Andy & Ari On3 - A devastating injury at Ohio State | Do fans REALLY want Cinderella in the College Football Playoff?

Episode Date: November 20, 2024

You’ve had Wendy’s Nuggs dipped in sauce. But have you had them covered in sauce? Wendy’s New Saucy Nuggs take the Crispy and Spicy Nuggs you love and turn them up to 11.Choose between flavors like Buffalo. Honey BBQ. Garlic Parm. Or, if you’re a real heat seeker, try Spicy Ghost Pepper, only on Wendy’s signature Spicy Nuggs.   This show is also sponsored by PrizePicks, America’s most fun daily fantasy game. Use the code STAPLES to play $5 and get $50 instantly. https://prizepicks.onelink.me/ivHR/STAPLES Wunderfan is a first of its kind college football stadium rewards app where fans earn real rewards simply by cheering for their favorite team. All you need to do is head to the app store to download the app, check in once you're at the game or tailgate, and let your earnings grow! It's that easy. During each game you attend you'll earn in the background once you press “Start.” Once you have enough earnings you can redeem for gift cards to your favorite brands like: Fanatics, Dick's, Lululemon, Home Depot, & Many More. There's even ticket giveaways & fun contests you can use your points to enter. New rewards are added weekly! Right now, users will get 50 Free Wunder just for signing up 40 more for using the code STAPLES. That'll score you a $10 off Fanatics code + a chance to win tickets to the National Championship! Again, just head to the app store and search "Wunderfan" - W-u-n-d-e-r-f-a-n, and start being paid for your fan loyalty. Wunderfan, It pays to be a fan.(0:00-0:38) Wendy's Saucy Nuggs(0:39-1:12) Intro(1:13-19:26) Ohio State's major injury (19:27-27:17) Shedeur Sanders preview at Kansas, Presented by PrizePicks(27:18-29:45) Wunderfan!(29:46-43:11) Do we really want Cinderella in the CFP?(43:12-50:27) Saucy Takes: Conference Expansion Ruined the Season(50:28-55:48) Arizona State, Big 12 Champs?(55:49-1:01:27) Nebraska will become bowl eligible vs Wisconsin(1:01:28-1:06:49) Conclusion; Dear Andy tomorrow! [e-mail]  It’s a Wednesday’s saucy take Wednesday, and you’ll have to decide whether Andy, Ari or River has the sauciest take. But first, there is news… Ohio State center Seth McLaughlin injured his achilles tendon Tuesday at practice. This is devastating news, because McLaughlin had been the anchor of the Buckeyes’ line after transferring this offseason from Alabama. How will the injury affect Ohio State against Indiana on Saturday? Also, Oregon is heading to the Big Ten title game. The league announced that on Tuesday afternoon because apparently no one bothered to check after Saturday’s games whether the Ducks had clinched. Speaking of Indiana, Ari wants to know if fans without a team on the bubble really want Indiana in the College Football Playoff. Or would they rather have Tennessee, Texas A&M or another SEC school? Plus, the CFP selection committee released its ranking Tuesday night, and Boise State is in a position to get a bye while the Big 12 champ is potentially headed for the No. 12 seed. Now it’s time for saucy takes… Ari thinks conference expansion has messed up everyone’s schedule… Producer River thinks Arizona State is winning the Big 12… Andy says Nebraska IS getting bowl eligible on Saturday. Watch us on YouTube instead! https://youtube.com/live/nKssSJYSLzo Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari WassermanProducer: River Bailey

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For a whole new way to nug, it's gotta be Wendy's. ["Wendy's Theme Song"] Welcome to Andy and Ariane 3. We are of course presented this is my Wendy's. It is a Wendy's Saucy Takes Wednesday. We will be hitting you with our saucy takes later in the show. We're doing it a little differently this time. Instead of one of us coming up with three saucy takes

and the other judging what the Saucy is, I will come up with one, Ari will come up with one, Producer River will come up with one, and then we will let You the people decide what the sauciest take is but Ari before we get into all that horrific devastating injury news out of Ohio State Seth McLaughlin the Center who transferred from Alabama that this past offseason Injured his Achilles tendon in Tuesday's practice, and it looks

like he is out for the season. Yeah, if Josh Simmons being injured in the Oregon game at left tackle was the number one injury that Ohio State could not sustain, or the one that they would most least likely want to lose, then this is number two. And it happens in the same position group and that position group happens to be the position group on Ohio State's team that lacks depth. So when you talk about on a scale from one to 10, how bad this injury could impact the team, I think it's possible that we're up in the seven,

eight range now. Like Josh Simmons was probably, I mean, this could even be a nine. And I know that Seth McLaughlin is probably more known, um, you know, nationally as the person who was struggling to snap the ball, uh, correctly in the Rose bowl last year. But if you actually go pull his game tape this year, he's like an all American candidate. So now Ohio States back to the drawing board in terms of how to, uh,

fix that offensive line or how to align it after the feel like they, they kind of got past that Simmons injury by kicking out Donovan Jackson, the left tackle. Um, so now you're, you have to question, do you just put the backup center in? Do you put Carson Hinsman back at center? Uh, after starting there last year, do you, I mean, do you just do a whole new shuffleboard? Like, what do you do? Like at that position.

And the thing that is, is difficult. And I don't mean to sound harsh, Andy is that Ohio state had two weeks to try to figure out, uh, how to replace Josh Simmons after the Oregon game, they had a bi-week before Nebraska and in the two week period that they did it, they fielded a team that couldn't run the football and almost lost in Nebraska. So, you know, going into a top five matchup at home with Indiana, uh, couldn't think of worse news that Ohio state can receive this week. Yeah, it is, it is very bad.

And the question is, how do you fix it? And like you said, they had two weeks with Josh Simmons and they had a guy in Zen McCoskey who, who was Was they felt like ready for that job? They then put him in it. He struggled and then he got hurt and then they had to shuffle. And then they found the five that they liked and it looked like they were going to be fine, but to, to your point, this is the one injury they couldn't afford and Seth McLaughlin has been playing great this season

you know, this is a you know, like you said, I want to I want to go back on that because I think We don't talk about centers very often he got into the spotlight last year in a way that no center wants to get in the spotlight because let's just call it what it was he had the yips and in the spotlight because let's just call it what it was. He had the yips and he was snapping in an erratic fashion to Jalen Milro. It cost them the Rose Bowl probably.

But the change of scenery was probably necessary and there were no snap issues at all this year. And this is a guy who graduated, I believe he had a 4.0 graduating from Alabama with a finance degree in two and a half years. Like this is a very intelligent, very good player. And it's a massive loss. Remember centers. I wish we had Cole Kublick on the show today. Cole's busy doing his own show, but Cole is a starting center at Auburn. Like he could really accurately describe everything a center has to do.

