Ohio State Smacks Tennessee, CFP First Round Fallout, Joel McHale Joins, Quarterfinals Preview

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Triple Option – Ohio State Smacks Tennessee, CFP First Round Fallout, Joel McHale Joins, Quarterfinals Preview

Released on December 23, 2024, "The Triple Option" hosted by Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram II, and Rob Stone delves into the dynamic world of football. This episode covers the recent College Football Playoff (CFP) games, analyzes Ohio State's performance, anticipates the quarterfinals, and welcomes special guest Joel McHale.

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1. Reaction to the First Round of the College Football Playoffs

The hosts begin by discussing the outcomes of the inaugural home CFP games, highlighting the lopsided results that have sparked debates about the fairness and competitiveness of the playoff system.

• Rob Stone opens the conversation by noting the "lopsided" results and the concerns surrounding conference realignment and team selections. (02:22)

• Urban Meyer emphasizes the flaw in the CFP system, stating, "The College Football Playoff is a flawed system somehow." He critiques the difficulty for teams with challenging schedules to secure a playoff spot. (03:09)

• Mark Ingram II concurs, pointing out that the lack of competitive games may dampen fan enthusiasm: "All of them were awful. I mean there really wasn't one good game." (04:18)

Notable Quote:

Urban Meyer: "The College Football Playoff forever changed now and that means that if you don't play anyone, you're not going to get in." (03:09)

2. Analysis of Ohio State's Dominant Victory Over Tennessee

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to Ohio State's commanding performance against Tennessee, exploring the strategic elements that led to the blowout.

• Urban Meyer shares his firsthand experience, expressing surprise at Tennessee's inability to control the line of scrimmage: "I thought the Tennessee could control line of scrimmage. It wasn't even close." (11:23)

• Mark Ingram II highlights Ohio State's offensive prowess, particularly praising their ability to distribute the ball effectively: "They got the ball to their playmakers, and that settled Will Howard down." (18:20)

• Rob Stone discusses the psychological impact of such a decisive win on both teams and the fanbase. (12:24)

Notable Quote:

Mark Ingram II: "This is the Ohio State team we've been looking for this entire year long that everyone's been talking about when they play like that." (18:20)

3. Critique of the CFP Structure and Scheduling Philosophies

The hosts delve into the implications of the CFP's structure on team scheduling, competitiveness, and the overall integrity of college football.

• Urban Meyer criticizes teams playing weaker non-conference opponents purely to boost their playoff chances, questioning the long-term impact on the sport: "Why would you ever play a tough team in the opening game?" (04:55)

• Rob Stone and Mark Ingram II discuss the balance between playing strong opponents and maintaining a viable path to the playoffs, reflecting on the experiences of teams like Alabama and LSU. (05:02)

Notable Quote:

Urban Meyer: "It's great for the fans to a point. The games weren't great. The games are actually, I was, some of the games were awful." (04:18)

4. Quarterfinals Preview and Team Analyses

Looking ahead, the trio analyzes upcoming quarterfinal matchups, assessing team strengths, weaknesses, and potential outcomes.

• Mark Ingram II evaluates Texas's robust offensive and defensive lines, expressing confidence in their ability to dominate Arizona State: "I got Texas covering this one man. They haven't been playing. Quinn has been struggling with his health and he's going to get going." (43:32)

• Urban Meyer underscores Ohio State's offensive line, predicting a walk-off win based on their performance against Tennessee: "If the offensive line and know the whole unit of the Buckeyes, if they can play that way, then you have to think, wow, there might be another national title coming to Columbus." (47:25)

• Rob Stone provides insights into coaching strategies and player performances, highlighting the importance of maintaining pressure on quarterbacks. (49:33)

Notable Quote:

Urban Meyer: "The offensive line did play well. This will be a different animal. I think the defense coordinator, one of the great motivators I've seen." (47:25)

5. Special Guest Appearance: Joel McHale

Joel McHale joins the hosts to share his passion for football and discuss his experiences, bridging the gap between entertainment and sports.

• Joel McHale reflects on his time as a University of Washington mascot and his deep-rooted love for college football: "There really is nothing like college football on this planet." (33:14)

• The hosts engage with McHale about the evolution of television shows like "The Soup," and his transition from sports to entertainment, showcasing the interconnectedness of sports culture and media. (28:25)

Notable Quote:

Joel McHale: "If there was a ball and someone put the ball 10ft away from me, I would run at the ball and bring it back to them." (25:52)

6. Final Thoughts and Season Outlook

Concluding the episode, the hosts summarize their perspectives on the current state of college football, the effectiveness of the CFP, and their predictions for the remainder of the playoff season.

• Urban Meyer expresses optimism about Ohio State's potential to secure a national title, citing their playmaking abilities and strategic advantages: "I think it's going to be a road for the best team." (50:59)

• Mark Ingram II emphasizes the excitement surrounding the forthcoming games, anticipating closely contested matchups: "This is going to be a straight-up dogfight. The football game that we all deserve as college football fans." (50:58)

• Rob Stone reiterates the importance of strategic play and consistent performance moving forward: "We welcome you back to the Triple Option presented by Wendy's." (42:31)

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Conclusion

This episode of "The Triple Option" offers a comprehensive analysis of the College Football Playoffs' first round, critiques the current playoff structure, and previews the challenging quarterfinal matchups. With insightful commentary from seasoned experts and the engaging presence of Joel McHale, listeners gain a multifaceted understanding of the evolving landscape of college football.

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For more in-depth discussions and exclusive content, follow "The Triple Option" on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and social media platforms @3XOptionShow.

Transcript

[Mark Ingram]

Belt for your Deuce. Deuce. Dog of the Week.

[Rob Stone]

A lot of music to start this week. A lot of music to start this week's edition of the Triple Option, presented by Wendy's. Try Wendy's new saucy nugs today. The legendary Mark Ingram. The legendary Urban Meyer. Rob Stone, back here with you. Thanks for joining us. Rate subscribe at Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts, as well as across social media. You can find us at 3X option show. We have a special release coming your way later this week. Yeah, two episodes this week. So we're going to drop another one on Friday. Happy holidays to everybody out there.

[Mark Ingram]

The Deuce episodes.

[Rob Stone]

How about the double shot of music to lead off this week? Right. We love our theme song here at the Triple Option, but a special shout out to social producer Corey for putting together the most addictive piece of barking music the music industry has ever created. Mark Barnes, Barking. What is that song? Jingle Bells.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah.

