Andy & Ari On3 - LATEST on Brendan Sorsby, Texas Tech, and the Big 12: Why did the Red Raiders Admin say ANYTHING?

Episode Date: June 12, 2026

While Texas Tech has been the dominating topic of discussion in college football this week, Andy & Ari dive deep into the mailbag to answer questions on the Red Raiders and the Big 12. As the Texas Tech administration released at 20+ minute video explaining their stance on the Brendan Sorsby situation, should they have said anything? Watch here as Andy & Ari do a deep dive into the wild scenario out of Lubbock.   (0:00) On Today’s Episode (0:42) Intro: Texas Tech & The Big 12 (3:03) Dear Andy & Ari, what could the Big 12’s Response be? (16:27) Texas Tech admin video (20:27) CFP Implications (23:43) The Villain persona (27:13) Matt on America the Beautiful (33:15) ACC Rankings: Miami at 1 (36:06) SMU at 2 (38:46) Last year’s champs: Duke (41:26) Teams 10-17: Georgia Tech (44:24) 7-9: VT, Cal, or Wake Forest? (46:52) Bottom of the list (48:26) Boston College at the bottom (49:03) Closing out: Florida State (49:27) Wide Receiver Draft (51:18) Round 1: WR Draft (53:34) Round 2: WR Draft (56:28) Round 3: WR Draft (59:21) Round 4: WR Draft (1:02:00) Round 5: WR Draft (1:05:08) Honorable Mentions (1:07:12) Full List (1:08:50) Thanks for watching! Vacation Schedule   Full Texas Tech video: https://x.com/TechAthletics/status/2065245076280750107?s=20   Once Andy & Ari wrap up the entire Texas Tech situation, Matt sends in an email highlighting Freddy’s incredible journey across America. Andy & Ari can’t help but to feel a little proud of their country’s natural beauty.   Following that, Andy & Ari dive into the ACC’s Power Rankings. Although Miami is the number one team on the list, the Hurricanes have never won the conference championship. Does that change this season? Find out as Andy & Ari dive deep into the rankings.   To close, Andy & Ari draft the top wide receivers since 2000. Who will the guys pick? Who did they miss?   Andy’s full ACC rankings: https://www.on3.com/news/acc-football-power-rankings-where-all-17-teams-stand-before-the-2026-season-kicks-off/     Thanks for watching! See you tomorrow!   Send your questions to: [e-mail] [e-mail]   Join On3 today! https://www.on3.com/join   Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari Wasserman Producer: River Bailey   Interested in partnering with the show? Email [e-mail] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On today's Andy and Ari on three, it is a dear Andy, dear Ari episode. You still have tons of questions about the situation with Texas Tech and Brendan Sorsby and the Big 12. We will attempt to answer those questions. Heck, Texas Tech is attempting to answer them by dropping 21-minute videos. Yeah, we'll talk about that too. Plus, we break down my ACC power rankings. Also, we're going to draft the top receivers. since 2000, this one is tough. It will be controversial. The man in the picture there is going to get picked.

Talk about it all today on Andy and Ari on three. Welcome to Andy and Argy on three. Ari, it is a dear Andy, dear Ari Friday. And we've been getting questions all week. We've actually been answering questions all week as they've come in because half the time we're recording a show and somebody will ask a relevant question about the Texas Tech, Brendan Sorsby, Big 12 situation. Yeah. And we just answer it. But we have even more.

And they're just, they're great questions. We have to talk about the video that Texas Tech dropped on Thursday night because, it was, it got community noted. Let's put it that way. Yeah. I don't know.

Sometimes like I'm a media snob because it's what we do for a living. But it's like, if you want to, you want to answer questions about it and do it. press conference. Like, it's easy to do a self-contained video or statement where there's no pushback, but it would have been very interested. I would have driven there. I would have gone to it. I don't think they'd do that. I don't think they should have done the video. I don't think right now they've got it. They've got a W and they need to keep their mouth shut. Yeah. Yeah. It is funny because you know, it kind of reminds me of fighting with my wife. Like I want to keep talking about it,

but the more I speak, the angrier she gets. So sometimes, you know, it's kind of like, hey, you won, disappear, let us get our columns off, get our podcasts off, but you, you talking about it continues the new cycle and makes it longer. So that said, I don't really know if any self-contained statement, video explanation, anything is going to make it better or make people's reactions different. I think they're trying to maybe change the temperature on how people are reacting to this. And it's not working handy. Yeah.

Well, and like they can say, oh, but this is for our people. Your people already support you. Yeah. Your people are good. You don't need to worry about that. But let's answer some questions about this because there's a lot going on. We'll get to the, we'll do a little more on the video as well, but with some more free PR advice. But let's start with this question from Rich in New York.

great shows the last couple of weeks have just discovered you guys and a big college football fan have a question regarding the Big 12's response to Sorosby. Given that the Big 12 is threatened by the Texas Attorney General to not formally sanction Texas Tech for playing Sorosby,

could they instead write a formal public letter to the college football playoff and its leadership saying something to the effect of we are notifying you of a potential competitive integrity issue within our conference for the upcoming season. Due to a recent state court ruling, we are legally required to allow a player

who has been admitted to betting on his team and made prop bets against his own team. This will affect the competitive integrity of a number of games played in our conference this season and half our membership will be affected. We understand if this affects our conference and its members standing within the playoff for the upcoming season.

They also write similar public letters to the TV partners and also sports betting sites to indemnify risk and put down all affected games from being wagered on. If everything they write is objectively true statements, do you think that would be enough for the CFP to factor it in to be less legally challengeable than a direct Texas tech sanctioned?

I think these are smart questions. I do, Andy. I think people are thinking about it backwards. The biggest threat to the integrity of college football isn't Brendan Sorsby continuing to bet on games or being tempted to fix them. He's under a microscope. I think the integrity is incentivizing or not scaring people enough to not do it before they're caught. Like, that's the problem.

I will point out, because I don't think we've talked about this more than once this week. but in terms of fixing games, there are laws in every state and a federal law against fixing games. So that is still like, you can be criminally charged for that. There is a severe negative consequence available for that outside of the NCAA.

So just remember that. It's not like there are no penalties whatsoever for fixing games, because that's the ultimate concern here. But underage gambling, is also a crime. It is. And look, he could be charged for the stuff that he's admitted to. We know that, but they haven't charged him yet. Yeah. So. So this question from Austin, we're going to throw this in with the question from Rich. And oh, by the way, Rich is from New York.

He says, go next, by the way. So Austin says, hey, Andy and Ari, as you were talking about what the Big 12 could do in the Texas Tech Sorosby situation, you mentioned this but didn't drill into it. If the Big 12 amended their bylaws in some way that prevented Texas Tech from receiving conference TV money or any revenue distribution, would that be a big hit to their pockets and affect Texas Tech's decision making? How does the Big 12 distribution work and does have Cody Campbell make that or does having Cody Campbell, the billionaire who used to play for Texas Tech, make that option irrelevant? Love listening to you both. Okay. So here's the thing. They don't have to amend their bylaws to sanction Texas Tech in a way that takes away their conference revenue distribution.

They can just do that now. Now, what they, well, now is the part I messed up on. They can do that. They can say, we're not going to give you any of your conference revenue distribution if they vote to do that. They need a super majority. I believe they need 12 or 16 votes. They would get 15 if they decide to do anything. Here's the thing, Ari.

