Andy & Ari On3 - College Football Playoff Round One INSTANT REACTION | Alabama, Miami, & Ole Miss WIN | JMU-Oregon

Episode Date: December 21, 2025

As James Madison and Oregon cap off the first weekend of the 2025 College Football Playoff, join Andy & Ari towards the end of the JMU Dukes and Oregon Ducks finish. Recapping the entire weekend, Andy & Ari run through an incredible weekend of football while laying out the next round of the College Football Playoff. Games covered tonight: (0:00) On tonight's instant reaction(1:05) Presenting Sponsor(2:49) Intro: James Madison-Oregon LIVE(7:00) The future format of the CFP(19:35) Miami 10, Texas A&M 3(20:00) Modelo(21:04) James Madison-Oregon Update(21:21) Miami-Texas A&M continued(33:11) Miami vs Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl(39:40) Alabama vs Indiana in Rose Bowl(43:34) Oregon playing JMU(47:25) Ole Miss 41, Tulane 10(47:57) Michigan's Head Coaching Search(1:02:53) Weekend Recap(1:06:00) Conclusion: See you Sunday!  #9 Alabama 37, #8 Oklahoma 27#10 Miami 10, #7 Texas A&M 3#6 Ole Miss 41, #11 Tulane 10#12 James Madison at #5 Oregon Current Matchups set for the quarterfinals:Cotton Bowl: #10 Miami vs #2 Ohio State - Dec. 31st at 7:30 pm etOrange Bowl: #12 James Madison/#5 Oregon vs #4 Texas Tech - Jan. 1st at 12:00 pm etRose Bowl: #9 Alabama vs #1 Indiana - Jan. 1st at 4:00 pm etSugar Bowl: #6 Ole Miss vs #3 Georgia - Jan. 1st at 8:00 pm et  Join Andy & Ari as the two recap the full weekend and give their thoughts and analysis on the rest of the College Football Playoff bracket! This show is presented by Modelo! Some things in life are just made for each other. Peanut Butter and jelly. Macaroni and cheese. Modelo and college football. If you’re watching this, it means you live and breathe football. All season long. You know what that makes you? A Full-Time Fan. Which means you deserve a Modelo. Because football wouldn’t be the same without you. Modelo is the official beer sponsor of The College Football Playoff. Drink responsibly. Beer imported by Crown Imports, Chicago, IL Our show is also presented by BetMGM! If you haven’t signed up for BetMGM yet, use bonus code CFB and you will get up to a $1500 First Bet Offer on your first wager with BetMGM! Here’s how it works: 1. Download the BetMGM app and sign-up using bonus code CFB.2. Deposit at least $10 and place your first wager on any game.3. You will receive up to $1500 in bonus bets if your bet loses! Just make sureyou use bonus code CFB when you sign up! Make this college football season one for the history books. Make it legendary. 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 Watch our show on YouTube: https://youtube.com/live/u4O4zsg_29w Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari WassermanProducer: River Bailey Interested in partnering with the show? Email [e-mail] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On today's instant reaction, Andy and Arion 3 presented by Modelo. We are here. We are watching the Oregon game, just like you. We decided to go live at halftime because we know you don't want to watch anymore. Game. This is not entertaining. And the point is an entertainment product. So we're going to talk about are the changes that are already agreed upon for 2026

and the ones that are going to get argued about over the next? next few weeks. Are they enough to reduce the number of boring games? Because we have fewer boring games this year than last year, but they can still have fewer. Also, we talk Miami's win at Texas A&M. We talk more about Alabama's win at Oklahoma. We talk about the quarterfinal matchups, which do look highly non-boring, Ari. Plus, Michigan is still searching for a football coach. Kenny Dillingham is staying at Arizona State. He's asking for $20 million checks. We've got a lot to talk about. We'll do it all on today's Andy and Arion 3 presented by BetMGM and Modelo. We are presented by BetMGM. We use BetMGM lines and totals. And you can join us by joining

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use the bonus code CFB and get your $1,500 first bet offer today. Welcome to an instant reaction edition of Andy and Orion 3. The first time I've ever done this is a halftime. show arey first time i think so i think we've gone life prematurely before i mean this never happened to me before it never happened to you before as we're sitting in a hotel room all right so let's just get into it yeah i'm i'm arguing with people with co-workers and uh yeah this is not a game this is not interesting the point of the college football playoff is it's an entertainment product and what we're watching in Eugene is awful and shouldn't be on our televisions.

Yeah, so when Casey Smith was on this week, I think she made a perfect point and I 100% agree with her. And like you are like the tactical, you understand how things work and what's, we'll get somebody sued or whether it can happen. Yep. The way it should be is this. They should give a guaranteed spot in the playoff to the four power conference champions. Okay. And if it's a five lost duke,

ACC, Big 10, Big 12, okay. And those are the four guaranteed. Right. You don't ice the G5 out. Right. But you make them earn an at large spot on their merits. So is there a minimum threshold where they have to be ranked? I think they have to be ranked in the field like anybody else who's in that one.

So they need to be a top 12 teams. And yes, so it would be much more difficult. So like Boise State would have made it last year. Cincinnati would have made it before. They're still included in the system. And Andy, you know, You know, we talk so much about the eye test and we can tell. Yeah.

There's a G5 team that's capable of competing. I'm not even saying wait until a G5 team can win the national title. That's never going to happen. But a G5 team, like, I thought that Boise played a respectable game. Like it's Penn State. Absolutely, yeah, yeah. Like a team that this is like, and I know that it's abused and it's kind of funny to say, but like, it's a safety hazard. They're not even playing a game.

Like they're not playing the same sport. Yeah, it's men versus boys out there. Yeah. And I know, like, part of this, too, is inclusion, but I post this question on Twitter, and I want to get your take on this. Okay. It's the same question I always, would a G5 fan rather win the group of five national title and play in their own tournament and win it all amongst them?

I take it back to what we asked, we asked that question of Spencer Daniels and the Boise State coach, and he's like, absolutely no G5 tournament, we want to be in this tournament, we want to prove ourselves. And the thing is, I think you've got to prove. yourself throughout the season, you've got to schedule these teams. Now, it's going to be harder to schedule for them to schedule the power five teams or power four teams because the SEC is going to nine conference games. The ACC is moving to nine conference games. So it's going to be even harder for them to schedule those teams. So it's becoming more and more of an issue. And look, it may be that at some point that it's just got to be,

there's got to be a separation. But I also think it's a disservice to JMU who was a really good team this year for your level. And this is, this is where most people who've watched the JMU game this is the one they're watching this is not what you want to put out in front of everybody yeah you know and like I guess being included in the system and the money and all that stuff if you want to be included in it that's fine if you want to prove yourself that's fine you can do it without the guarantee that way we can clean this up a little bit yeah and like I don't know maybe we go back two weeks and include Duke instead because Duke has power five players would get killed by Oregon too let's be real but it wouldn't would it look like that maybe

not they had 40 yards every play duke has a potential NFL quarterback in daring minza which is different but so okay the wheels are in motion for this to be changed for next year in fact the memorandums of understanding have already been signed if there's a 12 or a 14 team playoff next year which they're going to try to make it 16 but it still may wind up being 12 if it is 12 it has already been agreed upon that what you said the acc big 10 big 12 and SEC champs automatic get in. They will have guaranteed spots. Notre Dame will automatically get in if it's in the top 12.

