Andy & Ari On3 - How CLOSE is Oregon to winning a National Title? Dan Lanning on bringing the Ducks a CFP Trophy | Ari's CFP Bracket Prediction | NCAA suspends Tennessee LB Arion Carter

Episode Date: July 29, 2026

As day two of Big Ten Media Days are underway, Oregon is making their waves through Chicago today and On3’s very own Wilson Alexander had a chance to sit down with the Ducks head coach. Making the College Football Playoff the last two seasons, Oregon has been consistently knocking on the door for a national title. Now, Dan Lanning believes the Ducks are close to securing the title. Watch here as Andy & Ari go in depth on the Ducks in today’s episode.   (0:00) On Today’s Episode (0:59) Presenting Sponsor (2:09) Intro: How close is Oregon? (9:41) Kirby Smart & Ryan Day (13:22) Oregon in 2026 (22:08) Ari’s CFP Prediction (38:30) Tennessee LB Arion Carter Suspended by NCAA (47:27) Previewing Ole Miss suing LSU players (48:07) Intro: Ole Miss sues LSU Players (53:42) Examples of this happening (57:55) What’s next? (59:24) LSU at Ole Miss, Week 3 (1:02:59) Follow us for the latest (1:03:40) Thanks! (1:05:40) Send in your questions   Once the fellas wrap up talking about the Ducks, Andy & Ari dive into Ari's College Football Playoff prediction ahead of the season. Who are the automatic locks to make the field and who will be crowned champion by the season's end? Watch here as the fellas dive into the projected bracket.   Next up, the NCAA has suspended Tennessee LB Arion Carter for two games this upcoming season for a flight he took worth $427. Is this worth it? Andy & Ari break down this situation here.   To close, Andy & Ari revisit Ole Miss suing current LSU players Princewill Umanmielen and Devin Harper. What will happen in this bizarre situation? Andy & Ari discuss.   Thanks for watching!   Send your questions to: [e-mail] [e-mail]     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. This promotional offer is not available in DC, Mississippi, New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-MY-RESET (Available in the US) . 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), 1-800-327-5050 (MA), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-981-0023 (PR). First Bet Offer for new customers only (if applicable). Subject to eligibility requirements. Rewards are non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire in 7 days. In partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel   Check out Zen AI here: http://bit.ly/zenAI_bpp_itf   Join On3 today! https://www.on3.com/join   Watch our show on YouTube! https://youtu.be/9IYVWbeh13A   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 Andy and Ari on three presented by BetMGM. Oregon coach Dan Lanning says the ducks are close, quote unquote, to winning the school's first national championship. How close are they after a national semifinals appearance last year? We'll talk about that. Plus, Ari has his projected 12-team playoff. Oregon, part of it. But not his projected national champ. We'll talk about that.

Also, Tennessee linebacker, Arian Carter, suspended the first two games of the year for taking $427 and change from his agent to buy a plane ticket when he was planning on entering the NFL draft. Yeah, there are still some dumb NCAA rules and the NCAA is still right in parking tickets. We'll talk about that and much more on today's Annie and Arion 3 presented by BenMGM. This show is brought to you by BedmGM. All the Lions and Totals. Come from BedmGM. If you check the BedmGM app right now, you will find college football lines for weeks zero,

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Crossing Casino and Hotel. Welcome to Andy Naurion 3 presented by BetMGM. Big Ten Media Days ongoing in Chicago on the stage on Wednesday, Dan Lannning and the Oregon ducks. And Ari, we have talked quite a bit about their situation, where they fit in the college football world, what's potentially down the road for them. But I want to read you a quote that Dan Lanning gave to On 3's Wilson Alexander on Wednesday. You ready? I'm ready. We're close. Landing told On 3. I know Indian is an outlier and they've done an unbelievable job,

but it takes time, man, to build something really special. I think of coaches in our era that have been able to have success and create success and win national championships. I don't think Kirby Smart did it in his first four years. I don't think Ryan Day did. It takes time. It's hard. It's hard to build. There's what?

Four active coaches that have won national championships? We're close. We got to win the last one. We got to play better. And certainly there's no excuses from us. We've just got to continue to improve. Okay. We're close.

I agree. They're close. the way the playoff has ended for them the past two years is frustrating and tells you, how close are you? Not quite there yet. But if you told me in terms of roster, in terms of consistency in the regular season, I'd say they are tracking very similarly to early Georgia Kirby Smart. I have a buddy who went to Oregon, and he sent me a text this morning before I saw this quote.

And the text was basically everybody's saying Oregon's going to be legit this year. What do you think? And it's like, have they not been legit the last few years? But like, I do think that there is this viewpoint that Oregon is a fraud, even amongst some of their own fans, because they haven't been able to perform at a high, high level in the playoff. And I get it. If you lose by 25 or you lose by 5, there's a different feeling to those games. But in terms of being close, I thought that was true the second they were walking off the field against Indiana last year.

So, you know, I don't know how much closer you can get, I guess, advancing further. But the hardest part for me, Andy, and I think this is a hard part for you too, and everybody else who analyzes the sport is I think that there's a basic acceptance that Oregon, is going to be a playoff caliber team. But if you ask me in July, does this team have the it factor or the difference makers that the teams that got blown out by Indiana and Ohio State the last two years didn't have or that this team is different? I don't know how to quantify that in the moment.

They have run into buzz saws the last few years. And I think what Oregon fans are waiting for is for the ducks to be the buzzsaw. How do you determine that in July? I don't know that you can, but I think eventually just from a mathematical standpoint, it's bound to happen at some point when they're recruiting the players that they're recruiting. Well, and you look at the roster this year, they're not real transfer heavy. This is a bunch of guys who played on this team last year. They bring in Koi Perich, who was a huge get out of Minnesota at safety.

But for the most part, everybody who's going to play for them has played for them. They bring back Dante Moore. I think the defensive line really is spectacular this year for them. This is maybe the best D-line they've ever had at Oregon. Mateo Young will lay off the edge. Barry Alexander and Amari, Washington in the middle. They are going to really get after the quarterback. They're going to be hard to run on.

So they have all the pieces. They do. But I think you're right. I think it is the way that they have exited the playoff in the past two years, not just losing, but getting. smoked. And there's really no excuse for how they got smoked by Ohio State two years ago. They should have played better in that game. Ohio State was

great. The eventual national champ was a buzzsaw in those playoffs. But Oregon had been the best team in the country in the regular season had beaten that Ohio State team already. Yeah. Like they should have been better against that team. They were not prepared for that game. Last year in the semis, because remember they'd shut out Texas Tech or yeah Texas Tech got shut out. They'd shut out Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl. But going into that game with their running back injury situation, depth situation,

they were going to lose to any of the three teams remaining. They happened to draw the best one of them and Indiana kicked crap out of them. But they would have lost Ole Miss or Miami too. Now my question to you is this, Ari, because that's a bad, luck thing, but it's also do you, is there something a miss or off

that you found yourself in that situation in the first place? You know, the bad luck thing, it's not bad luck. That's how the playoff works. The further you advance it at, the more likely you are to play a team like that. You know, like I think.