And I was texting with somebody smarter than me about this this morning. until Texas Tech plays Brendan Sorsby, they haven't done anything you can sanction them over. And if you watch part of that video, wrapping it back to that, there is the insinuation that they're unsure that he's going to play. So like, and I don't buy it. Obviously, you're pretending if you buy it, but until the guy takes the field,

there's still plausible deniability of, we want him on the team, we want him practicing, we want him around his guys, and all the things that you heard in the video, from a mental health standpoint, to help him through his recovery, but he has not taken a single snap for Texas Tech yet. So it's kind of hard to preemptively punish somebody or created a situation against somebody

that hasn't technically done anything yet. So that and then also I'm assuming that any sort of revenue stripping or competitive rules, whether that be with the CFP or within the Big 12 itself, will be sued into oblivion. So, like, you know, it's just, I know that people are trying to grasp at straws here to hold them accountable. But as Andy pointed out repeatedly throughout the week and I'm starting to come around to see myself, there aren't a lot of solutions to. Like, if you are got blood on your things. So I can tell you how they could do it if they wanted to. Yeah, give me a good, plausible one that could maybe happen.

Okay. I still don't think it's going to happen. But here's how they could do it if they wanted to. So the way the bylaws were written, they can amend the bylaws at any time with a super majority vote. They could amend the bylaws to say if anyone plays a person ruled ineligible by the NCAA, this is the penalty. And it would be whatever it is, suspended the, you know, suspend their conference membership, suspend the team from games, cancel the team's games, whatever they want to do. They could have that. And then that way, you then throw it back on Texas.

tech where the moment you put them on the field, you're pushing all your chips in. So obviously that would get sued too. There's no lawsuit that's, yeah, right. It's the entire defense of that is Sorsby has been permitted to play. And the thing is, the lawsuit. So as Rich's email addressed, Ken Paxton, the Texas Attorney General sent a letter to the Big 12 yesterday saying, if you sanction Texas Tech

Texas Tech will sue you in federal court on antitrust grounds they will sue you in state court on breach of contract and torture's interference grounds they will sue you in every court they can find essentially in every way they can sue you

but here's the thing about that there's no sanctions there's no lawsuit can't have sanctions until you do something wrong they don't do something wrong in the eyes of the Big 12 so you're telling him to plate chicken

with Texas Texas and Texas Tech will play chicken. Correct. This is a giant game of chicken. Yeah. Huge game of chicken. Now, the other piece of this, and I wrote a column about this that came out this morning, you and I were at Big 12 many days last year.

The most interesting thing Brett Yourmarked, Commissioner of Big 12 said, and this was in response to a question from a reporter from KSL in Salt Lake City. The question was, does one or two of the football programs in the Big 12 need to separate themselves, become elite, become national title contenders. Because the Big 12, minus Texas and Oklahoma, the first year they played. Arizona State won the league. And obviously, Arizona State probably should have beaten Texas in the Peach Bowl.

But if you watch that season, that 2024 season, the teams were very similar to one another. Like, of all the power conferences, the Big 12 had the least distance between the best team and the worst team. And what Brett Yormark was saying, is that that has to change. Somebody needs to separate in the way that Ohio State and Michigan and Oregon and Indiana are separated in the Big Ten,

in the way that Alabama and Georgia and LSU separated in the SEC. And now I think we can put Ole Miss and Texas in that group. Those are the teams, like the teams at the top need to be significantly better than the teams at the bottom. Well, guess who separated last year? Yeah. I don't know if you remember the same thing the commissioner said the league needed. That question's made a lot of hay for us because that was the angle of my column that I wrote about Texas Tech the day they won the Big 12 championship game last year.

Now, and I think I wrote it at Big 12 Media Day last year and then now this is a different sense. And I really enjoyed reading your column. And the thing that I would love to ask you because I'm curious and I've thought about this a lot in the last 24 hours since I've. read it. This might be a saws, I mean, sorry, a source of a ton of stress for Brett Yormark. I mean, obviously, you want somebody to separate, as you pointed out, but at the same time, you also don't want it to be with every other member institution that you, you know, rain over.

You don't want the other 15 schools angry at them and you. Do you think if you gave Brett Yormark truth serum that he is secretly pleased by this? Now, maybe that's... Please is not the word I'd use. Please is definitely not the word I'd use. We're talking about the man who, like, was integrating WWE into the promotional aspect of his... Oh, no, I know.

Is he willing to work with it? I bet he's willing to work with it. I bet if we gave him truth to him, he'd say, I'm willing to work with this. I can work with this. Like, do you think if you ask, would you rather this happen or would you rather, like, pleased might be dramatic. Yeah.

Would you rather this be happening, or would you rather Texas Tech just be another team in the big club? I think he's looking at a hundred times out of a hundred. If I'm looking at it from his perspective, one, I don't want to deal with the lawsuits. I don't want to deal with all of that. Two, what's going to get watched more? Texas Tech playing with Brendan Sorsby, Texas Tech playing without Brendan Sorsby, or Texas Tech not allowed to play at all.

I can tell you right now, one of those will be watched more than the other two. Yeah. It's like on one hand, I understand and respect and am displeased with the ruling. that's like the podcaster college football lover, you know, add on. It doesn't make sense that the NCAA can't enforce rules against gambling on your own team. Like that is from a fan perspective. Baseline of this thing. Yeah.

Purely fan perspective. If I were just a random West Virginia fan. Yeah. Or maybe somebody outside of the conference would be a better example. What if I was just a Syracuse fan? and I just like watching college football all day on Saturday. I think that this is probably a net positive for the entertainment value of the sport. Now, obviously, that is a huge gamble, pun intended.

Pardon the pun. Because you also cannot, under any circumstances, risk the sanctity and the integrity of the results of the games. But I actually don't view it that way. The way that I pointed it out a minute ago, I don't think that Brendan Sorsby, is inherently any higher of a risk now than anyone else. I think that letting him play sends a message and doesn't scare people who are thinking about doing those things enough. So that's what scares me the most about it.

I think that Brendan Sorsby, you can make the case as probably the least likely person to wager or fix a game now. He's under a microscope. Plus, he's got a ton of money. And if he plays well, he's going to be an NFL draft pick. Although there is one converse thought process that, Andy, which is Texas Tech. defense or, you know, yet defense in his eligibility case was that he is suffering from a mental illness that has caused him to do this, which means that there's a risk of relapse in that,

in that regard. Because if it is something that is a addiction, and honestly, I don't know how you take it. It doesn't matter how many incentives you put in front of somebody. If it's a true addiction, that's a danger. There are a lot of people who have given into addiction, despite what's best for them. Well, Arch Leicester, sure. Former Ohio State quarterback had all the town in the world. Could not stop.

And never stopped even after his football career was over. Yeah, yeah. You know, when I first got on the beat, an older reporter told me when I was on the Ohio State beat, he goes, if Arch Sleester ever asks you for money, don't give it to him. That was like the first thing someone told me. Like that, it's like real.