So the field this year would have looked different. Now, Notre Dame would have knocked Miami out of the field in that case, but Duke would have gotten in instead of James Madison. Right. So

you would have seen pretty much the same situation. You would have Notre Dame playing Texas A&M instead of Miami. But I, okay, let's go back to last year because they did make changes last year too they changed the seating last year's first round was more boring than this year's first round this year we got two competitive games last year we got zero competitive games if they can get if it's a 12 team

playoff and they can get it to three competitive games that would be an improvement because here's my thing this is an entertainment product the goal is to provide entertaining television you can dress it up any way you want you can talk about how sacred it is and i love college football It's my favorite sport, but I'm not naive. The point of this is for your entertainment, our entertainment, mostly on television. And I think that the pull to the average fan of the what if, what if a G5 team actually gets a team that's good enough? Yeah.

What if the G5 team can beat Oregon? And you want to see it, right? You want it to be settled on the field. And I get it. I truly do. we know in this instance we knew before organ ever took the field against james madison why because organ has how many NFL players on its team how many players on organ's roster will make NFL rosters i don't know 25 30 yeah 40 by by the time all said and done right

how many jm u players will make NFL rosters five that's i think that's that's maybe that's a yeah it's not basketball generous guess yeah it's not basketball and and you know just like i i said all along when we were arguing about how the the college football playoff should be formatted and you know even before there was a playoff comparing it to basketball and this was built on a little bit on what the basketball tournament looks like it's not the same thing in basketball there are five players there's a chance the mid major has one player who's better than some of the other five started. Or some random guy who goes nine for 13.

Right. He just bombs away from three. I always bring up when Butler made the final game against Duke. Gordon Hayward was the best player on the floor and he played for Butler. Yeah. That's never going to happen in football. And you know what else is happening? Or if you have the best player, the other team has the next 21 best.

And like even if you go back five years ago, Khalil Mack doesn't finish his career at Buffalo. Right. The way to, yeah, the other thing, too, like, even if the G5 teams are recruiting at a high level or doing a very good job of evaluation and development, it's a financially, it's a financially impossible mountain to climb to retain those really good players. So, like, I mean, like, on one hand, I want a JMU fan to be engaged in the system. I want them to be engaged in our show. I want them to believe that their team, um, is worthy. And I'm going to watch their games during the season. Like, I watch. Sunbelt games and Conference USA games and Mac games and American games. Like I thoroughly enjoyed the American race this year that put Tulane in the playoff against Ole Miss.

But that doesn't mean I wanted to see Tulane, Ole Miss for a second time this season because I know what happened the first time. Yeah. And like maybe you're a JMU fan and you're like, you know, we knew this was going to happen tonight, but we were a part of the system. It was great to be, it was great to be included.

We made the playoff. We can always say that we made the playoff. And maybe they already won their championship. Maybe this is their banner. And that's okay. But if this is your banner, it's also coming at the expense of everybody else who's watching it. So like it's and it's just.

Yeah. And basically they punted on the second half of the first round this year. And they've got to figure out how to deal with it, how to have a situation where even if they're going against NFL games, maybe they just say we're going to put the good game against the NFL game. But this is. Yeah, but it's not a time block issue. The fact that the best game started at noon Eastern and they just shunted the other two games

when they, you know, they sub-licensed them to Turner, and they shunted them there and said, well, Commander's Eagles and Bears Packers can't compete with that. Like, that's defeatist. Yeah. And also, it's still a more valuable product to punt to those play. You still would have, if you had a more compelling game, people would be switching back and forth. People will be watching on the iPad. Like, people want to watch compelling college games.

I don't care if the NFL is on. And I think that people are conflating the today's viewing experience and totality with the NFL, scheduling system. The problem is it does it do whatever it wants. And it's also not when the games were on. It's that the games

two or the three games sucked. Now I take exception, Andy, and we'll get to this. Yeah, that the first game sucked. I thought the first game was awesome. The first game was great.

It was competitive. There were 100,000 buttholes puckered in Kyle Fields for three hours. That was great. Maybe even one of the more memorable games I've ever covered because it was so fun.

Everybody was enjoying it. Like Miami was running a bunch of psychopath plays. Like, it was a great college football game that ended, you know, it was exciting at the end. especially. Mr. Reds 44 with a great point.

Indiana's makeup of stars looks more like Tulane and JMU, but they've assembled talent. Well, also, the reason JMU is not competitive against Oregon is all their good players are on Indiana. The best players from JMU play for Indiana. Yeah. And like maybe five years ago, they would still have DeAngelo Pons on their team. Yes. That would be a really good, maybe they wouldn't. They wouldn't have guys that are getting burned by 30 yards on

go routes. Yeah. But, you know, it looks. looks like they're running through seven on seven out there. So, you know, congratulations to Oregon. I'm happy they fixed last year because, like, Ohio State, I think in this bracket would have played Tulane in the first round and then, or no, they would have played JMU in the first round and then had a buy, or I mean, face Tulane, who would have had a buy in this bracket. So that would have been Ohio State for those first two games.

Yeah, Tulane, Tulane would have had a buy. That would have been hideous. So, like, maybe this is a year by year, like, fix what's wrong with it type of deal. I don't know. I would prefer that they just did top 12 or if they go to 16 top 16 but the leagues don't want that like the ACC doesn't want that

the Big 12 didn't want that I would like it if you just said you know what if we're going to have 16 teams in the playoff we trust that we're going to get one in and I also want to address this too I think there's this notion that if a G5 is not guaranteed a spot that the committee will go out of their way

to screw them and I just don't think that's true I mean Boise was what the Boise State was the number nine team I think in the final rank. And Boisey also had a Heisman trophy finalist on their team. And we're, like, if Boise State gets in an 8-9 game, now with Ohio State is the 8th, that would have been, but Ohio State would not have been the 8th, the way they are now.

Yeah. If that Boise State team got in an 8-9 game, I bet it would be a competitive 8-9 game. I don't remember the Penn State game last year. Was it like 20, what was, you remember the school? It was kind of a mushing, what our friends Dan and Typhinsolver will call Crockpot game. It wasn't a 70 to 6 type deal like we're watching right now, though. So, you know, I feel like everybody's kind of on the same page here.

Yeah. And like there's a group of national reporters, God love them, who have covered and keep precious that I'm arguing with right now. And Shahan, I don't want to. Jay Rajah, yeah. And I don't want to, like, I'm not trying to shit on you here. I love what you do. Well, I'm arguing to be a text with Stephen Godfrey, who I co-host another show with.

And we're going to, we'll hash it out on the show tomorrow. But, like, the point of this. assistant entertainment product, and this was not entertaining. And I also appreciate the coverage and the, you know, keeping of mind of other, because, you know, these coaches come from, I, I still love watching the sport. You can, you can define its champions however you want. I will still love watching those teams play. I have always looked like, for me, like the personal part of it for me, like my mom

love college football. And I've told you guys these stories before, but my mom passed away 19 years ago. loved college football. She was an Alabama grad, so you'd think, oh, you know, power conference. No, she loved the tide when they played, but she had a Tuesday night team, and that was the Toledo Rockets.