Well, no, no, to be that injured. It has nothing to do with the fact that they played Indiana. Again, like I said, they would have lost to Miami or Ole Miss too. Like, with the running back situation they had, they had no chance. It was certainly bad luck to not be at full strength in that

moment. Sorry, I misunderstood you. I thought you meant it. Because there is this notion, and I've actually thought this too. It's like, well, it's bad luck that they had to play Ohio State when they played them and bad luck when they had to play Indiana. It's like, well, they wouldn't beat Miami or Ole Miss either. Yeah, but even if they played one more game and lost that way in the semis, I don't know that that would be, or even the national title game, maybe not so much national championship game. But I think that, you know, losing that way just leaves a sour taste to your mouth. But yes, I agree with you. Last year, I don't think last year's lost to Indiana is comparable to what happened at Ohio State, but you know, you can't take away the fact that both of those things

happened. But when you look at this year, I do love their defensive line. You know, Evan Stewart's coming back. They've got a really good time. They've got, you know, Decorian Moore at Whiteout. Like, they have all the pieces on paper. So I guess if it were to happen again where they have a really good regular season, I don't know if that means winning the Big Ten or having a season like they did last year,

but certainly like a eight seed to five seed worthy as a non-champ, potentially. And they get blown out. And you can win the big 10. I still think they probably got the most talented roster in the big 10. They certainly can. Yeah, I'm just saying even if they have a season like last year where they're a five, eight seed, whatever it is. I don't remember what seed they were last year and our competitor in the big 10.

They were the five seed, yeah. But if it happens again this year, Andy, we talk about knocking on the door all the time but if the door keeps getting shoved back into your face when do you start to question if there is something wrong if they don't make progress to start thinking okay yeah if they don't make progress and and i well it's it's also not linear like he brought up dan lighting brought up kirby smart and ryan day both of them experienced some pretty serious ups and downs before they they broke through so kirby smart a year two, Kirby Smart almost wins the national title.

Now, they also could have lost Oklahoma in the semis. They also got smoked by Auburn in the regular season. So that was not by no means a perfect year. But if they don't have a coverage bust on second and 26, they might win the national championship that year. Yeah. Then it's not winning. It doesn't win it.

You have the fake punt fiasco in the SEC championship in 2018. tons of questions after that. 2019, they get destroyed by an LSU team that would have destroyed anybody. But that's when we were asking Kirby, like, hey, when are you going to fix your offense? 2020, they had terrible injury luck. Florida and Alabama were better. And it took until 2021. Like, it took until they figured out the quarterback situation and they had the deepest D-line ever.

And then, hell, Ohio State, people were talking about firing. Ryan Day two weeks before the playoff run began that they won the national title in. Yeah, I mean, Ryan Day had his lowest of low as Ohio State's tenure, literally two months before hoisting the final trophy. Like, that's, and I

think that that's more of an atypical scenario. You don't really see that. I mean, the new playoff, the new playoff system obviously afforded him that wouldn't have existed in years past. So there's not a lot of, you know, parallels because that happening to anybody else at the same time in any of the previous hundred years would have stopped them from

playing for the championship. But certainly you don't really see the lowest of lows for a coach. I bet you've asked Ryan Day, what's the lowest day of your Ohio State tenure? He would say that Michigan game. So, you know, it is interesting. And also, here's the other thing when it comes to not being linear. I don't know if you mean not linear in terms of like the way the trajectories mirror other people who have done it.

But what about linear in your own season to season to season progress? No, that's what I mean. Okay. Like, yeah. If we think that because they advanced one more round last year, so now if they follow the pattern, they'll go to the final this year and get smoked. Yeah. Well, but that's not how things work.

They might go to the final this year and win. They might also play a really tough game in the semis of the quarters and lose. Yes. And the thing that I would say to also highlight the not linear discussion is my national champion, which we'll get to later on the show, didn't even make the playoff last year. You know, like, I think there are a lot of coaches in college football who are kind of in this knocking on the door phase at the moment.

Steve Sarkesian's one, Dan Lanning's another. Marcus Freeman. Marcus Freeman's knocking on the door. Who else is knocking on the door? Is Lane Kiffin knocking on the door? We don't know if he didn't get the coach in the playoff last year. Lane Kippen's pulled into the driveway. I don't know that he's been able to get to knock on the door yet.

Okay. But I think Mario Cristobol should be in that category now because he's certainly knocking. He was 40 yards away from first and through. But like there are a lot of coaches that are in Dan Lanning's position that will be viewed as a failure. There's a lot of teams that will feel really bad if they don't make it to the championship game this year.

Texas is one of them, Oregon's one of them. I think Miami has a huge, huge expectation to not only make the playoff, but to get deep into it again and potentially try to win the national title, obviously. So not everybody's going to put it through. Here's what I'm going to say are in this era of college football where like I love Oregon's roster, but it's not like I love it the way I loved Georgia's 2021 roster. It's not the same thing.

I don't love anybody's roster in college football the way I love that roster. Correct. It's not possible. Notre Dame, Ohio State, Texas, Miami, Georgia, LSU, like Ole Miss, which makes, the playoff last year and made the set of teams. Those are all teams. Right.

These are all teams I would feel like if they made the playoff, I would feel confident they can move forward. At this point, it's not three teams standing astride the sport. Oregon is one of those teams, but you are going to have to win in the margins because you're going to be playing teams that are just as talented, just as good. And it's very interesting to be in a. a season where there are three coaches who have rosters that are conceivably good enough to win the championship who also face the same exact scenario that day landing I didn't even mention

Indiana in that we're not betting against St. Eddie anymore like no right I mean there's you probably forgot somebody else too I just you know your point was made but you know I think Marcus Freeman probably gets a little bit more benefit because he has made the national championship game Steve Sarkesian has had a lot of talent coming through those doors of Texas and he has not made the title game yet. So I think that Steve Sarkesian and Dan Landing, I think are at similar crossroads

where they're viewed universally as top seven, top five coaches in college football but have yet to break through and then any time you project that they will break through, people roll their eyes at you. So I don't know, what I do know is both of them can't win, right? But I think that both of them have a really good chance. And I do think, and I don't know if you buy this

because all the rosters are different year over year. But don't you think that going to the playoff multiple years in a row and even losing the experience of knowing what it takes to get there? And then, of course, what you fell short on while in it helps you, you know, cut your teeth so you're more prepared to get there next time? Like, is Oregon a better football program team this year? Because Dan Lanning is more familiar with where they were inadequate the last two years. Because I buy that.