But at the same time, I know that there's been a lot of resentment in the way that the messaging has been given out too about addiction and, you know, giving it a timetable for, you know, when he might be returning based on the recovery from that addiction as if this is like some sort of three-month process of rehab, like you're recovering from me. It probably magically ends right before the Houston game. Yeah. Like, I think that if you're a real gambling addict, this is a struggle that you carry with you

through the rest of your life. So, like, it's a very complicated situation. But in terms of Brendan Sorsby, playing in games for tests. and ruining the integrity of the specific games that he's participating in, especially considering the fact that he has never wagered to our knowledge on games that he has participated in, plus the magnifying glass, I wouldn't be too worried about that for the upcoming season. Again, what I'm worried about is some random player on.

You need to be able to have the rule and be able to enforce it. That's the bottom line. The rule has to be there. And it's not just enforcing it, Andy. It's hammer down enforcement. Let's go to the video that they put out. This is Lawrence Chauvinak. This is the president of Texas Tech talking about the rules.

Circumstances in their individual case, you see things differently. Now, we did ask the NCAA to consider modifying or changing their policies when we wrote that letter walking him back. But I think we have to recognize that the rules in place now were made long before there were millions of young people walking around with illegal gambling apparatus in their pocket. and that our consideration today needs to have taken to account of the fact of medically diagnosed conditions and the circumstances in which they live. And so I'm very proud to be sitting here with these colleagues supporting Brendan, but that support goes way beyond this room. Okay.

So he says that they asked the NCAA reconsider its rules. What's interesting is the NCAA did reconsider its rules last year. They actually loosened them up. They said, hey, we understand that gambling has become a part of the culture on college campuses. We understand that legal adults are allowed to gamble. So we're going to change the rules so that the players can bet on professional games. Like if they want to bet on NFL games and NBA games, they can bet on them. And there's no penalty.

They left the penalties in place for gambling on college games and, of course, for gambling on your own team's games. this rule never got changed because the schools and the conferences rescinded the rule change they said no this is this is dangerous don't do this guess what was one of the schools that voted to rescind the loosening of the rules are they in lubbock they are in lubbock so laur shodong they have said that recently but he didn't say it when he had a chance to actually defend it last year he could have if he stood up last year and said that hey guys we should let this rule change go through. Yeah.

All rules are local. Funny how it changes when it's your quarterback. Yeah. All politics are local. Yep. All rules are local. All circumstances are local. Everybody wants rules until they apply to them.

So, yeah. I, and the funny thing is, Andy, I actually think that there is some truth to that. Like the rules, the archaic rules or the rules that were written when Pete Rose was gambling, you had to go more out of your way in order to wager on sports back. You needed a bookie. Like, I mean, hey, casino right here.

You know, like, so it's, maybe there has to be some thought into it, but I do think that the gambling rules, and like we get accused of this all the time of like, oh, we're sponsored by a gambling platform and we're proud of that. But at the same time, as it's prolific proliferation into society. then we have to rethink how things are applied because, you know, rules that were written and God knows what you're, are changing and worthy of looking at, much like we do with everything in society as we advance and evolve.

Well, to go back to our first question from Rich, he talked about could the Big 12 write a letter to the sports books saying, hey, this is a potential possibility? Like, the sports books already know this. they follow this stuff as closely as anybody and here's all you need to know like I'm looking at bad MGM right now do you know who's back on the board

for the Heisman odds it's Brendan Sorsby he's plus two thousand way down now yeah but I don't think you know and they don't care so I think he can have

the single greatest individual season and I don't think he can win the Heisman I don't think so either and then the other point of the the college football playoff committee, would they just not vote for Texas Tech? If Texas Tech is 12 and 0, there's no way in hell they're not voting for them. If they're on the bubble, maybe it's a little bit different. Maybe that creeps in if they're on the bubble.

But. No, I think they need to take a hard line stance on how they view Texas Tech and adhere to that regardless of where they are in the poll the whole time. I don't think they'll do that. I think they will just vote on them as a team and their performance as a team. No, so what I'm saying is if they do that, then the last part, of what you just said is if they're on the bubble, that's bullshit. Either do it or no.

Probably, but that's, they can get away with it if they're on the bubble. If somebody wants to say, well, I want to stick it to them. They can get away with it. We don't want prejudice. We want guidelines and we want consistency. So, you know, human nature is human nature. And I guess there's no accounting for how people react if they're 13th or 11th. But, you know, I do think that, you know, this is the reality we're living in.

And it does kind of feel like we're, I mean, I said this earlier in the week, and it still kind of feels this way, but like if you are uncomfortable with the Brendan Sorsby playing situation, you were being held hostage by a court ruling. Like there's no, there's no escape hatch here. Like this, it is what it is. Now, I'm very curious, Andy. And I don't know if even one percent of me believes this, but do you think there is a world? Because Joe McGuire did say this when he was at the quarterback club a few days ago,

that it would be a stretch to expect Sorsby to be back by week three. you think that there's any possible chance that they will hold him out for longer than just the two game suspension, both because, A, they probably don't need him in some of those extra games. And two, it's better optically. And then three, if he comes back. And Houston is a game you need to play him in. You don't have that many hard games. And Houston's one of them.

Yeah. And it's a conference game. So you don't even have the ability to be like, well, we can even lose that and be fine. Yeah, I don't think you, if the court says you can play him and you've decided you're going to play him, and then play him. Yeah. Like, there's no reason to not. We had a 22-minute round table.

This is where I come in on the video, Ari. This is where I come in on the video. Yeah. Shut up. Your people love you. Everyone else hates you. And that's fine. 22 minutes of explaining why they are doing this for the well-being of Brendan

means that maybe they're more bought into the optics of this than we give them credit for. And maybe that, That means they don't actually care how they feel. I don't. I don't. And no one else does either. Texas Tech fans will love them and want them to do this because they want to win. Everyone else will not because they would like there to be rules about not being able to gamble on your own team.

It's that simple. It's very cut and dried. Yeah. You can try to convince people all you want. You won't. So don't bother. Yeah. You got to rescue me from Gallup.

Alex E. Brain, Andy, I have a tendency to overthink it. Well, let's, let's, let's, you know what actually would be the best of the river. Let's close a question from Andy, Ari, as we close this out, this topic. If you're LSU and you spent the whole offseason cultivating the whole villain persona, are you annoyed Texas Tech stole your thunder or are you relieved? Well, I'm happy that you asked that question because I think what River just sent us in the text is important too. It's like, I think that the PR, that Texas Tech or the, what's it, the disaster relief,

How do you pronounce it or me? How do you say it when you hire somebody? Crisis manager. Crisis PR, yeah. Whoever is advising them, like whatever crisis PR firm they hired, they're lighting your money on fire. Like, you should not have paid them. They're stealing from you. So they've been very bad at crisis management.

And I actually think that optically it looks worse now than it would have been if they just kept their mouth shut. Should Texas Tech post a 30-second clip to their team account of like Kenny Rogers's song and that Brendan Soresby? highlight tape and then like probably not that either but I'd laugh my ass off if they did but I'm just saying like just do it and just be like double bird everybody we're playing come beat us like and just really embrace that villain aspect of it or are you like because I actually feel like it's worse to try to get everybody to like you again it's it makes no difference and I'm glad Andy asked about LSU because you know Lane Kiffin is a lightning rod and has become the sports biggest villain.

And I will argue, like, once the season begins, actually when we get to SEC media days, probably, he will still be the sports biggest villain, more than Texas Tech, because LSU is just a bigger brand than Texas Tech. And so, but Lane kind of the same thing, like still wants everybody to like him and hasn't quite accepted that maybe people just won't like you. Who are the best villains in college football's history off the top of your head who embraced being hated? Harbaugh. That's a good one. Jim Harbaugh didn't care if you liked him. Yeah.