[Mark Ingram]

All right, all right, all right.

[Urban Meyer]

Oh, gosh.

[Mark Ingram]

What's the genre?

[Urban Meyer]

It's.

[Rob Stone]

It's not grunge. It's not grunge. It's. It's rough. It's Christmas. I don't know what that is. It's Christmas with the. Yeah, with a little. A little rough. Rough into it. I like it, Mark. I thought it was good. I thought Corey did a banger job. Give Corey a raise.

[Urban Meyer]

No, I gotta, I gotta meet Corey and talk to him and say you have to really evaluate your life to sit and spend time on this. And I love Mark. Mark's one of my dudes. But this is all. This is the worst thing I've ever listened to in my.

[Rob Stone]

You're wrong, Coach.

[Urban Meyer]

I can't unsing it. See it. And then.

[Rob Stone]

That's the beauty of it.

[Mark Ingram]

It's.

[Rob Stone]

It's in your brain. Awful. It's the three of us. Here's our. Here's an immediate. The triple option poll presented by Wendy's. Who likes it? Hand up. One, two.

[Urban Meyer]

Oh, my God.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah. Two thirds of. Of the show. Loves it, adores it. Can't get it. Yeah. We'll have Mark sing us off at the end of this week's show. Coach.

[Mark Ingram]

All right, all right.

[Rob Stone]

Time to talk. Time to talk defining moments. And it is brought to you by nhtsa. Drunk driving changes your world. Drive sober or get pulled over. Paid for by nhtsa. So we're going to talk our reaction to the first ever home college football playoff games. And I think one of the talking to the talking things are the results were Lopsided. Coach and also the conversation out there of indictments on conferences and indictments on why are some of these teams in the playoffs fair or unfair. But I think that's kind of the, the current tone that a lot of people are taking in the college football world right now. And again we loved them. I loved having the extra games. I thought it was fantastic burning my Friday and Saturday watching all this football. But I think people were hoping for a little bit more competitive outcomes.

[Urban Meyer]

Coach yeah, I think the react reality is that there's two things that I witnessed. Number one is the College Football Playoff. I think where has forever changed now and that means that if you don't play anyone, you're not going to get in. I think that's been, you know, if you don't beat a ranked team or I think the public spoke, I kind of paid attention the best I could and I think that you'll take a, you know, you'll take a team that plays a rugged schedule over a team that just doesn't play anyone. That, that was the feedback I got. And then the second reality is this.

[Rob Stone]

Even if those rugged schedules include a lot of losses, right. I guess that that's the hangout.

[Urban Meyer]

I think a three loss team the minute I say that though. And then Tennessee gets their ass kicked in and you know, I don't know. So you know it's a tough there. It's still a, you know, it's amazing. The BCS was a flawed system. The College Football Playoff 14 was a flawed system and here we are at 12 team. It's a flawed system somehow. But that's also, that's it's, it's great for the fans to a point. The games weren't great. The grams are actually I, I was, some of the games were awful.

[Mark Ingram]

All of them were awful. I mean there really wasn't one good game.

[Urban Meyer]

So number one well is forever changed that. I think if you don't play someone and you're a lesser team, you won't get in. The second is, and I think this, we discussed this before, why would you ever play a tough team in the opening game? Why would you do that? You know you look at, you look at Tennessee. Tennessee had one of those ridiculous preseason schedule. They did play NC State but they played utep, Chattanooga and Kent State. So college football fans get ready for some 50 to seven games in the preseason.

[Rob Stone]

But remember coach Ohio State, we've been trashing Ohio State's non conference schedule as well.

[Urban Meyer]

Right. Which they should. I mean I'm not Saying they should. The current model benefits that next year they're playing Texas. Next four years, they got two open the season.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah.

[Urban Meyer]

In Alabama. Alabama. You should think about canceling those games because right now, if, if they lose those games, the chance of them getting a good, you know, good path in the playoff or even making the playoff has been diminished. It doesn't matter. The College Football Play Committee said it does not matter. Go ask lsu. Go ask A and M if they had to rethink your schedule. A and M played Notre Dame. LSU went out and played neutral field, usc. Why play those games? It's great for the I AD Makes me sick because I love those games.

[Rob Stone]

I threw up in my mouth when you just said that. Yeah, that's awful. We can't get rid of those games.

[Urban Meyer]

So A and M's got to go play. You know, do you two essay instead of Notre Dame? Which makes you sick? Because I think they should. I mean, I told you our scheduling philosophy for my entire career. Big dog, medium dog, little dog, you play the bit, you have to play a big dog early in the year. Back in the day, if you wanted a measuring stick of where your team was, that does not matter now. Go get.

[Rob Stone]

So you still don't need that, but I would say you need that measuring stick to find out where you are when you head into conference play and what needs to be sorted out.

[Urban Meyer]

Your job's not to win the conference, Rob.

[Rob Stone]

Right. And it's not to win.

[Urban Meyer]

Your job's not to make a bowl game. It's to make. Be One of the 12 teams stand at the end of the day.

[Rob Stone]

So in Columbus. In Columbus, is your job still to win the Michigan game?

[Urban Meyer]

Well, we've lost four in a row. That's a great question. I think it is.

[Mark Ingram]

When you get into the playoff and you walk, smoke. Yeah. You just kill people. It doesn't really matter. It's just. It's not to the same extent.

[Urban Meyer]

One thing they're not talking about in Columbus, Ohio today is the Wolverine game.

[Mark Ingram]

Right.

[Rob Stone]

They were talking about it post game, though, about how they use that Wolverine game and they use that two week break to, to motivate and get themselves centered and have those players only meetings and whatnot. So I think they, they will talk about it in the sense that it was beneficial going forward long term. But.

[Urban Meyer]

All right, here, I'm. I'm gonna throw this at Mark. All right, so here's the. Maybe we go back to the bcs. I'm kidding here. Let's go back to the BCS because, hey, those are the two top teams in the country and they're usually street fights. Okay? The College football playoff, there's four teams. There's. Realistically, there aren't 12 teams that can compete for a national title. It's not going to happen. I don't think it'll ever happen. The 12 team, the 12, 11, 10, 9, 8 will probably get smoked.

