Andy & Ari On3 - James Franklin is HUNGRY to turn Virginia Tech around | No more SEC Championship? Cody Campbell vs Brett Yormark

Episode Date: April 2, 2026

Over in Blacksburg, Virginia, the Virginia Tech Hokies are looking to spark its football program again with the introduction of James Franklin as the next head coach of the storied football program. Now, after a few months on the job, James Franklin joins the show to discuss what expectations are with the Hokies and how his prior experiences prepared him for his next challenge.   (0:00) On Today’s Episode (2:40) Intro: Previewing James Franklin (4:42) James Franklin joins the show (19:15) How hungry is James Franklin? (23:14) Year one confidence in Blacksburg (23:50) Recapping Andy’s interview with James Franklin (38:30) Culver’s Breaking News: Audi Crooks in the portal (41:59) Greg Byrne calls for the end of the SEC Championship (58:02) Cody Campbell vs Brett Yormark (1:10:30) Conclusion: See you tomorrow!   Once Andy & Ari wrap up on James Franklin and the Hokies, the fellas have to discuss some breaking news out of women’s college hoops: Iowa State star center Audi Crooks plans to enter the transfer portal. Is this the biggest name in the portal for women’s hoops? Andy & Ari dive in.   Next up, Alabama AD Greg Byrne has called for the end of the SEC Championship game. With the implementation of the 12-team CFP, the Crimson Tide Director of Athletics has said the “ship has sailed” on playing in the conference championship. What’s the solution for this problem?   To close, Andy & Ari head over to Texas, where everything is bigger. It’s Cody Campbell vs Brett Yormark on whether or not the Houston vs Texas Tech game should be moved to a Friday night in September.     Thanks for watching! Be sure to join us for tomorrow’s show for Dear Andy & Ari!   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   Watch our show on YouTube! https://youtu.be/fIFtw0uQvDQ   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 is Andy and Ari on 3 presented by BetMGM. I promise you a huge guest and we deliver new Virginia tech coach James Franklin. Talking about what he's going to do to revive the Hokies, what happened at Penn State, and how he intends to rewrite his story in Blacksburg. Plus, Alabama Athletic Director Greg Byrne says the SEC Championship Games time has passed. What happens next? Also, it's Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark versus oil billionaire and Texas tech donor Cody Campbell. Who will win?

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eligibility requirements. Rewards are non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire in seven days in partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. Welcome to Annie and Ari on 3 presented by BetMGM. And it's a big day on the show, Ari, because we have a very, very special guest. James Franklin, new Virginia Tech coach, former Penn State coach, former Vanderbilt coach, joins us to talk about what he's doing in Blacksburg. I think he's a very interesting person always. think he's incredibly interesting now because I am actually expecting very big things from Virginia Tech. So obviously, if you are a listener of the show, you are aware of his recent history, which was, you know, 18 months ago playing in a game that was, you know, a drive away from sending

his team to the national championship to the bad beginning of the year and ultimate dismissal from Penn State last year. And now going back to a place that has a rich tradition in history, but a bunch of recruits that probably don't remember that history. So I'm super excited. excited to see how it goes. And I think that, you know, the results that Penn State got that they grew tired of would be absolutely incredible for Virginia Tech. And I also think that the players and the staff and the things that he was able to accomplish in the Big Ten at Penn State would probably translate really well to the ACC. And I'm excited to see how it goes for him. I also am very curious to see what he has learned from what happened at Penn State, what went wrong at Penn State. If he

corrects those things, does it make Virginia Tech even better in the long run? These are the questions you've been asked because it's such a strange situation. You go from having the ball in a tied college football playoff semifinal to six games later, you are fired. It is pretty unprecedented in college football. And there's a reason the market for him was as robust as it was. There were a lot of schools that believed that James Franklin could get back to winning very quickly, and Virginia Tech is banking on that. So here is James Franklin.

Honored to be joined by new Virginia Tech coach James Franklin, who last time was on the show, was giving out great condiment advice. No ketchup on a hot dog. No condiments required for a turkey leg, though, in your new place. That's fair. That's fair. That's exactly right. So how is the job for you're halfway through spring practice. You've got a team. team where a lot of folks stayed. Some guys came from Penn State, who you know. You've got an interesting staff situation where Brent Pry, who was on your staff for years and years, then was the head coach at Virginia Tech, is your D.C.

How has this first spring been? Yeah, it's been really good, obviously. You have some familiarity with Virginia Tech before taking the job back to my days at Maryland and the ACC and things like that. So there's some familiarity. Got a lot of respect for this place and what was done for a long period of time. I think one of the challenges here, though, is the media all remembers the Virginia Tech that was kicking, kicking butt and taking names. The fans do. But these recruits, they don't.

They don't really remember that Virginia Tech. So that's our challenge and that is our job to get this thing rolling in a way that's going to make everybody proud and get. recruits excited. The other thing I would say is it's just it's been great. Obviously, as a core group of guys that was with me for the last 15 years that are with us here at Virginia Tech. And then, you know, we're able to get some of the band back together with guys like Brent Pry and Sean Spencer and others. You mentioned, yeah, Pry, Sean Spencer, Michael Hazel, who is, you know, handling operations for you at Vanderbilt and Penn State. And how much of an advantage was that to have people you trusted that you could talk to before you took this job who could give

you a real lay of the land? Yeah, so I think that was really important. The reality is, although there was rumors everywhere, you know, most people I couldn't talk freely about until the very end and some guys had to sign NDAs and things like that. But, you know, I would say talking to Bud Foster was a big one. I'm somewhat close with Bud before taking a job. I'm very close now with Bud after taking a job. He was somebody that was on the search committee that was able to talk to him, and he was extremely valuable. But then also being able to talk to, obviously, Brent Pry,

when things really got kind of serious at the end and Michael Hazel, those guys played a big role in it. And then the guys that I brought with me, being able to have conversations with them and see who was willing to come. So you mentioned earlier that recruits made. not remember when Virginia Tech was kicking butt, but they remember when you were kicking butt. They remember seeing you in the college football playoff a year and a half ago. How much does that help that you've got this recent success that you can say, look at these 10-win seasons,

look at these 11-win seasons. Look at this 13-win season I had. And I would assume that resonates. Yeah, well, I'm not really doing it, but my staff is, right, and we have a resume over 15 years, success in the SEC, success in the Big Ten. You know, so that history, I think, is helpful. It also helps. You can't see it, but there's a Michael Parsons jersey right there and a Saquan Barkley jersey and another 40 to 50 jerseys on the wall as well. So those things, I think, tell a story, right?