Because I think that that's part of being a villain. Yeah. I don't think Sabin cared a little bit, but not really. It just, it was an external thing. He couldn't control. Sabin was great at understanding what was external and uncontrollable and just didn't mess with it. Yeah. Like, this is out of your control, how people perceive you.

stop trying. Like deal with the legal aspect. Like have your lawyers threaten. Your billionaire booster is a frequent donor to the Ken Paxton for Senate campaign. So yeah, sure, have him send a letter. That can actually help you. That video doesn't help you at all. It's just a waste of time.

Yeah. All right. It was long, too. Texas Texas Tech yeah it Do we have the TCU tweet because that was hilarious let's show the TCU tweet Okay yes it's the famous

I'm sorry that happened I ain't watching all that I'm sorry that happened to you or congratulations it's the best that works for almost anything I used it myself on somebody yesterday Yeah Yep All right. One more thing, though, because this leads in, the Texas Tech thing leads into this before we start talking to actual football, one more thing. And this is from our friend Matt, the Georgia fan.

Dear Annie, I expressed to y'all last week, the Soresby ruling was a major black pill moment for me as a college football fan. We've also spoken previously about my stepping back to only watching Georgia games last year. This game I love has been irrevocably changed in ways I hate in the very core of my being. With that Texas judge granting Sorsby's injunction, it was about as low as I could go. If the integrity of the very game is compromised, there is no sport at all. It will be destroyed. However, seeing all college football fans from every other possible school unite against this attack on the very heart of the game has buoyed my sunken spirit.

Seeing Michigan fans agree with Ohio State fans, seeing Bambers unite with Barners. That would be Alabama and Auburn fans. Seeing Longhorns, Aggies, and Sooners all react with the same disgust. And even seeing some loathom gaiters stand tall with my fellow dogs has given me back some of the feeling I've lost. Then came Freddie. For about a week now, I've observed this genuine, polite, well-mannered German soccer fan

and enjoy the beautiful natural wonders of my home state of Georgia and other southern states as he travels to watch soccer before and during the World Cup. He marveled at the city in a forest that is Atlanta. He drove through Gainesville, Georgia, and couldn't believe the beautiful old mansions that line Green Street. He made his way to Helen to shoot the hooch. He went to the top of Brastown Ball and Lookout Mountain. He ate at Waffle House and went to Buckees. He saw the War Eagle Circle Jordan here and watched the soccer game

of 85,000 other people like it was at college football. game. He reacted with excitement and wonder the entire time. With every post on X, Freddie has found himself beloved by all CFB fans everywhere, as we all want him to return in autumn to see Sanford Stadium, Death Valley, the big house, or the shoe for a big time game. He has united us in our love of country and maybe in forgetting how great we have it here. But seeing America through Freddie's eyes has helped us remember what too many of us take for granted. As righteous anger has united us in the Sorosby situation and remembrance of the wonders of America as documented by a German soccer fan has united at all in love and fellowship. God bless Freddie. God best our insane

favorite game of college football and God bless America. Yeah. I mean, it's like, hell yeah, man. Hell yeah. July 4th, which is around the corner. But like I read something, there was a famous quote and maybe you'll just know who said it off the top of your head. I can't remember who said it. But it said if you want to hate America, watch television, if you want to love America, drive across it. Like it's kind of like. Well, and I compared what Freddie's doing to to Alexis de Tocqueville, who traveled through America in the early 1800s, wrote a book about it when he got back to France. And it basically said, this is, these people are trying this version of government,

they're trying to create a country this way because at a time is a very young country. And he's telling the Europeans, hey, it's working. It's pretty cool. And I think that's what we've done with Buckees and the, Coke freestyle machine. I mean, I think the thing that is so amusing by it, too, is that like a lot of the things that he is posting about, um, kind of go into like the way that foreigners view us, which is like fat and excessive, you know, where it's like buckies and the chicken sandwiches and the Wendy's and all the things that he's been eating. Um, and it's like, that's why it's so funny. It's like, holy crap, I discovered a gas station. No, but it's the driving through Atlanta and saying it's like the whole cities of forest. Like, yeah, it is. when you drive through this country, because it's so different geologically, geographically, from one coast to another, from one, you know, in, you know, one line of latitude to another. And it's amazing when you really think about it.

It's really, I mean, when you think about, like, the national parks on the West Coast and some of the things like, I mean, he was just like posting a sunset from the Gulf Shores of Bama the other night, right? Like, and it was just like a most beautiful, serene thing that you could ever see. And it's like pretty amazing like when you think about like I mean I watch I don't know if I'm like becoming like old but like I watch YouTube videos of people like driving down Route 66 and like stopping at some of the places that are along the way and how different you know just the elevation and the scenery and the temperature and you know the topography it's all I mean like our country and I don't know I'm no expert on beauty beauty I know Italy's pretty and there's a lot of you know places in the world that you would want to go visit but from top to bottom when you think about some of the scenery that we have. have just from a from a natural beauty standpoint and how diverse that is it's pretty remarkable so like I'm pretty proud to be an American. And I always get mad when people, I see people criticizing this country and saying this is a terrible place to live and and I like my stock joke is we're better than every other country just because of free refill is nice in our drinks.

But the fact of the matter is we got it really good here. Yeah. Really good. That doesn't mean that you don't take things that you're passionate about seriously. but I think when you zoom out from all the things that you get angry about on a day-to-day basis, like go drive to Sedona, you know? You know, you can do that. And Matt's point about college football is also correct.

Like, it is, it's a messy sport. Like, we have a show in part because it's such a messy sport. But sometimes people agree on some things. Yeah, I also think, too, that as much as an Alabama and Georgia, a fan might want to strangle each other online, that there is a certain joint appreciation slash community in college football where loving the sport and enjoying it for what it is, like fans from rival schools can agree on those types of things. Oh, yeah.

Like I think that we get bogged down sometimes by how angry and how vicious some people are online. But like when you actually do go to stadiums and we go to a lot of them, Andy, how many times do you see fans from opposing teams just having a beer at a tailgate and enjoying themselves together because they love the spectacle. You know, like it's a pretty, pretty cool thing. And I think that a lot of what Freddie's doing is getting intention because people just love, like, American pride. But the fact that it coincided with Auburn and War Eagle, I think, is really unique.

Yeah. All right. On to football. We have been going through the power rankings for the various power conferences this week. And we are here at the ACC. I'm the one who did the ACCC power ranking. He's feel free to yell at me about them. For our podcast listeners, I can go through them for you.

I've got Miami number one, SMU 2, Virginia 3, Louisville 4, Clemson 5, Duke 6, Virginia Tech 7, Cal 8, Wake Forest 9, NC State 10, Pitt 11, Georgia Tech 12, Florida State 13, Syracuse 14, North Carolina 15, Stanford 16, and Boston College, 17. So, Ari, this I don't think is going to be as controversial as the Big 10 of the SEC. because I think everybody feels like one team is the best in this conference, but the craziest part of that is the team I have, number one, the team that I think most people agree is the best team in the ACC, has never won an ACC title. They've been in the league since 2004 and have never won an ACC title. Yeah, I'm ashamed to admit this because this is a podcast

and we're supposed to scream at each other sometimes. But it's like, I look at the list and it's just like, okay, that makes sense. Because I think once you get to like nine, it's like, okay, good luck. Or once you get to eight, good luck. Yeah. I do think that Clemson's positioning in this is the most interesting thing because of the Clemson discussion, but we've had that recently. I do think that this is an illustration, though, of Miami's ascension.