[Rob Stone]

So to your point, coach, Blowouts, Nothing new. The previous four team playoff, in the 20 games that were played over the 10 years, the average point differential, 17.85 points. That is your saucy nugget of the week. Try some at your nearest mark. I know you love it when I come armed with bonus saucy nugs. Saucy nugs of the week.

[Urban Meyer]

That's a good nugget. But. But what's that mean? That means that. Let's go back to the BCS then.

[Rob Stone]

Okay, so. So the four games this week in the college football playoffs, the. The margin was 10 points, 14, 25, and 28. That's an average of 19.25 points per game. So that number's even bigger. Right? Like we just, we push that and.

[Mark Ingram]

It'S actually skewed because 14 points in the last minute, 20 seconds.

[Rob Stone]

Correct.

[Mark Ingram]

But really, they got their belt to.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah, we're not going to do the skewing. The skewing confuses things. So I was trying to find a parallel, guys, and, and the easiest parallel. And obviously this is not quite apples to apples, but I went back to last year's NFL playoffs. Okay, 14 teams, two of them get buys. Remember that? So in the quote unquote, first round, the wild card playoffs, where there were six games, okay, how many upsets were there in the six games?

[Urban Meyer]

How many losses?

[Rob Stone]

One. Just one. All right, so there was one upset last year just based on seeding. But the points, the point differential, I found interesting. Of those six games, only one of them was less than 14 points. Okay, again, this is the NFL. So there was a 11 point game, and then after that, the differential, in order, was 14, 16, 19, 23, and 31 points. So that was an average of 17.33 points per game. Yes, I found my calculator.

[Urban Meyer]

So the moral to the story is it happens.

[Rob Stone]

It happens. That's. That's my point. Like, why are we upset about this? Like, I think if we hit the pause button, we knew this was going to happen. And the concept is to give other people, other fan bases, other teams an opportunity to prove themselves. They get the opportunity. Did they do it? No, but at least they were given the opportunity. Your point though is, is. Is. Should the Indiana's, the SMU's, the Tennessee's of the world been invited in the first place when maybe a South Carolina and lsu, an Alabama type thing, would have been a better fit in a quote unquote better game. But is it, Is it. Is it the College Football Playoff committee's job to give us better games? No. Yes, to give. I say it's to give us the 12 best teams that earned the right to get there.

[Mark Ingram]

And that will give you the. And that will give you the 12 that will give you better games.

[Urban Meyer]

So would you also, Mark, would you agree, three for three, all three of us, that they didn't do their job? Did they fail?

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, I think they, I mean, yeah, they did.

[Rob Stone]

Are you giving them. Are you saying pass fail or can we grade them?

[Mark Ingram]

Because I was watching this, because I was watching the FCS semifinal in the NFL game, so I was watching FCS semi final.

[Rob Stone]

So they lost.

[Urban Meyer]

They lost.

[Rob Stone]

Mark Ingram, a high school trophy winner, a national champion.

[Mark Ingram]

Okay, what's going on in my house?

[Rob Stone]

That's it.

[Urban Meyer]

I mean, Indiana, Indiana, SMU in, you know, in the sec. What's your record? Honestly, Indiana's record.

[Mark Ingram]

Not good. But the sec, like none of the conferences got justified. Like SEC got whooped on. But, you know, Tennessee went there and got beat on bad. No, no, no. No resistance.

[Urban Meyer]

No. And I was there. And Mark, Mark, the score was not as bad as it was. It was worse in person that that game was not even. It looked like. I mean, it looked like a lower level Big Ten team playing the Ohio State. I stood right there and watched them. I thought the Tennessee could control line of scrimmage. It wasn't even close. I mean, not even close. And Tennessee, to the credit, their fans traveled. Man, there was orange all over that stadium.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah. Were you surprised by that, coach?

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah, it's the first time I've ever seen that in, in that stadium. And a little alarmed by it. But the, the.

[Mark Ingram]

Well, they had the system out.

[Urban Meyer]

I heard that. But the Buckeyes came out. I mean, it was 40. It was. I think it was 42 to 10. That was an I. It was worse than that.

[Rob Stone]

It was 21 nothing in the first quarter.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah.

[Rob Stone]

Three drives, three touchdowns. It was Ohio State.

[Mark Ingram]

When you, when you play somebody in video games, you tell them to pass the sticks. It's 21 0. You tell them past stick stoner.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah, get off the game, pass the joystick type.

[Urban Meyer]

I gotta throw our Man, Signetti out there too. I saw a clip, I guess he was on, on our, that show and he said we don't. Only we kick the out of people.

[Mark Ingram]

He said we don't. He said we don't just play top 25 teams. We beat the dog out of. That's what he said.

[Rob Stone]

Well, Ohio State handed it to him. And you mentioned the 2717 scoreline was flattering to Indiana. There were times where coach just, just yielded. You know what I found interesting? I watched the game and every time there was a kickoff within a split second, Indiana had the arm up. They weren't even trying to return anything. And to me that kind of set a tone that we're not quite at this level. We're not even going to try to attempt these things. They had some fourth down opportunities that they did not go for. And coach Signetti said our offense was just not happening right, just was not happening on the day. Our defense was still fighting and you know, give the defense credit, give the special teams credit on recovering that, that onside kick. But that game just, it felt different. You know the Jeremiah Love and he's a different player and he was playing with flu like symptoms but he had that 98 yard touchdown run. That game felt over kind of early. And then the early Saturday game, smu, Penn State, you know, you don't, you never want to point out one player but the quarterback play at SMU obviously is going to come under some well deserved heat for that one game, which is tough. But I actually, you know, the first two drives of that Penn State SMU game, I'm thinking all right, three and out Penn State. Okay, smu, what do you got? And SMU went tempo and they went deep and they challenged and they drove the ball and they had the, that, that white out crowd at noon subdued a little bit and then they went for it on fourth down. He could have gotten it with his legs. Instead he got a kiss greedy and tried to get the six in the touchdown. Bam. That blew up. And then right after that, pick six, pick six. And as you like to say coach, that's one done red line. It, it was over.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah, that was game set match early on and I was like Mark, I quit watching. You know, I, you know I, it was bad. There's no interest level when you start seeing that kind of blow up. It's just I think a lot of people when this play at the word playoff started and 12 teams are trying to have the imagination of March Madness, the one the reality is the chance of Upsets in the game of college football happen, but not to extreme. That happened in March Madness. So I think we are now being presented with that. I don't time will tell if that will happen. But every year in March Madness you.

