's.

[A]

Not.

That's Mike Sando. Read his piece the Pick six in the Athletic every Monday, recapping the best stuff from the week in the NFL. And of course, we'll check in again this season. Man, thanks so.

[C]

Much. Hey, thank.

[D]

You.

You want.

[B]

Details?

[A]

Fine. I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet. What's.

[B]

Up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every toy you can possibly imagine, and best of all, kids, I am liquid. So now you know what's.

[A]

Possible. Let me tell you what's required. Life Advice, lifeadvicermail.com Holidays right around the corner, we got Kyle, we get Ceruti, you guys got big plans? What's going.

[E]

On? Just driving my truck.

[A]

Around. That's it? Yeah. Yeah, that's.

[D]

All. It's on.

[A]

Kyle. Forget baby Jesus. The gift giving to oneself sometimes can be the most rewarding. So let's talk about the process, buddy. New.

[E]

Ride? Yeah, new ride. My wife and I went in, drove a couple of four runners around. We were gonna check the Broncos out, too, but, I mean, the four runners was just. We're just kind of speaking to us. We drove the regular, like the stock, and then we took one spin in the premium, as they say. And it was like, I guess we're just gonna have to finance the premium. So that's what we did. And it's great. I drove to CVS yesterday an hour before they were open. Like, oh, guess they're not open. Have to come back later. I'm just driving places, so it's. It's been great feeling. Yeah. Never had a new car, so this.

[A]

Cool. Brand.

[E]

New. 0miles25, I think there was like 120 miles on it, but they had to get it between dealerships. So he explained it to me. There was still plastic on the.

[A]

Wheels. I was like.

[D]

Cool. Yeah. What.

[E]

Color? It's white. It's white and black. Nice black trim.

Apparently the black ones are hard to come by, so.

White was like second on the.

[A]

List. So. Yeah. I remember a couple early car deals, you know, black car, just a salesman, like, lining you up.

You know. So I was like, had a black Durango, looking to trade it in. The guy was like, what are you looking for? I was like, oh, you know, maybe a little.

[D]

Upgrade.

[A]

Really? Like the Durango, maybe. Maybe, you know, something like this. And. But I, you know, it depends on the trade. And he's just immediately telling me how bad my. My current one is. It's like, I'm. It's the same car. Like, shouldn't you not. Isn't this like the acc. You just want the newer. Really not. Yeah, you take it easy on Notre Dame a little bit with your.

[D]

Partnership.

[E]

Yeah. This guy got a whiff of my Bronco thoughts, and he immediately had like 10 facts about why the Broncos.

[D]

Suck. And I was like, hey, hey.

[E]

I wanted to try this first anyway, so relax. I'm a Ford guy and I'm a good American, so why don't you. We were chill out with how.

[D]

You'Re talking about Ford when we bought my wife's VW Tiguan. The guy, when.

[E]

We. That's how you say it. I always kind of guess.

[B]

Tiguan. But that.

[D]

Makes. I think. I think I'm getting it right. I'm not sure.

We'Re big VW people, but the guy just started shit talking Jeep out of, like nowhere. And like, I had a Jeep and he didn't.

[A]

Know. Classic.

[B]

Mistake.

[D]

Yeah. And he might have been right. I don't even know. But it was like, probably not the move. He's like, what car do you have? I was like, yeah, you know, 20, 19 Jeep.

[A]

Cherokee. No big.

[D]

Deal. Don't have that anymore. But still not. Not the.

[A]

Move.

I love the old Jeep.

[D]

Cherokees. The old, old Ones like. Yeah, like the early 2000s 90s ones. The box ones are.

[A]

Awesome. Love those. But I've had a scenario where.

A salesman told me the black car was hard to keep clean and a white car was hard to keep.

[D]

Clean. Honestly, it was like, right though.

[E]

You know, kind of polar opposites though.

[A]

So. So what's. What, what are you going to.

[E]

Get? Red forest.

[A]

Green? Yeah.

[E]

Yeah. Get yourself a nice pine.

[A]

Pie. Like a dark gray.

[E]

Hunter. I don't.

[D]

Know. My Jeep was green, honestly. Did look clean all the.

[E]

Time. Winter, Wintertime is a little tough for white, I think. You know, you see that salt and the, and the. Just everything that gets spun up there pretty easily.

[A]

So. But apparently same thing with black because it stands out. Like when it's not clean, it shows. So maybe the salesman wasn't, but it just was something early.

[E]

On. Black Durangos to sell.

[A]

You. That's probably what it.

[D]

Was. He's like, by the way, we have a car wash package for you. Just if you're looking for it. It's like, yeah, all right, here we.

[A]

Go. Yeah, but no, whenever you, if you're on a budget, don't ever drive the nicer model of the car that you want because it's just impossible to. Crazy how much better they scream. Like knowing that the other version of what you have is that much.

[D]

Better. Yeah, it's like I could feel the suspension. Yes. And you're just like, yeah, I don't.

[E]

Know. And then, yeah, once you, once you have that six way seat and it's like you get in the other one and it's like, yeah, just yank that bar up and scoot yourself.

