Andy & Ari On3 - Auburn will win at least NINE games + Nine other BOLD college football predictions | Alabama as SEC Champions, Notre Dame claims a Bye in CFP, Ohio State finally beats Michigan

Episode Date: August 20, 2025

On today's Andy & Ari On3, Andy provides his 10 boldest predictions before the season. How dominant will Penn State be this season? Is Alabama the frontrunner to win the SEC? What will Utah do in the Big 12? All these questions answered, but first, we head down to Auburn to evaluate Hugh Freeze and the Tigers on the plains. (0:00-0:37) Previewing today's episode(0:38-2:13) BetMGM(2:14-11:01) Intro: CFP Strength of Schedule changes(11:02-21:14) Bold Predictions: Auburn will win 9 games(21:15-30:30) Notre Dame will receive a bye in the CFP(30:31-33:56) James Franklin winning a top-5 game(33:57-41:51) Alabama, winners of the SEC?(41:52-55:54) Ohio State will FINALLY beat Michigan(55:55-58:19) Utah will compete for the Big 12 Title(58:20-1:01:31) UNC Win total: Under 7.5 games(1:01:32-1:03:32) Tulane, G5 Playoff Spot(1:03:33-1:05:51) Iowa's FUN offense?(1:05:52-1:09:21) Arch Manning at Texas(1:09:22-1:13:27) Re-visiting Matthew Golden at the draft(1:13:28-1:14:42) Conclusion Will Notre Dame be a recipient of a top-4 seed and a bye in the CFP? Andy seems to think so. With CJ Carr beginning the year at QB in Miami Gardens, the Fighting Irish are in a prime position to continue its winning ways. At Penn State, the expectations are sky high, and Andy boldly predicts that the Nittany Lions and James Franklin will meet those expectations this season. Do you think PSU is poised for a run? It's never too early to discuss The Game. Watch as Andy explains why the Buckeyes will turn recent history around this season against Michigan. List of Andy's 10 boldest predictions here: https://www.on3.com/news/calling-my-shot-10-bold-predictions-for-the-2025-college-football-season/  Our show is presented by BetMGM! See BetMGM.com for Terms. 21+ only. US promotional offers not available in New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (Available in the US). Call 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY). Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP (AZ), 1-800-327-5050 (MA), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-981-0023 (PR). First Bet Offer for new customers only. Subject to eligibility requirements. Rewards are non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire in 7 days. In partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel.  Join On3 today and get one full year of access to The Athletic included! https://www.on3.com/subscribe/C Subscribe to On3!  ⬇️ youtube.com/on3sports/?sub_confirmati...Welcome to On3 | The best of college football and recruiting https://www.on3.com/ Listen to Andy & Ari On3 on podcast! Spotify 🎧: https://open.spotify.com/show/5AhQ4d2m5TQu5Q2vkwtxjt?si=d9016221aa2a4427 Apple 🍎: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/andy-staples-on3/id1695325427 Follow Andy Staples on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Andy_Staples Follow Andy Staples on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andy_staples Follow Ari Wasserman on Twitter: https://x.com/AriWasserman Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/on3sports Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/on3/ Like/Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/On3Sports/ Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari WassermanProducer: River Bailey Interested in partnering with the show? Email [e-mail]

On today's episode of Andy and Ari on 3, we are talking about a new playoff selection metric. Ooh, that sounds nerdy. We're also talking about my bold predictions for the 2025 college football season. I've got something on Auburn. I got something on Notre Dame. I got something on Penn State, something on Ohio State and Michigan. It's juicy. I feel very confident in them, even though I feel very not confident.

about the rest of the thing, but these, you can take them to the bank. Let's have a show. We've teamed up with BetMGM this season. We will be using BetMGM lines to make all our picks and we'll have special offers for our listeners each week. When you join BetMGM, you'll get access to a variety of parlay selection features like same game parlayes, live betting options, and more. If you haven't signed up for BetMGM yet, use the bonus code CFB as in college football, CFB. and you will get up to a $1,500 first bet offer on your first wager with BDMGM. Here's how that works.

Download the BDMGM app and sign up using the bonus code CFB. Deposit at least $10 and place your first wager on any game. You'll receive up to $1,500 in bonus bets if your bet loses. Just make sure you use the bonus code CFB when you sign up. Make this college football season one for the history books. Make it legendary. See bedmgmgm.com for terms 21 plus only. U.S. promotional offers are not available in New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico.

Gambling problem. Call 1-800 gambler in the U.S. Call 8778 Hope N.Y or text Hope N.Y. 4-673-69-6-9-6-9-9-6-9-9-6-9-9-6-9-9-6 in Arizona. Call 1-800-1-1-1-1-4-2-1. First bet offer for new customers only. eligibility requirements, rewards are non-witrable bonus bets that expire in seven days in partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. Don't forget, if you haven't signed up for BDMGM yet, use the bonus code CFB and get your $1,500 first bet offer today. Welcome to Annie and Ari on 3 presented by BetMGM. It's bold predictions day. My bold predictions go today. Ari's bold predictions go tomorrow. I feel very good about these, Ari, even though I don't feel great about hardly anything else. Yeah, we were joking before the show started, and I wanted to continue the joke on to hear

is that Andy and I have spent so much time in the last 12 months talking to each other about college football that our minds have melded, and I'm like, yeah, I think I agree with all these. So we got, and that means that you should fade them because, you know, that's probably going to be wrong. But, like, I do think that they're very interesting. I'm going to come up with 10 more that'll be a little bit different for Thursday show but I'm excited to like really dive into it

and like kind of do like the post op like inspection like of like the entire off season to see how we feel now that we're about a week away from games really looking forward to it so let's get into it but there is a little piece of news though that like we're excited about too.

Yeah one piece of news to talk about before we get into it The College Football Playoff Selection Committee has announced that it's going to add a strength of schedule metric. They're calling it record strength, which I wonder if it's, is that similar to the strength of record metric that we've seen? Them mention a couple times. If you look at ESPN's FPI on the resume tab, that's got a strength of record component. I was looking at last seasons, but I realized it also includes the playoff game. So we can't really look at how that looked at the end of last season, which would have been. been very telling because I'd like to see where everybody winds up. But it doesn't, it's not going

to be the ESPN version of it. It'll, you know, it'll be what the committee has asked for what they, what they consider to be important. Which, by the way, are all similar. Like, let's not. It is. It is. Yeah. So basically, what strength of record is, and I'm thinking this is going to be similar to that is how would this team have performed against, you know, an average schedule versus what they did against this schedule? And I think that it's going to tell you who has the more impressive record. Like how much harder was it for this team to go nine and to go nine and three than for this team to go nine and three or harder for this team to go 10 and two than for this team to go 10 and two? And that's that's what the SEC folks were asked.

for. I think the big 10 folks will be happy they had it as you go forward because I think the big 10 is just getting deeper every year. So we'll see how it performs in practice. I don't know that it makes an appreciable difference, but we'll find out. Let me ask you this. This is the question that you have to ask because I kind of feel like it's, it's fairy dust. If you were to apply the new metrics and the new information that the committee will go over and consider this year, does it change the final 12 from last year? I started trying to figure out because I'm trying to find the strength of record after championship weekend, not after all the games were played.

We talked about strength of record last year. I know they didn't really apply those things, but I feel like we're applying. Now I'm looking at strength of record. I have found the strength of record for at the end of the season. So it was Oregon was one, which makes perfect sense. But Georgia was two. So that also makes sense. That's the thing, though.

