Who's In Charge of College Football, Fly Eagles Fly, Bruce Feldman Joins, and the Next CFP Champion

Summary

The Triple Option Podcast Summary
Episode: Who's In Charge of College Football, Fly Eagles Fly, Bruce Feldman Joins, and the Next CFP Champion
Release Date: February 12, 2025

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Super Bowl Showdown: Eagles vs. Chiefs

The episode kicks off with Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram II, and Rob Stone delving into the recent Super Bowl performance where the Philadelphia Eagles decisively defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22. The primary focus is on the Eagles' defensive strategy that effectively neutralized Chiefs' star quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

Key Highlights:

• Eagles' Defensive Prowess: The hosts highlight how the Eagles' front four pressured Mahomes relentlessly. Rob Stone remarks at [02:26] how unprecedented it was to see "42 drop backs, zero pressures against the best quarterback in the game."

• Impact on Mahomes: Mark Ingram emphasizes the Chiefs' struggles, noting, "They cannot block four man down. If you can't block the four down linemen, you're going to have a problem all day long" ([04:36]).

• Defense Coordinator Vic Fangio: The discussion praises Fangio's role in transforming the Eagles' defense from 26th in the NFL to the top tier, showcasing exceptional leadership and tactical adjustments.

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Jalen Hurts: A Beacon of Leadership and Role Modeling

Transitioning from the Super Bowl analysis, the conversation shifts to Jalen Hurts, the Eagles' quarterback, highlighting his journey and influence both on and off the field.

Key Highlights:

• Jalen Hurts’ Resilience: Urban Meyer shares Hurts' inspiring story, recounting how he overcame being benched early in his Alabama career to leading the Eagles to a Super Bowl MVP title ([07:23]).

• Positive Influence: Rob Stone underscores Hurts as a role model, stating, "every kid should want to be like Jalen Hurts" ([08:38]).

• Community and Leadership: The hosts commend Hurts for his dedication, team spirit, and community involvement, portraying him as an ideal representative for both college and professional sports.

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Securing the Super Bowl: New Orleans Shines

The podcast briefly touches on the exceptional security measures implemented during the Super Bowl in New Orleans, applauding the city's ability to host a safe and well-organized event.

Key Highlights:

• Outstanding Security: Mark Ingram praises New Orleans for its meticulous handling of security, mentioning, "every corner there was police, there was National Guard" ([11:02]).

• City’s Resilience: Urban Meyer and Mark Ingram commend the city's resilience and ability to rebound from past tragedies, emphasizing the people’s strength and community spirit ([12:35]).

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Transforming College Football Governance with Bruce Feldman

A significant portion of the episode features a conversation with special guest Bruce Feldman, a renowned college football reporter from The Athletic and FOX's Big Noon Kickoff. The discussion centers on the evolving landscape of college football governance, the introduction of NIL (Name, Image, Likeness), and the creation of a new governing entity.

Key Highlights:

• New Governing Entity: Urban Meyer introduces the topic, explaining that a committee comprising athletic directors from the Big 12, ACC, SEC, and Big Ten is forming a new LLC to oversee aspects like NIL, transfer portals, and salary caps ([16:01]).

• Power Dynamics: Feldman discusses the power struggle between elite programs and smaller schools, stating, "there's the power leagues of football teams... and everything else is just too big and too strong for them to manage" ([44:38]).

• Lack of Cooperation: Rob Stone expresses skepticism about cooperation among different university programs, emphasizing the entrenched "haves and have nots" ([18:02], [42:25]).

• Future of the NCAA: The conversation reveals doubts about the NCAA's continued influence, with Feldman noting, "their enforcement model is kind of screwy... they are really powerless" ([44:23]).

• Impact on Smaller Programs: The hosts and Feldman explore how the new governance structure might disproportionately benefit major programs while leaving smaller schools struggling to keep up.

Notable Quotes:

• Rob Stone at [18:02]: "Everyone's in a fight."
• Mark Ingram at [23:09]: "You're on your own."
• Urban Meyer at [44:38]: "The NCAA doesn't want to fight anymore."

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Predicting the Next College Football National Champion

In the latter part of the episode, the hosts engage in a spirited discussion predicting the contenders for the next College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship. They analyze the top five favorites and identify potential dark horses.

Top Five Favorites:

1. Ohio State (+500): With a new quarterback and a revamped coaching staff, Ohio State is seen as a strong contender.

2. Texas (+550): Mark Ingram confidently places his bet on Texas, citing the arrival of Arch Manning and the program’s strong defense ([48:17]).

3. Georgia (+650): Urban Meyer supports Georgia, highlighting their long-awaited opportunity for a national title ([51:44]).

4. Oregon (+650): Uncertainty around their quarterback situation and recent performance are noted.

5. Penn State (+900): Despite high hopes, the hosts express cautious optimism, emphasizing the need for proof of their capabilities ([50:50]).

Dark Horse Picks:

• Tennessee (+2000): Rob Stone selects Tennessee, praising quarterback Nico I’s potential and athleticism ([52:48]).

• Other Mentions: Notre Dame, Clemson, LSU, Michigan, Ole Miss, A&M, and Miami are discussed as possible dark horses, each with their unique strengths and challenges.

Notable Quotes:

• Mark Ingram at [48:06]: "They'll pay you out five, you get five hundred."

• Rob Stone at [53:34]: "He looks like a bonafide. He looks like Aaron Rodgers."

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Conclusion

Urban Meyer wraps up the episode by encouraging listeners to engage with the podcast across various platforms and thanking sponsors like Wendy's and BetMGM. The hosts continue their camaraderie, hinting at future discussions and maintaining an engaging rapport throughout the episode.

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Notable Quote Summary:

• Rob Stone [02:26]: "42 drop backs, zero pressures against the best quarterback in the game."

• Mark Ingram [04:36]: "They cannot block four man down. If you can't block the four down linemen, you're going to have a problem all day long."

• Urban Meyer [07:23]: "He doesn't get the credit for it. He doesn't get the credit for it."

• Rob Stone [18:02]: "Everyone's in a fight."

• Bruce Feldman [44:38]: "Their enforcement model is kind of screwy... they are really powerless."

• Mark Ingram [48:06]: "They'll pay you out five, you get five hundred."

These quotes capture the essence of the discussions, emphasizing the strategic defensive plays in the Super Bowl, the leadership qualities of Jalen Hurts, the complex power dynamics within college football governance, and the competitive predictions for the upcoming season.

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This episode of The Triple Option offers listeners an in-depth analysis of recent football events, insightful discussions on the future of college football, and engaging predictions for the national championship, all delivered with the hosts' characteristic expertise and camaraderie.

Transcript

[Rob Stone]

How about that jewelry around his neck right now?

[Mark Ingram]

Oh, I paid for this. I paid for that compliance. Come see me.

[Urban Meyer]

By the way, that is a chain. That is not a necklace. That is a chain.

[Mark Ingram]

Men wear chains. For all y'all out there, men wear chains.