[Rob Stone]

Get a couple excepts and that's the charm of it. That's the beauty of March Madness.

[Urban Meyer]

I'm just wondering, is it college football fan ready for first row first round blowouts every year? And that's once again it's year one. So we don't need to jump the gun here. Exactly.

[Rob Stone]

That's the point. But coach, the conversation will continue into the new year with the quarterfinals because if, if Arizona State is a 4 seed and Boise State is a 3 seed don't show up, there's going to be real heavy criticism there probably already is right now about why are they there. And I don't want to get ahead of ourselves. I believe in Scatter Boo and the Sun Devils and, and what gen Boise State have done this season. I'm happy that they're there. But those two programs need to, need to play their respective opponents really tough. Can we real quick mark your thoughts on Texas and Clemson? You know Clemson, they looked like it was going to get ugly in that second quarter. They kept it close. They were driving to pull it within one score. Couldn't do it. Texas has two, two guys go over 100 yards on the ground. Quinn Ewers is kind of effective. And Texas moves on to take on Arizona State in the Peach bowl in the quarterfinals.

[Mark Ingram]

I mean the, the, the battle line of scrimmage was just, it was clear that Clemson couldn't hang up at the line of scrimmage. But at the end of the day, Clay Kubnick played his butt off, man. He did, he, he, he balled out, man. And he gave Clemson a chance to essentially be in that game because it really was a one sided lopsided game. If it wasn't for Cade Club Nick, I mean he threw for over 300 yards, three touchdowns. He single handedly kept Clemson in this game. And so shout out to him, man, they have a real quarterback man over there at Clemson. But yeah, you could tell the battle, the line of scrimmage which you said two PE, two runners, over 100 yards. The amount of pressure that Club Nick was under, obviously in the trenches, that's what set Texas apart in that game. But shout out to K Club Nick, man, because he single handedly willed this team to a competitive score. Our closest score of the week.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah. And the line of scrimmage Was definitely a talking point over the course of all four of those games. If, if you look at those results, I think every winning head coach in those four playoff games will tell you we won the line of scrimmage. I know coach Ryan Day was essentially saying the same thing. Listen, we got a confident Will Howard. I asked him to be a leader this week. He was a leader. They went to Jeremiah Smith early. Probably would have liked to seen him a little bit more often, but he's a game breaker there. There was. There seemed to be a different Ohio State offensive mentality than what we saw from them A couple weeks back in the home loss to that team up north.

[Urban Meyer]

You know, I saw Chip Kelly after the game and he said, thank God we got that taste out of our mouth. So here's another. Kudos to the system. The College Football Playoff. In days past, you lose that game in the past, you're going to some bowl game. I said this before. You're stuck in a bowl game you do not want to be at. Your team has cashed it in. A bunch of guys will not play. You saw that last year when the Buckeyes got just destroyed by Missouri because, you know, I think 10 or 14 kids didn't play. So Ohio State had a chance to redeem themselves. It was different in Columbus. I mean, it was one of those scarlet outs. They had the beautiful uniforms. Look like the uniforms were nice, Coach. Right now. They came out, the crowd was all over the place. So that would not have happened in years past. It was over. They would have been stuck in. In a bowl game. Like I said, they didn't want to be at. And most of the players would have left. So it was a special thing with.

[Mark Ingram]

Ohio State was that defense has been strong for them all year long. We've always been, you know, talking about the offense and the inconsistent performance of the offense, and they came out and they were aggressive. They got the ball to their playmakers, and that's this Ohio State team we've been looking for this entire year long that everyone's been talking about when they play like that. Ohio State is. Is definitely the favorite to win this College Football Playoff.

[Urban Meyer]

Why? The creativity. The creativity, aggressiveness.

[Mark Ingram]

Just be aggressive.

[Urban Meyer]

I mean, they were motioning and shifting and they were doing those naked passes coming across the formation. I wonder if the more time they had as a staff, because that was, you know, that was. They had a couple weeks to get. Three weeks to get ready for that thing.

[Mark Ingram]

Coach, they were sandbagging like you do in golf, man.

[Rob Stone]

Oh, you think they were sandbagging. Do you.

[Mark Ingram]

They were sandbagging. They just played. Because this is the Ohio State team, we thought this is the Ohio State team. Everyone talked about. They were aggressive, they were explosive, they were strong on defense, they were unpredictable on offense. Getting people in position to have success, getting their playmakers in space, throwing it to their playmakers, giving hand to their playmakers. And at the end of the day, man, this is the Ohio State team that we thought we were going to see. So obviously, moving forward, we'll see. They got Oregon a huge, huge game in the quarters.

[Rob Stone]

We'll get to that. We'll get to that. Y.

[Mark Ingram]

But we'll see. We'll see.

[Rob Stone]

I. I found it really interesting because Ryan Day did admit almost immediately after the game, we called this game, quote, more aggressively, he was happy about the ballots that they had. Coach, I, I love the fact as a football fan that they found Jeremiah Smith early, right? Like, get. Get one of the best players in the nation involved. And, and that dude is, is a game breaker. Two touchdown receptions, six grabs, 103 yards. And, and the Buckeyes, of the four wins, is it fair to say Ohio State made the biggest statement? Texas with the win, Penn State with the win. Notre Dame with the win. All four home teams getting the win. But did Ohio State make the biggest statement of those four games?

[Urban Meyer]

Not even close. Ohio State, if you're just a bystander or you're just, you know, really, you're an analyst watching, I. It's not close. If they play like that, they're the best. That's the talent that they have on that roster. I made a comment preseason, arguably the best talent that may have, maybe has ever been put together watching the NFL draft. What's going to happen? And then they had the three injuries with the offensive line. So, yes, they're picked to win against a team that beat them.

[Rob Stone]

So here's what's left, guys. One independent, one from the Mountain west, one from the Big 12, two from the SEC, three programs from the Big Ten still alive. Coming up next on the triple option, presented by Wendy's. We're joined by actor, comedian, grunge music fan and University of Washington football supporter, the great Joel McHale. He joins us next on the triple option, presented by Wendy's. Light it. You've had Wendy's nuggs dipped in sauce, right? Mark, you've had the Wendy nugs. I've had sauce and I love it. But Mark, I ask you, have you had them covered in sauce? Wendy's new saucy nugs. Take the crispy and spicy nugs that I know you love and you know what they turn them up to? They turn them up to 11 mark.