It's like that's one metric in a laundry list of metrics that they use. Ohio State, by the way, was third at that point. Do they, are they going to disproportionately weigh their rankings based on a single metric now? Like, or are they just going to consider this a little bit more than they have in a tiebreaker? Or a tie breaker. And even then, there was no tie to break last year. So, like, I feel like this is nice and it makes people in the South feel better and good for them. But I think that we're going to just find out, which is the truth, which is strength of schedule and strength of record always mattered, how hard the teams you play matters, who you,

you beat matters and it's all going to funnel into the same results because like I feel like it already existed. So, you know, it might maybe flip a team or two or both in, but I don't know that it's going to change who gets in and who's left out. Yeah. It's going to be human beings deciding and the human beings deciding it already were considering this stuff. Yeah. And like if you ask the human beings what was wrong with the committee, they would tell you that this wasn't used. And then if you ask those same people what the actual metrics that they use are, they wouldn't be able to tell you. Do you know how many metrics they have? They've got a binder the size of worn piece on their desk of information. So you want to add this in? What do you think's

going to do? Change and uproot the entire selection process. Not to mention that this is the challenge that I always give people that they cannot answer outside of Florida State Alabama is when it was a committee ever blatantly wrong. And the only time people think the committee is blatantly wrong is when it impacts their team. Correct. There's no, there's no decision that they made that like an average person or that you and me would be like, wow, that's messed up. The only one they did was Florida State and Alabama. If they would have picked Florida State over Alabama, you would have had everybody in Tuscaloosa that. Yeah, there still would have been a hugely agree with party in that situation.

The fans couldn't have made it. No matter what decision you made, there's a bunch of people on the other side. It was an unwinnable situation. So I'm happy that we don't have to deal with that again, because as you pointed out so astutely in the show, you know, in the recent past, you're never going to have an undefeated conference champion from a power conference not get in because there's so many spots now like that's not going to happen again and I'm happy that's not possible that was the worst thing that happened in my adult life I think in terms of unsatisfying results right in terms of like that's the only one that that you

really can make an argument about and that's the one that makes you feel okay about the expansion from four to 12 although I think eight still would have done the same job The question is, how much do the new metrics or the new weight of the metrics used actually impact the results that we got last year? And my assertion, considering this is an hour old, is that it won't do anything. And we'll see. I don't think we'll ever know because they don't tell you. It's not that it won't do it. It's because they were already thinking about it.

Yes, they already confirmed those things. You don't think that they thought last year that Indiana schedule stunk? you think that like they're going to have this new metric now and everybody in the committee is going to walk out and go oh my god why did we not consider this year of course not everybody they're watching football and they're involved in the discourse as much as me you and everybody listening to the show are like it's it's nonsense i think it's nonsense fodder to try to get a deal done that's all it is that and that was before the show started i said that's exactly what i said is oh they're trying to give the SEC people what they wanted the SEC ADs as we say this are me reading right now. They've got to decide on this eight or nine game conference schedule here very soon. Greg Sanky would like them to go to nine conference games. If they go to nine conference games, there's a chance,

maybe the Big Ten will say, you know what? Okay, fine, 16 team playoff, five conference champions get in, 11 at large is the only way they would say yes to that is if the SEC goes to nine conference games. But the SEC ADs don't necessarily want to do that. They want guarantees that if they're, you know, They think their schedules are so much harder than everybody else's that they're being looked out for in that scenario.

Like Ari said, they were already thinking about that. So make your decision, and who does, maybe they make it. The SEC brain that cannot comprehend to this day that their schedules have helped them blows my mind. Well, they're just going to think any time their teams didn't get in that it was an affront and they were the victims. Yeah, well, I also think, too, that public comments to position yourself in an argument are much different than what you think about when you're in your bedroom at night alone. If Alabama were 10 and 2 or Ole Miss were 10 and 2, they would have been ranked higher than 11 and 1 Indiana.

That is absolutely true because we saw them doing that before those teams took loss number 3. Which is like the lead to a bold prediction that I'm going to have on Thursday, I think. Oh, good. Good segue. I like that. All right. Let's get to my bill predictions because actually, if one of them comes true in the minimal, in the most minimal way, if my number one comes true in the most minimal way, it's probably going to be involved in the argument we were just talking about. That's right. That is this. Get your jokes off now. Auburn is going to win at least nine games. Now, we didn't talk about this on yesterday's show. We had Josh paid on, and this all happened after we recorded with Josh. But Auburn was the butt of every joke yesterday because the Tigers decided to claim a bunch of new national titles.

And their AD came out and said, we're now claiming these. And even the Auburn fans were like, oh, God, why? We've been making fun of Alabama about this for decades. Please don't turn the joke canon on us. I'm so happy that you had Auburn so high on your list because I also on Wednesday wrote a column about Auburn. And your prediction is that they will win nine games, right? So I anybody who listened to the show with two of us and Josh Pate knows that I'm high on Auburn. And everybody was making a big thing about Hugh Freeze throwing his visor, right?

We're all caught up. Yeah, like no college football coach has ever gotten mad at practice before. But did you see what he said on Monday on his radio show about all three, quarterback essentially playing against Taylor. That scares the ever-loving, profanity incoming shit out of me. Like, oh, my God. When I heard that, I was like, oh, no. Because so it, like, undid or it unleashed this entire column out of me of like,

Hugh Freeze is responsible for last year's inept quarterback play. Is he going to mess this up again? Yeah. Is what you're doing? Because, like, you think their quarterback play was so bad a year ago. You go get three options to compete. And no matter who wins that job, it's going to be better than last. year. But if they start playing three-headed quarterback musical chairs in an opener against

a very capable team that can come out and beat you, like what he does with the quarterbacks this year, his development of the quarterbacks, his selection of the quarterbacks and his usage of the quarterbacks are going to, it's what his job is writing on. If you're an Auburn fan when you hear that, are you pumped about that or are you terrified? I'm terrified. Here's my question to you, Ari. Did Ashton Daniels or Deuce Knight come to SEC Media Days? No, I know, I know. Did Jackson Arnold? He did.

I think that tells you something. But you're talking about a person who got yanked around pretty harshly. Probably still has whiplash from his, am I the starter? Am I the starter? Am I not the starter in his first full year as a starter at Oklahoma last year? Who now may be thrown into a subjective world where Ashton. If that's going to bother him, this is not going to work, Ari. No, Andy.

So you're cool. if he plays all three against Baylor? You're not playing like Louisiana. Here's how I'm cool if he plays all three. He plays Jackson Arnold until they're up by three touchdowns. Then he puts in Ashton Daniels for a series, and then he puts in Deuce Knight for a series.

So you don't buy that. No. Okay. No. Okay. That makes me feel better. By the way, I don't think they're going to be blowing Baylor out like that, so I don't think that's what's going to happen. So you don't think that if they're not blowing Baylor out, or

if Jackson Arnold has a tough possession or two that you're going to see somebody else for a package. Only if he's got a package for one of them where they're doing something that Jackson Arnold can't do. Okay. I just thought it was scary. I'm still with you on the, uh,

because I know if this is a, if this is a Billy Napier, Graham Mertz and DJ Lagway, you get two series, you get one series. I'm out. I'll rescind this. Okay.

I don't think that's what we're watching. Yeah, we're on the same page. age. Like, we know, we know who the starter is supposed to be. My question is, has Hugh Freeze earned the benefit of the doubt in this regard, too? He had, and then last year happened and we took it away. Last year was an absolute dumpster fire. And I wonder if that dumpster fire could get in his head or make him rethink something or do something different or get desperate faster than he otherwise would have, which is why everybody was so locked in on his visor throw. If he threw, if he Through his visor as quarterback, that wouldn't have gone viral if last year didn't happen.

How many things can happen in the future that are impacted by what happened a year ago? Maybe he'll be completely rational and do things right. But as you point out over and over again, this is the deepest, most talented team that Auburn has had in years. It's not just the quarterback position. They've got a very good receiving room. Their offensive line is very good, from what I understand. They've got some edge rushers on their defensive line that are going to be potential game breakers. they've got dudes this year.

