Andy & Ari On3 - Kentucky’s case for an UPSET WIN: Why Will Stein and the Wildcats can BEAT Alabama in Week Two

Episode Date: September 10, 2026

Over in the Bluegrass state, Will Stein and the Kentucky Wildcats are preparing to welcome the Alabama Crimson Tide to town. As a two-score underdog in this game, how can the Wildcats knock off the Crimson Tide? Watch here as KSR’s Nick Roush joins the show to explain the case for the Wildcats. Will Kentucky beat Alabama for the first time since 1997? Watch here as the fellas discuss.0:00 On Today’s Episode0:54 Presenting Sponsor2:05 Intro: Nick Roush Joins6:30 Is Alabama’s fear factor gone?11:40 The difference at Kentucky with Will Stein19:50 Closing out with Nick Roush22:14 ONIT: Arizona State at Texas A&M23:54 Sun Devils vs Aggies27:10 Mike Elko’s Quote31:10 Gametime33:05 Bryce Underwood Evaluation38:57 What did Bryce Underwood say?45:35 Craig on programs who are struggling52:44 Clemson’s Top Competition in realignment era57:19 Thanks for watching!Thanks for watching! See you Saturday!Once the fellas wrap up with Nick Roush, it’s time for our ONIT matchup preview of the week. This week, the guys head to College Station, where the Aggies will have an interesting challenge in the Sun Devils from Arizona State. How will Mike Elko’s Aggies fare in this week’s match vs ASU? Watch here as Andy & Ari dive into it here in this week’s ONIT Matchup Preview.Now it's time for your questions. And our listeners sent in some great questions ahead of week two....How did the media not see Bryce Underwood's struggles coming?Rank these programs in terms of optimism: Stanford, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin, and Oklahoma State.Thank you for watching!Send your questions to:[e-mail]@on3.comOur show is presented by Polymarket!New User Offer: Deposit $10, get $50 upon sign uphttps://app.polymarket.us/S8ac/ON3Trade on College Football games every week on Polymarket. Download the Polymarket App with code ON3 for a $20 bonus upon sign up.18+ only. Restrictions and eligibility requirement apply. Not available in all jurisdictions. Trading is risky. 100% loss can occur.Today’s ONIT Matchup Preview segment: Connecting fans and athletes through team collectibles. NIL FOR ALL. ONIT FOR EVERYONE. https://onitathlete.comWe are sponsored by Gametime! Take the guesswork out of buying tickets to every type of event with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code STAPLES for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Gametime.coHosts: Andy Staples, Ari WassermanProducer: River BaileyWatch our show on YouTube! https://youtu.be/cGMsWIgTpoUInterested in partnering with the show? Email [e-mail] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On today's A&R on 3 presented by Polly Market. Can Kentucky beat Alabama? Can the Wildcats open the SEC portion of the Will Stein era by shocking the world? Nick Roush from Kentucky Sports Radio believes it's possible and he will explain why today. Plus Arizona State and Texas A&M from College Station, Mike Elko, of course, the grown-up in the room, always with maybe the quote of the year so far. Also, dear Andy, dear Ari, a question from one of you is fascinating. Were we underselling the potential of a Bryce Underwood meltdown? Or did we just not know? We'll talk about it all. And today's Andy and Ryan 3 presented by

Polymarket. We are sponsored by Polymarket. That's right, the world's largest prediction market. all the point spreads and the totals come from Polly Market where you can stake out a position on your team. If you've got a belief that they're going to win, well, you just say yes to that position. You think they're going to win by three and a half points. You say yes to that position. You're not working against the house with Polly Market. You are working against other folks who have staked out a different position than you. That's why you want to get in the chat. You might want to talk a little trash to them during the game. But it will seem very familiar and it's an awful lot of fun.

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Welcome to Annie Narion 3 presented by Polymarket. And I'm going to get right to it because Nick Roush is here. Our friend from Kentucky Sports Radio, that's right, the same guy who called Nico Iamaliava, a volleyball player who can't hit the go ball. Nick, you made a very bold proclamation this summer that you thought Kentucky would beat Alabama. I'm not sure you believed that. Ari, do you think Nick believed it when he said it? No, I thought it was a bit in the summer. Nick, was it a bit?

When you're writing about a new football coach, and it's May, and you're looking at the schedule and you're saying, where could this signature win come? It made a lot of sense. So, yeah, let's take a shot at the Bamers, right? But now that we're here, do you really think I'm going to stop predicting this? No, I'm not stopping, so quit asking, and I actually do believe it. Like, this is not just a bit. And I think I was actually willing after week one to see what happened and then maybe

temper my expectations. Some, right? Like, you don't, you don't want to get everybody's hopes up and under deliver. But Kentucky looked good in week one. And Alabama, it was a little clunky, right? Like, everything I wanted to see. They looked pretty good in week one, Nick. They looked all right.

Okay. Well, here's one concern I have about Alabama. I think everybody does. Can they run the football? Traditional run game, right? That didn't happen last year. Who was their leading rusher last week? Do you remember?

Keel and Russell. Yeah, 13 carries. So you're asking a... They had a 51-yard touchdown to call back for holding, but yeah, okay, I got you. Did Kentucky have any penalties? Did they have any turnovers?

Were they playing an FCS team? Yes, no. It's top 10 FCS team. They played the FCS team. They play the Penguins. Mike Yersich and the Youngstown State Penguins. Right, right. The FCS Hosman, Bo Brungard, know the name. But the part, like, I'm the big reason why you circle this game in the preseason,

you say, hey, first time starter in the SEC on the road, great spot, right? I was trying to find maybe you guys have a more depth of knowledge. but I was just looking at similar first SEC road starts for other notable names around the league in the last few years. Arch Maining got six, sack six times down at Florida through two picks in the fourth quarter when they needed two touchdowns to come back. That was one of only two wins for Florida last year in the SEC. Sam Levitt, people forget he has an SEC road start. He was with Arizona State. They're at Mississippi State.

Kenny Dillingham said, I will not let you throw the football. We need a touchdown. We are going to run it 16 times. threw it once on third and seven. They wouldn't let him pass the football, okay? And then another guy, DJ Lagway, I mean, I'm not saying that DJ Lagway and Keel and Russell are a perfect one-for-one cop, right?

