Andy & Ari On3 - Could the Big Ten have MORE THAN TWENTY teams? Future of College Football Realignment

Episode Date: August 27, 2025

The Big Ten conference currently sits at eighteen members. On Wednesday, Brett McMurphy dropped some news about how the Big Ten could have twenty members in a few years. As the Big Ten already stretches from Los Angeles to Piscataway, Tony Petitti is looking to add a few more schools in between. Who could they be? Watch here as Brett McMurphy joins Andy & Ari to discuss the Big Ten, Notre Dame, Bill Belichick's first game vs TCU, and more! (0:00-0:53) Today’s Show(0:54-3:04) BetMGM(3:05-4:19) Intro: Realignment talk before Week 1?(4:20-6:39) Brett McMurphy joins the show(6:40-11:48) Who would the Big Ten add?(11:49-13:23) Why UNC & Virginia are coveted assets(13:24-15:22) AAU Member Schools(15:23-18:44) What makes Kansas attractive?(18:45-21:10) Notre Dame’s Independence(21:11-23:24) Rhoback(23:25-34:39) Picking TCU at North Carolina(34:40-39:23) Into the picks(39:24-40:49) Starbucks(40:50-41:11) Introducing Sonny Dykes(41:12-56:39) Sonny Dykes joins the show(56:40-1:02:46) Modelo’s Full-Time Fans of the Week: Clemson(1:02:47-1:04:24) Huel(1:04:25-1:06:24) Brett’s Trivia(1:06:25-1:10:56) First Question(1:10:57-1:12:03) LSU at Clemson: Brett’s Picks(1:12:04-1:17:24) 2nd Trivia Question from Brett(1:17:25-1:18:29) Closing out with Brett(1:18:30-1:19:30) Conclusion: See You Tomorrow! North Carolina and TCU meet on Labor Day in Chapel Hill, and Brett McMurphy joins us to pick this game. Will Bill Belichick prevail over Sonny Dykes' Horned Frogs? Find out who the guys pick here. Next, TCU head coach Sonny Dykes joins the show to discuss the season ahead and what it will be like to play against Bill Belichick in his college coaching debut. Will the Horned Frogs start off the season on a hot note? Afterwards, we have to honor Modelo's full-time fans of the week, and they are the Clemson fans. In a fight for the "Real Death Valley" on Saturday night, Andy walks Ari through what to expect from Memorial Stadium in Clemson. To close, Brett take the guys through some trivia questions:1. In the last 4 years, what is the 1 P4 school to keep the same head coach and both coordinators?2. What 8 coaches have been to their last 2 conference title games? 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. Some things in life are just made for each other. Peanut Butter and jelly. Macaroni and cheese. Modelo and college football. Grab yourself a Modelo today to stay gameday ready all season long. Gameday starts at Starbucks! Join JD Pickell and Devin Hester at Starbucks on August 31st before the Miami v Notre Dame matchup to celebrate the return of the football and pumpkin season!https://www.starbucks.com/menu/featured/?%243p=a_custom_838078477923275313&~customer_placement=youtube&~campaign=fy25fallcustomcontentprograms&~creative_name=on3&_branch_match_id=1211104932562219397&utm_source=YouTube&utm_campaign=fy25fallcustomcontentprograms&utm_medium=paid%20advertising&_branch_referrer=H4sIAAAAAAAAAyWMyw6CMBBFv0aXgC0ENGlcGOMH%2BEhcNUMzQENfmRYNG7%2FdRrf3nHOnlEI8lGVMQP2i5lhACIXRbi6f5l5drucbe%2FTHDat5ECDVEpO3suNd1XZ12%2B4ZZ23Dd3z7UWAD6NGJYWXNAMb8XeVdQpcC%2BZHAxuz9ZiQZDCi0mYnVL2npMTNCSPqF0oFF4V2%2BJRyQSLtR9uTfEUmcJsr9F5TVt5y5AAAA Get Huel today with this exclusive offer for New Customers of 15% OFF with code STAPLES15 at https://huel.com/STAPLES15 (Minimum $75 purchase)  Join On3 today and get one full year of access to The Athletic included! https://www.on3.com/subscribe/C Watch us on YouTube! https://youtu.be/OccB4e1Ahhw Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari WassermanProducer: River BaileyGuest: Brett McMurphy Interested in partnering with the show? Email [e-mail]

On today's episode of Andy and Ari on three on three's Brett McMurphy joins us. And we are talking about a wild statement that the Maryland AD made that probably doesn't seem so wild once you start drilling down on it. But a 20 team big 10 by 2030. So who would make that cut? And what would that mean for the SEC? And why is he saying this now instead of June? We got games this week. Speaking of that, Bill Belichette coaches his history.

first college football game on Monday. We pick the TCU versus North Carolina game. We also talk to TCU coach Sunny Dikes. Later, Brett and I, who have been to Clemson, explain to Ari what a game at Clemson is like as we get you ready for LSU Clemson on Saturday. All that and more on today's Andy and Ari on 3. Andy and Ari on 3 is sponsored by BetMGM.

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Gambling problem. Call 1-800 gambler in the U.S. Call 8778 Hope N.Y or text Hope N. Y. 4673669 in New York. Call 1-800 next step in Arizona. Call 1-800-3-2-0-50 in Massachusetts. Call 1-800-off in Iowa or 1-8001-801-0-2-3 in Puerto Rico. First bet offer for new customers only, subject to eligibility requirements, rewards are non-withdrawable 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 BetMGM 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. Ari, I thought we talked about this. I think, I thought all the ADs and the people in charge of conferences knew this. Like, when the season begins, conference realignment talk ends.

We got games this week, yet we have the Maryland AD talking about a 20 team big 10. We can't have this. Yeah, I mean, conference expansions happening all around us all the time, 24-7, even when we feel like we're at like an impasse, right? Like, you know, we're going to let this new weird, wonky conference realignment situation that completely messed up the entire sport and how it functions, you know, a break for a little bit while we watch football. But we couldn't have that. So, you know, it's okay.

Let's mess it up even more, Andy. How about that? Let's do it. But guys, stop doing this. If you want to say something spicy about conference realignment, please do it in June when we are desperate for stuff to talk about. June's a good month for that. Yeah. Because it is happening in June, too.

It's happening in June as much as it is happening now because it's never not happening. Exactly. Okay. Let's bring on Brett McMurphy, our colleague, in On 3. He, of course, is a realignment expert, has been covering realignment. since realignment began, since Penn State joined the Big Ten, no, you're not that old, but you were alive when Penn State joined the Big Ten. You were an adult when Penn State joined the Big Ten.

I was alive, yes. Yeah, look, give Maryland A.D. Jim Smith credit. He was asked by Inside Maryland Radio, how many teams will be in the Big Ten in 2030, and he didn't hesitate. He said 20. So the thing is, and look, you guys know this, the teams that may be attractive now may not be attractive in five years. I mean, if we go back five years to 2020, there was still a PAC 12.

OU and Texas were still in the Big 12. The Big 10 only had 14 teams. So what are things going to look like going forward in 2030? Jim Smith, to his credit, did not name the two teams. He thinks that we'll be joining. But guys, I think, I don't know if you agree or not, I've kind of gone back and forth on this. I really believe the new members of the Big Ten when those members join, and whether it's 28, 29, 30, obviously that aligns with the TV deals, the college football playoff, a number of factors all lining. Outdropping.

ACCC, XFEs dropping. I think it will be an AAU member school. And there are five current in the Big 12. there are eight in the ACC and, of course, Notre Dame. As I wrote today for On 3, Notre Dame will remain and independent until the world implode. So forget your hopes of getting Notre Dame. But I do think they'll pick from the eight ACC AAU members or potentially from the five Big 12 members that are currently AAU University. So AAU, by the way, we're not talking about grassroots basketball.