And especially against a defensive front like Indiana's, which is gonna twist and do a lot of things that will try to confuse you. Having a new center in is tough. Now you mentioned Carson Hinsman, who played center all last year for Ohio State, but he is right now Ohio State starting left guard. So if you move Carson Hensman, you're breaking in somebody new at left guard.

But at least if you did that, you have someone who's played in big games at center before because that that would be a scary thought to throw someone in who has not had to play in this situation at center before. Yeah, it will be interesting too, because the the player that is the backup center is a kid from the Dayton area named Josh Padilla. And he was a pretty highly sought after recruit and he's in his second year. So you know, the hope for Ohio State is that, you know, you still are one of the

teams that recruit really, really well. And that when you recruit really, really well, you're more likely to sustain injuries like this and other teams, like everybody's talking about the portal, you're talking about, uh, you know, how many people you lose from depth and all that stuff. But like Ohio state is one of the last teams that should be able to shoulder this blow. Now, I don't know if this game is going to be won and lost because of this, but

I do know that there's some people from Ann Arbor that have pretty good defensive tackles, right? Um, I, that if they get matched up in the, uh, playoffs with teams from the sec, that could be an issue too. So like we are, uh, definitely going to be on high alert for watching what they do because I don't know if there's a layup answer to what you want to do here. So you know, Michael in the chat points out, Oh, Notre Dame has dealt with this too. Like Notre Dame

has lost their left tackle and their center for the season to injuries. Uh, so it, you can do it, but it's tough. And I thought it was dire when they lost Simmons, Andy, if you remember what I said, you're like, well, sometimes you get forced into putting in your top, your new starting five and that's starting five clicks. And like that happened, which felt like a pretty long, long shot hitting. Like now to do it again in the same season, three weeks later seems pretty different to me. So I don't know. The hope is that whoever they put in is, um,

you know, equipped for the challenge. But again, three days before you're playing Indiana at home, it's probably not the best time to be going through this. And yes, I did get a fresh haircut guys. Look at that fade. Oh, it's joy. Fatone shed a tear when he saw that one. Is he, what is he like? Is he in sync?

He's in sync. Yes. He had a great fade. So producer river Texas, that the Ohio state, Indiana line has moved since we started the show, but not in the direction you thought. It's now Ohio State plus 13 and a half. I don't understand that. I'd probably change my pick, honestly, from Monday.

I mean, Ohio State minus 13 and a half, sorry. It did not, the trend is 25 points. Ohio State minus 13 and a half. But yeah, I so. Here's the thing with offensive line changes with. When you put a new person in, when you put a new combination in, or when you have to have a new five.

Sometimes it's not about the physical capabilities of the people either. Like who is the best pass rusher on any team? Who do you think? You know the answer? Oh, what do you mean? On any team or the best pass rusher in college football? On any team who's the best pass rusher?

I would probably say, I mean, I think the layup answer here is probably edge, but probably interior like nose tackle. No, it's the guy they forgot to block. Oh, it's the guy you fooled them into not blocking and that's where if you're Kurt signetti, you are already working on that. We're working on twist stunts. On pressure packages that cause the offensive line to have to worry about its rules to have to communicate well. And now you take out the chief communicator. And it becomes very difficult.

Now again, like like we said, Carson Hinsman, if he's winds up, if he winds up back at center, he's played in these big games before as a center, he's done this before. But it is going to be an issue. When we talked about the Nebraska game. That was an issue. You could see there were communication issues, there were there were breakdowns of who was doing what. Now, we don't exactly know what everybody's assignments were on every play, but there were guys coming unblocked where it was clear somebody was supposed to block them, but there was a miscommunication

about who was doing what. That is the issue that I would worry about more. I don't worry about guys that Ohio State recruited not being physically capable of this. They're physically capable. Where Indiana can make hay here though, is confusing a five, a group of five that has not played together in these positions yet. Well, here's what I wanted to say too. And we know the sports changed, but during my time on the Ohio state beat Andy, I would say, and we know the sports changed, but during my time on the Ohio state beat Andy, I would say, and I'm assuming that other fan bases in the sec and stuff are very similar, but Ohio state fans are very smart

and engaged in the day-to-day operations of what Ohio state is doing. They know, you know, the recruiting target of every position at all times are the ones that are really bought in, which is a lot of, and if a position coach is not recruiting at a high enough level. And I think you could make the case that Ohio State's offensive line coach, Justin Fry has not done that and offensive line recruiting even before him was a was a hot button issue. done that and offensive line recruiting even before him was a, was a hot button issue. It is funny how these have a weird little way of popping up on you. Um, and like the injuries that we talk about to this extent, to an offensive lineman, this is newsworthy because Ohio state actually has not recruited up to snuff at that position.

And when they need them during a team that has national championship aspirations, there's like nobody in the cupboard. And I know that it's probably not rational to say that you need to have 10 capable offensive linemen. I mean, look at what Oklahoma is going through right now. I mean, this is a problem for teams. But Ohio State had a hard time with, you know, having six capable people. And it took realigning the, the offensive line in order to get to this point. So now you're going deeper into the well that isn't that deep and. Recruiting matters, man. Like you might not air, you don't want to talk about it.

It's NIL, but like, you know, this is high school recruiting too. Not everybody's going to have four offensive linemen that came in from the portal that knew they weren't going to play this year. And if you don't 100% is, you get bit by it. It a hundred percent is in the fact that the sport has flattened out has made this tougher for everybody because Ohio state, Georgia, Alabama, those types of teams used to be able to weather stuff like this, and now it can be the thing that undoes them. Like all of this planning, this amazing roster they put together could be undone by two injuries. And it's just an important thing to note that,

you know, every year that goes by watching what Deion Sanders is doing at Colorado, talking about the salaries or the, the money that people are making an NIL that. It's very easy to take your eye off the ball on how important recruiting at the high school level is, but for the teams that are trying to compete for a national championship, recruiting really good players who are on your team as young backups is increasingly more important now, because back in the day, when you recruited a high schooler, you might not need him for two or three years,

but he's going to be on your team. But now with all the people leaving the first and second year players that you're recruiting are often in your toadie, which was never the case for Ohio State. And that's the case right now. So you know, you're going to get incoming transfers. If like Oklahoma, for instance, you'll see them, they're going to probably go spend a bunch of money to get incoming offensive linemen to come start for them next year.

