Andy & Ari On3 - Kansas State QB Will Howard is ready to take on Texas | Lane Kiffin DUNKS on Jimbo | Dear Andy

Episode Date: November 2, 2023

Kansas State QB Will Howard is ready to take on Texas | Lane Kiffin dunks on Jimbo | Dear AndyToday's show is brought to you by Rhoback. For the best hoodies, polos, Q-zips, shorts , joggers (and now crew-neck sweaters, fleeces and vests), shop Rhoback.com. Use the code STAPLES for 20 percent off your first order.Want to watch the show instead? Head on over to Youtube, Don't forget to subscribe!https://youtube.com/live/ky_vAJzX-pI(0:00-4:13) Intro - Jim McElwain's Opening Statement(4:14-14:59) Lane Kiffin Dunks on Jimbo(15:00-27:46) Kansas State QB Will Howard Joins(27:47-31:24) Before Dear Andy, we have some news in the sports world(31:25-35:59) Dear Andy, cis there more motivation for Michigan?(36:00-43:31) Could Michigan get the Death Penalty?(43:32-46:19) Is the Big 12 Better than the ACC?(46:20-50:36) Could we see a repeat of the '14-'15 Playoff?(50:37-57:10) Status of Tom Allen at Indiana and Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M(57:11-1:00:59) Could NDSU and SDSU make the jump to D-1?(1:01:00-1:02:08) Benefits of Division-Less Football(1:02:09-1:07:20) Power Ranking of Instrumental Tv Theme SongIt's a Dear Andy episode, so your questions are the star. But first, Andy breaks down Central Michigan coach Jim McElwain's statement that no one at Central Michigan knows how that "sign-stealer guy" got on the Chippewas' sideline at Michigan State.Next, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin continues his pattern of conducting a press conference psy-op prior to a big game. In this edition, Kiffin turns a question about his team being in the top 10 into a chance to take a shot at Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher.Then Kansas State QB Will Howard joins the show to talk about a matchup with Texas on Saturday that could help determine who plays in the Big 12 championship. In the past two weeks, Kansas State has beaten TCU and Houston by a combined score of 82-3.Next, it's time for your questions.Will the sign-stealing accusations motivate the actual Michigan football team? How does a fan deal with the possibility that his favorite program broke rules?An Ohio State fan (of course) wants to know if Michigan should get the (NCAA) death penalty.What are the chances of the last four-team playoff having the same four teams as the first one after the 2014 season?Will Texas A&M fire Jimbo Fisher?

Welcome to Andy Staples on three. Happy more Maction happy. We're still in this middle of 49 straight days of football. It is just tremendous. Absolutely tremendous. We had snow games last night. Central Michigan with a huge win against Northern Illinois in just dumping snow. But of course, after that game, all everybody wanted to know about was what Jim McElwain, the Chippewas coach, had to say about the guy who was on their sideline against Michigan State. I'm not going to say who the guy is.

I have not been able to positively ID that person. It is suspected that it is Connor Stallions, the since suspended Michigan staffer, who is alleged to have run a massive sign stealing network. But we don't know that. But it sounds like Jim McElwain knows that. Thanks to Kennedy Broadwell of 9 and 10 News in northern Michigan for this video. Here is what Jim McElwain said right when he got to the podium. Before we go any farther, we obviously are aware of a picture floating around with the sign stealer guy. You know, our people are doing everything

they can to get to the bottom of it. We're unaware, totally unaware of it. I certainly don't condone it in any way, shape, or form. And, you know, I do know that his name was on none of the passes that were let out. Now we just keep tracing it back and tracing it back and try to figure it out, but it's in good hands with our people, and again, there's no place in football for that. That sure sounds like Jim McElwain positively IDing our friend in the sunglasses. But who knows? Who could possibly know?

We know it's probably not somebody on Central Michigan staff because they would have been like, oh, that's Bob. He's our operations director's nephew who kind of doesn't hold a job. And we just tell him to stand there and kind of stand out of the way. Nobody said that.

No. What you get is the sign stealer guy. The sign stealer guy. Just tremendous. This story gets juicier and juicier with every passing day. I know the Michigan fans are tired of this, but trust me, if it were happening to Ohio State, you'd be laughing too.

If it were happening to Michigan State, you'd be laughing too. If it were happening to Alabama, you'd be laughing too. Unfortunately, you are the ones having to wear this particular one. But that is just an incredible way of saying it for Jim McElwain, the sign stealer guy. Jim McElwain, by the way, remember he was the head coach at Colorado State and the head coach at Florida. He got fired at Florida. And what did he do next?

Oh, that's right. He was the receivers coach at Michigan in 2018. A couple of staffers did overlap too. So they're trying to get to the bottom of it. I feel like this is the hot dog guy meme. We're trying to find who did this. Every bit of this story gets funnier and funnier and funnier. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. Daniel in the chat, celebrating Maction tonight. It's the battle for the wagon wheel. That's right.

Akron and Kent State. And of course, every time the Chippewas play, we're going to be wondering, we're going to be watching those sidelines. They play Western Michigan next week. Big rivalry game. We're watching those sidelines. They play Western Michigan next week. Big rivalry game. We're watching those sidelines.

Wait, is he there? Is he back? Is he back? Is he back? He's got time on his hands now, so why not? We move from the MAAC to the SEC. Some very funny comments from Lane Kiffin this week. And every time Lane Kiffin does this, it doesn't work.

Well, sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. Last time Lane Kiffin ran a psyop like this ahead of a big game, he was trolling Nick Saban saying, we're not sure Kevin Steele's the one calling the plays for the defense. That sure looks like Taveras Robinson, because we've played his defenses before. And that's what that looks like to us. And of course, he knew what that would do.

He knows that's basically lighting a match and dropping it into the Alabama football facility. He understands that. He's worked there before. Lane's doing something similar, headed into Texas A&M. We know how Lane feels about A&M's recruiting classes. We know how Lane feels about NIL. We know how Lane feels about all of this. Lane spent a lot of his press conference this week building up Texas A&M into into a cross between 2001 Miami and the 1985 Chicago Bears. And I mean, he's not, he may be exaggerating, but he's not wrong about the collection of talent at Texas A&M.