But like, number three player in the country, number one quarterback in his class, first SEC Roadstar. What does DJ Lagway do? He threw five interceptions at LSU. Was that LSU defense just dominating teams last year? No. That game, Billy Napier asked DJ Lagway to do everything.

By the looks of it, it feels like they're going to ask Keel and Russell to be a superhero. And he's going up against the demons. He has no idea what it's going to be. They just played cover three. They didn't even have their starting quarterbacks last week playing for UK. They have no idea what they're going to see. I think Kentucky's going to confuse him. They're going to try to force them into mistakes.

And that's where you can take advantage and maybe build up an early enough lead and then hold on for dear life down the stretch. I, uh, I'm buying it, Andy. I buy it. Do you buy it? the spread's killing me here on this one. So if you look at Polly Market right now, it is Alabama by 10 and a half on the road, which is a huge number on the road.

That's like a Nick Sabin's still their number. And I watched your podcast with Adam Luckett, and you guys spent a lot of time hammering home the point that Nick Sabin ain't walking through that door. Nope. Is the fear factor gone? from Alabama. Because like, you know, in the Saban era, a team like Kentucky, a team like Vanderbilt,

Missouri, those schools, like when Alabama shows up, it's like, ah, crap, what are we going to do? But it feels like it's a different, different day now. Oh, it does. One number I want to mention quickly, though, last four years, DeBore has been a road favorite 12 times, five outright losses, four and eight, 18. So not a great spot for DeBoer. And I know that Kentucky has only beaten Alabama twice ever.

Once was in 1922 when they were in the Southern Conference, okay? That counts. The other time. The SEC didn't exist yet. Exactly. In 1997, though, I was in the stands and so was Willstown. And the thing about couch to yeast in overtime, Kentucky's first ever overtime game. But the thing about Willstead.

I know when you just look at his resume on paper, you look at the quarterback production at Oregon, you just think of this flashy kind of hot shot coordinator. You know, who else was at Oregon? It was Dan Lannning, Kirby Smart. Will Stein's doing the Kirby Smart thing. He's got Bloody Tuesday. He's on the microphone, right?

The sense of belief in this program, I mean, Kentucky's starting left tackles at Tennessee, right? He played in a college football playoff game. Tegro Chabola, he won a national championship. Kenny Minchie was at Notre Dame last year. C.J. Baxter, his last touchdown before last week was in a college football playoff game against Cailin DeBore. In the new SEC, like, I just, I don't, I don't think anybody has that sort of aura to them,

that brand name that forces others to cower and fear. I just, in the portal area, I just don't think it exists. And the way that Stein has been maniacal in his preparation, it's really coast. speaking, if we prepare the right way, we have a chance. But like, these guys, they actually believe in. And I know it's an FCS team. I know it's Mike Eurasich, it's whatever. But I expected in week one for them, there just to be some clunkiness offensively.

Like, it's week one. This guy, Kenny Minchin, he hasn't started a game since he was in high school. Like, it's, it might look rough. They got out of the huddle. They were quick. Like, everything was just humming, right? It was well-disciplined operation. Minchie had all the time in the world behind that offensive line.

It just, it looks like a well-coached team that is not going to be afraid of this moment. Does it scare you that maybe this season is all about finding out that flipping a team in three weeks is a lot harder than we thought it was. Like, you know, we saw what happened with Eric Morris, you know, a person that was supposed to flip it. I know Will Stein kind of fit in that same category, new place comes from Oregon, hot shot, coordinator, but Bloody Tuesday, everything that you just said. Yeah. But, like, maybe it's just a little bit harder to go from what Kentucky was last year to an SEC contender right out of the gate.

Like, I just, like, I buy it. I think Will Stein's great. He's been on our show. I think he's going to be successful there. Week two? Like, already? Like, you're going to arrive week two in year one? Well, particularly, so, like, in John Summerall's case, he was able to retain his skill

players. And you know what? They look pretty good in week one. That's the question that I have because you can only do so much in the portal when you have to do everything, right? They had to rebuild the offensive line. So they invested in the offensive line and it looked damn good right out of the gate. The players, they look damn good. But then you've got to get players elsewhere.

And they went all in on DeAndre Moore. They thought they had a chance. And then at the last minute, he goes and joins Brennan Marion, who recruited him in Texas out of Colorado. So instead, they've got Nick Anderson. That was sort of their backup playing. Nick Anderson and Shencar. Nick Anderson, Shane Carr, and DJ Miller, they were projected to be their top three receivers.

One combined catch for four yards in week one. That's the part is you can't really do everything. But I will say they actually kind of, I don't want to say lucked into, but Joe Sloan had Kenny Darby committed at LSU. He led the state of Louisiana in receiving his junior year of high school. A kid, like, that means something. When you lead the state of Louisiana and receiving,

he was awesome. in week one had a touchdown four catches for about 80 yards. And it wasn't just schemed up stuff, right? Like he was just playing football, and it felt like a natural out there. So I have questions and concerns about some of the skill positions, cornerback. They didn't play their corners. Like how well are they going to look this week in their first start of the season?

But they also brought back Willie Rodriguez, who is the player that people in the SEC don't know enough about. I mean, Trey Des Green is going to get all the shine. He's the best tight end in the league. But Willie Rodriguez is right behind him. And he's going to play himself into being a first or second round pit. So from a just global program standpoint, how different is the program Will Stein is running from what Mark Stoops was running this time last year?

So I think from a, like the part that gets overlooked is that sort of toughness, tenacity aspect of it. Like I don't think that's just going away overnight. You know, it may not be the Youngstown tough brand that Mark Stubbs had. But I don't think that's, evaporating. The biggest difference is that Will Stein is 36 years old, and he has a bunch of other young guys with him. And it's they just, the way they operate is so much differently than Mark Stoops, who still had a couple guys that he brought with them from 2013, right? Like,

things were very stale. The message had gotten tired, it had gotten old. And Will Stein has injected a ton of life into this program. And he's also, you know, passing the football competently. There was a third and six last weekend, and I had a little PTSD. It's just, oh gosh, third down, obvious passing situation. What's going to happen? They did this thing, guys, where they snapped the ball. A guy ran a slay it, and they threw it to him, and he caught it.

