Andy & Ari On3 - Defining SUCCESS in 2026: Texas Tech, Michigan, & LSU | Will Kentucky and Nebraska make a jump?

Episode Date: March 17, 2026

While college basketball is a driving conversation topic this week, Andy & Ari take a dive into five college football programs and define what success looks like for each program. Watch here as the guys dive deep into Texas Tech, Michigan, LSU, Nebraska, and Kentucky. What are your thoughts for each of these teams? Let us know in the comments below!   (0:00) On Today's Episode (1:15) Presenting Sponsor (3:24) Intro: Defining Success (9:15) Success for Texas Tech in 2026 (21:20) Success for Kyle Whittingham and Michigan in 2026 (33:45) LSU in Lane Kiffin's first year (44:10) Nebraska's Success in 2026 (58:35) Kentucky ahead of Will Stein's first season (1:09:38) Conclusion: First Four tonight!   As Texas Tech ran its way through the Big 12 conference in 2025, how do the Red Raiders and Joey McGuire sustain success in 2026? Bringing in Brendan Sorsby from Cincinnati, Texas Tech looks to return to the College Football Playoff. Will the Red Raiders run the Big 12 again in 2026?   While Michigan tasted success a few years ago with Jim Harbaugh, the Wolverines are eager to get back to the College Football Playoff. With the arrival of Kyle Whittingham in Ann Arbor, can Bryce Underwood lead UM to be a top competitor?   LSU has been a topic of discussion all offseason, and they likely will continue to be. As Lane Kiffin prepares for his first season in Baton Rouge, do the Tigers have to make the College Football Playoff in year one? What are real and fair expectations for Lane Kiffin at LSU?   Over in Lincoln, Nebraska, the Husker fanbase is looking for signs of optimism and hope entering Matt Rhule's 4th season. While the Huskers have struggled in recent memory, Matt Rhule and company just need to continue to stack successful years together. What should fans expect in Lincoln?   As Kentucky is typically regarded as a basketball school, the support in Big Blue Nation runs deep on the gridiron as well. Bringing in Will Stein from Oregon, what are reasonable expectations for the Wildcats in Kroger Field this year? Andy & Ari debate.   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 sure you 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! https://www.on3.com/join Watch our show on YouTube instead! https://youtu.be/YrvYa2X1sEo Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari Wasserman Producer: 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 edition of Andy and Ari on three presented by BetMGM, we continue our series of what constitutes success for your college football program. We did Florida last week and said, we needed to be doing more teams because this is a fascinating question. It's not a ceiling. It's not a floor. It's what do you, the fan, consider it to be a successful 2026. So we're going to do five teams today, all in different places in the college football. We're doing Michigan, Nebraska, Texas Tech, LSU, and Kentucky. All in different places.

We got teams that have playoff aspirations. We have teams that have national title aspirations. We've got teams that aspire to a winning season. We've got teams that just hired a new coach. A lot of different situations and a lot of different definitions of success. And I think it's fascinating where everybody sits. So five more teams. What is your team's definition of success?

We'll break it down for those five today on Andy and Orion 3 presented by BedmGM. This show is sponsored by BedMGM and the Caveter Twins are facing off in BedmGM's Court of Legends game. And you can enter Bedmgm's Pick a Twin to Win free to play game for a chance to win a share of $2 million in bonus bets. Here's how to get this offer in three easy steps. Opt in to the Pick a Twin to win free to play game. select which cabinet twin, either Haley or Hannah, you think will win the one-on-one game at the bank,

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So lots of fun things from BEDMGM in one of the biggest sports weeks of the year. So make it legendary with BEDA. MGM. See bedmgm.com for terms. 21 plus only U.S. promotional offers are not available in New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. Gambling problem. Call 1-800

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off in Iowa or 1-8-100. 981-0023 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 Andy and Ariane 3 presented by BetMGM.

And I want to thank Crane and Cohn, our friends, Head on three, our fellow on three podcast, YouTube showmates, for helping with this idea, Ari, we're being thieves here. Let's be real. I'm fine with it. It's mid-March.

Hey, here, here. Come get me. Here are the cuffs. Yeah, happy St. Paddy's Day. Feel free to pinch us for this one. Have a green beer and enjoy this because we did this last week. So I did a segment on Crane and Cone, with Danny Cannell, and they were having us, quote, unquote, debate Florida and Florida State.

There was really nothing to debate about it. But Danny brought up something interesting that really piqued my curiosity because he said something to the tune of, well, I'm not sure if eight and four is good enough for Florida fans in year one under John Somerall. And I thought, well, I think it would be, wouldn't it? And then Ari and I talked it out on the show the next day. It was a really great discussion. And I feel like we can do that for almost every team in college football because I think there's a few. that maybe it's a little too easy.

Like if we did Ohio State, we would say, what's a successful season? A national championship. And anything less probably isn't. But I think everybody else has a lot of varying degrees of success. And I realize every fan base isn't a monolith, Ari,

but I feel like most people in a particular fan base are going to land in basically the same place. Yeah. And I also think, too, that what constitutes, is a success. What constitutes as a success? Say it five times fast. Do it now. Do it now. I don't know. I think I had a stroke there for a second. I'm back. But what is a success also is a moving target within the same program based on where they are and what they've done recently, too. Yes. Like what is a success for Tennessee right now is not going to be what a success for Tennessee is in three years.

You know, like I think that, you know, having this in as like an annual like check in point. coaches have new teams. Coaches have, I mean, new teams have new, teams have new coaches. Teams have experience. Coaches also have new teams in this era. Right. Like, very new teams. Things that go into play, too, with what it is.

And I actually think, too, Andy, this will be a revelatory show for fans listening because you and I aren't emotionally invested in these teams. And I think when you're emotionally invested, how you feel, um, in terms of what successes can vary. I think from a baseline like 30,000 foot view. standpoint, this will probably give you a nice measuring stick. If you're a fan of one of these teams to say, hey, here's what people on the outside think, then you can decide for yourself what you would be happy with.

But I think that these are really interesting teams that we're going to be discussing today, all of which are in transition of some sort. So I'm excited to get into it. And honestly, like, I'm excited to talk about football for an hour with you. Well, and by all means, if you're in the chat or if you're listening or if you're watching and you think we got it completely wrong, let us know. because it's a mailback question. If we get along, submit a mailbag question explaining why and we'll revisit it.

Yeah, because I do think there is sometimes a difference between what people on the inside think and what people on the outside think. But this is just a fantastic exercise because it can probably help you as you go into the season. Because if you have the correct expectations, you may find yourself not disappointed when the team doesn't meet what the loftiest of lofty goals. Like if you think if your expectation is really your team ceiling, there's a good chance you're going to be disappointed this year. If you come in with the correct ones, then it may, you know, your team may surprise you or you may have just a little a little bit more fun not having ultra high expectations, not having unreachable expectations.