But that's the thing about Oklahoma is they they have, like they fix the offensive line, recruiting philosophy issues, actually a couple cycles ago. So they're going to have first and second year guys next year, that are the ones you would have wanted to be your third and fourth year guys. They're going to have to go get the poor out of the portal, the guys that are your third and fourth year guys, but they're going to be OK on that front. So as you mentioned about offensive line, you want to have like ideally you want to

have 10 capable ones. That's not possible in this day and age. But here's how I was just thinking about this. You should actually look at offensive line recruiting or offensive line management. We're not going to call it recruiting anymore. Management of your roster on the offensive line. Look at it in terms of a of a basketball team. It's like a it's like a college basketball team. You want to have 15 scholarship 13 to 15 scholarship players. I don't know what the house settlement rule is on men's basketball scholarships. It was 13. It's probably going up, but you want to have 13 to 15 scholarship players. And you want to have. Somewhere between a 7 and 9 man rotation like you want 789 guys you are very comfortable playing. That's all you can reasonably expect.

In this day and age of college football and there's Dan Hurley, if Dan Hurley were an O-line coach, he'd always have a nine man rotation, but that's really all you can reasonably expect right now. Ari is to have maybe seven, eight, nine guys. Yeah. You're comfortable putting in the game. And, but if you're Ohio state, then you have three or four of those guys on the edge of that nine that were four top 100 players that came in and are the future

of the program, but you talk portal, portal, portal, portal, portal, but like the foundation of teams is still in my opinion, going to be achieved through depth that you acquire from young players who have a year or two before they get the transfer bug. And especially big guys, especially big guys, Ohio state. That's great news because they recruit in the top 1% of players who are actually physically capable of playing that early. Like a team like Purdue doesn't have the benefit of saying, hey, we're going to get a three star kid from Akron who needs three years in the weight room before he's physically able to be good to come off the bench immediately.

Like look what Jordan Seton is doing at Colorado. Like you need to have guys like that who come in hit the weight room. And if they have to play their first year on at left tackle, they can be serviceable. Like, and those aren't easy to find, but you know, who finds them? Kaden Proctor at Alabama last year,

who was not good early, but was good by the end of the season. And Kaden Proctor was like, you remember what we were talking about him during his recruiting process, like that guy was an animal. So, you know, the offensive line is tough, but like, I do think that it's half bad luck, right? Cause any time you, you,

you know, have two injuries, the same position group that is kind of bad luck. Notre Dame's going through it too. But on the other hand too, it's also poor roster management and recruiting and like it has to be said. So, and I'm sure Ohio state fans will either agree with me or get angry at me, but no one's going to say he's wrong. So, uh, yeah. And we're going to see how they do it. We'll see, we'll see what their alignment is. And I do think it's funny that the spread has moved a little bit in Ohio

state's direction or they're laying even more, that makes no sense, but none. It makes me feel like they're going to win by 30 for some reason. Like I just, I don't know why that would happen, but my inkling now. I would be more likely to brush it off if the Nebraska game wasn't such a disaster. Yeah, exactly. And that's, I think that's what is causing this consternation because if Ohio state plays offensively the way it played against Nebraska against Indiana, Ohio State

will lose like that's not even a doubt in my mind. They have to be better than that like they could not run the ball at all. And then they they adjust it again because they had to and Penn State, you saw the five offensive linemen they had played really well together. They ran the ball well, one and a half yards more, more per carry than Penn State has allowed against anybody else this season, like that, that's what changed it. And now you have this that throws it into, into question.

I know that we are like almost to the end of the season and because Michigan has been so bad we've lost track of it. Michigan's defensive line is so good. Right. I'm not even gonna think about that. I'm not getting into that. Yeah. I'm just saying the number one thing that Ryan Day cannot do this year is lose that game and now he's going to have a weaker offensive line than expected trying to block Kenneth Grant. And think about this. Think about this. If we had told someone a year ago today that Ohio State's bigger fear would be losing to Indiana than losing to Michigan? What would they have said to us? Like, would we have been arrested? Well, I don't even know if that's true. If you ask an Ohio State fan which game would you rather win,

I think they would pick Michigan in this scenario. But I think what you're saying is more likely to beat Ohio State. Yeah. Indiana is more likely to beat Ohio State than Michigan. Yeah. Unless that game gets weird, which could get in it. And in its history, it's gotten weird. Then you know, a defensive line can muck up a game pretty good, Andy. Absolutely. Especially coming straight up the middle, shortest line between two points is, is your zero, you know, no shade nose right at your quarterback.

Ari, let's talk about another big game this week that also has college football playoff implications. That is Colorado against Kansas at Arrowhead. The place that Patrick Mahomes calls home is where Chidur Sanders will be throwing passes this week. We've talked about this game. This line is really, you know, the way the oddsmakers have talked about this game. They're predicting a close game.

Colorado has played really well. They've been blowing teams out. Kansas has been really hot. Kansas defense was excellent against BYU last week. Probably the best two corners that Colorado is going to face other than seeing Travis Hunter at practice. So what should we Sanders going to do in this game? I called up his prize picks numbers and if you don't know what price picks is it's America's best daily fantasy game. Download the app

use the code staples play $5 get $50 instantly when you sign up. You're picking squares. It's a player attached to a stat category. You pick at least two. The more you pick, the higher the potential payout. So let's look at Shador Sanders squares because. Price picks is expecting a freaking shootout in this game, Ari. Shador Sanders more or less than two and a half past TDs. Shador Sanders, more or less than 320.5 passing yards.

320.5. That's a lot of yards, Ari. It is a lot of yards. It is a lot of yards. And a really good number. I mean, they put it right on the money there. Uh, and the thing that I think makes me feel good, Andy is that in what was maybe the other biggest game of this Colorado run, He threw for 388 against Kansas State.

He also crossed that number. In the Texas Tech game too, right? So I feel no, no he didn't. Texas Tech with 291. Sorry the yeah, I miss since he was 323. Oh boy, I don't know. What do you think? Well, the question is. What is Colorado's defense do against Jalen Daniels?

If this needs to be a shootout, I have utmost faith in Shadur Sanders to hit more than here. If this needs to be a shootout, Colorado can play in the shootout. It's interesting. Travis Hunter has a couple ways to affect this too. Like Travis Hunter, the receiver, if he catches some touchdown passes can help them in the shootout. But Travis Hunter, the corner is capable of potentially making it not have to be a shooter. And I think we've looked, you know, if you look at Colorado, the way they played this year, not have to be a shooter. And I think we've looked, you know,

if you look at Colorado the way they played this year, they're not gonna go air it out if they don't have to. Like if they could get a 14 point lead and sit on it, or a 20 point lead and sit on it, they will. So that's the other part of this is like Colorado's edge rushers and Travis Hunter, the corner, and Shiloh Sanders, like if they are keeping Kansas down and keeping Jalen Daniels and Devin Neal from from making this a shootout, I don't think

Chidor is going to have to do this. Yeah, but if it is a shootout, he will like that's right. That's why I lean toward more than because if it's not a shootout, he still may do this if they're just having a great day. If it is a shootout, he will definitely do this because he has to like that Kansas State game that he threw for 388. They lost that game. Travis Hunter went out in that game. He was hurt. So that I think that's your question. Like, can they turn Jaylen Daniels over and keep the need for scoring down? Or does Kansas offense go crazy? Like you did in the Iowa state game and you've got a score to keep up with them. I think going to move the football. I mean, they've got a really good offense and it's very explosive.