I would buy that, too. And I also think if you ask Kirby Smarter Ryan Day, and, you know, we're probably going to talk to those guys here before the season starts. Like, that's a question we should ask them. Did you, were you better prepared to understand where you fell short and how much easier was it to fill that and fix that after having been through it a couple of times? It would be an interesting question for Ryan Day, he had a month to figure it out with cops guarding his house. So I don't know.

But also, Ryan, they had had 2019 where he had a really great team and they lost in the semifinals. And then he had some really good teams that could not get past Michigan. Yeah. You could get past really good Michigan teams. It was the bad Michigan team losing to them. That was the really bad. But I think that there is something to be said about, A, how hard it is to actually win the championship. And I don't know how, how, college football's expanded playoff has changed people's perspective. But like I do find it kind of amusing that Oregon made the final four a year ago

and still gets mocked for losing the way it did. They will be though because they're the new guy. Like they don't have a national championship in their history. We always say what you know, the question was always who's going to be the first, first time national champs since Florida in 96. Well, the answer we know now is Indiana. But Oregon was always thought to be that.

I mean, for 15 years we thought that was going to be. Oregon, and they haven't gotten there yet. And so, like, they'll always be viewed as the new guy. They'll always be viewed as, oh, Phil Knight's just trying to buy a championship. And then they'll win one or two, and then we'll accept them as part of the hierarchy. Yeah, because Ohio State lost last year very early in the tournament. And no one's like, like, oh, they're going to choke because they got through and they've shown in the past they can do it.

Yeah, they've won three national titles this century. But it is funny, though, because a million games in their history. to the national championship in the first ever playoff. You know, it's not like they've never been to the title game. Now, obviously, different time, different era, different coach. Yeah. But like this viewpoint that Oregon is just some, you know, the thing that my biggest pet peeve, I think in college football.

People say, like, how many 1980 jokes did you get about Georgia, even though they were one of the best programs in college football until they won in 2021? But the thing I hate the most in college football discourse outside of the week scheduling discussion is like this over-reliance on past, trends to help you decide your opinion about the future. Like, I've been saying this about Oregon for years now, and I've been wrong, obviously, ever since I've made the point initially, is that just because they fell short in

the past doesn't mean that they can't break through and win one this year. Like if while I was filling out my bracket, which we'll get to, I didn't take into account the way that Oregon lost their last two final playoff games. You know, I don't think that that matters all that much, especially with how different the teams are now. And like, listen, if the past dictated the future, then how did the worst program in the history of the entire sport win the national title last year? Like, it doesn't work that way. What you have to do is catch lightning in a bottle, I think, right now. Yeah. Make the most out of the good teams that you have when you have them and be in a position

where when you are really good, you know, maxing out on that potential because I do think that we will find iterations of teams like Arizona State for now, maybe Miami from last year, who had something. And really, you know, had a chance to do something and they, they missed and then they could go years without doing it again. Now, hopefully for both programs, I'm wrong about that. But it's not a given right to make it to the semifinals every year and get your doors blown off. It's hard to do that. It's hard to get that far, let alone, you know, winning it all. Oregon recruits in a way, develops in a way, and pays in a way. Yeah. Yeah, and pays in a way that the lightning should be in the bottle

almost every year it's a matter of whether you can catch it. Yeah, and you also hope that you don't have to continually play thunder in a bottle at some point because that's what happened. And unfortunately, Ohio State 2024 in the playoff was absolutely thunder in a bottle. Yeah, like it just, you know, winning a national championship is about two things, Andy. Now it's about one, obviously building the team and feeling good

and everybody being good. And that's also about your path. and I think that in the 15 years between 2006 and 2020, you had a pretty good idea that if you got far enough, you were eventually going to have to face this big bad boogeyman that had 20 draft picks on their team, and you're probably going to get your doors blown off if you were a have not. But now, if you get the right path or you hit hit the right type of team in the right year,

you really can go all the way. And you're not going to have to face 2019 LSU at the end of the road. And I think that that should be an exciting thing for everybody. and if Oregon is one of the seven best rosters on paper in July, every July, for 10 years, mathematically speaking, one year they're going to be the best one. Like, it's going to happen. And it might not be this year. I don't know if it's going to be this year.

But they can go with the Big Ten right now or they can go miss the playoff. I don't know. Well, let's look at Oregon's schedule. It is challenging. By the way, Boise State and Oklahoma State, I like the scheduling intent there. And we think Oklahoma State is going to be pretty good under Eric Morris. Like last year, obviously that was not what Oregon thought they were going to get when they scheduled them. But Oregon's challenging itself.

And then the Big Ten schedule, you got to go to SC, you got to go to Illinois, you got to go to Ohio State, you get Michigan at home, you get Washington at home. Like, that is, that's not easy. Like, for them to make the playoff is going to be a challenge. Yeah, for sure. And who knows what Oklahoma State is going to be. I think that their non-conference schedule is interesting because I think it will tell us a lot about their opponent. I think Boise State is a team that a lot of people perceive will be a potential playoff team when it comes to winning the G6.

So in Oklahoma State has already made the playoff in everyone's offseason height meter. So we'll see how it goes. They have not made the playoff. It's just, you know, maybe maybe loses the big 10 championship or big 12 championship game to that. 10 games are bust, baby. But no, I think that, but if you think Oregon is a legitimate national championship contender and somebody goes, ha, ha, they choke every year. I would just be like, okay, dude.

Like that's what I just like, okay, dude. They are doing the things you're supposed to do. They just haven't broken through yet is the way I look at it. All right. Let us see where the ducks fall in your projected 2026 CFP. This is a fun exercise. Obviously, a bit of a silly exercise given how much the sport has changed. But when I saw your list, we got to do it.

Nothing really made me mad about it. And I thought it was very interesting. All right. So just for the people listening, Andy, let me just read off my, because I think the hardest part about this is picking the 12. And then once you get into the projection of who wins the games, when they actually play, it's an insane exercise. And, you know, I'll get the best that I could.

Who knows now what everybody's going to do? Yeah, whatever happens happens. But my projected CFP rankings, the final edition that comes out at the end of the year that determines the field. goes number one, Notre Dame, because I just don't think they're going to lose this year. I don't think there's anybody in their schedule that can beat them. And if that happens, they'll probably be number one, right?