So my only point is his job is riding on him doing this right. And if your prediction is that Arnold will play and only play unless they are winning by a lot or there's a package for Daniels to use his legs, then I'm fully on board. I just wanted to say, it scared the crap out of me. That's all. I understand. And I understand. And I'm living through trauma a little bit too with that.

Well, I think a lot of it is we're going to micro analyze everything Hugh Freeze does because of what happened last year. Because of the way he handled Peyton Thorne, because the way he threw Peyton Thorne under the bus. And really because of, you've said this better than anybody else. Like going back to the off season before last year, him not making the decision to go out

and get a portal quarterback that would have helped them. And not only not going out and getting a portal quarterback, but making the comment. And then doubling down on it, right, with what he said. Yeah, what he said was the most egregious thing, especially as we watched Riley Leonard and Cam Ward to transfer quarterbacks bring programs to new heights that we hadn't seen in quite some time.

So, you know, and I'm not even saying he would have gotten him. It was the attempts. It wasn't. But this year they did that. They went out into the portal, got a quarterback who, when he was a recruit, everybody loved him. The shine is off Jackson Arnold because of what happened at Oklahoma, but I will say this again.

And maybe I'm wrong. Jackson Arnold can prove me correct or prove me wrong. by doing whatever he's going to do this season. But Oklahoma made a bad offensive coordinator hire, which they have since corrected. Oklahoma had a bad offensive line that also suffered some injuries. All five of Oklahoma's best receivers got hurt, which was nobody's fault,

but had a severely detrimental effect on Jackson Arnold's season as the starter there. God, I cannot wait until Auburn goes to Norman, dude. You can write an intense. entire book on Auburn, Oklahoma, before the game starts this year. Is September 20th? Is that game, like, number one on the storylines list? Yes. Yes.

I'm trying to remember a game that had this much angst and story wrapped up in it, because it's not just Jackson Arnold was Oklahoma's quarterback. Because you're actually, you got a few of those this year. Like Darien Mence is going back to Tulane, is duke's quarterback we're we're going to see a few of those then you compound it with the two coaches who are the two coaches are on the hot seat the game last year was incredibly weird and was sort of the the quintessential 2004 Auburn game with the the interception it's like what what are you doing how did you lose this game so and the fact that it's in norman like it's

It's in Norman. Like, it had to be Prodigal son returning. Mm-hmm. So there's, that game is everything. First Auburn's got to get by Baylor. Because that's a, that's a tough opener. Yeah, and they're not probably going to win nine this year unless they win that one. Right.

If they can beat Baylor, they can win, I'm looking at last year. And so, obviously, they're not playing Cal again, but that was a, that was a one-possession game. the Arkansas game was another one like the Oklahoma game with a crippling turnover the Oklahoma game the Missouri game was a four point game

Vandy was a 10 point game didn't have the crippling turnover but just had Auburn looking completely listless like if you flip the results of those games you don't even have to beat Georgia or Alabama you're a playoff team

you're a playoff team if you can do that yeah yeah uh we were just texting about travel plans uh for the opener and i'm trying to pick a hotel that ensures that wherever i arrive i will be there in time to be plopped up with a pizza watching this thing uh because that's the the biggest drawback for me traveling week one is the fact that i cannot go to this which is not that far away not far from your house exactly yeah but it's going to be a it's going to be a good game and i think we gave your number one prediction plenty of time so auburn yeah cheers to you for i mean this is the big this is the first like truly no it's not true week zero influential big tilt but this is the first like friday night big tilt game of the year yeah and they'll be like thursday's got

nebraska cincinnati but this is this is the biggest i think of the week night games week one Auburn, a slight favorite according to bed MGM right now, one and a half point favorite on the road, but this line has floated around pick them the entire time. Yeah. And you like Auburn, I assume, based on... I do. Yeah, I do.

Which, listen, they only need to win by two to cover at this point. So I don't think I have to go out on much of a limb. Half a point if that could happen at this point with that prediction. Yeah, but I don't get it and see you, that's what they'd take. I don't hate it. Let's go to your next one. All right. Number two,

Notre Dame will land a top four seed in the college football playoff. One reason I do this is I believe it. I think Notre Dame has the best offensive line in the country. I think they have the best running back in the country in Jeremiah I love. They're going to have a good defense again. We'll see what CJ Carr, the new starting quarterback, brings to them.

But when you have a good offensive line, you know you can protect the guy. They picked the more dynamic thrower. which I think is very helpful if you're Jaden Graitehouse, if you're Malachi Fields, if you're Jordan Faison, if you're Will Pauling, if you're the receiving core, you should feel pretty good about that because I think the line is going to protect him.

So if you get open, he can get you the ball. That said, this is also a reminder to everyone of the one major rule change that happened. Like last year we had to do a whole show on all the different new rules and the different conference affiliations and everything. This year, the biggest change is they changed.

the seating rules in the college football playoff, and it's just wherever you land in those final college football playoff rankings, that's where you are. So before Notre Dame had basically agreed to not have a chance to have a buy because they couldn't win a conference championship and you had to be a conference champion to get a top four seed to buy. Now, that's off the table. So if they're 12 and oh, they're definitely going to get one. But I actually think, Ari, because the competition is so tough at the top of the power conferences, I think 11 and 1 for Notre Dame would probably get them a top 4th. Yeah, the interesting thing about your prediction, too, is that I think we're going to have a pretty good idea of whether or not that's going to happen by week three.

Yes, like right out of the gate, you play Miami and A&M back to back. Like, I feel like you have to go 2 and 0 in those games probably to accomplish that, no? I think you're one-on-one. I think you're 1-1-1 and finish 11-1-1-1 and finish 11-1-1-1. Yeah. I don't hate it. I don't hate it. I'm very interested to see if their offense can be dynamic in a different way with C.J. Carr and some better receivers than they've had in the past. Obviously, what Jeremiah love is capable of, it goes without saying. But their defense is going to be good. Will it be as good as last year's? These are good questions. But in terms of their actual schedule, it's certainly something that they can navigate. And of course, how good USC is is going to play a major factor on all these things. How good is boy. going to be they've got a weird game against boise at home uh in early october watch nc state october 11 c j bailey's a good quarterback yeah yeah but they're gonna be an offensive line like watch out for the wolf pack they're favored i believe in every game on their schedule though so

like yeah from that standpoint that's a pretty good situation to be in so i'm i'm not going to push back i think it's really hard um you know to go 11 and 1 but i think Notre Dame is probably better than everybody on their schedule and should probably be able to do that. Well, you can't have a Northern Illinois at all, even because if it's 11 and 1, well, if it's 11 and 1 with a Northern Illinois type loss, which I don't even think they have a Northern old Purdue, I guess is the closest to that, that type of opponent. And they're still a Big 10 team. So, I don't know, if they lost to BC, that would be pretty bad.

It's, it's funny because the bottom of the schedule is actually harder this year than last year, but the top of the schedule probably isn't as hard. So, and a lot of it depends on how good you have. SC is. Yeah, and like Arkansas isn't supposed to be very good this year. So like a otherwise difficult, like if Arkansas was in that bunch with the second tier SEC teams, like if it was an Oklahoma or a Florida or, you know, one of those teams that's like Auburn, you know, that we're not quite sure what it is, but they've got dudes. Like, I just don't know that is Arkansas even have a functional offense. Yeah, I mean, they're still going to be pretty good. Like, Tailing Green is a decent quarterback. Bobby Petrino is calling the plays. So they're not bad.