She loved Boise State. Like, she loved any football game that was on, and it, it, I, I love watching any college football game that is on. I don't necessarily think you have to send the lambs to the slaughter in a situation like this to validate them. I think I would love watching them. Like Montana and Montana State played today in a rematch of a regular season game in the FCS playoffs. And what do we talk about in the car on the way here?

Yeah, that we'd love to cover a brawl of the wild. Like that is, it's still awesome, but it can be awesome in its own way. You don't have to try to make it like this other thing. What we saw Kyle Field today is not the same thing. Yeah, period. I mean, I think I would like to lift. weights more consistently. I don't think I need to be in a bodybuilding competition. You know, there's different

I mean, there's different levels to everything. It doesn't mean that people, you know, can't enjoy the thing for what it is. And honestly, too, the increase in the amount of people who are gambling and watching these games from that perspective also, I think, keeps people engaged as well. If Toledo is the only game that's on on Tuesday

and people want to bet, people are going to bet and they're going to watch and they're going to be engaged because they're fun games to watch. So, you know, it is it is the elephant in the room, but I think most people can see the elephant. Yeah. And I think if you're making an honest argument, then you understand. You know, you know in your heart of hearts you're not entertained by this. And we don't have to pretend like they are something that they're not to protect them either.

Yeah. They still have a good product. They still get lots of people out to their games. It's still fun. Yeah. They still have TV networks paying to televise their games. And we'll continue to pay. Yeah.

And I don't know, I mean, do you think that if they had their own, like if the G5 had their own playoff, that they would be a pretty compelling television product? I would watch it, but again, I refer you back to Spencer Danielson from Boise State, who I believe his opinions are held by everybody else there. They want to be a part of this. And they're getting free money from this, by the way. But it's also not the right program to use of the example either. Right.

Because Boise is the most consistent G5. Because they're the ones that consistently produced teams that could. be competitive in this tournament. Yeah. Yeah. When we go call like the Raging Cajuns and see how they feel about it. Right. You know, like let's call, you know,

not the team that has traditionally been the closest to breaking through the barrier. Yeah. But yeah. But I get why it's frustrating for them. And I understand because you want to be part of that. And you feel like you've been shut out systemically and you have. And now you, but,

but you see why. Like that's why. Yeah. And we talk so much about the investment piece of this and what it takes to actually build a roster, what it takes, especially now. Yeah. The type of money that you have to have funnally into your program to even feel the

Andy, we're going to talk about this on the show. The head coach of Arizona State stood outside like a tower hall meeting and begged his fans to donate today. Begged somebody to stroke a $20 million dollar check. That's a power conference team. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, maybe that's the call.

I don't know. I don't know. But, yeah, that I think we're all in agreement here. And if you're not and, you're not. and you want them to be a part of it. Andy and I aren't even saying that you can't be. No, I think we're just saying meet a certain threshold. And you can join.

And you know what? I enjoyed covering like hell that Cincinnati Alabama game and Cincinnati played them really well. Cincinnati was awesome. Would Cincinnati had, well, Cincinnati's in a power conference now. But let's say Cincinnati was back in the American. Would they be able to keep that level of town on their roster in this era? That's another question. I don't know.

So that's all part of this. And we'll talk, because we're going to talk about the Michigan coaching search later. talk about Dillingham, we're going to get into all that because I do think this era is different and it is just like, it may just not be possible anymore. And I hope that we get to a point where the annual tradition, because we were sitting in Columbus, Ohio a year ago at this time, yeah, talking about how bad the first round was. Like I just want to get out of that. We, you and I personally attended two first round games and they were awesome that were fun as hell. Yeah. Fun as hell. And I get that people are like, well, there were no points in that Texas

in Miami. But there were 100,000 people at Kyle Field and millions more watching on TV who were completely puckered up. And they cheered like hell when they missed field goals, man. Especially that doink. Yeah, the doink was the loudest doink I think I've ever heard

my life. So, uh, anyway, maybe that's a good transition to the game that we covered today. Well, before we do that, I do want to say everybody here, everybody here deserves a medello. Raise your medello. Crack a medello. And let's go. because you can stay game day ready all season long. It doesn't matter what team you root for.

It doesn't matter what level you root for. Medello is the official beer, the college football playoff. It's also the official beer of sitting there and watching football because I will tell you, one of the most joyous moments of my season, Ari, was sitting with you in Detroit on Black Friday, drinking Modellos, watching college football in all its glory.

And I don't think there's any better companion for the games than a beautiful Medello. So grab yourself one, crack one open, stay game day ready all season long. Thank you so much to Madelo for helping us this season, sponsoring us this season. It's been a pleasure.

Now, Ari... And just so you guys know too, we're going to be watching the second half of this game. So if JMU goes on a 27-0-1, like Alabama, it'll be the greatest show we've ever done. Greatest show we've ever done. Yeah, because the freezing cold takes can just run the first 20 minutes of the show, I think. If that happened, right? Yeah. 27-0 run we did see yesterday we did was it 27 yeah it was 27 yeah i and that's the thing like

alaband went down 17 nothing and we thought they were dead and they came back Miami we weren't sure was even going to get in this thing and it went and beat the team that had been at the front of the SEC for most of the season and if jm u goes on a 27-0 run they will still be losing okay bad at math podcast we got that part 28 oh run yeah all right let's talk about the game we were at today because it was a fascinating game between two teams and i i saw the notary dame people complaining this one you couldn't really complain about both these teams to beat you on the field so i i get you you probably would have enjoyed being in oxford play and i would have loved to see noturday omis in oxford today yeah but i thought miami texas a n m was a fun game

game offensively challenged for sure, but there were a bunch of future NFL athletes on the field. And I think Miami won it. And we were talking to some, some friends of ours who are Texas A&M people after the game, Ari. And they made a really good point. And they follow this very closely, follow the roster construction very closely. And they said, and I had not thought about it this way, they said, Texas A&M needs more first round picks. They have legitimate NFL players. and this is sort of the opposite problem of the Kevin Sumlin era. Early in the Kevin Summler era, they were winning, and they had your, you know, Jake Matthews, your Luke Jokles,

your Miles Garrett's, your first round type picks. But then they would have nobody in rounds two through six, and then they'd have some seventh rounders and undrafted guys. And someone was always like, we got to get the second and third and fourth rounders in here. Now it feels like they've got the second, third, fourth rounders that don't have the top-in first round guys. Meanwhile, Miami, like Rubin Bain, probably a first round type guy.

Francis Maui Noah, absolutely a first round guy. Malachi, Tony's only a freshman. I imagine he'll grow into a first round guy. Yeah, I mean, I don't know if his size will keep him out, but the point remains he has first round out. He's unbelievable. Yeah. Bryce Fitzgerald, who had two picks today, who's only a freshman. He might grow into that.