It was on target. They threw the person the ball. The person ran a route past the first down marker, and they threw it to him. And he caught it. What a novel concept. Novel concept. I was looking back at Lenore Sellers first start on the road. It was at Kentucky two years ago.

He threw 14 passes, completed 10 of them. He was fine. He was pretty good in that game. Kentucky's quarterbacks were 4 of 13 for 43 yards in that game. That is what we were living with, okay? That is not how Will Stein is going to run things. Like, if they get down two touchdowns, the game is not over. Mark Stoops overcame one 14 point deficit in 13 years,

and it was against Eastern Kentucky, an FCS opponent, and he needed overtime to get there, okay? Like, you're not throwing in the white towel. You actually have enough offensive power power to be able to keep up with some of these teams. You know, we spent all offseason putting teams on, like, code red meltdown alert. And I think Michigan was one of them as we were trying to figure out

how Bryce Underwood would play. And even going into the week, I mentioned, as we played this game, of which teams could be upset. What if Bryce Underwood looks bad? Like, this happened a week ago, like, on this day. Have we spent enough time also considering the fact that Alabama started the season, ranked number 13, and, like, one loss away in week two could, like, throw Kalin-de-Bore into a complete melt-down mode. Like, there's going to be melt-down mode. Clemsonson mode, Michigan's in melt-on mode, and people, melt-down mode comes in threes.

So I don't know. I don't know. It's like celebrity deaths. Yes, celebrity deaths and meltdown mode in college football. Who's the third horseman on that, on that wagon? What's crazy, though, is if they do lose, like this is what DeBore has done, right? It was Vandy in year one. And then last year was Florida State.

But it turns out they were fine and they were still in the mix for the playoff. Like, they can still do that. It's just, it's usually there's a conquer in there. That's what Mark Pope does, right? Like he'll beat Duke and then he'll lose LSU. Like Alabama Van, We kind of know what you're going through right now, except he's actually been in the playoff. It's been right there, but there is that clunker.

And I think Kentucky could be that clunker this year for the time. I want to be your clunker. That's really, you know what that is? Program motto, let me be your clunker. That's the football equivalent of, have you ever heard a girl say that, oh, I shouldn't have slept with that guy last night? Oh, that could be that guy. I want to be that guy.

We could be that guy. Yes. Oh, man, I am so excited about this game now, and I have picked Alabama to cover the spread, but I am now starting to regret it a little bit, because it's a big number. It's a lot of points. I feel like I'm the one who intercepted this in you

when the schedule came out. Because I think I texted you the night the schedule came out and said, Nick, look at this, look at this. Well, and the other part of it, it's not just the first time starting for Keel and Russell. I can bet that over the head a thousand times. But to your point, Ari, when it comes to building and the portal, depth's an issue everywhere. Well, depth's an issue.

It's going to pop up at some point. But right now, everybody's healthy. They've got all their running backs. They've got all their receivers, their cornerbacks. Like, everybody's healthy. So there's not some sort of weird glaring issue out there that's like, okay, how are we going to scheme around this? How are we going to put a Band-Aid over this?

later on the season because like if you look at kentucky schedule in totality there's a lot of winnable games in november they go to missouri florida that game's going to have a ton of juice in it you got vandy but you start off with bama at a and m you got an easy one and then you go to south carolina and that opponent has been a killer the last couple of years if you want to like will stine check every offseason box every single one of them in in ways that i did not know were possible but if you want to keep this hype train rolling, it kind of comes down to two games. You got to win one of them.

Can you slay the Goliath in Alabama or can you go to South Carolina and get that win? Because if not, I mean, you might make it to October 24th without an SEC win. And you know what it is happening around October in Kentucky that they play the other sport too. And that's a thing, right? So you need to give them something.

There was a stretch where Mark Stoops went like two years without an SEC win. And then, you know, Billy Napier got himself fired. Gonzalez came as an interim coach and they snapped that streak. But you're asking, you're asking a lot more for fans. You're asking them to show up 30 minutes early. Bring your flask and cuss out the Alabama players. You need to reward them, right? And how do you reward them?

You win big games. and this this would do a lot to really just throw fuel in that fire. You're fired up about Mark or Will Stein, sorry, Mark Stein I went to high school with. Mark Stoops, Mark Pope, Willstein. A lot of Marks involved here. People are excited. Mark Stein, the NBA reporter. I'm excited.

Anybody who's watched college football, you know, has reason to believe, and especially considering the fact that Kentucky backed up the hiring with giving him the resources to overhaul the roster of the areas that they need. Do you get the sense that Kroger is going to be as lit, as it's been in a long time. Like, what is the sense in the community for Kentucky football right now? And, like, are the fans actually going to back up the juice that you're bringing on the show? Yes, yes.

And they've been, whenever I said that Kentucky's beaten Alabama back in the spring, there was a lot of people who said, I've been saying it for months, Rouse, welcome to the party. You know, like it. But there's also what Mark Stoops did for as bad as it was in recent years, he got Kentucky football fans who actually believe that they can be relevant in big time conversations, right? If the 12th team playoff was around in 2018 and 2021, they're going to it probably. So, like, they played in big games. They beat the big names.

They snap streaks against Florida. It got them to believe that this can be real. And once you get a taste of that, you want some more, right? Well, Will Stein was just in the playoff. He just won a couple of those games. He has them dreaming that it's possible. And this is the point where it can start. I think fans are going to be out in full force.

You know, Kroger Field is the most intimidating name. Kentucky, they aren't the brand name out there either. But when you ask players, like what's an underrated environment, Lexington, man, it gets rowdy. And it's going to be very rowdy for that 3.30 kickoff on Saturday. One quick one, and I'll let you out of here. Nick, Kentucky turns into Indiana football, year one Indiana football. Year one, where they go really well for the SEC and they make the CFP.