Navy won the American last year got shrouded by Notre Dame but won the American they could be a force in the American again so yeah I'm not going to myself in a Navy for what we saw last year there's a terrible matchup for like Notre Dame is a terrible

matchup for Navy yeah terrible matchup but yeah but also too it's like one of the storylines of Notre Dame's like coaches growth is whether or not he can avoid losing a game like that because it's happened what three times now yeah now what's going to be interesting is this if they are a top four seed there's a chance they knock a conference champ out of the top four which people are going to get mad about

the the the Notre Dame has to join a conference people the ones who won't let them go as the season hasn't started yet they're mad that they can get a four seed at all yeah so you got that also what a a conference title game loser from the SEC or the big 10 do they get bumped below Notre Dame like they're going to get super mad that's going to be a major like that is all if your prediction comes true then it's

an unavoidable fact that we will be having that discussion in December so this this will be the new version of what we were saying last year when we were telling you hey number five is the catbird seat you want to be the number five seat we were actually wrong on that the sixth seed was the one that was

the easiest path that the Penn State path where they got SMU and the Boise State. Because we couldn't have seen Boise State being a top. So that's why that kind of happened. But there is no, there will be no seed that you're going for. Yeah. It's not that.

But you also can't, it's a landmine. You don't know, like if Georgia's number eight this year and they catch fire. Like you never know, like who the eight or nine seat is if it's from the SEC or the Big Ten and how they feel about themselves at that moment. So, but yeah, no, I think that's a good, a good prediction. So the question is, can C.J. Carr get them there? Or does it matter? Like, if C.J. Carr struggles and they go to Kenny Minchie, can they get there?

I think they can get there because of the running back offensive line combination. Yeah. Which I think is probably the crux of your prediction. Yeah. Now, it would probably be helpful if. they just beat Miami right out of the gate. Because this course is going to change considerably if they lose to Miami. And then they have the open date before Texas A&M.

And to get to this, it'll feel like a must-win scenario. Let me ask you this. Let's come off the prediction a little bit. But with this schedule, do they have to beat one of Miami or A&M to get in the playoff? I think 10 and 2 will be good enough. You think so? if they lose to both of those teams. And they will be the poster child of strength of schedule.

They'll be the new Indiana this year if that happens. Okay. If they're 10 and 2 after an 0 and 2 start, they will rise up the rankings, rightfully so. And then people from the SEC will target them as a team that doesn't play in a tough conference or a conference at all has no real quality wins. I mean, there's no way they get to buy. like we're beyond that like if you is they need to be 11 and 1 or 12 at oh you don't really know like if nc state turns out to be like a acc party crasher or if u sc like it's so hard to try to predict these things because you don't quite know who everyone is yet like do we really know what

usc is yet what if u sce is 10 and 2 like i mean i i think at the odds of a 10 and 2 team you know i just got them telling you i think that a 9 and 3 team is going to make it this year so it'd be impossible for me to say that 10 and 2, Notre Dame wouldn't. They might get some flack for it, but they'll get in. I don't know, no 10 and 2 team was left out last year, right? So I don't think that it's even possible from a math standpoint for a 10 and 2 team to be left out. Yeah, it's going to be enjoyed.

And I keep reminding myself, like when we talk about Notre Dame schedule and the relative strength of it, this time last year, we looked at Indiana schedule and we're like, oh, my God, they have the two teams that played for the national title the year before. yeah you don't know it's brutal but what i do know is is that if notre dame loses their first two games somehow they won't have a redemption arc which will feel very similar to indiana last year in that the one big time game they played against a elite level opponent they got their ass kicked like if notre dame is hey we're 10 and 2 but the only time two times we played a team that had a pulse uh we went oh and 2 like that's going to be a discussion point so so irish win

win one of these two, just split one of the first, split the first two and you're good. Yeah, and like, we're not even actually all that excited about the prospects of A&M going to the SEC championship game. A&M could be eight and four again for all that. A&M played Texas with a trip to the SEC championship game on the line last year. They could be very good. They could be a playoff team. Yeah. I don't know. Or they could be eight and four like always. That's true. That is another discussion for another day. All right. All right. Prediction number three, James Franklin will beat a top five team for the first time

since 2016. You're going to have a lot of chances. You're going to have a lot of chances. Right, because they'll play Oregon and Ohio State in the regular season. They'll probably make the playoff. They might make the Big Ten championship game, which would give them another shot at it. And then the playoff, they would probably have

other shots. I also think, because I think Indiana is going to be good again, I don't know how good, there's a chance. Indiana's is a top five team. when it visits state college on November 8th. But I think we feel very good about Oregon potentially being one on September 27th at Penn State or Ohio State being one when Penn State goes there on November 1st.

Yeah, but you know that if like Indiana happens to be ranked number five when they play, that that's not the prediction that you're making. It's not, but it kind of is because I actually feel bad about this because I feel like I'm stealing this. Well, I definitely am stealing this from you. So I probably need to come with an idea for one of your bold predictions just because I stole this one. Because you asked this question when we were on with Sean Fitz when we did the Penn State deep dive. And I thought it was a great point that nobody's thinking about that everybody should be. At what point during all of that stretch of James Franklin going one in 18 against top five teams,

did Penn State have the better roster? Now they do in a lot of cases. not with Ohio State, but maybe. And we've never been able to be like, but maybe. I'm going to give you, I'm going to give you a point blank gun barrel to your temple right now. Whose roster are you taking, Penn State or Oregon? Penn State. That's your point.

Yeah. So like that, that, if that's how you feel, then this is how you should feel about that. That said, uh, I may be wrong. but I don't think you're going to share it wouldn't I wouldn't have even it was going to be or I would have said Oregon but Oregon see like Oregon might turn out to be really really good again Oregon's got freaks too like they're very very good team Oregon might be as good as they were last year again like I think that there's an expectation that Oregon is going to be way worse than last year and you know I think that's a you know they lost Dylan Gabriel they lost some guys Evan Stewart's injured I get it but like when you start playing that game of good player, good player, good player, like with Oregon, it gets just as long as Penn State, and it's pretty diverse. So I'm going to translate your prediction, and I agree with it, I think. If he doesn't this year, then Lord help him. Yeah, exactly. There's nothing that you can do to help him at that point. Penn State will win a high leverage game against the team

with equal talent, I think is what you want to say. You want to say that they will show up and beat a team that is situated to win a national title. I like it. I like it. Yeah, and if James Franklin has his best roster, then I don't buy all the record. Like, if he actually built the best roster that he's, you know, then. But if he doesn't, you're right, we're having a completely

different conversation. It is then squarely focused on James Franklin and those games. Number four, and I've evolved to this one, Alabama will win the SEC title. Remember we did that way too early top 25 right after last season ended? I think we left Alabama out. They wouldn't have made the playoff in it. And then I did another one after the spring and I put them at like number seven.

I was like, because I can't leave them out. There's rosters too good. The more I look at it, the more I feel like they're the safest bet in the SEC, maybe even safer than Texas, even though we all see. to think Texas is going to be number one.

Did you go side-by-size-sized scheduled or schedule? Because Texas' schedule is very favorable. They both play at Georgia. Alabama's got a much easier Big Ten opponent. They play Wisconsin. I'm not worried about Florida State with them. Well, she's about winning the SEC. All I care about it.

I don't think Tennessee is going to be as good as they were last year. And they have to go to Tuscaloosa. Alabama and going to Columbia, South Carolina is one where... I think that's going to be tricky. Obviously, I think going to Auburn is going to be tricky at the end of the season. They don't have to go to Tennessee. They have LSU at home. They have Oklahoma at home.