[Rob Stone]

Light it. He's back, coach, with the raspy voice and everything. So wait, what ca. I want to know what causes a raspy voice in that Super Bowl? He's not cheering. He's not cheering for I got Chiefs. What I'm asking Rob, what do you think before we go any.

[Urban Meyer]

What do I think? I think it's early mornings and late nights and the things in between.

[Mark Ingram]

Hey, a little bit of all of that. You know what I mean?

[Urban Meyer]

I've been. I've been. I got raspy voice. I know what that's all about. Welcome to the triple option presented by Wendy's. Go to Wendy's and taste the difference in a hamburger. Rob Stone, Urban Meyer. Deuce.

[Rob Stone]

Deuce.

[Urban Meyer]

Mark Ingram here with us. A couple things going to hit this week. Is Ohio State headed on the same path as Michigan was last season. We're going to discuss where college football seems to be heading. Is a super league on the horizon? The great Bruce Feldman from the athletic and big new kickoff joins us. And who's a dark horse to win the title all next year? I say Tennessee. And Mark Ingram rolls his eyes and gets extra raspy. We'll deal with that a little bit later. As always, thanks for joining us. Please rate subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify wherever you get your podcast wells across social media. 3x Opera show option show new episodes every Wednesday. You can find us on YouTube as well. We're going to get into college football real quick but we have to talk about the super bowl and what happened in New Orleans. The Eagles just dismantling Kansas City 40 to 22. The big talking point. And coach, we, we talked about this today. What the front line of the Philly defense did to Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City. The Chiefs dropped back 40 times. 4 0. The Eagles did not blitz a single play with that four man pressure and got so much pressure it took Mahomes down constantly. That's fresh moves of the week brought to you by Wendy's. Go to Wendy's and taste the difference in a hamburger. Sixteen pressures, coach six sacks. The most Mahomes has ever had in a single game. And it comes on the sports biggest stage.

[Rob Stone]

I'm, I got to be careful but I'm going to say this, that I think was 42 drop backs zero pressures. Mark zero. I don't think I ever heard of that. Zero pressures against the best quarterback. One of the top, probably five in NFL history. How does that happen? And I even looked. They used Travis Kelsey. So they were, they were changing up protections. The Chiefs were with six and seven. Man, but the tackles had a hard time blocking those cats. And I mean, four down pressure 42 times. And, and I, I've never seen Patrick Mahomes under so much duress. And every one time he did get out of pocket, like he's one of the best ever to do it, they caught him. Yeah, I mean, those guys retrace the D line coach and coaching that one on at the Eagles, and then obviously we're going to hit Vic Fangio, the defense coordinator, one of the most respected dudes out there. He takes the defense that was 26, the NFL to numero uno. And I think Mark or Rob or someone said that's the highest, the biggest transition from a bad defense to the best in NFL history. So a lot to unpack there, but I want to hold the thought for a minute. 42 drop backs, zero pressures against the best quarterback in the game right now.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, Coach. It was just remarkable what they're able to accomplish with the front four. I'm watching this game and, you know, we want to watch a good football game. My wife's like, the Chiefs need to do something. Like, I'm like, baby, it's over with. They cannot block four man down. If you can't block the four down linemen, you're going to have a problem all day long. And that's what they did. They, they, they, they rushed for and they had zone coverage behind it. So even when they, they had six sacks, Josh Sweat, two and a half sacks, Milton Williams, two sacks. They had six sacks total. Even when they didn't get sacks, they caused pressure and disrupted Patrick Mahomes. You saw the, the two interceptions he threw. It was because he was getting rushed. He was getting hit in the back with a tackle. And tremendous job by the Eagles defense because they what? In the first half, they held the Chiefs to 23 yards and a first down, zero points. Like they were dominant. They were.

[Urban Meyer]

Coach, do you think that was the game plan by Fangio, or do you just think he's like, well, they haven't stopped us yet. Let's keep doing it? It's.

[Rob Stone]

I think a little bit of both. I think that they wanted to play coverage and they wanted to. The one thing that, when you saw Patrick Mahomes over The years, you know, in recent years is he is so dangerous outside the pocket. So I wonder if they just wanted to keep him in that pocket, play coverage behind them. And it started working and they just kept dialing it up. I don't think to say that once again. I've been around football a long time. I've never heard of that. 42 against the best quarterback in the game. 42 drop backs. They didn't pressure one time. That pressure means bring five or six. So to answer your question, I think that was probably where they were at. But they were prepared to go pressure if he started slicing and dicing them after the way it went. No, they just said, I cannot imagine those headsets said, you know, someone bring it up, you know, bring up, bring the Sam rifle, bring this, bring that. He said, hell no. No, we're doing four down. Let these dogs eat. And those dogs mark eight.

[Mark Ingram]

They ate good a greedy and they sitting on full bellies right now. But hey, I just have to. Because also they had the ball the whole like almost the whole game, especially the first half. And so you like even the Chiefs defense, right? The teach the Chiefs defense. I felt like they did a great job containing Saquon Barkley. Obviously that was a point of emphasis. And they were doing a good job of kind of keeping them in the game. The Chiefs. The Chiefs defense was doing a good job of keeping them in the game in the first half. But over time, your defense just stays on the field because you can't get first downs. When have we seen the Chiefs get three and outs?

[Rob Stone]

Just never.

[Mark Ingram]

If you've seen them get five, six plays, we were surprised they were going three and out. Three and out, three and out. Incomplete pass stopped on fourth down. Now your defense is back on the field again. So over a period of time, your defense is playing way too many plays. And that's when the floodgates open and Jalen hurts, Devonte Smith, AJ Brown, Saquon coming out the backfield. They just went to work, man. So the Eagles just throwing through, had a tremendous game. You talk about the, the job that Howie Roseman has done. They've been to three Super Bowls, they've won two of them. And he just keeps adding tremendous players to the roster. He. He went and got Zach Bond, the linebacker who had a huge year in free agency from New Orleans. He went and drafted Cooper DeJean who had a pick six on his birthday last year. So the job that he is doing, putting his roster together, assuming his roster of guys who go with the mentality and the demeanor in the locker room, man. Howie Roseman's done a great job in the Eagles, man. They're. They're a problem because they're. This is a young football team. Jalen hurts. What? 26 years old, 2 Super Bowl, Super Bowl MVP shout out to Jalen Hurts, man, because he's been.

[Rob Stone]

He.

[Mark Ingram]

He's gotten better and better and better, and now he's a Super bowl champ. Super Bowl MVP and Eagles are moving forward.

[Urban Meyer]

I'm glad you brought up Jalen Hurts because I got a soft spot for this guy and I think a lot of people do, you know, as a neutral and when you are. Are told or reminded of Jalen Hurts story that started in college and what he did at Alabama, you cheer for this young man. Remember second game of his true freshman year, he basically became QB number one at Alabama 2017. You know, he. He gets benched.

[Mark Ingram]

Undefeated. He's undefeated.

[Urban Meyer]

Benched at halftime, a national championship game for Tuatanga Viola the next year. He's basically the backup to Tua, right? He stays.