The thing that you, you, that kind of helps scary a little bit is that if you turn the ball over in short fields, then that stops you from racking up yards. So like the field position situation too is also going to play a factor, but I like more than I think this game is going to be highly entertaining. Like I don't know who's going to win, but I think that it's going to be a game that America is watching. And if you know, Colorado can score into the thirties, I think that that would probably manifest with him, him crossing that number with more than.

A reminder that Ari and I have stakes on this game too. I've given Ari seven points here. I'm taking Colorado. He's taking Kansas plus seven. And if Kansas covers, then I have to donate $20 to Northwestern's $850 million Ryan Field Renovation Fund that I wrote a column saying, don't spend a billion dollars on a stadium, buy some players. Now, they do have to build a stadium because they've already torn down the old Ryan Field. So they do, unless they want to stay in the lacrosse stadium.

Ari also gets this this Donner's elite box from our sponsor, sponsor Panini. If he wins, if I win, if Colorado wins by more than seven points, Ari has to run a 5k, I will jog alongside and live stream it. We will have a conversation about college football. If Ari can manage while it will be a show, you can talk about college football. Like you can just take it back to last year, single man show and just all the list, like look at and listen to you. I won't be able to manage. It will be a show. You can talk about college football. Like, you can just take it back to last year's single man show and just all this, like, look at and listen to you. I won't bring headphones. You can just, uh, you can run.

Oh no, I'll provide your soundtrack. Don't you worry, Ari. You know what the best part about it is? Is that there's no time limit. So I'm just, I'm, I'm going to be good. No, it could be the longest show of the year if it needs to be. How long does it take you to run three miles? Like 20 minutes, like 35 minutes?

35 minutes? What am I walking? Well, I think when I walk a mile's 18 minutes, right? So when I jog, if I'm only jogging three miles, if I wanna go a little faster because I'm done after that, like that's the whole workout. I can probably do it in the low eight, low eight minute miles. So, so I can plot along at a,

at a 10 minute mile pace and just talk to you. Move it private pile, move it private pile. Trust me, the thought has crossed my mind, but I think it's more fun. That shit that high. I think it's oh man, do not get me into an Arleigh Ermey rabbit hole. Where the hell are you from anyway private sir, Texas sir. Dude, honestly, now that we're mentioning it, like I did watch Brandon Brothers, like I was telling you on the show yesterday and that's like my like, I don't know what I would do if I were put in that situation. You were talking about you fine up to a

coach in the middle of a high school football game when they asked him to go in and said I don't want to play coach I want to go home. Could you imagine being in a situation that you could not escape within that intensity like I would die I would literally you do KP duty and peel potatoes and run until you, till you came around. That's what would happen. I would have a jelly donut in my foot locker. Oh, good Lord.

Okay. Well, if you guys want me to be Arlie Ermey after Colorado beats Kansas by more than seven, then you go right ahead. Look at Watts 211. this is a good idea. I run 10 minute miles and then get my heart rate up with sprints and burpees. I like it, I like it.

Sounds like psychopathic behavior. High intensity interval training. Ari, so our next conversation, it's funny all the days we talk about our friends at wonder fan. We have these existential fan questions and we're about to have another existential fan question because I I do think and you brought this up last night when we were doing the the reaction to the rankings show. What do people want? Do they actually want a Cinderella in the college football playoff? Do they want new blood or do they want more of the same? Because it seems like the tone on Indiana has changed over time, and we'll talk about that in a second.

And I'm curious, like. In the chat from a fan perspective, if you don't have a team that has a dog in this hunt, like if you don't have a team that is on the bubble for the college football playoff, what would you rather see? Would you rather see Indiana, let's say they lose to Ohio State, but it's pretty close. Would you rather see an Indiana team at 11 and one

that doesn't have the signature win, but did beat the crap out of almost everybody it played, but lost to the other playoff team? Would you rather see them, or would you rather see a team like Tennessee, or a team like Ole Miss, or one of those SEC teams that's kind of right there on the cut line? What would you rather see?

And I'm curious, because I don't know the answer to that. I'm happy, thinking about it just from a. I'm the viewer of the game perspective. I'm happy either way. But I'd like to know what people actually want. So let's let's talk about Wonderfan. It's a first. It's kind college football stating rewards app where fans earn real rewards simply by cheering for their

favorite team. All you need to do is head to the app store, download the app, check in once you're at your game or your tailgate and let your earnings grow. It's that easy. During each game that you attend, you'll earn in the background once you press start. Once you have enough earnings, you can redeem for gift cards for your favorite brands

like Fanatics, Dix, Lululemon, Home Depot, and more. The currency within the app, they're called Wunder, W-U-N-D-E-R. You get 50 free Wunder just for signing up right now. If you use the code staples, you get 40 more and that'll score you at least a $10 off fanatics code and a chance to win tickets to the national title game. So head to the app store, search wonder fan,

W U N D E R F A N, wonder fan, and start being paid for your fan loyalty. Wonder fan, pays to be a fan. All right, all right, let's talk about this. I mentioned on the show last night that there was a really interesting tweet from Scott van Pelt, the ESPN Sports Center host, about this situation. And it was actually a response to somebody else's.

So producer River, throw those tweets on the screen. So the original person is a guy named Rick. He said, in one week, the narrative went from Indiana as one of the coolest stories in sports to hope the team we see in the playoff every year beats them by 50 so we can justify putting in a team we see in the playoff every year. Do college football fans even like college football?

It's a pretty extreme way of looking at it, but I understand the point. And this is what Scott Van Pelt said in response to that. And I thought it generated a really interesting conversation. There aren't many good faith discussions here. I want them in it. They've been great. But if they lose, you aren't an asshole

when you say their schedule is bad and they don't have a great win. They don't, but neither does Texas. We used to have two teams not long ago. How do we do that? Somehow 12 isn't enough. The games will be fun whatever they are, right? So Ari, what do you think people want?