Is there anything that can be done to change Kentucky into a football school? Because we have this debate all the time about, is Indiana a football school now? Can Kentucky be a football school if Kentucky was good at football? Yeah, yeah. I think so. I think the, like, would they change? Yeah. The support will be there.

I think the biggest difference in Indiana is that Indiana had been so bad at basketball for so long. I mean, I don't, last final four was 0.1, right? Yeah. Tom Coverdale on them. Like it. So like, they will still be hungry for basketball wins and it will still drive a lot of the offseason conversation when you're doing your summer radio stuff. But people, they, they will buy all the way. on it. They will. You know, there are certain people who say that Kentucky, it's actually more of a football state. And I agree with them, man. People, they want to see this happen. They want to fill up

the stadiums on Saturdays. They want to be a part of the conversation. And the other part of it is the financial side of it. They will have the financial support. Jay Batt, the new athletic director is there. He's, when you are known as a fundraiser from your time at every power conference program and you get on campus and then each week they're announcing some, you know, it's one of those press release kind of, look at this new partnership. The money, the money will be there. The support will be there. And ultimately, that's what it is, right?

If you want wins on Saturdays to make more money, you've got to have some money. Kentucky's willing to invest in football to make this thing work. Well, one way to really kickstart it would be by beating Alabama, which comes to Lexington as a 10.5 point favorite. Nick Rouse, thank you so much. We will be following along as that game goes along. I hope you all. I hope you all are going live at 8 p.m. saying, man, you know what?

That guy, he might sound like a yahoo, but damn it, he was right. We're playing that clip if that's what we're doing, because if we're going live off this game, it ain't because Alabama won. Nick, thank you so much. And when we come back, we'll talk about Kentucky's former quarterback, Cutter Bowley, going to play Texas A&M at Kyle Field with the Arizona State Sundevils. We'll be right back. All right. It's time for our Onit matchup preview brought to you by our friends at Onit, connecting fans and athletes through team collectibles. Go to Oniteathlet.com. Find your team today. In fact, find both of these teams. Arizona State is heading to Texas A&M. Kyle Field,

noon, eastern, 11 local. It's going to be hot. It's going to be loud. But yeah, if you want to collect the cards of both of these teams, you can get a cutter bully

from Arizona State. You can get a Marcel Reed from Texas A&M. You get a Rubin Owens from Texas A&M. And Omarian Miller, the Colorado transfer, who's at Arizona State this year. Get them all.

Add on it, go to on it athlete.com and order your set today. You know I'm fired up to have cards back on the show because this is my actual passion in life, but the coolest thing about it is that when you buy on it cards, you're buying sets for your favorite team

and that money directly goes to the NIL compensation of the athletes that go to those schools. So you get to actually participate in supporting your school while also getting cards that could be worth money. So like, you know how it is. You know how I am. I'm so pumped. This is our dream.

Yeah, yeah. Just anytime time we can get cards in the mix, you know, as we're sitting here, Andy, here's cards. It's just on my desk at all times. And we will be ripping packs on the air. They are probably next week we'll be ripping some packs on the air. Ari, we've got to talk about this game. This is going to be a lot of fun because Kenny Dillingham, bringing cutter bully and Amarion Miller to Kyle Field.

We don't know what Texas A&M is. They made a playoff last year. They lost by three to Miami. You and I were at the game. It was a tight nip and tuck game. But Miami's defense pretty much shut down Texas A&M's offense. The retooling of Texas A&M out that I don't have Casey Concepcion anymore. They still have Mario Craver.

Marcel Reed, obviously, Ruben Owens. The offensive line is a lot of guys who played for other SEC teams last year who don't play for those teams anymore. And not necessarily because A&M outbid them. So I'm curious where we think Texas A&M is at. Yeah, I'm very curious for A&M standpoint because I remember when you and I went to Kyle Field last year, it was kind of just like, oh, God, how could they only manage 10 points or whatever it was? And then you come to find out as that game aged that they were playing against a team that was 40 yards away from ultimately potentially winning the championship. So like the bad taste in your mouth about how bad Texas A&M's offense was, all those different things like maybe might have been just false information.

Right. Ruben Bain and Akeem Sador are not walking through that door most weeks. Right. So, you know, obviously A&M is on the ascension or they're trying to, you know, be a consistent CFP or included in the CFP consistently. What they are this year, I think is kind of a mystery. And I know we've joked a lot this week, Andy, about. how Mississippi State, Minnesota is the narrative bowl, but like,

this is a pretty big narrative bowl for the Big 12. And Arizona State is a team that's also made the playoff. Kenny Dillingham is viewed as one of the better young coaches in the entire sport. And it's not an easy game. I don't care if it's at Kyle Field. It's not going to be an easy game. So, you know, we'll see Cutter Bowley out there,

you know, former SEC quarterback for the Sun Devils. Kenny Dillingham has done a pretty good job of analyzing and bringing in good transfers. So we'll see how that goes. Yeah, we didn't. Not a lot of people do who Sam Levitt was leaving Michigan State and going to Arizona State. That worked out well.

Yeah. Dillingham's done a good job. So they played Morgan State last week. Obviously, there's not much you can take from that, but the offense was humming. 300-yard receivers for Arizona State in that game. But they will be facing a much, much tougher defense this time. But this is a huge spread. It's 14.5 points.

That feels awfully big. And as we know. because we talked to Kenny Dillingham about this, Arizona State getting on a plane and going to England right after this because they play Kansas at Wembley Stadium next week. So don't get your, like if Texas A&M covers a spread, that's going to be a long-ass flight. That's going to be awful.

Yeah. So I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen. But, you know, the thing that I do love about A&M is that as they're making their ascension and being 14.5 points spreads against a good big 12 team, Mike Alco is also just more common sense, right? more common sense out of him. He had the quote away.

This is why, you know, we, you wonder how A&M is going to replace, you know, whatever they lost. But you, we say this on the show a lot. We trust Mike Elko because he's the adult in the room. And once again, he sounds like the adult in the room. He got asked about the SEC and LSU this week. And here's what he said.

This is a little bit like the son figuring out where the limits are until dad comes home and raises his voice. And then the son goes, I was just kidding. I didn't mean any of that. I think that's what you're seeing. LSU will be in the SEC. This is just a little bit of parenting going on right now. It's exactly what happened.