[A]

Up. And it's just almost the same. Anyway, so we had a few follow ups to the guy that was going to try to ask his girlfriend to go live with his friends for a year without it disrupting their plans. Likely to be married and they had a dog together too. So I, I felt like it was fairly impossible. Of course, you know, other guys, other guys. There was a few submissions where you're like, this isn't the same thing, dude. You know, oh, we got one here.

Man. 37, 5 11. Tell people I'm 510 because I'm clearly not 6ft. I like that. Switching up on people and then.

[E]

Dudes are like, dude, you're not 5.

[A]

10. Yeah. Doesn't that feel.

[B]

Better? Oh, I.

[A]

Guess. I don't know. Maybe more 511 guys should do that. Like, instead of being like, are you sure? And then you're like, I don't.

[E]

Know, maybe I'm not.

[A]

Dude. 185, no gym stats, but I'm only six weeks away in my mind.

All right, player comp. My dad used to call me Moses Malone because I had a fat ass and knew how to use it to own the glass. This guy's okay. This guy's got a lot to offer. To the guy who wants to take a one year break from living with his girlfriend, moving his boys, I can say this is for sure all caps insane. However it can be done. My older brother, one year gap, pulled what I would call an even crazier move post college with his then girlfriend and now wife. Around springtime of the year my brother was graduating from college, he broke the news to my parents brother and I that he had a girlfriend, that things were pretty serious with. Shocking news to everyone since we've not heard about a relationship. Guys will do.

[E]

That.

[A]

Yeah. I remember there was a girl I was dating long distance and then I said something. She was like, say hi to your dad for me. Like make sure he says. I was like, he will ask who you.

[D]

Are.

[A]

Yes.

She's like, oh. And I probably should have not said that. I could have just very simply said like yeah, no.

[D]

Problem.

[E]

Yep. Yeah, just run that through the old processor, the old resilo processor and go bring it out the other.

[A]

Side. I had to be so straightforward that I was like, I, I will not do that because he doesn't. She was like, oh, great. Psych on this special. But that's a guy thing. It's probably more of a guy thing. Just, you know, to tell the ladies out there if that happens to you, the guy may still be in love. He's just, you know. Anyway, around springtime. Okay. Shocking. After my brother graduated, he moved back into my parents house. I was also coming home for summer break, but still had my apartment at college that I would spend time at because it was only 45 minutes away from home. That must have been awesome during the.

[E]

Summer. I can't believe you let them. I can't believe they helped you get an apartment 45 minutes away from.

[A]

Home. Or that they weren't demanding that you sublet it out or you subletted it out with people that it was like, hey, I'm still going to come back and crash in the couch. But anyway, anyway. My parents house is in the suburbs outside of a major city. But they downsize as my brothers and I got older as we likely wouldn't be living there much longer. Except for this summer. Yeah. Soon after we were all back at my parents House. This summer my brother sat us down and said that his new series girlfriend that we'd still not met would be moving into my parents house because she'd be working in the city. It seemed like this would be a temporary situation until they saved up some money and could move into a place closer to the city where they both work. Fast forward to the next spring. They're both still living with my parents. I was now graduating college and would be moving back into my parents house full time which meant space was going to be tight. Side note, my parents were strict about co sleeping under their roof so she was sleeping in my room most of the time while I was at school. That would have been hilarious. It's like you're not dating so you can sleep in the same. But obviously he was still at school. After a few weeks of me being at home, my brother decided he had saved up enough money in the living conditions weren't ideal. So he, being the savior he is, was going to take one of the team and move into an apartment in the city with his three buddies. When I tell you the only person who did not seem to think it was insane was my brother. His girlfriend continued to live with us for a few months before she was able to move out and to get into an apartment with a friend she had from college. They continued to date throughout all of this or happen. Married, four amazing kids. I don't think it's the same. It's. It's wild. It's not the.

[D]

Same. It's not. Yeah, you had an out. You had an.

[E]

Out. He's like well I had somebody pushing you out. You had a ticking time bomb near like here, I'll shuffle this out the.

[D]

Door. A grenade he was very willing to fall on I assume as well there. Which is fine, you know, Right. Oh man. I guess they'll pull my arm. I guess I'll move in with.

[E]

The bros. Like well you can live comfortably with my parents and not comfort at.

[A]

All. Not being able to hook up with my girlfriend in the same house because my parents are also my roommates. I will sacrifice to go live with my three brothers buddies in the city. In the city while you are still here. I'll do it because I love.

[E]

You. I'll go live in a dangerous.

[A]

City and you, yeah, you kick it in the.

[D]

Suburbs. That's incredible. He saw an opportunity was like I got. This is. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for.

[A]

Me. The thing is, is our original emailer, the foundation is so strong that he is trying to disrupt what is a great start to their life? This foundation is so fucking shaky that it was an.

[E]

Easier. You don't even.

[B]

Notice. Yeah, long.

[D]

Term. Yeah, it worked out long term. Maybe that's the answer, though. Maybe you.

[E]

Just. You need to create a little chaos. Created.