You wrote about this last night after the playoff ranking. Yeah, I got kind of fiery because, and I'm actually texting Dan Wetzel from Yahoo Sports on the side about this and he, we should have him on the show, man. He's awesome. But he was texting me, um, that there's definitely some anger from fifth and sixth sec teams, but it's mostly Twitter people. Generally Americans love the underdog and IU and army are fun for the sport. So like, that's the thing that is, is kind of crazy is like at times I wonder if I get caught up in like a Twitter like

megaphone and like I kind of feel like everything that everyone's saying in my mentions on Twitter is kind of how the general population feels. And that's probably not always the case. But I do think that this is what's interesting about it. Andy, we know unequivocally that the only thing people care about is their team. Right. For the most part in college football, there is a community where we like to watch other teams lose or other exciting games because the sport is great. But the way that most people in this chat, the way that most people on Twitter and

the way most people at home view college football is through the lens of what is best for their favorite team. And Indiana is a wonderful story, a Cinderella that everybody has been excited for. But at the same time, because they've reached November as an undefeated team, is now a threat to a large portion of teams who are in the college football discourse. And funny enough, Andy, who are the teams that are mostly impacted by uncertainty in the college football playoff discourse? It is the SEC teams and which teams have the largest, most rampant, most vocal fan bases. So I'm assuming that a Tennessee fan was like, oh, yeah, this is awesome.

Indiana was great, like in week five. But now that it's a direct threat to Tennessee, they're probably hoping that Indiana gets their doors blown off. I think everybody who's on the bubble, look at this, A&M, Colorado, Clemson to a certain extent, South Carolina, even though they're probably out, like Miami, like you have major, major fan bases

that have the most fans threatened by them. And even Penn State to a certain extent, Penn State doesn't want to get compared to them, even Texas to a certain extent. Half the SEC wants them out right now because half the SEC wants to get in. So the thing that I think is interesting is that we were supposed to Is that we were supposed to be excited for the expansion of this playoff because it was supposed to give a seat at the table to teams that we don't typically see. Is that a fair statement? Yes. That means that there's supposed to be room for teams like Indiana. Indiana. So if Indiana loses to Ohio state by 14, they play a respectable game, but they're clearly not as good. The discourse is going to be that they have not beaten anybody, which

will be factually accurate. And that there are teams in the sec who have two losses, who have had a much harder schedule and have performed better on their schedule in comparison to Indiana. But that's not what we're supposed to be doing here. We're supposed to be talking about the team that played their schedule. Great. And here's the second part of it. And I don't want to blow my hot take for later in the show, but we have too many teams and conferences and it's not fair to get down on a team that plays in the

big 10 for a bad schedule, like what's Indiana supposed to do, Andy? Are they supposed to apologize, uh, for having a good draw? You know, and we had it, we had a Texas fan in the chat say the same thing. Like, Hey, we didn't pick the schedule because 18 team leagues. It's impossible to match, match up all the best teams, all the best teams. And when Indiana is one of the best teams, you can't see it coming. So how do you do it in advance? So there are going to be years with 18 and 16 team leagues where you get

screwed as a, as a team with your schedule. And there are going to be years where you have an advantageous schedule. Indiana for the last 10, 15 years had to play in the big 10 East and match up with Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, and Penn State every single year. Should Indiana feel bad that they maximize their window while we glorify Ole Miss? They finally didn't have a murderers row schedule. We have been glorifying Ole Miss' investment in their program because their schedule was advantageous.

Texas hasn't played anybody. Penn State has a better strength of schedule, but their schedule is certainly a great draw. The only team that we're fixated on for not having a good enough schedule is Indiana because they're a threat to a spot that other people deem should be going to a team that's more of a traditional power. And if that's who you are, then you don't like the expanded playoff. Or if you are, if that's who you are, you don't like it for the right reasons. Like you want it to be more Tennessee, more Georgia, more Alabama, more Ohio

State, more Texas, more Penn State. And if that's who you are, that's great. But if that's who you are, you're a television executive. Like That's probably what you do for a living. Let me throw something at you, Ari. I've been thinking about this. I actually think this particular discourse gets a lot more interesting if Indiana beats Ohio State. Because Indiana would be unequivocally in. No one would complain.

Everybody would be like, yep, they got it. They're in. And who goes in the crosshairs next? The next team that has a bad schedule that is no, no. Then you have the argument of two loss Ohio State against two lost Tennessee. Well that would be a more rational argument. Like that's the thing. Oh, I don't think it would be. Not those two fan bases. I don't mean like rational in the discourse. I mean, it would be a more regular argument. The thing that irks me about the Indiana situation

is that they are taking the brunt of the heat right now because they're Indiana, not because they aren't worthy. And like, that's the thing. Like in the 12 team era, we're supposed to ignore the logos and give everybody a shot. But the first opportunity where we're giving another team that's not typical a shot, everybody's angry about it, which is a complete and utter Navig, uh, uh, departure from the entire sales pitch of the system to begin

with. And then you get this from OBJ, which CFB had structure like the NFL. Do you though, because it's going to, there's going to be a super league. Do you though? Because it's going to. There's gonna be a super league. It's gonna cast a bunch of these teams aside and just the ones that are the biggest brands and make the most money will be in the league.

Like then they'll have structure. That's what I keep warning people about. You keep going down this road where you say I want objective measures. I don't want a committee deciding. I don't want a beauty pageant. The beauty pageant is part of the charm of the sport. If you don't like the beauty pageant,

get ready. Because you're going to have a 40 team league that has balanced divisions, balanced schedules. and objective criteria. Just wait for the big 10 and sec TV contracts to end and you will have them. You know, get everything you want and you will hate that more. In a, uh, debate where I have a hard time saying I was wrong. Can I say I was unequivocally wrong about one thing? Cause I was the thing that I really didn't like about the expanded playoff. If I'm being honest with myself is that I thought that the race for the four,

like the stakes of getting in or out caused such an insane amount of discourse and argument and fun, and that I thought we were at danger of losing. And I'm so relieved that on November 20th, like I am sitting here screaming into the microphone about Indiana and people care. Like I was a little afraid that if we were arguing about seating, which I don't think is even possible at this point, because we don't know how it's going to be seated. Like I don't even know how you have seating arguments. Oh, trust me. I got Georgia fans texting me freaking out about seating right now.

Why is Greg Sankey silent on this? How dare they think Penn State and Indiana are better than Georgia and Ole Miss. Like, but it's hard to, it's hard to get worked up over seating when like we're still a long way to go. Like it's like, I agree. Like things are going to like if Indiana loses to Ohio state, don't worry. Like George is not going to have to go to Bloomington. If that's what you're scared of like on selection Sunday, but that's the,

we're so far away from like actually getting to that point. But the fact is, is that because there are more teams involved, there are more arguments. And I think that that's great. And I will say I was wrong because I was afraid we were going to lose the arguing because it felt like everybody was going to get in. Now it happens that we're arguing about Indiana, Miami and SMU, which is funny. Like, well, I think I think your your concerns were valid. And I appreciate you admitting you were wrong. Your concerns were valid, based on the way college football used to be. But the unlimited transfer portal in I L era flattened things out. And that's why, like if, if there were only four teams lording it over the rest of the sports still, we'd be having weird conversations around this 12 team field. Luckily there are like, there are, There's going to be a team and I

didn't think this would happen like there's going to be a team left out of this thing. That we thought maybe could win the thing. Maybe. Which does not happen in the basketball tournament by the way. That's great, yeah. I was wrong, So I appreciate you letting me apologize about that. Now I said I wouldn't feel bad for the right. You were right when you initially expressed it.