Can you imagine if Mike Elko was your dad? I would really not want to disappoint him. And you probably would disappoint him frequently. I mean, I do think that being adult in the room is like something we joke about and the fact that we constantly, you know, are in awe of the things that he said. He says, I've like literally never disagreed with anything he's ever said. is part of the reason why I believe that A&M is different than what it's been in the past. I think in the past A&M has gotten off track financially.

They've gotten off track with their leadership. They've made, you know, negotiations in football in terms of, you know, trying to solve problems with money. And they, this isn't the flashiest guy in the world. He wasn't the most expensive candidate. And he's come in there and he's changed the entire culture of the team. So, you know, I don't know if LSU is going to appreciate them being referred to as a little kid. you know, we'll see how that goes. But LSU is getting pot shots from everybody.

I'm not sure this one's going to land on the radar. And I think he's absolutely correct. And, you know, part of the reason why all this court stuff is happening is dad's trying to figure out how far he can go with parenting before he gets in trouble. So we'll see. Kids trying to figure out how far they can go and then dad comes in. Are we allowed to spank them anymore? I don't know.

Yeah. Yeah, well, Greg Sanky whipped out the paddle this week, but he didn't have to use it. Yeah, he was asking the court if he's allowed to use it. the paddle, right? Right. But as far as Elko goes in Texas A&M, this is one of those games that in the Kevin Sumlin, Jimbo Fisher eras could kind of go either way. Like, remember the Sumlin team that went to UCLA and they were rolling and then all of a sudden UCLA comes back? Like, this is the type of game that they don't win in those situations. And you kind of wonder with Elko, is that different? Like, they went to Notre Dame and won this game and on that game last year

where, I mean, that was a very difficult circumstance on the road. This feels like one of those where if you don't win this one, if you're A&M, you look at the rest of that SEC schedule and it's like, oh, boy, this is going to be tough. But like you said for Arizona State, this is massive for the Big 12 because like Baylor didn't come through against Auburn, even though they had a chance. We'll find out with Missouri and Kansas on Friday. But the Big 12 needs to win some of these. Like if they want to have more than one team in the playoff, you got to win some of these.

Yeah, I saw the stat that the SEC was undefeated in opening weekend for the first time in like a thousand years. I don't know what the actual stat was. I think it's 1997. Was it 97? Yeah. I think it was the easiest schedule they faced since 1997 too. But like I do. But it's going to be really cool to see because the SEC has gotten off to a hot start. And we'll be very curious to see if there's like any big 12 flavor.

But 14 and a half seems like so many points. And maybe that's just us finding out or, you know, recognizing that A&M is just here to stay as a really good team. So their coach is certainly part of the reason of that, but what happens in this game will be fun to watch. Exactly. And look, if somebody blows up in the game and you want to get their card, go to onat athlete.com.

They're beautiful cards. The designs are beautiful. They're licensed. They're great. A&M fans, yeah, they got Terry Bussie. Because I know you're thinking about Terry Bussie. I know he think he's going to break out in this game. They got him.

Don't worry. He's in there. Ari, when we come back, dear Andy and Ari, your questions answered. First questions about Bryce Underwood. And before we talk Bryce Underwood, we'll talk about game time and a certain ticket to a certain big house. Ari, I love when our sponsors can help us break news and define the games of the week because there's something really interesting. going on on the Game Time app right now. If you want to get in to the Oklahoma, Michigan game, the get in price at Game Time right now is $54. It has been dropping like a rock all week. Ari, is this going to be half crimson and cream in this stadium?

Because when the ticket prices drop like this in a game where the visiting team never gets to come to the iconic location, usually means the visitors are going to have a big crowd. Yeah, especially when you combine the fact that this stadium is also conveniently located near one of the most robust airports in the country. So I'm very curious. What's going on, though? Like, why are people not wanting to go?

Like, they haven't even lost yet. Like, I know that they're down, but don't you want to watch and see? Like, the Bryce Underwood performance is the biggest game of his career? Like, is that not just compelling viewership either way? I don't know. You tell me. It's Oklahoma coming to your stadium. Like, that's a fun game.

I don't care how you feel about it. Now, meanwhile, the other Big Ten on SEC matchup, Ohio State going down to Texas, not happening there. $429 is your getting in price at GameTime. And of course, Game Time has tickets for every event that you want to see, whether it's a football game, any other sporting event, comedy show, concert, you name it. The price you see is the price you pay. The view you see is the view you will get with that ticket. So go to GameTime, download the app.

Redeem the code Staples. That's STAP-L-E-L-E-S. Staples for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Go to GameTime. Code Staples, $20 off your first purchase. Our first question is about Michigan. So this one comes from Jason.

I love your show along with JD and all your competitors. I'm a huge fan of college football media as most X's and O's goes over my head, as it does most people, but they still speak on it. But being plugged in with off the field bridges the gap. I'm not here to bash media, but why is it that with the visits that the media personnel had in the Michigan practices in spring game, Eric Weddle was the only person to provide an accurate description of Bryce's ineptitude, which was on full display last week. Will the public be wrong and thinking harsh critique was reserved for maintaining a good relationship with the team? Okay. So let me explain how access to practice works.

most national folks, like me and R.E., Pate, you know, people like that, Chris Lowe, like we can visit and a team will let us see a practice if we're visiting. But we don't visit every day. We don't go to every spring practice. We don't go to every preseason practice. So if you see somebody having a bad day at practice, it may just be they're having a bad day.

So you're going to be a little careful with that. The regular beatwriters aren't allowed to see Jack Squat. So if you think this was some sort of organized omerta of people not talking about what they saw of Bryce Underwood. They didn't see Bryce Underwood at practice. The people who were covering the team every day don't get that much access to practice. And it's by design. They want to keep that stuff secret. Eric Weddle is a little bit different situation because Eric Weddle, great former player, great former player for Kyle Whittingham at Utah.

also has a kid who is a current college football recruit. So he has a little more access and also a little more license to say whatever the hell he wants. Yeah, a few things. One, I think that people think that there's some sort of correlation between access and exclusively positive coverage, and that's not true. Right. If you watch the show, I think that you know that Andy and I have been very, you know, truthful about the things that are not going well at places.