You know, we were able to do some things that we're very proud of at both Vanderbilt and Penn State. And we're going to take a lot of those lessons. that we learned over the last 15 years and pour them into Virginia Tech. So what have you learned in the past nine months? I mean, because I'm just going back to the beginning of last season, we're talking about,

oh, are they going to win a national championship? Are they going to compete for national championship? And it happened so fast. What did you learn from that entire process? Well, a couple things. The first thing I would say is I think it's a great question because one of the things I talked to this, this team about is that coaches are constantly challenging players to get better, right? We should be

growing and evolving constantly. And the same goes for coaches, you know, so through this experience, my 15 years and then what happened this past year, I think we took on some risks, thinking that we needed to take on some risks to get over the hump and get that, you know, those last few wins. Again, I think your point is a good one. We were a game away from playing. from the national championship six games earlier. So we know we have a model that works, but we took on some risk. I took on some risk that I typically don't take on.

And then even philosophically. I'm a big one and oh guy, as you know, Andy, one and oh, almost to the frustration of a lot of people. And last year, you know, again, trying something different, trying to be a little bit more aggressive, allowed our team and our coaches to talk more big picture than we ever have. And so there are things like that that I think we learned from that experience and grew from that experience and a number of others.

But there's some risk that you're going to have to take in any business model. But there's also some risks that I would not take again. The big picture stuff is interesting because I've talked to so many coaches about that. And you get the process for. versus outcome and that it's not really even a debate. And I know you've been one and O and I remember tweet one and O every single week. When did you say, you know what? Okay, I'm going to allow more big picture.

That was a conscious decision? Well, it was a conversation that we had every year, right? We would have discussions as a staff. We'd have discussions with the players. You know, it had been something that we had discussed on the, leadership council. And we allowed it to happen more this year. There was a lot of excitement about the season.

The players were excited. And obviously, we were trying to take that next step. So we made some philosophical tweaks and changes to be more aggressive and maybe more aware of these types of things and allowed the players to have conversations and allowed the staff to have conversations that we typically had to had in the past. And as you know, we had been ranked in the top 10 for a number of years and then preseason, I think, number two in the country. So those were questions that we were always going to get.

And we were always going to take it back to the task at hand. So we allowed more of that last year. And obviously, looking back at it, I don't think that was the right thing to do. Had a model that worked for 14 years. And that's one example of a number of things that we're. we would have done differently. Do you feel like you're back to your core beliefs, core, you know, the way you would normally do this? Or is there stuff that will be different than what we've seen at Penn State or at Vanderbilt? Yeah. So again, there should be, right? I do think, you know,

having guys back on the staff that I'm very familiar with, the Michael Hazels, the Brent Prize and the Sean Spencer's that I've talked about in the past. Brent has got obviously unique experience here at Virginia Tech, but also one of the best college football coaches when it comes to defensive coordinators in the country. That's why he got the Virginia Tech job. So having him back and us working together has been great. Sean Spencer has been phenomenal. Michael Hazel's been great about understanding Virginia Tech. And then, you know, one of the other things is as you're in this job, and you know, we've talked about this before, Andy, when you talk about whether it's NIL or whether it's transfer portal or all these different things that you're having to do,

fundraising and facilities. If you're not careful, it can pull you away from the game and become a little bit more of a CEO than you want to be. So, you know, the staff's doing a great job specifically, Michael Hazel and Kevin Threlko and protected my day and making sure that I'm spending the time necessary with the offensive coaches to support them, but probably going to be more involved than I have been in a number of years on the offensive side of the ball. back to probably our Vanderbilt roots. I've heard you say that. And is it because of Brent, because you can have a head coach of the defense where you have someone you trust

who actually has been the head coach of this program that allows you to do that? Yeah, and I'm still spending time with the defense. I bounce in and out of there, but I got unbelievable confidence in Brent. I've known them for a long time, both as a person and as a coach. But then there's also part of it,

like you go out. out and you hire some big name offensive coordinators and you want to allow them to do their jobs. And there's a fine line with that, right? So we're in a situation. Ty Howell has called plays for us at Penn State, had been an offensive coordinator before as well at some previous institutions. But that was part of this decision. Me and Ty having very lengthy and detailed conversations about making this move and who we would hire and how we would. would build it and what we wanted it to look like and philosophically. So it's been fun. I think it's

been great for him. We have a really good relationship. It's been great for me. We talk every morning. We talk every night. And I'm in most of the meetings throughout the day. So that's been a big part of this too. So I'm going to take you back to your introductory press conference. And you said something interesting because we'd actually talked a lot on the show before last season about what Whit Babcock, your new AD. had said about Virginia Tech situation because he had essentially gone to the board and said, hey, we need to do more to operate like a big time athletic department to operate like a big time football program. And you in your press conference said, does it look, feel, smell, and operate like a big time program? All those things need to be in place.

I think the previous coaches here were in some challenging situations. Do you feel like Virginia Tech is where it needs to be now for you to have success? Yeah. Well, Andy, you must have been in our staff meeting this morning. because I reinforce that with everybody, making sure that everybody understands that their department needs to be a differentiator and us winning, and that we need to approach it that way in every way that we can. Right.

So to answer your question specifically, what I will say is, yes, Virginia Tech has made some decisions. And the good thing during the process, Andy, is it's not like I had to come in and make all these ass. They had already done all their benchmarking. they had already made a commitment to football that they hadn't made in a long time. It is easy to point the finger at the head coaches, but the last two head coaches,

I don't think had the support that we have right now. So those things are important. But here's the problem, Andy. The people that we're trying to catch, they never took their foot off the gas. The people that we are trying to catch aren't going to wait for us to catch up. And I think that's one of the things that I don't think people understand is the top 10, 12 programs in the country for the last 30 years. Most of them have never taken their foot off the gas.

So you're trying to catch people that aren't going to sit and wait. They're constantly trying to get better. They're constantly fighting, scratching, and clawing. And as you know, we've talked about in the past, Andy, when you get into that top five, that margin of error is so small. And fighting and scratching and clawing for minimal improvements is extremely challenging and very, very difficult that people don't understand. So you mentioned benchmarking a minute ago. And I found something really interesting you said a few weeks ago.

You said a lot of people benchmark against their own conference. And when you got to Virginia Tech, you made it a priority to benchmark against the entire country. Do you feel like everybody understands that now? Yeah, I think that's common. I think when I first got to Penn State, that was something that was discussed a lot. It's like, okay, the Big Ten, the Big Ten, the Big Ten. And really the same thing when I first got here.

But the reality is the expectations typically for coaches is more than just the conference. The conference is obviously a starting point. But then once you have that type of success, then the bar moves. And it's nationally. So I think it's a really good starting point. But then the other thing you have is sometimes people say,

okay, well, we were able to get all the public information, but we weren't able to get the private schools. Well, it's pretty important in this conference to have Miami's information and SMU's information, right? And I think sometimes that's an easy way out to say, oh, we can't get it because they're private schools. You've got to have all the information to benchmark against the best schools in the conference. And then I think you have to do that as well nationally.