[D]

Yeah. You get somebody to. I don't know what it is, but you need somebody to come in there and shake shit up and, you know, brainstorm on.

[E]

That. Start pouring grease down the. Just full bacon fat liquefied down the. Down the pipes and just be.

[A]

Like, we're gonna have to move forward from here, you know, I don't know. What if you said one of the buddies has some sort of medical condition, but he's vague about.

[E]

It? That's what I said last.

[A]

Week. Oh, is that what you said? Oh, that's what we were doing the make wish thing. My bad, Kyle. And then she's like, wait, what? How's he doing? He's like, oh, his anxiety's way better.

Nice.

All right, a little plain stuff here. Pretty straightforward. 33.65, 215. 4. 49 mile last year. Damn good stats all across the board. Morgan would love that. Wonder what his mile time is right now. Betch. It's awesome. Probably part of the French. Basque listeners that love the beach, shout out.

This is Basque for hello. I don't know the pronunciation.

Okay. Sure.

Don'T know. Player comp. Chase buddinger, writing you for the scene of the crime. Boarded a flight today from Paris to Phoenix. Shocked they have this as a direct flight. I am.

[C]

Too. Me.

[A]

Too. That's.

[D]

Unbelievable. Just.

A lot of preachers like, I gotta get to Phoenix.

The desert's calling.

[A]

Snowbirds. I'm a 40 year old divorce guy. I'm in a slump. Phoenix.

As a taller guy. I always pay more for the bulkhead seat to get the extra leg room. Always available on Air France 36 hours before. Very helpful on 10 plus hour flights. When I got to my seat, there was a mother and a baby in my spot. I showed them my ticket and they politely moved to their seat. Hate having to do that. But it's not a Southwest flight. Southwest is changing that, by the.

[E]

Way.

[A]

Right. They are for taking it off. Taking off. Taking off, yeah. It became clear that this flight was fairly empty and the row behind me was vacant. I offered the mother my seat and said I'd be happy to sit in the row behind so she has more space for her and her baby. Neither French or English were her first language.

But she was very appreciative. Felt like a Good deed. Can only imagine how hard it is to travel with an infant. All is well. Here's my dilemma. 30 minutes and. Oh, so he's writing this right now, but it actually was a few days ago. Thirty minutes into the flight, I'm working my laptop. She goes into full recline. No regard. Feet up on the wall. White Lotus Season 1 Episode 1 On her screen, I'm squished. And we have nine hours and 55 minutes left in this flight. Fortunately, I could scoot over to the middle seat next to me that's open. But I can't help but be troubled by this feels like a blatant disregard of plain etiquette and decency. Especially after I gave her my seat. Now, this isn't the first time I ever reclined on. So I could could pull out the usual tricks. The subtle knee, the rumaging around that shakes the seat just enough, or simply retrieve something from the overhead. Yeah, remind her that a relative Basque giant is behind her. Ultimately, I will do none of the above. And instead I will write all of you. I'm just. Am I justified to feel laws of the Arab been violated? Or as Captain Barbosa would say, are these rules more like guidelines?

[E]

Nice.

I mean, he's in an empty row, right? I mean, you totally could. I guess I do enjoy sitting on the window if that's what he was doing. And he's like, I either have the window and be squished or I'm in the aisle or the middle seat and I got nothing to lean on. Certainly noticeable. Certainly a.

[A]

Noticeable. I went from an aisle to a window guy, which was shocking to me, but I did.

[D]

Too. It's. I can just always been a.

[E]

Window guy could just hold my pee on planes so I don't really have to worry about.

[D]

It.

[E]

Same. Maybe as I get older, there's.

[D]

No reason to get up. I don't want to get.

[A]

Up. Yeah, and if you have to get up once, getting up once is totally, hey, I'm gonna get up once. Like, yeah, everybody kind of has to get up once. I'll get up once. You don't have to, but get up once. You know, just because your aisle doesn't mean you're in charge of your row. Although some people seem to think that they are. But windows just to move because there's more room. You can ooze into that extra room over there. Yeah, Kyle just did it. The look on his face. He was thinking about the comfort of a window as he did it. Yeah. I don't know, mom. With an infant. I probably defer to anything that she probably needs because it's a super pain in the ass. But recliners are.

Recliners. Don't care. What are the.

[E]

Rules? I don't know what the rules are with recliners. You know, if I get reclined on, should I recline? I don't know, should it stop with me? Do I. I'm not. Do I get some sort of. I don't. I'm not either.

[D]

Really. Yeah, I don't recline out of respect. I feel like I don't really need.

[A]

It.

[E]

Legroom. When I recline too, I end up going like a little bit forward just so the back of my seat can go back, you know. So I'm a legroom guy more than a, you know, a lean back.

[D]

Guy. So I think to the barbosa point, there are they. They really are more like guidelines that just like, you know, people with self awareness follow, but they aren't really laws because like, yeah, this case, like, I'm not going to do anything. I wouldn't do anything. And you know, you have the benefit of the whole row. So I would probably just move over or slouch. I mean, you more space. I'm not gonna have a ton of sympathy for you. I know you're tall, but you know that there's really not much you could do other than kind of like the kicking thing and kind of be an asshole behind them. But like, even so, what's gonna happen? Like, they're. I don't know. She's probably just like, I'm gonna get my sleep. I don't really.