I don't know. I also think the schedules in the Big Ten and the SEC for the contenders are so hard. Yeah. There's unlikely to be an undefeated team out of there. Yeah, but I don't think even if there's a chance that like a one-lost Texas SEC champ that beats Ohio State would still be number one over undefeated Oregon. going to, I mean, Notre Dame, I think there's a chance of that. There's a chance of that, yeah.

But even then, I thought the safe thing, I think it's much more likely that Notre Dame is undefeated than it would be for Ohio State or Texas, which are two and three on this list, to have one or fewer losses. Ohio State, the Big Ten champ, Texas, the SEC champ, and then number four Miami is the ACC champ. Yes. And then I have a projected loss on the road for Miami at Notre Dame, which would knock them out of the top three seeds, but also maybe undefeated. in the ACC at four.

Yeah, which gives them a five. Yeah, Georgia five, because of course, Georgia's inevitable. Texas Tech six, big 12 champ. So you think Texas Tech's going to drop a game is by putting them at six. That suggests to me that because their schedule is not great. So if they're 12 and one, they're definitely like there's a good chance they don't have a buy. But does this mean they drop a game or two? I would think I'm just like, he.

Keeping like Will Hammond injury going undefeated's hard in the back of my head. I don't know if they will drop a game. I think that's fair. I mean, it is also possible that Texas Tech is a undefeated Big 12 champ and still the five seed. So if you wanted to flip Georgia and Texas Tech, I wouldn't lose anything. They have the easiest schedule of everybody we've talked about.

Yes. So far. Seven LSU. I'm buying into the hype because I think that their roster from top the bottom is as good as anybody. I don't know depth-wise if they can compare to some of the teams in the top three. but in terms of top end talent, LSU has all of the pieces, eight Oregon, nine,

Ole Miss, 10, Indiana, 11, Oklahoma, and then 12 UNLV now that Boise is no longer in the Mountain West. So that's it. So that's where we get. And I sent this list to you, and you said, Ari, I think we're starting to think the same.

Are these the teams that you would have had in your field? Yes. It's pretty close. I mean, I like Oklahoma. I've said that. I also tend to buy the LSU hype. If we did the, if we flipped it and didn't do five SEC,

if we did five Big Ten, who would we add here? Like Michigan or USC? I mean, it was a debate between Michigan or USC. Yeah, that's where I was. So, yeah, that's, that's, because I, like, I don't know,

I would assume one of those leads is getting five teams in, I just don't know which one. And also it's possible, like, ACC gets two. Like, two years ago, SMU was getting in regardless of whether they won or lost the ACC championship game. Yeah.

So that was it. And then the group of five, if you want to put Boise in there, I saw a lot of Boise predictions, but I thought I would try to be a little bit different. Yeah, UNLV, now Boise State is in a different conference this year. Boise State's in the PAC 12. So could it be Boise State?

UNLV, another one in the Mountain West is New Mexico to consider. Yeah. They could be very good. We also, it could be the American champ again. Who knows? Maybe Brian Hartline takes over USF and they just blow through the American. Here's the thing, though. None of them are beating Georgia, so I'm fine with whoever you want to put.

Okay. Change the bracket. And interestingly enough, you have Georgia not getting a buy, which Georgia's lost in the quarters both years after having a buy. So this way they're in a position, you have them in a position where they can win a playoff game and then kind of get oiled up and rolling. Yes, which might be good.

I think that like I could also buy into the theory that buy games are actually bad for you, that being off that long or playing a team that's already won a playoff game and feels like in the flow of it is actually an advantage. Texas Tech would agree with you from last year. I mean, I think. Oregon would agree with you from two years ago. I don't know what the record is, but I think that the teams, Ohio State lost off a buy last year. dude, didn't they? They did.

A lot of teams lose, well, have lost off the buy. I actually think that they're very far under 500. Yeah, Indiana didn't. That was the, that was the one. Yeah. So. So anyway, so then we went through the list and Andy, I've got a very bad mathematical, like, visual brain.

So, like, I didn't realize what matchups I was creating as I did this. That's the fun part of all this. Like, because I was like, okay, you've got, you've got Ohio State instead of Oregon winning the big 10. or instead of Indiana. And I'm like, but what does that actually mean? Well,

okay, if you're the two seed, you're going to play the winner of 710. So you'd have the winner, like Indiana LSU winner would play your big 10 champ there. Yeah, but Oregon would have to start with Ole Miss

and then would have to play the one seed. Like, you're going to have to play the one seed. play somebody hard no matter what. Yes. There's no getting around it. Well, here's what I unintentionally did, and I was, like, excited when I was filling out the bracket.

I created a first-round matchup between Oklahoma and Texas Tech, which fed into a Texas second-round game. So either way, you have Oklahoma rematch in a rivalry game, or you have the Texas Tech-Texas matchup that we've been talking about all offseason. So that would be fun. Um, but then be it probably be it is the is cotton a semi or a quarter this year or is a semi? I think it's I think it's a semi this year. Oh shoot because it cotton has a quarter.

Yeah. I think it is pretty awesome because it was a semi it was a quarter last year. Not they alternate? They, they do, but there's only two semis. Uh, the cotton is actually a quarter this year. Okay. Good. So I was wrong.

That would be a cotton bowl. Yeah. So that would be a cotton bowl. in the Cotton Bowl. So it would be, yeah, either Oklahoma, Texas and Jerry World or Texas, Texas and Jerry World, that would be electric. Like, I'm coming to your house and we're going to Jerry World for that one. Yeah, that's a, that would be the game of the playoff.

But for the people listening who aren't able to see the graphic, why don't I just read through the bracket? So I'll start on the left side. 8-9 is Oregon Ole Miss. I have Oregon advancing to play Notre Dame in the quarterfinals. The other first round game is Georgia, UNLV. Georgia, the five-seat beats 12 UNLV moves on. On the other side of the bracket, you have the number seven-seed LSU Tigers playing the 10-seed Indiana Hoosiers.

I have LSU advancing and fulfilling the Lane Kiffin Prophe, because I think that that's the baseline of what I believe that they would have to do in order to be deemed to success this year. All right, Ari, can you imagine the discourse going into a Lane versus Signetti matchup? Like, not from us who cover the sport on a daily basis, but from the people who parachute in. Yeah, Stephen A. Smith's mind would be blown. Yeah. Yeah. That's going to be some of the craziest takes in the world heading into that game. Yeah. And then at the bottom, we have 11 seed, Oklahoma playing six seed Texas Tech.

I believe that Oklahoma will win that game if they were to play. next round we have Oregon versus number one Notre Dame Oregon doesn't lose to the 1C this year in advances and beats Notre Dame. Now I think that that is a really difficult game to project and if Notre Dame goes on to win the national championship then so be it.