[Mark Ingram]

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[Rob Stone]

Are you man enough to try the Spicy Ghost pepper, by the way? Do you think you could pull that off?

[Mark Ingram]

That's not for me. I'm the Honey Barbecue type guy.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah, I can do the peppers, pick a flavor, grab some extra napkins and then go back and get a few more napkins and prepare to nug. Apparently the word nug is a verb now. So Mark, prepare to nug like you've never nugged before. For a whole new way to nugget, it's got to be Wendy's participating us. Wendy's Keep on nugging America.

[Joel McHale]

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[Rob Stone]

Drinking and driving is a decision that will change your whole world. Things will never be the same once you get a DUI because legal fees and time in court are just the beginning. Getting into a crash is another way your world could be irreversibly changed. After drinking and driving, your vehicle may not be the only thing that gets damaged in that crash. You could face a life altering injury or even death. But you're not the only one who could face these consequences. Your decision to drink and drive could permanently change someone else's world, whether you injure them or leave their loved ones grieving. The next time you're out drinking, call a rideshare, a taxi, a sober friend, or a designated sober driver. The only decision that will change your world for the better is the decision to call for a sober ride, drive sober or get pulled over. Paid for by nhtsa. All right. He has hosted the Soup on E. You've seen him on Community, among other shows and movies. Currently, he's starring in Animal Control, which returns to our beloved Fox on January 2nd. Joel McHale joins the Triple option and Joel is a football guy, right. Like and it goes back to your, your University of Washington roots. So just as a, like a quick little resume for us. What is your, your love, your attachment to college football right now?

[Joel McHale]

Well, I was a mascot on the University of Washington even though it looked like I was in full pads all the time. What are my. Well yeah, I, I love football. I love this, I love most sports. I basically am a human golden retriever. If there was a ball and someone put the ball 10ft away from me, I would run at the ball and bring it back to them. And that's so I was good at sports and standing on stage because I love attention and I was terrible at school and I pretty much grew up in Seattle where we are self hate. Like we get like our Sonics have a championship, we sell them and see you later. And then we, but we like I was there when the Seahawks started. You know, it's weird to think of having teams when they just start and, and then we also had Don James who ended up coaching me but in the late 70s when he came in to a very rough Husky program and won the frickin Rose bowl out of nowhere. And that, that really put us on the map and, and made everyone kind of sit up and so like my parents, my grandparents went to the University of Washington is where I went. And this is a. So and then I eventually walked on to the University of Washington team because I think Mark and I are probably equal athletes.

[Urban Meyer]

Exactly.

[Joel McHale]

I think we both probably Same stats and 100. Let's not look that up.

[Rob Stone]

Same defensive stats maybe.

[Joel McHale]

Yeah, don't look that up.

[Mark Ingram]

Hey, you played in the Rose bowl as did I, so we're great.

[Joel McHale]

Did I play?

[Rob Stone]

You were there. You were on the field.

[Mark Ingram]

You were there. You ran out that tunnel. Yeah, well in Pasadena you had the same experience.

[Joel McHale]

Yeah, it was, it was not, it was not. Yes, so equal. And, and so that's my, and then you know, I, I, I left the team and decided to pursue, you know, a very stable business of entertainment. And, and so that's, that is, that's how that all, that's how that all kicked off. And my wife and I moved to LA 24 years ago when, when Urban only had like five national championships at that point. So that was, that was going, that was going way back. So yeah, that's so now, now I, I don't know how what my good fortune was but, but here, here we are, here we are on this podcast.

[Mark Ingram]

Bless child. We glad to have you on the pod.

[Urban Meyer]

Hey Joe, it's Urban Meyer. Glad to have you. These, these guys want me to talk football. I, I started. Once I found out you're coming on, I started a petition. I got a lot of names, man. We're going to do season 13 in the Soup.

[Joel McHale]

Oh, yeah.

[Urban Meyer]

Start that bad boy up again.

[Joel McHale]

That.

[Urban Meyer]

I really missed that.

[Joel McHale]

That was good times. And that was my big break. That was my. I mean, everyone was like, oh, how did you. Yeah, that. I didn't have an agent when I had, when I got that. I didn't. I, I was not represented by any, but I had a commercial agent who was wonderful. But I ended up booking that show and then no one watched it for a year, which was really good because I'm very dyslexic and cannot read teleprompter. And so I had a whole year to screw up. Could you imagine, like playing football? You'd be like, don't worry, guys, we're not playing anybody this year. We're just going to iron out the kinks for a year and Would have been. Would have been great. And Urban. I met you at outside. The first time I met you was outside of a hotel after the ESPYs. And I met you with your daughter and you were so kind and your daughter was competition. Water skiing at that point, I believe.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah. Wakeboard champion. Yeah, Yeah, I do remember. That's great.

[Joel McHale]

And yeah. And I was. Yeah, you so kind and cool and. But those were. Yes. No. The Soup was on for 12 years and I was so. Couldn't believe my good, My good fortune. And then, then they signed me to a new two year contract and then abruptly canceled the show like two months later. And you're not going to believe this. They didn't realize they had signed me to a guaranteed contract. So.

[Urban Meyer]

That a boy.

[Joel McHale]

It really shows you that who was running the place at the time.

[Rob Stone]

Well done.

[Urban Meyer]

Hey, real quick, real quick, John, I'll hand this off to Mark. So you had a little bit of political incorrectness in some of that comedy. I think that's what I loved about it. How much does that change in this world?

[Joel McHale]

Well, there's. I, I think I, like, I'm still.

[Rob Stone]

I.