It is a very talented team. But those of us who know Lane keep watching this and thinking, it feels like he's saying all this to set something up. Well, maybe this was it. Kiffin got lobbed a question about Ole Miss being in the top 10 for the third consecutive year in one of the major polls, and this was his response. Well, I think that's kind of neat.

I guess three straight years to be in the top ten, but it doesn't matter to me except for what you finish. So it's good that it brings attention to the program and to be able to do that, especially as you're going against a program that normally you would think would be the team in the top ten three years in a row with their roster. You know, that says a lot about our players, our coaches, our fans, but what really matters is where do you finish at the end of the year. You know, so that's our goal, you know, to keep getting better, keep winning games. You know, we try to, you know, achieve our goals and not let others achieve their goals.

I read where Jimbo said their goal is to be bowl eligible. So if we can get in the way of that, that would be good for us too. Their goal is to be bowl eligible. Jimbo Fisher did say that, which did enrage Texas A&M fans. But Lane Kiffin continuously mentioning the talent of Texas A&M and then mentioning, but they want to be bold. We think it's nice that we're in the top 10, but we'd like to finish there. We have higher goals than Texas A&M is what he's saying, despite not having the inherent advantages of Texas A&M. That is what Lane Kiffin is actually saying. It's hilarious. And here's the thing. You

got to win. You can cash that in. And you know he will. He did it last year when they beat Texas A&M College Station. He had a little jab in the post-game interview. He will probably have the same thing if they win again. This is a weird line on this game. I expected Ole Miss to be favored by more than they were. And it makes me wonder about this because I do, you look at Ole Miss, this is a better Ole Miss team than the one that won in College Station last year. This is obviously a better Texas A&M team than the one that lost in College Station as well. But Texas A&M has had problems on the road. Bob Hemingway, not notoriously the most crazy environment in the SEC, but it has been better of late. The Ole Miss fans have gotten louder of late. They stick around longer. They don't head

back to their tailgates. They've done a good job of that in the past few years, but Ole Miss is only a three-point favorite in this game, and it's very strange to me because Ole Miss has played very well on defense, and that's where I worry for Texas A&M is just, are they going to be able to score on this? This could be a low-scoring game. Ole Miss has a pretty high- powered offense, but Lane's not exaggerating. Texas A&M's defense is very good. They'll get after your quarterback. They've got a great group of defensive linemen

that will stuff you in the run game and can control like that offense that Ole Miss runs. If you've got a front four that can control the line of scrimmage, you can control their run game fairly well. But that said, this Ole Miss defense has been pretty salty all year. And this Texas A&M offense has not been great. It looks serviceable against South Carolina, but South Carolina has made a lot of offenses look really good so far this season.

So I got a feeling Ole Miss is winning this game. And then what happens? A&M needs this. Jimbo Fisher needs this because, well, we'll get to it. We have a question later in Dear Andy that addresses this very topic. And I'm telling you, it's not set in stone. Nothing is decided yet. The next few weeks could be very educational regarding Texas A&M. The other big program in Texas that is not in the SEC yet, but is coming to the SEC, is trying to win the Big 12 in its

final year there. Texas beat Alabama on the road, one of the best non-conference wins of the season, but lost to Oklahoma in Dallas. So one loss in Big 12 play. The thought after that game was Texas will cruise and Oklahoma will cruise and they will both meet up in Jerry world to play for the big 12 championship. That does not seem as certain. Now, Quinn Ewers, the quarterback at Texas is hurt. Malik Murphy is in as the starter. Oklahoma just lost to Kansas three huge games in the big 12 this week because there are six teams that only have one loss in Big 12 play and they're all playing one another. So three teams will be atop the standings at the end of this week. Texas is hoping to be one of them, but they are playing a Kansas State team

that has beaten TCU and Houston the last two weeks by a combined score of 82 to three. K-State is hot. They are one of the hottest teams in the country. So you got that game. Meanwhile, you got Bedlam, maybe the last one for a long time. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, both of those with one big 12 loss. And then you've got Kansas, Iowa State, which is the one that nobody's thinking about, nobody's talking about.

But the winner of that is going to be tied atop the standings with the winner of the other two. So that Kansas State-Texas game, more intriguing every day. It's been a very interesting road for K-State because they came into the season defending Big 12 champs. We expected them to kind of roll early. It was not easy for them early. They lost at Missouri on a 61 yard Harrison Mivas field goal walk off. Now Missouri's turned out to be really good. Missouri's only lost so far as LSU. So that loss doesn't look so terrible. They also lost at Oklahoma state at At the time, looked pretty bad

because Oklahoma State was only a few weeks removed from getting clobbered by South Alabama. Since then, Oklahoma State has become one of the hottest teams in college football. One guy whose world changed a little bit in an Oklahoma State game was quarterback Will Howard. Kansas State decided after that, Chris Klein and their coach decided

he was going to mix in Avery Johnson, the freshman, with Will Howard, the senior. And so Avery Johnson scores five touchdowns against Texas Tech, calls for him to play more continue. So they switched them back and forth against TCU. Both of them look great. They try to switch them back and forth against TCU. Both of them look great. They try to switch them back and forth against Houston, but Will Howard looks much better and he winds up playing most of the downs.

What will happen against Texas? They're not going to say, and they're more than happy to let Texas try to figure out which of these QBs they're going to see. Now, both of them are run threats. Avery Johnson, probably a little bit faster run threat. Will Howard, more experienced. We've seen him win a Big 12 title before.

But this is a really intriguing matchup, especially with Texas starting a backup quarterback against a defense that has gotten better and better as the season has gone on. So we come back. K-State quarterback Will Howard joins the show. But first, I want to tell you about Roback. You see this beautiful hoodie I'm wearing now. That is one of the Roback performance hoodies. They are the most comfortable pieces of clothing I own. I now have five of them in different colors. I rotate them. You see me wearing them on the show all the time. Just glorious. They are perfect for basically any kind of weather, but Roback also getting you ready for the cooler weather

with the performance crew. They've got fleeces now. They've got vests, all kinds of ways to stay warm along with the polos, the Q-zips, the shorts, and the joggers that I know you already know and love. So go to Roback.com, R-H-O-B-A-C-K.com. Use the code Staples for 20% off your first purchase. That's Roback, R-H-O-B-A-C-K.com. Use that code staples, 20% off your purchase. Be as comfortable as I am. All right. Another man who looked very comfortable. And I love the lavender that K-State is wearing now.