[Mark Ingram]

He could have left.

[Urban Meyer]

Because right now, day, this day and age college, and you were there at Alabama and then you got down to here, you're gone.

[Mark Ingram]

Gone.

[Rob Stone]

Let me throw something out there, too. That and I. Maybe it's revival, Mark. I mean, I always hated when the best players were guys that you didn't want your players to look up to, you know, because of behavior on, you know, issues and just nonsense and all that. In college football, Ohio State and many other programs this year, think about the guys, the faith that was on that team. How about Jalen Hurts? What, are you kidding me? I mean, every kid should want to be like Jalen Hurts.

[Mark Ingram]

Yes.

[Rob Stone]

Even Patrick Mahomes.

[Mark Ingram]

Yes.

[Rob Stone]

And maybe it's just me, Mark, because I've been around this game for 50 years, 40 years, whatever it is. Is there ever been a better group of people leading the league in the NFL and in college? I'm just talking about, you know, when my son's 6 years old, hey, watch him. He's a workout maniac. He trains, he's a great teammate. And by the way, he's living right.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah.

[Rob Stone]

How cool is that right now?

[Mark Ingram]

It's a blessing. And that's what you want. That's when you talk about college football, when you talk about the NFL, the shield, when you talk about what you want your. Your, Your employees to be representative. You want people to be like them. You want them to be role models. You want them to be leaders. And that's exactly what Jalen Hurts is. That's what Trayvon Henderson was at Ohio State. That's what these guys are. So when you have your best players, your most notarized notable players, being great human beings, being great football players, being great in the community, that's what you want, essentially. So shout out to all the community leaders that are also being stand up comedians and citizens in our world, but also being straight ballers and straight dogs on the grid.

[Urban Meyer]

Think where Hertz could have gone right when he got benched, right? You know, where his life could have gone.

[Mark Ingram]

He could have went the tank. He could have win the tank.

[Urban Meyer]

That's what I'm saying. He. And instead he fought through it. He was a hell of a teammate. You forget back in, he goes to.

[Mark Ingram]

Oklahoma, becomes the Heisman runner.

[Urban Meyer]

Before that, before that. Remember 2018, came on to lead that comeback in the SEC Championship, the SEC championship game, right? This is a guy who, who was here, dropped him here. Then, hey, guess what, we need you now. And he comes up off the bench, leads him to the SEC championship game.

[Mark Ingram]

It was full circle. Graduation came in, came in to save Jalen. Then a year later, Jalen comes in to save tua.

[Urban Meyer]

And he doesn't get the credit for it. He doesn't get the credit for it. Second round pick, number overall, basically took over as QB number one December of his rookie season. Philly's a tough town, we know that as a sports town, and they're really tough on their quarterbacks. And he has handled it with such grace, you know, as he's being awarded the super bowl mvp. You know, the interviews were so brief and I was okay with it for a change because it was, it wasn't about me, it was about we and, and how Jalen projected that. So I'm so happy for him. Last thing I want to bring up about this, you guys were both in the Big Easy. We knew the tragedy that happened over the course of the Sugar bowl. And you guys, the security that you guys saw and felt in New Orleans, I know resonated with both of you.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah, I, I'd never seen, I've never seen every street corner in, in New Orleans. And the, and the traffic pattern, they actually handled it pretty good for the lockdown. But Mark, you experienced it more than I did. But I. The security was unreal, Coach.

[Mark Ingram]

It was amazing. I just want to give New Orleans the most credit, man, being a whole city for the Super Bowl. They did they thing, the city was beautiful. The, the traffic patterns, they had it under control. The crowd, they had it under control. Like you said, Coach, every corner there was police, there was National Guard, there was state police, there was, you know, camouflage with, with, with, with assault rifles. Like it was the safest place in America for a week long. In New Orleans, I'm not going to lie to you. There was nothing bad gonna happen. If you was trying to do something down there in New Orleans, you wasn't gonna get far. Cause they had security on every street, multiple blocks. And man, they just did a tremendous job. The city was beautiful. The restaurants were amazing as always. The crowds were great. Man, it was just a beautiful super bowl in New Orleans. In the NFL, they just did a great job. I think New Orleans got to have a Super bowl every five years. They could, they could do the draft for, you know, wherever else is going to go. But New Orleans has to be a host place every five years, man, because they held it down, man. It was a beautiful event and New Orleans did a tremendous job of hosting, as always. Man, who that? Baby, we love you.

[Urban Meyer]

How that, how that city, Mark has been able to rebound over the course of so many tragedies, really, you know, in our lifetime. It's, it's remarkable. So good job.

[Mark Ingram]

It's the people, the resiliency of the people. The people are resilient. The people believe. The people fight, man. And that's what makes a place special, is the people. And that's what makes New Orleans such a special place. That's why I love it.

[Rob Stone]

Light it.

[Urban Meyer]

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[Mark Ingram]

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[Rob Stone]

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[Mark Ingram]

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[Urban Meyer]

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[Mark Ingram]

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[Urban Meyer]

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[Urban Meyer]

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[Mark Ingram]

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[Bruce Feldman]

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[Urban Meyer]

Well, some of the power people in college football might be making a move, Mark in urban to change the game as we know it right now. As we pivot back to college football right now on the triple option presented by Wendy's a committee of power conference administrators took really significant steps the couple days ago toward this Creation of a new entity that is going to govern. We don't know how, we don't know who's going to do it, but it's going to govern the evolving, professionalized aspects of college sports. That's a nice way of saying nil. And transfer portals and everything that comes with it. There's going to be a newly created LLC already. Like whenever the things like CEOs and LLC are in the conversation, you're like, wait, are we still talking college football? Yeah, we are, unfortunately, in 2025. So this new LLC, overseen by CEO or executive director, centered on a new enforcement arm to police violators of the industry's new salary cap. Good luck with all of that sentence. It is expected to feature revenue sharing policies and a corresponding penalty structure for violators. This is where we really get into the conversation. The transition team working on this, it's made up of two athletic directors from each of the big four conferences right now, the Big 12, ACC, SEC and the Big 10. It's got a three pronged approach of enforcement. There's CAP management, there's an NIL clearinghouse, there's an investigative and infractions unit. You know, pretty soon it's going to be, you know, come to CBS this fall. What is it? Csi College football. Nobody wants that. Nobody wants that. But, but coach, you have been involved in this game for so long, and the beauty of, of you is that you have seen college football from the head coaching perspective on really unique levels. And what you're seeing happen to college football and these coaches coming together and these 80s coming together, it's almost hard to have a fair fight, have a fair conversation. Is it because there's so many different needs and wants that different universities are needing and fighting for?