We're talking about the Association of American Universities, which is the most prestigious research universities in the country. All the Big Ten members except Nebraska are. Nebraska was when it joined and then it got dropped, but they were in it when they joined. So I would imagine that that is a prerequisite. I'm happy, Ari, to recklessly speculate on who that might be. but can I can I throw this out here guys just be reckless just be reckless we're going to do that but this is coming from Jim Smith the Maryland AD who just got there he just replaced Damon Evans so remember when we talk about this stuff from now on all politics are local and whoever is talking about it is wishcasting they are wishcasting something for their school because there's two ways what's going to happen can happen. One way is the big 10 goes to 20 schools. The SEC goes to 20 schools. By the way, Notre Dame would have to join a conference in this scenario probably. One's

the AFC, one's the NFC. The other one is Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, LSU, Penn State, Oregon. They all call each other and they're like, hey, guys, we can probably do this without Purdue and Vanderbilt. So one of those includes Maryland and one doesn't. So that's why he's talking about a 20-team Big Ten. Next up on today's episode, we're drafting teams that aren't in the Big Ten and the SEC who are probably more worthy of a Big Ten spot in Maryland.

Do you want to do that? Exactly. Exactly. So that, but like Ari, when we talked to Cody Campbell, the billionaire Texas tech donor at Big 12 Media Days, He wants a next version of college football where there's, you know, 70-something teams in the top division because that means Texas Tech's going to be in it.

And by the way, we're having their own school. We're having fun with Maryland right now. And we're just, I poked fun at Maryland a little bit there. But I think I speak for you, Andy. I don't know about you, Brett, but that's my, that what I prefer to is that 70 schools are in the top division. I don't want the AFC. So like from the wish casting standpoint, like,

I want to wishcast myself that Maryland is still a part of it because if we get to the point now where we start replacing teams instead of expanding and reorganizing, then that is the one-way ticket to the dreaded Super League. So let's hope that they do this, right, Brett? I don't know. Where do you stand on that? Yeah, no, I agree.

I'm afraid it's the, I think the college game is already becoming more and more like the NFL, NFL light, if you will. the rule changes as far as the you know not stopping the clock after a first draft down different things um i don't like that and i agree with you ri i don't want just the top 32 teams top 40 teams just playing each other and you know who you know eight teams that are six and six will go into the college football playoff although that's what tony patiti wants i agree with you i think it's better to have more. And even having 70, I hate the fact that there's no Southwest Conference. There's no whack anymore. If we go to 70, we're basically cutting the relevant

teams in half, which you could argue, I know, the top 68 right now are the only ones that are relevant. And I agree with that. When Jim Smith was asked, you know, how many teams would be in the Big 10 in 2030? And he said 20. I don't know about you guys. I'm surprised he didn't say 24. Because I I think, you know, that kind of what Andy laid out, I think we're going to be 20 or 24 with the SEC and the Big 10. The question is, what is going on with the Big 12 in the ACC? And are they going to be allowed to be part of that group? I think it's very clear. Andy, you want to speculate recklessly about who it will be. Look, after I reported that this morning, I immediately got a text from someone within the SEC and basically said what I've been thinking,

and that is North Carolina and Virginia will be highly contested over both, between both conferences. And where they end up, look, no one knows. It's impossible to say. But I do really believe that they are the most attractive to both leagues. And we'll have to see what happens, you know, again, three years, five years is a long way off. Two years is, you know, light years. way off but um yeah speculate reckless recklessly and you have really good memory with the stuff

and i don't but what's the expiration date for the aces existence is it 2033 uh well 2036 is when their deal ends but the the buyout drops to a manageable number in like 2029 20 30 so this is what interesting about what brett reported too of like how many uh teams will be in the big 10 in in 25 30, what if the ACC stops existing in 2030? Like, doesn't that, like, completely change the entire dynamic of how big these conferences could get? It's entirely possible because you could see kind of a merger of what's left of the ACC and the Big 12.

But, all right, let's speculate recklessly here. Brett just mentioned to North Carolina. North Carolina has been coveted by the SEC and by the Big Ten since all of this started, you know, when do we say the most recent round of the start of 2010? That was the first Big 12 missile crisis. Yeah. So the SEC and the Big Ten have wanted North Carolina for all of that time. So they'll fight over them.

Virginia, and I'm glad you brought them up, Brett, because nobody ever believes me when I say, like, the SEC people love the idea of Virginia. Right. A lot of fans look at, well, Virginia's not doing very well. They're not winning a lot of games. It's not simply a team's win-loss record. And I think fans get caught up in that with, you know, why can't, you know, why can't a certain team get into a certain league? They're better than that team over the last five years. It encompasses a whole lot more than that.

But yeah, you're right, Andy. I really strongly believe North Carolina and Virginia, if it was a draft in the SEC and Big Ten did a draft, I think those would be the top two picks. And I think the SEC is going to get them. And I also think. I don't know who's going to win that battle. I mean, if you want to predict it right now, let's rack it and save it. Like, does Fox put his thumb on the scale? Because you say it's got to be an AAU member.

And I can think of one AAU member that's been pretty good at football historically and is getting back to being very good at football. That's Miami. Florida State is not one. But like if the Big Ten wants to be a truly national conference, you've got to add some Florida men. Yeah. So here, real quick, here's the eight ACC. schools that are currently AAU members. Cal and Stanford, Duke, Virginia, North Carolina,

Georgia Tech, Miami, and Pitt. Okay. So I feel like those guys, some more than other, have a really good shot. From the Big 12, this gets kind of fascinating because I reached out to somebody that I trust a great deal. And they actually brought up a school in the Big 12. And to me, again, I keep thinking, can I guess? Can I guess? Yeah, yeah. Is it Kansas? It was actually Utah. Oh, that's a good one. So here's the five AAU teams from the Big 12, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Kansas, and Utah. And when I mentioned Utah, again, I'm thinking to Utah. What about geography? Obviously, geography doesn't matter. They go from coast to coast. And the response was, it's an untapped market. Salt Lake City, team on the uptick. Again, five years from now, they're not really on the uptick. They've been good for, they've been heard it for 20 years.

Over 20 years. Yeah, obviously. Kyle Woodingham will no longer be there in five years. At least we think he won't. Who knows, he may surprise us. But again, you know, who knows what they're going to look like in five years? Who knows what Colorado will look like? Is Dion still there?

Is he gone? Again, it's not going to impact a school based on who the coaches, whether they get in or not, but right there is 13 schools that are AAU members that I think all will have a legitimate shot, some more than, more than others. But yeah, I would say, I think Miami's, I think they want to get into Florida. People at Florida State believe in the coming years they will join that AAU group. That could be big. But, yeah, speculate the way. I look at these programs, and I think it's interesting that a lot of times when we're discussing expansion and where teams will be in five years as opposed to where they

are now is I don't know that smart expansion correlates with the current circumstance of the coach or how good they are or the team it's more about the longevity aspects of it location aAU status ability to recruit you know maybe it'll be nil funding at that point like things that would pertain to to to be able to withstand ebbs and flows of of natural coaching roster turnover um did you go kansas there andy because of their basketball program and did you think that that's why that would be attracted to them or what was it about kansas that made you jump out and guess them kansas just got a massive donation and it's not all coming at once but it's a 300 million dollar donation from one of its big donors. They have tons of money. They're paying Lance

Lifehold like a good SEC coach gets paid. Plus, they're really good at basketball, but they're really trying at football. And like Brett said, now and four years from now could be completely different. Like what if Kansas is good for the next three or four years at football, which based on what we saw Saturday, they could be pretty good this year. So, what happens they're spending like a big 10 or an SEC school right now and i think that is something that those guys are going to look at but that said brett i i still want to would fox which is a partner with the big 10 and the big 10 network and kind of controls their tv rights would they put their thumb on the scale and go no we need a plus football brands or

nothing here yeah that's a great question and And I think they would obviously have some influence. Certainly they've had influence on, you know, the big noon kickoffs. And, you know, I know you guys have discussed that. I think ultimately, though, the university presidents are going to make a decision. And look, let's cut to the chase. How much money will adding Kansas compared to Miami bring to the big, big 10th? That probably will be the deciding factor.