[A]

Care.

Yeah, the reclining thing, I, you know, some people are like, hey, why, why would you make the seats recline if no one can use it? And then it does set off this kind of domino that it's like, well, if you're gonna do it, then I have to do it. If you have a laptop going and somebody does it to you, it sort of sucks. But look, I don't usually recline, but if somebody reclines on me and I have no choice and I'm trying to work, I'll probably then recline so.

[E]

I don't need a lucky recliner sitting behind me too. Like, is this my.

[A]

Size? Or like, you know, might do a slow little. Yeah, like, almost make it seem like it's not happening.

The only one that bothers me is the guy that sits down. The plane isn't even on the ground yet, and he just goes boom. And you're like, oh, first time Setting the tone. Yeah.

[E]

Right. Set the.

[A]

Tone. Yeah, yeah. I, I look, she's got a baby with her, and it sounds like you could fix it. And she's probably doesn't know what the hell's going on. You know, she's not even thinking about you. She's not realizing French size. Yeah, yeah. I don't know what that means.

[D]

But.

Lloyd Christmas, the French are.

[A]

Assholes. You know.

I think it's really more of a Parisian thing than it.

[D]

Is.

[A]

Maybe.

I've never run into any issues anywhere else, but I've also never been to Paris. What does that mean? Who knows?

Ryan, Kyle Cerriti, big fan of the show. That's right. It's our names. Those are our names. 64225, 24 years old. NBA player. Comp. Kenneth Fareed. The.

[E]

Man. A lot of height on this pot so.

[A]

Far. Pots huge. That 511 guy looks huge.

The 511 guy that emailed in about the pain. He also sent in this unbelievable story that I cannot share. That's like. I just want him to know that it was appreciated. It was one of my favorite stories I've ever.

[D]

Read. He's gonna love this head.

[A]

Nod. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I didn't. He told me not to put it in. I can't. I wish I could. It doesn't really expose anything, but it's. But gives more background on who he is, so I can't do it. Former all American water polo player. I can bench 390. Deadlift 550. What? 545. Fellow Nathaniel Philbrick enthusiast. Like Ryan. Hey, you're taller, stronger and younger, so.

You'Re winning, buddy. I'm dating this woman. We'll call her Sophie for two years. Sounds hot. Sophie and I met in college. Both are working in a large northeastern city, Both making good money. About three weeks ago, myself, Sophie and my roommate, one of our other friends, we'll call Emily, all went out on a bar Saturday night with a few of Emily's work friends. The rest of us had not met. One of Emily's friends, let's call her Mary, immediately started hitting on me. I introduced. Well, dude, you're fucking. Six four, water polo. Former water polo. Send a pic so we have the.

[E]

Audience. Did you guys ever hear that, like, you know, there's things that, like, we all hear, like, what's the most. Like we're talking like, who's the most athletic athlete? I had always just heard without ever seeing a match of water. Is it a match or a game of water? Polo being played. It's like, those guys are the best athletes. Your feet can't touch. That's just what I always. But I've never. It's just like a thing you always hear, like, sort of like Marilyn Manson removed two of his ribs. Like, I. I never did any research on that, but it's just something I heard. I don't know if you guys.

[D]

Ever heard, like, I did hear.

[C]

That.

[E]

Yeah. That water polo guys. Water polo players are the best.

[D]

Athletes. Well, Will Kane was a. Was a. I think he played water pole at Pepperdine, and so he would bring that up all the time. So I.

[A]

Have.

[D]

Yeah. And honestly, like, you know, he was. He's in good shape, you know, and. Right. Like, I wasn't going to dispute it, but. Yeah. You got to shred water for like an hour, basically, and throw a ball around. That seems.

[E]

Hard. You got to get stuff done.

[A]

Yeah. I don't.

[E]

Know. That's just what I heard. I was wondering if you guys heard that in your regions growing up.

[D]

Too.

Maybe.

[A]

Not. By the way, the ribbon removal thing for Marilyn Manson, for anyone that may be on the fence with that one still, apparently, that's just not.

[D]

True. It was.

[A]

Not. Yeah, yeah.

[D]

Yeah. Did he start that rumor? Who starts that.

[E]

Rumor? I don't know. He's like a guy who I think maybe would be like, hey, any press is good press. But I don't.

[A]

Know. Yeah, I'm not.

[D]

Sure. That's a weird one to leak.

[A]

Though. I don't know. Did you have any friends who he was their favorite.

[E]

Artist? No, I don't think.

[A]

So. No, no, that'd be a.

[E]

No. That's like, the only thing we.

[A]

All knew about him was.

[E]

That. And then he was in Sons of Anarchy and we're like, oh, is that the rib.

[D]

Guy? Anyway, but you ever notice, like. Yes, but you ever notice, like, I remember thinking, like, the kids that were wearing like the Nine Inch Nails T shirts in high school, like, man, those kids are fucking weird. Then you grow up and you're like, wait, Nine Inch Nails is fucking.

