Andy & Ari On3 - PICKING College Football Week Three: Houston-Texas Tech, UNC-Clemson, Florida-Auburn, LSU-Ole Miss

Episode Date: September 14, 2026

As the college football schedule shifts toward week three, the headliner of the week could be the most hyped game of the offseason: LSU at Ole Miss. Watch here Andy & Ari pick this game along with all the other great games of week three. Will you automatically fade Ari? Let us know your top pick in the comments!(0:00) On Today’s Episode(0:45) Presenting Sponsor(1:50) Intro: Week 3(2:12) Rhoback game of the week(5:35) #5 Miami at Wake Forest(10:40) Overall Records(11:32) Miami vs WF Picks(18:24) Gametime(20:02) Houston at Texas Tech(27:04) Arizona State vs Kansas in London(30:40) North Carolina at Clemson(39:00) SMU at Louisville(44:37) Florida State at Alabama(51:49) Mississippi State at South Carolina(1:01:41) Florida at Auburn(1:12:41) Virginia Tech at Maryland(1:15:54) LSU at Ole Miss(1:26:58) Closing Out: Thanks!As the fellas run through the entire slate of week three, here are the game they are picking:#5 Miami at Wake Forest (+21.5, Total: 55.5) - Friday#22 Houston at #13 Texas Tech (-7.5, Total: 53.5) - FridayArizona State vs Kansas (+5.5, total: 51.5) - LondonNorth Carolina at Clemson (-3.5, Total: 45.5)#16 SMU at #23 Louisville (-1.5, Total: 60.5)Florida State at #10 Alabama (-20.5, Total: 49.5)Mississippi State at South Carolina (-3.5, Total: 57.5)Florida at Auburn (+2.5, Total: 53.5)Virginia Tech at Maryland (+2.5, Total: 53.5)#7 LSU at #8 Ole Miss (+3.5, Total: 57.5)Thanks for watching!Our show is presented by Polymarket!New User Offer: Deposit $10, get $50 upon sign uphttps://app.polymarket.us/S8ac/ON3Trade on College Football games every week on Polymarket. Download the Polymarket App with code ON3 for a $20 bonus upon sign up.18+ only. Restrictions and eligibility requirement apply. Not available in all jurisdictions. Trading is risky. 100% loss can occur.Watch our show on YouTube! https://youtu.be/wDj1B9S_gDQ Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari WassermanProducer: River BaileyInterested 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, it's Andy Naurian 3 presented by Polymarket. It is a pick show and it is a loaded slate. We got ACC games on weeknights, Miami Wake Forest. We got Bill Belichick against Davosweeney, Part 2. We got Florida State, which had a little news today, playing Alabama. Florida and Auburn opened their SEC schedules against one another. Mississippi State at South Carolina, Camario Taylor, versus Lenora Selt. And of course, the one you've all been waiting for,

Lane Kiffin returns to Oxford, Mississippi to face Ole Miss. Who's going to win? Who you got? Let's pick some games. We are sponsored by Polymarket. That's right, the world's largest prediction market. All the point spreads and the totals come from Polymarket where you can stake out a position on your team.

If you've got a belief that they're going to win, well, you just say yes to that position. You think they're going to win by three and a half points. You say yes to that position. You're not working against the house with Polly Market. You are working against other folks who have staked out a different position than you. That's why you want to get in the chat. You might want to talk a little trash to them during the game. But it will seem very familiar and it's an awful lot of fun.

If you sign up for Polly Market today using the bonus code on three, new users can deposit $10 and get $50 upon signup. So sign up for Polymarketing today, bonus code on 3. New users deposit 10, get $50 upon sign up and start trading today. 18 plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply, not available in all jurisdictions. Trading is risky. 100% loss can occur. Welcome to Annie on 3 presented by Polymarket and Ari.

who boy it's going to be one of those weeks i uh by the way wearing my roback texas hezzie hoodie look at that two-tone longhorn that's beautiful that's beautiful roback game of the week this week ls u versus o miss oh boy oh boy Brendan, to a few people who have used our code and been very happy with the quality of the product because there's a lot of people who are unfamiliar used our code and got it in the mail and they wear the Hesi hoodie, whether it has a team logo on it or not. It's your preference, but if you're listening to the show, probably would want the team logo on. And it is one of the most expensive, I mean, one of the most comfortable garments.