[Rob Stone]

Well, always remember that everyone's in a fight. And when you're the head coach of Bowling Green, my fight was, how do I get my players workout gear, how do I get them lunch, how do I get them, you know, in the good dorms, you know, and all that. Then I moved to Utah and it's, how do we, you know, how do we just survive and get, you know, more than 15,000 people in the stadium and started the mighty Utah student section called the museum. And you're in that fight, then all of a sudden you end up in Florida and you're like, how in the hell do I block those defensive linemen from Georgia and lsu? And then you go to Ohio State, how do you beat your rival? So everyone's in a fight thing, I'm gonna say Is that when you. The word that I'm going to continue to use for the next several years is cooperation. And I don't believe there'll be any. I was very frustrated. I was a head coach for almost 20 years and I would sit in those meetings and when I was in the Mac conference of Bowling Green, I just wanted someone to listen, you know, someone to listen because our. What we needed. Then you go to Utah and he just wanted to somehow step at the table. Then you're at the table at Florida and Ohio State. I'm going to tell you this. The. There's schools that we're talking about that have nothing in common. Bowling has nothing in. Other than you play 11 guys on each side of the ball and you know, you kick off the same kickoff rules, etc. Etc. But there's. Other than that, there's nothing in common with the fight you are in Ohio State, the fight you are at a smaller school. So I don't see that happening. Where there's cooperation. I just don't see that happening.

[Mark Ingram]

It's going to be crazy. It's going to be crazy. The has and the have nots on Coach.

[Rob Stone]

I hear a dog.

[Mark Ingram]

It's not mine.

[Urban Meyer]

That's my dog. She's upset with the way college football is going right now. She. She wants conferences. Three years.

[Rob Stone]

Is she going to that meeting?

[Urban Meyer]

She.

[Rob Stone]

She's.

[Urban Meyer]

And she's going to go bite somebody about these meetings. She doesn't get it.

[Rob Stone]

She wants a. I'm going to go on. I want. I know we're going to hit this later too, but the SEC and the Big Ten commissioners met in the fall. Greg Sinky and I'm sorry.

[Urban Meyer]

Tony Petit, the big tank.

[Rob Stone]

Tony Petiti.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah.

[Rob Stone]

The. The two most powerful men in college football. Two of them met and I'm telling you, I can see. I don't know this because I'm talking about it, but I can see. Why in the world would you share the wealth? The easiest thing for people to wrap their arms around. Mark, you have Major League Baseball and you have the NFL. NFL somewhere years ago, came up with a collective bargaining where everybody's the same, they throw all the money in the pot. Now you got the big market, small market, but they wanted to keep it. So everyone was what, 8 and 8? They wanted to keep it very competitive. Major League Baseball does not care. Major League Baseball, you have the New York Yankees and we have the numbers somewhere. How about this? The Mets have a $301 million payroll for next year. There's 18 below 100 million. The Mets two highest players are making more than a handful of rosters. You think if you go to the Mets, the Dodgers and the Yankees and say hey you know, we'd like to make this equal. We want the Florida Marlins and the Rays and some of these other small market Pirates, you guys cut back a little bit. We make it all equal. What's the difference between that and Alabama and Ohio State Wolverines. I can tell you from those meetings, there's no difference. I'll save. And then they say bring Congress involved. And I'm sure you guys been watching the news. Congress has some other issues.

[Urban Meyer]

They got bigger.

[Rob Stone]

They're not the most fiscal and responsible people as I'm, as we're all seeing. So I, I Congress, come on. So I don't see, I don't see it happen. I don't.

[Urban Meyer]

So why is Congress getting involved? Right. They're getting involved because go balance their constituents. It infects their voters.

[Rob Stone]

That's true.

[Urban Meyer]

Right. They trying to get those Alabama fans happy. I'm here fighting for you.

[Rob Stone]

Right.

[Urban Meyer]

I'm a roll Tide. Tommy Tuberville is over there fighting for his, his Auburn beliefs.

[Rob Stone]

Sure.

[Urban Meyer]

And whatever it is, we don't care what happens.

[Mark Ingram]

They can just go to the wayside. You know, maybe not nobody really cares about Auburn except for Auburn.

[Rob Stone]

But I just, I love these meetings. The one thing that I and here. So there's two types of. You know we got to really think about this. Number one, you have the powerful teams of the college football. The revenue. You know I saw how to State Wolverines and Alabama camera. The top five teams. But you're bringing in what, $300 million or $250 million, something like that. And there's a lot of teams that lose money every year. And then I want to throw this at you Mark because this is where real intriguing to me. You also have teams right now. The NCE NCAA is toothless. There are no rules. There was a tampering situation. I believe it was Tennessee or something in the fall and they sent out a memo. I someone read me the memo and basically saying that you're on your own.

[Urban Meyer]

Yep.

[Rob Stone]

Because every time we try to set a rule or enforce a rule, we get litigated and we lose and we lose millions of dollars put attorney fees and all that. So there's two. Once again there's two teams. One's the power, the powerful. Why would they ever give up power? And then the other team that they always live their life in the gray area as far as following Rules and.

[Urban Meyer]

All that lurking in the shadows.

[Rob Stone]

Right. Yeah. Why would you ever want to change? I mean, right now there's no rules.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah.

[Rob Stone]

So those are the two constituents in.

[Urban Meyer]

This college football world, and we're trying to.

[Rob Stone]

Not going to cooperate. They're not going to do that.

[Mark Ingram]

Cooperation zero.

[Rob Stone]

Not happen. Barred.

[Urban Meyer]

I don't even know what it would take. I mean, obviously, money is something that. That is at the forefront of all these conversations. Right. Money and power. But those. Those programs are just going to want the lion's share of the money. The. The Bowling Greens are lucky to get the. The free shoes. Right. And that's. That's a win for the Bowling Greens. Right. Good. Good for us. We got a great deal with Mark.

[Rob Stone]

I kid you not, Mark. When I went to Bowling Green, we had no workout clothes for our players. Subway came to me and asked me to speak to a leadership group. They paid me 25 or 2500 bucks or 3, I can't remember. It was. I called Adidas and I sent away and I got their workout. We had no workout shoes.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah.

[Rob Stone]

And T shirts. And they said, okay, we'll work. They want to work with us. They work with me. They came back blue and gray. Our colors are orange and brown.

[Urban Meyer]

Let's just work out gear, coach. Just work out.

[Rob Stone]

But our players loved it. I gave. That was the first time they had workout gear. I handed. Now the shoes didn't fit, but that's. That's what we're dealing with.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah.

[Rob Stone]

Maybe not crazy because it's. Times have changed, but it's still D1 football. But. Yeah, it's just so different from the top to the bottom, and then from the middle to the top. It's. It's a gigantic.

[Mark Ingram]

That's crazy because at Bama, we just be like, hey, I need a new pair of shorts. Hey, give me a shirt. Hey, new pair of shoes. You go to the window, hear what you got here. What you got. The has and the have nots. No cooperation. Yeah.

[Urban Meyer]

So is it the responsibility of the haves to lift the have nots in college football? Do they have to try?

[Rob Stone]

I think they're trying.

[Mark Ingram]

They're trying.