Their basketball team made it hot last year, but the football team has embraced it too. Will Howard's rocking the lavender hoodie in our interview. It's spectacular. And this matchup, K-State Texas, looks like one of the most fun in the whole country this year. Here is Will Howard. We welcome Kansas State quarterback Will Howard to the show.

Big game in Austin against Texas. And Will, I remember back at Big 12 Media Days, you were getting tons of questions about playing Texas and what that was going to mean. And it felt like you couldn't say much because that's so far off in the distance. But now that it's looming, how big is this for you guys? Yeah, I mean, it's a huge game. And obviously, like you said at the time, you can't just sit there and say,

oh, this is the biggest game of our season and whatnot. But now that it's here, it's like, man, this is a huge point in our season for us. And playing meaningful games in November is, you know, is where you want to be. And I think, you know, this is a really good Texas team and it's going to be a heck of a challenge playing down there, but, you know, I'm looking forward to it. So getting back to the point where you were playing meaningful games in November, it felt like earlier this season that might not happen after that Missouri game, after that Oklahoma State game, what has changed within your locker room, within your team that allowed you guys to turn things around? Yeah, you know, I think, you know, we dropped one early to a really good Missouri team, you know, didn't play up to our standard.

And then coming out of that Oklahoma State loss, I feel like we just kind of got away from a lot of the things that make us us, right? And I feel like, you know, we got back to doing that and remembered, you know, our identity and what makes Kansas State Kansas State. And that's, you know, putting our nose to the grindstone every day. And our preparation has really, really improved over the last couple of weeks. And I think that's made a heck of a difference and you've seen it you know in in the last two games I mean very rarely do you see like in a conference like this two drubbings of teams like like we've had and that's rare so I mean it shows that we're doing something right we're hot and I feel really good about about this one your defense has given up one field goal in the past two weeks like how as, as a, as a quarterback, how comforting is that to know?

It's, it's huge. I mean, all we need to do is score more than, more than the other team, right. To win. But, uh, you know, I feel like our offense is doing some really good things, but I mean, when they, when your defense is giving you the ball back and creating turnovers, um, keeping them out of the red zone, Houston even got into the red zone. So, um, I mean, it's, it makes my job easy. You know, it takes a lot of pressure off of me. And, you know, our defense is playing at a really high level. They know they got a really big challenge in Texas this week. Really explosive offense can do a lot of things. So, you know, I think they're looking forward to the challenge, though. Now, you've got a quarterback arrangement here that you've actually been on both sides of this kind of arrangement in your career.

Avery Johnson is coming in sometimes, then you're coming out. How do you handle that as a leader? Yeah, I mean, as a leader, you know, you got to stay neutral. And no matter what happens, you know, you can't let anything off the field or personal get in the way of being a leader. And I feel like I've done a pretty good job of that. Obviously, you know, the situation is what it is. And, you know, at this point, I just got to control what I can control. And when I'm in there, just do all I can to help our team get the win.

Now, you were very much in control in the Houston game last week. And it seemed like offensively things were opening up for you guys and you were finding different people. Who's really come on as the season has, has progressed in terms of a guy you're looking for to target. I think, you know, I think we've had a lot of guys step up, you know, as the season has gone on. I think our offensive line is playing as well

as they've played all season right now. They've just gotten better and better. We're running the ball really, really well. And that makes, that takes a lot off of me, you know, because I feel like I don't have to, you know, be a superhero and do anything special. Just, you know, just got to take what they give me. And then in the passing game, I feel like Jace Brown's really stepped up and he's a true freshman that is still young and still has a long way to go. But he's made some really good strides and is a really explosive playmaker for us.

I think Ben Sinnott's doing some really good things. And all the tight ends that we've had out there, Will Swanson, Garrett Oakley both scored in the last two weeks. And then across the board, Jaden Jackson's a great playmaker. Phillip Brooks had a really good game last week. So, you know, we have no short, you know, shortage of weapons out there and that makes my job easy. Yeah, I think I did the count. I think you had, you had 10 touchdowns, 10 touchdown passes going

into the last two games and you guys have combined for seven touchdown passes in the, in the past two games. So the passing game for seven touchdown passes in the in the past two games so that the passing game has really come on but you mentioned that offensive line and and the way you guys they protect you the way they open holes uh we had cooper bb on before the season started and he was telling us about the decision those guys made where you know all of them could have been gone and they're all back what was it for you when you heard that news that the whole core of that line was coming back? Oh, it was, it was huge. And, you know,

I obviously did what I could to try and recruit them back, but ultimately at the end of the day, that was their decision and they got together. They felt like there was unfinished business to take care of. And, and you know, they wanted to come back and do this again because they weren't ready to leave, and what we have here is special. And I think that speaks volumes about Kansas State as a program

and the people that we have here. And when I heard that the beef was coming back, man, I was fired up. When those guys are having a very good day, what's it feel like as a quarterback? What looks different when you look out after the snap? I mean, it just gives you so much confidence when you know that you're able to sit back there and be comfortable. You don't feel like, you know, you're having to move around a whole lot. You can kind of just survey the field and obviously in the run game too, like, you know, just being able to hand the ball off to Treshawn and DJ

and see the holes that those guys are making. Like, it gives you a ton of confidence as a quarterback to just kind of do your thing and not feel like you have to do anything special because, you know, we say all the time, you know, you just got to do your 111, do your job and not have to do anything special. And it takes a team, you know, and when everybody's rolling at the same time and when that offensive line is doing what they've been doing, you know, we're hard to stop. How much does having been through all of this last year where in November it was basically losing your out and you keep winning and you wind up winning the Big 12 championship? How much is having been through that help you deal with this