I don't know that this is a sunshine show. I think that we're very critical all the time of a lot of different places. Well, no, I mean, he's not, he's not necessarily talking about us. No, I know. But the thing is, like, what I'm saying is there's not a reporter who's watched Bryce Underwood enough at practice probably to have a good gauge on, is it going great or is it going bad? You also don't want to dump on somebody, like you said,

unless you're sure that you're like going to be right about that. Yes. Especially when like spring practices are also relatively low stakes in terms of like the finished product and a lot of times are not playing in pads. A lot of times you're not getting a full scope of what that person can do. But in terms of that, the thing that I keep coming back to with this question is something that I read about all the time, which is access, access, access.

And the only way that you lose access and it happens very rarely, right, Andy. Like I know that like some stuff was going on with the Fort Worth Star. telegram. The TCU thing was weird, yeah. But like, that doesn't happen very often. And I think that the reason why is because most reporters are people who work in journalism, for the most part, aimed to be correct. And I think that like the only thing that can truly get you on the outs with places is if you, if you say something that's baseless, unfounded, untrue and, you know, mean, like, and like, we're not going to do that. So obviously Eric Weddle is a little bit different as it pertains to like what he can say publicly and where he stands in the in the media space than we are but i didn't feel comfortable i

didn't say because i didn't feel comfortable well saying that he says and i think we also did a really good job of casting we didn't say he's a mate man didn't we we talked all summer that you that you heard Tommy car's name on this show since last spring there's a reason for that but the other part of it is coaches even if they trust you as a reporter are usually not going to say off the record, I think my quarterback might be bad or I think my quarterback might not really be the guy. That's not something, even when they trust you, even off the record, that's something they're usually going to keep to themselves. Now, I don't know what Kyle Whittingham said to Eric Weddell. We don't have that information. But Eric Weddle is probably going to get a more

robust assessment from any former Utah coaches who he has relationships with. Yeah. Because he's Eric Weddle. Yeah. So Andy, can I write into the show and ask a question? You can, yeah. Are we at the Bryce Underwood is cooked that's over stage of this whole thing? Are we in the...

Not yet. Okay. Because it kind of feels like everybody's in that stage right now. And I feel like we're probably... And he can make us all look really stupid on Saturday if he has a good game against Oklahoma. Like that's, that's, and that's why also we've soft peddled this and not said, oh, it's over. Now, we've asked some questions. We've had some discussions because I think Bryce Underwood, his job security being in doubt, is a really interesting, more global college football discussion about what happens when you devote all kinds of resources to somebody really good coming out of high school.

is it worth it? Is it worth it to pay that much for a quarterback coming out of high school? And we don't know the answer to that. Now, we played Kyle Whittingham's clip about Bryce Underwood where he was asked, is he the QB1 long term?

And he said he is right now. Clayton Safey from the Wolverine got video of Bryce Underwood on Wednesday being asked about Kyle Whittingham's comments. Here's that video. The reaction to the coach of him in his comment.

comments about how your job isn't permanent? It was comments about that? Yeah, you said that your job is infinite, you know, that's the starter. That's cool. I see that. So what's your reaction? It's cool. Do we believe he didn't see those comments?

No. Because how could you miss him? No. I mean, I also think Kyle Whittingham probably told him, something similar in private. So what do you take away from this? I mean, the man's probably deeply embarrassed. Like, what do people want him to say?

Like, I think that people are overreacting to his reaction to that. But I don't know. Well, what's the response? You can say I'm better than what I showed, and I'm going to show you that. You can say something like that. Yeah. Not make it look like it's even more dysfunctional than it looked on Saturday. Yeah.

Yeah. I think that's part of the issue. It's a sophomore. He's young. I don't know. Yeah, it's a sophomore who makes millions of dollars a year, who is the number one recruit in the country and was, you know, followed media-wise

for his entire high school career. So, you know, you're right. You're right. I just, I think that like the way he played on Saturday is far more concerning about how he's acting than how he's acting. Well, here's the thing. He hasn't act. Like, you know, we always talk about somebody

having to act presidential. When your QB wanted a program like that, he kind of got to figure out how to act presidential. Yeah. He hasn't figured out how to act presidential yet. Now, that's secondary to being able to just do the job on Saturdays. Yeah. We're going to find out this Saturday if he could do the job on Saturday.

You know, like, you and I get in debates. You're either good or you're not against Oklahoma's defense. You and I get in debates all the time about like what things mean from a, from a feeling standpoint and stuff. And a lot of times, like, I get in my feelings. and I'm like overreacting to certain things. And you're like, it doesn't matter if they win. It's all that matters.

If they win, no one cares. We flipped, yeah. I think on this one we flipped because it's like if they go out and beat Oklahoma, it doesn't matter what he acted like. But it doesn't. The presidential part doesn't matter. Yeah. If he beats Oklahoma.

Are you confident that he will play well against this defense? No, my point is that even if he acted presidential, I don't think I would be more confident in that. No, I've dealt with. We've dealt with plenty of quarterbacks who look the part and sound the part, and then on Saturdays don't play the part. So, like I said, that part's secondary. But if you are in danger of losing the job, though,

that's not helping you. None of this is helping. No, no. The one thing I'm on high alert for is you and I both picked Oklahoma in our pick show on Monday. and covering the sport for a long time and, you know, following the lines and all these different things and how they tend to go. The one thing I've learned is that when everybody thinks something, because everybody thinks Oklahoma is going to win by a lot. And it's possible that Michigan doesn't score and all the things in the narratives of like what we think right now based on what happened in week one. But a lot of times that everybody thinks something's going to happen.

It doesn't. And, you know, teams are different from week to week. I think Kyle Whittingham's a good coach. I don't think it's a net like it's like an impossibility that Michigan plays in a 24-21 bangor of a game that we expected in the off season on Saturday.

So like before we we start putting dirt on the coffin, I think we need to allow it to actually play out that way first. And I'm not, I'm with you. I think Oklahoma's, I don't think Michigan's going to score on Saturday, honestly.