But I think that Oregon has been in this stage and in this environment enough to finally do something special. At that point, everybody can beat everybody else. Yes. At that point. And I'm doing the best that I can here. Next round I've got Georgia versus Miami I've got Miami advancing again into the semis

because I'm in love with their offense and they've got really good. Georgia fans are going to go berserk on that one. Like, oh, come on. Yeah, I mean, I don't know, gun to your head, who wins that matchup right now? No idea. No idea.

Until I see Miami play this year, no clue. Andy, you would be terrible with a gun to your head. Okay. LSU 7, first number two, Ohio State, Ohio State advancing to the semis. Texas and OU. Texas beating Oklahoma for the second time. The last thing that OU has to do in the Brett

Venables build is to get over the Texas hump. I think they're probably a year away from that because Texas is just really good this year. Semis, we have Oregon, Miami. I have Oregon advancing into the national championship game because what happened in the past doesn't dictate what I think will happen in the future. And Ohio State, Texas playing again.

They've been playing a lot the last few years, both in the playoff or in the regular season. Texas beats Ohio State to make it to the national championship game, setting up a national championship. game between two coaches who have been knocking on the door. Can I ask you a stupid hypothetical? Sure. Is that Texas' second win against Ohio State of the season, or are they getting revenge for

losing to them earlier? I think it's revenge. I had Ohio State ranked ahead of them, right? Didn't I have Ohio State ranked ahead? You did, yes. So then I had Ohio State. So that would indicate that Ohio State went to Austin and won, yes. And one, and then Texas beats them the second time.

and then you're setting up a first-timers national championship game between two teams that are just desperate to win one. And unfortunately, Oregon, I'm sorry I didn't go all the way with it, but I've been a Texas believer for a long time. And I really truly believe that Texas is going to win the title this year. You just continue the theme. Like if you have Texas win that game like 35 to 10. Yeah, and then we have the same, I don't know.

If Oregon makes the national championship game, then I think we can put that stuff to bed. But it would be they made it one more round and the same thing happened. Yeah. And maybe it's their time next year. Maybe Dante Moore comes back for another year. Does he have another year of eligibility? Does he have to go?

He has to go, right? No. He has one more year for this if you want to. He would have one more year, yeah. Electric. So yeah, we'll see. Texas is my national champion, Andy, and that is based on just what they have on their team.

We will see. I thought they had a chance to win the national championship a year ago, and they played a highly dysfunctional football for the large portion of the first half of the season. So we'll see what it looks like. And I actually might have made an error now that you mentioned it because I do think that Texas is probably going to beat Ohio State and we two at home. So if you want to flip them.

So you have to flip those and it would change the match. And the thing is, it would change the matchups in a way that, again, I think we're at a point once you get to the quarters where I don't even know seeds matter. Yeah. And it's just like if Notre Dame beat Oregon in the second round and won the national championship, is anybody really going to be like, oh, my God, I can't believe it? Like, it just is a difficult exercise. But this is something that I think is the way that I view the teams right now. And I think a long way of saying, I actually believe Oregon could be different this year.

So if we go off of the first segment that we had. Yeah. You know, but I also think that, unfortunately, for them, they might run into a bus hog again in my projection. Because Texas to me is, like, when you just go pound for pound roster for roster, Texas is better than everybody on this list right now, in my opinion. Feels that way. feels that way, but again, felt like they were one of the best

five or six rosters in the country last year. Yeah. What happened happened. Yeah, you might not believe it, Andy, but projecting the future is really hard. It is really. It was really hard before when the teams were more predictable. Now they're wildly unpredictable.

And I'm sure there's probably a team that is going to be the three seed coming into the year that I didn't even, you know, having my playoff bracket at all. Like I was like, as I was doing this, Like, I picked a lot of the same team. You're talking about a Big Ten Champ, Minnesota? I mean, just like, who's going to come out of nowhere and be a really good team this year that isn't even on this list?

Because I do think that if you ask most analysts, we'd probably land on at least 85% of the same teams. You might have a different G5 team. You might swap in Santa Prishian or something, but I don't know. I've talked about how I think Shane Beamer, he's on the hot seat, but he could just as easily have a great year because they have aliens on their team. Like, what if South Carolina is a top? five seed. I don't think I'm going to go 12 for 12, Andy. I don't think so either. I'm trying to think of who else. See, I'm trying to think of like a scenario with two ACCC teams.

Like, let's say SMU's just really good again. They might. Yeah. SMU and Miami play a classic ACC championship game. They both make it. Like, it happened. Certainly. Certainly. So this is my best attempt. It obviously is designed in nature to enrage people. And I'm sure that it will accomplish that when and if this graphic hits the

the socials. But it is my best good faith attempt, and I think I feel pretty good about it, while also being completely aware that I'll be wrong. Exactly. Yeah. I think you'll be less wrong than some people. Does that help?

Yeah, I hope so. Speaking of things that are designed to enrage people, there is one organization that does nothing but enrage people, and that is the NCAA. And on Wednesday, we got an example of why everyone hates the NCAA. the NCAA suspended Tennessee linebacker, Arian Carter, for two games this season. So the season opener and the Georgia Tech game in week two. Why did he get suspended?

Because he was planning to enter the draft. His agent bought him a flight, which Ariane Carter had then subsequently paid back. But because his agent bought him a flight while he was preparing for a draft, that is him taking an improper benefit as a professional. Now, mind you, NIL money can pay for all kinds of flights when you're in college. Like the DGG benefits package for the running back who just committed to Tennessee far exceeds any of this.

Do you know what I've been thinking a lot? But this is the rule as written. And so the meter maids at the NCAA are like, well, we have to justify our paychecks somehow. So we will enforce this rule. By the way, initially they were going to suspend in four three games. You know what I've been thinking about a lot recently? I think that if our show would be better, if River were a true Volvaal Twitter guy and like,

oh, it just went berserk over something like this. Like, I want him to pop up here and give us like a volunteer perspective of this. ruling. What do you want? It's bullshit. It's bullshit. That's all it is. That's all it ever is from the NCAA.

It's absolute bullshit. The difference is I might not agree with you on some of those other things. I agree with you on this one. It would not matter which school they were doing this to. I would feel the same way. The thing that I can't get over is that the NCAA gets its ass kicked in every single decision of magnitude or of consequence that people care about.