[A]

Awesome. I.

[E]

Love. Yeah. I think the T shirts just look like they were scary, but it.

[D]

Was. I don't know if those kids even listen to Nine Inch.

[A]

Nails.

[D]

Yeah. They were just wearing the shirt because it was like a.

[A]

Vibe.

[E]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. It's kind of like the Joy Division T.

[D]

Shirt.

[A]

Yes. Well, you lost me.

Well, I don't know. It's been a go to T shirt now for a bunch of years because it's kind of like a cool looking T shirt. I don't know how many people are into the.

[D]

Band. It's like a mountain or waves. What is it?

[A]

Right?

[D]

Yeah. Or something. I forget what it.

[A]

Is. Yeah. So Marilyn Manson. I think we got that taken care of. Water polo. If you can drown playing the sport, then, yeah. I think it's on the higher end of athletes. So, yeah, back to our. Our tall, hot, strong.

[D]

Guy. So who's got two women hitting on.

[C]

Him?

[A]

Yeah.

She immediately starts hitting on me. I introduced Sophie as my girlfriend, but Mary continued to very obviously flirt with me the whole evening. She spent the whole night trying to talk to me, kept touching my arm, laughing at everything I said. I generally think I'm a funny person, but I'm not that funny. Oh, humble and tall, strong and hot. Yeah. Cool. No, it's Philbrick. Come on.

She'd be eating in, like, new heights or.

[D]

Something.

Not after last.

[A]

Night. Oh, wow. Never.

[D]

Mind. Is that too.

[A]

Mean?

Tough game. Tough game. I try to be friendly while trying to generally shut down this flirtiness and make sure Sophie felt all right. It was a weird situation to be in, as I could tell Sophie was bothered by it, but I wasn't encouraging it at all. My roommate and Emily both agreed afterwards that Mary was flirting with me, and I handled it as best I could. I'm almost wondering if this is like a nursery rhyme and all of this is fake. Afterwards, I asked Sophie if she was all right. She told me I did nothing wrong, but it wasn't comfortable with how Mary was acting, and seeing her boyfriend get hit on right in front of her, I was able to reassure her. Move on. Two weeks after this, Sophie and I decided to mutually break up. This had nothing to do with Mary's situation, and we ended on good terms. It was about as mature and amicable as a breakup as I could hope.

[B]

For. My question.

[A]

Is.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

However.

A few days ago, Mary texted me asking me to hang out. Haven't gotten my number from our mutual friend. I never. I've never cheated or been disloyal in my relationships and have fully broken up as Sophie. Mary is also super hot and is only looking for something casual, which would be fun after a breakup. However, it feels wrong to get with a woman who I met for the first time while still with my ex, who made her insecure super recently. Is this a scumbag move? Am I overthinking? What do you guys think? Big fan of the show 24. Dude, give me a.

[E]

Break. Dude, could you drag your feet on this for, like, a week and a half? So you feel a little better about.

[C]

This? I think.

[E]

That'S.

[A]

That's. Maybe that's what you could do. Yeah. What's the window? When is it right? I mean, here's the.

[E]

Thing. Make it longer than you want it to be and then maybe you'll feel better about.

[A]

That. I don't know. Based on the way you just described yourself, Sophie's probably a little bummed out still. Yeah, yeah, good.

[D]

Point. But it was mutual. So was it. Who.

[E]

Knows? Yeah, but maybe it has to be for her to feel.

[A]

Good. I don't know. I don't.

[D]

Know. I. I think there's a. The important point here, though, is that she wants it casual. You're cool with that? Why does anybody else have to.

[E]

Know? Because.

[A]

You'Re. People find out.

[D]

Things. Yeah, all right, but like, that's on them. Then if they're, like digging around looking for stuff, like you're allowed to. I, you know, I gotta be honest. Like, you know, this guy gives you every reason to not like him. He's got everything going for him in life, and I like him a lot. This is a good question. Stand up. I mean, I appreciate that you're thinking about this because it is nice, but I kind of think you're good. It would be weird if you just like all of a sudden start dating this person like now. But if it's just kind of casual and you're post breakup, honestly, the friend Mary, like, it's kind of more on her. Like she's more of the asshole because she's obviously swooping in and they're still friends, presumably. Although maybe they're not after the.

[E]

Incident. Could be a friend for you, I.

[D]

Think. You know, just. I think you could just live your life here, you.

[A]

Know?

[E]

Yeah. Deprive yourself of it for like a week after the inception of the idea. Maybe you'll feel better about.

[A]

It. Look, we could come up with some make believe date in time that makes this all feel better for everybody. Okay. The second Sophie finds out that date doesn't exist for her. Exactly. It could be six weeks, it'd be six months, it could be a fucking year. All right? And.

