Andy & Ari On3 - Ohio State won it THE HARD WAY | Looking back on the first 12-team CFP

Episode Date: January 21, 2025

You’ve had Wendy’s Nuggs dipped in sauce. But have you had them covered in sauce? Wendy’s New Saucy Nuggs take the Crispy and Spicy Nuggs you love and turn them up to 11.Choose between flavors like Buffalo. Honey BBQ. Garlic Parm. Or, if you’re a real heat seeker, try Spicy Ghost Pepper, only on Wendy’s signature Spicy Nuggs. This show is also sponsored by PrizePicks, America’s most fun daily fantasy game. Use the code STAPLES to play $5 and get $50 instantly. https://prizepicks.onelink.me/ivHR/STAPLES As Ohio State claimed the first title in the 12-team CFP format, Andy & Ari take a look at the Buckeyes' path to hoist the trophy in Atlanta on Monday night.   Later, Andy & Ari discuss their favorite moments of the season   (0:00-0:35) Wendy’s Saucy Nuggs(0:36-10:19) Recapping Ohio State’s Big Win(10:20-27:26) Ohio State’s Path(27:27-28:23) PrizePicks(28:24-42:36) Overall Review of the 2024-2025 Season Watch us on YouTube instead: https://youtube.com/live/XgF2t7iQrV8 Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari WassermanProducer: River Bailey

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Like for a whole new way to nug, it's gotta be Wendy's. And it has gotta be the wee hours of the morning. Arthur Wasserman and I still wrapping up the national title game. The media party is still raging. They closed the bar not long ago, but nobody's going home. Yeah, it's the adrenaline's pumping in the media room.

I can just feel the adrenaline pumping off you. Yeah, well, we just got done writing, and hopefully by the time we're done recording the show, those stories will be up. Oh, mine's already up. You guys will be already up. Oh, yours already. Oh, yeah. You're fast. Uh, I took a little bit longer, but it was kind of cool to, to just kind of like relive the moment and try to kind of figure out like in perspective, like what this all meant because it was a pretty important time

for not just Ohio State, but the sport in general in terms of, you know, the new hierarchy of the sport. We've have all offseason to get into this sort of thing. Yeah. But it's a it's a pretty no matter who was gonna win the national championship we were gonna learn something this year and we learned something. And you got Ryan Day raising the trophy we just showed the video with that. I just still and I know I've said this a bunch of times but I think back to when you and I were, we were in College Station,

because we were going to the Texas Texas A&M game, because we didn't think there was any chance that Ohio State would lose at home to Michigan. And they did. And I know that people get mad when we mention this game in relation to this, but it is amazing to me that they went from that to ripping through the hardest path

any college football team has ever had to take through the postseason ever yeah you know and the thing that I find interesting and you know Ryan Day alluded to this earlier in the week to a question that I asked about stories that will be told you know as the days unfold here and more media sessions are done and stuff of like what had to have occurred within that locker room in order to get them to this point. But you know, some of the things that I uncovered during some reporting after the game and being with his brothers in the concourse of the stadium after the game was over is that, you know, after the Michigan game, he wanted his

brother Chris Day to, you know, come to Columbus. So he drove 12 hours to be there from New Hampshire from New Hampshire to console his brother, his wife, Nina said when he woke up the following morning after the, the Michigan game that he had a look in his eye, that he had to win himself out of this. And, you know, I find it funny now, you know, all the speculation of is he fit for the job or will he just quit and go be an anonymous offensive coordinator in the NFL somewhere to get away from the wing helmets? I don't think so. While all this was going on, you actually had a

very deeply competitive man who seemed determined to right the wrongs that, you know, ailed him. And like the thing that I kind of discovered and I didn't know that I was going to write about tonight until I started writing it is he is the first coach in Ohio State history to win a national championship who didn't grow up in Ohio. And I think for a long period of time, um, there was this notion, I think because of what happened with John Cooper in the Michigan game and what has occurred in this era in the Michigan game, that Ohio State is not a functional program unless their coach is from Ohio.

And, uh, not only did you know Ryan Day You know etch his name in the history books of the Ohio State led. He's a he's a made man in, Ohio But he has like also proven too that you know in this new era of college football that's ever-changing That he's the perfect leader Because he could have folded he could have he could have left They could have They could have kicked their ass, kicked by Tennessee to wrap up the season. They could have been defined by that. And you know me and how I care about rivalries. Like I'm never gonna be like, that's a good thing.