And it's like, okay, now it feels like you have to write the jaywalking ticket to prove yourself that you're like this entity that people give a shit about. It's just like, I mean, but they kind of do, they kind of do, Ari, like, because if they don't, why do they exist? Why are they getting paid? I know, but that's the pathetic part. It's that like, this is why you have to exist and that you can like punish a kid

that thought he was going to a league. got hurt while working out for the NFL and then reimbursed the person who bought his his his flight he was already hurt he didn't get hurt while working out for the NFL he was already hurt but he re-injured himself while working out for the NFL he he he basically he basically decided hey I'm not going to be able to do this the pre-draft stuff that I need to do to raise my draft stock I need to get a surgery I'm better off getting a surgery and playing another year at Tennessee but nothing that he did was in the spirit of breaking the rules. No, no. It is, it is purely semantics and it's silly semantics. The NCAA's one definition

of amateurism has changed over time. There was a time when you couldn't give somebody a scholarship. There was a time when you couldn't give them room and board. All of that has changed. There is no difference between, like college athletes are not amateurs anymore, especially major college football players. They are professionals. They are paid to play football and paid handsomely to play football. They are professionals. So the distinction no longer exists. The rule doesn't need to exist. And I had a lot of people when I tweeted about this saying, but the rules, the rule, they should know. Here's the thing. Should Ariane Carter had put the flight on his own amics and had the agent pay him back in cash to avoid this? Sure. Could have been a good points

merchant there too, by the way. Yeah. Yeah, that's, Ari on. Book your own flights. Make sure you get the points. Got to get the points, man. Say that as a season business traveler. But the thing that frustrates me is that he wasn't, as he was doing it,

he thought he was just doing what all NFL prospects do. He didn't know. Well, and I'm sure his agent was the same way. I sure his agent's like, okay, here's my NFL. This is my draft class. So I need to book them tickets to the training facility. I need to play. I need to book.

I need to book them rental cars. I need to book them a place to live. Like that's what the agent does. Like it's part of the job. And yeah, so he did, I said this earlier, a producer river, the Evolve for Life, wants everybody to know he did pay the $427.48 cents back. But at a certain point,

this is why I've always said the NCAA needs a vice president of common sense. At a certain point, you have to say something like, are we just going to look like giant assholes if we do this? And if we are, maybe we shouldn't do this. I don't think they care. I don't think there is a person that goes, I'm afraid we're going to look like assholes. Like, I don't think that's even on their radar. Because if it was, it's what it be happening.

I disagree. I don't think there are robots working at the NCAA. I don't think they're stupid. I don't think that at all. I think they know exactly how they look. I think they know this is absolutely pathetic. But I also think they like getting paid. And if they don't enforce the rule that's on the books, when they have somebody dead to rights, then why are they getting paid?

So I get all that. You know, I don't know. Where the VP of Common Sense comes in and goes, you know, maybe we just change that rule. Because we don't really need that anymore. You're our resident lawyer. So help me out here. No. I love referring to that because you understand things that I don't.

But how much of the actual law, does intent come into play. You know, I think it's a pretty It depends on the case. Yeah. But like, I think maybe I'm saying the same thing as you when it comes to common sense. But there was no malicious intent.

Here, I'll give you an example. In criminal law, the prosecutor doesn't have to prosecute the case. They have wide latitude in determining what cases they do and don't want to prosecute. Yes. And there may be times when they feel like

I could get a case. conviction, but the public might not like it if I do that. Yeah, yeah. Or this isn't what we're here to spend the government's time on. Right. Right. I think that that's one of those cases. We're just like, why are we in court right now?

Because they don't have any other rules they can enforce. That's part of it. So, there's that. Is the elephant in the room, which is you are no longer needed. Thank you for your service. Yeah. And I don't want to wish unemployment on anybody. No.

we're in an industry where people get laid off all the time it sucks so i don't want to wish that but i do want people to use common sense but i guess the real lesson here arey if we're for giving handing out life lessons is always book your travel on your own credit card you get more points that way yeah uh and also too um also too working on that also um also um It's probably a good segue way to the final segment of the show, which is think everything through to the fullest extent before you make commitments, whether it be a signed document or acceptance of funds for a flight before you make these decisions in the modern era of college football. Right. This is a good point. I will point.

I had someone call me who's been, you know, at different schools and dealt with different stuff. And they said, and I mean, this is a good point. If this was 10 years ago, it might be a whole season suspension or a half season suspension. And I was like, you know what? You're probably right. So at least it's only two games. Now, if I'm Erion Carter, do I file a lawsuit in Knox County, Tennessee to try to get an injunction to play those first two games? Yes, I do.

Yep. If I'm Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman, can I not wait to hear how the NCAA defends this thing in court? No, I can't. Well, what is the likelihood of that actually occurring? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know if they feel it. I mean, you have to feel like you're going to win.

You have to feel like you're going to get an injunction. You have to, this is the speech we have to give now, because we've covered so many of these that we know what injunctions are. You have to prove that you would be irreparably damaged by not being able to play in those two games. and that you have a chance of winning on the merits. So could you convince a court of that is the question. I don't know that he could, but also he's just trying to get to play the Georgia Tech game

because that's the one that like Tennessee feels like. That's the one you're worried about. But also here's the thing, if Arian Carter sits those two games and balls out for 10 plus games, it's like nothing happened. He's going to be drafted very high. It's not a problem.

Like it's not, it's not going to hurt his future. So actually, if I just feel bad for people who get punished, considering that, I don't necessarily think he's irreparably harmed. That would be, that would actually be my argument if I was an NCAA attorney. Like, he's probably not irreparably harmed by it, by sitting. Yeah. I just have remorse because, and I don't know, I'm sure you're like this too, but when you have a child, you start thinking about things through the lens of them.

Like if somebody were to harm my child that way, If I were Aaron Carter's parents, I'd be furious, right? Because this is a captain of the team. This is a guy, like, he's not had trouble at all. Like, if I were his dad, you know, his mom, I'd be super frustrated about this because my kid has to sit out and he wasn't trying to do anything wrong. So. Oh, no, not only was he not trying to do anything wrong, he was just following standard procedure of the direction he thought his life was going in. Yeah.

So, yeah, I, and that's, but again, that that's why it might be worth trying to take to court, just to see what happens. Because I, well, I would just make the NCAA to spend money to defend it itself. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, just to be a pain in their ass. Yes.

So. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Yes. VP of common sense. Not too late. Not too late to do the thing that makes you not look like an asshole. Never too late. Ari, you mentioned there's another case involving rules and agreements.

This one involves a little more firm rules that do need to exist. And that would be the rules governing contract law in the state of Mississippi. Ole Miss sues two former players who followed Lane Kiff and LSU. We talked about it when it happened on Wednesday night. If you missed the video we dropped on Wednesday night, well, here is that discussion right now. Ole Miss is suing two former players who followed Lane Kiffin to LSU. Prince Will Omanuelan.