When they can balance everything else out and some have positive. some have negatives. The bottom line is, I mean, we see how much finances have impacted college athletics just in the last year and this year. Fast forward five years. Who knows what in the world is going to look like then. And again, all of these universities are looking for untapped revenue streams. You know, you can only charge your fans so much. You can only, you know, do so much in certain other avenues, donor donations. I mean, you can only get so much money out of certain companies. So here's another way to jack up that revenue. And if it's, if it's a huge amount difference from going with, again, a Kansas or Miami, I think that would

be a huge factor and probably a deciding factor. I don't know specifically what the difference in those evaluations would be, though, based on, you know, specifically we're talking those two schools, but any of the 13 AAU schools I mentioned. And Notre Dame, not I still I don't think Andy I don't think they if they go to the super league Notre Dame's in a conference but if the big 10 and SEC can stay separate and again Andy you know this or you know this as well as anyone there's no way that Greg Sanky is going to do anything as far as the future of the college football playoff that excludes teams not in a conference because he doesn't want to push Notre Dame

into joining a conference while technically they are required to join the ACC through the end of the ACC deal but everyone rightly speculates past that point

it would be the Big Ten I'm here for the long game where Notre Dame joins the SEC at the end of it's yeah who knows yeah crazier things have happened at this point like it exactly nobody knows nobody knows what's going to happen

we're trading Vanderbilt for Notre Dame. Congrats. I mean, this wouldn't be a realignment discussion if we didn't have a Notre Dame logo graphic right in the middle of this thing. And I don't know, you know, the it is interesting to think that like currying favor with the

SEC commissioner in the short term could, you know, I am very curious too of like if the big 10 is 20 teams and 2030, how many teams is the SEC and is there going to be a huge tug of war between these two conferences to to woo new members and

And how will that, how will, like, whether it be packaged deals, whether there be teams that want to go with their rivals, you know, all these, you know, 13 or so teams that we're talking about, are they going to get split up evenly between the two? Like, it's going to be a really fascinating and frankly, crazy circumstance. And it seems inevitable that it will happen, not if it will happen. Well, guys, we're going to put a pin in this now. But we are going to talk. Why is it Notre Dame in a conference? You didn't even explain that. It's, I've given the speech enough times already. I've given this. Plus, that's what everybody gets to complain about. Now, the SEC's going to nine conference games. But when we come back, we're going to talk about

one of those teams, one of those programs that will be in the realignment tug of war. We're going to talk about the football on the field because Bill Belichick is coaching in North Carolina now. He coaches his first game on Monday. We're going to pick that game. We're also going to hear from the guy he's coaching against. But first, I got to tell you about Roeback. That's right. see this little dog right here rowback is the best the most comfortable clothing you can know this is the hezzy hoodie right here one of my favorites remember i also i used to always talk about how my rowback hoodies got stolen well they've somehow managed to make it softer and more comfortable and even better than that they've added the game day collection so you can have

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right here for Florida. Pretty awesome. The Notre Dame one's on the screen. The Ohio State one, I love, love the Ohio state one. These are so cool and they've got dozens of schools now. They've just added a few new ones. They just

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Q-Zips, shorts. The shorts are spectacular now. The joggers, buttery soft. It's not great for ads for me, Andy, but I'm wearing the joggers right now and I've been wearing them non-stop since I got them in the male. They are the softest most comfortable joggers on the face of the earth. And my favorite thing about them, and you know this because I've made this comment to you at games over the course of

the past year, which is, I need a comfortable pair of pants that I can wear to a football game or looks dressy when they're comfortable and buttery soft and Roeback got me covered with them sending them to me. So I'm going to be probably wearing them to the Clemson game on Saturday. Super excited about having a pair of somewhat dressy, but also comfortable joggers in my wardrobe. And Kay Klubnick might just come up and dap you up for being a fellow Roeback endorser. So, Roback.com, R-H-O-B-A-C-K, use the code Andy for 20% off your first order. Gentlemen, let us now talk about the North Carolina Tar Heels because we just spent that realignment discussion talking about what North Carolina means in the grand scheme of all this. But now, one of the things, I would imagine, a reason they hired Bill Belichick is to get their football program to a play.

where when the Armageddon comes, they are safe and they are wanted and desired and the sleeping giant is awake, if you want to call it that. We are going to get to see Bill Belichick coach a college football game on Monday night. Brett, that still blows my mind. Like, is the reality that's sinking in for you yet?

Because it hasn't for me. Yeah, no, it really hasn't. And, you know, I guess we'll, We'll finally get to see it. I'm going to be fascinated to see how this translates with Bill being at the college game. You know, it's an apples to oranges comparison with the hype surrounding North Carolina

compared with Dion Sanders at Colorado. I know you guys, we all talk to Sunny at Big 12 meaty days. You know, I believe they will benefit from the fact sunny said they thinks they will benefit from the fact they've gone through that, you know, going into that circus-type atmosphere with Colorado. And I think they learned some things. But I, guys, I just think Tennessee, I just think TCU is the much better team. This summer. You're talking about the team that went after TCU's

quarterback Josh Hoover. That's what you got Tennessee on the brain there. Yeah, my bad. Yeah. So they, yeah, so look, put it very simple. North Carolina opened this summer as a two to two, two, two, to an a three-point favorite. Last look at BetMGM, I think TCU is a three-and-a-half point favorite. I agree with that line move. I just think TCU is the better team. They're one of the top teams in returning production. One of only 30 teams that returns a head coach, both coordinators and their starting

quarterback. And I think Josh Hoover will have a big year. Plus, they've got a lot of key returners on defense. They ended last year strong when their last four. I think experience will play a huge, huge factor. I know transfer portal changes a lot of things, but I still value returning experience for teams. And I really like TCU.

And when I talked to all the Big 12 coaches about who they predicted to go to the Big 12 title game, TCU got a few votes, not the most votes, but I think they can be a dark horse in the Big 12. I just think they're a better team than North Carolina. But obviously, everyone's going to tune in to see what's going on with Belichette? Here's the thing that I struggle with, guys, when it comes to North Carolina,

and you, Brett and I spend 40 plus hours a week thinking about college football, studying it, talking to people, writing about it, and all the things. If you and I and Brett went around the horn here, and we started naming off North Carolina players that are on the team, how far do you think we would get? You don't get very far. And then I went and looked this up. earlier today, do you know how many players are in North Carolina's Too Deep

that are incoming transfers to the program this year? You probably don't know the exact number, but do you have a roundabout guess? See, I'm doing trivia too, Brett. I am going to guess, let's see, so 22 in the two deep, or sorry, I mean 44 in the two deep. Let's see, I would say 25 of 44. I'll say 10 almost 26 so like this is a completely new roster of players who came from all over the place and I think what's most interesting outside of the fact that we get to see Bill Belichick exist in a college environment and wearing a powder blue whatever he is he going to cut his sleeves off I don't know is whether or not the NFL aspect of this lent well to top tier a value

in the portal and how much he can not only identify undervalue pieces but put them together in a very quick manner because we talk about teams that are kind of just hodgepages we were joking you know UNLV last week um did you guys watch that game or portions of that game Dan Mullins struggled pretty good and UNLV has five or six players that are very recognizable to us as former highly rated recruits or guys that we've spoken about on this show and like you saw how difficult it was for them to put together that waiver wire team. I don't know if this is, you know, I think it's the same, same situation. Oklahoma State, another team that we talked about at Big 12 is going through this.

Teams that have the Colorado-ish-type roster build. I wonder if we're going to get a better appreciation for what Dion Sanders did in year one, even though they had a bad record, as we see some of these teams that have patched together a roster through mass transit. How is it going to look? Because I can go through TCU's too deep and name a lot of players. Like with North Carolina,

you know, there are some names like, you know, Kobe Paceauer, who was on the team a year ago who jumps out at you. But like there's not a lot of guys out there that just jump out. Well, like Andrew Simpson came from Boise State. He was a really good player at Boise State. He's a linebacker.