Akeem Messador is going out after this year. He might be that. the point is Miami has a few of those guys and maybe enough of those guys to compete with Ohio State. We'll find out Ohio State has a ton of those guys. You know what? I didn't write this in my column and I wrote it down on my notes and I just forgot to refer back to it. But when you think about Francis Maui Noah and Ruben Bain, these were legacy recruits from the beginning of the Christobal era that came to Miami and saw the hard times remain committed signed and have seen this through

into year four. Yeah. And you have those two bookends as the two best players on their team. Can you imagine what that's like at practice every day? Like 101 past pro when it's Maui Noah versus Ruben Payne? But then on the other side of the coin, you have two outstanding freshmen

who are also in that category who are contributing in a big way, both in a touchdown that won the game and a pick that saved the game that are young and are seeing that tradition through. And then you have a bunch of really good players, like Mark Fletcher is an NFL running back. Mark Fletcher's awesome. Yeah.

They have guys. And, you know, we're not even talking about the quarterback. They spent all this money on the transferent. I said, I got, who by the way, I got mad at you during the game because you were making fun of the, the play construction. Because I'll be, you were right. Shannon Dawson, the O.C. at Miami was coming up with ever more intricate ways to get the ball in Malachi, Tony.

I thought you were laughing. I was laughing, sort of, but on the inside, I was burning a little bit because I was like, listen, if I had Malachi Tony on my team, I don't care how much I'm paying the other players. I'm just giving him the ball every time. I mean, you want to tell them some of the plays I came up with. They were pretty visionary. Oh, you had some amazing ones.

Yeah. You had him as the punter at one point. You had him as the holder for a fake field goal. I thought you could line up the left tackle outside the hashes and then put Malachi Tony behind him and then throw it to the. Oh, and lateral. And lateral at back. I mean, they came up with every other.

I mean, how many grab ass plays did they run in that game? A lot, a lot. And I think, I talk to Shannon Dawson after the. game i i i would think he would argue that a lot of what they were doing was trying to set up texas a and m for what happened at the end and you can say well why didn't they just do this all along i think you had to do a little bit of of cloak and dagger to get a and m to lighten up the box so they did they were doing all these crazy things to get malichite tony the ball and then you get to the last drive and they're just running duo and for those who don't know duo is essentially

it's an A gap run. So you're running a video game. Yeah, you're running between the center and the guard, depending and you pick whichever side you want. But you have basically sets of two offensive linemen or offensive tackle on a tight end, but sets of two blockers

firing off together on whoever's in front of them. And so like they drive a defensive tackle back into a linebacker and then push him back. And it's a very effective play as long as the box isn't heavy. And what they did was essentially

force A&M to light in the box because they didn't know when Tony was going to get the ball and then they ran duo with Fletcher and an A&M could not stop it and that's what got the ball down the field and then interestingly enough after they ran duo a bunch of times

they hit that little pop pass to Tony which it's really a it's really like an end around it's a run but they call it a pass and he wins up scoring the touchdown but that I just like I don't know if I buy that whole thing, Andy, because it's 3-3 the entire game

and you're burning possession. You're burning possessions because the plays weren't working. Like, they ran a bunch of them and I don't think any of them worked. So, like, there was one play where they ran in reverse and Carson Beck got the ball back. Now, that was awful. I don't even know what the hell was going on. That was terrible. I don't know what the play design was. Tony gets the

ball on a double pass and he's supposed to throw it. He was looking for one of his fellow receivers. If he looked to the left, Carson Beck was wide open. JMU to score. That's six in a row. Here comes the 28-0 run. Yeah.

It's time. Well, if Oregon, I'm not paying attention close enough because it's on the iPad. By the way, what happens if if JMU wins? Do we have to go back and erase the first 20 minutes of the show? You run it. You run it. Because we're the movie like, this is the greatest thing of all time. I don't know this because it's a small iPad over there.

And we've both been up for basically 24 straight hours. But if the backups are in. No, Dylan The Enamins right. No, they're not. Backups are not in. But there's a cover to be had out here, too. I don't want to forget. This is a 20 point cover.

I love how Ari locks in on his real priorities. Well, it is. I mean, I'm just saying like it's a 20 point spread here. We can't go into this half playing grab ass. We've got money to print. But, you know, I thought that this was a really important day for Miami. Yeah. And I, you know, I don't know if this is the right or wrong way to think about this.

But I think about what, who. does this mean more to and I think a lot of times you kind of base it on which fan base has gone longer without having glory in terms of like how do you rank who needs this win more well A&M needed it probably more than anybody because A&M's never gotten in that club Miami's got five national titles but here's how I view it do you like your coach and how long has that coach been employed that's how I view it that's fair so like from this standpoint like Miami who was in year four in a critical season with Mario Cristobal

to break through and do something it hadn't done yet to, you know, you know, the word, I don't know, we're not, to validate and it's been used for multiple ways. So, Ari, let's hear from Mario Cristobal. You asked him about the build. What did Mario Cristobal say about what this means for what Miami's building?

Here's what he said. Mario, to make the playoff is one statement to win a game in the playoff in advance. is another statement. What does this mean for the overall build of Miami football in terms of where you're headed, you know, in the future? And do you take stock of 12 milestone? Yeah, I do.

I mean, I think, you know, I think it's important. I think it was important first to get in the playoff. Then to go and win at a place like this, right? 100 plus thousand people on the road, a team that was arguably top two or three until their last game. And to get it done in this type of an environment, I think that, like, we needed that. If you could draw it up how we wanted it, we wanted to go there.

You know, we wanted to come here and do it against a great football team. So what does it mean for us? Continue to progress. Division, and we would never alter the course or deter it from, despite all the challenges that come with it, but that's part of it. You know, so again, really proud of our players. It's all about them and that staff because, again, 40-plus days ago, that was, we were lower than low.

and found a way to just bring a different level energy every single day and lift each other on the program. Welcome. And here we are with a chance to keep playing and that's all that matters now. Want to know. Want to know? Uh-oh. We lost our light.

That's just a... That's all right. Roll it up. Yeah, so what I was saying before, guys, as I'm sitting alone here and I feel weird, is that I judge based on how long the coach has been in his position. It's not how starved is the fan base.

Right. It's how quickly does a coach need a result in order to validate their existence and their job. And I think that given the fact that Mario Cristobal is two years further along in his build of Miami, it's more understandable that Miami would win this game. They needed it more. and like Elko has a really good team and a core of players and they have a blueprint that is pretty easily followed.

I mean, it might take a few penstrokes. I don't know. I think they can be back here next year and really it will depend on how they do in the portal, how they develop the younger players they have. Like this is not that complicated. And you look at Miami, they have, yeah, they've improved through the portal.