There'S probably going to be some part that's like, oh, but you know, like, of all the people, her, it had to be her, you know? And you're like, well, yeah, it's a layup and I'd have to put any effort into it whatsoever except for, like being with you. And maybe Mary's really devious. Maybe her whole thing was like, I wanted to create tension to break this whole thing up, because he is so tall, strong, and attractive and good at water polo. But I don't necessarily want anything with him. I just want to see what my powers are capable of. I mean, who knows? A lot of stuff going on there in those twenties. But whatever that date is, there's no consensus on it, and it's likely unavoidable. So the longer you try to reach this pretend date, that makes you feel better about what you're going to do anyway. Let's not kid ourselves.

There's no real definition. There's no way to pull that off. And if you waited too long, if you wait six months and go, okay, this feels like it's long enough. Or three months. Right? Who are we kidding again? He's 24, so this won't even make it till next Friday. But.

I can tell you what you'd also do. If you try to be the really good guy and wait forever for this imaginary date and then you miss your window, you're going to spend years. If she's that attractive, you'll spend years going. I mean, unless you're just. It sounds like this guy could just fall out of the front of his apartment. And, yeah, it's going to work out for. But when you miss out on some of those. Those great opportunities, all you're going to do replay it in your head and going, that was so stupid. That was so unbelievably Uncle Rico and Napoleon Dynamite. Man, if coach put me in, we'd have taken state.

But other than that, maybe we can get your number and four of us get on a text thread, just see what's going on time to.

[D]

Time. Northeast City. There's only a couple of.

[A]

Them. Yeah. No, this guy could be in Hartford. No wonder he's killing.

[E]

It. Let's go put on my adaptive cruise control. We'll meet.

[A]

Up. It's not even fair. Like, we got to get this guy out of New.

[D]

Haven. Kyle's like, you're trying to take a spin in the.

[A]

Forerunner. Let's go, dude. Let's go to Vermont. Why not?

I think Grisillo's back there this weekend.

I don't know what this is. I think that. I think we had one. We just have so much time with the taping schedule today. We're gonna. We're gonna.

Do one more. Sure.

I think we've had a lot of this, but. All right. Big fan. Six, two. Oh, damn. 190, 26. Former NCAA D2. Now we're the podcast for athletes.

Former NCAA D2 national runner up. Live in a large city with a good friend that I met through work in graduate school. Been living with him for over a year. Haven't cracked the code yet. On the most enjoyable midweek sober experience on watching sports with him.

Issue. That's funny. He consistently drops bad sports takes. Such as he gave us bullet points. Yeah, we get a few of these. Players shouldn't call timeouts in any sports.

Why would anyone even care about.

[D]

That? Old school never really crossed my.

[A]

Mind. No good NBA games have been played since the 90s. I have some threads for you that he can look at.

Had no reaction to the Luca trade quote. That's just how the Lakers do.

[E]

It.

All right, so this is the value in the email is the bullet points, not whatever we come up with. It's the bullet.

[A]

Points.

Says when you think about it, javelin is the toughest discipline. No, I made that one up. I was. He was doing so well. Here, here's the last one. Consistently overreacts to penalties and non penalties in football.

[D]

Games.

I will say.

The ref thing. I could. I don't need ref talk anymore. I'm out. I'm.

[A]

Out. I am okay with. I'm okay when I do it.

I'm okay with.

The concerns I have about evolving tendencies with how certain things are officiated. Offensive player, initiating contact, defensive player. Some of the out of bounds stuff that we see with quarterbacks. I look anybody that's dicking around on the sidelines now in an NFL game, I don't care if he's.

[D]

Decapitated. All.

[A]

Right. Yeah. What these guys have gotten away with, like sort of like, yeah, I'm going to sneak three extra yards, you know, I'm going to do the Mahomes or that Kyler Murray. Yeah. Yeah. So now this gray area of like was he going, if your foot is inbounds, I don't care what any defender does to quarterbacks at all anymore because of how that had been officiated anyway.

You're right though, Seruti, because I interrupted your train of thought there. The, the good call, bad call. That's a hold, not a hold.

[E]

Right. There's nothing like that when you're watching with dudes from your tribe though. If you're all pulling the same direction, there's nothing like a couple conveniently forget those.

[D]

Dudes. Conveniently forget everyone that has also gone in their favor. They conveniently never remember any of that stuff. And it's just, I'm not saying officiating in sports is bad, I think overall, but it's bad. I don't think anyone gets an unfair advantage. Like this whole, the whole Chiefs thing. The Chiefs have gone the bad end of a bunch of calls recently. This idea that the NFL is like, you know, hey, we're just going to give them.

[E]

Whatever. Not in the script this.

[D]

Year. Not happening. Yeah, certainly not this year. You know, the tush push thing, I'm out. It's bad in soccer, too. My God. So I'm.