If you wanted to get into a Miami discussion, I do think that last year wasn't a lightning and a bottle scenario. I think that this is the beginning of a pretty consistent operation that is in the mix for national championships for years to come. We love what Miami has done from a talent acquisition standpoint, both succeeding in high school recruiting but also in the portal. I love Mario Cristobal's entire mentality of beefing up up front and pairing those lines with incredible skill talent. He's done that yet again, even more so offensively than last year, my opinion. They're in a very advantageous part of Florida that makes it sustainable both from a high school resources standpoint,

but also a very attractive portal destination who wouldn't want to play Miami at Miami or in Miami. I think that they've got it all cooking right now. And obviously, the most important thing is they're pretty rich. So, you know, they're doing what they can. And I do think that there isn't a single person out there, you know, Florida State fan even that would disagree with them being number one on this list. Oh, the Florida State fans, they were actually getting on me tongue in cheek by saying I rank them too high. That's where they are right now. So that's where the Florida State fans are. This was hard for me because I think I feel good about SMU at number two because if we just go through the last few years,

SMU has been consistently probably the second best team in the conference. And they probably should have made the championship game against Virginia last year. They gave up a touchdown on the last drive against Cal. The craziest part about that, Ari, the guy who scored the touchdown for Cal to beat SMU, you know where he's playing this year? SMU? Yeah, Kendra Crack the L. Yeah.

So it's not just Darian Mensa leaving Duke for Miami. There are other intra-conference transfers at play here. But, you know, when you get into the middle, though, and I, shoot, by the middle, I can probably start. grinding your teeth. Honestly, at three at Virginia, because like Virginia was seven and one in the league last year. They had a great year. They won 11 games, but they won a ton of close games, you know, double overtime against Florida State, overtime against Louisville, overtime against North Carolina, two-point win against Washington State.

Their loss to Wake Forest was a one-possession game. Their loss to Duke was in overtime in the ACC championship game. So they played so many close games, which tells you they're probably not that much different than the other teams that we're talking about. Because all those teams are in that block in the middle there. And so other than Washington State was not in league. But so I don't know necessarily if that means they're that much better. But I will tell you, Virginia bringing back most of its offensive line and the two other guys who are quote unquote, new starters were guys who are going to start last year and got hurt in preseason.

I feel very good about that. That makes me believe that Tony Elliott can keep this thing going at Virginia. So I felt pretty good about that. After that, it's tough. You know, the Louisville is basically a vote for Jeff Brom, just believing in him as a coach. I do think James Franklin's going to make Virginia Tech better right now, but I don't know how much better immediately. We love Jake Dickert on this show at Wake up.

Forest. I worry I might have them a little low at nine, but I think, you know, we saw JKS at Cal. And obviously, we don't know how good Tosh Lopoy is as a game day coach yet, because we haven't seen that. But very easy to buy into him. Easy to buy into him. Easy to buy into his roster building strategy. We know he can build a roster. Duke is the defending conference champion. Sure, they lost five games last year. Three of them were out of conference. But I would argue that Duke has become a different type of program in the NIL transfer portal era? Because this was historically a very bad program. You know, you think about the best years Duke had,

Steve Spurrier took him to an ACC title, David Cuckliff took them to one ACC title game. Even the best coaches they had could not really sustain success. But in this era, you had Mike Elko who won nine games, I believe he won nine games both years. He might have won nine and eight. But then Mani Diaz comes in, wins nine. both of his first two years there,

I think Duke's different now. I think it's, one, they've hired well. Elko and Diaz are very good coaches, but also their administration has handled this era better than most schools. Yeah, Duke's kind of confusing to me because at the same time, while they've been consistent,

they've also not been able to hold on to their best players. And maybe that's because it takes a few years to climb the totem pole before, but like, you know, the thing that stinks to me about NIL. And this isn't because I am resentful of people making more money. It's more so just like the consistency of building something that makes it harder for lower tier teams is that I wish that players like Darian Mensa didn't feel the need to leave. Now, I don't know what he was offered. How did he get to Duke?

Same deal. I know. I know. Okay. So what do you? Why does Duke get the sympathy and not? too late. Oh, no, they all do. They all do. Okay. I just mean, um, listen, I don't have to pretend like I care more for as a viewing experience about the G, the, the, the P5 and the P4 than the group of

five. And like, it's kind of always been a little bit like that, um, in terms of, of, but it would have been cool if he stayed there for three years and was a top 10 pick for Tulane too, you know, yeah, but it's just, it's hard to sustain it. And it would be cool if a quarterback who leads your team to a power four title stays on your team. Like I don't think that's like a weird thing to think. So I'm not upset that he's at Miami. It's going to be great. Miami's going to be awesome and he's going to be fun to watch.

But if I'm Mani Diaz, it's like I'm kind of pulling my hair out because it's like we're trying to ascend here. And the players that I'm bringing in that are helping me ascend or leaving. And what does a program have to do? What did Mani Diaz say when he was on with us? I remember. He was on at the ACC meetings. He said the transfer portal has given us more than it has taken. And so he's not going to complete.

about it. Yeah. Yeah, and it's not even a complaining thing, but you know, you always think that like quarterbacks are the ones that will probably stay if things are going well. And things went pretty well there for him. Producer River asks me who on the right side of the graphic, which would be the teams from 10 to 17, would I be least surprised to see on the left side of the graphic if we're looking at the standings at the end of the season? I have Georgia Tech at 12.

I may, I may have them too low, but they're having to replace a ton. You know, they lost both coordinators. They lost Haynes King, who was a dynamic transformational quarterback for them. So that's why I've got Philo, too. They lost Aaron Filo, who would have been the starting quarterback, but they bring in Alberto Mendoza, Fernando's little brother. How good is? Does anybody know how good Alberto Mendoza is?

Because I am fascinated by that guy. We don't know that. We have no idea. Because personally, Netti did say that they tried to keep him. Yeah, yep. So we have no idea how good he's going to be. We don't know how good George Gotti is going to be as the play caller. George Gotti's been in the NFL coaching tight ends with John Harbour on the Ravens for the last few years.

So we know that George Gotti and Brent Key played together. They're very good friends. They understand one another very well. So I think that'll help. Justice Haynes is on this roster now, who I think is going to gain a lot of yards in the ACC. But runs hard. And I feel like Justice Haynes kind of epitomizes how Georgia Tech wants to play. Which is crazy because he's the same.

of a, you know, very famous former Georgia player. So this is going to be interesting to watch because they're one, I think I may have too low, but I just, it was a case of not knowing how they'll adjust. And actually, from talking to Brent Key, when I talked to him at ACC meetings, he made a point that he didn't feel like they handled success very well, that he could actually see it coming, the slide at the end of the last season as their schedule got harder. And he said, I mean, he admitted it on the show. Like, he's like, I got to do a better job of helping us handle that.