He's one of the big ones that they brought in. Thaddeus Dixon, one of the corners played for Steve Belichick at Washington last year. Now the question is, would he have started at Washington this year? Because Takario Davis came over from Arizona. So, like, that's the question is, how good are these guys? TCU, and it's interesting because we keep going back to that Colorado game.

So that Colorado TCU game, everybody, was right after TCU had played for the national title. They had lost almost all of the best players from that team. They didn't have a lot of NFL players on that roster. They were not doing particularly well at the NIL game back then. I would argue that TCU has probably five times as many NFL players on its roster now, like NFL players in every position room, which they could not have said two years ago. And I think that makes a huge difference.

Now, they are going up against a coaching staff that can clearly evaluate. talent that clearly knows what what an NFL player looks like so that's the question how quickly did north carolina ramp up did they do better than everybody else the transfer portal because these guys know what they're looking for or is it harder than than it looks you bet on this game though you bet on it on theory you bet that you believe tc u is a more complete roster that will gel and that it's going to at north carolina doesn't have as much talent and it won't gel or you're betting on Bill Belichick and Steve Belichick together, mostly Bill are geniuses who have the NFL, you know, the NFL strategy down pat, they can out-evaluate Sunny Dykes

and they're going to put together a much better team than we think. And I'm more likely to want to side with TCU in this discussion like that. But it seems like you're kind of blindly picking to a certain extent because I think we'd all be lying if we told you exactly what North Carolina is. I don't think we know the answer to that. Yeah, I mean, I agree. You nailed it, Ari. And look, with the transfer portal, we're blindly picking a lot of these games. But yeah, TCU is the better overall team. I don't think there's any question about that. And what you mentioned about Belichick, you know, coming in with the NFL pedigree, with Steve Belichick and all those kind of things. I think that will pay dividends. I don't think the first game, though, it will because, again, with NFL players, you've got endless amount of time. that you can work with them. They obviously are more advanced football knowledge. They can, you know, absorb it, learn it, do it.

I don't know if college kids, you know, in a couple of months can take in everything Belichick wants to do and how much does he have to dumb it down for, I'm not saying because it's Carolina, just for the college game. And I think all those factors. They're smart kids in Carolina. Yeah, no, no, I know. But you know what I mean. You've got a limited amount of time.

The playbook is not going to be as big as it was. with the Patriots. There's no way that they can put all that in right off the gate. Well, right. And that's what people, I think, forget is Bill Belichick, when he was with the Patriots, would at times build a bespoke defense for the offense that they would play that week. It would just, it would look like nothing that the opponents had seen on film the entire year. And I don't think you can do that with, with college players. I saw on Twitter somebody said that the amount of time it takes to install what you're doing at the college level is so much of camp that it's impossible to start game planning until the week of the game, that they need all three weeks of camp to figure out how to run what they run. Because NFL players are like, oh, I did this when I was in college, or oh, I did this when I was with the Texans.

two years ago or oh i did this when i was with the 49ers three years ago like they pick it up so quick college players a lot harder yeah and i think the the final thing that puts me um solidly backing tc u is the fact that a company owned by bill bellichick and managed by his girlfriend jordan hudson has filed a trademark for the term gold digger that is the trick no kidding that's real that wasn't that was a reality real new real breaking news here on the pod uh that is real news um but no the i think the only advantage north carolina has is tc u doesn't necessarily know exactly what they're going to do i don't think that's enough to give north carolina advantage i'm i'm going with the horn and frogs you're also talking to a person right now bret that lost a mortgage payment

betting on tc u and they played colorado two years ago and i hit it live three times in the middle of the game, too, because I couldn't fathom how a team that was pieced together with duct tape would be able to be the team that played in the national title game the year before, and here we are. Like, I was on TCU. Yeah, I was on TCU also, but there were a lot of turnovers. I agree. There was a lot of turnover.

That was, you know, by the way, that Colorado team won three games that year. And the game was at TCU, if I remember correctly, right? It was a road game. It was at TCU. TCU is two or three touchdown favorite, I think, yeah. Because, like, part of me wants to just sledge. hammer tc u again but i'm like i've got like scar and it's three and a half like three and a half on the road like that that's there there's your issue right there uh to brett's point tmz reporting

like five minutes ago as we're recording this that they did file for the gold digger trademark uh this is the same company that has filed for trademarks on the phrases all belichick team Chapel Bill, the Belichick Way, Dynasty, parentheses, Bill's version, and multiple others. How do you, you're more, we're not talking about this. Brett, you're more seasoned. You can just trademark just like regular terms. And if you can trademark those terms, like, how does Kanye West not already have that trademark?

Like, it's like a very, it's just a normal word. You have to, you have to prove that you're using it and, and defend that you're using it. But Kanye West has it trademarked as a song title for that particular composition because he is a songwriter. So if you tried to use lyrics from that song, he could sue you. But if I started selling T-shirts that were Carolina Blue that's a gold digger on it when they had the trademark, I could be sued, right? Provided they're using it, provided they are actually selling product with those words on there. Okay. Yeah, the great...

Get them pretty quick, Ari. You might have a shot. The three-peat trademark of Pat Riley, I think it was West Matthews, a guard for the Lakers, actually threw out the word three-peat sometime in the locker room and Riley heard it, but then Riley went and filed a trademark. And now Riley gets paid every time somebody has a chance to win a third title. It's great. Only in American.

Who's getting paid when they go on bed MGM this week? So are you are? I'm laying the points. I mean, like, I'm not. You to cover. Brett, TCU to cover? Laying the lumber, yes. Go ahead.

See, I hate when the whole. North Carolina does it? Because you know North Carolina is going to win now. But I'm sorry, I got TCU to cover. Yeah. I wonder if it's possible if Bill Belichick gets his ass kicked right out of the gate. I don't think, I thought about this, but I don't think so. I think he's smart enough to know.

he's dealing with, he can muck this game up enough to make sure that doesn't happen and make sure they're in it at the end. I just have always pushed back at this. And I will push back at it one final time as we head into this glorious weekend, guys, that just because you coached in the NFL and just because you were really good in the NFL does not mean that you are superior to your colleagues. I don't know that I believe because Bill Belichick coached the Patriots that he can evaluate the portal better than Sammy Dykes. Maybe it'll turn out that he can. But do you think that Bill Belichick is a, because of his NFL experience is a more superior

talent evaluator of high school students and young 20-year-olds who have very little tape than somebody in college who's been doing this for seven years? Because I don't think those two things translate. And I think that you have to take a pretty big leap of faith in Bill Belichick's Tom Brady success to think that just. because he's Bill Belichick. He's going to take a roster that has four players on it that anybody who watches college football has ever heard of and play a team that might contend for the Big 12th championship very close right out of the gate. Is that a fair assessment? I'm not trying

to be mean, and I'm not even saying that he won't be good down the line. But I don't know. It's fair. We have no idea. We don't know what's going to happen. That's, I just don't think NFL credentials get you right out of the gate, the benefit of the doubt that you're of superior your college coach and program builder than somebody who took TCU to the national title yeah i mean if you if you walked into a great roster that'd be one thing but that's not what they did that's not what they walked in like the NFL this is a cure all to their ailment and it's like i don't know if that's a that's a fair expectation that's all it's also go ahead it's also not necessarily bellichick it's mike lombardi the gm yeah that i think he's a

bigger bigger factor than bellichick i think he's hell of a hell of a podcaster mike lombard Yes, he is, and former Visan host. But, yeah, I think, but that's a great point, Ari. But I think it's not necessarily Belichick. I think it's more Lombardi, specifically, on how much he's evaluated these players and how well they can do. And again, they've done all this in a short period of time. We'll see.