and help some of the younger and the new guys deal with this too? Yeah, I think it plays a lot into this season because I feel like we're in a very similar spot. And last year we just kept saying we control our own destiny. And I think at the end of the day last year we really didn't think a lot about the you know, and we kind of just put our heads down and took it one game at a time. And I think that's what we're trying to do this year and not really worry about, you know, what happens at the end of the day, because, you know, none of that matters unless we take care of business week after week, day after day. And I think that process-based mindset has had a lot

to do with our success last year. And that's what we're going to do again this year. Is that easier and easier to teach to people when you've already seen it work? Absolutely. I mean, you know, we can look back and say to these young guys that, you know, weren't here last year, it's like, man, we've already done this. We've seen it happen. We've seen the success we've had with it. And, you know, like there's evidence of this

working. So it makes it easy to kind of just say like, you know, you know, you've seen it work and, you know, let's just do it again. So is it, am I correct that Texas is the only Big 12 team you haven't beaten in your career? That is true. That is true. They've, they've gotten us all of my three years here now. And I don't think coaches beat them either. So, you know, it's definitely been one we've had circled, but, you know, we know that they're, you know, one of the most talented teams in the country. And all across the board, they've got dudes. I mean, there's no doubt about that. So we're going to have to play our best game and expect that they're going to come out and give us everything they got. So it's going to be a heavyweight battle and I'm looking forward to

the challenge. What is that environment like having seen it once before? Last time we were there, it wasn't totally packed. I know they kind of had it down. It wasn't a great year, yeah. It wasn't their best year, but still like the stadium, the town, the environment is like – it's like no other, and it's really cool to go down there and play in that. And it's challenging. It's going to be – you know, we know it's going to be loud. It's going to be rowdy. And, you know, we know what kind of, you know, tests we've got ahead of us.

And, you know, we're not taking it lightly. And these guys are really, really good. So we know we've got to play really well to win this game. I heard you talking about the Houston game, and you said that Houston did something defensively that you weren't really expecting. They changed some stuff up for their Texas game before you guys. You thought maybe they'd go back to what they were doing, but then they brought the stuff from Texas.

How do you handle that when you get something thrown at you that maybe you weren't really expecting? Yeah, that was tough. You know, we prepare all week for one thing and they come out and do something else. It's different. But, you know, I think it worked in our favor a little bit because of the defense that our defense runs and the bank reps that we have against that kind of three, three, five defense, it helped a lot. You know, just being able to, you know, have a lot of things to fall back on and things that we know work versus that defense. So what has been the biggest challenge for you this year? Was it after the Oklahoma State game, you know, finding a way to pull yourself up off the mat?

Was it dealing with the quarterback rotation how have you handled those I both of them were you know tough things to get through and um you know obviously coming out of that Oklahoma State game just you know the thing is you're gonna have a bad game and that's that's part of life you know even you know people tell Tom Brady had bad games you know like Mahomes has games. And that's that's a part of football. It's not not every week's going to go as planned. And obviously that one was a really bad one. But, you know, I think having to deal with the, you know, kind of the quarterback carousel a little bit is is has been tough. But, you know, I think being able to lean on my teammates and know that no no matter what they're going to support me and and my family too like that that's helped a lot well and how tight is this bond with these guys because you mentioned the beef coming back you've been with these guys since you got here how tight

is this group now super tight i mean it's you know the locker room is easily the the the closest i've seen it since i've been here and even last last year, I think we had a really, really close family, you know, knit team. And I think this year, even maybe even more so. And that speaks a lot to the program that we've built here. And I think, you know, even when things aren't going great for me here, and I, you know, I feel like I don't have anybody to lean on, you know, I know, I know I have my teammates at the end of the day you know it's it's like I truly would not still be here if it wasn't for the guys in that locker room well you guys got a big challenge on Saturday Will good luck in Austin thank you Andy I appreciate you that is Will Howard K-State

quarterback they play Longhorns on Saturday. Michael in the chat, is Kansas State the underdog? Yes, according to FanDuel. At the very moment you asked that question, Kansas State is a four and a half point underdog to Texas, so their road team, four and a half point spread, kind of means one and a half point spread on a neutral field. It's close to pick them basically, but we really don't know how this is going to look. I mean, Kansas state has played very well the past couple of weeks. Malik Murphy, his second start for Texas

after Quinn Ewers injury. It's it's anybody's guess. It's also anybody's guess how the quarterbacks end up getting played and deployed for Kansas State. Because Will took most of the snaps against Houston, but he and Avery split them against TCU, and Avery took more toward the end against Texas Tech. So this is one of the most intriguing games of the season so far, just because of all the different factors at play.

Before we get to De'Arandi, and you have some incredible questions tonight, got a couple pieces of news to pass along. First of all, Florida linebacker Shamar James, out for the season with a knee injury. He hurt his knee warming up before the Florida-Georgia game in Jacksonville. There was new sod on the field. You could see the seams, and there was concern about that. And he got hurt, and all of a sudden, he tried to play, aggravated it during the game, and had surgery this week. And so he's going to be lost for the season. He's a sophomore, maybe Florida's best player on defense. And that is going into a game against Arkansas that is critically important for Florida because they've got five wins.

They're five and three. This is the game that probably can get them to bowl eligibility. The other three are going to be really hard because they are at LSU, at Missouri, and then they get Florida State at home. So this is the one that they really need to win if they'd like those 15 extra practices for all those young guys that they're playing. Other news in this game, Rocket Sanders,

the Arkansas running back, he's been out for a while. He's been practicing this week, and so he potentially could play. Sam Pittman said that he wants to see consistency at practice, make sure he's fine to play. But that could change things if Florida's best defensive player is out and suddenly Arkansas's best back is back. So watch that one.

Yet another very intriguing one that isn't Alabama LSU, although that one probably the most intriguing one this week. Other news from the world of college basketball, Bobby Knight has passed away at 83, 902 career wins between Army, Indiana, and Texas Tech. And just an incredible coach, but a very complicated figure. Think about throwing the chair, why he got fired in Indiana, the salad bar incident at Texas Tech, but also all of the players who played for him, who swear by it. One of those guys who played for him at Army was Mike Krzyzewski, who wound up breaking his own wins record. And it's a very interesting guy. Like most people, you can't put him in a box. You can't say this, it's all good or it's all bad.