And they have to get that figured out in the future. But I think that what we, the good part is, isn't that they lost, but the good part is, is that you kind of find out who your coach is in these moments. And we found out in a pretty good way here Well, and then Ross Bjork the athletic director said the same thing after the game He said it was pretty key for them to get the message out after the Michigan game that they this is their guy

they're gonna stand behind him and I Just I wrote a column earlier this year and you and I talked about this a lot Not just this off season, but prior years, like, and we sort of joked about it. Is Ryan Day enough of a psychopath to really win at Ohio State? Because it's a joke, but it's not like, he's a kind of about as normal a human being as you're going to meet for a coach at this level, none of them are normal. But like I can see how Urban Meyer would not be phased by some of the outside stuff or wouldn't care.

But Ryan Day strikes me as someone who would like to go to the grocery store every once in a while. Yeah, and you know what? So to get through this and now be the guy, and look, this doesn't change the fact that Ohio State fans, just like fan base of any good team, they're demanding, they wanna win. I'm sure down the road there will be times

when they're like, Ryan, you should throw the ball more. You should run the ball more. But I think you put it really well. Like he's gonna go to Ohio Stadium in 2050 and they are going to cheer for him Yeah, you know and you know what? I'm kind of starting to come to figure out too. Is that like I do think that yes He's a normal guy, but I think that he is a psychopath in his own right Competitor like yeah, and then look you don't get to this point without being a serious competitor, but there are people who don't want the smoke of a program like that. They do not want to

deal with the pressure of a program like that. And, you know, CJ Stroud said it a couple years ago, the pressure is a privilege. And you heard Kirby Smart say that through the years in Georgia's runs. Like, you have to think of it that way. And Ryan Day, in his answer to your question tonight, said, look, you accept this as part of the job. You take it with the job. And so he's not complaining about it. Yeah, I mean, and there were moments six weeks ago

where it looked like he was broken Breaking or broken in the way that he was rosy cheeks disheveled in the Postgame news conference after the Michigan game It was just like this guy if you lose this game, you know could lose any game And I think that while he will be still held accountable for you know his shortcomings in the rivalry game That he earned himself equity yes and we wrote about this and talked about this earlier in the week but you can move on into the future with a national championship knowing that your program has reached the apex under him and there are gonna be hard times in the future no program ask her be smart it's just gonna be

bulletproof forever. And it's easy to take for granted. But national championships are really hard to win. And it's been 10 years since Ohio State did it. This is the fifth year he's been there. I think there's a lot to take away from this. But the fact of the matter is that I also believe, and maybe we'll talk about this later,

but winning this game can be very freeing in the other parts of this. Like I think that you go into the rivalry next year without as much pressure, without as much, you know, there's always pressure to win the game and his reputation in that game is important, but you know, you go into it maybe a little bit freer from it. Like the way, here's what, here's what I, my lead on my story. When Ryan Day was hired as Ohio State's coach, I went to New Hampshire and Manchester

and hung out with his brothers and people close to him growing up. And they took me to a park that was near a restaurant and where they grew up, where they used to play. And when Jeremiah Smith caught that pass at the end of the game to basically seal the victory and they saw Ryan Day running up the sideline, jumping like a kid, I took me back there.

And I feel like who you have as your coach is experience and like Ohio S the future, the NIL, the Re things knowing that they h I think that when you know that's a very important and liberating feeling to traverse this.

And I think that's, it's not just a championship, it's a solidification of your future. And I think that's an important thing that they attained today. Well, the other thing they did was went through a gauntlet that nobody's had to go through before. And nobody else actually had to do it this year year but them. They got the toughest path. We said it when the bracket came out. We're like, Ohio State has the toughest path, but we don't think they can get through

it. Very quickly, they proved us wrong. After the Tennessee game, you started thinking, okay, well, maybe they can get through it. And you also have to acknowledge the fact too that this is the first year that this could have happened. Yeah. Like, Ohio State probably wouldn't have made the playoff in last year's. No. They wouldn't have in last year's system.

That loss to Michigan put Penn State in the Big 10 title game. Now, while Ohio State beat Penn State, the schedules are so unbalanced that I don't know that it would have. Penn State finished as a one-loss team, and they did. Yeah, Penn State might have been the four seed. So we don't know that it would have been just a one lost team and yeah Penn State might have been the four seed so we don't know. I was there with Ross Bjork after the game the athletic director and he talked about what happened after that

Michigan game and then and what they did in on this run. Let's let's hear from Ross Bjork. People were ticked off right but they knew that if you put the pieces together this team is so talented and this has to be the what the best stretch run ever for anything let alone 12 team playoff but we beat how many top five teams this year? Five? Right? No one else has ever done that in the history of any college football team so those are the things that will go down. Let's get them off his back. of any college football team. So those are the things that'll go down. Let's get them off the bat. She kinda asked the same question.