Obviously, if Auburn's a 9 or 10-win team and your first prediction comes true, then that game makes it a lot more difficult on the road at the end of the year in the Iron Bowl. Yeah. And also remember that Alabama winning the SEC would not preclude Texas from winning a national title. Because it could be a situation where Alabama beats Texas, in Atlanta. Because we've seen Alabama beat the eventual national champion in Atlanta

before and then not win the national championship. Yeah, no. I'm just winning the SEC. I just think that it doesn't really matter if Texas has a more advantageous path they could play Texas. I think they probably would. I think that's, if I'm predicting it,

I'm predicting an Alabama, Texas SEC championship game matchup. And then, you know, I don't feel comfortable going beyond that and saying oh Alabama's going to win the national championship because I think there's too many good teams and once you get in a single

elimination bracket where you've got to win three in a row if you have the buy there's too much unpredictability there. I don't hate it. I mean, they're one of the three options right now that you would choose. The thing that... But if Ty Simpson's really good, their national championship good.

I was kicking this around for my bold prediction. what if I predict that Texas, Georgia, or Alabama, none of those three will win them. It's possible. Like, if you were to take... Because if my Auburn prediction is right, then they would potentially be in the mix for that. We just talked about Texas A&M and how close they were to playing in Atlanta last year. We haven't mentioned Florida yet.

The problem is, I don't know, I don't know that I believe that. but if you were to say you get those use the other one you get those three teams or the field you're probably taking those three teams still though right yes so yeah that but like I wonder if there is a team in the SEC this year because like

here's here's the the wild card you know who's not in those three teams LSU that's what I was just saying LSU is one we haven't mentioned yet that they've got a very upgraded defensive

roster. We're going to find out about their offensive line very quickly when they play at Clemson. If that group holds up against Clemson's D-Line, they can hold up against anybody. When's the last time a team in the SEC won the SEC that wasn't one of those three? LSU and they had Burrow. Is that the last one? Yes. Okay. Yes. But interesting teams in the SEC to track that if they reach their potential are dangerous as hell to those other ones. Florida, Olmiss, Oklahoma, LSU, and A&M, five. And do you think South Carolina and Auburn? Yeah.

I think I'm talking myself into taking the field here. I still think you shouldn't take the field. But I can understand why you would because, like you just said, like South Carolina, you threw that one in there. I can see it. And that's one for Alabama. Like South Carolina went to Tuscaloosa and gave Alabama hell last year. and we thought oh that's you know that's a feather in south carolina's cap and then

alabama goes and loses to vandy and you're like oh well maybe not but yeah those four just don't think Alabama's going to have a vandy type game and i don't think they're going to have an oklahoma type game from last year i think those you you eliminate those two eggs and you are you are 10 and 2 or 11 and 1 and you're going to the c c championship game i don't want to undercut a future show but I want to just preview something that we're going to be talking about next week, which is the Senior Bowl.

And Senior Bowl's top 300 breakdown of the 300 prospects that they're eyeing right now. The SEC has 109 players and the Big 10 has 68. Okay. And I think that's significant. You want to know why? Because I think that proves that the SEC

is something that it wasn't last year, which is incredibly deep. Like, they all had the same records, but I think they're actually very deep in various. Those guys aren't all on Georgia and Texas. which makes me wonder about any big proclamation of any individual team being a runaway favorite to win this one. Texas to me is the team. I think Texas is going to win the national title this year.

I think we both do. But damn it, if it's not going to be hard to go beat Auburn on the road, you know, for everyone. Right. For Alabama, it will be, and Georgia, both Alabama and Georgia have to go to Auburn. So that's going to be tough. But I just don't know the country is ready for Oklahoma to have a badass offense again. What if Mateer and Birx are one of the best one, two combinations in the country? And that, that affects, think about who that affects and who we're talking about.

That's right, because that's going to, they play Alabama, they play South Carolina, they play Texas. Yeah. What if Austin Simmons? They play LSU. So. What if Austin Simmons is a Heisman finalist? What if Garrett Nussmeyers is the number of overall picking the draft? There's a lot of maneuvering that you can do in this conference.

There is. Here's the thing. Alabama's got a great offensive line. Alabama's got a great defensive line. Alabama has aliens in its secondary. Alabama has Ryan Williams, who I think is going to have a year that looks more like his first few games than his last few games last year. Alabama has Jeremy Bernard. They brought in Isaiah Horton from Miami.

I know Jim Miller's out for a little while. but I think they're hopeful they get him back by the Georgia game. So this roster feels as complete as anything in the SEC. It does. It does. It does. It's, I always just like laugh. And one of my good buddies here is the Bama fan. We ate lunch together the other day. And I was like, if Alabama had one of the eight other starting quarterbacks in the SEC right now, they would be number one overall in the country. Yeah, if they had Lenora Sell,

Archmanning, DJ Lagway. Archmanning. Even if it was Diego Pavia, just because he's a known commodity. But the thing is, just because Ty Simpson isn't a known commodity, doesn't mean he can't be a really good quarterback. You're right. You're right. Alabama should be very good. It should be very good.

We will find out how good. You would have thought, though, that like we would, that Alabama winning the SEC would be a bold prediction. Like, if you were to told me that three years ago before Nick's retired, I'd be like, what? Yeah, that's how. quick it happens right there. Life comes at your fast. All right. Number five, and this sounds like the most obvious thing in the world, but I want you to think about how you felt on the Saturday

after Thanksgiving at noon and how you felt at 3.30 on that day. Ohio State will beat Michigan for the first time since 2019. Do you know it didn't even occur to me that Ohio State would lose last year's game until it was over? Me neither. Three touchdown favorites. I was like, they'll win. It's going to be ugly and whatever, but they'll win the game. And then when they broke off that big one on the final drive,

I hit me, I was like, wow, they lost. They literally just lost this game. Yeah, I think that my theory is this. And I've shared it with you, I think. But now that Ryan Day has won the national title and has a little pep in his step that maybe he can get out of his own head in this week and just take care of business and treat it like it's not the biggest thing in the entire world.

I think there's a balance between treating it with the importance that it deserves without letting it control your mind and not letting it control your temperament and how you do your preparation for it. I do think that unlike any other rivalry in the sport, that emotions and hatred and how much it means to the fan bases to win that game can overtake your entire being as a human. and I think that Ryan Day winning the national title might have helped him, like, escape that feeling of if I don't win this game, there's going to, I'm going to need cops at my house. You know, like, now that that is gone, I think that, but listen, Andy, like, I've been constantly and will forever be called an Ohio State homer. I didn't think that Ohio State was going to lose any of the last four because it didn't make sense. So the fact that you have this here, I'm like, yeah, they're going to beat them.

Of course they're going to beat them. But that's how I felt. 22 and 23 made sense to me. Last year didn't make any sense. But to your point about Ryan Day, he made sense, but I never predicted that it would happen. To your point about Ryan Day winning the national title and maybe it changes it, I think the way it changes it is he doesn't go into that game thinking,

I have to beat Michigan the way Michigan beats me. And that's where they lost last year. Like, just throw the freaking ball to number four. That's really all you got to do. Yeah. I mean, it seems to have gotten in their head, too, because he doesn't. Urban Meyer never cared about beating Michigan in Jim Harbaugh's preferred style. He just beat Michigan by creating mismatches and destroying them.

Everybody mocks Ryan Day for how he behaved on the field at Notre Dame two years ago. Remember that? Where's Lou Holtz? You know, you want to talk about a tough team. That's a tough team right there. That behavior was manifested because he was called soft against Michigan. Right. If you want to talk about how a person can be impacted by losing that game as Ohio State's coach,

they became obsessed with being the tougher team. They became obsessed with winning on the ground. They became obsessed with beating Michigan the Michigan way. And meanwhile, the Ohio State Way has always been good enough to win national titles. Well, and the thing is, think about after the Michigan game last year. They beat Tennessee, Oregon, Texas, and Notre Dame in a row. And Notre Dame. All of those teams are incredibly tough.