[Joel McHale]

So far. Like, I had like, I know that Seinfeld came out and said he can't tell jokes at colleges anymore. And I think Chris Rock said the same thing. And so far I have not had that experience. And they are, it's that they're especially like college audiences. They're. They are game and they want to. From what I. From what I can, from what my experience has been. And then I saw that Tom Brady roast and I was like, don't think any. Not only did no one get in trouble, I mean, I guess other than Tom Brady, but it. Everybody's career, you know, after that was like, I mean, I talked to Gronk, who afterwards, he was like, I've never gotten a bigger response to anything I've ever done, including the Super Bowls. And I was like, so I'm sure there are comic. I always feel like comedy always is like as waves start coming in, it's how comics kind of ride those waves. And so, you know, like, there are changing time. Like everything's changing all the time. So so far I, you know, like, I still have, I'm still telling jokes that people go, oh. And I mean, but, but I think like the Soup was a very weird, wonderful time when like, like reality television was an open frontier at that point. I mean you had like, it was still. There was, there was no rules, so. And there was no sort of standards that were like, they gave Britney Spears a camera and her and Kevin Federline just filmed each other kind of getting high and that became a television show. Or Flavor Flav, you know, had like 9 flavor.

[Mark Ingram]

Come get your clock girl.

[Joel McHale]

Right? I mean, that's that. And he was Then, you know, like the, that's when the bat. Now the Bachelor is like, you know, like, it's like a, it's, you know, like this institution. But at the time it was like, there's 30 lunatics that are trying to get this one lunatics love. And they have like three weeks to do it. This is insane. And you know, now it's like, well, it's normal. And they're huge stars. What's wrong with you? And. Or RuPaul's Drag Race was the dirtiest show on television that we couldn't show it. And now it is this multiple Emmy winning performance institution. And, And I, I don't, I don't know what to compare. I, I did well, I guess I compare it to. For. If it's football. I don't know if you've seen that CBS 1979 promo video where it's like the NFL. Literally every highlight they showed was.

[Rob Stone]

Was a concussion or somebody going to the hospital, right?

[Joel McHale]

Run stomping on someone's back and face mask and horse collars and there it was like the NFL. And I was like, oh, that's. That's what that time was like. And the fact that someone like you Urban were watching it was like the fact that we got to an audience like someone like you guys, I was like, oh, we reached. It ended up. We never. We ne. Like, we. It was a bunch of high school friends and we just kind of made it up and it was. We got so lucky.

[Rob Stone]

How much. How much college football do you watch on a. On a typical Saturday?

[Joel McHale]

Well, if the Huskies are playing and urban, you know, my love for the Huskies and if they're playing, then I'm going to be watching it and I get. Then, you know, then if it's. So it's on all. It's like if. If it's Saturday, it's only college or Friday night college football, and then Sunday's all NFL, and then the rest of the week is tennis. It's just balls, guys. I just want a ball.

[Urban Meyer]

Golden retriever.

[Joel McHale]

Then it's human.

[Mark Ingram]

Golden retriever. Airbud.

[Joel McHale]

Yeah. If it's NBA season, then. Then we're in. But I. There's. There really is nothing like college football on this planet. And I know I say that as a half Canadian that they. They watch all of our games. Right. And the spectacle of college football is. I mean, it's obviously like the NFL and college football have all come up at the same time, but, you know, like, we still haven't embraced soccer the way that everybody wants us to and. Because half of us have it.

[Mark Ingram]

Half of us have it.

[Joel McHale]

Are you into it?

[Mark Ingram]

There's two. There's two of us here that really love football.

[Joel McHale]

You hate wrestling, though, right?

[Rob Stone]

Not pro wrestling. Not. Not pro. This guy loves pro wrestling.

[Joel McHale]

I know. I'm saying, you know, like, so you're.

[Mark Ingram]

Talking to two people who support the game, you know?

[Urban Meyer]

Right.

[Mark Ingram]

Not that one over there.

[Joel McHale]

The ratings compared to, like, the. That.

[Rob Stone]

The Brady Bunch episode over there.

[Mark Ingram]

He doesn't really like it.

[Rob Stone]

That one.

[Joel McHale]

I live right near the Brady house. No, do you. But. And I just met Marcia, the woman that played Marcia last night, literally at a commute.

[Rob Stone]

Where did you meet her?

[Joel McHale]

At a Christmas party. And I was like, oh.

[Mark Ingram]

What do people do when Joe McHale pulls up to the Christmas party? Like, are they, like, you just shutting down the whole event or what?

[Joel McHale]

Like, they're like, daniel Tosh is here.

[Urban Meyer]

Believe it.

[Joel McHale]

I can't believe we got him.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah.

[Joel McHale]

No, they. Wait, do you think? But to this day, obviously, college football and NFL football are bigger ratings wise than FIFA soccer is or Major League Soccer.

[Mark Ingram]

Not the World cup, huh?

[Rob Stone]

World cup will go toe to toe, but that's just once every four years.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah.

[Joel McHale]

Does FIFA, like, playoffs get as Big A ratings as NFL playoffs in America. Do we know.

[Rob Stone]

NFL is so consistent and it's year in and year out, right. Where the World cup. It's every four years or every three years if you throw in the Women's World cup and they get really good respectable ratings. But those NFL numbers are. Are bonkers every single Sunday. So there's a couple days that will put up the good fight. Right, right. And go toe to toe. But I think the majority is still. This is an NFL society. This is now a college football society here in the US as well. For sure.

[Urban Meyer]

All right, Joe, let's get back to Washington. I'm fired up to hear your thoughts. Big Ten versus Pack 12. Are you glad they did it? Harder path to success. Do you miss the pack 12 games? I mean it's. A lot of people were torn up when that pack 12 went away.

[Joel McHale]

Yeah, it was. I am sad about. I was very sad about it because it was, you know, it was wet. It was what the west coast was. Right? It was. That was our league and that defined. And I understand what they're. Why everybody did it because the consolidation of. Of power to be competitive with like the sec and I understand why it happened. It's just. It was, it was not. It was an ugly moment when it all happened very quickly. And I felt terrible for the Beavers and the Cougs and you know, they like especially this year with the Cougs being good and that quarterback being really.

[Rob Stone]

Good and you don't feel that bad. It's the Cougars. I mean you're a Husky. You can only feel so bad about the Cougars.

[Joel McHale]

I've switched all my hatred over to the Ducks.

[Rob Stone]

Okay.

[Mark Ingram]

That's.

[Joel McHale]

Now it's like if the, if the, if the Cougars were a super powerful team, I would hate them more. But now that. Or now it's become a new sport in Washington State. To hate. To hate.

[Rob Stone]

So will you go to the Rose bowl just to hate? Watch Oregon and cheer against them?

[Joel McHale]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Urban Meyer]

Okay.

[Joel McHale]

Yeah.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah. I'm not above that.

[Joel McHale]

Did you know that Urban has seen me do standup?