Well, it's not expensive and it gets even less expensive. when you use the code Andy RE20 to get 20% off your first order at rowback.com, R-H-O-B-A-C-K dot com. And that is Andy R-E-20, A-N-D-Y-A-R-I-I-2-0 for 20% off your first order. So that will be our game of the week. Yes, sir. As seasoned as you are, I meant to say it feels like a very expensive garment when it's not. Exactly.

So forgive me. Yeah. It's my favorite thing to wear. There's a reason I'm wearing them on the show all the time. And I do that in my own life, too. if you catch me at the grocery store. I've even become hoodie in the summer guy. Dude,

it's 110 degrees here and I'm wearing it. And I wear it out all the time in the summer because it's very, it's very comfortable. It's like almost worth it to even if it's not the right seat. Well, you can roll up the sleeves. And the thing is, when you roll up the sleeves on the head of the hoodie,

you look jacked. It's not, it's not you actually being jacked. It's the hoodie making you look jacked. And it's, I mean, that's just one of the side benefits. So, Ole Miss at LSU, or excuse me, LSU at Ole Miss is our Roeback game of the week. We will be picking that game, but you're going to have to wait for that. We're going to tease you for a while before you get that.

Just like we've been getting teased since last November of this game when Lane Kiffin left Ole Miss. So we are recording the pick show right now. Lane Kiffin is taking the podium in Baton Rouge as we're recording the pick show. If he says anything of note, we will probably stop the picks, address what Lane Kiffin says. But this is not the only big game this week. There are some very interesting games across multiple conferences that are going to have an effect on conference championship races. And it's crazy saying that week three, but it's the truth. You ever go to a concert and find yourself really viving with the opening X?

You know the concert's going to be great. There's like literally nothing that can happen in this game on Saturday that isn't interesting, the Ole Miss LSU game I'm talking about. But then you watch an opening act and go, oh, my God, I would have paid if this was the main act. Like that's what college football is going to be this weekend. So I'm super excited about that. And, you know, we have all day to look forward to it, all week to look forward to it. But as you said, Andy, a lot of very impactful games this weekend.

And it might not be the sexiest headlines in terms of narrative or feelings. But definitely when it comes to good old-fashioned college football, you're going to get a lot of good stuff this weekend. I'm excited for it. Oh, yeah. Well, let's start on Friday because we have a couple conference games on Friday. One is predicted to be a little more lopsided than the other, but they're both really interesting because you have Miami at Wake Forest. Miami's a 21.5 point favorite on Polly Market. This is their second ACC game. There's also their second ACC game on a Friday night. And Wake coming off that double overtime win against Purdue, which was,

crazy hot in West Lafayette, apparently. And the Demon Deacons, it's one of those deals where it's double overtime, you know, where you have to go for two. They stopped Purdue on the two point and then Wake Forest scores and got the two point. Now, if you were going to double overtime with Purdue, that is not necessarily a great sign

when you have to play Miami next week. But this is going to be Miami's toughest test so far. Yeah, it is going to be Miami's toughest test so far. You know, we are in the era not the era, the timeline of college football where you're starting to question who's actually really, really good and who's kind of got some cracks in them.

And I was talking to a few buddies this morning actually at school drop off. And we are trying to find out and kind of in the world where like nobody's perfect and everybody's got holes. And you're starting to see cracks in really good teams that could turn out to be something. I wonder if Miami has any cracks.

Like this is the type of game where, you know, they could win easily but also be exposed in certain issues of like, hey, this, this is where you attack them. I don't know where you would say that Miami right now, but like we're finally going to get to see them play a team that has a pulse. And teams with pulses can expose cracks, even in losses. So I'm very excited about this.

It is also another chance for everybody to see Malachi, Tony in a situation where his game's not covered up by a bunch of other games, where if you're a fan of the sport, you're probably watching it. We joked about Miami not playing a Saturday game until week four. It's true. But the fact that Miami doesn't play a lot of great teams on its schedule other than Notre Dame, this helps because this gives Malachi Tony that showcase.