We'll either be geniuses or idiots on Monday and move on. I'm used to being an idiot. But Mr. Idiot to you. In a few minutes, you're going to hear from the guy who is coaching against Bill Belichick in that game. TCU coach Sunny Dikes. But first, we're going to talk about Starbucks. For those of us who love college football, fall begins the moment that toe meets leather, even if it's still 90 degrees outside. For coffee lovers, fall against the moment, pumpkin returns at Starbucks. Well, guess what pumpkin is back? Consider this your early

autumnal equinox. This week, you've got football, and you've got pumpkin season at Starbucks, and you can grab your pumpkin cream coal brew on your way to the tailgate. Specifically, If you are going to the Miami Notre Dame game in South Florida on Sunday, you can stop by the Starbucks on Northwest 27th Avenue and visit the Starbucks coffee kickoff with On 3 and special guest. Former Kane, greatest return man who ever played football, Devin Hester, plus live music, custom merch, and of course, pumpkin cream, cold brew.

I don't care what the calendar or the thermometer says, It is now fall. So grab your favorite Starbucks pumpkin beverage, hot or ice, and settle in for the greatest college football season ever and start it on Sunday at the Starbucks on Northwest 27th Avenue in South Florida, visiting with Devin Hester, our guy, J.D. Pekyll. What a better way to start college football season. There isn't one.

That is how you pre-tailgate. That is how you do it. Pumpkin coal brew and football. It's fall now. baby all right guys now we've talked bellichick let's hear from the guy who's going to play against bill bellichick and of course sunny dykes had to play against dion sanders in dion's first game at colorado lost that one can he strike back against chapel bill we are joined by tCU coach sonny dikes we've been talking classic vehicles because sunny has a 72 bronco fully restored now and purple you get

so what kind of looks do you get driving that around port worth well let me make sure i say this first it's my wife's car ah yes she'll kill me yes yeah but um yeah it's it's actually fun to drive around we it's kind of our nice weather car we get out and we live you know three blocks on campus and so we'll get out driving around campus a little bit and it's fun we get a lot of we do get a lot of looks though does the top come off and everything oh the no top they don't even have a top yeah so it's got a soft top I don't even know how to I don't even know how to hook it up so they are they giving you the the frog signal yeah yeah yeah we get lots of honks and all that kind of stuff and yeah we don't drive it much though when we when we lose yeah it's more easier to see well yeah that's a true classic

people are clowning me because they called I told everybody the car that I bought in the channel And they're like, congratulations are you bought an old used car. But yeah, that's awesome. It's good to see you, Sonny. Yeah, glad to be here. We are, I'll get right to it. You have to open with Bill Belichick. Yeah, yeah.

You had to open with Dion Sanders two years ago. You have to open with Bill Belichick's first. Like, for you, as a coach. Yeah, exactly. Is Vince Lombardi coming back and to coach? Yeah, there's a good chance. But as a coach, what is that like when you find out you're about the coach against Bill Belichick? Yeah, yeah, it's interesting.

I mean, it's, you know, college football never stops being surreal at times. You know, you think about, you know, I watch Dion growing up play football and you go, you know, you don't ever think, well, yeah, one of these days I'm going to coach against this guy. Yeah. And same thing with Belichick, you know, you watch all these games and Super Bowls and whatever and just never see that as a potential matchup and then wake up one day and it is. I mean, it's just the weirdness of college football. You find yourselves in these weird positions all the time with these people.

Familiar past. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean, yeah, it's just, it's just really strange. You know, you get to know people and have a relationship with guys. And like I got to know Roger Staubach well. That was my hero growing up. His grandson was a walk-on player for us at TCU. And I went to the Kentucky Derby one year, Terry Bradshaw,

through a coaching relationship. And, you know, like I said, those guys were my heroes when I was a little kid. And it's just, it's bizarre sometimes. Yeah. That Labor Day game, though, how big of an opportunity is that for your program? Well, a big deal. I mean, it's a big deal for our program. You know, we're trying to get back on track.

and you know and get back to where we were in 22 and you got to win those kind of games that that's what you want to do it doesn't really matter who the coach is uh obviously that that team's going to be very well prepared you know he knows what he's doing as a really really good football coach obviously you know one of the best that's ever ever coached and so you better um you better be well prepared and and you know there's going to be some unknowns going into the game particularly what are they going to do on offense and and how does their offensive coordinator mesh with the quarterback that they have and all the things. But it's going to be interesting to see, but it should be an exciting ball game. It's the only game on Labor Day. So there's going to be

a lot of eyeballs on it. So it's a great opportunity for our players. What did you learn from the Colorado experience? Well, you know, we didn't have, we were coming off of that really good run in 22. We got pretty much decimated, you know, with, with our roster. We lost a lot of the seniors of that group. And we had seven juniors that declared early for the draft. So we got wiped out pretty good. You know, but we didn't do a good job of getting our guys ready, you know, and prepared for that because there was so much talk about the game and so much hype and all the things.

And so we're going to need to do a better job of preparing our guys, you know, psychologically and mentally to go in there and, you know, just ignore all the chatter, positive, negative, whatever it may be. You know, Belichick's, like I said, one of the greatest coaches that's overdone this, but he's not going to play quarterback. He's not going to make any plays. The hype around him is minuscule in comparison to what you were dealing with Dion in terms of like outside chatter. But it's Bill freaking Bill.

I know. I'm not saying. Yeah, it's not going to be a chance. Yeah, it's still going to be a lot. And we are, I mean, just again, that being the Labor Day Monday game, that's the only game on. Yeah, but I think that the whole thing with Dion was, all this guy's in over his head. Right. Yeah, it's a different clown.

No one thinks he can do it. And then, you know, you have this guy over here. It's interesting because the element of that game that you were coming off the national championship run. You'd lost him. Yeah. because it's only been a few years, but it feels like the sport has changed entirely. Yeah. In those, like how different is building a team now versus then?

Yeah, I mean, everything changes. I mean, it changes week to week in college football now sometimes. You know, it's different. I mean, there's different challenges. Obviously, the transfer portal and NIL kind of happening at the same time. Those are two things that needed to happen in my estimation. I mean, players always should have had more freedom to leave. players should have always been compensated.

The two happening at the same time made it very difficult. Yeah, and made a lot of things very unstable. But look, man, that's part of college football. I mean, there's always challenges. You're going to have to figure things out. We've always prided ourselves on trying to be ahead of the curve and find creative ways to get an advantage. And so you've got to figure out how to make this work for you.

So we heard everybody liked your quarterback this offseason. How did you make sure he's going to throw? Yeah, yeah. We had, yeah, he had some suitors. You know what? Great thing about him. He didn't care. You know what I mean?

I mean, somebody threw a pretty substantial amount of money at him and he never wavered, didn't come back and ask us for more. And none of that stuff happened. He just, you know, he loves TCU, he loves his teammates, loves a team. You know, it's a hard thing to do to turn that kind of money, but especially when you're his age. But it was easy for him. He's just that kind of kid.

like where you're just like driving around in a bronco and you get a phone call hey someone's trying to get my quarterback like what are you doing yeah you know it's funny i kind of found out after the fact i mean it was one of those things where i'm like everybody else i heard about one player leaving a certain school and then i heard about that certain school reaching out to our guy or however that takes place you know in today's world maybe the reaching out through the agent is my guess um and then you know it was kind of over and so there wasn't any any kind of prolonged conversations. No, Josh and I didn't even have a conversation about it. I mean, I called him in after the fact, and I was like, I just want you to know, we appreciate it. And he was like, of course, coach. I mean, I never, never even entertained it. It's interesting because we hear about the players who do leave or who demand more money.

But I imagine there's probably just as many or more. Who are happy where they are, who treat it like Josh did. Yeah, no question. I mean, look, I mean, this football players are no different than guys in your industry or any other business for that matter. Some of them will move across the country, get into a lot worse situation, jeopardize their future for a dollar more. Other guys, they understand how good it is.