You know, the funny thing is I think sometimes that's where agents. I don't think sometimes these athletic directors use the agents enough. You know, probably four or five of these main agents in college football, they have all the information or they have a lot more of the information because they represent so many of the coaches and have the relationships. So there's a ton of information out there. You just have to be willing to get it and look for it and be persistent. So I remember talking to you when he took over at Vanderbilt.

I was working for Sports Illustrated. I called doing a story on some of the recruiting success you had. And you stopped me in the middle of all my questions and you said, hey, you need to watch us on the field. You're going to like it. It's going to be fun. What does it feel like taking over another program that's hungry like that? Yeah, so, you know, it's funny. I remember that conversation, and part of it was everybody wanted to talk about, you know, how we were recruiting different.

And we were. And I'm very proud of what we did there. But I would also say it's not that like we necessarily beat a ton of the top SEC programs for recruits when we were at Vanderbilt. Probably didn't get enough credit. I'm talking about my staff for the development that we did. But I think your point is a good one. It is very obvious being here. that this place is hungry, that this place is motivated to get getting back to who Virginia Tech

was not too long ago, right? And, you know, when you talk about, you know, we've been talking about reestablishing. And we're talking about reestablishing what Frank Beamer beat here, built here, what people understand, you know, when it comes to Virginia Tech football, real football people that know our history. We're trying to get back to that. It's not something that we have to build that's never been done before, but we want to reestablish what Coach Beamer and Bud Foster and the guys on the staff and those players built here. And there's an excitement and there is a hunger and there is a passion for Virginia Tech football. How hungry are you to show that you are better than what happened last season?

Well, yeah, I got a huge chip on my shoulder. Kind of an unusual situation. Again, six games earlier, we're playing for national championship. Now, obviously, some things happened that were in my control, and I take total responsibility for that. But, yeah, I got a big chip on my shoulder, extremely motivated. Really enjoy coming to work every single day, working with a group of people that are passionate about making Virginia Tech proud.

And I feel responsibility to Coach Beamer. I feel responsibility to Bud Foster. I feel a responsibility to, you know, our rector, which is the term that we use here for the president of our board or the chair of our board and the president of the university and athletic director and the fans in the community. So we've got a lot of work to do. Most importantly, our players are driven and excited and motivated. and we got a really good core group of guys that stayed at Virginia Tech and guys that we brought from a number of other places too.

So I know your heads down on the work. In fact, when we talked about when this interview would be, it was either going to be before 6 a.m. or after 6 p.m. That's how focused you guys are on spring football. But do you ever imagine what it's going to be like that first time Metallica cranks up, everybody starts jumping, and it's real and it's here. Yeah, I've been on the opposite sideline and that place is rocking and we're expecting Lane staying to be rocking again.

The spring game is going to be like a dress rehearsal for us. I think we're going to have a huge crowd for the game based on everything I'm seeing and hearing from our administration and fans in general. But yeah, it's going to be great to be out there and coach the game that we love and get around these guys. and most importantly, I want these players to have success.

They deserve it. I was in that stadium for the Miami game last year and very different. They had won three games. The stadium was packed. And that was impressive. That was impressive. The players were coming off the field after the game and fans were yelling. We love you guys.

Stay strong. We'll get through this. Just very supportive, very passionate. And that was after winning three games. I know what we're going to be able to do here, the type of players we have, the staff that we have, and the fan base that we have. And when you have those ingredients,

you've got a chance to do something special. 66,000, the stadium holds you want 67,000 for the spring game on April 18th? 67 and 1, you. I want you here to see it live. Invited? Yeah, come on, brother. Let's go. Listen, turkey leg in each hand.

That's me. I love that. Not anymore. You're pretty disciplined about what you eat now. It's all protein, coach. Fair. Thank you so much. Thanks, Andy. Appreciate you, buddy. Yep. Are you heard the man, he's got a chip on his shoulder? I believe it. I mean, even before he actually said those words, you could sense it anytime he was talking about what Virginia Tech

is doing now and what happened at Penn State last year. Yeah. You know, Andy, you know what I think about when I think about James Franklin, when we first were doing our show at the athletic and the 12-team playoff came up. And I was obviously very against it at the time. And I used to use Penn State as an example for why the playoff stinks. And that was, you are going to tell Penn State a team that perpetually is 10 and 2, but loses to the biggest, you know, toughest teams on the schedule that they don't have to get better and they don't have to change anything to feel accomplished. And you told me that fans and administrators were smarter than that and I wasn't giving them enough credit. And I think ultimately you were right. Because as you look back at what Penn State did last,

or two years ago, I should say, and where they traversed into the playoff and how close they got to making the national championship, when you say it like that, of course, it's super, super impressive. and it was. But also, fans understood the path that Penn State had to get to that point. They knew that Notre Dame in that situation was the first team in the playoff field that was situated with a similar talent perspective. And they were met with this appointment in a way that made making the playoff not good enough. So like that, that was ultimately the perfect way to prove your point from three years earlier. And like now he's in a position where making the playoff would be an accomplishment.

And I think that the standard at Virginia Tech is a little bit lower, and his production makes me feel like he'll be more easily able to meet that standard. Well, and to your point, you want to hear a fun fact about that 2012 season? What's that? Do you know what Penn State's NIL budget was for the 2024 season? So this is pre-rev share. But what do you think they were spending on NIL? I'd probably say in the 10 to 15 million range.

Seven million. $7 million. So this was the year that we pegged Ohio State's budget at around $25 million. Notre Dame probably was around 20 or so. The higher spending schools were in the low 20s that year, and Penn State was at seven. Now, here's where the Penn State people have a point. They significantly increased it for the 2025 season, which is why they pulled the plug as quickly as they did when the 25 season. started to go bad because they said, here, we've given you this now and we are not getting the

results we want. Therefore, we are making a change. Now, I would also argue that these things are cumulative. You probably would have had a better roster if you'd been doing the things that Ohio State and Notre Dame were doing the previous years. But I do understand both sides of that. I understand why the Penn State people would say, hey, we did increase everything. We did give you that. and the results changed. But I think if you asked the people who worked in Penn State football in those years, they'd say, well, if you'd been giving us Ohio State's NIL budget, our roster might have looked a little different.