The world changed and made you wrong. I don't think you feel that bad about that. Ohio State, Georgia and Alabama and one other team that were 12 and O. And then we were arguing about, you know, SMU and BYU at the end. I'd be like, okay. But like, we probably still underestimated how much we would argue about that because SMU matters to me and BYU matters to me. Like SMU I think is getting jobbed in the poll enough for me to write a column about it. So, well, and I, and I'm glad, and I, and look, army has a chance.

We don't, you and I both think Notre Dame is going to win that game. But the fact that army has a chance here in week 13 army has a chance. That was the point of this. Put the sign up River. What an army. Sorry, we have a you know, it's funny those in listening and podcast form Ari very forcefully said something and his mic wasn't working. I have nobody said because we have a landscaper that comes once a week and he come, he used to come at all hours of the day and night. And now since we started our show, he comes every time

when we're live. So now I have to hear the leaf blower. So I'm trying to be considerate and I don't want people to hear it. Can you hear it? No. Okay. Good. Cause it's very loud. Um, yeah. Okay. So yeah, no, I'm excited and I'm nervous about how this is gonna play out, but also like the columns write themselves. And I actually truly believe like the column, I wrote a very, I thought I was like, Andy, I'm gonna write an 800 word thought column

about Indiana last night. And it went to like 1300 words. And like, I like lost my mind. And like you had Ward manual explaining my hot take in the quote after I gave you my hot take. So if you want to do that, that's it because that's a kind of a branch on what we're talking about of like, how did we get here? Because it's like, the thing that is interesting is that like, I wonder if the rosters have actually flattened

out or if it's a combination of the realignment making schedules less manageable. Like it's interesting. It's both and I'm glad you said that cause it's Wendy Saucy's take Wednesday. We each have a saucy take. I want you to hit us with your saucy take because that's the perfect segue into your saucy take.

Perfect. You want me to do it? That's why I said I want you to hit us with your sausage. I'm very distracted by this fricking thing. I'm sorry. It's not NIL that's messing up the sport. It's television people. And the reason why we're here in this moment, Andy, and the SEC is here and Indiana is here and all the things seem kind of messed up and weird is because of conference realignment conference.

Realignment has ruined the balance of the sport. It has created an environment where we can even come up with ways of crowning our own champions. Uh, Chris Vanini put this up Andy, but the Big 10 didn't even know that Oregon clenched a spot in the Big 10 championship game with its win over Wisconsin. I meant to hit on this in the news early in the show and I forgot, I'm so glad you brought it up.

Yes, so the last Big 10 game of the night last Saturday was Oregon, Wisconsin. The conference office should have known that if Oregon beat Wisconsin by that point, that Oregon would have clenched his spot in the big 10 championship game, they didn't run the scenarios and figured out until Tuesday afternoon. So you get this random graphic at like one o'clock Pacific time on a Tuesday afternoon.

Oh, by the way, congratulations, Dux, you're going handy. Yeah, so you need an MIT math professor to come up with the SEC tiebreaker mechanism. And at the same time, when you have West Coast teams in a conference with Big Ten teams or traditional Big Ten teams in the Midwest, you have Oklahoma and Texas in the SEC, you've got West Coast teams in the ACC, you have Oklahoma and Texas and the SEC. You've got West Coast teams in the ACC.

You're also creating an environment where more teams can be good at the same time because they're not getting their talent pool from the same general reason. I think the region, there's a reason why Florida state, Florida and Miami have all struggled to be great at the same time in the past because they're all fighting over the same players from the same talent pool. Now, you know, Stanford, if they go on a recruiting terror, can be good at the same time as Miami at the same time as Florida state, because everybody's getting their players from different places.

So combining NIL, the unbalanced geographical recruiting regions of each league, how many teams are in these conferences and the fact that you can never make a fair and equitable schedule You're probably gonna end up in a situation where you have six and two SEC teams every single year Like this cluster isn't because it's a weird year. It's because of the way that the conference and the sport is set up So while television executives are rolling around in cash at our expense Like we are left with a sport that can't even properly crown champions because there's too many teams of the week and it's stupid and it makes no sense. I can't stand

conference realignment. I think it's great that we're yelling about it. It's great for the for the debate. You want me to you want me to tell you where the end game is though? Because I already told you once in the show and I'll tell you the end game. Why don't we just unfortunately 75 teams, but they're not going to. It's only going to be 40. That's where this is headed. This confusion over this is a stopping point. It's just a pit stop on the road to the Super League, which is again what the television executives want.

And people are like, oh, Andy, you're you're, you know, you're too cynical. You embrace this whole super. I'm not embracing it. It's going to suck compared to the beautiful mess we have right now. But that's where it's headed. Every time one of you says, I want balanced schedules. I don't want a subjective group deciding who gets in the playoff. I want objective criteria.

You are begging for the Super League. You are telling them cut 30 or so power conference teams, send them to the whatever the next thing is and just have those 40 go after it. That is what they are saying. It's going to suck, Andy. just have those 40 go after it. That is what they are saying. It's going to suck, Andy. I think it's like on one hand, I'm complaining about lack of structure, but I also think structure is going to make it, make it less spicy. So like, I understand.

I'm just trying to explain how we got here. You know what I wish we could do? I wish we could just have the 12 team era, but have the conferences aligned the way they were three years ago. It would be nice and they won't do it. Unfortunately, I'll go back to it. Thing that is interesting is like on one hand, we're making the SEC a four or five bid league potentially, but on the other hand, you're taking away a spot

and or the possibility of the big 12 was a two big lead. And the reason why is because the big 12 teams that would have taken those, those bids are in the sec. So even though the conference is, uh, you know, unbalanced or getting more spots than ever, but they're having teams from other conferences that used to have them just in their league, taking them like that's the problem. So, um, you know. Texas, if Texas were in the big 12 taking a spot right now,

and then the rest of the big 12 were fighting for a second spot, it would be the same. We're having a different conversation probably. Right. It'd be the same amount of teams. So, you know, the fact that the big 10, you know, has four teams potentially making it. Well, one's a pack 12 team, you know, like one's a pack 12. Well, one's a Pac-12 team, you know,

like one's a Pac-12 team. So that's your West Coast representative. So it just like, they're under the same conferences, but they're still different regions, which I think still kind of makes it feel weird, but also makes me feel less bad about it. Well, and the other piece of it is like the SEC, we see in the chat all the time,

the SEC should go to nine conference games. Why are they only at eight? the time. The SEC should go to nine conference games. Why are they only at eight? Most of the SEC wants to go to nine conference games for financial reasons, not for competitive reasons. And they probably are gonna do that if ESPN gives them more money, which ESPN probably will give them more money eventually. Cause I'm telling you,

after you watch Texas play Texas A&M next week, the thought of that not being an annual game will seem like the stupidest thing you've ever considered in your life. And that is what they're considering if they don't go to nine conference games. So but if they do that, call them now that's a that's ridiculous. Right there in the same conference and on play every year, then what are we

doing? I've been saying this for two years. So that is what is going to happen. But for that to happen, they're also going to put their thumb on the scale of the playoff, because that means there are going to be three loss teams that need to get in the playoff. And teams are going to take more losses.