But I do think this is going to be a fun exercise. So we pick five teams for today, Ari. And if we didn't do your team today, don't worry. We're going to get. get to it because these are these are fun conversations well you may there's going to be a volume bcd and e i think and like andy and i were going back and forth before the show on which teams we should do and i was like well are you sure you don't want to do this team and he's like arie we'll get to him it's a long off season so we will and i think that's a good way too to the way we spread it around here is to multiple conferences and different sides of the country and i think it'll be a good way to get into it but we will get to your team if you think your team is in a interesting

cross-section of, you know, transition or anything. We will talk about it at some point in the next few. And that's the thing. It doesn't matter. You didn't have to hire a new coach. You don't have to have a new transfer quarterback. Everybody is different every year. And so I think this really applies to almost every day.

And we'll still do an Ohio state one. We will, even though you know what the answer to that one is. Will we? That might. Then George might be the only, the only two where the answer is easy. The answer is really cut. and dried for those two. Everybody else is a little more complicated. So today, we're going to do Michigan. We're going to do LSU. We're going to do Nebraska. We're going to do Kentucky.

We're going to do Texas Tech. And all of them have something really interesting about them. Three of them have new coaches. Is that right? No, four of them have new coaches. One has a returning coach who is in a very interesting situation because he just got extended last year. to try to keep him away from another school in the conference. And now I think it ratchets up the pressure on him. And of course, I was talking about Matt Roole. Ari, do you have a particular school you want to start? Why don't we start with a happy school?

Let's start with Texas Tech. They're happy. Texas Tech is happy. But interestingly enough, I can see a scenario where they're not happy because now the bar has been set pretty high because they did something that we haven't seen a school do. They basically said, well, I guess we've seen other schools do it, but we haven't seen a school that was not in the Cool Kids Club previously,

just say, you know what? Going all in, spending as much as we possibly can to build the best roster we possibly can, and we intend to dominate our conference, and we intend to make the playoff, and we intend to go deep in the playoff. Now, did they dominate the conference? They sure did. did they win the conference? Yes, they did.

Did they make the playoff? Yes, they did. Did they score a point in the playoff? No, they did not. And so there's your mandate, Ari. Yeah, I think that, you know, if I'm a Texas tech fan right now, and let's just do the biggest Texas tech fan. Let's just say Cody Campbell. Yes, he's the one who's actually-growing your roster.

Invested in this. I think that I take last year as return on investment. We have this ongoing debate, Andy, about whether a person or an entity can purchase a national championship. And thus far, the answer to that question is no. But I think that that question is short-sighted because I think that we view that is in one season. But what can a person do who is willing to invest over the course of a period of time? Maybe a five- or six-year period. It's a stepping stone situation, just like it is everywhere else.

and I think that would be on the shadow of a doubt, Texas Tech's profile as a program has improved dramatically over the course of the past 12 months. Like I don't even think that's a debate. So if you want to talk about ROI, making the CFP winning the Big 12, all those things are great. But what about where they are on the Pantheon or the totem pole of college football programs? If they were in the lower, you know, 20 out of the 65 or whatever,

they're probably in the top 30 now, maybe top 25 even in terms of programs. If we and you did program rankings, which we say we're going to do every offseason and for some reason never do, if we came up with an actual system for measuring that, I would probably guess that Texas Tech would probably land somewhere in the top 20, just based on financial resources, location, geography, university buy-in, all these things. Like Texas Tech is headed in the right direction. And so they did not score a point, as you pointed out in the playoff, but you're not supposed to go from, yeah, right, they're not winning the Big 12 to making the playoff and advancing in it.

In one year, you make the playoff, you see where your money went, and then you use that money in the future to address the holes or the shortcomings that your first year showed you. And what did they do? They went out and got maybe the best quarterback in the portal after they didn't score a point. So, like, to me, I am happy. I'm excited. And I don't know if, you know, winning the national championship is in the,

the real conversation as of right now because again, we're only in year two of this new era of tech football. But it's a perfect time to ask the question, what does Texas tech have to do in 2026 for this to be a success? All right. I can start with a baseline. They must win the big 12 again. I think their fan base is looking at it like we have to win the big 12 because you don't know if more than one big 12 team is going to make the playoff, but you do know the big 12 champs going to make the playoff. So they were so dominant in the Big 12. The only game they lost was to Arizona State where their starting quarterback was hurt. Sam Levitt was balling out. They were utterly dominant against everybody else in the Big 12. They need to win the Big 12 again. They need to be the champion of the

big 12 or the champion of the Big 12 better be so good that they and Texas Tech both make the championship game of the conference and both of them make the playoff. Because I think The roster for Texas Tech is so different or was so different last year than everybody else in the Big 12, and they feel like they've got a better one this year. There should not be a lot of competition for them in the Big 12, though I think there probably will be because I think BYU is still going to be really good. I do not discount Kenny Dillingham at Arizona State,

especially if, you know, their cutter Bowley comes in and he's awesome and he's healthy all season. Arizona is going to be good this year. they're going to face some good teams, but their roster should be vastly superior to all of them. Their roster should be more comparable to what we're seeing at Oregon, at Ohio State, at Georgia, at LSU. That's their goal. That's what they're trying to do.

So if their roster is that, again, they should win the league. And that's, I was thinking about this. Sorry, how many teams are there out there in power conferences that you are, you are a disappointment if you don't win your league? It's a very small number. Yeah. And again, it's a little bit different, too, because they're in the only league where you basically have to win it. So that changes the dynamic a little bit.

But yes, you're right. It is a small number. Now, here's my short synopsis of what success is for them. Win a playoff game. Just one. Make the playoff, win one game, advance into it, take a step forward. To me, you know, if you make the playoff and lose in the first round, to a really good team again, I wouldn't, you know, maybe consider that a failure.

But if you want to go into next season, if you want to be sitting here next March, feeling really good about the trajectory of the program, you incrementally get better. It's the same discussion that we have about Oregon. We had that about Ole Miss teams that are trying to break through. Indiana made it to the playoff in their first year and got their butts kicked. We were at that game. And then the next year, they put together a really good team and then won the whole freaking thing. Now, that's not something that I think is normal.

or should be viewed as the benchmark. But everybody thought that Indiana shouldn't have even been in the playoff a year ago at this time, let alone a national championship contender. And I think that knocking at the door, which we say, that's the shirt, man, knock at the door. Because we say it so often, but it's true. Yeah. If you continue to put yourself in a position where you're on that stage

and you're playing in those games and you're expected to play in those games, that permeates amongst the college football community. It permeates amongst, recruits, transfer portal signies, all these things, and all of a sudden people view you differently. And I think once you're viewed differently and you have the financial backing to continue to compensate your players

and invest in your program at a competitive rate, then it seems like a matter of time before you get it. I mean, what is the thing that all the teams that are competing for our national championship have in common? They have a bought-in university and administration. They have the backing financially from their fans or boosters to compensate their players fairly, and they're interested in being good at football at a high level.

Now, their brands, I mean, there's a, there's, I think that the then diagram of disappointment if you don't make your conference championship game or win your conference and invested in football in that way as a circle. So, and I think that Texas Tech is in that circle now. Well, and I'll go back to something Joe McGuire said, the last time we had him on.