And I think if you look at the schedule, it's not easy to start out with. You know, they start with Colorado and Tennessee. We've got two easy games to start. Yeah. But then Duke and Virginia Tech are there, or how they open up ACC play after Stanford. That's not easy. I mean, but we're too glorified by week. they could really get, they could really get hot.

Oh, you're just messing with River now. Good Lord. How dare you? I was messing with him from the beginning and you didn't react to it. Oh, Twitter. Go get Ari right now. I'm going to get to a second. My favorite pastime in this podcast is whenever Tennessee comes up, like, just like looking at him while you're talking or I'm talking, just like seeing how's River reacting?

Because it's a good window. Because I think that River's like a nice, sweet boy. Yeah. He's our River boy. but he also is like 10% Vol Twitter. So like if he reacts positively, then we know but Vol Twitter is going to react. Exactly.

Let me ask you this. I want to look at my 7, 8, and 9 selections. I want to ask you of Virginia Tech, Cal or Wake Forest. Which one would you be least surprised to see in the ACC championship game? Virginia Tech. Okay. Just an instant upgrade with James Franklin with some of the, you know, it's interesting because we talk to James Franklin

and we outlined who he brought from Penn State. They kept a lot from Virginia Tech. And it's not an accident because Brent Pry, who was their head coach last year who got fired, is their defensive coordinator under James Franklin, who is his former boss? They brought 12 players from Penn State. So I'm just assuming that there's like an influx of top tier talent.

And like I know that Penn State had a really rough year last year. It's not because they had bad players. So, and maybe this is the reason why James Franklin is at Virginia Tech right now. But I do think that the influx of talent onto a roster that's retaining a ton of players, plus James Franklin's MO as a coach, which is to get more out of, and people always focus on like, oh, he has such a terrible record against top five teams. Half of time they were playing, they were playing Ohio State on the road. like he's really good at getting more out of less too like isn't james franklin kind of like the

original like he won nine games two years in a row at vanderbilt as good of it like clark lee's clarkley won 10 last year but and like we've been a win next year like that it's hard i don't know that i'm predicting they'll make the the the acc championship game but if you're buying in on teams yeah no what i what i asked was who'd you be least surprised by it if i were if i'm just predicting who I think with seven, eight, nine, Andy, you probably hit the order correctly in terms of what, most likely. Now, I don't know, you might have made a case to just to flap, uh, or flip Cal and Wake Forest. Like, I mean, Tosh LaPoy was on our show and I'm as fired up as you about it. Um, and they have JKS. So like, certainly there's something to like there. Um,

but if you wanted to put, um, them a slot down and move Wake Forest up because of the success that Wake Force is already illustrated in ACC play under Jake Dickert, I would understand that. But I'm kind of like in a pretzel with the ACC and I'm frankly happy I didn't have to do it. So if we go to the far far end, like I have

Syracuse 14. Like if Steve Angelie's healthy? Yeah. Remember, they won nine games year one when Kyle McCord was playing for him. Yeah. They were playing very well with Angelie last year before he got hurt. They were winning, they win the game at Clemson. That's the game he gets hurt in.

I mean, the hardest part about like, so Chris Lowe and I got the brunt of the stick because we have the most reaction in people who get angry. But we got the, the nice end of the stick. Is there a nice end of the stick? Maybe. Because there are clear lines of demarcation within the conference of who belongs in the SEC, the Big Ten. Yeah. And like in the ACC, it's kind of more muddled, which makes it more difficult. North Carolina is an interesting one because they did get better defensively as last season went on.

Their offense never really turned around. But that's the thing they changed. You know, they went out and got Bobby Petrino, who is, I mean, we, we, no offense to Freddie Kitchens, Bob Petrino's a better college play caller than Freddy Kitchens. We already know that. He's got a pretty long demonstrated history of being a very good college play caller. They don't have players, man. But that's why I have them where I have them.

You didn't see them beating a lot of power conference schools for transfer portal guys. and if you just look at who they're competing against, it doesn't look like they're competing against the schools that you need to compete against if you want to be at the top of your conference. Yeah. And frankly speaking, I don't think that North Carolina should be, I mean,

at least we're not dead last, but, you know, well, Boston College is dead last because they just don't give them any, like Blake James, when he brought Bill O'Brien back, Blake James is the AD there,

said, okay, we're going to, now we're going to fully fund RevShare. Like you weren't already? You're in the ACC. Yeah. Bill O'Brien is basically behind the eight ball.

There's like there's nothing he can do. Which makes it not fun, honestly. It's like if you were like, hey, you want to go play around a golf with your buddies? Yeah, everybody gets a full set and you get three clubs. Yeah. Yeah. Like would you have fun playing? Yeah.

Exactly. And then Florida State, we've talked about plenty. It doesn't, it feels like it's running out the string at this point. Yeah. Check back in November. Yeah. I mean, maybe Ashton Daniels makes a difference. We'll find out. But yeah, I think the top is pretty easy with the ACC. It's just the middle is everybody's pretty similar. And I don't know where everybody winds up. Yep.

Ari. Graph time. Speaking of difficult choices, it is draft time. It's Friday. We're drafting. The best wide receivers in college football since 2000. this is I was making the big board it's really hard because there's a few guys that are kind of one season wonders which look when we did quarterbacks nobody argued with cam newton being on on anybody's list and he was a one season guy so I think we need to accept that but also it's like I also draft more on feelings and memory and you probably draft more on like hardware and stats so it's like I feel like I'm I'm pretty feelings based as well I've been looking, I looked at a few lists that I saw of people who attempted to do what we're doing now, who have players very low on their list that were, in my opinion, top five players at the position. And I don't know what the stats are.

I didn't go look up everyone's stats to remember. But there are a lot of really good players. And if we're only doing five each, like there's going to be a ton left off. And we're going to get hit over the coals a little bit. But I think this will be a pretty good time. We haven't decided who's going to pick first, but all I care about is we go every other. Oh, that's fine. That's fine.

Well, I picked first the last time you and I did. No, you picked first. Yeah, you're up. You pick first at the Rose Bowl. So I will pick first. Are you going to pick the guy in the graphic? The man in the graphic, if I don't pick him, you're probably picking him next. But I'm probably not going to pick for those, the podcast listeners, Michael Crabtree's in the graphic.

I think I know who you're going to. And my number one pick of the best wide receiver since 2000 in college football, I will take the only wide receiver in the 2000s who won a Heisman trophy, Devante Smith. That's who I was going to take. So this sucks. Devante Smith is just crazy when you think about it. Like the season he won the Heisman trophy was just unbelievable.

117 catches, 1,856 yards, 23 receiving touchdowns, 15.9 yards per catch. I will point you to his junior year to 2019 when he was playing alongside three other first-round receivers. Because remember, like in his senior year, Jalen Waddle was hurt for most of that season. Like, Smith had to take on more of the load. In his junior year, he was not necessarily always the first option. He did lead Alabama in receiving, though, with 68 catches for 1,256 yards, 14 receiving TDs, he average 18.5 yards a catch. He was incredible.