They are incredibly big and strong and fast up front. And Ohio State beat them. So the toughness is not longer in question. Notre Dame last year was the much, much, much better version of Michigan. yeah like so like you want to talk about like and I told people this last year going into the game I'm like yeah there are 2017 and a half point favorite everyone or whatever it was but watch out for the mental aspect of this and as we were at Texas Roadhouse you and I were happy we were eating we were eating breadsticks we're in college station Texas because why would we have gone to to that Columbus for this game because who would have thought that would happen yeah it was it was it was one of those things as the game was going to on you could feel it even through the television i can't even imagine what was like when it was there when you were there but you could feel the pucker factor and i just don't think that's going to be there anymore yeah i think that if he could just rely on himself uh like there's a picture

here that i want i wish i would have sent river before but i'm going to try to do it while i talk um of john cooper uh against michigan in the 90s that i i just sent it to to you river see if you can put it up. But that picture is the exact manifestation of what Ryan Day was doing on the sideline. It's arms crossed. It's that thousand yards stare up into the sky. It's the I can't believe this is happening. And this is like, you know, we're allowed to say a profanity now. It's, it's the live view of shitting your pants in front of everybody. Like, and that, that like, to me, Michigan should be the most proud of that more than anything, which is that they got, look at that. Like, that's the thousand yard stare. Yeah. You know, that's a, that's a human being that

is overcome by the moment. And I just, I feel like Ryan Day probably exercised some of those demons. Yeah, he's been, he's been through bigger moments now. He's overcome them. He's succeeded in bigger moments than that. Like, it shouldn't be the be all end all. It is a huge game.

But they still should have the better team this year. Now, we'll see how Michigan evolves with Bryce Underwood, a quarterback. I think I still, I think Michigan is going to be good, but Ohio State should still have the better roster by the time they play. Yeah, Michigan had 13 players drafted after the 23 season, and that was the highest number of players from any individual school in a draft that year. I would have made the case going into 23 that Ohio State was more talented than Michigan was, and we'll never know. whether that's true or not because all of Ohio State's players came back and they set a new draft record this year. So, but I still think that Ohio State had a talent advantage

in all four games. And I know that's, I don't know about 23. I really don't know about Ohio State and I think they were fairly equal in 23 that would have been taken after 23 that came back and helped them win it the next year. Those players are still on that team. It's not just a one for one comparison. But Michigan still had. Kenneth Grant and Mason Graham coming back. So, like, it's not like. Yeah, and J.J. McCarthy was a first round. Right.

J.J. McCarthy or Kyle McCord, we've relitigated that a million times. The game came down to the final drive, so it doesn't really even seem to. It did. Right, right, exactly. Ohio State, if they held one more block or one block for another second, might have hit Marvin Harrison for a touchdown on the final drive at one. So whether one team had more talent than the other, I guess, is a moot point. because they both were very talented.

But like Ohio State last year, when you want to talk about choking, that was maybe the biggest choke in the history of the rivalry. And I think it was the worst team that ever won the rivalry. And I think it was the biggest upset in the history of the rivalry. I don't know if the Tim Bianca Batuka game, you think is worse. But when you actually have the full context of what Ohio State was, I don't know that this Michigan team was the 24 Michigan team was the worst team to ever win.

but I do think it was the largest talent discrepancy where the less talent was bad last year Andy they were bad yes yes I can't remember better at the time they were right in Ohio State I mean like listen Ohio State won most of them for my entire adult life so I can't remember I was a kid in the 90s when that was happening but like when you think about the actual how good a team is in comparison to

you know some of the teams both of those teams have had over the last 30 years It's kind of hard to come up with a team that actually won the game. I'm not even thinking about upset, a team that was worse that won the game ever, because they both were very good for the last 30 years. Yeah, I think, I think that's over now. I think the national title probably broke that hold on Ryan Day. And we'll find out when we get to November, but. Do you imagine if they lost again?

I'm not going to imagine that because I'm boldly predicted they'll win this one. But the thing that is kind of sad to me, And listen, I like Ryan Day. I like him as a human being. I think he's a good guy. And I like being around him. And I don't want to see anybody suffer. I don't want to see Sharon Moore suffer.

You know, it is un- I think Sharon Moore has earned the benefit of the doubt. Like, he can take a loss at this point. You want to think, I'm an Ohio State, Homer, take this, this comment. The thing that I hate the most about the expanded playoff, and I think that my brain at times has been conditioned to the Ohio State brain as a result of being in that bubble for 10 years, that the Ohio State head coach can weasel, maybe that's not the right word, can win his way out of the inability to beat Michigan because the system allows it to.

And now we're out a place where when I say, can you imagine if they lost to Michigan, it really wouldn't feel as big of a deal as it did even last year because they won the national title. Oh, no, I'm telling you right now for that week or month or whatever, it would be the biggest thing in the world. No, I know, but it wouldn't be nearly as hot as it was a year ago. Like, last year when he lost it, like, I thought there were conversations that he was going to leave his job. Like, you don't remember because it's clouded by what happened. I don't remember. I do remember.

And he was like, remember thinking, are we serious about this? I mean, I remember hearing reports and hearing things behind the scenes that he was going to coach the rest of the season and then go coordinate somewhere in the NFL or something like that he was done with it. And I don't know if that's true or not, but that's where we were mentally. And like that can't exist anymore. Producer River points out, it's the reason we saw so many Tennessee fans in Ohio Stadium. Right. Think about it. The tickets were available because people were checked out, you know, and they check back in now. But like, you should not be able to not beat your rival.

I think one of the main tenants of college football is, certain individual games that paint whether or not your entire season is success, the fact that that doesn't exist in the Ohio State Michigan rivalry anymore is one of the major drawbacks to me of this new system. And you don't have to agree with that, but that's how I feel. Like the beauty of that game rested on you are made and broken as a man based on whether or not you could beat them. I still think Ryan Day might be if he loses again.

If Ryan Day lost the next four Michigan games and finished one and seven or what's his record now? One in four or one in five? One in four. Yeah, he's one and four. Because they didn't play in 2020. Now, Ohio State probably would have won. If he finished one in eight against Michigan, they lost the next four, which is an unfathomable thing to say,

but this is just for the sake of argument. And they don't win another national championship. And they, you know, make the playoff some years or all years that he loses to Michigan, but they don't win another national title. He will go down in Ohio State lore as a great coach because they won the national title under him. And, like, that doesn't exist for John Cooper, who, by the way, if you really want to go through the past. He was a coach in college football to recruit nationally and create a super team.

And what do you think of when you think about that face? Lost to Michigan. You don't think about how great of a coach he was or Eddie George or Orlando Pace. You don't think about that stuff. You don't think about Sean Springs and Antoine Winfield and the many NFL pro bowlers I played for him. You think about his inability to live with that every single day. And, like, that's what this rivalry is supposed to be to me. that's what defines you.

I think you can exist in this rivalry now and it not define you, and I think that sucks. That's all. I think Ryan Day doesn't have to worry about that. That's in terms of his legacy, because I think he's striking. No,

no, I'm not talking about that. I just don't think the one in eight's going to happen because I think he strikes back this year. I think he goes to two and four, and then it starts to even out over the years. I want to bet Scott Docterman in 2021, the deed to my property.

that Ohio State wouldn't lose four out of the next 10. Yeah, you're lucky you've sold that house because I think you should have given it to Scott. Well, he didn't, he didn't come up with an alternate bet to it. Like, you know, he didn't, he left it hanging. It's kind of like a lottery house in Iowa right now, are he? He didn't put his house up. If you would have put his house up, I would have had, I've paid my debts. My point is that like, it's easy to sit here right now and say that's not going to happen.