I recommend you read our friend Dan Wetzel's column at Yahoo. Dan covered Bobby Knight quite a bit through the years and got to know him a little bit and wrote a really good tribute to him upon his passing that doesn't ignore the other stuff. It takes it all into account. And I think when you've got a complicated person, that's really the only way to handle it is you just lay it out there and people will remember that person, how they will remember him, but a very interesting man, sports figure, human being, coach, you know, people say, well, you can't do any of the stuff Bobby Knight does anymore.

You couldn't do the stuff he did when he did it. You couldn't throw chairs onto the court. You couldn't try to bust into the referee's locker room. Like you couldn't do that then. He was, he was always entertaining. I will say that. So rest in peace, Bobby Knight passed away at age 83. And now onto your questions. You guys have once again surpassed my expectations. Some great questions. I really, I mean, I love the way your minds work.

And you just, you make it fun to do this show every week. And I love it. So we'll start with a question from Ryan. Is there more motivation for Michigan to win out to prove they're legit or more pressure not to lose causing everyone to say, see, it's the signs? I think this is motivation. I think they will use this as motivation. This is an easy us against the world for Michigan, which they probably were already using that already. They were probably saying, people think our schedule's bad. We're going to show them when we play Penn State,

when we play Ohio State, we're going to kick their butts and everybody's going to say, oh, they do that to everybody. But you add this on top, this extra layer, and absolutely, they are going to be motivated. They are going to want to show that it wasn't because they were getting an unfair advantage that they were winning the games like this. And look, they're not going to get an unfair advantage. Everybody's aware of what was going on. Everybody will have different signs. So if Michigan does this to these people after all of that, then the players can say, look, it was us all along, which it might very well be because they've got a bunch of really good players.

You know, every offensive lineman who starts is going to the NFL and some of the ones who don't are going to the NFL. Their defensive front is loaded. Their running back room is loaded. J.J. McCarthy is the best quarterback of the Jim Harbaugh era. So all of this together says they can still win all these games. And then what happened last night with the college football playoff committee and Boo Corgan saying, we consider this an NCAA issue and not a CFP issue. If you are a Michigan player, you are cheering at that because that means you're going to play out this season and whatever's going to happen after this season is going to happen.

You can't control that. What you can control is what you do when you play Purdue this weekend, when you play Penn State next weekend, when you play Ohio State at the end of the season, you can control all of that. They may come in and say this happened or that happened. They may try to vacate wins. It won't matter. If you win, you're getting rings and they ain't coming to take them. They ain't coming to repossess those. So I imagine that the players are highly motivated by this. And I don't blame them. Because this is the type of thing that galvanizes a team. Everybody is laughing at you.

Everybody is saying you're a cheater. Whether you're accused personally, because none of the players are, or not, they're saying your coach is. They're saying your program is dirty. So of course you're gonna be motivated to show the world. I don't think it's a fear of anything. I don't think anything we've seen about this team, any game we've seen them play,

suggest they're gonna feel pressure to not lose. They're gonna be out there trying to kick some butt. That's what they're gonna to feel pressure to not lose. They're going to be out there trying to kick some butt. That's what they're going to be doing. And whether you are a Michigan fan who believes nothing happened and nothing should happen, or you're a fan of somebody else who wants to see the program punished,

none of that affects these players. They didn't have anything to do with this. So they're going to go out there and I guarantee you they're going to try to kick some ass. And it'll be interesting because I imagine a lot of the college football watching world will be rooting against them. But again, some teams are great at that. Some teams are great and relish being the villain. All those Miami teams back in the day in the 80s loved being the villain.

This team might embrace that as well. And it should. If you want to have an even better edge, which this team's had a pretty good edge against everybody it's played. But if you want an even better edge, embrace that role. I wouldn't be shocked if they do. Our next question comes from Chad in Texas. Chad calls himself a quote unquote reasonable Buckeye fan. I'll let you be the judge of that after the question.

Dear Andy, when all this began with Connor quote-unquote wild stallions, nice Bill and Ted reference. Love the Bill and Ted reference. I didn't think it would be a big deal. I always thought Harbaugh would leave for the NFL after this year, regardless of the outcome. When it came out that stallions was buying tickets to other games and there was coordination, I thought it could get bad for Michigan, but not to the extent of the death penalty.

I don't think the NCAA would do that to a brand like Michigan. After the report that they may have helped South Carolina beat Tennessee, allegedly unproven, no proof of anything there, by the way, this is me adding that, and this Central Michigan fiasco with a non-denial from Jim McElwain, which we've covered that already. I think this is much worse than anyone imagined. If it is proven that they helped other people cheat to better themselves, do you think something like the death penalty has to be considered?

So you're saying that would be the thing that pushes it over the edge? That rumor about the South Carolina thing when they played Tennessee last year, if that were true, that would push it over. I can tell you right now, they're not getting the death penalty. Nobody's getting the death penalty. Let me, for those who don't know,

the NCAA death penalty is what was handed down to SMU in the death penalty. For those who don't know, the NCAA death penalty is what was handed down to SMU in the 80s. That's the only time it's been used. And it's been brought up again and again over the years, but it's never been used again. So here's what that was. So this was handed down. They had found a pattern of violations that SMU had said, we've stopped doing this. It was proven they were doing it again. And so the committee on infractions in February, 1987 handed down the death penalty. They canceled the 1987 season. They said SMU could play no home games in 1988. They also took away 55 scholarships over four years.

They said you could only hire five full-time assistant coaches instead of nine, which is the maximum number of the time. No off-campus recruiting allowed for 18 months, and all the current players were allowed to transfer and play immediately in an era when no one could do that. So naturally, everybody did leave. And they ended up having to cancel the 1988 season as well because they weren't going to have a roster. And then when they did start playing again, they just got smoked.

Like there was a game against Houston in the late 80s where Houston could have scored probably 120 points if they'd really wanted to. So I don't think any program, much less a blue chip program, massive brand like Michigan, is going to get that penalty. Here's the thing. Like you're not canceling a Michigan season.