We all have to ask it, right? The mantra's been read no doubt. That's what we do. Real quick. Left no doubt. Real quick. Alright, I gotta get to the locker room. Okay.

Thanks, Rock. Thank you. Ohio State left no doubt. This is a team that you're not going to question the championship. You're not going to say, well, you know, they lost to Michigan. They're not. Look at who they beat. They beat a Tennessee team that had a great defense that did have some flaws, but there was a reason they were the nine seed. They beat the Oregon team that had the best resume of everybody that was undefeated that

had beaten Ohio state earlier in the season. They beat a Texas team that played for the SEC title that was as talented as anybody in the country is any of these other teams they could have played. It was, it was a gauntlet that, you know, somebody had to win this thing, but usually somebody gets a little break on the way. Yeah, I mean, I don't want to go into a diatribe about what the twelve-team playoff does and how the real Cinderella's in the sport are actually just the juggernauts. You get a third chance because

that's kind of just how it played out here but you know, I think the reason why Ohio State won the national championship is also the reason why people were so angry They were they were in the position to begin with because people were wondering well This is the team that we expected to see all year. Yeah, what took so long, right? They didn't really show up until the playoff. Yeah, and no luckily for them We're in a system now where you could actually do that Yeah, but in the past how many teams in Ohio State history for the past, at least 12 years

didn't have the ability to figure out their way. Let's think about the last time. Let's think about the last time the format changed. The 2014 Ohio State team wins the national title in the first year of the 14 playoff, and they were probably a year early like that's not the year we expected them to go all the way. 2015 was the year we thought they'd go all the way and then they lose to Michigan State that year it's the only loss they have but it blocks them from from playing for the Big Ten championship you're not gonna put them in over Michigan State there were other teams that were undefeated and that so they were going to get in

and that team never got to play. I always thought if that team had gotten to play in a tournament like this that Ohio State probably would have more national titles because I think that team would maybe Alabama or Clemson would have won it but that team the way it evolved because remember Zeke Elliott after your question set him off pops off it becomes this big existential crisis they change the way they do their play calling they change the mechanics of it and the team that played against Michigan and then played against Notre Dame in the bull game was a completely different team yeah that team would have killed people in the playoffs killed him yeah well it's like that team too was stacked with a bunch of talent that had already won it and was like half in the NFL and they just never like reached their

potential. There's a lot of 99 Tennessee vibes coming off that team. They were a year early and then all those players went to the NFL two years later. I don't know that they were locked in in a way that they needed to be. Yeah and I mean because winning again winning a championship is hard but when you go back in time and you like look at some of the best teams in Ohio State history, those teams are the ones that did not win it. Yeah. And I'm very curious. I haven't really even thought about this much. But like this is a two loss team that wasn't excellent and didn't beat Michigan for the entire year.

But I don't know like where you would put this team in the in the books of like great Ohio State teams like is this the do you consider this one of the greatest with this team have beaten the 2014 team like they've played. I think it'd be a really good game. I don't know if I don't know who would win. I don't know that I would be comfortable saying definitively yes. No, I think both teams are really good and the 2002 team loaded like stars all over the field. So it's really hard to say. And also that's really kind of a comparison between eras. 2014 and this year's team I think are of the same era.

2002 is a different era. Beyond this is a different era. Like the Notre Dame team they beat tonight would probably be more competitive next year. probably be more competitive next year and and I know today might be a very high seeded team next year. We'll see like if they we don't even know if they're gonna change the seating like if they change the seating so that conference champs don't automatically get the top four seeds, you could

have Notre Dame be a top four seed depending on how they do next year. Yeah, the the Notre Dame story because we didn't we didn't write about Notre Dame year. Yeah, the Notre Dame story, because we didn't write about Notre Dame tonight, but there's still meat on that bone. Yeah, yeah. And I don't know if that's tonight or if that's our show on Tuesday or Wednesday, but if I'm a Notre Dame fan, I'm disappointed,

but I'm- I'm pumped about the future. Pumped about the future. And the thing too, it's like, I just looked up over here because there's a big screen and they showed like national championship odds to win the next year in

Texas is like plus 350 in Ohio State was number two at plus 450 and it's like if Ohio State's number two at 450 with the amount of talent they're losing, that gives you a key into the idea of like, hey, yeah, Notre Dame team that you know, like I

think they found out about like gatehouse tonight like yeah, you know, like I think they found out about like Gatehouse tonight, like yeah, Jake greenhouse, great house. Sorry. He he has to play against Penn State. But yeah, you saw it against this defense, which I'm telling you, there's not going to be a defense that has this level of talent in college football next year. One of the best lines in the country like they have like if Ohio State is the second most and maybe those are just like based on whatever.