Yeah, I think that all of that makes sense. The question that I have for you, and I think that it's probably the same question that Penn State fans were quibbling with, you know, during last year maybe into the future, was what went wrong? Did he hitch his wagon to the wrong? quarterback? Is it as simple as that? Or was there a systemic issue? And I think that that's probably what it was more than anything, because they were losing games they ultimately really never lost before. And he said, you know, he, in the interview, he says a couple different things that I found

very interesting. One is that he opened up the conversation to a lot of big picture stuff, which he'd never done before. He'd always been Mr. 1 and 0. And I know fans get tired of hearing that. Nick Saban always talked about a nameless, faceless opponent. And everybody's like, well, you can't actually do that. No, actually the best coaches do get their teams to think that way. And a lot of times when you start thinking about the big picture and the end result, you kind of lose the plot. And I think that's something he feels like happened. But the other thing he said in the interview that I thought was interesting was you talking about, you know, you bring in these big name offensive coordinators. And I'm assuming he's talking

about Mike Yersich and Andy Codalnicki, who were the, you know, hired from other good schools, hired, you know, in both cases, hired away from Big 12 schools of all your situation, was at Oklahoma State and then went to other places before he got to Penn State. But Cotonniky was at Kansas and, you know, sort of letting them do their thing. Now, we'd have to talk to them about whether they really did get to do their thing, but James Franklin makes it very clear he will be heavily involved in the offense this year. That'll be a lot more like what it was at first at Penn State and what it was like at Vanderbilt. So it feels like he's kind of getting back to his roots.

Yeah. Well, I mean, I think the thing that's interesting, when I was listening back to the interview, Andy, was the one and O thing. Because Franklin, if I recall correctly, used to just tweet one and O every Monday. Every Monday. So, like, that was always a main tenant of his philosophy and to open up the national thought process, which I think there could be some good to that too. I mean, honestly, kids are more online than they've ever been before. And Penn State going into last year was maybe for the first time in his tenure, a preseason national championship favorite.

And for rightfully so, like when you look at the total picture of what they were the year before, what they brought back, who they had on their team, it was one of the more well-rounded, most talented teams in the sport. But also opening up the thought process to a bigger picture during a time in which he was facing, maybe the most pressure of his entire career. And that might sound insane, considering the fact that he had just traversed the playoff as deep as he did the year before.

But I think that there was a ton of pressure for him to deliver on that increased NIL budget. There was a ton of pressure to finally, remember all the conversations last summer about, well, he has to beat Oregon or Ohio State. Or he has to beat one of them in the playoff. Like there was a certain, like, demand of what he had to do. And then he began opening up the thought process.

and putting the pressure maybe indirectly or unintentionally on the roster for what needs to be done rather than keeping that one and no mentality. Now, I find tweeting one and no every Monday is an eye roll thing. It's a coach speak thing. Like people like me and you aren't entertained by that. Fans aren't entertained by it. But I do buy into the notion of like the tenor and the attitude of your team. Yeah. And if you lose that, if you lose that what's in the locker room, I can see how that could be a big deal.

It's also how one loss can turn into multiple losses. And I think that was the thing. The Oregon loss turns into the UCLA loss turns into the Northwestern loss. Like it just snowballed on them. And the thing about that was so sad about the season, Andy, was that the Oregon loss, I thought was a completely, like, you know, if you go back to that Oregon loss, everybody throughout the entire game was saying, oh, look, everybody was, We told you Penn State's overrated.

The fact that you guys thought he was going to win a national title, you're so stupid. And then they made that great comeback in the fourth quarter and forced overtime. And it was like, man, that was a really good game between two high level teams. And I can't wait to see that later on. But I think when James Franklin was leaving the field, do you remember that a fan barked at him and he barked back? And I wonder if that was like a clue of like this guy is desperate.

it to win. I felt actually terrible for him in the moment because he was one or two plays away from winning and changing the narrative. Yeah. I wonder if that was the beginning of the losing control aspect because and the saddest thing about it too, Andy, was it wasn't the end of the world, that they would have just bounced back and keep doing what they had been doing. One and O mentality for the UCLA game. Yeah. They would have had a chance. Northwestern game. Yeah. They played Indiana closer or as close as anybody else in the country. And of course, obviously losing your quarterback to an injury. It was just sometimes seasons too snowball a little bit and just like bad turns into worse.

And maybe part of that happened too. But I just, I know that, you know, if you define Franklin by what happened last year, you probably aren't paying attention. And I actually have really tried in my head to, you know, kind of view my viewpoints of him. And over the years, I had been critical of him. I've written columns about, you know, not winning the big game or not winning the big, big recruiting battles that, you know, in Pennsylvania. I remember one during COVID I wrote when they lost that offensive lineman, Nolan Rucci.

They ended up getting back. Yeah. Yeah. But I remember, I mean, I was, but at the same time, too, it's just like, what's fair criticism? Like, is Penn State supposed to beat Ohio State? And I think that the answer to that question is probably maybe yes, once every five years. but like having to do it in critical seasons when the first time you actually spent money on NIL, the guy didn't even get to the game, did he?

No, he didn't get to the game. So like it was just, you know, we were there. You know, it just didn't turn out the way it was supposed to. But I don't think that if you're a Virginia Tech fan, I would really hyper focus on what went wrong last year. What I would do is say, well, we got a lot of players from Penn State. Let me give you the Virginia Tech's schedule. And we'll, we'll frame it in the way that we would have framed a James Frank. Penn State conversation. You ready? So we got the Virginia Tech schedule up here. So if we were to frame it like a James Franklin Penn State conversation where, oh, you got to beat Ohio State in Michigan or you got to beat Ohio State in Oregon. Okay, so if we look at that schedule, you got to beat SMU in Miami. But if you don't beat SMU in Miami and you win the other games, guess what? Virginia Tech people are deliriously happy. Or let's say you drop the cow game or the Pitt game and you go nine and three. Virginia Tech people are so thrilled to have you. They love you. So that's the difference here.

And it'll be, and you know what, Andy, the funny thing is, and I don't know where you would rank Virginia Tech in comparison of like fan entitlement, probably very low at the moment. Oh, yeah. But where would you have ranked Penn State fan entitlement when he took over there? Probably pretty low as well. It was pretty low. I mean, they were in the middle of their sanctions and he got them back into a place in college football that there were people during all that Sandusky mess, reasonable people. people, you could say, I don't know if they're ever going to be able to get back there after this. He got him back there. So yeah, and I think Bill O'Brien also played a part in that.

Oh, absolutely. But he took over a program where that you might have been able to say the exact same thing that you just said about Virginia Tech, which is if he gets us to nine and three, we love you. And I think that like, I am fairly certain that Virginia Tech will get to nine and three at some point during his tenure. Maybe not in year one. Maybe it will be in year one. I don't know. I think they will do it eventually. But the thing that will happen at Virginia Tech is the same thing that happened at Penn State, which is eventually they will get to a point where 9 and 3 becomes boring and they'll want more. And then he will have to beat the Clemsons and the Miami's and the SMUs. And the thing that he's going to ultimately have to do if he's ever going to be the coach that he wants to do or satisfy the chip on the shoulder that he was referencing in that interview is actually win those games when the time come.