You're not giving Michigan a TV ban. TV ban of Michigan or cancel season is bad for the Big Ten. It's bad for the other teams. When Michigan plays Indiana, it's good for Indiana. It's not particularly anything for Michigan. It's great for Indiana. It's great when Michigan plays Minnesota for Minnesota. So why are you going to punish those

teams so no they're not going to give them the death penalty what they might do though is remember this is another case on top of a case that they were already working on where the NCAA is claiming Jim Harbaugh violated their rules against unethical conduct. Now, remember, he was accused of meeting with recruits during COVID when nobody was supposed to be meeting with recruits. And it's not that part because if he said, yeah, I met with him, I don't think that would have been a big deal. It was the response that I don't recall.

And then they throw the receipt in response, the I don't recall, and then they throw the receipt in his face, I don't recall. That is where they're trying to get him and say that he gave misleading information to the NCAA. So you've got that one where he's already served a three-game Michigan imposed suspension, but remember, they tried to work a plea deal with the Committee on Infractions where he would miss four games, and that one was rejected by the committee on infractions, which means there's at least one more game suspension coming from that case, probably more than that, considering they rejected the plea deal. And then whatever's going to happen with this, which I know the Michigan fans are all going to say, you can't prove he knew. It doesn't matter.

They changed the rules a few years ago so that the head coach is essentially responsible for everything that happens in the program, whether they knew or not. So they're going to dump that on him too. So my guess is Jim Harbaugh will once again try to find an NFL job after this season. Las Vegas just opened up the Raiders. He worked with the Raiders early in his coaching career. We think the Chargers may open up. Bears going to open up. I saw the report from the NFL network that you did that referenced Jim Trestle having to sit out games when he was working as a consultant for an NFL team after his resignation from Ohio State,

I'm telling you right now, they're not going to do that again. Just because they did something stupid with Jim Trestle does not mean that any NCAA discipline would follow Jim Harbaugh to the NFL. I'll give you a case in point. On Wednesday, the Raiders fired Josh McDaniels, who was named the interim coach. Antonio Pierce, who has a show cause right now based on stuff he did while coaching at Arizona State. So if that were the case, Antonio Pierce would not have been coaching in games for the Raiders all season. But he has been.

Pete Carroll left USC, went to the Seiders all season. But he has been. Pete Carroll left USC, went to the Seahawks. USC was in big NCAA trouble. Pete Carroll didn't miss a game. There are other examples as well. So that's a possibility. Would there be serious discipline for Jim Harbaugh

if he stays at Michigan after this season? Yeah, probably. There probably will be. Whether he knew about it or not. But that's something for later. It's not going to be the death penalty for Michigan's program. More than anything else, they're trying to punish the grown-ups and not the players. So my guess is they're going to try to do anything they

can to not negatively affect the Michigan players on the field. If they can get away with it, that would be my guess, but they're not doing the death penalty. And I hate to say this chat. I don't know that you're a reasonable Buckeye fan. I think when you go to the death penalty, like would you have gone to the death penalty if this had been Texas or if this had been Washington or some other program that isn't Michigan? I don't know that your mind would have gone there. I think it went there because this is Michigan. So no, I do not think that is going to happen. Question from Michael in the chat. Is the Big 12 better than the ACC this year?

Well, the Big 12 is deeper than the ACC for sure. Better, do they have a better best team is a pretty interesting question. You know, where would you put Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State against Florida State? How would you match that up? Because Florida State is clearly

the best team in the ACC. The problem is the drop-off between number one and number two in the ACC. I don't know. I mean, Louisville has been pretty good. But they also lost a pit. I know it's their only loss. They beat Notre Dame, but I feel like the big 12 overall is deeper. You know, I, we talked about it. There are six teams right now with one loss in Big 12 play. Three of them will be atop the standings, but the ones who lose this weekend aren't necessarily out. I think that

November in the Big 12 is going to be an absolute bloodbath, which will be fun to watch for sure. The ACC, I don't know how dramatic it's going to get. Florida State's going to get one spot in the ACC championship game because it feels like their only losable game left in conference play is Miami. Might be their only losable game left at all. And they're going to be at home and they're going to be heavily favored. This is a team they killed last year. And then you've got Louisville, which I think probably can win the rest of its games in ACC play though. Again, when you can beat Notre Dame and then lose to Pitt the next week, I know they had some injuries, but still, that's a worrisome thing.

Now, they play Virginia Tech this week. Virginia Tech is suddenly hot. They've played well the last few weeks. So I just don't see a massive logjam at the top of the ACC. You know, North Carolina losing to Virginia and Georgia Tech two games in a row. That does not bode well for the league.

What we were hoping for was a blockbuster Florida State-North Carolina ACC championship game, which would have been a lot of fun. I think a Florida State-Louisville ACC championship game would also be a lot of fun. I think a Florida State Louisville ACC championship game would also be a lot of fun, but it's not necessarily the same thing. And I think that if you just ranked best teams, maybe Florida State's better than the Big 12's best. Is Louisville better than the Big 12's second best? I don't know. I think it feels pretty even. And then who's the third best team in

the ACC? Is it North Carolina? Is it Miami? Are they better than third best team in the big 12? They're not. And then it's going to, you're, you're going to be a while before the ACC wins another one of those. So I definitely think the big 12 is deeper. Next question comes from Dan. What are the odds on the final four-team playoff having the same four teams as the first four-team playoff? Oregon, Florida State in the Rose Bowl and Ohio State, Bama in the Sugar, just like in 2014. That is a great question. And you know what?

It is not that far off. It is not that crazy a possibility because here's where it's really up to Alabama. It's crazy that if we went back to 2014 and said, yes, this might happen again, but it's going to be up to Alabama pulling an upset. That would seem wild to the people of 2014. They'd be like, wait, wait, Alabama's not the best team in the SEC anymore? Well, no. Georgia's won the last two national titles. But this, I mean, look, Ohio State wins the rest of its games. Simple as that. They would be the one seed. And the Sugar Bowl would be the closest bowl to them. Simple as that. They would be the one seed. And the Sugar Bowl would be the closest bowl to them. Now, maybe they'd want to go play in the Rose Bowl because that's a historic Big Ten tie, but maybe not.