Like that's my thought right now. Okay, I don't know if they're going to get shut out. But a very wise person named Ari Wasserman. He told me this is not something that can be fixed in four days. I'm with you. That's what I think. But, you know, I tell you what I think every Monday and every Friday we find out how I'm with you. I'm with you that weird stuff happens and we get a lot of stuff wrong.

But I also think you may be right in this case because the issues, the flaws we saw against Western Michigan are all things that are very difficult to correct. in a week of practice, in a game week. Like, they are fundamental issues that, now, the one way to try to correct them, if you look exactly the way you looked, maybe they come out and play great, but if you look exactly the way you looked

against Western Michigan, the one thing you can do to hopefully correct it is change quarterbacks. I'll take you back to the national championship game following the 2017 season. Jalen Hertz, who has won a Super Bowl playing quarterback, by the way, could not move Alabama's offense anywhere against Georgia. They put two in and it looks different.

They win the game. Yeah. So that is the surest way to change things. If you are playing exactly the way you played against Western Michigan, which will not beat Oklahoma, that's the surest way to try. There have been a lot of times and instances in college football in the past where you see a team play a certain way in week one or week two,

and you see them play completely different the following week. And I know this wasn't back-to-back weeks, but like Florida State is the perfect example from last year of like you think they are something. And then they're not. Now, obviously going from good to bad. They were good first. Yeah.

Going from good to bad is probably easier than from going from awful to great. Like, right? Because you can play above out of your mind first and then underperform. Listen, I'm with you. I think Oklahoma is going to win. I really do think that like,

you mean, the total of this game is 43. Like I could see a 30, 10 type game, you know, maybe even a 31 to nothing type game, honestly. Because if Michigan plays the way they did last week, they will not score, Andy. Period. You're right. You're right. I mean, you know, I scored two touchdowns and one was on a play that maybe it shouldn't run.

I think that we set the odds, our own odds, our own polymarket market market, on whether Tommy Carr will play on Saturday, and I would probably put that at around a 50% chance. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's probably about right. Yeah. Ari, let us go to our next question. It comes from Craig.

Oh, Craig. Oh, Craig. Rank these programs by how concerned the fan base should be for the trajectory of the program and long-term ability to compete nationally. Stanford, Wisconsin, Oklahoma State, Clemson, Virginia Tech. One of these things already is not like the others. Clemson's not like the others. Yes.

Clemson is much more recently competed four national titles and one national titles. Stanford, I feel like, is in a very different bucket because historically okay to mediocre and then had that really dominant run under Jim Harbaugh and David Shaw. I don't know that that's coming back. The game may have changed to a point where that's not coming back or maybe get some Google guys involved and they can pay for some seriously good rosters. But I just don't know. That one I'm not as worried about.

They still get to be the best academic school in the FBS. So I think they're okay with that. Virginia Tech, we'll see this is the experiment. They hire James Franklin. They pump more money into the program. They pump more money into player payroll. We're in the year one of the experiment. So we need to give that one some time to see if it works.

Oklahoma State, we've seen one game. It was awful. But I'm not going to throw out Eric Morris. We're not firing Eric Morris after one game. So we'll see what they do. Wisconsin, they'll either be good this year or they'll fire Luke Fickle. And they'll start over. I think they're going to be decent enough to keep him.

I was on part of my take this week, Big Cat, famous, you know, Wisconsin. Alam, donor to the Wisconsin NIL efforts, he says he's got to win eight. He says Bickle's got to win at least eight to keep the top. Which I'll buy that. So you know how my brain doesn't work the same way yours does? Can I be honest with you who I think should be most concerned? Yeah, Clemson.

That's what I was getting to. Okay. That's why I hadn't explained them yet. Okay, go ahead. Go ahead. Well, I don't know if your reason is the same as mine. All right, I'll tell you my reason first, since you did the preamble for most of it. Yeah.

My reason is they have the most to lose. They have the most recent success. They're also in a position where loyalty to the coach is going to come into question and how many years you want to give him. I personally, my personal opinion, and I wrote about this this week, is that he's already been given five years. But how many more years do you get? And, you know, somebody compared him to Bobby Bowden.

I'm very curious how that's going to go. And then if you lose a. a genius because as easy it is to pile on dabbo for the way that he acted this week, you also in the same breath have to acknowledge that he is one of the greatest coaches of all time. Are you looking at a program that struck lightning in a bottle during a period of time with a dynamic Hall of Fame coach who loses that coach, whether they wait too long or do it immediately and fails to replace him and then goes back into the middle of the pack of the ACC and 20 years go by and all of a sudden you're looking back at it like you're Nebraska.

Like that to me is scarier than anything that like Virginia Tech could be facing right now because Virginia Tech's already living in that moment. They're trying to resurge. But Virginia Tech's standard was never to beat Alabama every time you play. That's like what the standard at what Clemsons come to, like the difference between what they expect and what they've tasted and what could be the reality for 15 years, the next 15 years, is by far the scariest of any of these teams. And Wisconsin's kind of dealing with it from 10 wins to five wins and all that stuff.

I get it. Oklahoma State lost a legendary coach and they're trying their best to traverse this new climate. But like in terms of what you know, it's like living in a mansion and being told you've got to move to a trailer. Like that is what Clemson's dealing with right now in terms of like dark thoughts. Well, you're looking at it purely on the field. You're not even looking at the truly scary part. What if you stink now right before?

the great grand realignment. You can't stink now. You cannot stink now. Like, this is the part, and I know people talk about, you know, would Clemson's administration do something. This is what Graham Neff,

their athletic director, and this is what their new president, have to think about. You are not allowed to stink right now. You need to be very good in the next few years. You can't be mediocre. you can't be bad. You need to be very good.

You need to be top of mind. You need to be an elite brand in college football. You just sued your conference so you can get out when the time is right. But what if instead of being an elite college football program, an elite college football brand, you're going seven and five in the ACC every year. And suddenly you're an agricultural school in upstate South Carolina again. And that's all you are.