It's very early and rosters aren't set yet but it's like Notre Dame if they get back to the playoff next year isn't gonna have to beat in Ohio State and I know people get upset about this but it's it's true. I mean they might have to beat Ohio State but they're not like this like this team and like I'm very curious to see how the NFL draft numbers bear out but like Ohio State already has all these players that would be in the NFL on their team going

into the NFL draft. So they don't have Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs leaving either. So I don't know. Those are the two best players at their position in college football. Dane Bruegler, my friend from the athletic who does the draft analysis. Yeah. Does the draft analysis said it's possible that this Ohio State team might produce sixteen analysis. Yeah. Uh does the team might produce 16 dra think about all and the f

is that their two best p I'm very curious and we'r Howard? Yeah. What's he l and we're going to the senior bowl next week. Like what happens with Howard? Yeah. What's he look like? Is he gonna shoot up the boards here? And not just because of what they did on that.

I do think, and you've talked to Will Howard a little bit too, like he's one of those guys if you talk to him, you're gonna like him. I get the sense that, you know, the way the senior bowl works is they'll have a couple, they'll have NFL coaches coaching them those coaches are going to enjoy coaching Wil Howard the scouts who get a chance to talk to him are going to enjoy talking to him I think that that usually gives a guy a little bump but then he's

got to perform when the GM start watching the film that's really gonna tell but I mean I mean he's pretty close he's a big kid he runs well I mean I don't know his performance in these playoffs was was pretty spectacular. Yeah, I did the numbers It's that they're in my story at on three right now 75.6 percent of his passes completed in the playoffs 1150 yards the average 10.6 yards per attempt, which I believe would have been number one in the country for the season so He was awesome. He had eight touchdowns,

I think one interception in four games. And so he really showed kind of a different side because I don't think we saw some of the tight window throws at Kansas State. I don't think we saw a lot of them earlier this year. Like there's a throw he makes to a buka in the Oregon game that is just a needle thread between two defenders that, it's like, wow, how did he do that? And he had another one of those to Jeremiah Smith in the Tennessee game.

He had some throws tonight. The throw tonight to Jeremiah Smith on third down to ice the game, Jeremiah Smith's open, but that's a seven man pressure. Like, it's a zero blitz. Everybody's in his face and he threw it perfectly. Yeah, I mean like. It is funny too to think that like all of the Ohio State quarterbacks that have come through there that long list of quarterbacks that are are legends and in their own regards, it's like he was a one

year guy. Yeah. You know, and he came, I mean, you think he committed around a year around this time, and played himself into a place where he's gonna be remembered forever. Yeah. Very interested to see how people remember him.

The one year guy thing is interesting because I think Will Howard and Quinchon Judkins will be, I don't know, Ohio State legend is probably the wrong word, but they will never have to buy a beer in Columbus as long as they live. Like Quinchon Judkins was awesome tonight and was awesome for most of the season. Yeah. I mean, I think it it kinda bleeds into another separate conversation, which is Ohio State was very efficient with their use of their Polaroid money in terms of the acquisitions they had. Now you know that

there is a I saw a lot of this on Twitter much yeah yeah they didn't need much but when you it's like souping up a car that's brand new it's like you you know you already have everything you need but you know who doesn't like nicer rims. What did I say yesterday when we passed the King Ranch I said if I I'd get one of those, but I'd lift it. Yeah, I'd lift it. I'd put big old tires on it. Yeah, so yeah.

It's a beautiful truck. It's got great leather, but it's a grandpa truck. Ohio State was the King Ranch, and I guess Quinshaw and Judkins and Caleb Downs and Will Howard helped lift it. Our big giant tires, yeah. Like they, the roster makeup, because there's a lot made up of like that $20 million,

and like you heard, I'm sure you're listening to Ryan Day said that, like, that's just their net, their, their market worth, their value. Yeah. Well, Ross Bjork said something and Pete Naco said this in his story. Like he said, you can have all the money in the world. And Bjork pointed out that there were programs that probably spent more than Ohio state. Sure.

But you have to have the other stuff too. You don't win championships without the other things, without players that care about one another, about, you know, players who respect their coaches, about coaches that, you know, do a good, Jim Knowles has done exactly what he was hired to do at Ohio State. Remember how bad Ohio State's defense was, how many big plays they gave up before they hired Jim Knowles. And it took a little while but he fixed it.

ship Kelly was brought in to let Ryan Day be the CEO to be the play caller and be someone who could be a sounding board who'd been through all this stuff. Think about this, the guy calling plays for Ohio State tonight had been the head coach of a college football team in a national title game and an NFL team in a playoff game. And an NFL team. In a playoff game. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean it is pretty remarkable the way that everything came together for them.