Maybe if they thought they're going to play Bama, they'd want them to play in the Sugar Bowl again where they beat them in 2014. Oregon just has to win out. If Oregon wins out, they're in the playoff because they'll probably play Washington again. They would have to beat them in the Pac-12 championship game, or Washington would lose enough that it doesn't make the Pac-12 championship game. Either way, Oregon would feel like a pretty good, pretty strong 12-1 conference champ. So they'd be in there. I don't know So they'd be in there.

I don't know if they'd be the two seed. Florida State might be the two seed because they might be undefeated. I'd say there's a better chance that Florida State's undefeated than almost any of these other scenarios. So Oregon, Florida State, and Rose Bowl seems definitely doable. The big question, of course, would be Alabama. First of all, Alabama be Alabama. First of all, Alabama's got to get past LSU this weekend. That's a must. They can't lose again. So they

can't get snagged at Auburn. And I do realize they're a lot better than Auburn, but you know what happens at Jordan-Hare when that Jordan-Hare crowd decides the visiting team's not supposed to win. The Brian Harsin team the first year almost beat Alabama and then Alabama clobbered Georgia in the SEC championship game the next week. So it is not a given that Alabama rolls through even if they do beat LSU this week. But if they do, then you get the Alabama-Georgia matchup. And look, given what we've seen from both of those teams, there is a scenario where Alabama can play well enough to beat Georgia, and Georgia can play mediocre enough to lose to this Alabama team.

We've seen both versions this year. Now, for Alabama, I don't think we've seen that version for a whole game. Nick Saban was talking about that after the Tennessee game, where it seems like you'll get that version for a quarter, or you'll get it for a half, but you've yet to see it for four quarters. I think they would need four quarters worth of that to beat Georgia, even if Georgia is playing for nothing, apparently. Even if Georgia is playing, it's that the game, let's say what Georgia played against Auburn, that game that Georgia played against Auburn. I still think

Alabama needs to play its best for four quarters to beat that Georgia. And my guess is they're going to get a lot better version of Georgia than that. So that's, that's the hangup right there. It's that, that one. And that, you know, our, our time traveler heading back to 2014 would get a big laugh when they're like, yeah, I guess if Alabama can pull an upset that, but it's doable. All right. Two questions now that kind of the same question, though they are going to sound very different. So the first question comes from Derek. Can Indiana not, can Indiana afford not to pay the $20 million to fire Tom Allen? All the goodwill from 2018 to 2020 is gone and apathy has set in. And our next question comes from Shreeth.

Dear Andy, do you think there's any chance Jimbo Fisher gets fired from Texas A&M? And if so, that Urban Meyer gets hired as his replacement. I will put the kibosh on the Urban Meyer replacement talk right now. I do not think urban Meyer will get hired to replace Jimbo Fisher or anybody else that leaves a big job because I don't know that urban Meyer's management style is going to work in this era of college football. It will probably be more similar to when he was coaching the Jags than how it would feel when he was coaching Ohio State or Florida or Utah. It's just a different world because

one of his motivational tactics is I'll send you, you know, I'll put you on the next bus home. Well, he recruits five stars. You know what the five stars are going to say to him? No, I'll go to your rival and just beat you if you try that because I can transfer and play right now. So I don't know that without a massive change to his management style, would he do anything at any of these big schools? Because it's a different world. It's only been five years since he coached at Ohio State. But a lot has changed. A lot has changed.

So I don't think that's going to happen. Now, would they fire Jimbo Fisher? Would Indiana fire Tom Allen? These are both kind of the same question. It's just that the dollar figures are different. So I'll take you through Tom Allen's situation first, because I imagine most of you know Jimbo Fisher's situation. If Tom Allen were fired after this season, Indiana would owe him $20.8 million. Lots of money. In fact, that would be slightly a tick higher than the record buyout that has been paid so far. Remember, the highest buyout that's ever been paid to this point is Gus

Malzahn at Auburn, 20.5 million. Here's the catch on Tom Allen's buyout. After next season, it drops to 7.95 million. So it drops by $12.5 million, more than $12.5 million. Now, bear in mind, you have paid him 4.7 million in salary at that point. So you can subtract that if you want to net that out, but it's still a significant savings. You're still talking about saving seven and a half million dollars or more. So is it worth that much to you? What's going to happen between now and then? Now, the answer to this question is the same as the answer to the Jimbo Fisher question. The Jimbo Fisher question is, would you pay $76 million to fire Jimbo Fisher after this season? And I've talked to people who would be involved in raising the money for that or paying the money for that. And they all say, we're mad. We're not quite mad enough yet. Nobody's mad enough to,

to pony up that kind of money because it is an obscene amount of money. Obscene. But you know what else is an obscene amount of money? $67 million next year. $58 million the year after that. They're both obscene amounts of money. $49 million the year after that. They're both obscene amounts of money. $49 million the year after that. You're into the next decade

before you get below the amount of that Gus Malzahn buyout. So that's what you have to ask yourself. At what point does the math work? And what I mean by that is at what point does the math work? And what I mean by that is, at what point does making a change, hiring somebody who gets everybody excited,

increase the donations to a point that you net out the same amount? For Tom Allen, that amount is lower. That amount is what we said, the 12 and a half you'd save minus the salary, but you'd be paying another coach the same thing. So it's really, it is 12 and a half million dollars. Can you make back 12 and a half million dollars in donations from excitement and ticket sales. Remember, ticket sales count for a lot.

I did this math with Willie Taggart too at Florida State. Really, they had no choice with Willie Taggart because their ticket sales were flatlining and they had to do something. So that is the question like for texas a&m what if they if they go seven to five again next year you okay with that because you're going to pay 67 million dollars if if you want to fire him then so really we're only talking about $9.5 million here. You're going to pay that one way or the other.

