Andy & Ari On3 - Jeff Lebby is moving FAST at Mississippi State | Is Georgia DEEPER than last year? | Bubble watch

Episode Date: February 16, 2024

The EA Sports College Football 25 trailer hit Thursday, and the little snippets we got to see look awesome. This video game is going to be one of the most eagerly awaited college football products ever. It has been 11 years since the last college football game was released, and took multiple state laws being enacted to get it back.(0:00-5:21) Intro - Welcome Back, EA Sports College Football(5:22-7:35) Congratulations to Caitlin Clark on Breaking NCAA All-Time Scoring Record(7:36-12:49) Georgia State's Shawn Elliott heads to South Carolina(12:50-16:04) The live chat sparks debate over College Football video game cover athlete(16:05-31:19) Mississippi State's Jeff Lebby joins the Show(31:20-48:19) Checking in on Georgia Bulldogs Football(48:20-1:03:17) Bracketology Preview(1:03:18-1:04:20) Conclusion - Happy Opening Day, College Baseball!Iowa’s Caitlin Clark broke the NCAA scoring record on Thursday night.Shawn Elliott stepped down from the head coaching job at Georgia State to coach the tight ends at South Carolina. His reasons were not like Chip Kelly’s reasons for a similar move.New Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby joins the show. He discusses flipping and building a roster in the portal era and the difference between a director of football science and a director of speed and performance.Jake Rowe of On3’s Dawgs HQ joins to dive into Georgia’s 2024 schedule. The Bulldogs are the betting favorite to win the national title, but they play their three toughest games on the road. But they also produced a net positive in the transfer portal, so they should be deeper than last season.On3’s James Fletcher III joins to talk college basketball. Which ACC teams can still play their way into the tournament? Who is the best in a loaded Big 12? Has Kentucky found the correct lineup yet? Can the Mountain West really put six teams in the NCAA Tournament?Want to watch the show instead? Catch us LIVE at 8 am et, M-F, or watch here: https://youtube.com/live/6TPXGVeOz4c

Welcome to Andy Staples on three. Happy Friday. Got a big show for you today. Got new Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby. Got a check in on the Georgia Bulldogs. They got the ten and a half win total from our friends at FanDuel, which is tied for highest in the country. Highest in the SEC.

Can they pull it off? We'll talk to Jake Rowe from Dogs HQ. We'll also talk to James Fletcher from On3. A little bubble watch because we are very close to Selection Sunday now. We got to start pretending we know about college basketball. James actually knows about college basketball, so he's going to help us out and get us ready because there's a bunch going on in that sport. But first, we need to celebrate. This is an epic, epic day in college football, because we got the trailer for the EA Sports College football game dropped on us. Normally, we don't run people's commercials for free on this show,

but in this case, it's a public service because we've all been waiting for this game. My son's going to wonder how his PlayStation managed to disappear into my office when this game comes out. Well, now we know when it's coming out. We know when we're going to get a full look at it, but they gave us just enough to keep our appetites. Here we go.

Got something special for y'all. A little update for our fans from the big house to the bayou, from Carolina to California. Yeah, it's about college football. We know you love it. Us too. I'll be new. You're all I need.

All I need to make it. The rivalries, the comebacks, the traditions and superstitions built by generations. There's nothing like it. Turns out, we've been building too So let's address the big owl in the room Yeah, we've seen the posts The predictions The doubts

We get it It's been a minute Let's just say This ain't the only jersey we've been working on. The game this sport deserves. Because pretty soon, this place will be full again. Until then, cue the crowd noise. Oh, hallelujah. Full reveal this May. I cannot wait because they didn't give us much they gave us some of the

entrance animations you saw oklahoma's entrance you saw the the gator head at florida that the players touch before they go on the field you saw the play like a champion today sign that the notre dame players slap they didn't give us a whole lot, but just enough to keep us hungry because I'm so excited for this game. Remember the last time we saw this game was 2013. It stopped because of the O'Bannon trial, O'Bannon versus the NCAA. EA Sports basically settled with the plaintiffs and said, we're not putting out the game until we can pay the players to be in the game. And the NCAA said, well, you can't do that. That's against our rules. Because the NCAA doesn't like nice things and doesn't want us to have nice things and doesn't

want the players to have nice things. Well, all it took was a few state legislatures passing NIL laws, the NCAA getting its ass kicked in the Supreme Court, and we've got a video game back. The players get paid to be in it. You don't have to download the players' names. They're going to be right there on there. It's going to be spectacular. And like I said, my son's PlayStation is going to disappear into my office, there will be a tug of war. I cannot wait. I'm so excited. I was there early on, early adopter. I played this game basically once from its inception until early adulthood. Now, kids came along, job came along. So the last few editions of the game, I was not getting to play very much. But when I was in college, I remember they had just introduced the ability to run the

option. So you could hand off the dive back or pull and then pitch. And I would run the option with South Carolina with Anthony Wright at quarterback. And it was awesome. We were dominant. They did not actually run the option at South Carolina during those days, but me running it with Anthony Wright was unstoppable. I cannot wait to see what this game is. It's going to be awesome. So glad it's coming back. So let's all get excited about that. Another reason to get excited. There is a new record holder in college basketball. Caitlin Clark broke the NCAA all-time scoring record. She needed eight points against Michigan. She scored her team's first eight points on her way to 49 points. And of course, the shot that broke the record was a 30 footer from the logo.

It was, well, the logo on the wing that, you know, they got the ads on the court. Basically she was on the ad on the court and it was a perfect switch. It was unbelievable. Here's Caitlin Clark talking about that shot and what it means. Yeah. I mean, I don't know if you can really script it any better. I thought we played really well tonight, and our defense has been a little better. But just to do it in this fashion, I'm very grateful. I'm very thankful to be surrounded by so many people

that have kind of been my foundation in everything that I've done since I was a young little girl. And I started crying watching that video just because I'm just filled with so much gratitude and love and the way these fans support women's basketball is so special and yeah, I mean, y'all knew I was going to shoot a logo three, but I could not. Take us through the shot. We're coming up the floor. You pull for the shot just take us through beginning now well i thought about doing it a couple possessions earlier but i was a little tired so i needed to touch my breath a little bit um but yeah i think i kind of stepped back to my left a little bit and was able to get it off and uh went in and then celebrated honestly thought coach we were going to call the timeout before i had to go play defense but she didn't so i had

to go play defense now lisa bluder the the Iowa coach, said in her press conference, she never burns timeouts. So yeah, you got to go play D after you celebrate. But congratulations to Kaitlyn Clark. That was awesome. The congratulations came pouring in from across the sports world. I thought the Angel Reese one was the best. And I kind of hope that we get to see them play each other again

in the NCAA tournament. We probably will. It's, you know, depending on how all that shakes out, but we may see LSU Iowa again in the NCAA tournament. Other news in the world of college sports, college football news, Sean Elliott, the Georgia state head coach steps down to become the tight ends coach at South Carolina. Now, before you jump to conclusions and say, oh, another example of college football run wild, the transfer portal's killing the sport. Sean Elliott left South Carolina to become the head coach at Georgia State seven years ago. His family has been in Columbia ever since. They didn't want to move the kids. Coaching is a very volatile profession.