[Rob Stone]

He. Yes, he admitted to that before we got you on in Columbus, right?

[Joel McHale]

Yes, you were Urban. Speaking of celebrities, I. When you walked into the show, I'm. I don't think I've ever seen. The only time I've seen something similar is when Steve Martin came to see one of my stand up shows. And I might as well have walked on stage and went over here, over here and Urban was just touching people on the forehead, curing them of diseases. It was. He made a little boy walk. It was just like, you can walk again. They were just holding onto the hem of his garment. It was. I, that was, I was like, oh, that was. You were. And you were so nice and your friends were so cool. And I was like, When I told my like and I told anybody, I was like, Urban Meyer came to the show and they were like, why?

[Urban Meyer]

I don't know.

[Joel McHale]

Maybe he likes comedy.

[Urban Meyer]

I love comedy.

[Joel McHale]

And I was, it was, it was really like the, just to see the like, man, it was.

[Rob Stone]

They're kind of oblivious to it, Joel, because I walk around with these guys sometimes and you can feel the heads whip and look and point and the talk, you know, like, these are godlike creatures in certain spots of our country. And it is, it is pretty remarkable. Joel, thanks for joining us. I'm glad you're a big fan of Alice in Chainsaw. I'm glad your eyebrows are back. Oh, it's such a great band. And animal.

[Joel McHale]

I quit the team before they allowed me to shave.

[Mark Ingram]

You have no Facebook.

[Rob Stone]

Good decision. And Animal Control returns January 2nd on Fox. Joel McHale, everybody. Man, thanks for joining us. We'll see you next season on Big Dune Kickoff.

[Joel McHale]

I would love to. And Mark, we'll. I'll take you to some parties there.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah. Hey, man, let me know. Holl at your boy. If you're ever down here in Florida, come holla at me. I got you. I got, I got the great thing.

[Joel McHale]

About the parties here also, sleeve optional.

[Mark Ingram]

Hey, you know I don't like to wear my sleeves. Gotta let the gun show go. You feel me?

[Rob Stone]

Well, as you all know by now, we have teamed up with our great friends at BetMGM this season, and we're going to be using BETMGM lines to make all of our picks. We'll also have special offers for our listeners each week. Mark, you're listening, right? You're listening to this.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah.

[Rob Stone]

Pay attention. Pay attention. All right, so if you haven't signed up for BETMGM yet, we urge you to use the bonus code option or go to betmgm.com backslash option and you will get up to fifteen hundred dollars. First BET offer. Mark, on your first wager with BetMG, we're talking fifteen hundred bucks.

[Mark Ingram]

Mark, fifteen hundred. But here's how it works. Download the BET MGM app and sign up using bonus code option. Deposit at least $10 and place your first wager on any game. You'll receive up to 1500 dollars in bonus bets if your bet loses. Just make sure you use Bonus Code option when you sign up or go to betmgm.com backslash option it's all about.

[Rob Stone]

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[Mark Ingram]

Option, especially the triple option.

[Rob Stone]

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[Joel McHale]

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[Urban Meyer]

You can learn and grow with over.

[Joel McHale]

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[Mark Ingram]

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[Rob Stone]

We welcome you back to the Triple option presented by Wendy's Rob Stone, Mark Ingram, Urban Meyer back here with you. All right, let's talk about two of the upcoming quarterfinal games. Pick Six is brought to you by our great partner BetMGM. Place your Moneyline prop parlay and same game parlay bets at BetMGM. Download the app today. Please gamble responsibly.

[Urban Meyer]

Again.

[Rob Stone]

These are early lines in right now, but Texas guys a heavy favorite in the Peach Bowl. They are favored by almost two touchdowns, 13 and a half points over. How can you disrespect our main guy Cam? Scatter Boo and Scatter Boo. But Texas a big favorite heading into Atlanta.

[Mark Ingram]

Mark, guess who our boy Scatter Boo. I want Scatter Boo to bar, man.

[Rob Stone]

But I do too.

[Mark Ingram]

They got an uphill battle, man. Texas, we talked about the line of scrimmage, how they are offensive line, defensive line, one of the most both physical. Two of the most physical units in the in the nation. I got, I got, I got Texas covering this one man. And they've been playing well. They, they had a convincing win over Clemson who I feel probably would be the Arizona State team possibly. You know what I mean? So I got Texas covering this one man. They haven't been playing. Quinn has been struggling with his health and he's going to get going. Man. I, I just have this.

[Rob Stone]

Gotta get that ankle healthy. Right. That big old brace that was kind of try. They tried to hide it up the other day.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, man with the spat. It's. Yeah, he's not, he's just not looking like himself right now. And they're still finding ways to dominate win games. They're running the football. Trey Wisner obviously on defense, they're physical flying around causing havoc, creating turnovers. So Shark and this team, I think they're just too much of a match for Arizona State. I hope our boy Cam Scatter Boo has a big game, but I just don't think it'll be enough to be able to keep up with Texas. I got Texas covered in this game.

[Urban Meyer]

I agree with you 100%. We won three national titles and the reason we won is the line of scrimmage. 06, 08 and 14. At the end of the day that, that's because once again as you start to get higher, you know the, the more competitive the games are. A lot of times the skill set, unless you just have a absolute freak of freaks skill sets a lot of times start to equal, equalize a little bit the line of scrimmage because it's going to be a field position game. Texas up front, offense, defense, I think they cover the spread and I think I'm looking at Texas right now if they can get that quarterback healthy. You know what other team has more balanced offensive defensive line than University of Texas right now? You know they proved it against Clemson. They just controlled, they screwed around a little bit. That game could have got out of hand fast. Yeah, yeah. But they ran the ball up and down the against you know, Clemson who's 200 yard rushers. Yeah. So I got Texas covering the spread here and I'm a big fan. You think what the coach did at Dillingham and Scatterboo. Just a big fan and it's a great future there. But I think they're running it'll buzz saw with Texas.

[Rob Stone]

Texas back to back 12 win seasons. First time they did that since 0809. Arizona seeking just their second ever 12 win season. They did it back in 1975. Coach real quick, a reaction to this. Sark, before the playoffs started, asked, you know, why he thought Texas could win a national title. He said two reasons, depth and versatility.