He pointed out that, yes, they spent a lot of money in the transfer report, to last year. Some of those one year rentals, though, got significantly better at Texas Tech than they had been at their previous school. So they're their best year. David Bailey, Ramello, Hyte, Lee Hunter, those are all defensive linemen. They're all going to be drafted much higher than they would have been had they had just a comparable season to their first three. They're going to be drafted very high compared to what they would have been because of the year they had at Texas Tech. Now, if you do that on the other side of the ball, let's say with Brendan Sorsby, this year,

you're going to have something, especially if you're still doing it on defense, which they feel like they can. And the thing to point out is like, look at Texas Tech in the rivals rankings now. Texas Tech is getting in on guys out of high school that everybody else wants. And they seem to be spending the money on the big guys on the offensive and defensive line. And that seems to be where they're focusing their investment in high school recruiting. But those guys are starting to come to Texas Tech now. So I think there's a good chance that they stay there not just because they're spending this money, but because they're spending it on the right people, and they're getting those people better when they get them.

Yeah. They're not just doing, not just improving their lot in life because they're spending money. They're improving their lot in life because the money they've spent is paying dividends. Like it was a good year. It was a good team. And there are a lot of places out there that I'm assuming spend a lot of money and get very little return. So, like, I would buy stock in Texas Tech right now. Certainly is a much more expensive stock now than it was a year ago.

But isn't that what the whole, isn't that what the money was for to make that stock more expensive? Exactly. Now, here's the problem. This is, and this is where you could run into an issue if you're Texas Tech. And you have to accept this. This is one of the risks you take. Ask Texas last year. They spent a bunch of money.

They just missed the playoffs. they probably, if they made the playoff, probably could have made some noise in the playoff, they had the roster for it, but they didn't make it. Well, and here's what if BYU is just really good this year? And they might be. But here's the mistake, too, when it comes to progress. I kind of equate this to weight loss. If you weigh 290 pounds and you want to be 220,

it doesn't go 290, 288, 286, 285, 284, 283, 280, 280, 274. It's not a succession. When you lose weight, anybody who has gone through this, Sometimes you start a $2.90, then you go down a 283, then a week later, you're $284.5. Then the week after that, you're two. It's not a straight line up and it's not a straight line down. And I think that we are also fooled in the Texas situation too, or it's like Texas got incrementally better year over year.

When they pushed Ohio State in the CFP semi-final a year ago in Dallas, they were, you know, the furthest they had gotten along with Steve Sarkesian as coach. And you thought coming into last year, that that was going to be their year to break through and they did not do that. But just because they didn't do that doesn't mean that Texas isn't a healthy program that could break through this year. Like sometimes setbacks and overcoming setbacks is part of the growth process. So, you know, there will be years where Texas Tech and other programs spend a lot of money

and they don't get that ROI. But here's the deal. Cody Campbell isn't buying all these players to make Texas Tech really good in one year. Cody Campbell is investing in a program that has staying power and is consistent. good year over year and one of those years, whether it be in year five, year seven, year three, year two, they break through. It's not a, nobody's breaking through every year. Ask Ohio State what it was like during Ryan Day's first five years.

They didn't break through right away. The stuff still has to line up. And a lot of times things have to line up that are outside of your control. Cody Campbell can invest all he wants in Brendan Soresby as a quarterback. It doesn't mean that he's on the field protecting him from his ACL tearing. Stuff happens. It has to be a perfect scenario. but if you are in the game for 10 years straight,

eventually one of those years, things are going to line up for you. And that's the game we're playing here. Exactly, exactly. I'm fascinated to watch Texas Tech. So success for them, go to the playoff, win a game in the playoff.

That is success. Stack, just stack another year of relevance. Just make it year two. Make it two years in a row. I think they can do it. I think they can pull it off. Okay, Ari, where do we want to go next? Okay, let's go sad now.

You know, it's like a little, is Michigan sad or happy? I don't know. Let's go to Michigan. I don't think Michigan's sad at all. What would be sad about it, Michigan? You want me to break down what I would be sad about if I were a Michigan fan? Well, let's let's do it. Let's set the table first.

So Michigan coming off a nine and three season in which they had to fire their head coach at the end of the year for stuff that didn't have anything to do with what happened on the field. but then you come to find out that the stuff that didn't have anything to do that was going on in the field probably did affect what was going on on the field because how could it not? So the question is with potentially more competent leadership, which I think they wound up getting, can they be better? But oh, by the way, the schedule is probably a lot harder. Yeah. Okay, here's what I would be sad about.

you won the national title three years ago and during that year you were the most controversial team in the country but you willingly and lovingly paid that expense to win the national championship because in your mind you are the best program in college football for a given year and you are setting the table for future long-term success

but after you win the national championship you lose the coach that was synonymous with your program who opts to go to the NFL, likely to probably escape all the drama that he was facing in the college football realm while returning to the pros where he was successful before. Then you move on to somebody

who should have been a folk hero in your program's lore, Sharon Moore, who was the stabilizing force of that national championship team while Jim Harbaugh served suspensions was the heart and soul of keeping that thing afloat. And then he gets fired in the most embarrassing fashion that I've ever seen.

well you know one of the most embarrassing things and it's another stain on a program that has been constantly in trouble for the past three years and on top of that you have to come to the realization that even though they were nine and three they probably would have been much better under competent leadership you might have stifled a year of growth from your quarterback who you spent a lot of money to get. And now you're heading into another transitional period that wasn't expected after stunting growth of a lot of the players on your team and now have to face a harder schedule in 2026, thus maybe putting another year of separation between glory and your proposed or hopeful long sustained success. And you're a program that had 20 plus years of

mediocrity in between your national championships, 97 to 2023. And you don't want to fall back into that again. And I would be scared. So like that is the negative viewpoint of it. Now, here's the positive viewpoint of it. You got maybe the most stable figure in all of college football to come in and save the ship. And you retain your quarterback who might be a really excellent player under the right leadership. So this is what makes them a candidate to have this discussion of what constitutes success.

Because the worst case scenario was falling back into that mediocrity of eight and four, nine and three every year, getting your ass kicked by Ohio State to the program that beats Ohio State every year and isn't contention for national championships. So what does Michigan have to do in year one of the Kyle Whittingham era to be a success in your mind? So I don't think Kyle Whittingham's going to let them fall back into that, into the mediocre. They might lose to Ohio State, but I don't think they're going to be a team that gets their ass kicked by Ohio State regularly under Kyle Whittingham.

That's just not how his teams operate. His teams don't operate like that when they're in rivalry games. his teams are tough, his teams are always competent. So I'm not worried about that part of it. My question is, can they get where they want to go? Because they did get that taste with the national title. They are spending money like a team that should be in the national title hunt every single year. So that's my question is, can they be a perennial playoff team, which is what they should be?

It's what they're investing to be. There's no excuse to not be that. So can you do that? Can that start this year? Can they make the playoff? Because I'm going to just come around and say it. A successful season for Michigan is make the college football playoff. And we're about to show the schedule and you're going to look at it and go, that's pretty tough.

That is asking a lot because they play Oklahoma in week two. They play Iowa in week four. Penn State comes to town in October. Then they have Indiana. They go to Oregon, they go to Ohio State. This is a brutal schedule. But guess what? Teams that win the national title win tough games.