You never know how long you're going to be somewhere. And so his kids have been in Columbia the entire time, in school. They're in high school now. He wanted to be back to be with them. And he said he contemplated, he told Chris Lowe from ESPN, contemplated not coaching this year at all, but got the job at South Carolina. Remember, he was an assistant at South Carolina under Steve Spurrier, was actually the interim head coach after Steve Spurrier resigned. But when Sean Elliott got there, he came from Appalachian State and the Steve Spurrier crew took a lot of the elements of the Appalachian State and the Steve Spurrier crew took a lot of the elements of the Appalachian State offense. And that became that offense that Connor Shaw and company ran during those really,

really good years at South Carolina. So Sean Elliott did a good job at Georgia State, but you have to also take a look at the situation. Last year was going to be his most veteran heavy team. They shot their shot. They were probably going to take a little step back this year. This was a move maybe to also stay a little bit ahead of the posse. So Sean Elliott going back to South Carolina, the other dirty secret about the, this and the coaching carousel world is Sean Elliott is probably closer to an SEC ACC head coaching job as the tight ends coach at South Carolina than he is as the head coach at Georgia State. I think the days of being able to move from the group of five as a

really good coach in the group of five to a power conference school as the head coach, I don't think it's going to be as easy going forward. And you're seeing this now where Sean Lewis left Kent State, became the offense coordinator at Colorado. Now he's become the head coach at San Diego State. So maybe it'll work for him. But you've got Kane Womack leaving South Alabama to become the defensive coordinator at Alabama. I guarantee you he has a better shot of getting an SEC head coaching job

as Alabama's DC than his South Alabama's head coach. It's just, this is the way it works about Mo Linguist at Buffalo. He's a position coach at Alabama now. So you're going to see this. It's really those jobs. I think you almost have to do that and then go back to being an assistant or a coordinator at the power conference level. And then you become the power conference head coach, unless you are just gangbusters winning like crazy, like Jamie Chadwell at Liberty, I think would get consideration for these jobs and has gotten consideration for some power conference jobs and actually not, not taking them. But he might be the only one right now who, if he has another

good year at Liberty, there'll probably be some schools that, that would want him in the power conferences. Everybody else, it feels like they want, they want those coordinators from the, the SEC or the big 10, or they want a head coach from the ACC or the big 12. So we will see what happens with all of that. Georgia State obviously needs a coach now. They postponed spring practice in the spring game. They got to figure out what to do. But Sean Elliott heading home.

And I understand. I mean, I can't imagine being a three-hour drive away from my family for that long. That's a tough deal. So congratulations to him getting to reun to reunite with his family and good luck to him at South Carolina, which I know he enjoys working at South Carolina. So that's going to be a good Matt Williams in the chat. I disagree, Andy too bad, Matt. I'm right. Uh, the truth, Blake, the great quorum should be the cover athlete for NCAA 24 out of spite to the NCAA and Ohio state fans. Well, it's NCAA 20. It's actually for NCAA 24 out of spite to the NCAA and Ohio State fans.

Well, it's NCAA 20. It's actually not NCAA. They didn't put the NCAA's name on the game. It's College Football 25. And it's going to be a current player because they can do that now. That's the thing. Matt in the chat. John Sumrall at Tulane.

If he wins there, he would. Maybe. Willie Fritz went to the Big 12. So that's probably a possibility because John Sumrall's won at Troy. And if he wins at Tulane, we'll see. You know, let's say Mark Stoops were to get another job because John Summerall was going to be the... You're right. Okay, Matt, you're right.

I will admit what I'm wrong. I was wrong here. Matt's right. John Summerall was going to be the head coach at Kentucky if Mark Stoops took the Texas A&M job. So Matt is right. I am wrong. I apologize. I'm sorry, Matt.

I acted too hastily. But Matt is right. Tucker in the chat, can't take credit for this idea, but the cover athlete should be the Pop Tart. I hope so. I certainly hope so. The Pop Tart's Bowl mascot, the edible Pop-Tarts Bowl mascot, please, please be the cover. I don't know. Who will it be? I feel like that's a whole episode down the road. That's a whole podcast episode. Who is the cover athlete?

Because if this were last year, it would have been Caleb Williams. It would have been the returning Heisman Trophy winner. Now, the question is, I used to work at Sports Illustrated. We used to do regional covers for the college football preview issue. So we might do three or four different covers, but I don't know if they do that. I think that would be cool if they did that. In Big Ten country, you have, who would you pick in Big Ten country? Would you be like JT Tuimalao? That would be a good one. In SEC country, Carson Beck.

I think that would be the obvious one. In the Big 12, I might throw Avery Johnson on the cover in the Big 12. And the SEC also could do Quinn Ewers would be a good one. So many possibilities. This is going to be a lot of fun. I can't wait. One guy who's going to be in the game. I don't know if he's thought about the fact that he's going to be in the game, but he's, he's definitely going to be in the game. Oh, uh, river, our producer with the Shador Sanders in the big 12 that, yep. That may, it might be Shador anyway. It could be Shador that, that would make, that would make a lot of sense. If, if it's one cover, it might be Shador. Uh, Matt in the chat says he's going to keep playing me admitting I'm wrong.

And he's right louder for his wife to hear over and over and over again. Can't wait. The truth was Donovan Edwards for the big 10 country regional cover. I think that's a pretty fair one. He had a huge national title game. Michael star says Travis Hunter, Travis Hunter, or should, or I think would either one of them would be good, but let's, let's think about this for a little bit. Come on, we got a long off season. We can do a whole episode on this. But a guy who doesn't know, probably hasn't even thought about the fact

that he's in the game, gonna be in the game, Jeff Levy, the new head coach at Mississippi State. He comes in, they had a terrible situation. Mike Leach passed away. They gave the job to Zach Arnett, who was a defense coordinator at the time, basically gave him a contract that made him an extended interim coach. They decided that wasn't working out. So Zach Selman, the new AD decides to hire Jeff Lebby.