And oh, by the way, in his freshman year when he only caught eight balls, one of those balls won the national title. You've, like, put me in a really bad spot because there's somebody I absolutely have to have. I have to. I have to have this person. And I'm afraid. But no, now I'm worried about optics. This is what happens with these graphics, because if I take the other person,

then you're going to take Crabtree, and then you're going to look like you won the draft. It's like, it's annoying. Because I will have won the draft. If I get DeVante Smith and my whole Crabtree, I will have won the draft. All right, I'm going to take Crabtree because the guy had 2,000 yards

and 22 touchdowns in a season. He also had one of the most iconic in college football. So I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to take the risk of hope and putting the person that I have to have out there on my list. And I have a clue that I was going to give you of who I'm going to take. But I'm going to not say anything else. I'm going to shut up.

I don't want to go. Just who's your next pick? Well, okay. Here's my problem is one guy did his damage over two seasons and is an all-time great. And one guy did his damage over one season because the pandemic. made it where he didn't play in what would have been his last season. So that's what I've got to figure out which of these two guys should I take. Because you're going to take the other one if I don't take it.

Who do you think I'm talking about? Is that bad drafting? I think you're talking about Larry Fitzgerald. I'm not. Oh, okay. Well, I was going to, Larry Fitzgerald was definitely on, you know, right on the board. because that 2003 season, 92 catches,

1,672 yards, 22 receiving TDs. But I'm not going to take him. I'm going to take Jamar Chase. Okay. You want to hear this season? Now remember, Jamar Chase

doesn't play in 2020 because of the pandemic. So really, this is the only season and it is alongside Justin Jefferson in the same reception. receiving core.

84 catches, 1,700,80 yards, 21.2 yards per catch, 20 receiving touchdowns. Yeah. Yeah, very good season. Pretty incredible. Okay. I'm going to take Larry Fitzgerald. Okay. I feared you would.

I'm like trying not to overthink this stuff because I have some bonkers picks. Like, and maybe I'll share it with you after, but I just know people are going to like this guy's an idiot and I just don't want to go through it today. Larry Fitzgerald had one of the most iconic seasons that I can remember as a child. And, you know, obviously it also helps because there are players on this list, Andy, that I think, and maybe Michael Crabtree is one of them that didn't turn out to be all pros or turn out to be like huge NFL legends. Larry Fitzgerald obviously was able to do that. And I don't know who else we're going to pick, but I'm assuming,

based on the way you're picking, then neither one of us is going to pick Calvin Johnson. Because if you look at Georgia Tech, Calvin Johnson, just, and really, we can probably blame Chan Gayley for that. I'm not going to take Calvin Johnson in the draft. I didn't plan to, I kind of view it the same way as like the Patrick Mahomes pick that you had during the quarterback. But Patrick Mahomes still had insane numbers in college. Calvin Johnson didn't.

Yeah. And it's just like, it's unfair because it's like some players. had really great college careers and seasons and like just never made it in the NFL and I'm just not taking the NFL into account but Larry Fitzgerald obviously threads both of those needles perfectly and was great in college, was great in the pros and obviously one of the greatest receivers

that ever walked the face of the earth. So this is like I said, it just gets tougher and tougher because there's not obvious, obvious people. people. Don't take him. And then you have to decide. I left my guy out there again.

Just don't take my guy. I'm taking him with my next pick no matter what. I wonder if this is him. Jeremiah Smith. No, but I was going to take him. Yeah. I'll take him now. I'll take him now.

He's already there. He's already had 2,000 yard receiving seasons. He's the best player in the country. he's helped his team to a national championship. He's going to do it again this year. It doesn't even matter if he does it again this year. Yeah. He's already put up good enough numbers.

He'll probably put up even better numbers this year. So were any of the players that have already been drafted before this, any of the three players that were taken or four players that were taken before Jeremiah Smith ever been said to have been physically able to be a number one receiver on half the league when they were a sophomore? the number one receiver in the NFL, like from a physical, like, here's the thing with Jeremiah Smith. Maybe, you know, maybe Larry Fitzgerald, but he didn't, like, his numbers is, because remember he didn't play his freshman year. His numbers as a sophomore were good, but then it was, it was the junior year where he really blew, a redshirt sophomore, really blew up.

I think you could make the case that Jeremiah Smith could have been the number one overall pick for one of us. And I think that's kind of disrespectful to the legends of the game, which is why I didn't do it. but I think getting him in the third round is great value and I'm happy we're starting to veer off the obvious choices because I'm going off the deep end here next. You ready? I go for it. I just have to, Percy Harvin, man.

He's like literally maybe one of the greatest players of all time at any position. You saved me from the Homer pick because I was going to take him to. Like that Percy Harvin was who I almost took number one overall. Like I cannot believe that he would have fallen this far. And like I get it. Like he wasn't like a true like down the field. long guy who was going to jump over. No, he was a weapon.

They used him in different ways. And part of it also was because Percy wasn't available every game. You know, he got hurt in 2008 and he had to come back for the national title game. It's, that's a piece of it too, is you didn't get the every game production because there were some injury things. Yeah. But I just remember, like, some of my earliest men. memories as a college football fan were watching Reggie Bush.

And I felt like Percy Harvin is like the next generation's Reggie Bush. Maybe not as juky. But when he touched the ball, it was, he was gone. I mean, like, it was just in the way they used to. When they lined up a tailback, his freshman year in the SEC championship game against Arkansas, like you knew the second he touched the ball was a touchdown. Yeah. It was insane.

And I don't really remember because his statistics aren't ever going to be like if you go look at like his receiving statistics. I don't think he ever broke a thousand yards in a season. And but at the same time, he rushed for almost 2,000 yards in his career. Again, maybe that's a neg on what we're drafting, which is pure receiver. No, I think it's as a weapon. My next guy is going to be a weapon too. Okay. Then I'll let you do it.

Tavon Austin. That was my next pick. but I went Pat, Pat White in the quarterback draft, you can have Tavon Austin. Yeah. So 2,000 yard receiving seasons, his junior and senior year, he had 100 catches or more in both those years. His senior years probably when they really, Dana Hogerson really figured out how to use him the best. 114 catches, 1,289 yards, 12 receiving touchdowns. Also 72 carries for 643 yards, 8.9 yards of carry and three rushing touchdowns.

he was unstoppable his senior year. Yeah. Yeah. Very good pick. Obviously, video game guy. Really hard to go against it. Now I am going to go with somebody who was a complete flop in the NFL. Oh, no.

This is who I want. How dare you? Did he play in Stillwater, Oklahoma? He sure did. Oh, no. Justin Blackman, number four. For, uh, Andy. I know that he was amazing handy I don't know what happened I actually like redoing this draft

he actually was and the thing was he was kind of good early in his NFL career and then it just fell apart Andy sophomore year 2010 110 111 receptions 17182 yards 16.1 yards per reception 20 touchdowns 2011. And that was only in 12 games play. 13 games, 1222 receptions, 1522 yards, 12.5 yards per reception, 18 yards. Truly an unbelievable from a productive standpoint. And I know that I might have just lost the draft because people will look at NFL stuff when they're reading it. Oh, I don't think he lost the draft because of that. He was insane.

He was unbelievable in college. If you didn't take him, I was taking him with my next pick. Okay. Good. It makes me feel good. I haven't done anything yet that makes you want to scream, which is probably a good sense of... Well, so I've got to figure out what to do now. And there's a lot of good receivers left. So it's not like a problem here. But the last pick is the hardest one because you know you're leaving 10 people off.