They've grabbed quarterbacks through the portal the last couple of years, but they've still done really well, recruiting out of high school and developing those players. Like Francis Maui Noah and Rubin Bain are guys who sign with Miami at a high school who are going to be very high NFL draft picks. And I know who are dominant college football players. I know that the recruiting era is different in the way that they go about doing things now

and a roster assembly is different. But Andy, you cannot understate the importance of what it means to be cool to kids in Miami. Oh, yeah. It's been two decades. It's the biggest. like we said this in the reaction video it's been two decades since miami has had a win this big that is basically a century in the minds of the players and the people in that area of the country since they were a really nationally relevant team and like being able to prove that again to win a

playoff game to make the playoff to get to this point to show those recruits that miami is a destination for you out of high school yeah and they have the money to pay it's not like like anyone's doing anyone a favor right they don't have to leave they don't have to go to bama they don't have to go to florida in state up north they don't have to go to texas they don't have to go to ohio state to compete at the highest level and i thought those was a monumental well we're going to see them compete against ohio state because that is in terms of talent that is the highest level now we've already seen indiana beat ohio state so it's not like ohio state is unbeatable it's not like they are they are that much more talented than everybody else

outside. Indiana has a bunch of NFL players, too. So a big pick show coming on Monday, too. Oh, yeah. Let's not forget that we're going to dig into that. But I will spoil it a little bit and say that I could see a world where Miami drags Ohio State into a game that feels similar to the one that we saw. Well, let's think about this with Ohio State. And we can talk about the quarterfinals.

So I think quarterfinal matchups are pretty fun. But when Ohio State has had to play teams that are built very solidly on the line, of scrimmage. 14-7 winning against Texas. They lost to Indiana. Penn State was close at half-time, at least. And that was a zombie team that had fired his coach. Michigan was close at halftime.

So, yes, Miami could drag them into a game for sure. Ohio State is more talented than Miami. Ohio State is probably the better team than Miami. But this could be a very interesting game. Yeah. And I know that we're still waiting for the spread of that. game if someone knows it in the chat it might have been released i don't know what it is i would imagine that ohio state's probably a seven and a half point favorite something like that if i had

to guess um you know they have the front seven to to bother ohio state they have the front seven to bother julian san and in a world where ohio state scored 10 points against a very good defense and i think you could make the case that miami is similarly talented to indiana on defense Yeah, the question is if Miami's DBs can run with Ohio State's receivers, and Indiana's did. So I think Miami's should have a chance. Yeah, so we're seeing nine and a half and six and a half. I guess seven and a half was a good guess. I don't know which one's correct, but both makes sense.

I'm trying to call it up right now. I'm assuming that it's more than a touchdown. Ohio State is rarely, you know, favored by less than a touchdown. But, you know, and I also love the historical element to this too. Oh, yeah. Because, you know, I think you could also draw a straight line to where things fell out. fairly significant Miami Ohio State game. Yeah.

That was the last time Miami was really on this stage. And it was the last, people will say, Ohio State broke them. I got it on Ben-MGM right now. I'm looking at the Ben-M-G-M-GM. What's the official line? Ohio State minus nine and a half. Yeah, that makes sense. So, you know, maybe Ohio State broke Miami.

But listen, what were the circumstances of that game? I don't think Ohio State broke Miami. I think the sport changing changed on Miami. And it was harder for Miami to compete. Miami is small private school. was not as did not have the wealthy alums that a lot of the larger state schools with bigger alumni bases had

and it was harder for them to keep up and then sure enough they find some some extra cash their health care center starts making a bunch of money and then the NIL era starts and now all of a sudden they're back in the game and what was the spread of the Ohio State Miami game in 2002 do you recall

I don't remember that. I remember. Yeah, tell me. 14 and a half. Was it 14 and a half? Wow. And Ohio State was dicking around with Purdue all year. Well, yeah, there's another touchdown for Oregon.

And not for Jamie. No 28 point run. So sorry about that. And we can both just take a sigh of relief here because we were going to see it through to the end if it was close. Yes. But Andy did say, get ready. We might be sitting here for two more hours. And hey, listen, James, you can march right back down and put us back in the danger zone.

But, you know, they played a game for a reason, though. That Ohio State team, we found out, was one of the most talented teams. Yeah, I mean, that's the thing. It's funny now, probably the reason I didn't remember the spread is because I do remember how talented that Ohio State team ended up being, like how many NFL players it produced. It was actually on par with that Miami team in terms of NFL production. Yeah. So this was what we didn't understand going into that game was it was really too evenly

matched team. And I can understand why, you know, people might say Hammer Ohio State, but I also can understand, you know, why they play the game. The games matter during the regular season. They certainly matter now. So I'm excited to get, I get to go to that game. It's in Dallas. It's going to be a great time.

And I get to go to Texas Tech against, we're pretty sure Oregon. I think Oregon, don't, in the Orange Bowl. Like you did on Friday night. Yeah. Well, I, can I say that? We don't know, we don't know the Texas Tech Oregon is the Orange Bowl matchup, though we suspect it is. but I am excited about these quarterfinal games.

I feel like every one of them could be good. I'm sure there will be a blowout or maybe even two. But I feel like there's a potential for classics in a couple of them. And I also, we didn't say this at the beginning and somebody left a super chat. And I don't, I didn't want to, it's hard because we're further away. There is a difference between a blowout and being overmatched. Yes. Very, yeah.

Blowouts can happen. Blowouts happen. Clemson, Alabama, after the 2018 season, that national title game. 4418. Nobody's saying avoid blowouts. Blowouts happen in sports. They happen in the NFL. They happen in college.

But if a blowout happens as a result of your team not playing well or a bunch of turnovers or somebody getting injured, that's different than putting out 11 guys on the field that aren't physically capable of competing. And that's the line that I wanted to make sure that we acknowledge because blowouts are going to be a major part of the sport forever. It's been a tradition. We're not going to ever avoid those. But anyway, the point you were making.

The quarterfinals look great. So one rematch, right, that would be Georgia and Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl. The first version of that game was in Athens, not a ton of defense played, not a lot of punting in that game. I don't think, I don't think Ole Miss ever stopped Georgia in that game. And George only stopped Ole Miss a couple times there at the end. But that was very exciting. It was kind of when George's offense felt like it got unlocked and Gunner Stockton ascend it a little bit. Yeah.

It was a fun game. I could stand to watch that again. But the other ones, we think Oregon, Texas Tech, Alabama, Indiana. Are you saying we think because they haven't won yet? Yes, that's what I say that. That's so nice. I'm trying to look. You've got a hard of gold.

After last night, Ari, I can't be sure of anything. So, but Alabama will be playing Indiana and then we'll see about the Orange Bowl. And then, of course, you have in the Cotton Bowl, Miami and Ohio State. So I like all those matchups. there's potential for fun. There's there's some upset potential in there. Like for Alabama to upset Indiana, I think Alabama would have to be the best version of itself.

That's the only way because Indiana is so disciplined and Alabama is so hit or miss. Like I would- We struggle with it. I would suspect Indiana wins that game. But there was a period of Alabama last night, you know, most of the third quarter, well, second and third quarter, really. The end of the second quarter, into the third, yeah. That team, that version of it, can compete with Indiana.

Yeah. And like, I don't know what team Alabama is. Which, again, it is still mind-boggling to me to say that sentence out loud that if Alabama does this, it can compete with Indiana. I mean, that tells you how different this sport is. Yeah. This is funny because I agree with this from Adrian here in the chat. The thing I hate about college football is people enjoy complaining more than the games. these quarterfinals look great, but nothing but complaining.