Zach Selman had come from Oklahoma. Lebby had been the OC at Oklahoma. Lebby comes in, brings in Blake Chapin, former Baylor quarterback, and also quite a bit out of the transfer portal. And of course, there's a lot to recruit in the state of Mississippi, a lot of talent in and around that area. So he's got to flip that roster, but he has some raw material to work with. Here is Jeff Levy.

We welcome Jeff Levy, the new head coach at Mississippi State. Does it still feel new, Jeff, or does all that time on the road and meeting recruits and selling the program at this point, does it start to feel a little old? No, I mean, we're pretty settled in you know i do i think we've gotten a lot accomplished here and in the last couple of months and so we are we're settled in and the community's been incredible and helped welcome me my family our entire staff to start going so that part of it's been great so you you did this experience this as an offensive coordinator at oklahoma a couple years ago coming in during the transfer portal era, trying to get your roster in shape.

How much did you learn watching Brent Venables go through that and helping Brent Venables go through that that you took and brought to Starkville with you? Yeah, I think it was just the understanding of, man, being patient and making sure that we're doing the right thing for our locker room, you know, making decisions based on people. You know, obviously, guys got to be good enough. But, man, at the same time, we want to put good people in that locker room. And so that's something that Coach B, honestly, he talked about from day one.

And, you know, I think it paid off for us. Year one, obviously, was the way it was. But then year two, you look at it after setting the foundation and man, bet on people and put the right pieces in place in that locker room, protect your locker room with who you're picking, who you're taking, who you're recruiting, and making sure they're about the right things. And so not panicking, being patient and taking the right people is what I learned. And that's something that we've tried to do. So how do you do that when that portal process moves? So if I've asked like Mike Norvell and guys who've done a good job of maintaining their

chemistry with the portal, how do you do that in terms of getting to know guys? Is it prior relationships like you and Dylan Gabriel when he came to Oklahoma? Or is it just trying to do research as quickly as possible? Yeah, I think there's a little bit of a balance. I think calling people inside the profession that maybe you know that you have a connection with, that you trust their opinion on certain guys. I think asking the hard questions while you're in this process, because it is, it's tempo dating.

You know, you got to figure out a lot about guys in a hurry and you got to make sure you are protecting the pick and taking the right people. So, again, for us, ask the hard questions. And usually when guys are asking you questions, you can figure out what they're all about, what their mentality is, kind of what they're thinking, what they're trying to get out of things. And you want to make sure, again, you're taking the guys that are about the right stuff. So, now this probably applies to transfers or recruits out of high school, but what's a question you do want to hear and what's a question you don't want to hear from those guys?

Yeah, I mean, I think the obvious ones are, Coach, talk to me about opportunity. Talk to me about for the transfer guys, guys that are serious about being great football players and taking care of their business as you're trying to fix the roster, man, those guys are about opportunity. So, so you want, you want guys to ask that question. Tell me what the depth chart looks like. What's the opportunity. You can't promise anything at any point in time,

but you want guys that are serious about getting on the field and having production. So that, that part of it is important. And obviously the guys that lead with NIL piece and, and are trying to dig in on that part of it is important obviously the guys that lead with the nil piece and and are trying to dig in on that part of it they're not our kind of guys and that's the reality of it i understand that that's a huge part of where we're at from a college football scene but man for us we want guys that again are about the right thing they want to get developed on the field in a great way to be able to go chase it at the highest level but and they want to get developed outside the white lines

too and have an incredible college experience and get a great degree and do things that are going to change their life forever. So we're going to stick to our guns on, on, on that stuff. And I think it's going to work out the right way. So one thing I'm fascinated by with, with the offense you run is I remember when you guys were at Baylor and you guys it was like witchcraft and nobody else was running it and nobody really understood how to defend it did you ever think there'd be a point where it was kind of taken over college football because it feels like it is everywhere now yeah i mean i think as we were in the middle of it uh you know having the amount of success that we had obviously on the offensive side of the ball, winning championships, doing those things while we were there, you knew that it was going to take hold and it was going to spread.

As you look at it right now, you know it has. And I think as different people have gotten certain places and gotten different jobs, and you've seen it more and more, you've seen the system grow too. And again, from all the places that I've been, the guys that I've been with and been able to learn from and take something from each stop along the way, and now being able to be here at State and make it our own, that's something I'm incredibly excited about. Well, as somebody who helped basically design it, what's it like watching some of these other guys, as it spreads, they add their own little flavor and you say,

oh, I never thought about that. Yeah, I mean, we're always trying to learn. For me, it's always about best idea wins. At the end of the day, we want to put the best possible product on the field every single Saturday, something that's going to give our fans, man, a lot of pride and have a ton of respect around college football and obviously here in the SEC. So we're always trying to get better. I love watching other units. I love watching other offenses. But at the end of the day, man, it's still about asking your guys to do what they can

do. Personnel placement, putting them in positions of success. That's where it's going to start and stop for us and have an incredibly aggressive mindset as we go take the field. So that's something we try to do in the offseason and then stay true to that throughout the season. When you're recruiting linemen and backs, how often do you have to kind of point to what the rushing numbers really are in this offense? Because it seems to me when it's at its best,

you guys are running for 200, 300 yards a game, but you also will throw over the top at that point. Yeah, when you look at it, I think our best units have been units that have had incredible balance. We do, we wanna run first. That's who we've always been. I think that gets lost in some of the production

and the high powered offense and scoring all the points and all the explosive plays. But man, we wanna run the football. I don't think there's ever been a championship team that's lacked physicality. So being physical at the point, carrying the football in a physical way, playing a physical style of football is who we're going to be to the core, and that's not going to change.

And we do. We have to point to that at times because it can get lost at times. But, you know, the stats and the facts don't lie from that standpoint. So I noticed you just hired, so you hired a director of football science named Mason Walters, who used to work for team USA and wrestling and boxing and gymnastics. And then Jaworski Beckham is your director of speed and performance. He's a Mississippi state grad who you got from Oregon. So what does. So what is the difference between a director of football science and a director of speed and performance? Yeah, so our director of sports science is Mason. And he's got, you know, the thing that I love about Mason is he does.