[Rob Stone]

Here's why, though. Here's why, though, that the athletic director at Ohio State is a very tough position. He manages 36 sports and an alumni base that's gigantic. And Alabama's. I don't think Alabama has that many sports. I think it's like 22 or something like that. I saw. But they are under so much pressure from their boosters. The board of Trustees, their president and the fan base that's. They're not gonna. They're not gonna sacrifice. You know, I can imagine. Imagine the AD at Alabama walking in the middle of the field saying, hey, don't worry about our record. Everything's gonna be okay. But we helped, you know, we helped Vanderbilt and we helped Wake Forest. We helped Texas Tech. We're gonna try to make this thing more equal. He get booed out of the stadium. It's not happening. He's gonna. He's gonna really help. His. His focus is on Alabama.

[Urban Meyer]

Coach. Remember what the Big 12 used to be and some of those programs that were elevated and lifted by the bigger programs or if you even go back to what's. The old days of God, what was that. What was that conference?

[Rob Stone]

Big Eight.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah, the Big Eight. Right. And. And everybody was. Was, was fighting, right? Was on the. Was on the same page. Do you know why there was those breakaways done?

[Rob Stone]

I don't think people talk enough about the catastrophic mistakes made BY the Big 12 or Big 8 is when Texas, you know, when they started the Longhorn Network, and then all of a sudden Nebraska, Arkansas, A and M. So we're. We're going to move on. Nebraska to this day is not the same Nebraska. I think Nebraska was the most powerful school back in that corridor when he had all those teams in the Midwest part of the country there with Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas A and M, Arkansas, and they. And Nebraska and Colorado, they broke it up. Why? Because Texas wanted to keep more revenue share for them.

[Urban Meyer]

It's looking out for number one right now. That's the world we're living in. I remember talking to Coach Stoops when the news about Oklahoma and Texas were breaking away from the Big 12 and going to the SEC. And my heart, My heart hurt because I said everybody else down here in the Big 12 is. Is they need you, right? They need you. Like without those two programs, the Big 12, that they know it, they may not say, but they know that was a sucker punch that was between the eyes. And Coach Stoops just calmly and very rationally said, we have to look out for us. Like, this is the way it's going, Rob. Right? It's coming. It's coming this year or two years or three years, it's coming. And if we don't look out for ourselves, we're going to be trapped and we're going to be struggling like some of these other. Let me.

[Rob Stone]

Let me ask Mark, because I'm really intrigued by this. The. You know, we talked about the ncaa. When I first went the ncaa, when I first went to the sec mark, I came from Utah, I came from Notre Dame, and I never, you know this. I'm not saying it was all the cheating, because I just. I don't know. You can prove it. Nothing ever happened. But I was in every day in the compliance officers at Florida every day. When I heard the players were telling me stuff my assistant coaches were telling me, were you ever fearful of the ncaa? Did you hear players talk about it? Was, you know, you know, all the, all the. There are no rules even were the rules.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah.

[Rob Stone]

Were you. Were you. Did that ever come up amongst you? You know, some of the great players.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah. Compliance was something that you always were aware of because they, if they find one thing, they could just make you ineligible and find your. Find your school or, you know, make you ineligible for something that might not be a big deal. I remember. So I'm good friends with Joe Hayden, your guy, and he. We're good friends. We met at the award show. So I'm, I'm like, in D.C. area. I'm going up for his draft party and like, he's going to the league, he's going top 10. He has a lot of, you know, he has agent probably, I don't know. But basically, he had a bunch of jewelry and I go, I put on his jury and I go to his party. There's pictures of it. I go back to Alabama. I have compliance pressing me about, where did I get this jewelry? I'm like, it's not mine. It is Joe Hayden's. He let me borrow it to go to his party. But I had to go through meetings. I had to go to answer the compliance officer, like, where I got the jury from? I'm like, bro, it's not mine. I don't have it. It was Joe Hayden, just my friend. He let me wear it. So it's like you always were kind of fearful of the compliance because they had so much power they could cause you to be ineligible. But, like, it's. If you do something wrong, they're going to get you. But even when you don't do something wrong, they still be trying to get you. So there's always this fearful, not a fear, but there's this overpower of the, you know, compliance being hit over you.

[Urban Meyer]

Coach, were you called into compliance or were you just going there for, like, daily updates of what's happening and what.

[Rob Stone]

No, I would turn. I would turn in schools. I would turn in and say, I'm hearing this. I'm here because my coaches, it was every day. It was, every day was, you know, from the bump rule to when they would send out the caravans of people to, you know, 10 guys on a, on that buses and they'd roll in there, two. There's cars in the parking lot that these kids get on their visits and all that. So, I mean, it was every day. I'm not saying it's true, because nothing ever happened.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah.

[Rob Stone]

So I, I don't, you know, once.

[Mark Ingram]

Again, parents got me a truck. You know, I was driving my, my same car from, from high school all the way till I was like a sophomore. My parents got me a truck. Compliance calling. I'm like, bro, just look at my parents. They want to do something nice for me. I'm not driving the freaking hoopty anymore.

[Rob Stone]

Like, but there's other places that you would hear that are just living on, you know, just non stop.

[Urban Meyer]

Living on the edge, baby. Yeah, living, living on the edge and working in the shadows.

[Mark Ingram]

All right.

[Urban Meyer]

It's like going to HR right now.

[Rob Stone]

I don't want to go, where'd you get that? How about that jewelry around his neck right now?

[Mark Ingram]

Oh, I pay for this. I pay for that complaint, by the way.

[Urban Meyer]

See me by the way. That is a chain. That is not a necklace. That is a chain.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, men wear chains. For all y'all out there, men wear chains.

[Urban Meyer]

I learned that the hard way about a year and a half ago. I was like, that's a nice necklace. It is a chain. Rob Stone. Rob, this is a chain. All right, now that we've got that settled, we can continue talking big picture and the politics and the nuances of what's going on behind the scenes in college football. Coming up next on the triple option presented by Wendy's, our great friend from the athletic and Fox's big noon kickoff, Bruce Feldman joins the show.

[N/A]

This episode is brought to you by Intuit. TurboTax didn't file with TurboTax last year. That's in the past. Now taxes is getting the TurboTax app and filing your own taxes for free. If you didn't file with them last year, file by February 18th. All tax forms all 100% free. Now this is taxes, Intuit, TurboTax. New filers and filers who didn't use TurboTax last year only must start and file your own taxes in app by February. February 18th excludes TurboTax Live full [e-mail].

[Urban Meyer]

Welcome back to the triple option presented by Wendy's Rob, Mark Urban. We are joined by our longtime friend. You see him every Saturday with us on fox's BIG NOON kickoff. Also works for the athletic. Bruce Feldman joins us, our good buddy. Bruce, good to see you here. My friend Bruce joining us, taking time away from his kids vacation in Florida to hang out with the three of us. That's when you know you, you're a football blue blood. Let's talk about a topic that we were just talking off camera that, that you refer to as dent. I refer to it as vital to the future of college football. This, this whole ncaa, the power conferences, this landmark settlement of antitrust lawsuits. What's happening right now is it sounds like schools can distribute at least, Bruce, 20 and a half million dollars to their athletes starting the next school year, can expand scholarships to entire rosters as long as they stay within these new roster limits. There'll be a legal proceeding coming down April 7th where the judge will handle this house settlement. I guess give us a quick like Cliff Notes version of where we are and why this is so important to college football.