And you don't have to be perfect anymore in the regular season in order to do it. And we don't know what Penn State's going to be, but that is a very daunting schedule. Now, that said, I do believe that at some point, a 9 and 3 team will make the playoff. And when they do, it will come from a schedule like that. So, like, from that standpoint, hard schedules, people are like, oh, well, you're going into it now. they're not going to make the playoff because they're going to have too many losses. And that might wind up being the case. If Oklahoma is a playoff team again, if Penn State is really good,

I don't know if there'll be a playoff team, but in playoff contention, Indiana, Oregon and Ohio State, you play five games against competent opponents. Iowa could be playoff caliber too, depending on how they handle the quarter. But you have to go three and two in that stretch, which isn't, which isn't impossible, but is daunting. That said, here's the thing that is also. true. Did you know that Utah didn't have a single quarterback drafted during Kyle Whittingham's entire tenure there? Wow. I don't know if you know that. Um, so like,

because Brian Johnson was probably the best one, but he went straight into coaching. Yeah, not even like a seventh round pick. It has never happened. So like from that standpoint, you have to harbor maybe one of the most insane pure talents that he has ever been in charge of at that position. That doesn't mean he can't do it. But he's in it like, Bryce, Underwood's an expensive, talented, raw asset that they need to harbor. On top of that, they also have to, you know, match up athletically pound for pound with five really good national championship caliber teams. So they are going to be tested in a big way.

And if they pass that test and they get to the playoff or in playoff contention even, if they get to nine and three even the way they were last year, I would say that that's a successful season. Now, the one thing I wanted to press back to you, Andy, is when I use the word mediocrity. I think that that also is a moving target, depending on who you're talking about. And to a national championship caliber team, nine and three is mediocre. So they don't want to be in that nine and three purgatory where they're nine and three versus last year schedule, and nine and three versus the two thousand 26 schedule are two different seasons, by the way. Right. But kind of the we're really good and we beat most of the teams we play,

but whenever we play a national championship caliber team, we got our butts kick. Like that's what used to happen to them. And now I think you can also make the case that the administration at Michigan has become more unified and wanting to be good at football because a lot of the same things like what you were saying earlier about, you know, how much money they're investing and how they should be great is absolutely true. But if you go back and you look at the pre-NIL era, the, you know, the seasons before they beat Ohio State four years in a row, they had a very advantageous geographical footprint. They were one of the most iconic football brands in the history of college football. They have a great academic institution. They had resources and beautiful facilities and all these

different things, and yet they still weren't even on the same playing field as Ohio State for two decades. So, like, there is a window of opportunity here for them to strike through and continue to be great, but I don't think the path to Michigan mediocrity, which is nine and three and not making the playoff, is as far away as you think. So I think that. I think that. I think that. I think, that this is a critical coaching move. I think it's very, I think it's very close because nine in three and 10 and two, one is probably making the playoff and one is not. And that could be the bounce of the ball one time. And future schedules, UCLA will be USC. You have two other, three other teams now in the conference that are going to try to be highly competitive that weren't in the conference when

Michigan was mediocre. There's more pillars to clear now than there used to be. So, we don't know how long Kyle Whittingham is going to be at Michigan. What we do know is, is he might not be there for a long time, but he's definitely going to be there for a fun time. And you know, you want him to, he doesn't have to be the coach that turns into the next Bo Schembeckler. But what he does need to do is he has to be the coach that stabilizes the program, makes them consistent.

So when and if he hangs it up in four or five years, the next person in line is ready to continue on the right trajectory. But he's not going there to be that guy, to be the guy who sets the table for somebody to be Bo Schembeckler down the road or Jim Harbaugh down the road. He is going there to win national championships because he has been a really great head coach at various levels because he's coach Utah at various different levels,

but he's never had this. He's never had the resources he has now. If he accomplishes what you just said, though, he will be the coach that sets the table for the next post, Schembeckler. Well, he'll win one himself. He won, it wouldn't be a table. The table will be set because it's got a championship trophy on it.

Yeah, and if they have a championship trophy on it, the trajectory of the program will continue to remain up. Now, Michigan's biggest fear and Michigan's biggest challenge, I think, would be to make sure that when whatever happens in the next 15 years and however many of those years, Kyle Whittingham is the coach, that they aren't a blip of, on the national championship stat sheet in 10 years from now. And that people will look back at that and say,

oh, that makes sense. Michigan is a really great program and they're in it every year. And of course, they broke through one of those years. It's not one of those random flare-ups where it was they were really good for that one year and they're back to eight and four land. And I think that that's a, so for me, I agree with you. I think making the playoff is a must this year based on where they were a few years ago, what they've invested in this roster and who they hired to lead the program.

Yeah, it feels like they can pull this off. Because it's not like when Sharon Moore got fired, everybody left. They have good players. They went out and got more good players. They went on got John Henry Daley, came from Utah following Kyle Whittingham. Like they got even more good players. So I do think they can pull this off. But that is the measurement for success.

It may sound harsh. Make the playoff and it'll be a success. Don't make the playoff and it won't be. But I think given the investment of the price, program, that's where it should be. Yeah, nobody is investing that much money in a quarterback where that's not the case. How many programs in college football invested more than $2 million in a quarterback and doesn't think it's playoff or bust?

I would think everyone who has feels like their playoff or bust. Although the numbers have changed this year. It's inflation on the transfer guys. Maybe it's $4 million, but Duke did pay a lot of money last year, and I don't know if they were a playoff or bucks. That's true. But Michigan is not just paying the quarterback. Michigan is, they have a roster that they believe can get them there.

We'll see if Kyle Whittingham can do it. Oh, also, before you move on, one last thing, be competitive or when the Ohio State game has to be a part of it too. Yes, yes. And again, I look at this guy who has come from a very, like, it's not the same. I'm not comparing the BYU, Utah rivalry to Michigan, Ohio State. But in terms of hatred and intensity, it's pretty far up there among rival. The man knows how to handle a rivalry game. It's called the Holy War.

Yeah. Yeah. The man knows how to handle a rival game. I'm just going to say that. I'm going to put that out there. They might not win every game against Ohio State, but I don't think they will look foolish in any head of them. So it's going to be fun.

This is going to be really interesting to see what Kyle Whittingham does there. Can we stay in the really interesting category and go to the most interesting head coach in college football? Is that LSU? That would be LSU. That would be LSU. Let's go to Baton Rouge. What is success at LSU?

And I think LSU is different than almost every other place because they can have down years, they can fire coaches, and you can still, with a straight face, say that the expectations

are to win a national title, maybe not this year, but pretty soon. Yeah. So it's just, it's certainly, playoff or bust. And I think it might be even win a playoff game or bust.

I see, I went back and forth on this. I think it's just make the playoff because LSU has not made the playoffs since that 2019 super team that may be the best team that ever existed. And they've had good teams. And obviously Brian Kelly, the first two years, they were pretty good, not quite good enough. The first year especially, they win the SEC West, but it's not enough. they I think a taste of the playoff would be enough for year one.