And I think that also building up to beat SMU is a lot easier than building up to beat Ohio State in Michigan when Michigan was winning. Like you're also in Miami, excuse me, is headed in the right direction. But there's nobody in the ACC at the current moment. Maybe Miami is the closest thing resembling it, considering they're in the ascension process. But when they were in the Big Ten East and they had to play Michigan State, prime Michigan State. Yeah, yeah. And they had to play Michigan. Michigan State is great when James.

Franklin gets to Penn State. Yeah. I mean, they were awesome in the, in the mid-200. And then Jim Harbaugh gets to Michigan a year after Franklin gets to Penn State. And I think everybody remembers that Michigan was just crappy for four years. But Michigan was still pretty good, pretty tough to beat in the first, you know, few years of his tenure before they ultimately won the title. So like, I don't think that you'll ever, even if he gets Virginia Tech back to 90% of what Penn

State was, 90% at Virginia Tech might be in a, ACC titles. Yeah. So, like, you know, we'll see how it goes. The thing that I'm also intrigued with Andy when it comes to him is, you know, Virginia Tech probably relies on as it probably does rely on a lot of the same recruiting geographical footprints that Penn State does. It's not that far away.

And I think that, you know, if he's able to convince people that Penn State and Virginia Tech are the same resource type places and that the same experience for. recruits will be, you know, had in Blacksburg that we're in state college, that he has a chance to situate Virginia Tech with more good players than they've had in in the past 10, 15 years. If he can unlock the DMV area and get it back to like where Michael Vic would go there if Michael Vic was in high school next year, then like Virginia Tech has a chance to actually do something. So yeah. And Virginia Tech was already in the process of working on that resource part of it before they fired Brent Pry, before they hired James Franklin.

So that process was already underway. I think the hiring of James Franklin helped supercharge that a little bit. I think it helps speed up the process. But we'll see what he does. This is going to be a fascinating season. Just bringing so many guys from Penn State, bringing recruits that were going to play for him at Penn State, who decided to come play for him at Virginia Tech.

I thought that was a telling thing. Those guys said, we want to come play for you wherever you are. And I think that says something. So James Franklin, one of the most interesting coaches in college football, appreciate his time, appreciate him being as forthright and open as he was. And we'll check in with him again before the season starts because I think this is going to be a really interesting year at Virginia Tech. But Ari, right now, we have some Butterburger Breaking News. Our friends at Culvers will be joining them this weekend in Indianapolis on Saturday. will be at the Culver's Game Day hub in downtown, Indy.

You can come see us 200 East Washington Street. But we've got Butterburger Breaking News right now in the world of college basketball. And we go to the world of women's basketball, Ari, for today's Butterburger Breaking News. Iowa State's Audi Crooks has entered the transfer portal. She announced it on her social media channels, on Thursday. this might be the most important college basketball free agent on the women's side that we've seen because Audie Crooks averages 25.8 points a game. That is an obscene amount.

She is guaranteed offense. She is guaranteed the opposing post players are going to be in foul trouble hell every game. Now, is she the best defender in the world? No, she's not. that is that that is part of the package that is part that you have to understand but i cannot wait to see the bidding war here between the elite programs of women's college basketball to see who gets audy crooks because she can swing the balance of next season depending on what she chooses she's simply like i'm not going to lie to you and say i don't want like i watch a ton of women's

basketball but i have watched her play and it's really entertaining yes because people just don't know how to defend her. No, there's no answer. She has incredible feet in the post and a whole menu of post moves. And she's really, she's a really good finisher, too, like, in the post. Like, you know, she can finish from multiple angles and stuff too. And you throw help at her and it doesn't matter. Like, people just can't stop her.

So that's what, it's going to be interesting to watch because we haven't seen a post player like that on the men's side in a while where they're just completely on the men's side. unstoppable once they get the ball down low. And so... Is the post player dead in men's hoops? I don't know. Audie and Ari. I wonder if she wants to do a show.

You did call her Ari when we started this show. Well, I'm used to calling people Ari. But no, no, if, like if Audi Crooks winds up at South Carolina or at Yukon, you know, maybe she wants to do a show with you, Audie and Ari. That would be fantastic. I was looking at her cards in the, in eBay. when I was watching her play a few months ago,

and they're very expensive. People love her. She is 26 points a game, and she's on the open market. So it's going to be a fascinating recruitment to watch. Can't wait to see where she winds up. But that is your Butterburger breaking news. We're going to be having Butterburgers this weekend

in Indianapolis with Culvers. Come by and see us. Also, free frozen custard samples. Listen, you get to chat up Ari, you get to chat up me, but more importantly, you get frozen custard. So come by and say hi. If you cannot come to Indianapolis, enter the Culver's swish-swish dish sweepstakes for a chance to win $2,500. But we hope to see you on Saturday in Indy.

Ari, we have other news on Thursday in the world of college football. Alabama athletic director Greg Burns, speaking to USA Today's Blake Toppemeyer, says, It is time to end the SEC championship game. I agree. I think a lot of people agree, and I think Greg Byrne is not alone among the SEC ADs here, but the fact that he is saying it out loud on the record is something different. If we get to a place where we can't penalize the loser of the game because they deserve a certain level of consideration for playing that extra game.

game, then what's the point of playing it? Right. And it's interesting that you say it that way, because that game last year probably was a warning that Alabama might not be able to to really compete for the national championship. I don't even think it's that. I also think Alabama suffered from having to play in that game because Ty Simpson got banged up in that game. Georgia suffered the year before losing Carson Beck in the SEC championship game. We had the discussion, remember when we were in Athens for the Texas Georgia game, and we had the discussion, does Georgia even want to play in the SEC championship game? Is it worth it to them? And the answer is no, it wasn't. Yeah, the question is our coach is going to not want to make it.

And if they don't want to make it, then again, it makes no sense. It said it at Ole Miss two years ago, not the SEC championship game, but we had Rhett Lashley on our show the week that his team was playing in the ACC championship game. And he basically said it would be better if we just all got COVID. and we couldn't play. And didn't show up. Yeah. But here's the other aspect of this that is curious, because I'm assuming in the SEC especially,

conference championships still matter even to the elite programs, right? Like winning the SEC is a badge of honor that Kirby Smart gets after last year, despite the fact that they lost in their first playoff game. Am I correct about this? You are right. So if I, and if I am correct about it, then if you remove the SEC championship game, which seems to be more of a nuisance than it is of actual use,

then how do you adequately crown the conference champion when the league is so big and nobody's, not everybody's playing each other? And then you get to a point where it's like, are you going to really name the SEC champion between four different teams that have the same record? Well, that's how they did it for years and years until 1992. I know, it's just not satisfying.