And if he keeps doing what he's doing, we're going to be talking about Malachi Tony a ton as we get down to the wire. That's an interesting point. I didn't really think about it. How much do you think isolated viewership? Windows help in someone's Heisman campaign. Well, I mean, I was going to vote for Hollywood Smothers the last two years because someone's playing for NC State because they were always playing a Friday or Thursday game.

I was thinking about this because of literally yesterday about card values as I was watching the NFL. And it's like a lot of players play really impressive games, but because there are so many games on at the same time, you don't really get to see it. And I feel like players' card values or the way that we view players are often impacted by how they play when they're on Thursday, Sunday or Monday night football in the NFL. And it's like because the reason why I'm thinking of this is because like I bought a bunch of Tyler Shuck cards in the offseason. And like he had an awesome game for the Saints this past weekend.

And the reason that I saw that is because I made a point to see that, but I don't think the general NFL fan got to see that comeback. The fact that Malachi Tony gets to actually just cook people on national television with it being the only game that everyone's watching is a huge advantage in terms of what. he needs to do. Now, I think that when it comes to him, it's all going to come down to what his production looks like when they play Notre Dame, because that's a game that everyone's going to be watching no matter what else is on TV. But the fact that you get to experience it and enjoy it, like his Heisman poses the first few weeks of the season. I thought we're far more impactful because, A, we were excited about watching it, but B, everybody was watching. Everybody was watching. That's a really good point. And, you know, this also goes to, that's also for Wake Forest, too. Wake Forest has been better than most people think the last few years. And nobody's watching ACC, Wake Forest, random games. on Saturday. So I'm excited for the opportunity for Jake Dickert's team to maybe show something on a weeknight when they're playing. Yeah, I think it's going to be a lot of fun. I'm glad that we're going to get to see this one because Dickert has been very much overachieving in that job. He

overachieved in the Washington State job. And so I'm, he's one of those that's going to get somebody at some point. Miami doesn't want to be that somebody. But again, we still haven't had a season for Miami where they haven't had the random ACC losses. They did it last year. They still made the national title game, but they lost the Louisville on a Friday night, and then they lost SMU. Wake Forest team that won nine games last year. They're two and oh right now. Like they, they are a dangerous team. But it's one of those if Miami is clicking at, you know, in terms of athlete for athlete, Miami should be able to to go ahead and roll here. So the question for you, because there's a 21 and a half point spread, is how, you? It's how.

ready will Miami be when they get there? Because, again, if they are playing to their potential, they will cover this spread. Yeah. The thing I love about you is that every week we do the show and you slaughter me and you forget to tell everyone our records. Oh, records. Let's do that. Let's talk about the records. Before I made it to pick, why don't you clear up the records real quick? Okay. Yeah. Producer River hit us with those.

Last week, I was 7 and 3 and Ari was 2 and 8. these are against the spread picks, by the way. For the season, I am 14 and 8, and Arias 6 and 16. Have you? So those are your records. You know, I'm not just gassing you up here, buddy. You're pretty good at this.

No, I'm not. Remember that one weekend where I got them all wrong? I haven't forgotten that. Even the best, even the best go 60%, man, you're not going to be great every weekend. Yeah, listen. My trades have been

on point so far. So I'm not going to brag about it. I'm just going to keep trying to, you know, stack wins. I just want you to know, because I posted this for everyone to see about 10 minutes ago, but somebody tweeted at me, we are crushing it going up O Ari since week, zero. $10 a game. I'm plus 60 this week and up $150 total. Keep it up, Ari Wasserman.

And I wanted to say that if I can keep up this pace and actually be terrible every weekend, then you become a very valuable person. Most valuable tool in this sphere that you will find on the internet. You're a very valuable tool. When do we start flipping it and start rooting against me hitting? Because if this turns into like a year long bit where I'm going two and eight every week, it's really good for the show. Because I don't want to be able to.

I'm not going to lie. I'm unpredictable. I pitched it to you to go first more often last week. So you could fade me. If I wasn't super sure, and then I just faded you. Yeah. Yeah. Dude.