Yeah, complaining is also a fabric. It's also a sport. Yeah, I'm pretty good at complaining. Yeah, I don't know. You know, that's also part of it, I guess. I don't know. Yeah, I'm really excited about the quarterfinals. Like, you're going to be at the Cotton Bowl.

I'm doing the Orange Bowl. I'm going to be with the family on Friday night in the Keys watching the Orange Bowl. Like, I can't, or I'm watching, excuse me, watching the Cotton Bowl. Humble brag. I cannot think of a more fun way to spend, like, it's their vacation. I got to work, but let's be real. I don't have a real job. But being able to watch that game feels like such a treat.

I also think that the perfect playoff is eight teams. And like we have to deal with this bad weekend to get to the eight. Yeah. That's fine. Like we have eight. This is going to be a good deal. Well, the thing is, though, if they went to 16 and you did like a pure 16 team field, where you didn't have the stupid double buys

that they've talked about and it was like 16-1, 15-2. I actually think if you went down the list and even if you did it where there was a group of five team, like Tulane had to be number 16, the 15-2 game might be competitive in this, because it would have been Vanderbilt

and Ohio State. I wouldn't mind seeing Van de Ohio State. Yeah. And, you know, after that first round, you would have the purest eight games possible. Yeah, because, you know, especially, like, I think probably from Seeds 3 on would have gone through a gauntlet to even get there. You know, the other thing, too, about these first round games,

and I've been curious because I wanted to ask you, you and I got into a little bit of a tizzy over the Georgia, should they play or should they want to play? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was wrong about that. I was in the shower. Of course you were, letting the warm water trickle down my backside. And I was thinking, because I was watching, you know,

in this hotel room, you can, like, peer through the glass and still see the TV. I was watching it while I was soaping myself. It's a nice hotel. And I actually thought, Andy, do you think that it's better for a team to play a JMU-ish-type game where they run up a score like this and get their starters out in the middle of the third quarter and feel good than it is to have a complete buy week and be off that long? Well, I've said the whole time that Oregon feels like they're in the best position. It's an Oregon, which had to sit there and get rusty and then get buzzed.

sawed by Ohio State last year is in the buzzsaw position this year because Mario Cristobal was saying something about how they handled their time off because they didn't play in the ACC championship game and they had to um you know talk to the the team physicians and the medical science people and continue a a routine that kept their bodies in shape they practiced hard um they did everything they could so that they stayed in a rhythm yeah I have to plug the computer in that's yeah this is an important I've done a terrible job tonight Terrible job. But the thing about that, guys, is that, like, I do believe that there is something to do with, like,

rhythm and motion and staying in a position. I wish you guys could see this. They can. It's not knocking everything over. Staying in the groove and getting to a place where you feel good about yourself in the next game. And I think that Oregon had that opportunity tonight in this blowout win. Now, obviously, wear and tear on bodies and all those things is something to think about. And, of course, the risk of injury, which, you know, in this day and age,

when teams aren't as deep as they've been in the past, you have to worry about that sort of thing. But if they can get out of this game with starters, you know, healthy and their bodies, you know, in that same routine. And I think going into the New Year's situation, their game against Texas Tech, they're not going to be as rusty or, you know, unready to play as they were against Ohio State.

So, like, I do think that, you know, this whole, should they get a buy or should they be the five-seat situation is like an interesting and funny debate. So on to the next game, Andy. As you plug this in, the Ohio State Miami game next week, it's going to be great. Ohio State's offensive line is their number one weakness, and Miami actually has a defensive front and a front seven that can stop them. And I've been thinking a lot about what Ohio State, how they could be slayed for like a sci-fi word. and like this big, huge behemoth of a human versus a little tiny person,

is there like one spot where you can push on Ohio State's chest to make the whole thing fall over? And it's, I think they're offensive line and rattling Julian Sam. And I think that that's what Indiana did last week. And I really believe that Miami could duplicate that. I do. That's the thing. And I said this about Miami and Texas A&M. They're both built so sturdily on both lines of scrimmage that I was excited about whoever wound up.

coming out of this game to play against Ohio State because that's what seems to have been how you rattle Ohio State, how you how you deal with Ohio State, how you compete with Ohio State is you have to be very solidly constructed on the line of scrimm. And you would have thought that way about A&M because I thought that the open field I did feel that way about A&A was electric. They were hitting hard. They were arriving at the football, all the things. So, yeah, the point you were making, I'm 100% on board with.

Yeah. So I am excited about that. Again, Oregon, Texas Tech, I'm pumped to see because what's been going on tonight is Oregon has not been stopped at all by JMU's defense. Texas Tech has a defense that is on par with the best defenses in this tournament. What we saw from Miami today, what we saw from Texas A&M today, what we thought we were going to get out of Oklahoma's past rush, what we've seen from Ohio State all year. Texas Tech has been utterly dominant defensively. And I wonder if, you're going to get out of Oklahoma's pass rush, what we've seen from Ohio State all year. Texas Tech has been utterly dominant defensively. And I wonder if, are we going to get an orange bowl that looks a little bit like the game we saw in College Station today? I think we might. I think we might. You know, Oregon is a very funny team because sometimes it looks like this. Yep, where they're just running up and down the field every time you look up at the screen.

There's somebody in green and gold running all over the place. And sometimes, you know, they play in a game like they did against Indiana, which, by the way, we're held to 10 points. So Texas Tech's number one unit is their defense. They've got outstanding individual players. Yeah, David Bailey, Lee Hunter, like this is the reason you assemble this roster to compete with a team like Oregon.

Yeah. And that's what makes this fun. Alabama, Indiana, we talked about. I think the version of Alabama we saw in the second and third quarter last night can absolutely play with Indiana. The version we saw in the first and fourth quarters, maybe not, probably not. Yeah.

And then, you know, the George Ole Miss game, we've already seen it a second version just like Ole Miss Tulane by the way was a carbon copy of the first version if we get a carbon copy of the Georgia Ole Miss game with maybe one turnover tossed in for good measure the result could change the result could change and it'll be fun like it'll be the opposite of what you saw in college station yeah exactly so and we'll have a full preview of these games in our picks on Monday yeah Andy want to go to Kenny let's well let's start with how we got to Kenny

Okay, yes. So Michigan's still looking for a coach. It became a little more imperative for them to look harder than Kaelin Dabor after Kaelin Dabor wins against Oklahoma on Friday night because Kailn Mour's got a coach in the Rose Bowl. The Michigan fans seem convinced that Michigan's going after Kailen Abor, maybe even still going to, guys, you're not getting him. He's not leaving. So that's out. Kenny Dillingham. seemed like the logical next person to call. Now, we talked to someone today who told us that Kenny basically had decided middle of last week, and not in a presumptive way, not like Michigan's going to offer me the job and I'm going to turn it down, because I don't know if Michigan ever even got to the point of offering Kennedy. I don't know how seriously they even talked about anything. Kenny basically decided from what we were told last week, middle of last week, I'm happy here.