You know, and it just goes to show you too, it's just like when you judge like Notre Dame and Texas and all these other teams and then it's just like they lost to a team that had an offensive coordinator in Chip Kelly, a defensive coordinator in Jim Knowles, all these players. It's like they're not supposed to win. This is like, it just, and I know people just can't get over like the what happened during the regular season and rightfully so. If you're a Michigan fan, talk your shit. You deserve to.

But the way that this program assembled this year's team was pretty infallible. And they're lucky that they're in a system now where they're able to get that extra chance, but that's the blueprint. I don't know if anybody's gonna be able to follow that blueprint. The blueprint is also, we got a picture of number four up there. Jeremiah Smith is just a freak of nature and also proof that you still need to go get good freshmen. Like, you still need to get good players out of high school.

That still matters a lot. players out of high school. That still matters a lot. Jeremiah Smith was just awesome. He caught a touchdown pass that was an homage. And Michael Casagrande from AL.com pointed this out first online. But then Jeremiah Smith confirmed it after the game. So the first touchdown that Ohio State scored is a play that Alabama

ran against Ohio State in the national title game after the 2020 season. Here is Jeremiah Smith talking about that play. First touchdown or is it the only touchdown you had tonight on the motion? Alabama ran that like two, three years ago with Devontae Smith. So something that we just put in this week wasn't never a play of ours, but no, it worked today, I should say. When you saw him pointing at you, did you think, no, he's- He's saying yeah. When you saw him pointing at you, did you think, no, they figured it out?

No, no, no, we weren't allowed to like stonies, RPOs and stuff like that. So he thought I was going the other way, but I wasn't, and he looked stupid on that play, but it worked for sure. I love the goggles. When he came out in those goggles, I was like, this is... Were they spraying champagne in there or something? Maybe. They were smoking cigars. Yeah.

That's not an Ohio State thing. That's an SEC thing. Well, that's a Joe Burrow thing. Yeah. Alabama and Tennessee do it, but Joe Burrow, the famous picture of him with the cigar after they beat Clemson. Maybe one of the coolest pictures ever taken of him. Yes, my picture of Donovan Jackson with his cigar not nearly as cool, but Donovan Jackson looked awesome

with that cigar. But Jeremiah Smith, you can't say enough about him. And when Notre Dame went with that zero blitz on that key third down at the end, because remember, that's an eight point game. Notre Dame, if they could make the stop there, they're going to get a chance to score and potentially tie the game.

They send seven, which leaves Jeremiah Smith one on one. And you know what happens when Jeremiah Smith's one on one. Yep. He got open and Will Howard delivered it perfectly and it was such a fitting way to end it because all the complaints and again, cause Will Howard had run, they called some quarterback runs for Will Howard.

They'd been very conservative. They got themselves in that third down situation by being really conservative and you heard everybody, why are you doing this? Why don't you dance? Well, those thoughts start to creep back in my head too. Yeah, dance with the one who brung you. Like, just throw it to the guy that nobody can cover. And they did. And that was the game. Yeah. And it's funny because that felt like a blowout the entire game and then Notre Dame,

more credit to them for fighting back and you know putting in a position but if that passes overthrown or Jeremiah drops or whatever they're kicking the ball back and they've got a few minutes down eight to try to get a tie game and force overtime so you know to call that play in that moment I thought to kind of showed some growth and some confidence in your players because that's one of the most frustrating thing in the world to me and that's not just an Ohio State thing it's it's everybody it's like when you have really great players and then you do confidence in your players. That's the most frustrating thing in the world to me. And that's not just an Ohio State thing. It's everybody.

It's like when you have really great players and then you do things to take the ball out of their hands, like you're supposed to let your horses run. You know what I mean? Like, and that's why I love going for it on fork down so much. That's why I love Dan Lanning because, you know, he might not win, but he's going to go down swinging by putting the ball in his best players hands and applauding about being named Dan. I think Dan Lanning Dan Quinn Dan Campbell. Yeah, but you know, look, Mark Freeman did it a couple times. He went out where he faked a punt and then went for it later on fourth down. So they went for several fourth downs

in that opening drive that I thought they're gonna get Riley Leonard killed. But man, it was a it was a hell of a way to start it off. And you thought maybe Notre Dame's got a shot in this game. Yeah, well, there was there was a moment to it's like Notre Dame ran all the way down the field on Ohio State in their opening possession. And Riley Leonard carried the ball nine times. And it was just like JT Barrett all over again. Like this is not