He's got this science background, but he's got an initial strength and conditioning background. He played the game. He was a strength coach at Air Force for a great head guy there. And then as he transitioned into the sports science world, the thing that is intriguing to me as we get into this is, man, how do we make our players the best possible player they can be? And to me, that's finding ways to create as much information, as much data as we can. And then it's up to us to be able to go apply that.

And so he's going to help the application of that, being able to put guys again in positions of success, making sure that we're developing these guys with a pro mindset and getting these guys ready to be able to chase it at the highest level for as long as they possibly can. And that's what I'm excited about. Jaws, you know, a Starkville High grad, he's a guy that is back home and is the director of speed for us. And he's a guy that is back home and is the director of speed for us.

And he's a guy that does an incredible job just putting together our speed training. And from the day to day to, you know, a year round curriculum and calendar, man, making sure that that we got a chance to go play fast and run fast. You know, we say it all the time, but you can't tackle what you can't touch. So I like guys that run and we're going to stay that way. Well, and it's interesting as, as all of this stuff has developed, it feels like it's gone from the, the guy who's just trying to get you as big as possible and, and as strong as possible to as fast as possible and also position specific functional strength. And I'm curious, did you, as your, your coaching career progressed, did you have to kind of change your mind about some things or did you, were you always kind of open-minded about

how they handle workload or they have an idea that, okay, we've got these guys that are, they're running this much. So we got to dial them back on these days. How, how much communication is there, you know, two ways on that? Yeah, I think there's a ton of communication. The reality of it is, man, this game is hard. It's supposed to be hard. It's a violent game. It's a tough game. You got to have tough guys to go win the way we want to win. And so that won't ever be something that we forget. The science part of it, to me from a, you know, just again, the development part of getting guys to be the best they can possibly be. And then injury prevention. I think that's where it comes in as much as anything, just having some tells on when guys are broke down and when they're tired

and how we need to draw back a little bit to put guys again in positions of success. So, man, we take all of this data and all of this info. And then again, it's still up to us, up to me at the end of the day to make sure we're using it the right way. But the injury prevention part of it is something that, you know, I will always think really highly of from a sports science standpoint. Well, and I imagine when you look at this schedule that the SEC has so kindly put together for you, that making sure guys are fresh, making sure guys are healthy is critical. What is that like as a first-time head coach to look down the line and see basically murderer's row the entire way?

Yeah, I think for me, man, I couldn't be more excited about it. I mean, having the ability to sit in this chair and get to go chase it and do what we get to do every single day at the very highest level in the greatest conference of the world, I'm not real sure what else you could ask for. To me, we've got great competitive advantage here. We've got great proximity to players. Been blessed to be able to put together an unbelievable staff. We've got incredible support. We're going to walk into a stadium that's packed every single Saturday. So to me, there's just opportunity out there.

I don't look at it any other way. And you've worked in the state of Mississippi before, recruited in the state of Mississippi before. I don't know that people outside that particular region understand the level of talent there. And I always go back to when Dan Mullen coached there and they had Chris Jones and they were kind of keeping him under wraps. Didn't want people to come find him because he was kind of the hidden gem and he blew up after the All-Star games. But how many guys are there just running around that state that you think, okay, this could be the next great player at Mississippi State? Man, I think it's endless. I really do. And that's

why it's so important for me and for us to do an incredible job in this state to do an unbelievable job inside our footprint. Five hours from where I'm sitting right now, we've got to dominate this region and create incredible relationships and get on guys earlier than other people because, again, we're going to have access that nobody else has because we're closer. So that's a huge deal for us as we build this thing to go sustain. There are great players in this region. There are great players in this region. There's great players in this state.

And that, to me, is a huge advantage for us as we move forward and build it. Now, as I mentioned, you did work in the state before on the other side of the Egg Bowl rivalry. And that provided Lane Kiffin with lots of pictures of you in Ole Miss gear that he's already started to troll you with. Is that like your official indoctrination as an SEC head coach when Lane trolls you online for the first time? You know, I think that there's plenty to be said about it that I probably won't say much. But, no, I don't think it'll stop. We'll probably look up and there'll be something else out there at some point in time. But again,

incredibly appreciative for my time there working for lane and doing the things we were able to do there, but man could not be more excited about where this thing's going. And obviously that's going, that's going to be a fun one. The Thanksgiving weekend. How long were you in Starkville before you got your own cowbell? Do they present you with your own cowbell upon arrival? Do you have to order one special? Do you do you do

you make it custom? As as soon as I got off the plane, I got handed a cowbell and started ringing it. So, it felt natural and it it's been ringing since looking forward to it ringing on that first Saturday in September. Yeah, and it's great. And I know that, listen, I know they ring responsibly at Davis Wade Stadium, but I imagine it'll be nicer as the home team when you're trying to call plays and they're not, not ringing as much between plays. No, I feel really good about that. Hopefully they're ringing it a bunch as we're scoring and getting stops. That's, that's dang sure the plan.

Well, Jeff, I appreciate it. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Have a good one. Those cowbells get very, very loud in Starkville. Another place it gets loud, Sanford Stadium, Athens. Well, it's also loud in the chat right now. We have an argument going on.

Kevin doesn't want any Michigan players on the cover of the video game. Mike, in the truth, want Blake Corum. And I'm like, guys, they're not going to choose a former player the first year they could actually use a current one. Like, they're going to pick a current player because they can. So we'll stick to current players. There was a suggestion of Ollie Gordon. Oh, Kevin, actually, who doesn't want any Michigan players.

He said the best running back last year was Oklahoma State's running back. Ollie Gordon? That might be a nice cover. I could see that. I still think the Shador Travis Hunter one feels like it might be. Mike in the chat, Blake Corham led the nation in scores. 2017, he's dominant. Yes, also not playing in college next year.

He's not going to be on the cover. It will be a current player. One current player. It definitely could be is Carson Beck, the Georgia quarterback, his decision to come back for this year. Definitely makes Georgia a favorite to play for the national title. If not win the national title.

And right now, Georgia has the highest preseason win total, according to fan duel of anybody tied with three other teams. Joined now by Jake Rowe of Dogs HQ on Three's Georgia site. We dive into that schedule. We talk about Carson Beck coming back and what the Bulldogs should expect. Joined now by the great Jake Rowe of dogs hq and we got to check in on the dogs it's been a while jake you know they they blow out florida state and sugar bowl their roster you know it looks like the guys they lost were guys that were not necessarily playing but they picked up some folks in the transfer portal and uh we've got a 10 and a half-under win total for Georgia going into the new SEC schedule.