So if excitement would create another $9.5 million, generate another donation of $9.5 million, you may as well do it now. Because it's not going to change appreciably. It is still an obscene amount of money next year, and the year after that, and the year after that, and the year after that. So you got to make that decision. It's a very hard decision to make because somebody actually has to pay that money. It's not monopoly money. It's somebody's actual money. But that's the

situation right now at Indiana and at Texas A&M. They just have to figure out what they want to do. Because Texas A&M, I think most of the fan base has kind of decided that Jimbo's not going to get them where they want to go. He's talking about being bowl eligible right now. It's year six. They're supposed to be competing for SEC and national titles. That's what they're paying for. So they got to figure that out. Next question from Nathan. Our friend Nathan is back on video. Over the last 10 years in the FCS, North Dakota State and South Dakota State have been Alabama and Georgia. Even compared to George Madison, those two teams were killing it. So why aren't they moving up?

What would they need to do to make that jump? Why are they not seemingly interested in it? And is that something that when all of the Mountain West teams end up joining the two-pack, could there be room in the new Mountain West? Or Maction? Because I'll be honest, I think both North Dakota State and South Dakota State would crush Maction. Also, as a South Dakota native, I'd just really like to see it happen? That is a great question because we've seen James Madison make the jump and they've been great.

They were a great FCS program and they've been fantastic in the FBS so far. Appalachian State recently did this and has been very successful as an FBS program. But here's the difference between James Madison and Appalachian State and North Dakota State and North Dakota State and South Dakota State. Population, access to players. James Madison's in Virginia.

Appalachian State's in North Carolina. There are players nearby who can drive there, a lot of them. That's not the case for North Dakota State and South Dakota State. What they've done is create these incredible developmental programs that make the best use of what they can get nearby and they'll go get players from elsewhere. But they have perfected being developmental and having players build up until they're older and they're very good. I mean, Cody mock was a great example of that. He was a walk on at North Dakota state. He's starting for the Tampa Bay bucks. Now he had to kind of build his body. He was a, you know, six, five, 220 pound, like raw athlete who became a six, five, 300 pound offensive tackle. And now he's an

offensive guard in the NFL. Like that's the kind of player that they rely on in those. And you can do that at the FBS level, but you can't really rely on that over and over and over and over again. So like James Madison, Appalachian state, if they want to go get a great athlete, they can get a great athlete. What they do is they just find somebody who's a little, little bit, not tall enough, a little bit too light, but just as fast as their ACC or SEC counterpart. And they sign them. It's not that easy for North Dakota state and South Dakota state to do that. So I think they're smart. They, they they are their best. Now, would I love to see North Dakota State try to do this in the Mountain West? I think it'd be so much fun because clearly they're great at running a football program, but I think it would be a big challenge for them. I think it'd

be hard. I don't think the barriers to entry were as high for a James Madison or for an Appalachian State just because they could go get the players that they need. And it's a little bit harder. North Dakota State especially has created a brand that's pretty well recognized nationally, but could they get that many players to Fargo? It's hard to say. But I do think it's a great question from Nathan. Very excited about that.

So Matt asked us a question earlier. And I want to come back to him. Actually, no, we haven't answered Matt's question yet. We'll answer Matt's first question and his second question. Matt's first question, the top six teams in the Big 12 will all be playing each other this Saturday in three different time slots. Is this possible?

Is this a possible benefit of divisionless conferences going forward? This is exactly what you want. This is exactly why you go divisionless. Absolutely. Now the Big 12 was divisionless for a long time. They were the original divisionless conference once everybody went to divisions. And it's great. And we saw in the Big 12 that they would have these Novembers where every week there'd be something cool.

I don't know that ever coalesced like this, where the first weekend in November, you get three games that will decide which three teams sit atop the conference standings. But I love it. I love it. K-State Texas, Iowa State Kansas, Bedlam. It's going to be fantastic. I cannot wait for that. Now, Matthew had another question too. He mentioned that Richard Maul of Night Court fame passed away over the weekend. Very sad for me, especially who I watched every episode of Night Court as a kid. He was Bull, the bald bailiff. And he mentions that the Night Court instrumental theme is an epic one. He wants to know where it ranks among the great instrumental TV theme songs. And he said, it's a surprisingly deep list. And then gives me an incredible list. Night Court, MASH, The Office, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, ER, Dallas,

Mission Impossible, and The Simpsons. That is a great list. It does not include some awesome ones that cannot be left off any such list. So if I had to rank these, Night Court is one of my personal favorites. That would be very high. I think the Simpsons is absolutely iconic. Of his list though, number one has got to be Dallas. MASH, of course. Now, MASH's theme song has words, but they don't play the words on the TV show. But I would say that Dallas and MASH are your top two of that bunch. I'll add some more that need to be on this

list. Airwolf. Simon and Simon. Magnum PI. And of course, now I controversial. This is number one, if you allow it, but I'm going to let you guys decide. I will let you guys decide because this starts with a little spoken word about mercenaries living in Los Angeles who will help you with something for a price if you can find them. And then there's some gunshots.

And then the greatest instrumental theme of all time. The A-Team. Come on. That has to be, if you allow for the spoken word intro, that has to be number one. Oh, Boots Dilla with Knight Rider. That's a good one too. That is a good one.

It's a great one. It's no 18 though. It's no 18. By the way, I realize you guys are, some of you are youngins. Daniel, what is Dallas? I've heard of mash daniel just google who shot jr here's all here's what i remember of dallas i'm at my grandparents house

i was allowed to watch the dallas theme song and then I had to go to bed because I wasn't allowed to watch what was on Dallas. But the best part of the Dallas theme song, because it's like a helicopter shot of the DFW area, is when it goes over Texas Stadium, the stadium with the hole cut in it so God could watch his Cowboys play. Man. We need more instrumental theme songs. Bring them back. Game of Thrones, that's a good instrumental theme song, but I don't know.

It's still no Airwolf. Oh, Matthew, Miami Vice, Jan Hammer. That's true. This could be like a top 100 list if we think about it. Matthew also Star Trek and Star Trek The Next Generation. Well, if I'm allowed my spoken word A-Team intro, then I'm also allowed James Tiberius Kirk's intro to the Star Trek. So seek out new life and new civilizations before they go. then I'm also allowed James Tiberius Kirk's intro to the Star Trek. So seek out new life and new civilizations before they go. All right, I've tortured you enough.

Thank you for all the great questions. That was wonderful. Tomorrow, we'll get you ready for a bunch of big games. Very special guest, Nebraska coach Matt Rule joins the show. We'll talk to you tomorrow.