sustainable. And just like he had nine carries on that drive. And I'm like, I don't think he's gonna have 51 carries in this game. Are they going to be able to figure something out? But then when Ohio State came out in their next possession and ran on their first two possessions or their first two plays, I was like, Oh no, no, no. And because you did make the point in the press box during the game, you're like, if you wanted to call somebody soft, that's a pretty efficient way of doing it without having to say it. And I, you know, like Notre Dame had the, it was like an eight minute drive, 10 minutes. It

was 10 minutes. Yeah. I mean, that was that was like the perfect start um and then Ohio State goes down the field on seven plays on third down they convert with it with a throw to Jeremiah yeah to Jeremiah Smith and he was like okay never mind they're fine uh yeah Will Howard made a lot of people happy because he had the uh the quote-unquote free prize pick square. It's never free. He's got to throw for a yard, but he threw for a yard. Just because the college football season is over does not mean America's best daily fantasy game stops. They got it all. College basketball, the NFL, the NBA. Download that app. Use code STAPLES when you sign up. Play $5, get $50 instantly. If you're going to be watching the NFL playoffs this weekend, and I'm sure you are, Jaden Daniels becomes your favorite player

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the higher the potential payout. So give it a shot. Jaden Daniels, if he throws for a yard, you're in good shape with price picks. Download the app, use the code staples, play $5, get $50 instantly alright are you what was your favorite moment for the first 12 team playoff he's zoning out I'm trying to remember but I think the Arizona State Texas game I think that was the best game I definitely think that was the best game. And just the draw. OK, you you think it's over. Arizona State

storms back. Arizona State was then very much in control. Texas. Fourth and was it fourth and 13? Yeah, yeah, they convert with a touchdown. I mean, yeah, it was pretty incredible. I thought Notre Dame Penn State was an incredible game. Yeah, that was also an incredible game. I mean, it was pretty incredible. I thought Notre Dame Penn State was an incredible game. Yeah, that was also an incredible game. I mean, in terms of like riveting edge of your seat, compelling television, I think it was Texas, Arizona State.

And just look at the brands. Look at the logos. You had Ohio State, Tennessee, Ohio State, Oregon, Ohio State, Texas, and Ohio State Notre Dame. That's awesome. But you had Notre Dame, Penn State, you had Notre Dame, Georgia in this thing. Like, we got a lot of games that the old system wouldn't have given us. Like, all of these just wouldn't have spread out there in one game and it'd be over.

Yeah, no, I think that the system, and that's the thing too, of like, everybody wants to kind of mess with the seating and stuff. And I think I probably am in the change the seating camp to one through 12. I just think it's common sense. But at the same time too like this worked perfectly. I don't know that it changed much else. Did this work perfectly? I mean. Yeah I wouldn't I wouldn't want to make everybody travel the second and I don't think they should travel the second or third weekends, but I'd be okay with with the semis being at bowls. I mean it's kind of weird that Ohio State played in the Rose and Cotton in the same year.

Yeah, and then had to go to Atlanta too. Right. Yeah. It was like three bowl games in one year, but it, in terms of just the way it was set up and the teams playing each other, like I do feel pretty comfortable saying it was settled on the field, right? Oh, I, 100%. I don't question the legitimacy of Ohio State's championship. And this, the more I think about it makes me,

I don't question the legitimacy of past champions, I just question the format that produced it. Like. Yeah. Well, it makes you think how many other Ohio states from this year were out lingering as to last year. Right. What would have happened in tournaments like this in the past? Because I think there are some teams that if they'd gotten in them, like 2007, George is a really good example. They were so good at the end of the season, but they inexplicably lost to Tennessee early,

didn't win the SEC East, and they never got a chance to play that LSU team that won the national title. Which would have been, like they're in the same league, but they never played. There's probably 50 national championships that would have gone a different way if you invited teams five through tenon. Yeah. I mean, that's just... And I think now the way the sport has changed because look, it's still not fair to Toledo. It's probably still not fair to West Virginia, but it's more fair to. Why is it not fair to West Virginia? Because it's harder if you're West Virginia, keep your good players. When you got a good player,

they tend to go somewhere. I thought you meant the system though. Yeah, no, not the conference there and they're actually, they're fine with their conference, I thought you meant the system, though. Yeah, no, not the conference there. And they're actually fine with their conference. But the teams at the bottom of their conference are still gonna be the ones that get fed on by the ones that are at the top of their conferences or in the Big Ten in the SEC. But I do think teams 5 through 20 feel like they got a lot better shot nowadays. Oh, for sure. And I think it's because teams one through four aren't as unattainable. Yeah. Maybe this year they were, but I mean I think that Georgia, a team that was completely untouchable for the last five years,

could have theoretically lost to Miami if they played. I don't think that's an insane thing to think. No it's not. So like you, in Miami's defense stinks, I get it. But like, I just mean as an example. Yeah, no, no. Like teams that won 10 games. There's a universe where that definitely could happen. So, that's real. And it's just like, I guess it comes down to preference.