I'm curious, how is the optimism in Athens as Georgia enters the season as the betting favorite to win the national title? When you return a quarterback that I think a lot of people would argue and a lot of people would would argue effectively is the best returning quarterback in the SEC and the best returning quarterback in the country maybe um you're always in good shape and then you take into account uh you know I'm looking at it right here they're going to return roughly I don't know about 4,000 snaps on that line um your run it back series by the way has been fantastic so dogs hq subscribers very lucky to see exactly how many snaps every single returning player has played. Yeah. And, and, you know, I'm looking at it right now, like a thousand snaps on the office.

I'm sorry. That's the office of guard. They've got a lot coming back on the office of line. You add Trevor ETN. It's hard to imagine losing Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkie and getting better. I'm not necessarily saying they're getting better at the receiver position per se, but Dylan Bell closed last season looking great. You've got Rara Thomas and Dominic Lovett going into their second year of a system. They add Ben Urasik out of Stanford to go with Oscar Delp and Lawson Lucky. You know, that's kind of what you're looking at offensively. And then defensively, I was talking to someone earlier today, just looking at the total, the entire defense, you've got ten guys,

and I'm not going to bore everybody and name them off, but you've got ten guys on that defense who, you know, have played varying roles over the past, you know, have played varying roles over the past, you know, last year. 10 guys going into either their second or third year who are big time contributors, at least 10 guys. I mean, I can think of even a couple more. So Georgia has a lot of returning talent and that roster was deep. They did a good job of holding on to guys. You know, they didn't really have that Jermaine Burton, AD Mitchell departure this year,

like they've had the last couple of years. And I think it's a really, really well-balanced roster that, you know, when you start to look at, Hey, where are the question marks? Well, the question mark is stuff like backup center, who's going to be the backup center or, or, you know, or Or maybe the biggest one is trying to figure out who's going to play star nickel and who's going to kind of play that strong safety position with Javon Bullard and Tykee Smith on the way out. Yeah, and it is a lot of settled stuff going into spring practice.

So that means that you can build depth underneath. Guys get good snaps. I don't think Tate Ratledge needs to take a whole lot of snaps in spring practice. Everybody knows what he is and what he can do. And Nazir Stackhouse, same thing. Those guys have played so much football for them. But the Carson Beck part of it,

Georgia had this luxury coming off the first national title with Stetson Bennett coming back. How big of a deal is it to have Carson Beck back? You know, I go back to, you know, when Aaron Murray kind of had that four-year run at Georgia. And it seemed like Georgia just kind of plug and played at wide receiver because Aaron Murray elevated so well. I mean, he elevated those around him.

And I think this past year, especially maybe through the first two-thirds of the season, Carson Beck was kind of – he had to lean on Brock Bowers. And when Ladd came back and Bowers was out, he had to lean on Ladd. And I think you saw toward the latter part of the season when both Ladd and Brock were either limited or missed that Tennessee game and played later on in the year, that you were kind of like, all right, now this guy might have the ability to kind of elevate those around him.

And I think you have to expect that going into year two. No longer are you looking at early in the season saying, well, the guy's just in his first start. I mean, he's got 14 of those under his belt, and he came back to do more to do more to build upon that resume and you know you you talk about kind of what you heard about carson as he's coming back and one of the big reasons isn't it listen i'm sure they put together a nice nil package for him and i'm sure the opportunity to uh the lamborghini is nice yeah it is the lamborghini is great that's got a big part of it all right

but you know you you heard a lot about, hey, you got to play at Alabama. You got to play at Texas. You got to play at Ole Miss. Those are kind of legacy-building type games, and I think Carson's kind of wired that way. Steady hand, all the talent in the world. I think Georgia fans have got a lot to be excited about. I said it whenever he decided he was coming back.

I wrote a column, and I said, listen, this guy returning, this piece of good news is going to overshadow any other piece of reasonably bad news going forward. Like, cause this was the main key, you know, key as far as returning. And I love the fact that he's back for Georgia. And it's just as much as that. I love the fact that they returned four starters on the offensive line and then three others who played significant snaps last year. So FanDuel set their win total at 10 and a half. And that's the highest

in the SEC along with Texas. Texas is also 10 and a half. Alabama is nine and a half. Ole Miss is nine and a half. The only other 10 and a half schools in the country, and there's no 11s, are Ohio State and Oregon. So that's rare air, but Georgia's obviously used to being in that rare air right now. But I look at the schedule, Jake, and I feel bad for Georgia fans because it feels like they're getting trolled by the SEC. All those years of fairly blah home schedules, you get the new SEC, everybody else's schedule improves. And Georgia's schedule is awesome

in terms of competitive games. But at Alabama, at Texas, at Ole Miss, which at Ole Miss, I realized a return game from last year, but still, like the three best ones are on the road. Yeah, I was looking at our man Jesse Simonton's way too early top 25, and Georgia plays the number four, number five, and number six teams on that list in order basically in September, October, and November on the road. So that's going to be tough. And listen, that's the only reason I've got any doubt about that, you know, 10 and a half, you know, win total. I absolutely

believe Georgia can go 12 and 0, 11 and 1. It can, it needs to stay healthy. It needs some good injury luck. It needs, you know, it needs those things. But that's, that's a tough stretch, man. That's just, there's no other way to state it. It is very difficult. Now, it's a little easier than it would have looked like maybe January 11th because, you know, Alabama had a lot of departures and, you know, you're no longer dealing with the boogeyman Nick Saban anymore and kind of, you know, the thorn he was in Georgia's side even when they were at their best.

But, you know, it's a very, very tough schedule. And the good news for Georgia fans, and I feel confident in saying this, 2025, with the way this schedule is set up, 2025 should be a hell of a year to have season tickets to Georgia. Yes, yes, I would agree, especially if they're going to do – we heard the comments from Chris Delcani, the Texas AD. If they are just going to reverse the 24 schedule, that is an incredible schedule for Georgia.

Wow. You know, it's tough to see them doing that, though, because that would put Ole Miss playing Georgia three years in a row. Yeah. That would be tough. I don't know. I think it depends on how much they want to tweak. But yeah, if you can get Texas and Alabama.