They're long-term thinkers, they're big-picture people. And, you know, they make decisions based on different things. And so, you know, and there's all kinds of people, not just football players, but guys in your field and coaching and all the different things. I'm embarrassed. Why? Sometimes I've made short-sighted this. We've both taken the money, but we've also, I know, I've, nothing's burned down more.

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, look, I mean, when I, when I came to TCU, I mean, no big deal, but I never one time asked what my salary was going to be. I wanted to coach there. I knew they would do what they were supposed to do. I took the job. I agreed to it. There was never any conversation about what I was going to get paid. When I got hired.

And I know people don't believe that, but it's the true. When I got hired Sports Illustrated, I did that. I told the guy. yes and then like five seconds later I said I should have asked you how much you're going to pay oh by the way what I didn't pay yeah I know I'm not a great negotiator you know what I went I but I it's you know I wanted to be there and so it is what it is son you've been all over the country as a coach in different eras and I don't know if my podcast audience knows this but when I was a student reporter Arizona you were the office coordinator yeah yeah that's how far I you know

you and I've crossed yeah oh yeah but another coach said this day and it kind of stuck me because I'd never heard somebody say it like this before, but he said, now we're building the team, not a program. Yeah. I kind of disagree with that. Okay. Yeah, I mean, I do think you probably have to have a little bit more of a, okay, every year is a different challenge. But I do think you can build a culture, and I do think that that culture can sustain itself. And I do think that, you know, for us at TCU, you know, we lost, we had 13 players going the transfer portal this year.

Okay. Of those 13, 11 of those guys came and said, what, what's my role going to be? We said, you're going to be a scout team player. And they said, well, I want to transfer. And I said, well, let us know what we can do to help you. You know, we want it, we want, I want you to be in the best situation you can be in. And it was as amical as can be. And it was good for both parties. And it was just kind of the way it's supposed to happen. And it's a way for these young people to create a better opportunity for themselves and better themselves and have a chance to get on the field and contribute. and advance their career. So I don't think that's a bad thing. Now, with two other guys, it wasn't as clean.

That's okay, though. That's part of the process. But again, I just believe that if a player thinks that you care about them as a person, not just as a football player, and they believe that they have a chance to be successful, and they believe that you're developing them, more than likely, they're not going to leave, you know, because they're going to think, look, we can win here,

which is fun. I'm living in Fort Worth, which is a great city. I'm going to TCU, which is an incredible school. I'm eating the best food. I'm with the best strength and conditioning coaches. I'm with really good position coaches. I'm with people that are going to develop me and get me as good as I can become. And I'm having a great experience. And oh, by the way, these people actually care about me, they're not going to leave. And so that's what we try to do. That's what we've always tried to do. The approach really is no different now than it was when I was the coordinator at Arizona and you know you want guys that want to be there and and you know and if you do it the right way most of the time they're not going to want to leave i was talking to one of

your guys and he was explaining to me when you're recruiting high schoolers that you actually cast a pretty small net yeah these days how do you decide someone merits a tc yeah we're i mean we're we don't throw out mass offers you know i mean for us you know people say well is the offer commitable is not committable if we offer you a scholarship it's committable you know we don't go out and offer 400 people um before we know them we get them we want to get them on our campus we want to have a chance to get around them to see if we think they're a good fit we want to make sure that we're a good fit for them and you know and and try to relationship recruit you know we're not a transactional program you know don't get me wrong there's transactions that take place within the program

but it's not a transactional program it's a relationship program and and that's the way we want to to be. When you get to the stage that you guys got a few years ago, obviously that might have been some of the best times you've ever asked to speak for you. Yeah, yeah, it's fun. Yeah, yeah. It was a blast, yeah. But I also feel like, too, with how many teams have proven at times that you can invest a ton of money or buy a bunch of players and actually have a really good season. Yep. Despite the fact there are pitfalls that, you know, you have to pay for it down the line. Yeah, for sure. Have you had to rein yourself in or try to, Yeah, paste that again.

Yeah, that's a great, that's a great question. That's probably honestly the best question I've been asked all day. Look at that. Yeah, I know. Look at you. All grown up. Arizona. I can imagine how stupid the questions were when he was a student.

But, yeah, I mean, look, you got to be careful not to do that. You know what I mean? Because in our profession, you know, you're competitive. And so you see, you know, you're recruiting these players and they get offered a ridiculous amount of money from some school. And it doesn't make any sense. and you lose the guy to that school. And you just go, well, you know, could we, why can they do that? Why can't we do that?

And then you sit down and you have to start having a conversation. You go, well, because it's really, really bad for the long-term success of our program. And, oh, by the way, that's what our job is, is to put our players every single year, not every other year, not every three years, not every four years, and the very best situation that we can put them in the most consistent, and give us a chance to get on a run. You know what I mean? And if you only have a good team once every three years or every four years or however that is,

then the run might not time up with the really good players, if that makes sense. You might have an eight-year layoff. Exactly. You know what I'm saying? And so for us, we want to be consistent. We want to put our guys in a position every year to be successful. We want to build a program kind of the old-fashioned way, develop players, bring them in, develop them, create relationships, and watch.

them get better and watch them grow up and watch them improve and we think that's the best long-term way to to have success it also seems like tc u is poised to compete yeah you have donors who seem willing yeah i think so for sure yeah yeah we do i mean we're look we're you know the one thing that gets us we have 100 000 alumni okay well texas and texas nm have a million right so i mean that's that's a lot of people that we don't have that went to school there and that's a lot of quality people yeah and that's a lot of eyeballs but we're fortunate though we have some very successful people that care deeply about our program. And most importantly, our university knows how important football success is to this university. And so, you know, there's alignment from the

top down. You know, it was great when we were done with that season. Our chancellor at the time, Victor Bershini, commissioned to study for somebody to come in externally and tell us what the value of that national championship was. It was over $2 billion to the university. Two billion. And so I think at that point, yeah, so I think at that point, I think at that point are, you know, everybody said, okay, look, football is important to the mission of this university. And it's actually one of the pillars that our university has is being competitive in athletics. And so anyway, it all begins there. If you don't have that alignment, you know, you can't, you can't check that box. And, you know, you can't move to another box until you check that one.

And so anyway, we check that box. and then we have support and we have all the things that we need. We have a great base to recruit to in DFW and the state of Texas. And so, you know, you can start checking the boxes about what do you need to have a successful football program. Well, we appreciate it, Coach. Yeah, thank you guys. If you are cruising around Fort Worth and you see a classic Bronco with no top, wave, be nice. Yes, I was going to ask.

Purple and white. Yeah, it's hard to miss. I was going to ask what the license plate was. I don't know what that is. I don't know what that is. Security. Yeah, yeah, I don't know. I don't think you could miss it.

Plus, you know what? I don't even know. It was a vanity place. No vanity plates. No vanity plates for us, yeah. Frogs won. Yeah, we're just trying to make sure it can pass inspection. Thank you, son. All right.

Coach, appreciate it. That is CCU coach, Sonny Dykes. He's playing against Bill Belichick on Monday night. Elsewhere in ACC land, because that game's going to be in Chapel Hill. Ari and I are headed to Clemson. Ari's never been to Clemson before. Brett and I have been to Clemson. So we're going to talk about that.

But we have a new segment called the full-time fans of the week because we are now sponsored by Medello. And Medello celebrates full-time fans. So we're going to celebrate the full-time fans of the week. For this week, the Clemson fans. They show up in droves. They pack the place, Memorial Stadium. They call it Death Valley.

obviously LSU, the team that is playing Clemson, calls their stadium, Tiger Stadium, Death Valley. We will probably have a senseless argument over what is the real Death Valley. I don't think it matters. What I do think is the fans at Clemson are incredible. They are loud. They are passionate.

And Brett, you've been there. Can we offer the disclaimer so that it keeps people from making silly tweets at the end of the night on Saturday? If Clemson wins, they're not rushing the field. They're meeting at the paw. They do it after every game. They actually do it after losses, too. So if Clemson loses, they will probably also come down onto the field.