But holy shit, Andy, they lost four in a row, man. They did, but I'm telling you that they strives. strike back this year, the strike back. I know we're trying to move on. If you remember when you and I were eating hot dogs and you got mad at me for putting ketchup on my chicken tenders in Anna Arbor Stadium in 2020, was it 2019, and you and you and I, you and I, you and I, you and I were discussing the rivalry, what went wrong, how it went Haywire and, like, after the game, like, I don't remember what you wrote, but I wrote that Urban Meyer killed the rivalry. If I would have told you that they would win four in a row between 21 and 20, or 21 and I would have said you were out of your mind because I was running about Jim Harbaugh when they, when they, when they, when he heard the phrase coaching gap, and he whipped his head around at the guy, like,

I'm going to kill you. I'm going to kill you. Yeah, and I get like that people throw that back on my face as if I'm supposed to see this coming. It's like, okay, congratulations with Leo. You're smarter than me. I don't know what you're talking about. But anyway, okay, let's go to the next ones.

I'm sorry that. All right. We will whip through these last few. This one we talked about a ton on the show over the last few months. If you've been watching listening, you know. A year after going five and seven, Utah will play for the Big 12 title. Note, I am too much of a chicken to say they'll win the Big 12

because the Big 12 is way too unpredictable to just take a champion. You shouldn't have gone for it, though. I know. But I think Utah is going to be very good this year. Devin Dampeer comes in at quarterback. He's going to be a massive run threat. Spencer Fenno and Caleb Lomo were their offensive tackles. Maybe the best offensive tackle tandem in the country.

Certainly the best one in the Big 12. I think this is Kyle Whittingham's year to start. strike back. And let's not forget, this is the guy that, you know, brought Utah from the Mountain West to Pac-12, won two Pac-12 titles right before that conference decided to die. And I think they're going to be a force in the Big 12 for as long as they're in it. Yeah, I don't know what you want me to do here. Like, I'm not going to like, we both agree on this. There's not much to. No, it's like, even if I don't agree, it's the Big 12. So good luck with your bold prediction in the Big 12. Any team to win the Big 12 is a bold prediction, Andy.

I got news for you. That's why I just said they play for it because I can't go. Like they could be 12 and O going in that game and they'll play Iowa State or Kansas State or Baylor, whoever it is, and then lose by 30. Like that's just how the big 12 is. Yeah. I like Utah. I think they're exciting.

I can't wait to watch them play UCLA on 30th. Very sneaky good game. Oh, yeah. And in the boys over there in Westwood. And it's going to be fun. going to be in some hotel somewhere, or maybe we're still be in the Clemson Press Box watching that. That's going to be very, you know, you're going to be

holding that in the car. Yeah, we'll be driving. I bet. I'll be pretending not to watch. Yeah. I have an electric car now that has a screen on the front. You know how electric cars have big screens. You can Google cast. But you have to be parked. That's right, but who said we're not going to park? I'd love to go parking with you, but.

I'm watching that. I walked right in it Alan, I did. Yeah, I'd love to go to a rest stop and park the car with you. Oh, God. UCLA, Utah. Now that scene from there's something about Mary, just, just boomed in my head. Great. It's the breeding ground for many, many, many.

Okay. Bill Belichick's first North Carolina team will win fewer than seven and a half regular season game. Seven and a half is the number that Bet MGM will give you right now. I believe the under is the one that pays out better. I believe the under is minus 165. They have the easiest schedule in organized football this year. It is easy, but it's not as easy as you think. I think it's easy.

It is easy compared to Oklahoma's. I think I would take the schedule over every other. You know what I'll do? I can't put you on the spot now because you don't have enough time. But I'm going to give you 24 hours. Come back tomorrow and show me a harder or an easier power for schedule. Okay, I will try. I think there might be one.

Who is it? Who is it? just out of curiosity. Do you know who it is? I think it's Maryland? Okay. Maryland is the one that doesn't play Oregon, Ohio State or Penn State? Yeah. Maryland plays Michigan, Nebraska, Washington, Wisconsin.

Yeah, but North Carolina plays Clemson. Maryland goes to at Wisconsin, hosts Washington, host Nebraska, hosts Indiana, and plays at Illinois, and then hosts Michigan. Okay, never mind. It's North Carolina. I quit. But that said, no, don't quit. Just take 24 hours.

Well, no, no, I still think I'm going to be right on this. TCU is going to be pretty good. They play at Cal and at Syracuse on Friday nights. You know how I feel about home teams on weeknights. I think Wake Forest is going to be better than people think. We know Duke's going to be good. And I think NC State's going to be sneaky good. I think getting to eight wins is going to be very difficult.

yeah um and the crazy thing is that if like mac brown was still the coach like the idea of them losing that many games against the schedule would probably be foreign i think it's yeah we we would be fairly comfortable predicting eight and four with mac brown with bill belichick it's crazy he's you know the greatest coach in football history but we don't know how he's going to do with college players we also don't know how good that roster is because they did lose a lot they brought in some out of the portal that we think like Gio Lopez we think it would be a pretty good quarterback for them

but it wasn't like they suddenly had one of the best rosters in the ACC they don't yeah it's probably a net probably no net change versus a team that went six and six last year I think we want Deion Sanders mania and I don't know that we're going to get it

right and what did Dion go his first year four and eight four and eight yeah now granted he had more work to do. But the brilliance of Bill Belichick isn't supposed to be a quick flip either, right? It's supposed to be a slow burn

and then building towards something. Right. Like the way that he approached his roster building was a little bit different than the way Dion did too. And they paid dividends for Dion in year two and three. Or year two. I haven't seen year three yet.

We're going to find out. Year three, they should still be pretty good. I wonder if like North Carolina is going to be blah, blah, blah, and then year four if he's still there somehow, like awesome. We'll see. I think it would go quicker than that if it works. But I think this year might be a little tough.

Number eight, Tulane will be the group of five team that makes the CFP. I feel like when they got Jake Retzliff, that's what put it over the top. The schedule is interesting, though, because they could have a 2-1 record or even a 3-0 record, potentially, against power conference teams. They have a non-conference schedule where they play Northwestern. They're going to be favored against them. Duke comes to them that may be a pickum or Duke Duke a slight favorite.

They'll be underdogs when they go to Ole Miss the following week. But they can go two and one or three and oh against that schedule and then they can win the American and they would be the playoff team. You're not going three and oh against that schedule. But if they're two and one and they win the American,

they're still going to the playoff. For sure. No question. Beating Duke is going to be good. And having them on the road, or I mean at home is kind of an interesting dynamic. You wouldn't expect that. And you wouldn't expect that, especially the year they got Dary and Mentsa from them.

So a lot of these quarterbacks facing former team games, it's exciting. But, like, I think that's a good pick because they have the schedule, the team, and the coach, really, too. Yeah, John Somerall, remember, he goes to Troy, wins conference titles at Troy both years, gets Tulane into the American Championship game year one. Now, they laid an egg against Navy, but I do think, excuse me, against Armstrong. Army, not Navy. I think I said earlier in the show that Navy won the American. I meant Army.

But Sumerall has been good every year that he's been a head coach. I see no reason for that to change. And this is a part of Tulane fans hate. He's also going to be probably the hottest name in the carousel if that opens again. Yeah. I kind of feel like you trade your coach for a great season, though, right? So you hope that your coach is in the carousel conversation. Exactly.

That means you did good. All right. Next, bold prediction. I'm running down my list. I haven't memorized my list. I should, okay, yeah, yeah. We've talked about this quite a bit on the show as well. With Mark Grinowski at quarterback, Iowa will have a functional,

and then I crossed out C-T-I-O-N. AL which just makes it fun a fun offense maybe going too far they announced them the start of this week and I was like yeah I know guys thanks what

am I doing something here yeah but fun for I thought that I was offense two years ago was really fun but in fun fun for a completely different reason yeah I thought that was fun because you watched the games and like wondered how bad

could it be. And it wasn't disappointed. I think that this is a good, I think it's funny because they showed him scrambling and throwing a five-yard out. Oh, and people went berserk. People went berserk. It's like, that's the standard here.