Yeah. I'm going to go to the early part of the century and a guy who was playing in an offense where I think his numbers would have been much bigger had he played 10 years later. Okay. He was playing in an offense that, you know, huddled and did. not hurry at all and ran the ball a lot. Mike Williams at USC. Yeah. I think that's...

Williams tried to do the thing where you challenge the NFL's age limit. So we only played two seasons in college, but they were incredible seasons. 1265 receiving yards, 14 TDs, his freshman year, 1,314 receiving yards, and 16 TD's his sophomore year. he was dominant. He sort of set the table for what was to come at USC. Yeah. And also,

just like when you think about alien freak long receivers, I kind of like was one of the first that I saw as a kid. So certainly, certainly a great pick. Now, let me ask you this. Does punt returning factor in here? I think weapon in general does.

I mean, you need to have really good receiving. stats too. Okay. Because like I'm on the bubble here for who to pick last and I'm going to say something. I'm looking up stats real quick. I just want to make sure this person qualifies. These eyes. These eyes are never going to see another love like you. So, okay. I'm not going to take him because I don't think he had a good enough statistics. Who are you talking about? Ted Ginn Jr. Okay. That's a, yeah, that's very good player, but probably isn't going to qualify with the rest of these guys. Okay.

I'm just going to do it. Braylon Edwards. Okay. No one's going to argue with Braylen Edwards. Yeah. One of the best pure receivers I've ever seen played in a lot of highly iconic moments. I'm a little upset with him because when I was doing the video tour with Max Olson that we did, going to five different college campuses and eating at the places and going to the

stadium and telling people what was so cool about it. The video series, Brayland Edwards supposed to eat lunch with us and he didn't come, which kind of sucked, and I was really looking forward to meeting with him. But now, surprise you voted for him. Oh, no, no, no, we're not voting on how good you are keeping your lunch plans.

We're voting on how good you were playing college college football. And obviously was a high first round draft pick. Had 3,000 yards seasons, 39 total touchdowns, over the course of his career, 252 receptions, And he's another one, if he plays 15 years later, his stats probably look even better.

It's similar to Mike Williams in that vein. Yeah. And he was somebody that probably didn't have as good of an NFL career as you would have guessed, but that's also not his fault if you went to Cleveland. Let me throw an honorable mention out there that maybe one of us should have taken. Corey Davis from Western Michigan, three seasons of more than 1,400 receiving yards. Yeah. Here are some other ones that were on my list, Andy.

Andre Johnson. Oh, yeah. Charles Rogers. Jeremy Maclin. Yeah, Jeremy Maclin was one I really considered it at five. Amari Cooper felt like Devante Smith before Devante Smith existed. Yeah, I mean, Julio Jones also is another one. Yeah.

Because he was the, Julio Jones was the first good receiver at Alabama. in what felt like forever. Yeah. And then it became they had a guy like that. Then it was, was Amari Cooper, Calvin Ridley. And then the whole, like the whole group with Devante Smith, which was Devante Smith, Jalen Waddle, Jerry Judy, and Henry Ruggs.

Yeah. Some other names that just need to be set on the show. C.D. Lamb. Oh, yeah. CD Lamb was a really good one. DeAndre Hopkins. Mm-hmm. Sammy Watkins, if we're doing in Clemson.

Yeah. Here's Mike Evans. Mike Evans, yeah. Mike Williams from Clemson, Hunter Renfro from Clemson also. Anthony Miller from Memphis, who I voted third in the Heisman race that year. I don't know if he didn't go. He went to Chicago out of college and do anything, but he was one of the best receivers I've ever seen in my life.

Just in terms of pure talent. Sammy Watkins, you mentioned, right? Julio Jones, Ted McMillan, I think should have been on that list somewhere. Justin Jefferson, AJ Green. AJ Green was really, really freaking good. another one. Yeah. In today's offense is probably puts up bigger numbers.

Marquis Lee at USC. These are all, I mean, like five, it's just not enough. Fresno states, Devante Adams? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I think that that was a lot. Like, I love my list, but it was hard.

Hi, River. I'll read off the final list. Andy, the number one pick, Alabama's Devante Smith, Jamar Chase, LSU. Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State, Tavon, Austin, West Virginia, Mike Williams from USC. Ari's list, he had the second pick. Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech, Larry Fitzgerald, Pittsburgh, Percy Harvin, Florida, Justin Blackman, Oklahoma State, and Braylon Edwards from Michigan.

I'm so mad you got Justin Blackman. I also don't understand why River wasn't in the draft. His camera just worked. Well, this is the laptop camera, and I don't like using this because I'm writing too much. It's just not good. Okay. Not good for the producer's standard. It would have been interesting to get five more picks in there

because I'm very curious. Like, I know that you probably would have gone. Jalen Hyatt won. But I don't know. You got to the Jalen Hyatt joke before I did. Jalen Hyatt, Joln jennings,

Cordell Patterson. Cornell Patterson's highlight tape is insane. Oh, it's awesome. That's a good draft, though. You know, for Cedric Tillman, that's number four, right? Yeah. For future reference.

Justin Hunter, five. I do think that when we do like individual player drafts, because I'm sure we should just do running back next, if it's just me and Andy who's doing it, if you can't figure out your camera, we should at least go to 10 players. Okay, I agree. Because we just like left too much meat on the bone.

There's too many running, especially with running backs. There's too many good ones. Yeah. And we can even do 10. And then we can just do speed round where we all explain our top five picks and then we just go rapid fire.

So that names some guys. Yeah. And there's nothing that. makes guys happier than just naming dudes. Exactly. All right. Been a wonderful week. Obviously, a newsy week.

We had a lot to digest. We are off next week. We don't take a lot of vacations, but we're going to take two different weeks this summer. Next week is one of those weeks. And so we are going to be off. Now, we have not done the Big 12 power ratings yet. We have not digested those yet.

So we are going to do a Big 12 power ranking. show that will run Monday. And then our friends from Crane and Cone will be filling in on Wednesday and Friday of next week, because I have a feeling stuff will be happening. And so they're going to chime in on the events of the days. And if you're not already on Crane and Cone, if you're not already subscribed to their YouTube channel, you should be. And hopefully after you get a chance to spend some time with them next week, you will be big fans as we are. So this is a, I don't even know how to do. We don't do this, Ari. Like, we don't. don't do this. Also assure them if something crazy happens, we'll figure out a way to

we'll figure it out. We have the technology. Do you ever get like yeah, I had like, I was taking my backpack through TSA last week and there was the mic in there and they're like, what is this? It's like, it's a microphone. Somebody asked me at whatever airport I was at it was at O'Hare last week. He goes, is that a microphone? I'm like, it's three microphones. Yeah. And they're like, oh, okay. Yeah. Sounds good. Yeah. So we always, And our good friends at Apple have done a pretty good job of making the front-facing camera on the laptop passable in emergency settings. So we will probably try to take some time, but maybe we'll be seeing you. Maybe we won't, but we're not going anywhere.

Don't freak out if you're like, where are these guys? If the news is big enough, we'll show up. Yeah. And maybe next year we can all plan like a triple, like River's going to have a girlfriend by then. I guarantee it. We'll do like a... What? He's a good-looking man and he's on the prowl.

He's going to find a girlfriend by then. And then we'll do like a triple vacation maybe. Yeah. Guys and chicks. All right. So Monday, we will be arguing about the big-fell power rates. I wonder who's going to be number one. Who could it possibly be?

Talk to you then.