But that's what I... Were you a little surprised your first time there when they did that? Yeah, I was. And what's funny, even though it's become more well-known, when after the game, Pete, you'll see people say, oh, they just beat App State. and their fans are rushing the field. I guess you can keep telling people, but not everyone's going to realize it.

But yeah, and then the ACC now is finding schools that rush the field. But obviously, once the visiting team leaves the premises, they're welcome to go out there. But look, I think it's one of the cool traditions in college football. The fact that they do that, no matter who the opponent is, you know, will they do it after a win Saturday? I absolutely think so. Oh, yeah. And here's the thing about the Clemson fan base. And so this is not like Ohio State or Michigan where there's a billion living alumni and, you know, only a small percentage of the people are at the game. Clemson is not that big of a school. A lot of the fan base is at every game. And so this is a group of people that, you know, everybody knows everybody. They love, love their tigers. They're very passionate about this. They've been on an incredible. ride are you've talked about what dabbo's done at clemson you talked about how he's done the thing nobody

else can do where you could take a team that was pretty good and turn it into elite and this fan base has really enjoyed the ride but i got to say they were they were doing this long before clemson was a national title contender i cannot wait to get there i've never been there and i love that like this new opportunity at on three and you know doing this the show with you and we got our buddy Brett on on board now too that i get to go experience new places um and clemson is a team that i've written extensively about because even back on uh you know during my days on the ohio state beat clemson was a quasi rival to them they were competing for a lot of the same players they were they were meeting regularly in the postseason and you know

clemson became the alabama like figure in ohio states locker room for a few years down there um i cannot wait i think they're going to be awesome this year i think they're going to um win this game on Saturday. And I also think that Dabo Sweeney is going to reassert himself as the mad scientist of college football. And I can't wait to see the first step in that direction, potentially on Saturday. And if nothing else, if they lose an interesting game, because LHU has got a pretty important situation here, too. As I wrote on on three on Wednesday, I think it's the juiciest game. Yeah.

Now, the first step, of course, is down the hill because you touch Howard's rock, you run down the hill. Brett, you've seen how steep that hill is. I'm shocked anybody sprints down that hill. Like, I would break my leg. I would just trip and break my leg. Yeah, you know, because that obviously would be live on the internet till the end of time. But yeah, it's pretty impressive. Again, it's really cool.

That's what I talked earlier about, you know, super leagues and all that stuff. That's what makes college so much better than the NFL is stuff like that, what they do at Clemson and Howard's Rock, but yeah, I've talked to Davvo about running down the hill. It's, it's an experience for sure. Of course, if one of the LSU players wants to be truly legendary, he could do what Deion Sanders did when he played at Florida State. Dion Sanders, I can't remember what, I think it was 1988, I want to say, stood at the bottom of the hill and said, bring it on. And then Florida State won. Now, you have to win. to do it. So like if DJ Pickett wants to celebrate his first college game by standing at the bottom

of the hill and going bring it on, like LSU better win. But I will say this is a mix of two fan bases that in terms of how much they really know how to party, it's spectacular. So the LSU fans will be a great addition when they, you know, as they're visiting because they love college football. They love the new environments. You've seen them swarm like when they went and played Wisconsin at Lambeau Field. You're going to see a bunch of purple and gold. The Clemson fans will be great hosts. It's going to be amazing. So bring that Modelo to your tailgates, hand them out, whether you're a Clemson fan, LSU fan, celebrate because you guys are the full-time fans of the week. Grab yourself of Modello and stay game day ready all season long. I cannot wait for this.

something else I cannot wait for. Brett McMurphy, the last time he was on, promised the next time he came on, he was going to have trivia for R&I. So we're going to do that. But first, I do have to tell everybody about one more thing, and that is our friends at Huell, complete nutrition, in a bottle.

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It is going to be exactly what you need if you're busy, if you've got a bunch of kids and a bunch of kids stuff you've got to get to. That's what happens to me is my wife hands me this list of you've got to be here, you've got to do this, you've got to be here at this time. Sometimes I got time to put the powder in the Hewel bottle, shake it up and go. But I know I'm getting a complete meal when I do that. Now, new customers get 15% off at Hewle.com. Use the code Staples 15 on your first purchase of $75 more. You also get a free gift, which I think might be a Hewel T-shirt, which those are the best workout shirts.

I've got like three of them now. They're incredible. So Huell.com, H-U-E-L.com, use the code Staples 15 for 15. percent off. Your first purchase of $75 or more. Complete nutrition when you need it right now. All right, Brett. It is time. I've been stressed about this. You've teased this. Ari is freaking out. It's awesome. I don't know the answer to any trip. Andy and I were in Vegas for Big Ten Media Day and they had trivia on the TV about everything and I didn't know a single answer. I don't know anything. I'll add to that this morning. we're texting back and forth about the show with Producer River.

And Ari said, Sunday is my one-year anniversary at On 3. And I'm like, no, it's not. Monday is your one-year anniversary at On 3 because your one-year anniversary is September 1st. And Ari's like, yeah, I don't know how many days are in each month. Or the fact that's Labor Day on Monday. So, Andy, is a new employee to On 3, how do I get some gear from Roeback?

How do I get some Hewle? How do I get some Bet MGM? You got to host a show. Do I get to talk to Shannon or what do I have to do here? Well, I mean, Shannon Terry, our founder can make everything you want happen. So that's a good phone call to make right there. I'm just wondering, you're holding up all these items. I'm like, wow, it's like a, you know, it's like a bunch of people coming out of a clown car.

What's next? The Huell thing, I will say, one of the better, like, because I love when we get one that we don't really know much about, and then it turns out to be fantastic. Huel came on board last football season, and they were just awesome from the get-go. And I was like, my kids would steal them and take them to school. I'd grab them. My wife would grab them on the way out to work. So I love it when we got. And then the Mdello came in, and Ari and I were talking about this the other day, all I had to do was open the fridge in my garage.

garage and there was Madello and Madelo Negra already in there. He had to buy the beer himself. I don't know what. Yeah, I bought the beer myself because they weren't an advertiser yet. I just liked it. So, all right, let's get into this trivia. I'm excited. Okay. So real quick question. Do you guys, I've got, I mean, I'll have stuff all year if you want to do it. If River can create it, a scoreboard as the season goes on, that'd be even better. But I'll ask you this. Do you want to, do you want a question right out of the gate with only one answer? Or do you want one with eight? answers? Let's start with one and then we can move on to eight. Well, no, I'm just saying

because you have more chance to get, you can go back and forth on how many of the eight you can get. Well, let's, let's, let's, which one do you think I'll be most likely to be humiliated by? Well, the first one answer, but it will, if we're short for time, I would go the one answer. We've got time. It's the internet, Brett. It's the internet. But the other one is a list of, list of coaches so there's eight coaches so you would you can go back and forth until we get all eight okay let's start with one and then we'll move on to eight okay all right so this so who goes first well we'll do it together do it together does that ask the question and then we'll take a minute say your name if you want to buzz in say your name so i'll say Andy I'm buzzing it okay all right

so yeah you've built it all up here we go pretty anticlimat climatic there is only one power four school since in the last five years that has had the same head coach offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator what school is that in the last five years for the past five years power for school so this would start in 2020 or 2021 21 21 Because this is the fifth year. Andy, Texas. You are correct, sir. Yes.

Now, Kyle Flood does not call the plays. The offensive coordinator is Steve Sarkeesian. Kyle Flood is the offensive line. I didn't say call plays. I said, same offensive coordinator. And Pete Witkowski's been the D.C. That's a good one. Yeah, that was a good thing.