So, like, on one hand, like, I understand, because it's stupid. They have to use tiebreakers to pick who even plays in the game to begin with. But it's sort of like a game. regular season conference championships and basketball, they don't matter. Yeah.

But I think that if we get to a place where we all can maybe just accept that conference championships don't matter, then there certainly is no reason for the game. But when you start talking, what are we starting on that weekend? That's my question.

Is what are we putting out? Are we just putting another round of the playoffs? Because we know they're going to expand, whether they're expanding a 16, the Big 10 wants 24, I hope they don't go to 24. I could live with 16, I guess. I would prefer they stay at 12,

but I don't think they're going to. Would you just take another round of playoffs that weekend? Is that what you'd have? I mean, I think you're right about the inevitable expansion, like that's going to happen. But in the time being, if you can't find anything else that weekend,

I would just move the playoff a week up so that it doesn't end at the end of January. I can live with that. It doesn't have to be a void weekend. See, I like, I like Tony Petiti's play. in idea, the Big Ten Commissioner. I just don't like the idea of

auto bids that go down to like the number six team in the league having a play in shot at making the playoff. I don't know. Finishing sixth in the league and having a shot at the playoff automatically doesn't. Like if your league is really strong and you're the six team in the

league, okay maybe, but finishing sixth and having an automatic shot to get in the playoff feels a little. And then you're also subjecting other teams that earned it to have to put themselves into Peril's way, even after having a good year. So, like, I think that there's part of that too. And then also think about it would be the six teams in every league, right?

So wouldn't be six in every league. It would be six in the SEC and the big 10. If you did. And then how would read it for auto bids. You would, you would do number one and number two are automatically and they don't have to play. So they're essentially getting a buy that week. And then three versus six and four versus five for the other two spots. And then how would it look in that system for the other conferences, the same as it does now?

One versus four and two versus three for the A-S-S-E in the Big 12. Is what they put out there that obviously is very subject to change if that ever happened. Yeah, I forgot about, I mean, because that's just a proposal. That's not like a thing. Yeah, there's nobody knows what they're going to do. Because right now they haven't decided to get rid of conference championship games. But when the athletic director at Alabama says it out loud on the record, it means it's it's heading that way because what what gregg said to blake is the ship has sailed

it has run its course and he and he said it was a great event and he's right it was a great event like when when it started in 1992 people were like what is this thing this is not going to work and then the first game that first 92 SEC championship game i know a lot of you are too young to remember it, but Alabama beats Florida. There's an Antonio Langham interception near the end of the game. It was a thrilling game. And then Alabama goes on to beat Miami and win the national championship. It was incredible. And the buzz was incredible. And then they moved the game to Atlanta after a couple of years, and it sets up a permanent home there. And it became just one of the biggest games in college football area. And now where I think you'll see some pushback is that game still gets really good

ratings. Like as as inconsequential as it probably was last year for the playoff and the year before, it got a lot of viewers. I think that the Georgia, Texas one two years ago, got like 15 million viewers. Yeah, I mean, because there's fewer inventory that day and everybody's still football hungry and they're anticipating the playoff selection show the following morning. So, like, I mean, it's the perfect. I think in theory,

what they have is a pretty valuable inventory of time. and product, but we have to come up with the system that makes them valuable again because the games themselves are entertaining and high level between really good teams. And what does America love the most, Andy, a good football team playing a good football team. 16.9 million for the Georgia Alabama game that was, again, fairly inconsequential. What were we having for lunch while we watched it? I don't remember, but it was. I remember I had a crisp, regular do and a sub.

I can't remember where the sub came from. but it was a good, good, good. No free ads, but I think it was Jersey mics. Yeah, no free ads. Jersey Mike sucks. No, it's good. I don't know. You tell me.

Why would you say that? What if Jersey mics wants to sign up and become an advertiser? Why would you say that? I said that because I was trying to tell them that there are no free ads, but it is very good and we ate it and we'll eat it again. And we'll advertise for you. Andy, if you pay us. How can we make it matter again?

I don't think we can make it matter again. I don't think we can make the game matter again because the automatic buy for being a conference championship has sailed. That's not going to happen. They tried that and they didn't like that because the conferences aren't equal. I have the answer. Oh, oh. Why, you don't bury the lead.

Tell me how you're going to fix it. If Alabama would have missed the playoff last year, it would have fixed it. You can't guarantee that. No, I'm saying just the thought. the notion that it's possible. Yeah. Yeah. I think I don't know if it entirely fixes it because there's no reward, but maybe the reward is not having to walk the plank.

You know, solely negative consequences do not necessarily entice people to do things. But if Alabama would have been left out of the play and I think you could have made the case that they should have been after that, then what occurs on that field of content. Remember what? Remember my projected playoff after that? I had Notre Dame in and Miami in, but Alabama not in.

And I think that might have been a more eventful playoff, although I think it would have been contradictory thinking from the playoffs perspective. Listen, I thought Greg Sanky, the SEC Commissioner, made a good point when he was politicking on that day. He's like, Alabama was our one seed after the regular season. Like they earned it. And you can argue that they shouldn't have lost a Florida state. you could argue that they'd lost to Georgia in spectacular fashion, but they'd also beaten Georgia at Georgia in the regular season.

I guess Greg Sankey would have to go into both locker rooms before the game and go, okay, play hard, have a good day, have fun, no blowouts. Exactly. And that's the problem. When you put the teams in that position, I don't know that there's much you can do about it. So it's more of a matter of how do you solve it and is the simple solution just you've expanded the playoff to 16 teams, that's when you start playing playoff games. The next time we have a conversation about this, we can just go back to how the conference realignment ruined everything.

But that's probably a discussion for another day. It's a discussion for every day. And guess what? There's going to be more. Yeah. I mean, it's just makes. I don't want to depress everybody. I feel like we can have a discussion every day,

but it would depress everybody. If we could just get back to. to a place where every league has 10 to 12 teams in it, and everybody plays everybody. So we can actually- A super league with divisions? Yeah, but we could just do that with everybody, and it's just be a conference championship crown based on the results of the regular season, the way they do it in basketball, no tournament, and then automatic qualifications for the winners of the league, and then, of course,

at large bids at the end of the year. So the SCS is what you're saying, basically. Yeah, sure. Not as big of a tournament. Unfortunately, these conferences work so hard to consolidate. power and money and everything that they're not going to just give that back. Yeah, no, I know. We do talk a lot about how what's best for the game and what concentrates power are two

very different conflicting ideologies and they're not going to be fixed. But it's like we have all these issues that we have to work through. And now the conference championship games are the latest casualty because there's so many different boats pulling in different directions and it just makes me like really upset because just like the obvious answers are all right there. But greed and power mongering is what puts us in these positions. then we have to have these conversations about how to fix things that are easy to fix because that we shouldn't even be in this position to begin with.