[A]

Out. Yeah. I mean, here's like all the Alabama talk. And then I saw a lot of stuff after the Iron Bowl. It's like after the refs. And of course, you know, the SEC wanted to make sure they were going to be in the whole thing. And I, you know, I'm watching that game and on fourth and five with 232 left, Auburn's got the football and it's an incompletion. And Alabama gets called for pass interference. And it's like, okay, but you understand the easiest thing in the world there would have been don't call anything. It's 4th and 16th completion. Game is over. Bama still has your chance as an extra SEC team in there. And so that's my problem with any of the conspiracies is there's so much evidence to be like, that's weird. That doesn't make any sense. Oh, you think they don't want them in there? Or on and on and on. It's like, yeah, but what about the thousands of other examples that no one ever pays attention to? And I wrote that one down. I was like, perfect example. They called them on 4th and 6th. That would have ended the game and pass interference, reset the downs. Still a chance for them to pull off the win here, but no one ever brings up any of that shit. All right, so also running into my that my girlfriend's dad also dropped some tough takes. He dropped the take that an incomplete pass in the NFL should not stop the clock. I usually hit my roommate with a yeah, yeah response since I don't want to have a Lincoln Douglas debate over some Tuesday Thursday sports action. Especially since I'm just trying to unwind in the evening. I would consider myself a pretty big sports fan. I stay pretty locked in in college football, college hoops, NFL, NBA. I'm not grinding the All 22 version, but wouldn't be a post. Any tips and advice watching sports for people that don't follow sport closely yet drop some bad takes. I think you're already there, man. I think you're on the way to a path of happiness. That just is.

You already, like, you've given us a sampling here, and he's never going to go, oh, that's a good point. I've changed my mind. Which none of us necessarily do, so. So I think the least amount of energy that you expend on this is the way you win this.

[E]

Yeah. Do the Keanu Reeves. Two plus two equals five. Okay.

[D]

Congratulations. I'm gonna zag on.

[A]

This. Oh.

[D]

Okay. I think there's an opportunity to have a lot of fun here. And you just go the opposite way and you start saying some crazy shit with your.

[C]

Roommate.

[E]

Right. I mean, you think about this. You gotta have energy for this.

[D]

Often. No, you don't. Whenever you're in the mood for it, you could just dabble back and be like, you know, he could be like, you know, give me an example of what's one that he said. I.

[A]

Forget.

That's just how the Lakers do.

[D]

Things.

You could be like, that's just how David Stern does things. The NBA's rigged. Just start going, like, full conspiracy theory on him. That's what I mean. We've done this multiple times. It's just like, I think in these situations, you have to have fun with yourself, because you're right, the guy's not changing. You're not changing the guy. So you might as well just, like, at least have some enjoyment if you're going to be around this guy.

I'm trying to think, have you had any, like, funny? Because I did have, like, a funny. I think this dumb thing should happen in sports. Like, I remember, I think it was working on Mike and Mike back in the day, and I was like, I don't think you should be able to foul out in basketball.

And I was serious. And I still kind of believe that. I think. I think instead of fouling out, I think you should get, like, two free throws in the ball. Because then, like, if LeBron follows out in a huge game, which he never does, that's a bad.

[A]

Example. That's not going to.

[D]

Happen. Sure. But, like, it's like, I still want to play.

[A]

LeBron. Lakers do.

[D]

Things. You're right. There you go. But if you wanted to still play LeBron, he gets a foul, it's two free throws in the.

[A]

Ball.

I don't hate it.

I got to tell you right now, the relegation thing, which is not new, but it's always hilarious whenever anybody finds out about relegation for the first time. And what, are there nine different leagues that you can go up and down in? The Premier League? Is it.

[E]

Nine? That would Be a lot.

[D]

Really. There's four, like, real leagues, and then there was the fifth one, which is where Wrexham came from, which was like a non league, I believe it's like the National League. I don't even know. It's barely even, like, a professional tier. There's probably nine, but there's really only, like, four to five real.

[A]

Ones. Okay. All right. So we've talked about NBA expansion. Why not just add 10 more teams? But you relegate the top 20 to tier one and the bottom tier to tier two. So it's 20 and.

[E]

20.

Who's gonna watch? Who's gonna watch the other year? You'd.

[D]

Watch. Yeah, right. You.

[A]

Would. That's Kansas City.

[D]

Fresno.

Yeah, but then how would you do the draft, though? Because, like, so the. The.

[A]

Worst. It's a huge.

[D]

Problem.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Right. But Zion and tier. Like, just an example. Zion in Tier 2. Then I would watch Tier 2 because he'd be on. You know, he'd be. Must see.

[A]

Tv. You're not sick of Zion.

[D]

Yet? Oh, I just. It's just an example of a.

[A]

Guy. All right, Cooper.

[D]

Flag. Right. Cooper flag. Same thing. Like, I probably. I'd watched Wembanyama, although with the Spurs. Yeah. I guess the spurs were that.

[E]

Bad. Poughkeepsie River Rats. I'm.

[A]

In. I like.

[B]

That.

[D]

Yeah. Got a team in.

[A]

Hartford. So you have 10 new teams, which means you have more inventory to sell and there's more revenue. I do wonder if the owners of the teams, like, would the Wizards go? Yeah, awesome idea. And then you're like, you're in tier two.

[D]

NBA. Once you start down there, bud. Yeah. You'll find your way.

[A]

Up. Yeah.