I wouldn't have gotten it. But how crazy is college football that, and by the way, last year, Texas was the only school that had the same head coach's offensive coordinator defense for the past four years so this i mean that's that's how much you know revolving door everything is in college of athletics where you know last year four years this year five years um you know that's that's crazy and i think that's why texas had a great deal of success obviously yeah yeah that's good i would have gone because like that's like the clemson blueprint and i'm like well i can't be clemson because they've hired and they just fired a defensive coordinator

hired because that's a coordinator. So I, yeah. And there isn't that there isn't that many coaches that have been around five head coaches. So that eliminates, you know. When Andy got the answer right,

I was eliminating programs in my head that haven't had coaches for head coaches for five years. And it's Iowa firing Brian Ferrence after 2023 that allows that because it would have been them if he'd have stuck around. I mean, that would have been the longest because him, Phil Parker and Kirk Ferrence. So Andy takes a. One nothing leave.

Commanding, one nothing late. Don't worry. We're going to have the results of our picks against the spread that Ari is going to dominate me on. Yeah, last year I smoked Andy against the spread and also smoke the entire playoff field. Like I think I went 11 and 1 against the spread in the playoff. And the only game that I lost was the one game that I missed in the entire bracket, which was Ohio State losing to Oregon. I picked Oregon to win the game.

But then the rest of the bracket on the bottom half of it, and then the rest of the Ohio State games so the rest of the year, nailed it. Let me have this thing, Ari. Yeah, you can have your trivia. But, no, like those questions, like, I think are fascinating, revelatory and spark debate. My ability to recall information as quickly as Andy is just,

I think if you gave me an hour and I had a piece of paper, I can figure it out, but, like, on the spot like that, no shot. That's the tricky part about that question is you're thinking of offensive play callers and you're not thinking that Kyle Floods had that title. Also, I can't believe Kyle Flood's been at Texas for five years already. Like, it's like we're getting old. And he may be the most important assistant they have. Yeah.

But that was fun. That was fun. Why does so remind people that when we all have had the same pick on a game, we've never lost? Of course, this is the first time we've ever had the same pick on the same game. And Friday, on three, I will have my picks column debuting. And you didn't ask, but I do like, I do like Clemson to win in cover in Death Valley Jr. this weekend. So all three of us are on that, too, by the way.

Yeah. Yeah, I'm going to, like, one thing before we go. No, no, no, we have to do the eight coaches answer. Oh, okay. But let me just say this thing, too, that I've been wanting to say. And I didn't say it for some reason when we talked about the game to begin with. But, like, what if Garrett Nussmeyer, DJ Pickett and one other player, Harold Perkins, on LSU all reach their, like, ceilings this year? They could be really, really good.

So I don't want, I don't like, DJ Pickett, when you said his name was like a lightning bolt hit the tip of my, you know what. Because, like, you know, he's a absolute monster. LSU's got freaks again. They've got freaks. And you never know what can happen when the team has freaks. All right. let's hear the next question Brett oh you want you want it now or you want to wait hold it for next week no let's do it now we're going to make you work oh wow

you're going to have plenty I'm going to have to do a lot of research okay um so this one you can go back and forth so it's not like so are you go first um and then andy until we get all eight pretty simple question name the eight coaches that have played in conference championship games the past two years. Ari, you're up first. James Franklin. Matt Campbell. What do you mean? Why is that wrong? Franklin has been in the Big Ten title game the last two years? Yes, he was there last year. Last year. Last two years. Oh, oh. Oh, I thought you met him. Oh, okay. Sorry, sorry, sorry. All right. River cut that. Don't cut it. It's okay. we both we both missed it so yeah i'm sorry yeah the last each of the last two years

eight coaches okay very open so are you're not going first that's that's one andy yep okay are you next steve sarkeesian that's two different and nice two different conferences but yes very good okay and sir danielson Yes. Five remaining. I'm trying to remember. I don't know if Sharon Moore counts because was he the acting coach two years ago at the time? Not in the championship game.

Harbaugh is back. Okay. And so I'm going to go Davosweeney. Incorrect. What? Andy? Yeah, not in 23. They didn't play.

Kirby Smart is one of them. Yes. Kirby, actually, Andy, you want to guess he has the most consecutive conference title appearances? You want to guess how many of that is? It's everyone since 2017. So, no, no, that's right. No, no, I'm sorry, you're right. Because Florida was the East Champion in 2020. So it's 21, 22, 23, 24.

Four and right. Correct. That's the longest current streak of any coach. Wow. Okay. So we have four more now? We've got four. Kirby Smart, Steve Sarkesian, Spencer Danielson, and Barry Odom. There's four coaches. For those you don't know, Barry Odom is now produced coach, but he was UNLV's coach the last two years. UNLV played Boise State both years, Spencer Danielson's Boise State's coach. I'm trying to think. Is John Summerall an answer? Yes.

Oh, that's right, because he won it at Troy and then played it in it too late. He's been in three consecutive. He's the only other coach that's been more than two times. He's been in three consecutive. Nice one in there. All right, two to go. They have each been in the past two conference title games. Are we just working?

Red Lashley was in two conference title games in different conferences. You are correct, Andy. Nice job. Yeah, because they won the American in 23. They won the American and then the ACC. So I was wrong. We had three left. Now we have two left.

Okay. Oh, now we have two left. Is Dan Lanning one? Man, Andy, this is good. We're going to have to lay points from this. Yeah. I mean, I thought we were going over the other and he's just like blowing.

I guess we're not. I guess we're not. Andy's up five to two. We've got one left. Oh, I didn't even know we were keeping score. I thought we were working together. Okay, is Charles Huff one? No, but that's a good good.

Yeah, they won the Sunbelt last year, but Marshall was not in it the year before. This is so tricky. Would you like a hint? Yes. Small hint. It is a group of five coach. I figured that. Group of five, coach.

Let's see. Now you're trying to remember who played for the Mac title. Is it Chuck Martin? Annie Staples for the win. Very impressive. Miami of Ohio, by the way. Chuck Martin. I'm not going to.

recently for his rant after Alabama took his kicker last year. Yeah. So a lot of those guys have been in consecutive conference title games with different schools. But yeah, Kirby's got the longest current streak, four in a row, John Summerall, three conference titles in a row, and the rest of the guys we mentioned two in a row. So how long will those continue until we get rid of conference title games? Yeah.

Which we always come back to the beginning on this show. We always, it's always, it'll be when there's a 20 team big 10 and a 20 team SEC, and they split into four divisions. And it's, yeah. Kirby Smart can no longer go to an SEC title game because there's no longer a title game. He'll get his own version of the SEC East again, though. So that'll make him happy. Yeah.

Yeah. My ability to recall information is impossible. And like remembering who played in the conference championship games two years ago was a relative and impossibility for me. But you're better at picking games against the spread, which I feel like is a much more valuable skill. Yeah, exactly. Ari, which one would you rather have?

Trivia or picking winners? Come on. I'd rather answer to that. Yeah. Yeah, well, thanks for gassing me up a little bit. I'm a little embarrassed, but now I'm going to go get my, you know, I'm going to start like studying things because if you're going to do this to me every week,

I can't go. Like, you want to set a line for the actual trivia question. You should set a line for the season on how many I win. if we have 15 questions in the 15 week period. Am I going to go like 4 and 11 or am I going to go 0 and 15? I don't know. We'll see. Oh, so you want to win total?

Okay. Yeah. Ari's win total. I'm going to set Ari's win total at 3.5. Yeah. Well, I'll tell you. I'm going to juice the under. Juice the under.

So basically, Ari is the college football version of Stanford is what you're saying. Yeah. Bet MGM? Just, you know, put your experts on this, but I'm, I feel like three and a half. half's a good number here. Yeah, yeah. Well, thanks for doing that, Brad. It was fun.

That was beautiful. You got it. So tomorrow, Tyler Shoemaker will join us with the best bets of the week. We picked the games earlier in the week. Those are the games that everybody's talking about. Tyler's going to bring in some games that maybe you're not thinking about, that you should be thinking about for Saturday when you open your bet MGM app. So, been a fun week already.

We got games Thursday night. We'll get you ready for Nebraska and Cincinnati. Let's go. We're almost there. I'll talk to tomorrow.