How many years removed from being a dominant powerhouse? Because listen, they, he's not, Dabo's not being paid to win the ACC, but he did just win the ACC. Yeah. How, how, if, if Clemson were below 500 from now for the next five years. If you're going to get, if you're going to get Clemson from the mid 80s through 2008, the Big Ten in the SEC doesn't want you. Yeah. They want Clemson that they saw in the 2010s.

I mean, you're scaring me, and I'm not even involved in this. But that's what they have to think about every day. Like, that is the thought thundering in their minds. That is not, it is not, how do we get to the point where we're winning nine games a year again? They need to be awesome right now, and they're not. Oh, God. Oh, Craig. Yeah, yeah, sorry, Craig.

The answer to your question is Clemson. It's not even close. But good news for Craig is that he had a Milwaukee Brewer's logo on his Twitter. So I think he's a old school. Yeah, the old school one like with the M and the B that looks like a baseball glove. It's the greatest logo in sports history. But yeah, but that's why Clemson has to be the most worried because they need to be great right now. Like over the next three years need to be great.

because if this is all going to happen, you want to be in that club. And if it looks like you're never going to get back there or you're not willing to do the things you have to do to get back there, they're going to wonder if you want to be in that club. Like, Ari, who's Clemson's top competition in the Great Grand Realignment? Would North Carolina be it? North Carolina doesn't have any competition. The Big Ten and the SEC won.

I'm trying to think of teams that would be on the cusp. There's two. They're in the ACC. it's not that hard. Florida State. Mm-hmm. And Miami? Mm-hmm.

Yep. I just assume that all three- National titles. Yeah. Both, well, the same number of national titles for Florida State. But both with a longer, longer good history. So I am living in this dumb world where if the Super League, happens or the great alignment happens and they're picking up teams that nothing could happen to

Florida State or Miami or even Clemson. This is what I woke up thinking. You know, you can change my mind. Yeah. It could stop them from being taken. Oh, I'd be freaking out if our Florida or Clemson right now. You'd be freaking out if you're Florida State? Yeah. Wow. And Miami, which we thought might get left out of the club, now looks like it belongs in the club. Do you really think that, and you're probably, you're right. You're right. You're right. I'm just like trying to learn because like I don't understand this at the same level as you. How much do you think recency in your success for the past five years, which is a relatively low amount of years in terms of history,

is going to play a part in the decision making. Because like, Ari, all of history matters. Clemson historically has not been great. No, but we're talking about Florida State. Historically, Florida State has been. So like even if they've sucked for 10 years, like aren't they out of the equation? But that's what I'm saying. they have every reason to worry because we don't know how many spots they're going to be.

Yeah. They don't have the thing like North Carolina is different. They've never been good at football. They have a thing the SEC wants. They want to be in that footprint. The Big Ten wants to be in that footprint. So they have something the SEC and the Big Ten want that the others don't. Maybe I'm just over calculating what Clemson's brand has become.

like how much they No, it's become great, but the brand of Miami and the brand of Florida State are probably right there. And if you are Clemson, you are looking at yourself saying, I might have to fight one of these guys off. It's the old joke.

The two guys in the woods come upon a bear and one dude starts stretching. And the guy asked him, you think you're going to outrun a bear? The other guy says, no, I only have to outrun you. Well, the reason why I miss answered your question when you asked who was their biggest competition in the realignment race is because in my brain Miami and Florida State don't have to worry at all.

So like I was trying to go to middle tier. And like North Carolina I know is a very, very attractive, you know, institution in terms of location. That's what it's hard to explain for fans because they just think, okay, they've never been good at football. But there are business reasons why North Carolina is so favored among these. But I wonder from a television property standpoint, business wise.

Like what, what is Clemson worth in relation to the other team? If there's only one spot for the three, is Clemson getting a spot? Because they would have absolutely gotten the spot fire. But why would there ever only be one spot? Like, if their Super League happens, it's going to be like, because we don't know what's going to happen. Yeah.

But what if it's not a Super League? What if the Big Ten decides to expand by one and save a spot for Notre Dame? Dude, we're not even into October. And the SEC doesn't even expand. You're already making me feel like it's Halloween. night right now. When I read this question, I was like, which team is afraid they're going to fall back into purgatory on the field?

Now you're like, when team is going to crash and burn and be left? But I didn't even, my brain didn't even go there. But that's, if you are, if you were the Clemson administration, that is your primary thought right now. So that's why this situation is more fluid and more dire than I think people realize.

Because it's very complicated. because Davosweeney is an all-time great coach. He did build you into a national title contender. He is owed roughly $60 million if you were to fire him. All of these things make this very, very complicated. Thank you so much for those questions. That was fantastic. Ari, it is the season. So we don't have a regularly scheduled Friday show.

Obviously, there is news we will pop up in your feed. We've been going live a lot on and off-field news causing us to go live. So, you know, it may be that we surprise you by going live on Friday, but I bet we'll be going live multiple times on Saturday. Oh, yeah. We're back. We're in midseason form already. Like, come on.

We're so back. Yeah. Now, we are going to go. And then guaranteed to go live, 11.30 p.m. Eastern time, unless there's a weird delay, because Lord knows we've had a few of those already this season. But I think your best, the best way to. explain it is when Ohio State

Texas ends, that's probably when we're going live. I mean, we're definitely going live after Michigan, Oklahoma, too, right? Like, there's no... I would think so. I would think so. And then there's a result there that wouldn't warrant it. And then there's some interesting games in the afternoon window that I think like, well, if Nick

Rouse is right, we'll be going live after Alabama, Kentucky. Yeah. I mean, Mississippi State, Minnesota may be a banger. It might end up going live after that. Yeah. Who knows? Such a better slate. So, we live that often last week on a weird slate. Think about what it's going to do when you've got a banger of a slate.

So we'll be with you. Thank you so much for the show's growing. Thank you so much for being here. Like and review. If you can, that helps us a lot. We don't ask people to subscribe to the channel enough. I feel like, you know, now if you're still here, you're dying hard enough.

Yeah, all these YouTube videos I watch, people are like, and subscribe. Like and subscribe. On the video. Should we be doing that more? I don't know. Probably. Yeah, we should do that more.

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