I mean, imagine the Lakers during some of those lean years there towards the end of Kobe, where, what do they not make the playoffs? Like, five straight years, The Lakers are in tier two. Would that make any sense? I mean, it's just if it's based on your performance and how you're doing. But would there be enough revenue with 10 new teams, all that extra inventory to sell and you. Here's the thing. Like, I think you would explain it better than. Certainly I would. The league below the Premier League, what is it? Champions.

[D]

League? It's called the.

[A]

Championship. Yeah, Championship. People still watch that stuff.

[D]

Religiously. Oh, yeah. Because, like, yeah, there's still some big clubs in there and they have huge fan bases. And, you know, I'm sure it's not as. Obviously, it's not as big as a Premier League, but. Yeah, there's, you know, trying to think Birmingham Birmingham City. Tom Brady shouts out to Brady, part owner. They're in there, they got a bunch of fans. The second biggest city in England.

[A]

Or one of them, Tom Brady.

Would it solve.

[D]

Tanking?

Probably not completely, but would you tank for Cooper Flag? Would you get relegated for the opportunity to draft Cooper Flag? Yeah, probably.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Yeah. Webinar.

[C]

Probably.

[A]

Yeah.

Actually, a lot of these guys, they probably still go, hey, we're not, we're not that good. I mean, look, free agencies, nearly impossible trades are even harder than ever before. All the first and second apron stuff, like you're more incentivized to Tank maybe than ever before. Even if it doesn't feel like it was as bad as, you know, it just felt like 10 years ago was awful playing game, maybe some of that stuff. There's all these unintended consequences that I can't even hash out right now. But if the goal were to, we want to expand, but now that's slowed down quite a bit.

And then it's like, well, we maybe just move a couple of these franchises around or whatever. It's like, what if you just keep the 30 that you have and then you just go, all right, we're expanding out and you have 10 new teams and then you could go to the league or, excuse me, you go to all your television partners where you've cut up this product five different ways, where I still can have a Wednesday where I don't know where the game is. Could you just say, hey, we have this many more games in this many more cities and the buy in alone is just this massive, massive hit of cash. Even though you'd be splitting up the TV rights for all the existing 30 owners but add 10 new.

[D]

Teams. The pro rel argument though, always was kind of like it was best used in college though, right? Like if we just had.

10 different tiers of 12 teams or something. Right? And the bottom two every year go down, top two go up. Everybody plays everybody at the end of the year who's got the best record. You know, there's that way, like, there's no, like, hey, Indiana didn't play, you know, all the, all the big boys or whatever. There's no conference, there's, there's no, there's no scheduling. Like, you just, you just play everybody and that's it. Like that, that to me would be.

[A]

Awesome. Yeah, I don't think any of the programs would ever do that because you'd have like, say, let's just use like a Clemson, for example. Like Clemson Tier 3. Yeah, well, no, but I'm not even talking about, like, Clemson, even at the height of their powers, right. Where it was the only team that was competing with Alabama at that level for a bunch of years. Why would Clemson go. Yeah, let me join up where I have to play Ohio State. I mean, look, I don't know that Bam and Ohio State would have wanted to do it either. Cause it's like, I'm probably just better served staying in. In my place here. But I don't know. Look, did we fix the NBA just now? I'm not sure. Maybe. I'm sure somebody else has come up with this, by the way too. Like, it's not like it's new to talk about relegation of.

[E]

America. You still can't find NBA games. Like, there's no, like, where is my.

[A]

NBA.com? like, I'm right on. I'm all NBA app now, pretty much. Anyway, for everything. All right, got it. So I miss commercials.

Okay. The in house arena stuff that I'm.

[D]

Watching. Oh, that stuff's.

[C]

Awesome.

[A]

Yes.

[D]

Commercials. My guy stuff. The magic dragon.

[A]

Stuff. AI or TI in Atlanta. Yeah, that's hilarious. Trey Young got it wrong.

He was like, they was TI Lyrics and he had to guess AI or ti. Luke Kennard got it right. Trey Young got it.

[E]

Wrong. Really are watching these.

[A]

Things? Yeah, Trey was like, that's my.

[D]

Wife'S favorite part of the entire broadcast. She just wants to watch the. In stadium.

[E]

Entertainment. What kind of hijinks are they.

[D]

Doing? Yeah, every once in a while you get a red panda.

[A]

Appearance. Yeah, but you do. You see enough games, you see enough jumbotron action, you almost start missing Terry Crews, which seems crazy because that Terry Crews ads, the most annoying ad of the season. And then they. They did another one, which is again, the whole point. They're like, let's make this ad so annoying that somebody references. I just did. So shout out to Dodge. But that. That's a tough, tough watch. But so. So is your seventh game of NBA Tic tac toe.

When. When you're locked in on a. On a Tuesday or Wednesday Corgi. So yeah, man, good luck. I don't really think we answered much of that.

[D]

Email. I don't remember what the question.

[A]

Was.

[D]

Yeah. Oh, the guy. Yeah, Never.

[A]

Mind. We're good. Yeah. All right. That's life advice. Lifeadvice. R gmail.com Remember, a good 10 minutes every week on our YouTube page, so please subscribe to that and subscribe to the POD as well. Ryan Rosilla show, part of the Barstool.

[C]

Network.

Sa.