[Urban Meyer]

I like it. Yeah. First of all, depth. It will matter once again as it gets more rugged, which it's about to get real rugged on him. And I'm not sure what he means by versatility, and I'd have to look that up. And does that mean the ability to be creative and run pass, ability to.

[Rob Stone]

Play against other type of teams? Yeah, I'm not really sure either, but he liked it.

[Urban Meyer]

All I know is you got four guys on the D line with some depth, probably eight guys they can rotate in there. And I love their, you know, their offensive line. They just. I watched that one now. They were coming off that ball, man. They were.

[Mark Ingram]

I think he means the versatility in the ways they could win the game. Yeah, just different ways they could win the game. A physical battle, running the football, throwing the football, defensive. Defensive struggle. I think he means the team is versatile in ways they could win games, but they haven't been tested. Their. Their schedule hasn't been great. We talk about schedule, strength of schedule. Who have you played?

[Rob Stone]

Two losses. Georgia.

[Mark Ingram]

Yes. Yep. Yep. The two teams they played that were, well, the one team, well, they got A and M, but yeah, they haven't had a great schedule either. So. We'll see. We'll see. We'll see.

[Rob Stone]

Talking about the line, the line of Ohio State on the offensive side, really impressive. They had been maligned for much of the year. They took some heat against Oregon when those guys met early in the season. Back in October again, another rematch here. Ohio State and Oregon at the Rose Bowls. The Buckeyes favored by one and a half. I think one of the things that maybe coach people aren't talking about enough or giving enough praise to is that offensive line and how they showed up and balled against Tennessee. You know, they were taking some shots at them after the loss of the team up north, but they responded. They gave Howard plenty of time. The running backs were able to do what they are supposed to do and why they are there. And if that offensive line and know the whole. The whole unit of the Buckeyes, if they can play that way, then you have to think, wow, there might be another national title coming to Columbus.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah, two things when I watched. I was at the game at Ohio State and it was the. The. I think it was 42 to 10. Market wasn't that close. Yeah, there was never really a threat. I know they came within I think 10 points or something at the half.

[Mark Ingram]

It was like 21 to 10 or something. That was a close.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah, but it was it you as a guy. I stood on sideline for a little bit and I just, I, I was a little bit shocked because I thought Tennessee would control the line of scrimmage. They didn't at all. There was very little pressure on Will Howard. So number one is the offense line did play well. This will be a different animal. I think the defense coordinator. I've said this many times. Tosh Lapoy is one of the best I've been around. He's had several weeks now to get ready for them. He'll have some new stuff. Remember, they had 10 sacks against Washington. Very good players and an excellent scheme and he's, he's the great, one of the great motivators I've seen. So I think again, the point spread I'd put at zero.

[Mark Ingram]

Yes.

[Urban Meyer]

I think this is an even game. I think if the. Prior to the Tennessee game, Oregon would have been favored. So I think Vegas is playing around here. I put zero. I think Ohio State.

[Rob Stone]

I love coach putting zero down.

[Urban Meyer]

By the way, was shocked by the speed at the receiver when they first played Oregon. It's probably been two years, certainly this year they haven't faced anything close to Oregon's receivers. And I was, when I was watching the game, they were running right by Ohio State's corners, right by him and their safeties. They. This is the advantage of playing a team again. And I told you how I handle it. The defensive backs at Ohio State would not face another scout team receiver the rest of 2024, whatever it is, because you can't get shocked. They were shocked by that speed. And I. The, the corners will be playing against Mecca, Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith this whole week of Pratt up until the game. So I have Ohio State as a walk off winning, but I think it's going to be. It'll be a classic.

[Rob Stone]

All right, so you got Ohio State winning and, and covering.

[Mark Ingram]

I'm sorry. Bet. MGM is bet. Um, is bet. Urban Meyer. That spread is zero, right?

[Rob Stone]

Coach is making lines now.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, but coach is right though. That spread is even as it should be, man, because Oregon is. Oregon is for real, man. We talk about Jordan James in the run game. We talk about the explosive receivers they have on the outside. Dylan Gabriel the most. His experience in this defense, man, they're going to find a way. They're going to heat Will Howard up and see if he can handle pressure. They're going to bring pressure. They're going to see if this old line, they're going to see if Will Howard can handle pressure and adapt to it. But what Ohio State was able to do versus Tennessee, man, it really impressed me. They got the ball to Trayvon Henderson. He had eight yards of carry. He had over 50 yards receiving. They got the ball to Jeremiah Smith. They got the ball to Emeka Egg Bucha. So they got the ball into the hands of their playmakers and that settled Will Howard down because he was extremely efficient. The one turnover he had was a freak interception in the end zone. This defense is playing well ever since that Ohio State, ever since that Ohio State Oregon game, they've developed pressure packages to get pressure on Dylan Gabriel, to get pressure on the quarterbacks. So they have been improving and what have they done when they've had their most trials and tribulations this season? After Oregon, they responded and got better. After Michigan, they responded and got better. I think those two losses put this team in the right mind frame and I think it's going to be a close, tough battle. But I think Ohio State finds a way to win this game.

[Urban Meyer]

Man.

[Mark Ingram]

I think they find a way to win this game. I think they have a lot of playmakers offensively and defensively, as does Oregon. This is going to be a straight up dog fight. The fight. The, the, the, the football game that we all deserve as college football fans. We're going to get it in this game. But I got it being a walk off field goal. Like coach said, whoever has the ball last, I think it's going to be Ohio State and I think they don't.

[Rob Stone]

Get the W. Ohio State kicking game has not been their strength by any stretch of the imagination this season. One and a half point spread. And again we flashback to October 12th where the Ducks did a great service. Probably looking forward to Ohio State and giving them some things to really self scout and figure out. And that was a turning point for Ohio State when they lost in Eugene by one point because the clock ended before Will Howard could get down and Ohio State could try that walk off field goal. Who knows if they'll have another opportunity to do that. Make sure to follow, subscribe and rate us on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever it is that you find your podcast again on social media, we can be found at 3x option show fire off questions to us. We'd love to answer them during the show. Next episode coming away on Friday. That's right, a bonus episode this week during the holidays Coming away on Friday. We'll talk all about the quarterfinals. And again, as always, thanks to our amazing sponsors, Wendy's, BetMGM, USAA and NHTSA. Mark, bark us off. Bark us off. Mark Ingram. And a happy New Year.

[Joel McHale]

Love it.