It was just sort of the blood on the fang situation. And then it's national title or bust again. They kind of went through quite a bit in the last six months. Like their hiring of their new coach was an absolute clown show. And the amount of money that it took. Not to them. They got him. I know. but that wasn't a, you know, a normal courtship of a new coach.

No, no, no. We're not going to normalize what happened there. And then, of course, the financial aspect of this whole thing, which is to get Lane Kiffin there, probably setting the market on how much you're compensating a coach while also paying out what is probably going to be a pretty large cash settlement to Brian Kelly while he's not in work. Then on top of that, the investment in this roster,

like I think that they are more bought into winning from a financial aspect and a circus aspect than really anybody else in college football. And you don't put yourself through that. And it's interesting that you put it that way because one thing that I don't think people appreciate because the standard at LSU didn't change. The expectations from the fan base didn't change. The expectations from the people in charge really didn't change. except that they probably weren't invested the way they should have been in the early part of the NIL era, which was the early part of the Brian Kelly tenure.

When you look at the way they decided to handle things, I mean, there was a period where they were saying, where Brian Kelly was saying, I want to pay everybody the same, like that was going to work. Think about LSU with the highest possible standard was not anywhere near doing what it needed to do for the first two years in the NIL era.

to win, to be competitive. And yet they still were competitive. They had a Heisman trophy winner and two first round receivers on one of those teams. Pain. But imagine if they'd been doing it like this. Imagine if they'd been this invested.

And I think that's what gets all the LSU people so excited. And it's also what probably terrifies everybody else in the SEC. Like, oh, they're awake now. Because I think one of the reasons they fired Brian Kowler, Kelly was they finally woke up to how you should actually invest in a roster and did that and spent that money. And then Kelly didn't deliver on it. And they realized, oh, well, maybe he's not going to.

We have to go find someone who will. So now they're fully awake and they have the coach who, by the way, has produced one playoff team, but didn't actually coach that team in the playoff because he left it. So, yeah, Lane Kiffin probably wants to coach in a playoff. playoff game more than anybody. Yeah. I think to make them happy, he's going to have to coach you in one or two this year.

I think if all the same circumstances existed and Lane Kiffin went to another place, I would be fine with playoff or bust. But although LSU has had a five or six year drought in the playoff, this is a fairly spoiled fan base.

And he said that fans are smart and that fans know the difference now in the 12 team era between just making the playoff and being excellent. I think the standard is to be an excellent team that should not lose in the first round. So you're saying if they have last year's Oklahoma season that they will be disappointed. I yes. Are you not? You think if they are Oklahoma from last year, when I think about it like that, I tend to agree with you. I tend to maybe I'm wrong on that.

Maybe you're right. Yeah, I don't think that they need to go win the national title. I think that everybody who's national title or bust is insane. But I do think. But a season like Ole Miss had, a season like Miami had, a season like, yeah. Ohio State even. Ohio State, yeah. Okay, that makes more sense. Even Alabama winning a playoff game. Yeah.

And like even then. You know, a championship winning a playoff game. Make the SEC championship win a playoff game. I mean, I don't even know if Alabama last year would be good enough because Alabama was dysfunctional like in terms of what we were watching. You don't want to get destroyed in games, which, you know, the whole point of this. is you hired Lane Kiffin to not do that.

Yeah, I think that there is a look to it, right? I think you'll know it when you see it. But I also think that, you know, being a team that gets matched up with another, like if they're a seven seed and they get matched up with, you know, somebody or they are a five seed. I don't know what. Well, A&M getting matched up with, with Miami round one. A&M lost by three to a team that made the national championship.

Yeah, LSU. I don't think you're feeling too bad about that season. I think a good season for LSU would be like something like A&M, but beating Miami at home type of a deal or whatever. So stumbling into the playoff isn't enough. If they're awesome and you get to the playoff and then get matched up with somebody and lose to a really good team, then maybe it's different. I think you'll know what it looks like,

but I think that it is a little bit more than just get us back to the playoff. We deserve to be in the playoff. These people want to win national titles. Making the playoff isn't their goal. Being awesome is their goal. I like it. I think you just made a T-shirt for them too. Yeah.

being awesome is the goal. Yeah. I mean, there have been teams that make it to the playoff that aren't that great. I feel like, Lake Kiffin would adopt that statement.

I feel like he'd embrace that. I don't think there's a single thing that we just said that he would disagree with. You think he'd put that on the wall in the complex? Being awesome is the goal? Yeah. Or maybe it may be cooler than that.

If I knew I was like writing a slogan, I might have said it differently. Be king shit. How's that? Put that on the wall. Yeah, he's got a play neck hat already that he just got a,

over the weekend. Now I can get a B King shit hat. That would be perfect. You know what I'm talking about. You'll know it. We'll know by week six whether they're going to do it or not. I think you're probably right. Okay. You have changed my mind. It has not just make the playoff. It is make the playoff, win a game or more in the playoff. But yeah, and I think that's, if you ask Lane Kiffin, that's where he's at too. Like if we gave him truth serum, that's what he'd say because I am sure it burned watching old miss go to the semifinals last year i'm sure that burned because that's the team he developed and built and he's who knows maybe they would have won what if i've been there that's the other thing too

they played a relatively competitive game with miami like if they had their coach like we don't know how great of a coach p golding is yet and i'm not saying he's not great or that he's the reason they lost but what if nothing happened like that's the thing too they went pretty far without him Could you imagine if there was no choppy waters throughout that whole thing? Then everybody was bought in and nobody felt spurned or hurt or portal distractions or all the things that Ole Miss had to overcome to get as far as they did. Maybe they would have won the national title last year. We don't know that.

Yeah. So I think that, you know, this is a fan. Well, there's also that piece of that. He left them because he thought this gave him a better chance long term at winning the national title and winning multiple national titles. Now's the time to prove that. Yeah. And you don't prove it by just stumbling into the playoff.

And lastly, how many other, like Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, there are teams out there right now, LSU is one of them that don't have a single age of fan or class of fan that doesn't remember winning the national championship. And I think that if you are in that class, then the playoff isn't the accomplishment that you think it is. It's basically LSU and Ohio State. They're the only ones. Yeah. I mean, like, every six-year-old that is a Georgia fan, like, has been indoctrinated. Like, there's no age of fan. Like, there are, like, 25-year-old Penn State fans who have never seen the title.

So I think making the playoff. Yeah. There are 40-year-old Penn State fans as of this year that have never seen a title. And there were 30-year-old Michigan fans in 2022 that were infants when they won it last time. Yeah. And I think that making the playoff for programs like that, proud programs that have had long droughts, I think hits differently. When you are a spoiled brat of a fan who has known nothing else but competing for

and winning titles, that making the 12-team field is not enough. Well, LSU has been spoiled in that way. Ohio State is the only other one in this century that's been spoiled in that way. But, yeah, 0-3-719. Yeah. Everybody alive, including your youngest fans, remember this. remember the feeling they know what it looks like they know what it feels like so Lane Kiffin just has to deliver that again no question

and anything short of making the playoffs an epic failure yes absolutely so make the playoff advance in the playoff that would be success for LSU and there's another side of this coin too as we transition to our next team here Andy let's go to um let's go to Nebraska because that'll be interesting yes let us go to Lincoln Nebraska where Matt Rule is back for year four, year four. They did not experience the year three jump that Matt Rule's teams at Temple and Baylor experienced. They did get better.