So that's part of it. That's part of it. But I'm telling you right now, and it does not bring me any joy to say this. What you're complaining about will solve itself. Unfortunately, you're not going to like the solution. Yeah. Producer River has a more team specific saucy take What's up producer River? What's up guys, how are we doing? Oh, you're looking good in the office got the helmets behind you. This is beautiful Yeah. All right. So my saucy take is that Arizona State will win out and they will win the big 12th title Grant granting a birth in the college football playoff How are you gonna get above Boise State River

How are you gonna do it? Well, they'll get in as a 12 seed. Oh, there you go. Okay good I'm glad you said that I'm glad we discussed this this piece of it because the committee Last night ranked them in a way that would give Boise State the four seed, which I'm glad they did because I think people didn't understand for the most part that they don't have to be the 12th seed. It could be some other conference champ.

So Arizona State is a really interesting one, very quietly been winning a lot of games. River, do we have Kenny Dillingham talking about Big 12 tiebreakers? We do. And number three, you control your own destiny except for one strange scenario. Did you actually look up tiebreakers? Do you know them? Do you care about them?

I have no clue. I literally have no, somebody was telling me if we win and somebody else loses and then like ranch dressing falls on a wing, I don't really know, just play the very best you can play. Prepare the very best you can prepare. And like I told the guys last week in my leadership council meeting, don't get lost in the sauce. Just be the very best we can be over and over again. And wherever we end up is the

best we could have ever done that's it like you can wish and hope but if you just play the very best you can play and prepare the very best you can prepare then regardless of what happens it's the very maximum you could have ever achieved anyways so what else do you want so uh i have no clue the tire breaker my player some of the players probably do. I couldn't even. That's so good. So what he's talking about is there is a scenario where Arizona State could win out and still not make the big 12 title game.

And it is this. I did the thing on the website last night. So Arizona State beats BYU and then BYU loses to Houston. Colorado keeps winning. Iowa State wins out. So Iowa State wins Farmageddon next week against Kansas State. Iowa State Colorado would be your Big 12 championship in that scenario. But Big 12 championship in that scenario. But as long as BYU beat Houston, after losing to Arizona state river, you're good to go your son Devils get in against Colorado. Yes.

And keep in mind, Sam Levitt has only lost one game this year. That was week four. Jeff Simms started the other one they lost. I think that they should take that into account in the committee room. Just, you know, quarterback injuries can keep you out of the playoff. It can erase losses too, right? That's why Joey Galloway was suggesting on ESPN's breakdown of the game last night that Indiana just bench Curtis Rourke this weekend.

Did you see that? I saw that. I, I, I realized he was joking, but was he? Yeah, he was joking. OK, thank God you're not so sure. I think that I think he was maybe saying a tongue in cheek. I don't know if he was trying to be funny. Um, Ari, I would like you to go to urban dictionary and look up the phrase tongue in cheek. We'll pause while Ari looks that up. Yeah, but Sam Lev in the last three games, Andy, 275 yards against Kansas State, 161

against UCF, 304 against Oklahoma State. Tongue in cheek means you're joking. What's another way of saying, like, without saying sarcastic, like I think he was being like, you think he was being like... You think he was being cynical? Maybe. Cynical would be the right way to... It might be the right way.

Because there's no way that he actually thought that that's what they should do, right? No, I don't think so. No. And look, we saw last year what happened. Facetiously, that's the word. Oh, facetious. I mean, facetious maybe. Thank you, Ron. Your grammar minute here on Andy and Ari.

All right, River. Just so you know, I'm a sports writer who couldn't pass a high school English test. So well, listen, we're only supposed to write at a fourth grade level. I know. River, we'll see. I think you may have the sauciest take. I think you might. Go, son. Arizona I think you might go sun Arizona State Big 12 champion playoff participant who had that going to what?

What do we think? Eric? I don't even remember what it was. Is there a money line on Arizona State to make the college football playoff prior to this season? What do you think that was? I wish I could go back and look. Um, it was probably like.

There are no one looking on Fandl. There are no odds of Arizona state to make it. BYU is in it. Colorado's in it. They're not even on the board. Not even on it. Not even how are they not on the board? Let me check my guy. Yeah. I'm sure there's somebody who'll take your action. I don't see it on Fandl right now. All right, it's time for my saucy take. I like Rivers. I like Rivers a lot.

But mine, you know, recent history says I'm going to be wrong here, but I am I'm ready to say it with my chest. I said it on the pick show. I'm going to say wrong here, but I am. I'm ready to say it with my chest. I said it on the pick show. I'm gonna say it again with my chest today. Nebraska is getting bowl eligible this weekend. You are not cursed. You just suck for a long time. You're not cursed.

You're not going to lose another one possession game. To Wisconsin and then find a way to lose to Iowa. You are going to win this weekend in a battle of you who demoted your offensive coordinator. And hired a guy off the street and Wisconsin was just fired its offensive coordinator. Nebraska Cornhuskers, you are going to win. You are going to be bowl eligible Ari. These guys they're getting to go to Nashville for the Music City Bowl. They might be in the quick lane bowl. I don't know what boulder, but it doesn't matter.

And gotta get up tonight. You just said your team is not cursed. You just suck. That's what you just said. No, no, you suck for a while. You look for a while. I will say this, and I appreciate your willingness to put yourself out there. I would never say anything with my chest about Nebraska

doing something at this point of the year. Especially in a one possession game. The spread says this is gonna in a one possession game. The spread says this is going to be a one possession game. So, um, I hope you're right. It's got to flip back around at some point. They can't, it can't be this over and over and over. Like they cannot be trapped in a hell loop. Yeah. Well, I watched the Luke fickle, um, availability explaining or attempting

to explain his reason to move on from Phil Longo, and it felt contentious and he felt annoyed having to do it. And it made me wonder like how things are going over there. So, you know, they, they did pretty well against Oregon and Wisconsin's a tough out when they're playing well, but like, this is a, this is like the big 10 Westiest big 10 West game you can come up with. Oh, it's so big 10 Westy because I was defense is not good enough for that to be a classic big 10 West matchup.