I would like to stay here. I would like to be at Arizona State. and it's been a few weeks actually a two-month process to get to the contract that they agreed upon and i believe it was on friday night that they agreed to terms yeah and you know the home pool there is real i think it really is yeah he's from scotsdale which is you know 10 minute drive from tempi uh he he's living at home his in-laws are right next i believe either next door in the same neighborhood. His parents are right close by. So it's, it's very comfortable where he is. Yeah. And I think they built a house recently in a really nice area. And, you know,

having grown up there, I can only imagine how beautiful it is. Like, it's, it's a good spot. But, you know, I think, too, that being the greatest coach in Arizona State history is important to him. So. And it's something he can possibly do. Yeah. We're early in the game. And I know that Arizona State didn't have a great year, but I thought his coaching job, You could have even made a case that was better this year than it was last year. I mean, they were winning games with Jeff Sims, a quarterback at the end. Yeah. So, but this led to, well, do you want to do Michigan and where Michigan's going first,

or do you want to finish Kenny? Let's finish Kenny. Then we'll talk Michigan more. So Kenny had a address to the media and basically a public plea for financial support. Have we ever seen a coach do this before? No. I was going to say, I don't think I've ever seen it. You know, and I think that, you know, part of the resentment of the.

current game of college football um from fans is that why is it their responsibility to be the ones that you know you know foot the bill on this um but then i think he was talking or trying to he wasn't talking to the casual fan he basically said can a there has to be someone here in this beautiful valley that can stroke a 20 million dollar check which listen are we've covered a lot of schools i mean i you and i have been beat writers covering uh big 10 and s C schools, like, I cover Florida, I don't, when I covered Florida's beat writer, I don't know that they had a lot of people capable of writing a check that big. They may not have had anybody capable of writing a check that big back in the, in the mid-2000s. Well, if you are in Arizona and you want to write a check that big, you can be the Arizona state equivalent of Cody Campbell.

Yes. Yeah. And for those who don't know, Cody Campbell is the former Texas Tech offensive lineman. He's an oil billionaire, oil and gas. billionaire and he's funding the Texas Tech roster right now and they are here in the playoff they're the Big 12 champ and it's basically his team they look night and day different than the rest of the Big 12 and I think Kenny even said in his in his address Andy that he'll make you famous so like that's also he will I think having the capability to stroke a $20 million check there's probably a level of fame already attached to you or at least somewhat you know notoriety you know when you go to the grocery store they have those like

magazines that are free that they put on the shelves in the front yes you know that you can just grab yeah the penny saver yeah whatever it is uh one time I was grocery shopping with my mother and the cover read the 10 most

richest people in the valley and their source of wealth and I found that interesting as a 14 year old boy yeah I grabbed it and I opened it and I think seven of the people out of the 10 uh it said source of wealth colon, Berkshire Hathaway stock.

I don't know how famous you are. If you've been following Warren Buffett and buying up his stock for a while, then Kenny Dillingham wants to talk to you. And you can get dividends in a different way, which is helping a college football team win more games. But yeah, okay, what's interesting about that is if Kenny Dillingham had decided, and again, I don't think Michigan ever offered him the job,

but had they gotten down the road and he decided he won, wanted to go to Michigan, he never would have had to ask that. Michigan has those people. Michigan has people with the capability to do that. He chose to stay at home and make that ask instead of going to the place where he never has to make that ask. And you know how much you have to love a place to do that? Yeah, because that's not an easy thing to do. It's not something, I mean, I imagine most coaches are too proud to do it, especially if you feel like an offer could be coming around a corner from a place that you would never have to do that. Yeah. So where does this leave Michigan?

because they're not a lot of obvious candidates. Jeff Brom, whose name popped up in the Penn State search, in the Florida search. He's the Louisville coach. I think he's a fabulous coach. The man took Purdue to the Big Ten title game. He tends to make every quarterback he has better.

I think he could be a very good fit at Michigan. His name is popped up. We've talked about Jed Fish. We've talked about Jesse Mentor, the former defensive coordinator. I got some info the other day, somebody involved who said jesse mentors his show cause is not going to be an issue because it expired on december 15th and even if it hadn't expired you've got your old friend jeremy

pruit who just won an injunction in court in alabama against the NCAA who you know it may be that nobody's show cause gets enforced so there are options still for michigan it's just not as as cut and dried and i'm not sure there's anybody who's a favorite among the fan base i have noticed a push from current players and some former players to have their interim coach, Bifpogee, just take the team for at least a year. Yeah, give them a year. I'm curious how you feel about that because if it's only for a year, I would assume even in the transfer portal that people will recruit against you using that.

Like what, you know, that's just for your, now, look, if you're a person who's only got one year of eligibility left, then why do you care? If you like Biff Pote, you go play for him. I mean, then my mind starts fantasizing about different things that you could do. Bifpogee sleeveless at Michigan, because, you know, he did it as Charlotte's head coach. Could you go sleeveless as Michigan's head coach for a game? I mean, if you're essentially.

I'm serious here. If you're essentially punting on the season for a one-year experiment because you missed the window of coaches, could you approach a hot shot young coordinator and say, listen, I'll give you a one-year tryout? Well, you wouldn't call it a one-year tryout? Yeah. So, like, when Mike Leach passed away and Mississippi State gave Zach Arnett, who was a defensive coordinator, that job, touchdown Oregon again. So, yeah, we're not worried about the upset anymore. But when Mike Leach passed away, Mississippi State gives Zach Arnett the job, they gave him a multi-year contract, but it was one of those where they could pull the rip cord pretty quickly, and they did.

They didn't feel like he was the right guy long term. He lasted less than a year. Well, how many coaches would sign a one-year deal? how many how many coordinators yeah if michigan offered them one year deal yeah would that be an attractive thing or would that be too scary it would be too scary for ones that are in position to maybe get a michigan type job but there's a next level where they jump they they bet on themselves and the thing is you don't you're michigan you're rich you didn't pay shrone more a penny to fire him you can give somebody a five-year deal not guarantee a ton of it and essentially give somebody a try

a one-year tryout that is dressed up as not a one-year tryout. Yeah, and the reward for failing the one-year try-out is a buyout. Correct. That you're willing to pay. Correct. And if you hit and you find the next great assistant coach who's going to be the next great head coach, whether that's the next Dan Landing or the next Ryan Day or the next Kirby Smart, then you've won if you're Michigan.

And if you didn't, then you paid the buyout and you get in the next cycle as the best job in the cycle for the full cycle. Yeah. So, I mean, it looks like they have options and the Wetzel tweet. Dan Wetzel from Yahoo Sports tweeted, and I don't know if you have it up, but I'm going to just paraphrase it here. Yeah. Hey, guys, obviously something can change at any given time, but I would not expect a resolution

to the Michigan coaching search anytime soon. Which sounds like a reset to me. It sounds like, okay, guys, let's, let's dial this thing back and figure out what we want here. Figure out what we're willing to do, who we're willing to hire, and let's reset this whole thing. Because we've named some names. I think Eli Drinkwitz from Missouri would be another name that you'd maybe talk to in this group. But I don't actually have a problem with this because the transfer portal doesn't open until January 2nd. You've got a week and a half.