He's an edge rusher, Devin Harper, he's an offensive tackle, both being sued by Ole Miss over an early termination fee for breaking their contract with Ole Miss and then heading to LSU. Ari, this is probably a little bit of new normal in college football, but the fact that it is Ole Miss suing LSU, the fact that Lane Kiffin just left Old Miss for LSU.

This just adds even more gasoline to what is already a crazy rivalry right now. So I want to know what your thought is on this, Andy. it's super charged because of the situation and who's involved here, right? Yes. But it is the duty of the school to hold people accountable and to try to enforce agreements that were signed. Yes. So is it your fun?

It's literally the only thing any of these schools can do in this environment. Like they can't do anything. The NCAA can't do anything. They, the schools can't really enforce any sort of rules about transferring because those rules are gone. all they can do is enforce the contracts that they have signed. And so according to Ole Miss, who manned me Ellen agreed to a contract in January that said if you break this within 90 days of signing it,

you would owe Ole Miss $550,000. Harper, similar clause, but his was for $400,000. And Ole Miss released a timeline for both guys saying, hey, here's when they agreed to the RevShare deal. Here's where they signed. Here's where they entered the transfer portal. Here's where they withdrew from Ole Miss. Here's where they enrolled at LSU.

The thing I don't understand is if they were planning on transferring or thought they might transfer, why would you sign that to begin with when they signed it? Well, I think nobody really expects to ever have to pay any of these things. And, you know, so far, we've got a couple examples of people having to pay. But like Brendan Soresby is still being sued by Cincinnati. presumably he has not paid that buyout. So you think the thought process is I'm not going to have to pay anything back.

I might as well ink this now. If it doesn't work out with LSU, at least I have this signed. Like, is that the thought process? Because I thought it was kind of strange. Maybe they didn't think they were going to go to LSU. Yeah, right. So you lock something in and then something changes at the, you know,

like here's, I don't know how you were raised. But when I get a letter in the mail that says I owe somebody money, I take it very seriously. So the no response thing is kind of an interesting thought process. But that is what your attorney or your agent would advise you to do is not respond. Because just hope it goes away. They just forget about it. Now, also the amount of money here that they're trying to recoup seems like something that is

probably easily paid by LSU if they felt like it. Like I thought that that was strange to. But LSU doesn't have any need to pay this. Like LSU is not a party to those contracts. To avoid this. If you want a chunk of money from LSU, you got to sue them for torture's interference. Yeah. But then you would have to prove that somebody at LSU caused them to break the contracts.

Yeah, well, the thing I don't know is why was LSU not privy to the agreements that they signed after they entered the portal or were they just indifferent to it? It doesn't matter. LSU was not a party to that agreement. If I have an agreement between you and me and then you go do something else. Yeah. Yeah. I think the person who would want me to do something else would not want me to get caught up into entanglements that would distract me from my current due. I don't think they care.

Yeah. But it's not that LSU is culpable. It's you're protecting the asset that you're spending all this money to get out of the portal. Right. Right. But maybe I'm just misthinking that a little bit. But, you know, I think that a lot of people probably think that this is happening as a result of Ole Miss being petty as a result of the Lane Kiffin thing. And I actually don't think that's the case here, Andy.

I think that it's the enforcement of contracts and doing your best to recoup any of the money that you spent on players that you thought were going to be a part of your team. And if they agreed to those things, then they are entitled to that money back. Like, you know, I'm usually on the player's side. But, you know, I think that contracts are signed and you need to. I mean, the players and their agents agreed to this. Yeah, right. Okay, these cases are in Lafayette County in Mississippi, that Lafayette County is where Oxford is in Mississippi. And Mississippi, like most other states, has rules about non-competes where they can't be overly punitive.

They have to represent the actual damages that the party incurred. And so I would assume if you wanted to fight this, if you're the players, that you could say that it doesn't represent the actual damages or it's too punitive. But Ole Misses attorneys would just argue right back that you and your agent thought this was reasonable enough to sign the. contract. Yeah. And by the way, we don't know exactly what they were going to pay these guys. This is not a year's pay. They were going to get more than that.

And my hope is that whatever they did get from LSU would make this payable without really that, but that's still a lot of money. So, you know, my thought here, Andy, is do you think that any of these types of lawsuits if the school is successful changes anything about how quickly people sign? because so far, like you pointed out, there aren't a lot of, you know, at least public stories of people who have signed something and had to pay back.

Now we know Demand Williams. Derry and Mentsa settled with Duke. We don't know how much that was for, but Dary and Mesa did settle with Duke. But yeah, the stories of that have not, now I think a lot of them have not come out because they've been handled pretty quietly. Right.

I don't, I don't, Ole Miss might be in a different boat because of the situation and because of, you know, lane left, all of that. But I imagine most schools are willing to negotiate on these things or take something and not necessarily worry about, hey, you need to pay the full amount. Like if somebody says, hey, I'll pay a 300 grand of the 400 I owe you.

They're going to probably take it. Yeah, like Metsa didn't pay the whole thing. I don't think, right? I don't think so. Yeah. But DeMond Williams is another interesting person in this because he signed something with Washington intended to leave and then found out that whatever he signed was binding enough to make his life a living hell if he were to have gone through with that.

Yeah, there was about a 48-hour period after DeMond Williams said he was going to enter the transfer portal on Instagram, where he was educated as to what he might owe if he left, and magically he decided that staying in Seattle was the right thing for him. Yeah, yeah. But recourse, I think, is important because while the players do hold the majority of the When they sign a document, they should be held accountable to those things. It's no different. That's real life.

If I sign something with somebody, I'm accountable for that. You know, I sign with on three. I can't go do a college football podcast with somebody else tomorrow because I agreed to that. So, I mean, while I do want to protect players and want to give them all the, you know, abilities or the options to make as much money and to fulfill their dreams and their financial dreams and their football dreams, I do think that when you do sign it, sign something that you should have to adhere to that. So I think that this is good. I don't know, like you said, a lot of the ones that might have been similar to this may have been, you know, solved or paid back in the quiet.

But I wonder more so than just being juicy with the fact that it's the two people who hate each other at the moment, two schools, if this means anything for the broader circus that the portal has become. I just think every school that has this happened to them needs to to sue for breach of contract if the person doesn't pay. If you have a very clear, and that's what's interesting in this one, because in the MENSA contract, which was attached to that lawsuit, there was not an amount that would be considered a buyout. It said that Duke would have been irreparably harmed if he left.

Ole Miss put an amount in there, said if you break it, you owe this amount. 550K for Bermany Ellen, 400K for Harper. They agreed to that. You know, their agent

reviewed the contract, presumably, I'm assuming they have agents, and they signed their name to it. So this is less mysterious as far as we know. Now, one thing I will say, I've got copies of both complaints.