So for Iowa fans, certainly going to be fun. I'm excited to see if his game will translate to the Big Ten. Yeah. Now, one thing to remember, Phil Parker's defense was actually a little down last year, even as the offense got slightly better under Tim Lester in the first year of non-Bryon Farrants, I suspect the defense gets better this year

than it was last year, which will only help Mark Grinowski and company. So the question is how conservative are they, do they let him be? The thing is, the way Gernowski plays, he played a really good program at South Dakota State. It wasn't like he was just running around for South Dakota State and making stuff happen.

he played within structure most of the time it's just that when things go wrong he's athletic enough to make something happen which is not something Iowa's quarterbacks have been able to do when we talked to Kirk Ferrence I think he said since Nate Staling I would say since C.J. Bethard

but but the goal here is Brad Banks like that's what we want we want a Brad Banks type athlete back there and it's possible they're a lot of goal but it's possible yeah yeah so I'm excited last one and this is i wasn't even going to include this guy but he made news yesterday

arch manning will have an excellent season to be back in college football in 2026 which would not have been a bold prediction until yesterday when arch was asked about what his grandfather archie told texas monthly when archie said arch will definitely be back next year he's not going to the draft arch is like i don't know where he got that from he texted me and apologized i'm just taking it day to day, which I'm taking a day to day is what someone who actually is considering entering the draft says, but I still think he's not. You see he got into a Twitter fight I did with the RG3 yesterday? You did?

Yeah, I don't know if you saw that. You got to text me when this is going on. Respectful one, nobody, but he, he tweeted, I'm convinced the Colts are tanking for Arch Manning, and I'm like, okay, there's a lot to unpack there, bud. One, the Colts probably picked the better quarterback right now. I'll say Daniel Jones over Anthony Richardson. It's not that neither one of those is a tanking pick. Like you're not in great shape either way.

And two, Arch Manning might come back the following year. And three, Arch Manning still hasn't shown that he's worthy of one, one. Although I think he will by the end of the year. I thought it was a weird tweet. And then we went into a back and forth that turned into, you can go read it. I don't even know what you've heard. Here's what's weird about all this. If we're talking about what's the more advantageous year to come out,

and we don't know what's going to happen with the other. quarterbacks like with Lenore Sellers and those guys this year. But the 26th draft may be the better year to come out in than the 27 draft because the 27 draft has somebody that the other drafts don't. Jeremiah Smith is in the 27 draft. And I know people are, we can't take a receiver over it. Yes, you can. If he's going to be the greatest receiver ever, yes, you can. So just remember that. Jeremiah's but I still think Arch Manning comes back. I think that Arch Manning being in the draft

if he accomplishes what he's supposed to accomplish and he turns into the player based on size, stature, you know, all the things that you would fall in love with like he would be the bona fide number one overall pick in that draft. What if the Saints really suck and they have the number one

pick? Because that's the hometown team and it's not a perennially crappy organization. more it was when archie played for them it's not now and so that's the situation where if you did get the the quarterback of the future because you saw what happened the last time they had that guy and drew breeze like maybe you think about it yeah uh also to dj lagway if he can stay healthy is going to wow people it's 27 draft yeah oh like that's another one um you know here's a bold

prediction. Will Arch Manning when he comes out, whether it be 26 or 27, be the second quarterback off the board? That's an interesting thing to think about. And we don't know because you mentioned Lenora Sellers, Garrett Nussmeyer, also for this coming draft. Maybe somebody we're not talking about now who has an incredible year, a la Joe Burrow 2019. And then the following year, you've got DJ Lagway. I mentioned Jeremiah Smith in that draft. there will be other quarterbacks who rise this year who are draft eligible in 27

so I don't think it's a wild thought that which wouldn't be the first key to be off the board speaking of the draft Ari and I were at the draft in April and on the day of the first round

we talked to Matthew Golden who he's receiver at Texas he had transferred from Houston and River do we have the clip of Matthew Golden talking to us about his grandmother's house. Here's Ari asking Matthew Golden about his first big purchase. What's the first thing with draft money that you want to buy? Definitely get my grandma a house, man.

We lost our property a couple years ago. You know, that's something where I grew up when I was younger. And, you know, it would be a blessing to be able to get that back for my family. You know, that's where they all grew up. That's where I grew up. So, you know, that's always, I always tell myself I wanted to do that. And now I'm in a position to do it. So if it's bound to happen, I'm going to make it happen.

You're going to go knock on the door? Yeah, I'm going to kick the door down. I mean, it's a pretty cool. Knock on the door. Hey, I'm in the NFL now. We used to live here. We'd like to buy it from it. It's literally for sale right now.

Oh, wow. Oh, man. It's literally for sale right now. You know, I go back and look at it every time. I actually had a camp last week for some kids back at home. And I dropped down that road. That's where I grew up at. So it's actually the back street in my high school that I,

I went to. My whole family lives on that back road, man. So, you know, a lot of people, you know, they started knocking stuff down. And for me, man, it's always been giving back to my people. So, you know, to be able to do that, man, that would be the biggest person for me. So Matthew actually partnered with Remax, the real estate company. And they did a whole documentary chronicling this process. And he got the house. And they've put out this doc. So, here is Matthew giving the house to his grandmother. You know, Grandma's love is just different, I feel like. She put in as much work as I did, and, you know, she sacrificed a lot to put me in this position.

So it's all I can do is get back to her. You know, it was times we didn't have anywhere to stay. It was times we didn't have lights, and, you know, a lot of people would have gave up. My mom and grandma, they didn't, you know. They always made sure I had a ride to practice, and now I'm here. It's a full circle. You've been waiting to see you, see mama, you know. You know what that is, right?

I know. I know it. I'm Nemesh. I was saying, I was up to something. Hi, Grandma. Hi, I'm Nemesh. I want to say congratulations. These are yours. Go ahead and go. Get on going? So cool. Oh, my goodness. Christ, oh, God, you've got to thank you all.

Oh, my God. That is absolutely beautiful. It's amazing to see. Because when he talked to us about it, it was like, you knew he's going to be able to do it. Because when he told us the house was already for sale, like, at that point, you're going to be a first-round draft pick. You're going to be able to handle this. But to see it, to see the look on her face when she gets the keys is just incredible. I can't imagine a better feeling.

I can't imagine. Yeah, I've never been able to do anything like that for somebody. Like, that's when you know you've truly made it. Yeah. And good for him. He earned it. My dream in life, funny enough, is that somebody would knock on my door and be like, hey, I want this house and I'll give you 30% more than it's worth. I've always, like, wonder what that would feel like.

And then you have leverage and that you can negotiate. but the problem is that my house is on a plot of land that didn't have a house on it before. So I can't, that can't happen for me unless someone just loves my house, which I don't know why, but there's no emotional tie for anybody. Yeah, we actually when things spiked a little bit, when the interest rates were really low, there were people knocking on doors in my neighborhood.

They were knocking on your door? Oh. Not mine, but they were knocking on other doors in the neighborhood going, I will buy your house for, you know, 120% of what Zillow says right now. And some people sold. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah. So if you want a house in Dallas, just come knock on the door and offer me 200% and you're sure's. And you're out of there. Yeah. You'll be like at Orgeron. Yeah. When do you want me to leave one door where you want me to go out of? Indy. It's so funny. I've wanted my whole life to be a homeowner. And like now that I'm a homeowner. And by the way, love my house. It's beautiful. Love living here. My number one dream is to be an apartment again. So I don't have to ever worry about fixing anything. But. all right are you got to get to work yeah i do bold predictions tomorrow from you can't wait also

friday dear andy dear ary get your questions in andy staples on three at gmail dot com arry dot waserman at on three dot com we can't wait we'll answer those questions friday and then it'll just be week zero I don't know.