But, you know, am I being a little depressing? I don't know. You're being a lot depressing. But okay. All right. Smarter people than us come up with a good TV way to do this. And I think Tony Petiti has the right idea, but I just hate the auto bid thing so much that I don't, I don't want that to happen.

But I begrudgingly admit it would. be extremely entertaining. Extremely entertaining. It would be entertaining. Not with the 24 team playoff, though. You know what, Andy? Maybe that should just be your whole thing. What's the most fun?

That's what I used to say. Maybe I should just keep saying it. But I think it has to be smaller than 20. I couldn't be 24. I think it would have to be 16. If it's 16, then there's still like real stakes to those games. Yeah, you would have a really fun weekend in a completely diminished regular season.

It wouldn't. With 24, yeah. Well, with 16, too, but doing it in Petitia's way. It wouldn't completely diminish the regular season with 16. If you could finish 6th place in your conference, if you're in one of the big two and still have playoff games, it diminishes the regular season. I mean, where did Texas finish in the SEC last year? I don't know.

Who finished number 6 in the Big 10? I don't remember the standings. And I don't know the tiebreakers. Riverty of the graphics, if you know it's okay. But I don't. you know, I can look it up real quick. I think Texas for Vandy finished six in the SEC. So I don't really have a problem.

I'm looking at the Big Ten now. So USC was number five. No, I'm sorry. Yeah, USC was number five. Iowa was number six. I actually wouldn't. I'm making myself a hypocrite here. You are.

I actually wouldn't mind Iowa and Oregon playing again. Because that first Iowa organ game was awesome. I wouldn't mind them playing again for a spot. The point that we're talking about isn't whether you would enjoy watching those games. The point we're talking about is whether it would hurt the regular season and then telling you that all those USC and Iowa losses that ultimately put them out of the play off don't matter because they still get to play is the exact point I'm making. But would they make the playoff?

I don't know. Probably not. But nothing that happens in October is going to disqualify you anymore, which is the entire point. I mean, Illinois is disqualified. Minnesota's disqualified. So I realize I am playing devil's advocate here. Yeah. But you don't have to.

I don't have to. It's okay to say that losing four times in conference play is not, should eliminate you from playoff contention? It would have. It would have. Iowa lost three times. So. But now I, there is a way to do this. And it might,

it might just be as simple as just have the first round of playoff that weekend. And that's okay. I'd be fine. I thought Joey McGuire nailed it, dude, when he came on our show. Yeah. Start the season a week early, banish the conference championship games, and then on January 1 or January 8th and be done with it. Or do you make that weekend, do you make that weekend the Army Navy

Heisman Trophy, start of the Bulls, and then the following weekend starts the playoff? Where you used to have. I don't know the math on that. As long as the season ends around the first, I would be fine with it. Yeah, and I think the TV people would have a say in this because they seem to want it to move in the same. But I think if you have that weekend of Army Navy and the Heism Trophy, and now you have bowl games on that Saturday, too, why couldn't you just have that the first week in December? And the second week in December starts the playoff and then you just go week, week, boom, boom, boom.

Yeah, yeah. I think that would be great, boon for my marriage, because I've never been able to spend my wife's birthday with her since we met. There you go. There you go. No, I would drag you to Army Navy, but other than that, that's... You would, yeah. Hey, guys, we got a big Army Navy thing. We got to get to... Listen, I am sorry, Britt, but listen, R.E. needs to see... Tell her birthday, January 8th. If the season was over on the first, I would be golden. But usually, more often than not, there's a game on her birthday. I think you probably would have the national, like, in that scenario, you'd probably have the national championship game around her birthday. Not that they're designing it around your wife.

They should, though. But yeah. Yeah. My whole life is designed around her existence. But yeah, no, I agree with everything that Joey McGuire said, and I think it'd be fun.

And also, if you're one of these people that is, well, I kind of like having college football into late January because I am kind of one of those people too. Like, I don't mind it dragging out because I enjoy the sport and I want it to last as long as possible.

You're also getting an extra wink on the front end. So it's not necessarily shorter, and you're just getting them in a more succession, so there's less waiting time in between. Yeah. as much football. I like that Joey McGuire plan, and I'm glad you brought up Joe McGuire, because we now need to talk about Texas Tech, but not Joey. We need to talk about Texas Tech's biggest donor, Cody Campbell, and we need to talk about the Big 12 Commissioner, Brett Yormark.

Cody Campbell is not happy that the Big 12 and Fox are considering moving the Red Raiders conference opener against Houston to Friday. So right now, currently scheduled for Saturday, September 19th, the thought is it might move to Friday the 18th. Now, they are at Oregon State the week before that, and so you used to see this in the old Pac-12 where you'd have the late-night West Coast game, and then somebody has to play on Friday after playing that, and they almost always lost. So there's that. There's also the Texas schools do not like playing home games on Friday night, because obviously high school football is king in Texas, and they do not want to disrespect the high school football teams in Texas.

But Brett Yourmark fired back and said, Cody Campbell does not run the Big 12. Ari, when he made that statement, or at least when I was first made aware of the Don Williams story in the Lubbock-Avillian-Ansch Journal, I looked up and CNBC was on the TV, and oil was up $13 a barrel to $113. $10.

Cody Campbell runs pretty much everything right now. Yeah. Although that price is fluctuating. It is flounced around even since I saw that. But that's the question.

Here's what I don't know. What is the Big 12 as a business actually worth and is Cody Campbell worth more than that? It's close. But also, and this is something the Texas tech people, it was interesting.

I was reading on, you know, our Texas Tech site, on the message board of Red Raider Sports, there was a Texas Tech fan who chimed in. Now, obviously, most Texas Tech fans agree with Cody Campbell here. They're going to take their guy's side. But one of the Texas Tech fans, don't we sound a little bit like the Longhorns back in the day? Yeah.

We used to complain about. Like, now we're the big brand and we want to control everything. It is kind of funny how it's very, easy to criticize power and then the second you taste it, you want to be that person. Yeah, you're like, oh, wait, we're the best team in the conference now? Maybe we should try to run some stuff. Yeah. It is kind of funny because it's easy to resent.

If you were like a random Big 12 fan, it would be easy to resent Texas in the Big 12 back in the day with their Longhorn Network and their bully ball. But I think the resentment isn't because of their behavior. The resentment is because you're not them. right right they hate us because they ain us yeah yeah i think that's i think that's the core of the issue i think everybody wants to be that so and you know texas tech had a really good year and they've got a lot of money back in them and they're in the right direction and by the way i think it's kind of funny and maybe this will be a good column but like if texas tech becomes the texas of the big 12 and starts

acting like texas used to act it is kind of amusing to me that they also have legitimately the nicest human being on the face of the earth as their head coach? Well, but here's what I think is interesting. So we stood there at Big 12 Media Days last year and listened to Brett Yormark, say, we need a couple of teams to separate from the pack for the health of the league. We need them to separate from the pack and be college football playoff staples and compete for national championships. We need that for the conference.