They were a ball team. But it was not probably what they thought it was going to be. So this is how I view it. Did you ever watch that documentary of what happened to MH370, the Malaysian airliner, that disappeared. No. Well, anyway, in that documentary, the flight path was going well and it was being tracked, but I think that there was a one mile radius of time or one mile span of time during the flight path

where it goes offline as it crosses from Asian airspace into whatever other airspace they were going into. So it's like a blip on the flight path. And when it crossed into that like black, hole, which should have been like five seconds, that's when it disappeared, which is like wild to me, because it's like of all the places it could have disappeared, it's the only time where the flight wasn't being tracked. And I bring this up because I think that there is a sliver between success and failure there and Nebraska is going to be like the perfect place to illustrate that.

Because while we say what's a successful season, I think it's possible for your season to not be a success while also being in that black hole of not a failure to, right? There is a middle ground. And we didn't really signify what a failure is for the other three. But I think that with Nebraska, there's a bigger gray area that is like, well, that wasn't a failure, but it wasn't great. And I almost feel like last year was kind of bordering around that. This year, Nebraska has to win 10 games.

Wow. Wow. That's a lot. And they probably won't. I think that's too much. I don't think it's too much. We're going into year four, pal. If you're winning 10 games in year four is too much for you, then you got the wrong guy.

Now, the problem here, you just extended him. So he's got to be the right guy. So, and I like Matt Rule. I don't want to go back into Nebraska hell all summer. But what I will say is, in their fans, excuse me, should agree with this. They should be winning 10 games by now. they fired coaches in the past that went 9 and 3 too much because that wasn't good enough.

And now I've got a pen in my hand like Matt Patricia for no reason. And like I am declaring that if you don't think they did enough in the off season, because if you look at their portal moves, they got Anthony Calandria, which is exciting to a certain extent. But other than that, there aren't a lot of splashy moves. If you think me asking to win 10 games for Nebraska, is too much, then play that freaking speech that he gave that went viral in the middle of the non-conference last year. And then say that again.

Did they do enough in the offseason to win 10 games? No, why? That's where I'm at with Nebraska. If you think, oh, winning eight games and giving them a golf clap for being cute little Nebraska is good enough, I think we're misunderstanding what the fans are interested in. They're tired of winning. I know what they're interested in, but I also think that post-Frank Solich, post-Bololini, They've been beaten down to the point that they are a little bit realistic about this.

I don't think there are any Nebraska fans. And it always amazes me because people still outside act like Nebraska fans think the 90s are going to come back. The Tom Osborne years are going to come back. It's never going to be like that again, where they are the dominant force in the country. It's not going to be like that. What Nebraska needs to be as a team that can jump up and compete in the Big Ten and make the playoff, every so often. I think that's a nice, realistic expectation.

Jumping from what they were last year to that, to a 10-win team to a team that makes the college football playoff, probably, I think that's asking a lot, Ari. Yeah, well, let me tell you this. It is asking a lot. And I did that intentionally. Because I go, you know, there are no, you know this, Andy. There are no radio stations on the face of the earth.

more aggressive in getting us as guests. I get a text from an Omaha radio. And I don't know if it's the same one or different ones, but I go on the radio in Omaha all the time. And the reason why is... Highly competitive talk radio markets in Omaha and Lincoln, by the way. And why? Because it's the only thing that people care about there.

And it's the year-round thing. And go on the radio station there and say, hey, if you guys win eight games, you're doing good. See the response. I was going to say nine? You're a problem nine? Or nine. Put up the schedule again, River.

Nine wins means. in every game but get your butt kicked by Indiana, Oregon, and Ohio State, right? Is that and that's- Which means you beat Iowa and Illinois, which is progress. It means you beat Washington, which is progress. It's a progress or like kind of like what they were last year to a certain extent before Dylan Rayola got injured? No. They lost like, well, they lost USC in the game where he got hurt. But they lost to Michigan.

And I realize it's a three-point game. but they were not. I just think that Nebraska fans are tired of living in the year before the year, and they just finally want the year to come. They've been in the year before the year. I'm sure they do, but I don't know if that's realistic. Yeah. I don't know.

What you're saying is they need to make the freaking playoff, because if they went 10 games against this schedule, they are in the playoff, no doubt. No questions asked. And you're saying what's going to be a successful season for them is making the playoff and anything less than that would be considered a failure

and I just don't think that's right. No, no, no. Remember what I said about the airplane? Oh, yeah, I have a bigger gray area. Okay. I think that if they go eight and four, they're in the gray area where it's not a... So the gray area is eight and four, nine, and three.

Yeah. I think eight and four feels like more of the same, and I think they're tired of that. I think it does, but I think anything that points the arrow up because I don't feel like they came out of last year feeling like the arrow was up. And there's nothing that happened in the off season that points the arrow up.

So I understand that their likelihood. I mean, they made staff changes. Yeah, their likelihood of actually having a season that like fans overwhelmingly view as a success is relatively negative. And I think that that is a reflection of how the fans feel about the program right now. Well, I am fascinated to see what they do here because I would argue the schedule is harder this year than it was last year. And I don't know, maybe it's similar because at the end they had, now the Penn State team they played at the end. It was not what you'd normally expect from Penn State team.

So maybe this is a harder one coming up. But I think if they're eight and four, nine and three, they should feel pretty good about that, especially because they didn't do anything particularly splashy this offseason. And it just means that the guys they have are playing better. And they improve them, which is the point. and then you go get a few more good players and then you improve him again. But that extension probably means rules the guy for a while.

So if he doesn't meet that standard, then it becomes very awkward. Yeah. You know, and I think that Matt rule, go play, like I don't know if you remember the speech. Go play the speech. Oh, the speech was great.

Yeah, you play the Kirby Smart speech all the time. Play that one and then tell me eight and fours, okay. like that like i just i didn't i didn't say it's okay forever but you got to get to it first and they hadn't gotten to it yet yeah maybe i'm being harsh i don't know that Andy you're going to get nine text messages once this goes up to go on the radio in Omaha i'm happy to do it i'm happy to do it and if they if they say well you're the guy who just has low expectations for Nebraska i disagree because i'm saying you need to to improve a upon last year. I'm not saying don't expect championships, do expect championships, but also

be happy with improvement. Because it's been hard. Like, this is a tough job. It's not accidental that post-Bopolini, they have not really been able to do much of anything. It's a hard job. Yeah. So we'll see what Matt Rule can do. But eight and four, nine, and three, I think, You call it a grayer. I call that improvement and be happy with improvement. That would be success. Improvement to success to me. You think they got to make the playoff.

Or at the very least, beat a really good team. Do something different. Well, they're going to have to beat some pretty good teams to go, like to go 9 and 3, they'd have to beat a couple of pretty good teams. Pretty good to very good. Yeah. No tough non-conference games this year against the power four opponent.