It's like, are there people out there that resent the fact that this Ohio State team got to do this this year? Or are there people that are happy that they got a second and third chance? If you resent that, it's probably because you hate Ohio State, which maybe you're a Michigan fan or maybe you just don't like Ohio State. What if Notre Dame would have won and they got to overcome their NIU? There's a lot of teams in here that got to overcome things.

In the national title game, you had two teams that had committed unforgivable offenses in the old system. Yeah. So they wouldn't have been there. And then like also Texas too, it's like Texas lost to Georgia twice. You know, the only team that came into this thing perfect was Oregon. Yeah. And they're the one that had to play Ohio State.

And they got destroyed. Yeah. And they got their ass kicked. So like it's like I have so many feelings about the 12th team playoff because I was so like vehemently against it. Yeah. And like all the things that I hated about it are actually things that came true. Like I mean I think Ohio State for instance like my platform was that Ohio State should not get to compete for a championship. But is it that as when it happened you realized

you didn't hate it as much as you thought you would? It's not that Ohio State got the second chance that made me change my mind. What changed my mind was Arizona State. Like being in the game, surprising us. I think that college football, as you like to lovingly put it, is an entertainment product. And I think that we are all better for knowing both Scataboo's story. And I don't think that we would have known it in the old system. Yeah. Because he wouldn't have played on that stage. That game wouldn't have mattered. And Cam Scataboo lost. But in that, not even in the three and a half hours

of the game, in the final hour of the game, Cam Scataboo became the most famous person in America that day. Or if the Big 12 Championship game was just a game to crown the Big 12 Champion, the entire world wouldn't have watched it captivated by who gets the automatic bid, and then wouldn't have seen his awesome performance. And that was where the legend

began. So like, like I do think that like if the alternative is giving Ohio State and Georgia two Mulligans to get in, if that means that we get to watch like if Kevin Jennings would have gone off against Penn State, like all these players that we wouldn't have talked about in December in the past, get a chance to tell their story. And you know what, like, the thing that I've never really understood is, like, everybody's just disdain for blowouts. Like they're so disgusting. I know, of course, playing in a game that comes down to, you know,

second and 26 or whatever the what was the down second and 26. Second and 26 is like more exciting, but like I also feel like blowouts are a key part of the system in order to determine which teams are playing well or whatever. Like because SMU got blown out, doesn't make me feel like SMU shouldn't have been in. It's just the playoff doing its job.

No, I mean. The same way it happens in the NFL playoffs. Yeah, the NFL's first round had several blowouts. And then their second weekend was a lot of really good games. Right, and I think that the games got better in this system as the time went on. The Ohio State-Texas game was good.

This game was pretty good. This game turned out pretty great, actually, when you think about it, because you had Notre Dame with a third down. If they get the stop, they will have the ball with a reasonable amount of time to try to score and tie the game. Yeah.

That's about all you can expect. Yeah. That's all you can hope for. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, you know, I think that this is the system working. I don't know if I felt, like you were right about this thing. So the Ohio State Michigan game was a massive deal. Yes. Big enough deal for us to pull over to the side of the road and do a video.

We must do a video on the side of the road. Let people honk at our state college. But at the same time, too, the gravity of that loss was not gone. Like when it happened, it felt like the world was ending. Yeah. And I think and I think that's the thing. Well, and we'll see. Maybe maybe that will change over the years. But I suspect in those moments, we'll still be prisoners of the moment and we'll still be because the thing is, at least I think when that game happened, imagining something like this was very difficult. Imagining Ohio State

going on this run was difficult because of what our eyes had just seen. Now, maybe we look at it differently but II don't know that we will. I think we'll probably react the same way. I don't know. Next one in 10 years of data. Maybe once we become

accustomed to it not mattering, it won't feel as big. Yeah. But II just I felt like the regular when Alabama lost to Vandy, when Notre Dame lost to NIU, like those we still talk about it. Yeah, felt big. And it might not ultimately matter in the end. But like I thought this was a really fun season. So like, I don't know. I'm gonna put you on the spot. What was your favorite moment of the season? Oh God. You or you can do a top three or top five if you can if you or you don't have to rank them. Just just throw them out

there. The Vanderbilt Alabama game was really good. That was awesome. Diego Pavia. It wasn't the way that it wasn't because Alabama lost it was the way that Vanderbilt won the game. Yes. It was so foreign to see. Ballsy, just going for it. Yeah, I loved that. This is gonna sound bizarre, but I think the Ohio State Michigan game was one of my favorite moments. Oh, it was an incredible situation.