Yeah, if you got Alabama and Texas at home, that would be something else. That would be pretty fun. So the Clemson game is the kickoff game. It's in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. This feels different than the last time georgia opened against clemson they opened against clemson in the in the 2021 season and it's crazy to think like jt daniels started that game that was the the beginning of the march to the national title that finally got

the monkey off george's back but it doesn't feel like clemson is is as like it's in the same echelon as george anymore And it seemed like it kind of changed that day, right? Yeah. That was kind of the turning point. That was the hinge. I mean, I got all the respect in the world for Clemson's program, and I watched them several times this past year, and they dropped some games. That Florida State game comes to mind where I felt like they probably outplayed the other team. Dabo had them playing hard. He's always going to have them playing hard. He's a proven winner.

They're going to be good. But the one thing I think that maybe stacks up against Clemson here is that Kirby, and he kind of took this from Nick Saban, we saw it over and over and over again, man, they get up for that first game of the year. They really do. And, you know, it kind of – and Kirby's gone on the record as saying this, it affects their offseason.

It brings more juice and more life and more focus to the offseason. And on top of that, Kirby's not going to go take the podium in Dallas at SEC Media Days this year and give this long talk about complacency because that's not on the menu for this year. That's kind of – I think we saw in the Florida State game, even with the departures, Georgia had some too, but Georgia played really well in that game. That's just – I mean, I could have seen them go out

and kind of go through the motions and beat Florida State and control the game, but they played extremely well that day, and I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that they did not really like the way it felt to lose. And that idea of there being some complacency like there has been, like there was in 2022, I don't think is a factor. You mentioned the transfers.

Ben Urosik from Stanford is a really interesting one because 6'5", 220, kind of a similar build to Brock Bowers at tight end where he's a little bit lighter, but also faster. Stanford would run into rounds with him. I'm curious about the transfer receivers because you mentioned the depth that Georgia georgia might have at receiver when you add michael jackson from usc and and colby young from miami who is a big big dude like it feels like that's what georgia needed this past year like i remember looking out at the sec championship game and seeing who georgia was lining up at receiver and thinking oh man you know this they've got some problems here.

Maybe next year they don't have those problems because they are as deep as they need to be. Yeah. I mean, I think that definitely helps. And with the receiver position, they, what they really, really did. And I remember Barton Simmons now at Vanderbilt, we worked with him for, I worked with him for a long time at 24 seven sports. And Barton used to say that, that it's not necessarily important that you get a wide receiver that checks off all the boxes. Those guys don't grow on trees, but it is very important that with your receiver room, you check off all the boxes. And the one thing that Georgia has been missing past couple of years, I would say, is that big physical presence at wide out.

Marcus Rosenby, Jack Saint, I think, went to the senior bowl, measured in at under 6'2", which is by no means small. He was definitely a physical presence, a go-get-it type guy. But he wasn't Colby Young. He wasn't 6'5", 220 pounds. And I do think that that kind of physical presence helped there. They went and got London Humphreys, who is like a 10- 10 500 meter guy and a big-time speedster that that bandy firsthand um they got him and and that checks off the box michael jackson um you know that's a he's kind of a he's almost a little bit dylan bell

like you know they've kind of already got a little bit of a guy like that which makes sense because bell's gonna probably be george's next man up at that Ladd-McConkie flanker position. So, you know, Michael Jackson kind of brings a frame and a build there that get the ball to him in space, see what he can do. But, yeah, Georgia did a really good job with that. And, you know, Urasic is the one that I like the most. I mean, take out Trevor Etienne as far as the offensive weapons goes because I do believe that is the most important one.

But Urasic, man, I mean, he's a guy that in 2021 had 650 yards receiving, 648, something like that. And if you kind of extrapolate and push that all the way to a 15-game season, you're talking about a guy that's knocking on the door 900 yards. He is a, and he's not Brock Bowers, to a 15-game season, you're talking about a guy that's knocking on the door 900 yards.

He's not Brock Bowers, but he can do some of the specific things that Georgia used Brock Bowers for to make them tough to defend. Yeah, I was going to say, just having that possibility of having a tight end that you can hand off to on a jet sweep is it changes the way people have to defend you. Let's talk Trevor Etienne because he comes from Florida, obvious breakaway talent, uh, breakaway speed, but also good, kind of like his brother, good between the tackles with breakaway speed. Uh, the criticism at Florida was the blocking, but like go watch the Tennessee game, watch him, Watch him tear away for a 70-something yard touchdown that basically put the game away. That's a lot of talent. It is.

And Georgia got a high level of play out of Dejan Edwards and Kendall Milton this past year. I wouldn't take a single thing away from those guys. Kendall Milton actually towards the end of the year when he got healthy looked like one of the better Georgia running backs in the past five or six years. I mean, he looked really good but Trevor Etienne brings kind of a a Kenny McIntosh Sony Michelle somewhere between those two elements of the offenses as far as his pass get DeAndre Swift even as far as his pass catching and an ability to you know get it to him quick see what he can

do with the ball um you know I do think he think he can help Georgia with more explosives, both in the run and the pass game. Del McGee has done a really good job over the years of taking these backs in and kind of stressing to them and getting through them with a little bit of a pass-blocking whisper or whatever. He's gotten some guys ready to play kind of in short order like that. And they're that Trevor ETNs. That's not the only guy ever that there's been a knock on it running back. They don't know exactly, you know, they don't do it in high school.

And but, but I do think that that's such a massive addition for Georgia because they've had a look at him. I mean, if you, if you've ever had a chance to watch the Real Talk podcast with Tate Ratledge and whoever is helping him host that, one of the things that he said months ago was that when they go into the SEC schedule,

went into the SEC schedule 2022, the thinking was that Trevor Etienne was one of the best backs on that schedule, and now he's going to wear a Georgia uniform. It's going gonna be fun to watch 10 and a half is the total gotta get through those road games gotta gotta win at least one of those to go over jake rowe thank you so much that's right man see ya that is great. Jake Rowe from Dogs HQ. And yeah, Georgia's still in really, really good position.