They had one last year and lost. And you're already assigning Indiana, Oregon, Ohio State losses, which is probably fair. They're probably going to lose those games. But I think that, you know, if they were able to compete or win, like, if they almost beat Ohio State a few years ago, dude. Like, it's not impossible. No, it's not impossible. And they can do this. They can do this.

They can be eight and four, nine and three. And the thing is, if you can be nine and three, you can also be ten and two. Yeah. I think part of the problem for me is too. games, that's the bounce of a ball one time. Yeah. Part of the problem for me, though, is that like the year you're describing right now was the year that was supposed to be last year.

But it didn't happen last year. Yeah. And we can't relitigate last year. It happened. And if you ask a Nebraska fan, I think that they are probably in agreement with both of us and that you're probably right. And if they win nine games,

it's an improvement. And it's not like pitchfork time. I'd be so happy as a Nebraska fan. And Nebraska fans, you feel free to tell me if I'm wrong or if I sound stupid here. I'd be happy with 9 and 3. I'd be like finally, real improvement, beating teams that matter. Because that's what that would mean. That's what that would represent.

You're not making the playoff probably at 9 and 3. No shot. But you are looking at that and saying, this is better than what I've been watching for the last 15 years. And I will take it. Yeah. We'll see. We'll see. But they're kind of a hard group to peg right now, too, just because they got the seven and three last year. And then the doors got completely blown off. Well, and you wonder if that was the Riola injury or if that was, you know, if he doesn't get hurt, does that change? And obviously, Riola leaving is its own issue, leaving to go to Oregon where he's going to back up Dante Moore.

Yeah. I didn't realize they have yet to win eight games. Right. Nine games would probably be. You're probably right. Eight games would be because they haven't done it yet. Yeah. So we'll see what happens. But I think eight and four is the beginning of the success win.

There's a whole other conversation too about why do their offseason go poorly and what do they need to do to have better off seasons? Well, I mean, let's let them have a season. and then we can talk about their off seasons. Yeah, maybe their off season won't be awesome. Maybe it'll turn out to be awesome. But there's not a lot of moves on the page there that gets you all fired up. No, but that, again, I'm not about winning press conferences. I'm not about when in March.

You win in September, October, November. That's when you need to win. So that's Matt Rules mandate. Win at least eight. Success, eight wins. To me. Ari, or it's a little higher. Yeah, I brought it down a little bit, though, at the end.

Okay. I'm glad you did. I feel like you brought me up with LSU and I brought you down with Nebraska. And I feel like we, I just want, I just want Nebraska fans to feel something. And I just, that's just kind of maybe I'm. I know. They're so loyal and they're so dedicated and they're so passionate. And it's, it's hard to watch them have to see kind of the same thing. It is a groundhog day feeling for them. Yeah, I'd like them to get a special season. I think that would be so much fun. Like we saw it a couple years ago with Tennessee. the first really good year under Heipel, where you had this downtrodden fan base that's incredibly passionate and loyal, and you saw how much fun they have when they're winning. And I misspoke earlier on in that segment too, Andy. I said that they lost the Cincinnati.

They beat Cincinnati. Yeah, and if you remember, in the season opener. And then you remember the Michigan game on September 20th, where they were winning and it was a three point game. Yeah. Like if they go four and oh in that position,

like they are different. Yep. You know, I mean, And if Ryan doesn't get hurt against USC, maybe they win that one. They were not that far away from being 9 and 0 last year, like if you go look at it. So like that's kind of part of it, too. It's just like last year was a disappointment because they let it go.

And there was that Minnesota game in the middle of the year where everyone was just like, what the hell? They just lost 24 to 6 to Minnesota randomly. And I think it was a weeknight. And it was just like, what the hell are we doing? And then the wheels fell off. But they had a lot. Like they were feeling something different at the beginning of last year. And there were some chances there were some chances there in week four against Michigan

where things could have really turned the corner and just didn't happen. So, you know, we'll see again this year. But, you know, I just think I'm ready for a Nebraska change. I'm tired of it. And I doesn't even bother me. I want for those people to have a fun season. I do. But I think eight or nine wins would be a pretty fun season because there's some peaks in there.

It's not just valleys. So Ari, let us move to our friends in big. blue nation. These are folks, and I say this every time I know, but I hope Kentucky fans appreciate this. The outside world views Kentucky as purely a basketball school. That's all they care about. And look, they do care a lot about basketball. But I have watched these people show up over and over again for football games before the Mark Stoops era, when things were awful and they're still showing up, and they're still loud, and they're still loyal. people love football. It's a good football fan base. And it's interesting because I think,

I feel like they got painted as a little bit spoiled the last few years. They weren't spoiled. Ari. Can you tell me the last time Kentucky won more than seven games? Oh my God. Was it 2000, like 18, 19? No, it's actually 2021, but still. Yeah. That's five years ago. That was, so Will Levis is first. year after you transferred from Penn State. Liam Cohen is the offensive coordinator the first time around. And it's wild to think that

this is a guy who's going to be, so in 2021, Liam Cohen is four years away from being an NFL head coach. Wild to think that he left. He came back in 23 and on a 7 and 6 team, a guy two years away from being an NFL head coach

is the O.C. on a 7 and 6 team. But that is where Kentucky's trajectory was at that point. Is it just they were falling off. They had sort of peaked under Mark Stoops, and they were headed back down the slope, and you had the seven win seasons, and then four and eight and five and seven,

and they fire Mark Stoops. Now they bring in Will Stein, and this is an interesting one because they're not coming off a great year. They're coming off a season when they didn't even make a bowl, but they hired the guy we thought was the best positioned offensive coordinator, to become a head coach last year in this last cycle. They gave him resources. You know,

you kind of worry about schools where they really do invest in basketball. Will they also invest in football? Yeah, if you look at their transfer portal, absolutely they're investing in Will Stein's tenure. So what is success for Will Stein in year one? I'd say six and six. Really? Look at their schedule, bro.

Oh, I know. It's hard. Like the thing that stinks about this schedule is that, I actually went back and looked at some of their previous schedules. And like in 2023, they had a seven in five, seven and six year because they lost their bowl game to Clemson. But they started their season five and oh. And the reason why was because they played ball state, eastern Kentucky, Akron, Vanderbilt. And then they had a really awesome win at home against Florida who was in the top 25 of that time.

Oh, they destroyed Florida that day. Yeah. And if you remember, they were on the road to Georgia on October 7th. and there was a lot of excitement about that team and how good they could be. Now, Georgia did what Georgia often does, and they won 51 to 13, and that kind of splattered their hopes, and they went on a three-game losing streak. But there's no ramp up, period here. They play Youngstown State in week one, and then they play Alabama, Texas,

A&M, and South Carolina three of the next four weeks. And, like, they have a South Alabama game in there. But, like, six and six means that they win one of the Alabama, Texas, A&M, South Carolina game, and then split. the rest of their schedule, which is LSU, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, Texas, Florida, or Tennessee, Florida, Missouri, and Louisville. Like, they don't have a single easy game out in their non-conference. They have two or three they should win.