[F]

Yeah. That that judge had actually approved of this back in October. And now this is going to be more a more formal hearing on the 7th of April. And that date you're talking about where $20.5 billion of a salary cap that would kick in July 1st. Right. And so it's really interesting because I think a lot of people expected it going in all this direction, but it's, it is, as I said, it's super dense because we're talking about a lot of lawsuits. We're talking about, I think, a power struggle. You're talking about a lot of politics. You know, to me, the only thing worse than a lot of lawyers getting involved in it is a lot of politicians getting involved in it. And that's where we're at. It's, it's ugly, it's messy. You know, I, I was saying to Urban Offline a little bit ago that some of the people I know and some of the people, you know, he knows too, who I think are the most plugged in when it comes to the issues of nil and roster management and all those things because that's what they do. They're, I mean, they're coaches, but they're not like on the field football coaches. And a few of them feel like the only way to really clean up a lot of the issues that are, that are in the pipeline because so much of this is going to end up with lawsuits and there's going to be more lawsuits. They think it ends, it may end up towards collective Bargaining. And that's something that you just think, well, I couldn't see that in college athletics. But we're already at a place where so much stuff is happening in college athletics that nobody, I mean, Mark didn't play that long ago. But it's a completely different landscape than Remark.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Rob Stone]

Hey, Bruce, there's been reports of a transition committee and we've heard, you know, the schools names, ads from Ohio State, A and M, Clemson. But something I want to hit you with, and I'm one of the few guys, as I mentioned in the previous segment here I was at the Mac, I was in the Mountain west and then the SEC in Big Ten. And everything that I'm hearing is there's going to be, it's going to take cooperation. As I said in the previous segment, I no chance. When you start, this is the inequity, when you start seeing these committees, a transition committee, is that, is that real or is that just typical college that I've been a part for 15 years?

[F]

I think there's there. I think it's real. I just wonder when the, you know that expression, when the rubber meets the road, you know, the Big Ten, which obviously we're at every week in, in the fall, and the sec, these are the power brokers of the sport. So it comes back to what does Greg Sankey ultimately want? What does Tony Patini want? You know, when you have the other two power leagues, the ACC and, and certainly the Big 12, the Big 12 is bringing in, I don't say half, but it's, it's closer to half than it is anywhere near a level playing field with what the Big Two are, are generating. And so when we see like, okay, what matters most beyond the money with college football, it's the playoff and how do you get teams in there? I mean, right now I feel like the, the Big Ten and the SEC on the front end so far have been pretty generous with what they've done because I think they know, I don't think they want to collapse the rest of the sport. And I think that they're sitting there trying to weigh what's for the good of the sport versus what's for what's in our best interest. I ultimately agree with you that what's in their best interest is not to be that collaborative. I mean, they're going to be collaborative, but I think they're going to, you know, there's going to be some kind of what's in it for us that that helps us here.

[Rob Stone]

Hey. Hey, Mark. Before, before I go here, Bruce, one more. I'm going to hit you right between the eyes with this. In the fall, the SEC and the Big Ten commissioners sat down to talk. Do we ever see succeeding the union here and say, we're going to go to super conferences, add a few more schools and go play ball on their own? And they got their own playoff. They have their own. And you're talking about, you know, I just keep hearing this and the inequities that exist. Bruce, do you see that happening at all?

[F]

I do. I don't know how quickly we get to it, but, you know, like, that's been the thought ever since we saw this massive upheaval. Like, it wasn't that long ago, where the package. You know, I just saw Chip Kelly the other day, and we were talking about he's going to work for Pete Carroll. We're talking about the old pack 10 days when he was going up against. Against his new boss, Pete Carroll, you know, with the Raiders. And Jim Harbaugh is in the same division. And right now, The PAC Pack 10 is long gone. The Pack 12 is. Is. Is a. Is a memory. And I think because of all those things where, you know, what's the money going to be involved in? We see this in terms of what we work on and what gets TD ratings and what. What gets TV dollars. And if the money is driving it, I think it's going to get there eventually. It's just, how quickly will it get there? You know, the playoff, they couldn't make any significant changes unless everybody was 100%. They had a meeting the day before this year's national title game. It was, you know, whatever, two or three weeks ago. That was not expected to be a lot of widespread change. When the contract gets turned over in a year from now, that's when I think you can see significant changes. But what you're talking about, urban and what I think a lot of people around the sport, inside the sport, think eventually it'll get to it. It's like what we see, you know, like Rob, you know, both you guys, Rob and Mark, you're very involved in, like, you know, international soccer and. And more on that space. And that's where it feels like it's going. You know, it's. It becomes so much more professionalized. So why would they just be, you know, dabbling and just kind of giving lip service to all this stuff? I think it's just a matter of, like, what can they do legally where they're not going to get sued left and right and I think that's the stuff they have to really sort out now.

[Mark Ingram]

Bruce, Excuse my voice. Long week. No.

[Urban Meyer]

Somebody had a good time in New Orleans.

[Mark Ingram]

Long week. Long week, man.

[F]

When does he not have a good time? When does he not have a good time?

[Urban Meyer]

Valid. Valid.

[Mark Ingram]

So this new settlement, right, so schools could pay their players, what, 20 and a half million dollars? Is that like they're 20.5?

[F]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Mark Ingram]

Okay.

[F]

But it's not all. It's not all football now.

[Rob Stone]

I mean, all sports, though.

[F]

I think it's a distinction. All sports. Oh, yeah. A big chunk will probably go to basketball and obviously a huge chunk will go to football, but it's not going to be all football.

[Mark Ingram]

And there will still be nil.

[F]

Yeah. And so that's where I think you can have the, you know, the other part of this, what's tricky on this.

[Mark Ingram]

Is like, will there be regulation of the nil or.

[F]

They say there will be. I mean, but come on now, like, Urban coached in the sec, Mark, you played in it. I mean, I was around it a lot when I did my recruiting book. There may be some regulation, but I think. I think it's still going to be. Guys are super competitive and that's just how it's going to. I think that's how it's always going to be.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah.

[Urban Meyer]

Danny White, the Tennessee ad, we didn't talk a whole lot about it when it happened. A certain incident with a price hike that he did with his tickets. You read some of those tea leaves. And now looking back on that decision that he made, you know, take us back to what he did and why. You see that maybe as a bit of a preemptive move that more universities, frankly, are probably going to be doing.

[F]

Yeah. If they can do it. If they can do it. Danny White, the AD at Tennessee, back in mid September, they announced that they were going to increase ticket, season ticket prices almost 5%. But they were very transparent and said, hey, the money is going to develop our team, which means we're going to increase nil, and this is where it's going to go to and everything else. And they had the leverage to do it. It's a fan base that is that, you know, it's not like it is when it was Derek Dooley or, you know, Jeremy Pruitt was there. They're rolling. People are excited.