Would Georgia have won the national title had they made the playoff last year? I think there's a good chance of it, but they were thin at receiver in the SEC championship game. You had probably the best game Jalen Milrow played as Alabama's quarterback in that game and just didn't quite work out for him. So they will probably be the favorite going in. I think it's Georgia or Ohio State, probably your favorite, but also in their leagues, they've got Texas in the SEC, Oregon in the Big Ten, newcomers who would like to win the league

in their first year. So we shall see. But right now, we've got other teams trying to win leagues, trying to earn spots in the tournament that will potentially make them a national champion if they can get through it. That's right. It's basketball time. We're only a few weeks away from selection Sunday. The bubble is getting bubblier. There's a lot going on. There's a lot of big games this weekend. So we brought in James Fletcher on threes, resident bracketologist and bubble expert to break it all down for you. Here's James. Since we're all going to be pretending to be

college basketball experts in about three and a half weeks, I decided to call in a real college basketball expert on three's James Fletcher III. He handles our bracketology, our bubble watch, and there's a lot to watch right now, a lot to talk about. This has been a pretty crazy week, especially in the ACC, James. So Virginia losing to Pitt North Carolina losing Syracuse now this is a league that has some some very good teams at the top but I'm sure a 15 team team 15 team League is not not excited about looking down the barrel of a four-team turning bid yeah and we had actually just a few weeks ago, we had, you know, national

pundits in college basketball talking about a potential to bid ACC. Now that was never really going to happen. Clemson was always going to find their footing a little bit. Wake Forest has looked good. And now obviously we've seen Virginia up until that loss this weekend that you talked about. They've looked a lot better in recent weeks. But the ACC, they are in trouble for a 15-team league, a team that historically is one of the best college basketball conferences that we have. To be struggling the way that they are, it is a real problem for them.

And we're going to see. It's going to come down to the wire how many teams they're able to get into the field this year. And, you know, what is the the reason for that? I mean, it who who isn't performing the way they should be? Well, I think that it's a combination of things here. As it always is, we've seen NIL and the transfer portal have changed the way that you have to coach basketball. And so perhaps part of it, I think certainly

part of it is on the coaches and the schools themselves to prioritize basketball. I think in the world of college football that we've seen, obviously that drives revenue. Having to put so much attention on keeping this conference together, figuring out how to expand there, perhaps it has made basketball take a little bit more of a backseat than it should have. I think another conference that you can see that went the opposite direction put a lot of focus on basketball is the Big 12. And we've seen that they're probably the best conference in college basketball this season. So I think a combination of that, along with scheduling, college basketball scheduling has never been more important than it is with the net rankings. Obviously, in the past,

you had different computer metrics, but the net really cares about how you schedule and that's shown in the quadrant system. If you just schedule a bunch of cupcakes, a bunch of directional schools, they're not going to reward you when we get to March. They really don't care about those games at all in quadrant three and four. Well, you and you mentioned the Big 12. Have they kind of cracked the code on the non-conference scheduling?

Because it seems like they enter conference play where everybody's super high in the net rankings. And so it almost doesn't, as long as you win some games and you don't need, I don't even know if you have to go 500 in the Big 12. That's the thing that we're looking at right now is do you even have to go 500 in the Big 12? And I think that certainly a lot of the teams in the Big 12 have cracked that code to figuring it

out. I think the best example I've seen perhaps in the country is TJ Oselberger and Iowa State. I know that's a school that everyone would kind of go, what? Really? They're the best at this? Yes. They have pretty much all season been top 10 in the net rankings. Now, were they one of the 10 best teams in college basketball in December or even right now? Probably not. But what they did better than anyone else in the country is they figured out which games were going to be quad two games, quad one games, but were still really winnable. What games did they get early on that would boost the resume?

And then not only that, this is something that a lot of older college coaches, a lot of ingrained in the sport guys are struggling with is you're now rewarded for keeping your foot on the gas pedal against these lower teams. Now, a lot of coaches and probably rightfully so want to get the walk ons in they want to reward some of the freshmen see what they've got. But then you see a 25 point lead turn into a 10 point win. And the numbers just care. They don't care who's on the floor. They care about your points per possession. Three point make rates, all those things go into these formulas. And so when you start

looking at it that way, a team that plays seven or eight guys, no matter who they're playing, is going to just be at an advantage versus a team that's trying to get everyone involved plays seven or eight guys, no matter who they're playing, is going to just be at an advantage versus a team that's trying to get everyone involved through the non-conference schedule. And so they've won six of their last seven, Iowa State. They get Texas Tech on Saturday. Texas Tech coming off the blowout win against Kansas, where Bill Self got himself ejected because he didn't want to watch anymore. and then and then like I'm telling you right now I am predicting this as I have predicted this the past three weeks Iowa State will lose at

Houston on big Monday because with it's home game against a pretty good team followed by a road game against a really good team on big Monday two days later like, like you're going to lose. Yeah, it's just brutal. And I mean, just beyond having to play Houston on itself, which is never an easy game against Kelvin Sampson and his team, especially the way they want to play. They want to get after you on the boards. They want to play tough and physical. So to have to go up against the Texas tech team that like you said, really good this weekend, turn around that short of notice and play a team. That's that good I I think I have to agree with you there they're in a they're in a real tough spot and I think we've seen just about everyone in the Big 12 fall victim to that at some point so far in the conference

schedule yeah I mean Kansas went into the octagon of doom right after they beat Houston and they lose the K-State they beat Baylor on a Saturday two days, they're in Lubbock. You're going to lose. It's so tough to do. I mean, we don't think about it. College football, we have seven days between each game, pretty much every time, especially the big school. And for these guys to go five days without a game, you get so ramped up for it. You're ready to go. It's a big marquee matchup.

You give everything you have out there. And now you say, hey, all all right now take less than half that amount of time and do the same thing it's just it's just really hard to do and you're not really you're not really even doing any any on-floor prep for this really good team that you're about to play on the road it's it's all film work and and walk through type stuff and yeah it's amazing. So let's, let's turn to the SEC. You've got Kentucky, they got to play Auburn. Now Kentucky stopped the home slide and beat Ole Miss the other day, but as coach Cal figured something out, or it seems like he's still experimenting with lineups and, and I'm not sure he's found what he wants yet. I think we're still kind of waiting to see with this Kentucky team because certainly they look better defensively against Ole Miss than they did in the previous few games, especially at home.