But Louisville's a rivalry game. And Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Florida, Missouri is a tough stretch, man. And they have to start with Alabama and A&M and SEC play. Like, if you win six games against that schedule, that means that you had some pretty big moments. And, like, I just can't remember, like, Nick Rauch was on the show last year, breaking down the Kentucky schedule and I think that he would agree with me on that. So I think this is the good example of what a nine-game SEC schedule is going to mean, especially for those teams that have the end-of-the-year ACCC rival.

So that's Kentucky, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida all have that. So Kentucky has to play Louisville. They're not dropping Louisville. And that means you run the gauntlet, basically. And we're going to see what that means. We're going to see how tough that actually is. Now, the road games, A&M, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Missouri,

five conference road games. That's the other thing you've got to get used to, which the big 12 teams already used to that, the big 10 teams already used to that, but you got to get used to, they're going to be years when you have five conference road games, and that is going to be a challenge. So, yeah, Willstein not going to get eased in,

But they bring in Kenny Menchie from Notre Dame to be the starting quarterback. They really spent on the offensive line in the portal. They went and got, you know, like Lance Hurd was Tennessee starting left tackle last year. He's going to be Kentucky starting left tackle this year. They got Tegger Shabola from Ohio State, who was starting at Ohio State. Now, I question about whether he was going to start this year or not. But several years of starting experience at Ohio State, which when you're coming to Kentucky, that's a pretty good deal. they should be significantly better than they were last year,

where it felt like there was no momentum whatsoever. But like you said, it's not going to be easy. So Will Stein to do what you, I was going to say seven and five. I was going to say seven and five is a rousing success for Will Stein, but I have now more inclined to agree with you. Yeah, seven and five would be a complete success. And here's the other aspect of it too.

Again, we also, I mean, we have to be able to quantify it somehow so we oftentimes do schedule analysis and schedule projection record projection and i think that andy there will be a look about it too like if if they are yes on the road and they're four and a half point underdogs against a and m and they lose 27 to 21 like i think that that's an understandable okay game what can't happen is going five and seven and getting your doors blown off six times. Like you just, you can't, you can't not, I think they want to be competitive.

And I think that sometimes with fan bases that are not used to winning at the highest of high levels, but have tasted some success that like building blocks and understanding that competitiveness comes before wins, I think is a more understanding place. So like for me, I think that Kentucky, if they want 500, but were viewed as a tough out in the SEC, if they were going to play Alabama,

and it'll be really early in the season, but like let's just say, Missouri at the end of the year, or, you know, one of the traditionally solid SEC teams, Tennessee, Vanderbilt even. And you go into that game, not knowing for sure who was going to win or to cast doubt.

If they go to Oklahoma on October 17th and play a solid game, win a game like that, lose a game like that by three and are just competent looking and exciting. They've got an offensive mind leading the way. I think that there's a way to field a team that surpasses expectations without marrying it specifically to a wins and loss column.

Ari, the game I'm most interested in on their schedule is week two with Alabama coming to town. Yeah. Because we've done all this talking about what Alabama was in the last season and how they're trying to be better, that they're trying to revamp the run game. They hire Adrian Clem to coach the offensive line. They retool their offensive line. they'll be replacing four starters from their offensive line this year.

I think we're going to see what Kentucky is that day. I get a really good idea of what Kentucky is that day. And I'm saying you've got to win that game. But it's just what Ari was saying. Be competitive in that game. Show that you belong on the same field as Alabama. At home. And the thing is in that spot, they've done that.

The Mark Stoops teams did that. They gave Ole Miss Hell week two last year in Lexington. They gave Georgia hell in Lexington two years ago. Yeah. So instead of maybe marrying it to a wins and loss record, maybe to say give him hell, give him hell for 12 weeks of regular season football. Yeah.

I think this is going to be a lot of fun to watch. You saw Will Stein when he came on the show. He was very exciting. Like you hear him talk and you believe. So I think this is doable. But like already said, it's a fine line because you, may be significantly better, but because of the way the schedule breaks out, you could be six and six.

You could be seven and five. And I think seven and five are better. You should be feeling ecstatic about where you are as a program and where you're headed. But one thing is unquestionably true about Kentucky now, Andy. It may not be the best job in America anymore. I think that they are expecting a lot more than we gave them credit for when Stoops was having success. it was very easy to joke about Mark Stoops and how much money he has and building a statue. Are they going to be building a statue of Mark Stoops?

I don't think so. I don't think so. So like, but if you pay $38 million in buyout, your expectations are high. Yeah. And I think we might have gotten that wrong. The one thing that I will say about Mark Stoops is I think, you know,

it's very funny sometimes how in the very immediate future after a coach is let go, they're remembered for their last two years, but then when 10 years go by, you remember them as a whole. I think if you remember Mark Stoops as a whole at Kentucky, he has been the reason why Kentucky has higher expectations now, which is leaving a place better than you found it.

And now it's a little sign to, you know, grab the torch from Mark Stoops and make them really good, because that's the expectation at that program now. Winning seven games in a year isn't a success for them. Maybe it will be, in year one, but I guarantee if they win seven games this year. Oh, the number goes up.

So, you know, they want more and they want to make sure that they feel like they're on the path to more in their first season. And what that record is, I don't know, but we'll know it when we see it. Yeah. And there's a lot of we'll know it when we see it in Kentucky this season because, again, you don't have to win every game. But as you said, so eloquently, Ari, there's a look to it. there is a look to it and we'll be able to see it and we'll know. Even if the record's not quite perfect, if the look is right,

we're going to get excited about what you can be. Man, I'm amped up for football season. I know. This is going to be so much fun. But hey, it's NCAA tournament week. Megaboard Wednesday tomorrow.

We'll probably be talking a lot of NCAA tournament because that is what is on everybody's mind. But yeah, we'll also be talking some football too. So, you know, make those message board threads as unhinged as possible. Give us a lot to talk about. And do an early call out. Oh.

Oh, hold on. Hold on. We got first four games tonight. Not the one everybody's pumped up about Miami of Ohio place tomorrow night. I am the worst co-hosted ever because I'd ever let you just close a show out cleanly. And I'm sorry about that. Really, I'm going to go see a therapist. It's amazing how you get to.

Okay, Texas, NC State is. tonight. Also, UMBC, the retrievers playing Howard will see what UMBC's Twitter account has to say after this one. You better win this one. Can't get too cocky on Twitter without winning. So, yes, Ari, when I start talking like this and getting really excited, that means I'm about to close the show. You got to drop in? Come on. Say it. Say something. Do it. I was just going to say, get your mail back questions in early this week. We really want to, you know, be ahead of the game. questions there are in early this week. Sorry.

Except, well, yeah, because I don't know if we're going to have a lot of time for mailbag questions, because we got, we got to get you ready for the tournament on Thursday. And that shows dropping Thursday morning. But yes, by all means, Andy Stapleson3 at gmail.com, R.E. Dot Wasserman at On3.com. Get your mailbag questions in because we may be sprinkling them in. We may be sprinkling it in a little bit Wednesday, a little bit Thursday, and a little bit Friday. Anything else you got to say, Ari. His lips are sealed.

Thank you so much. We'll talk to you tomorrow.