[Urban Meyer]

And at that time in the season, they were really rolling, Bruce. Right. I mean, yeah. Arguably no program hotter in the nation than Tennessee at that moment, but also, I mean, they.

[F]

Look, I know they got embarrassed by by Ohio State in the playoff. But they did go to the playoff. And so if you can do this. And what was interesting to me was when I spoke to him back in September, right around the time of this decision, he was. He didn't really make the distinction of nil versus revenue share. I think it's a way where you're going to see schools look. You know, Urban worked at Ohio State. That. That is definitely a program that could probably leverage that. There's a handful. Mark's alma mater certainly could do that. You know, the school I went to and Bear went to Miami. I don't think they can do that. I mean, they have money, but I don't think they can say, hey, we're going to ask the. Because the ticket base is not the same thing. So it goes back to the thing Urban said a couple minutes ago, where we're talking about the power leagues, you know, maybe a superpower league. But again, there's not a lot of schools that can do it. You know, line arts alma mater. I don't think they can do it. You know, it's just the fan base is not that desperate. It's not that passionate. But for the ones who can do it, it is a big advantage.

[Rob Stone]

I think the bottom line that we all got to remember, and I'm just going to keep saying it till someone proves me wrong. You need cooperation, and the chance of cooperation is zero. There's not going to be no cooperation unless it's the uppers against, you know, because it's. The inequities is so great. And once again, I'm one of the few people that can speak to, you know, trying to go out and raise money for T shirts and, and. And tennis shoes at Bowling Green to trying to figure out how to block the SEC D lineman to you all, you're all in a fight. And there will be zero cooperation across the ranks of college football. It's the ups and the downs, the high, the. The haves and have nots, and I don't ever see that change.

[Urban Meyer]

Are the have nots getting a voice, Bruce, at all?

[F]

They. They technically have a voice right now. Rob, I think the question is going to come as we get a little further away. Like, I wouldn't be surprised if what we just had with the playoff, where you had an smu, you know, first year being in the ACC at Boise State, you know, like, I don't make the playoff. And that may be as good as it gets, though, like, when it comes to the playoff, when it comes to things that fans genuinely care about. I think that those other things, like, if you're, you know, University of Houston and you're relatively new to the Big 12, you know, you're on the hook for $20.5 million, you know, for this. And there's a lot of changes. And again, the big difference between the Big 12 and the. The landscape that Urban is. Is really talking about now, you said.

[Mark Ingram]

Like, the worst thing in getting lawyers involved is getting politicians involved. Like, is the. Will the NCAA have any power? Like, monitor and enforce spending, like. Or is this completely out of control? I think the control.

[F]

I think the NCAA wants no pardon of being in this. I think they are so toothless right now. I think they're. They're hoping to. To kind of get help, but I think they're kind of bending at the knee every chance they get.

[Rob Stone]

So.

[F]

No, no.

[Urban Meyer]

So take out. Take out that crystal ball to that point. You're right. You're right. The NCAA doesn't want to fight anymore. They're, They're. They just keep backing, backing up. So how much longer is the NCAA involved in major college football?

[F]

Great question. I mean, because, like, technically, I mean, a lot of people don't realize this. They're not, they, you know, it's not their national title game. It's not like college basketball or college soccer or whatever. I think they're going to try to. They're trying to keep a hand in as best they can, but they're. They're really powerless. I mean, their enforcement model is kind of screwy. And that's even up for, you know, up for reassessment now under new leadership. I don't know. It's a great question. I think it goes back to the thing about what we said with Urban where it's just, hey, we may have a power con, power league of football teams. Yeah. And everything else. You know, women's college basketball, soccer, baseball, all those things are still under the NCAA guidance, but this other thing is just too big and too strong for them to manage.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah, the, the power players and the power brokers in the Big ten in SEC are not to be messed with. And you can see these, like, incremental steps where they are taking the power and seizing the power and running with it. Bruce, as always, we. We appreciate it. Go spend some time with the kids. Don't forget to hit the bicep curls in the hotel gym. Right. I know, I know you hit those every once in a while, my friend.

[Rob Stone]

Thanks, Bruce.

[F]

Yeah.

[Mark Ingram]

Come pull up on me. Bruce, you 20 minutes up the road.

[F]

I know.

[Mark Ingram]

Bring the fam down. Come to the crib, man.

[Rob Stone]

Would you say pull up on me? What'd you say?

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, pull up on me. Pull up on the key.

[Rob Stone]

What does that mean?

[Mark Ingram]

It means pull up. Like get in the whip and pull up.

[Urban Meyer]

Go pull up on Brady Quinn while you're down there, too.

[F]

We're going to get somebody to come out to use your treadmill over there.

[Mark Ingram]

Go down to the gym. I'll take little man down to the gym to come get some work in.

[Urban Meyer]

Hey, Bruce Feldman, you're the best, man. Thanks. Thanks for joining us. Coming up next on the triple option, who's going to win it all next year? Did somebody say Tennessee? Really?

[Mark Ingram]

Never.

[Urban Meyer]

Welcome back to the triple option presented by Wendy's Rob Stone, Mark Ingram, the second. Urban Meyer back here with you guys. Time now for pick six. And you're going to say, rob, there's no games going on in college football. Hold on. Soccer, we hit soon.

[Rob Stone]

Soon.

[Urban Meyer]

Maybe some college basketball and bowling. But no, we're going to talk college football. We're going to talk big picture here in a second. Pick six is brought to you by BetMGM. Place your moneyline prop parlay and same game parlay bets at BetMGM. Just download the app today. As always, please gamble responsibly. Lines and conversations are always subject to change. Right? So college football national championship winner futures are already live at BetMGM. Coach, you know what a future is?

[Rob Stone]

No idea.

[Urban Meyer]

Okay, good. Well, you're gonna help some people out there. They're making bets right now here in February about who's going to win the national title literally next calendar year right now. So we're going to ask you guys to pick a favorite right now. And then we're also going to talk about a dark horse. Okay? The top five favorites right now. Buckeyes plus 500. New QB, a ton of new coaches on the staff. Texas at plus 550. Welcome to the Arch Manning era. Georgia plus 650. They lost seven of their eight leading sack producers. Oregon plus 650. Who will be their quarterback with Dylan Gabriel gone and Penn State at +900. Mark. Deuce. Deuce. I let you go first of kind of the favorites and maybe it's another one that we're not seeing right now. Who. Who would you feel comfortable putting some. Some early futures money on?

[Mark Ingram]

Coach, you know what these plus numbers mean?

[Rob Stone]

No.

[Mark Ingram]

It means if Ohio State plus 500. So if you put 100 bucks on Ohio State right now, they'll pay you.

[Rob Stone]

Out five, you get 500.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, they'll pay. So. So you get that bang for your bucket. We love 5X. You know, I mean, right now, man.