And I was offense might be too good for next week to be a classic mid 10 West matchup. This is, this is a big 10 West matchup right here. Oh to be they have to do it. They have to. I'm not I don't know. I'm like I they're favored so like technically I don't know if it's that hot. I

mean I don't even think they're really favored though. I think I'm not gonna take if you favor Nebraska by one possession, aren't you really saying they're gonna lose? I'm not taking the journey with you. I said, I hope I hope you get there safely call me when you land, but I'm not getting on the plane with you. I'm flying all the way with the Cornhuskers to the quick lane bowl. It doesn't matter what bowl they get into. They are for music city.

The fans for Nebraska would be legitimately fired up though. Right? Like if they won and got bowl eligible, it would descend upon quick lane bowls. Detroit for field, right? I don't know. They would descend upon Ford field. Okay. So you think that even though the season has gone off the rails, that getting into right? I don't know. They would descend upon Ford Field. Okay, so you think that even though the season has gone off the

rails that getting into a lower tier bowl will make them feel whole on the year. No, I just think it has to happen. It's a step in the process like they're never going to get to where they want to go unless they like the the journey of 10,000 miles begins with a single step. This is that single step. You have to take this step. I can't wait to watch it.

We're going to talk about it on the show on Saturday night. I'm happy that you feel so convicted. I just I'm not I don't have the same energy for it. So well, we had to come in in the chat. That said me on Saturday night. Well, maybe they're just cursed. And that is probably what I'll say. But I'm telling you, it can't keep happening.

It can't. It has to end sometime. Nebraska's not cursed. They've just been asked. Dash, Andy Staple. Yes! Put that on the t-shirt. Put that on the T-shirt. Put that on the bumper sticker.

Yeah, I thought one of you was gonna go really, really hot and do something like with Army and Notre Dame, like Michael Carter here just suggested in the chat. We've already picked it though. We both said we think Notre Dame covers, so it's very hard unless River just wanted to come in just scalding. It's not a check to the IRS.

You can change your pick, you know. I can, but I'm not like this. This is like when I accidentally said that the Ohio State Indiana line moved by 25 points because I put a plus in the wrong place and a minus in the wrong place. That would be me saying moving that line by over two touchdowns. I've just not doing it. Yeah. Yeah. I can't wait to watch. Yep.

That's going to be amazing. Really think was the hot sauciest. Uh, it sounds like everybody thinks river's a sauciest, which is great. That gives me faith in the format. I like this newer format better. You know, college football experiments with format and people complain, but we experiment with format and we get it right every single

freaking time. Andy, both of you guys, your saucy takes, were on teams that were favored and they feel like they're as wild that you said that. Like like that's where we're at Well, I mean when when you look the opening lines on Sunday and you saw that Arizona State was favoring its BYU Did you?

Express surprise I did yeah Yeah, I thought it would be like a pick or two points or something. The fact that it's over the it's the the big 12 coins scares me. First comes rock ass Andy what hair products to use happens. He's coming to me. He's confused. He's asking me. Yeah, because I use water. You mean I don't I don't use hair products. I'm not gonna Yeah. Because here's the thing. Somebody on the chat last night

said I have Lego hair, which is pretty accurate. Here's what happens. Like when, when I let my hair grow out, you remember that shot of the kid, the Texas fan, the Texas student during the Georgia game, when Georgia was, and his hair's just all like, it's just a mess. That's what mine looks like if I grow it out.

Some of it's curly, some of it's straight, some it's wavy. It's a, it's a a mess. That's what mine looks like if I grow it out. Some of it's curly, some of it's straight, some of it's wavy, it's a horrible mess. So I can't do that. This is what I got. I cut it this short, I put water on it, and that's the end. I don't have hair that can do the miraculous things yours can't. Nobody gets everything, Andy.

Nobody gets everything. I've got great hair, but we're working on some other things. But I will say, and I'm gonna tell you to the chat because I have been called fat quite a bit. I've been called a lot of mean names by people on Twitter and in this chat at times. Don't let me get hot, boys. Don't let me get hot.

Because we're working on it. Like you know what are you going to say when I become sexy? Like it's the year of the brand we're working on it. I'm going to run three miles maybe I'll do it even if I win the bet. I don't know why I just said that but like we're working on it and you know we're pretty close to the to the goal weight here., you know, we're pretty close to the, so the goal weight here. So, you know, see that. You see that jawline's coming back, baby. What's going to happen? Don't let, don't let the kid get hot. That's all I'm going to say.

Rocky top tosses. Ari, please don't tell me use dapper Dan. No fop guys. If you haven't seen no brother, we're art though. You're you're missing out. I'm a dappled and man I care a fob but I'm a dappled and man he can get it for you in about two weeks Ari wasn't this place a geographic lot of you two weeks from everywhere come on one of the

best movies ever I've seen in a long time I need to go back and watch it again. You're a Cohen Brothers guy. You love Fargo, right? Yeah, I love Fargo. Okay. Other great Cohen, one other great Cohen Brothers movie, Intolerable Cruelty.

You will never order a salad the same way again. That's all I'll say about that. Ari, we will be right back on the On3Sports YouTube channel because we are filling in for new dad, JD Piqu back on the On3sports YouTube channel because we are filling in for new dad JD Pickell on the hard count. The hotel playoff is something JD does after the playoff rankings get announced. We are going to tell you where everybody, what floor everybody's on in the hotel playoff.

We're also going to have a visit from our guy, Pete Naco to talk coaching carousel. It's all happening. So I realize some of you have to work, but some of you maybe you're lazy. Maybe you don't wanna work. Well, just come back to the on three sports YouTube page, 11 a.m. Eastern time for the hard count

with me and with Ari. Tomorrow, dear Andy, Dear Ari Show, get your questions in. We've had a bunch sent to us already. I don't even, at this point, I don't even have to ask you for questions anymore. You know, you know where to send them. But just in case, at Andy underscore Staples on social media, at Ari Wasserman on social media,

Andy Staples on three at gmail.com for your particularly epic questions. You've already sent a bunch of good ones, keep them coming. We will answer them on tomorrow's show. And Ari, a little surprise for you and producer River. I just got a texty Rue from somebody. Guess who we may have on tomorrow's show.

Are you gonna reveal it? Ole Miss quarterback Jackson Dart. Oh wow, wow, okay that's good to know. And Andy, I also got an email, and I'm sure you got it too. We are approved for Texas A&M Texas credentials. So we're, you know, I don't know if that's. Woo! We're going, we're going, so it's going to be good.

Oh yeah, get your, listen, get your brisket ready. Ari and I are taste testing. We're just, we're going to pick our way through the tailgate lots, taste testing. We were expecting a lot from you Aggies. Talk to you on this show tomorrow. Talk to you on the hard count, 22 minutes.