Because that to me was the most drama-filled storyline of the year, and I am a sucker for trashy TV. So if you like, if you like. Well, some of these games that knock teams out, you know, I was at the Florida Ole Miss game and just in shock. Yeah. Because we had just seen Ole Miss beat Georgia

in another really interesting game because we hadn't seen Georgia beaten like that in the Kirby Smart era. And that's Ole Miss' next game. And I walked into it like, well, I'll cover this because it'll be Ole Miss kind of solidifying this thing because then they'll just have to win the Egg Bowl and they'll be in the playoff.

I got another one. Yeah. The Georgia Tech Georgia game. Yes, the eight overtime game. That was incredible. That was a pretty cool, you were over at my house. That was a pretty cool night. It's four in the morning,

so I don't know if I'm forgetting anything. Oh, there are some great games. We will have to have a show in the next few weeks. I mean, Colorado had some crazy ones like Colorado Baylor game is awesome. The Colorado Hail Mary to win. That was the Baylor game. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was we should do like a top 10 moments. No, that was high.

And then Travis Hunter forced the fumble to win. Oh, the force fumble for Hunter, yeah. Yeah, I thought that this season was great. Yeah. I thought, and I think that we had an atypical Heisman winner. Yep. We had a storyline of a coach in Deon, you know, that kept giving.

Well, and then another, like, another one of my favorite stories was Kenny Dillingham. Kenny Dillingham emerging. We didn't expect anything out of Kenny Dillingham when he took that job. Think about where Arizona State was when Herm Edwards got fired. We thought this is just going to be a dumpster fire that Kenny Dillingham, they're hiring the young guy. He's from Phoenix. They're going to have to give him like five years to get this figured out. He won the league in two years. Yeah, yeah. And maybe, you know, more emerging stars like there's so much in this off season, like five biggest risers and also Dion might still get the Cowboys job. We talked about that on the show. I was like, this is just a Stephen A Smith fever dream. This isn't really

gonna happen. But I don't know. And we're still potentially a few weeks away from anything happening. Yeah, don't know. And we're still potentially a few weeks away from anything happening. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's yeah. I've got a feeling like the off season is going to be easy, at least the next month. You know, I know the grind is hard, but man, that was a lot of fun and it was so great to be back with you, Andy. Yeah, I had a blast and like and now we're going to get to flourish on our own, you

know, as we go off into the no game. There will be more grab ass in the off season. But we're going to have a lot of fun. Like Ari said, we're going to be at the senior bowl. We're actually going to be in New Orleans for one day before the Super Bowl. It's going to be electric. Talking to some NFL players about their college experiences.

This is going to be really fun. We got college coaches who'll be coming on. We're gonna be talking to college players. We'll have a little time. Got a pretty good doozy for Thursday. We got a doozy for Thursday. Oh, it's gonna be fun. One of our favorite interviews that we've done so far.

Also, you guys in the chat, you know how to find us via email, send us some suggestions. Who do you want us to talk to? Who would you love us, like, well, why did I say us? Who would you love for Ari to crawl around inside the head of? It's a weird way to put it. Like a parasite. Yeah, right.

It's going to be amazing. Yeah, and I don't know, like, we we're gonna kick around some ideas too, but we wanna make sure that you guys are involved and recognized, but you know, I don't know, at the sake of being corny, like I just wanna thank you for being here. And without you guys and without your support and the community that we're building here, this show doesn't exist. Yep. And tell your friends that if they're bored in the off season and those other shows like they cut down their show days and they're not doing, we're still here every day.

We're gonna be doing some secret to life stuff. We're gonna be doing rules for life. That's right. That's right. We're gonna be doing some hopefully food rankings. We've got some stuff up our sleeves that we haven't really, because I started right when the season started. So we never really had time to ease into this. Now,

we've got a long off season of really starting to flourish into who this what the show is going to be and and where it's going to be in the future. So, it is it is going to be so much fun. So, tell all your friends. Hey, if all those other shows aren't giving you enough shows, Andy and I are here Monday through Friday, 930 AM Eastern Time. We're gonna be, when news breaks, we might have emergency shows. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

College football doesn't stop, just because the season's over. We'll be right here for you, and we'll talk to you tomorrow.