[Urban Meyer]

I know who you want to say, but you're fighting it.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, right now. I mean, right now, the favorite plus 550. I had to go with. I had to go with the Longhorns, man. You got Arch Manning coming. You got Sark, what he's been able to do with that program since he's taken over. Arch Manning coming in, and it's art season now. They got good players coming back. They have one of the best defenses in the country. I think they have good culture. They got the nil money to go ahead, get whoever they want out of the spring portal, out of the fall portal. You know what I mean? Retain players. So as of now, with the top five favorites, I'm gonna go plus 550 with Texas. Put. Put a thousand on. On. On Texas. It'll pay you what, 1550.

[Urban Meyer]

I was told there'd be no math involved.

[Rob Stone]

Coach.

[Urban Meyer]

Who do you like?

[Rob Stone]

I don't know. I'm looking at this and, you know, you gotta go with returning quarterbacks, which there's none there other than Drew Aller, you love. I'm going to go with Texas, too. You know, Ohio State, obviously, they're loaded and they recruit their tails off. But, you know, Julian saying, I keep hearing great things. I stood next to him. He's not very slight, but he's got a. He's got a great arm, great release ball, gets out fast.

[Mark Ingram]

They don't have Michigan or Ohio State on the schedule.

[Rob Stone]

Who's that?

[Urban Meyer]

Only have Penn State at Oregon.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Urban Meyer]

They got to figure out their quarterback.

[Mark Ingram]

They got nil money.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah, I'm going to go. If you. If you're saying I have to, I'm say Texas, Ohio State, Oregon, in that order.

[Urban Meyer]

I think a lot of people out there want to say Penn State and. And they're going to say it on two things. Consistency, like who, you know, has the staff changed a lot and they've just augmented the staff, like poaching Jim Knowles, the D.C. from Ohio State, and bring him to Happy Valley. And then, you know, is talent returning and Penn State is kind of has that early approach of we're in it to win it this year. Kind of like what we felt from Ohio State. Right. You know, Drew Aller and Singleton, Nick Allen coming back as well. They're big guns all saying, we're coming back for another run at this. Jim Franklin is feeling it The Midwest, the. The big tennis had a great run. I think it's easy to go for Penn State. I. I still. Mark, you and I have felt the same way for a while on Penn State. We really like them, but we're not fully believing in them yet.

[Mark Ingram]

Because I want to love Penn State so bad.

[Urban Meyer]

I do, too. I do. I agree. I. I want to see them do well. I want to see them win. I want to believe in them, but they need to give me that. That proof of validity.

[Mark Ingram]

I need them to win a game they're supposed to. They're. I need them to win a big game that matters. Win a game that matters, please.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah, I agree. I agree. And. And if I'm Ohio State coach, I see some parallels to what happened to Michigan last season. Right? You win the national title and then players leave and your quarterback leaves and a ton of your coaching staff leaves. And I, you know, we all looked at Michigan coming into what just happened to them saying there's no way they're going to be this good, right? They. They can't maintain that because of all the defections. Ohio State has got a ton of defections, whether it's graduation, whether it's coaches leaving, but they do have the main guy, Ryan Day, staying and getting locked in and getting an extension. That's why I think the conversation is close to what Michigan just went through, but it's not the same. I'm going to go. I'm going to go Georgia, guys, because I think. I think it's been too long.

[Mark Ingram]

Who is their quarterback?

[Urban Meyer]

It's been. Here's the only reason I'm going. It's been too long since the SEC in the south has had a real say in the national championship picture. And there is some major motivation running around there. But again, that's. That is. We're talking Ohio State, Georgia, Oregon. Those three were like, who's your quarterback going to be? We think we know, but we don't know. And I'll be honest, do we really know about Arch Manning? I think he's going to be great. I hope he is. And Drew Aller at Penn State, from what we've seen, it's okay.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, they do just.

[Urban Meyer]

Okay. All right. All right. So those are the favorites. Now let's talk some dark horses. This is where it gets interesting. So the best of the rest, if you will. Here's those numbers, Coach, that I know you love. Notre Dame, 1400. Your tide mark plus 1500. Tennessee Nico I is back plus 2000. You got Clemson, LSU, Michigan, Ole Miss, is at 2500 A&M at plus 3000. Miami with the former Georgia quarterback Carson Beck in there at plus 3,000. So, coach, is there a dark horse out there that that tickles you a little bit?

[Rob Stone]

Yeah. Nico, the quarterback of Tennessee, you know, I. I had them. I remember when I first started studying them last year and I called Brady Quinn and Matt Leinert and I said, am I missed? What am I missing here? This guy looks like a bonafide. He looks like Aaron Rodgers. The ball comes out Kent State. Good point. That's what I was missing. And he got really inconsistent and that team around him got a little bit inconsistent. They still had a heck of a year. So if that kid grows as a quarterback, he could be. You know, I asked the question after watching and I know he wasn't playing great teams, but just his physical ability, his side speeds athleticism, and the ball comes out. I saw him as a high first round draft pick. Now it remains to be seen, but I'll pick Tennessee.

[Mark Ingram]

1,100 bucks gives me 1500 on the tide. 100 bucks gives me 1500 on the tide. I'm going with the tie. We got a lot of people coming back.

[Rob Stone]

Come on.

[Mark Ingram]

We got them, bro.

[Rob Stone]

What you mean, come on?

[Mark Ingram]

You're going to pick Tennessee? You're going to pick who? Michigan. Who you going to pick? Lsu.

[Urban Meyer]

How much do you know about your quarterback, Ty Simpson, or at least the guy who's in line?

[Mark Ingram]

I know he's been there. I know he's been there behind some really good quarterbacks. So hopefully he's learned a lot of good lessons.

[Urban Meyer]

Right?

[Mark Ingram]

But. But If I put 1500, if I put 10B. Well, do it, then I might. I go straight to bet MGM put 10,000 on Belma and when they tired win, it's on me. $150,000.

[Urban Meyer]

All right, again, again, I'm going with continuity and players returning and particularly if you have a good, solid quarterback. Returning to your point, coach, with Nico returning to Tennessee, Clemson also sitting there at plus 2000. They get Cade Clubnik back, who really impressed us, particularly in the back half of the season. Dabo Sweeney has discovered that there's this thing called the transfer portal out there, and he's actually utilizing it to his advantage. And then the Nuss Dog guys, Garrett Nussmeier, maybe an early Heisman candidate down at lsu. The nut. I'm here just to annoy you this week because you've been gone for so long and you've annoyed us. Now I'm just going to pick programs that that scratch it.

[Mark Ingram]

Our odds are higher. So obviously bet MGM knows something.

[Urban Meyer]

They all of course they know something.

[Mark Ingram]

Because our odds are higher. So they must roll with the tide a little bit, you know.

[Urban Meyer]

That's it for this edition, presented by Wendy's for Mark Irvin. I'm Rob and the rest of our crew. Thanks for watching. Make sure to follow subscribe, rate us on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get your podcast, as well as across social media. You can find us at 3x option show. As always, thanks to our sponsors, we just gave love to BetMGM. As always, we give love to our great friends at Wendy's. We'll see you again next week. Love you Wendy's.