If you really wanted to reset this thing and go in a week from now with a serious list of candidates, you could talk to everybody because they've hired turnkey. the search firm. Chad Chattelos is the guy who runs that. Chad has vetted almost everybody who's been up for a job over the last 10 years. So they should get a discount. Well, it's not just that.

As Scott Strickland, the Florida athletic director who used turnkey in this search, put it to me, a lot of the homework had been done for them, they felt like. Yeah. In terms of vetting, in terms of, you know, are there skeletons that we need to know about, that sort of thing? It helped them narrow the field pretty quickly. Chad can help them narrow the field if they give him parameters. But they, I think if you're Michigan, you've got to figure out your parameters and you may be reconstructing them at this point.

Yeah. But it will be certainly something that we are going to be tracking through the holiday season. And, you know, Dan's tweet was. And Wetzel's very plugged into Michigan. Yeah. So I don't doubt him one bit. But it also like anytime soon could mean two days or two, like 10 days. I don't know.

I'm just fascinated because that leads me to believe that it's probably not any of the names that we keep talking about. Yeah, and it might be somebody that's off the radar. Here's the other possibility. And this is, I'm just putting the tinfoil hat on here. What if they've IDed an NFL coach and that person can't come until after the NFL regular season? What do you do? If that were true, how would that, if that were true, how would, how would, how would, you do that well you would probably ask that NFL coach who their GM would be hire that person

as your GM install them and get them working on the roster right now you know when urban Meyer took the Ohio State job I found out that he was going to be the head coach because a recruit said he called him and told him I guess you could do that you could do that and and some portal recruit might let the cat out of the bag but if you let the cat out of the bag with an NFL coach She's not, you know, clearly not in the playoffs. And finishing up in the first week of January, who cares? Yeah. Yeah.

What week are we in the NFL this weekend? There are two games, two weeks left after this week. Okay. So there's not a rule. There's the week of Christmas and then there's the following week. And then that's it. Yeah. So we're almost there.

So it's wild, though. But that's what I. Can I put my hat, my tent. pull a hat back on? It was on the show. I brought up my John Harbaugh theory on the show, right? You did, yeah. Okay.

Like, I don't know that it would be him, but that would make a lot of sense. I think it would make a lot of sense in one aspect, and I think it would be a terrible idea in another. I don't think that's who it is, because I also think John Harbaugh has earned the right to leave, well, I guess he would be leaving Baltimore of his own accord in that case, but I also think he's earned the right to coach as long as he wants to in the NFL. And if he left Baltimore, I would think multiple other NFL teams would want him. I agree.

And I think that we would have heard his name from somebody in the NFL. Like, you know, that is definitely a tinfoil hat move. I mean, and maybe it's, maybe it's an NFL coordinator that has been ID. But that's, that would, that would assume that they have ID somebody. it seems to me again just reading tea leaves here that this feels like a reset of hey let's rain it back in stop panicking stop running around like chickens with their heads got off and sit down and decide this is what we want in the next head football coach here are the people who fit that profile let's talk to them bingo i'm fascinated to see where they go i think this is

This is going to be as interesting as these playoffs are. I am just as interested in what Michigan does next because it is a, it's such a strange situation. The firing of Chevron Moore was obviously very bizarre. And we're going to have to wait and see what they do. But I don't think it's, I do not believe, Ari, tell me, you tell me, I don't believe that coaches are looking at the Michigan job and going, oh, God, I don't want that job.

I think the specific coach. is one, Kailin Nabor has as good or better of a job at Alabama and does not want to be viewed as the person who ran away from the succession of Nick Saven when he openly chose it. I don't believe he's going to leave. So that doesn't make sense.

Kenny Dillingham has very good reasons to stay home, to want to make it work at Arizona State. Very good reasons. Everybody else feels like fair game. I think they can rattle some cages. It's a very attractive job, maybe a top 10 job in America.

Anytime that opens, regardless of how convenient it is, they'll figure it out. They'll figure something out. Yeah. Guys, this has been awesome. So for those who haven't heard our travel schedule, I haven't been following along with us on social media all weekend, Ari and I met up yesterday in Dallas. We drove to Norman, Oklahoma.

We covered the Oklahoma Alabama game. We drove to Ardmore, Oklahoma, wrote stories, slept an hour and 45 minutes, got up and drove to college station, covered an amazing game between Miami and Texas A&M. This has been so much fun. It was a really, really terrible idea that turned out to be a beautiful thing. It was so bad. But I'll point out, so my first.

friend Ross Dellinger from Yahoo, who had one of my co-hosts on the college football inquirer show. So he was planning on also being with us at the Texas A&M game. His plan was to fly. And so he had a flight from Oklahoma City that went through Dallas, Fort Worth, and then a connecting flight to college station. He gets to Dallas, Fort Worth. I felt so terrible because we were already in Waco by the time he called. And he said, are you near DFW? And I said, no, we're about an hour and a half past it. And he said, my flight is delayed at least two hours, probably going to be delayed more. I don't know if I'm going to make it.

And he ended up having to go home to D.C. The plane that was going to take into college station, eventually landed in college station, I think five minutes after the game ended. I said this to Ross, and I firmly, I mean it, Ari. If we can pull this off next year, I want to rent a van and whatever sports writer wants to come with us on the drive, because we did this last year where we drove from south bend to columbus if there if there are two sites we can drive between from friday to saturday whatever sports writers want to come with us we'll rent a big van i'll drive

i get the oxcord because i'm driving american cruising america van absolutely a conversion man no that's the uh the the trailer it's not a trailer oh camper you know what i'll get a party bus i'll get like a sprinter van yeah and you guys just party in the back yeah and it'll be great And I'm driving. I love this so much. And that's part of what frustrates me about what's going on in the Oregon game. And obviously, if it's 4813 right now with 313 to go in the third quarter, Oregon is on the doorstep again. If JMU makes the biggest and greatest comeback of all time, we will go live again, I promise.

But that's part of this. Like getting to see these games is such a joy and a privilege. And I want more of it. Like, if we could do four games in the first weekend, I'd do it. Yeah, I mean, we would have. I mean, if there were, if there were more spread out, I don't know what the schedule would look like if it goes to 16 teams. Maybe they'll have a three day event.

I don't know, but, uh, oh, it's a pick. Maybe you pick six. Um, but yeah, next year would, would be a. Not a nice time. Yeah. It would have been 54 to 13. So. But it's not.

It's not. So we'll keep. Okay. Greatest comeback in the world. still a possibility. If that happens, we'll go live, we promise. But thank you so much for taking this journey with us. It's been so much fun. Thank you to BetMGM. Thank you to Modelo. And we will talk to you on Sunday.

We're going to talk each quarterfinal matchup in a separate video. And who knows, maybe something happens with the Michigan search. Maybe there's a little more intel that we can share. And also Monday, we're picking the quarterfinal games. We've got lines for all those games, except one, because Oregon and Jamie, you aren't done yet. But we've got lines for the other games. We'll have line for the Orange Bowl tomorrow. So on Monday, we'll be picking the quarterfinal games,

which I got to say, look pretty awesome. So we will talk to you on Sunday, preview the quarterfinal games. And again, hey, if anything pops with Michigan, we'll be right there live and we'll talk about it all.