Ole Miss did not attach the contracts to the complaints. to the complaints. They had a footnote in there saying, we've quoted the contracts to the extent to prove what we're saying happened, happened,

but the terms are confidential. And what would happen, I think, is if this case actually does move further. They would have to provide those documents. You'll see the contracts entered into the public record. Again, I don't know if it's going to go farther,

because it might be that these guys' agents are like, hey, all right, we got to, I'm going to make this go away. And they sit down with the old, this and like what what is it what's it going to take to finish this off to be done with yeah yeah but um we'll see maybe they maybe they dig in their heels is this a winnable thing for the players if they want to go through with it the so i'm not i am not admitted you're our legal attorney you're not a lawyer yeah but in in every state it's and it depends

on the individual state's laws but you can argue that usually that a non-compete is overly punitive or doesn't represent the actual damages that the party suffered. So, like, there are ways to argue it, but again, I think if you're Ole Miss, you just come back with, but they agreed to it. It was not under duress. They had professional representation, all of that.

Well, I'm all for making this game spicier, if it's, like, you even can. Like, I don't know if you can. I was going to say, how could it get any spicier than this? I mean, I guess there's a couple more players. Presumably because Ole Miss has not sued them, they either their contracts read differently or they, yeah, or they paid back.

Yeah, they paid. But that's, but yeah, again, I don't know how to make this game any spices. This, this is crazy. September 19th, week three. Like, this is. going to be maybe the biggest grudge match in the history of college football. You know, Andy, they said in the company group chat this afternoon that that is the place to be on September 19th.

And I think that we should petition for the entire on three staff to go to it. A retreat. A retreat. They already think we're going to. They already know we're all going to ask. And so some of us are going to be told no. So I have an alternate plan. I have a plan that might work.

And what's that? I think you and I spend Monday and Tuesday in Baton Rouge and Wednesday and Thursday in Oxford and we get a whole we get the totality of the scene like I saw there was a comedy club that's having a roast of Lane Kiffin that week in Oxford you can write some good stuff about that too

yeah we get the whole scene and then we watch the carnage from the comfort of our own homes can we go to the chimes we can go to the chimes there's some other places for fried fish But yeah, we can definitely go to the chimes. Yeah.

I got a couple of spots in Baton Rouge. You know I got some spots in Oxford. Yeah. You've already, you've already overdone it with where you've taken it. Listen, you're going for that chicken fried steak sandwich and a. Ajax. Like, I don't need, why you reinvent the wheel here, man? I already know where we want to go.

Well, I haven't taken you to city grocery yet. Okay. Well, if you think that it is worth a meal over Ajax, and I'll take your word for it. You have a little Big Bad Breakfast? Yeah, yeah. I don't hate that idea. I really don't.

By the way, John Currance, the chef at Big Bad Breakfast and City Grocery, Louisiana guy. So you got a little spicy. Listen, this rivalry cannot be any hotter than this. But yeah, I can't wait. I just everything about this game is going to, be so much fun. It's so messy. It's so nasty. Now it's in the court system.

Yeah, but the best part about this too may-could it happen any other way. You know the best part about it, though, is that both teams are awesome too. Like, it's going to be a high-level game. Like, it's not just like two, one team's got their feelings hurt and it's going to be a 27-underdog. Like, it's going to be a great game. So, and certainly, I know that Ole Miss wants to shove Lane Kiffin in a locker, but if LSU drops that game outside of the emotional, entanglements that are involved, that would be a pretty tough start for LSU's investment. And by the way, shameless plug for my column on three about the toughest back-to-backs in college football this season, this is one of those where whatever happens here, you better get over it

quick because LSU goes home to play Texas A&M and almost goes on the road to play Florida the next week. So it is, it is going to be the most intense possible situation. And then do you automatically take forward in A&M? Do you just automatically take them in the next week pick show just because of the emotional letdown? And I know that the teams can't afford to have them, but I just think that like, I don't know, man. I once was in the same room with my current wife and an ex-girlfriend and the next day I was just shot. And that's going to be the situation for Lane Kiffin and, and, 65,000 of his closest friends.

Yeah. I love, or former closest friends, I guess. I love it. I can't wait. This is going to be so much fun. Stay with us for the rest of this offseason and end of the season. It's about time. It's starting to get really, really spicy.

But thank you for watching. Be sure to subscribe to the On3 YouTube page. Also, we are available to you every day. We have a daily show 3 p.m. Eastern time. It drops on the On3 Sports. YouTube page. Also, you can get it wherever you find your podcast. We are Andy and Ari on three. We're here every day. I'll talk to you tomorrow. That's it for today. More big 10 media days on Thursday, Ari. Also, we got, we got to drop a Who Am I this week. I think it's time for who

am I. I believe I'm answering the questions. You are asking the questions this week. You're going to kill me because I made you go 10, 10 questions deep to get Joe Alt. Yeah, I'm going to just find like some random second string defensive lineman just, oh, you are going to fully stump me. I see how it goes. No, no, no, no. We're going to find somebody fun. My rule of this is that I always want the answer to be fun for people to know who it is.

I don't want to do it like where an average person would be like, I don't even know who that is, let alone I couldn't find the answer. So it'll be solvable, but I'm going to try to stump you. All right. ready, I'm excited. And the Lord knows what news is going to pop up because I feel like we're now in in season mode. I thought it was going to be, okay, Big Ten Media Days is happening.

Everybody goes to camp, first week of August, things sort of settle down for a few weeks. We don't hear much. But this feels like thing after thing after thing, day after day after day. August is like we're in the season already. Additionally, a very slow month, the first three weeks of August. So we'll see if that continues, but I am happy to be in Media Day mode right now. And I'm also excited because next week will be jam-packed because you and I will be together. We're going to the Personnel Symposium in Nashville,

and we've got some stuff going on at the On-3 headquarters, and whenever we're together and we're just debating about, because all Andy and I do is talk about college football when we're not recording. Well, exactly. We'll also have the whole crew together. So we may have some special guests, the crane and cone guys may pop up. Chris Lowe's going to be in town.

Pete Nacos will be there, obviously. So, well, that's going to be there. Yeah, it's going to be a lot of fun. We will prepare. Well, I will prepare for who am I. Ari's going to prepare to ask me some questions. Let's all get prepared for Friday, which is dear Andy and dear Ari.

Send it your questions. Andy Stapleson3 at gmail.com. Ari.com. R.com.com. You know where to find this. You can also hit us up on social media at Andy Sapols, at Ari Wasserman. We will do our best to answer your questions on Friday, and we will talk to you on Thursday.