But I think that also kind of goes down to having varying minutes with Rob Dillingham on the floor. So what do you do with him? He's probably your best NBA draft prospect. He's definitely your best offensive weapon. But you seem to be better with him off the floor. So how does Calipari balance that long-term? Because there's going to be games where they need that offensive firepower. How are they able to get him on the floor, but not see that defense really just cater the way it has recently? So I think we're still waiting to see about john calipari that kentucky team and what they're going to be when we get into march and meanwhile auburn you know they they crush alabama

they get hammered at florida and then they'll beat a pretty good south carolina team did is is the florida one the anomaly there i think definitely that florida game was an anomaly i think it it's similar i would say to what we saw or what we're just speaking about with the Big 12. Uh you've got such a big game. I mean that that Auburn uh versus Alabama rivalry. I don't have to tell you that is a whole another level of rivalry matchup every time those two teams go out. And this was a revenge game because they'd lost in Tuscaloosa earlier in

the season. Yeah. Right right they definitely poured a lot into it and but yeah and and just were not themselves against Florida and I think that they caught a they caught a they caught a Florida team that is really really underrated I don't think that the metrics have really caught up to what this Florida team is Florida is one of five teams in the country who does not have a loss outside of quadrant one. And the other teams that you can talk about that in that conversation are Purdue, UConn, Houston. Those are locks to be one seeds this year. They are cemented themselves. And then San Diego State. So they are an elite company in terms of being able to take care of business when they need to take care of business. Well, and that's that's interesting because you talked about Florida and your pressure watch column and the Gators are in the low thirties in the net ranking, which is very

good, which, you know, suggests they're an at-large team, but they also don't quite show up. And then they've had some moments like they're crushing Georgia and they're barely hanging on an overtime they're killing LSU they win by two and only because somebody missed a two-footer at the basket at the end of the game um what what does Florida need to do to solidify its spot in the field I think it's really it's exactly what uh I saw Walter Clayton say after their last game and it's they've just got to lock in because we've seen we've seen that they can get a 20 point lead on some of the best teams in the country during the first half and so there's no question

the level of basketball that they're playing I just told you about their resume and what they've been able to do but the reason that you're still seeing them in the 30s when these other teams are considered the top teams in college basketball is because you let your foot off the gas you get up by 20 and you you say, Oh, great. Good job guys. And you go to the huddle. You take a deep breath. No, you've got to stay locked in because these teams that you're playing against night in and night out are capable of coming back the same way you can go up 20. They can erase a 20 point lead in the second half.

Let's move on to the big 10. Cause we know at the top, like Purdue's a one seed, Illinois is going to be in the tournament. Wisconsin's probably going to be in the second half. Let's move on to the Big Ten because we know at the top, like Purdue's a one seed. Illinois is going to be in the tournament. Wisconsin's probably going to be in the tournament. But who else can play their way in over these next few weeks? Oh, so the Big Ten is, they're in a spot where really, I think Northwestern is going to be

the most controversial team in that conference because their analytics just aren't up to par with some of the other teams that you've got on the bubble. You look at where they are in the fifties versus some of these teams in the mid to high forties that we're watching here but I've still got them in the field. I've got them in the last four in. I think that they for sure can keep their spot in there just by doing what they've done because their resume is what's holding them in there. It's

that win against Purdue. It's being able to keep up with the Big Ten schedule. I think another team from that conference that I'm looking at that has been a little bit underrated this year maybe. They've kind of come back to the pack, but they've shown good things is Nebraska. Fred Hoiberg, we've wondered for so long, can he get things going there? And it looks like this year he really has that thing pointed in the right direction. And it'd be really rewarding, I think, for that program, for that fan base, and for him to be able to get that on the resume and show that as progress towards recruits, towards transfer portal players, towards potential assistant coaches, everybody that look, we've been promising it's coming and here is the proof.

Well, it feels like they could just win away from Lincoln because they're one and seven on the road but they've got at Indiana at Ohio State and at Michigan down the stretch right you should go two and one in that stretch I think if you want to be in the field you should go three you know in that stretch because Indiana they're they're just playing an outdated brand of basketball right now under mike woodson there's questions about his future there chris holtman of course uh just already fired just got fired at ohio state jawan howard we just saw ward manual have to answer questions about his job security and so if you're going up against three teams who might be making a coaching change right before conference tournament

time. I think if you want to be in the field as a team, that's right there on the bubble, someone's going to have a breakout performance and earn a spot. And so you've got to be able to keep up with that pace. Yeah. I mean, I I'm looking at Nebraska's remaining schedule. They, they could very easily go undefeated the rest of the way, because it's not like Steve Peichel and Rutgers are having a great year. Uh you know, Minnesota's not really having a great year. So, yeah, this is uh that would be huge for them because that's it feels like they've just never been able to get over the hump. Yeah and it

feels like that athletic program more than anything just needs this going into the football season. I know you you just got done talking about Nebraska football earlier in the week and how yeah they're looking to get to a bowl game. It would be so big for that fan base to have postseason sports of any kind. Plus, I just enjoy saying Nebraska ball. And I think, you know, other than their women's team beating Caitlin Clark in Iowa the other day, we haven't gotten a chance to talk about Nebraska ball very much. And that would be that would be fun okay outside the the well this is I would say this

is a power conference in basketball especially at the moment but are we really looking at a six bid Mountain West this year that's going to be the question and I put them uh in my pressure watch column that you've referenced and I think that the pressure for the mountain west obviously this is a high point for them you want to celebrate it you want to be at the top of basketball with six teams in the ncaa tournament and like the big 12 they did really well in the non-conference of building up those numbers to where when excuse me nevada beats a new me when San Diego State beats a Colorado State. When those matchups happen, we're not seeing them drop significantly in these metrics. And so I think for them, the key the rest of the way, those six have to avoid losses to the teams outside of those six teams. If they can do that, I think they can get all six teams in.

But it's going to be real close for a couple of them who are there on the bubble, who potentially, you know, you get a Nevada who I think is the most to prove at this point. If Nevada ends up going out and beating multiple of those teams ahead of them, where does that put those teams? Does it drag them down more than it boosts up Nevada? That's going to be the thing to watch here is they they hunt down these six bids yeah if it was the big 12 we wouldn't even be questioning that okay that's fine it's tough conference so yeah it's that's gonna be fun to watch down the stairs james we're gonna have you back on because we are stupid when it comes to college basketball and we need to not be because there are there's a lot coming up.

Of course, as much of a football guy as I am, the NCAA tournament is the best event in American sports. I cannot wait. James, we will be talking to you again very soon. All right. Good to hear from you. Big weekend in college basketball coming up. Of course, the football transfer portal never sleeps. We talked about Georgia State earlier. They've got a 30-day transfer portal window open, and the Michigan one's still open.

Michigan safety Keon Saab has entered the transfer portal, had 28 tackles and two interceptions last season. Our Pete Nacos reported that this morning. The Nacosifications never stop. Neither does college football. Neither does college sports in general. It is opening day for college baseball, so it's a little chilly in the air in a lot of places. But it's time to get out there, enjoy the sun, watch a little baseball.

We've got basketball. Going to be a big, big weekend in the world of college sports. And we will be here to break it all down on Monday morning. We'll talk to you then.