Texas Tech is the one that is really trying to do that. I think BYU is trying. I think Utah is trying. But I think Texas Tech is the one that's being most successful at that. This is also one of the things that happens when one of schools does that. Yeah, I think it's like I would also be annoyed if I was in a position of power and somebody that was very wealthy was trying to throw their money around and have influence over the decisions I made. So, like, I can understand. I think that happens to everybody in college sports.

That is literally every athletic director as they try to make decisions, but also manage the highly wealthy people that they get donations from. I think being an athletic director would be a highly frustrating job. Yeah. So it is the crux of the issue, the Friday night part of it, I get it. You are trying to respect Texas high school football. Texas Tech gets a little bit different. different, like Houston, this is a Texas Tech home game. Houston has been more okay with it because

Houston was in the American. They had to get those national TV spots where they could get them, where everybody's watching you. Texas Tech doesn't feel like they need that. I would argue that the Big 12 in general needs those standalone places where they can have some of their better teams. And this is probably one of the better games on the Big 12 schedule this season. I think Houston's going to be really good. They won nine games last year. Willie Fritz has did a great job in transfer portal. So this could be one of the more interesting games of the season. It would be in a place where it's not buried by bigger SEC or Big Ten games on Saturday where everybody's watching. Can I ask a stupid question? Because, you know, having covered a major program that was anti-playing on

Friday night because high school football is important in Ohio and then ended up playing some Friday night games. Because they were at Minnesota Records. Yeah, but they ended up playing during a time where people in Ohio would be wanting to watch or go to a high school game. Logistically speaking, and you have a son who plays high school football, so maybe that you can help me. Yeah, I watch a lot of YouTube TV at halftime and during timeouts.

Question though. If you are a local high school team, and maybe this is asking too much, could you kick the game off at five instead of seven on a Friday night? Or is that logistically impossible? Or because parents are at work? Could you kick the game off? Could you go earlier? You probably could in some of these smaller towns where the game is built around or the town is built around the game. But you've also got teams that have got to take bus trips, you know, that might take a couple hours. What time does your son get out of school? It depends on where the game is. You know, sometimes they have games in Jacksonville or Orlando or they've got to travel two hours by bus. And so they'll

get out of school for those games, they'll leave the campus at like 1 or 1.30 because they got to get down there and warm up. So yeah. Can they pick the game off later too? Because people are up watching. Can they kick the game off at like 830 or 9? I don't know. Like I maybe I'm just overthinking this and it's just impossible. But like logistically speaking, is there a way that you can play on Friday night without it ruining high school football experiences for everyone? Probably not. I mean, you could do like when when the big 12th expanded west and east. My vision for Friday night for them was you should have a game kicking off at 6 o'clock

Eastern at, say, UCF or Cincinnati, and then another game kicking off at 9 or 930 Eastern at BYU or Utah. Like that would be ideal because that would get your product in front of most people. There are Friday night games already, and I get like if you're playing with in-state schools, like that's different. but like people want to watch some of the compelling Friday night games regardless whether Texas Tech is playing in it or not. Well, and that's the thing is as good as Texas Tech has gotten and as much money as they've

poured into the roster, they still don't rate like Oklahoma or Georgia or Ohio State or Michigan or Penn State. Like when those teams are playing on Saturday, they suck all the oxygen out of the other games. I mean, I understand, I understand, and I think it's great when you... I think if you are not a name brand program, if you are not one of those helmets that every single person in America recognizes, that you need some standalone games like that so that Americans can see you play. If you are a live football game that's on television, Americans will seek you out regardless of who you are on Friday night. Correct, correct.

Yeah. And especially if the game is good. We joke about it. Like, we were talking about Texas getting Hollywood smothers from NC State. My exposure to Hollywood Smothers, for the most part, has been a lot of stand-alone Thursday and Friday games that NC State played in because based on their record, I wasn't necessarily watching their games or locked in on their games on Saturday. I might have it on a second or third screen, but I was locked in for those games, so I know who Hollywood Smothers is. Yeah. I mean, and also Friday night games can be bangers, dude.

Do you remember the, the UNLV Boise game last year? Awesome. Everybody was locked in for that. I love Friday night. I mean, shoot, Louisville, Miami Friday night was a great game. It was last year. I mean, I remember we had a lot of live emergency shows on Friday nights last year. So, like, it's not, you know, but I also understand, too, that maybe high school football in Lubbock means more than it does in Charlotte, you know.

It does. It's not like I joke about the whole Texas versus Florida, Texas versus George, all that. But it does mean significantly more in that state than it means in other states. So I get where they're coming from, but I also understand the reality. And here's the other piece of this. So Cody Campbell obviously has his whole save college sports thing, wants to rewrite the Sports Act so that the schools can all sell their TV rights together and make more money. Part of making more money because you're sold your TV rights together is the people paying the bills still get a lot of say, and they're going to demand Friday night games.

The other part of rewriting the Sports Broadcasting Act that I brought up, and I actually brought it up to Cody himself when I was talking to him about it, one thing the sports broadcasting act currently does is protect Friday night from the NFL. if it does come to pass and it seems like there's more talk about it in Congress that they actually do decide they want to change that thing, you don't think the NFL is going to jump in there and say, okay, that's cool. We're happy to let college football come in our little club here, but we're going to want Friday nights too. Yeah. So just be prepared for that. Be careful what you wish for.

But part of wanting everybody to make more money from TV, which is part of what Cody Campbell's solution is, is you will be commanded by television to play on Thursdays and on Fridays. Like, that's part of the deal. You bought the ticket. You take the ride. Did you read on the show, I can't remember, I don't think you did, Cody Campbell's response on Twitter to this comment? No. Cody Campbell responded by posting the story and said apparently Brett didn't get the memo. Everything runs through Lubbock.

Maybe we should bring the tortillas back. That is the, that's the right response. We will throw tortillas in protest. You can make us play on Friday night, but by God, the tortillas are hitting the field. I love it. I love it. Listen, this is the sort of off-season squabbling we need more of. We need this, yeah.

We'll see what happens with the result of this. My guess is Texas Tech will end up playing on Friday night against Houston. We will all be very interested in the game because it could be a really good game. Whether tortillas will fly is another question. Speaking of questions, we will be answering your questions on tomorrow's show. Dear Andy and dear Ari, we already have some incredible ones. it's going to be a fun, fun Friday. We attempt to answer your very intelligent, very thoughtful questions.

You guys outdid yourselves this week, so get ready for a great show. Thanks for watching. We'll talk to tomorrow.