Maybe I'm, I'm him. Going 70% is as bad. You're the opposite of him, which is like me. You are meh. Listen, all I want are for people to make successful trades. And if I could be the conduit to it, whether it be right, being right or wrong all the time, I find myself to be doing the job that I need to be doing. So, you know, the problem is that people are going to start catching on to this.

And then I'm going to accidentally go eight and two. and they're not going to win their trades. So, you know, we need to, we need to consistently be bad. But, you know, also true to the way that this stuff goes, I think that, and I always say this is an excuse and it doesn't matter because all that matters is black and white. Did the number happen or did it not happen? But I feel like my ideas aren't always wrong.

I think that the way the games have played out. Yes, yes. The execution of your ideas. Yeah, like, I don't know. If you watch the A&M game, you know, I don't think that, like last week, that that, you know, two pick sixes in the late in the second half really does something. I was looking at our friend Parker Fleming's,

how bad did we really get beat graphic? And actually, Arizona State had a higher net success rate than Texas A&M and yet lost the game by 20-something points. Yeah. It's crazy how that works. I think understanding or knowing football is also different than being a successful trader. I think those are two very. Possibly highly overrated, yeah.

That is true. Okay, so here's the thing, Ari. We got Darien Mensa versus Gio Lopez, which we saw last year in the Duke, North Carolina game. And Dary Mentsa walked away the winner of that one. So how do we feel about this? Gio Lopez career has been reinvigorated by going to Wake Forest. He reunited with his South Alabama offensive coordinator Robbie Zell.

He's averaging 9.7 yards per attempt. He's got four T.D passes. to zero interceptions. He's averaged in 4.6 yards to carry. So he's playing really well. But Darian Mensa is lights out so far this season. Last year, I don't know if you remember this, but I did a fade Miami in big spread games and got absolutely crushed.

And I faded Miami against Stanford in the opener and got absolutely crushed. And my gut feeling always when it is a weeknight and on the road is to take the home dog. Like, that's just my inclination as a person. Yes. So, like, road favorites on, on a weeknight typically falter. Especially considering the fact that Miami has yet to get through an entire season without at least playing a close competitive, shocking weeknight game in my, in the recent past. So, like, this is on the road. I think against the team that is probably better than people think.

And they're laying for scores. So here's the thing. my inclination is to take Wake Forest, and I'm going to take Wake Forest. But on Tuesday, you know, on Friday night, is it going to be 28 to nothing in the second quarter? Like, it might be. Like, because I think it's,

so you're taking Wake Forest? Yeah, it's a lot of points. Not me to cover, lock it in, River. Lock it in. Lock it in, Miami to cover. Were you on the fence? No, I was probably going to pick Miami to cover, but now I'm sure of it. Yes.

See, I was setting you up, because I thought then you were going to take Miami to cover because logically Yeah, the pick you were just made your own like am I going to do the Georgia stand for the opposite thing? Like should I just like pick the opposite of what I think all the time? I was going, Ari, I was going the opposite of whatever you did. I was going to take wake if you took Miami. Well, just so you know, as we're doing this pick show, I know that like you're picking all on vibes and you're doing really well.

You know I have like power ratings up on another screen. I'm looking at projected spreads and things. and like the math here on the one I'm looking at right now has the spread at 17 and a half. So like I'm taking the four points of value. So part of it is there is narrative and vibes and in the past. But part of it and looking at the numbers behind the scenes and the numbers are wrong a lot of the time. So like in history is important too. We talked about this after North Carolina at TCU.

Like sure, everything pointed to CCU other than history. That Dublin game tends to be really close. And if the spread is within a score, you should, or if the spread is more than a score, you should take the team that has the points going forward. Here's the thing that's scary about this game, though. It's possible, maybe even likely, that Miami has the best offense in college football.

Yeah. And it's possible that they're just going to score 50 points a game in the ACC and just beat the crap out of everybody and not have that game. Like, I think it's likely. I think that is probable, not possible. And it's also, it's also, really hard to pick when a team is going to turn the ball over and when a team's going to miss some throws

or to have one of those laxadaisical games. Or lackadaisical. What did I say? Lacksadaisical? Yeah. You know, maybe after this we can do a separate podcast, which is called R.E gets corrected by Lainty for mispronouncing. There'd be a long episode.

But, you know, I don't know. I'll probably own one. And that's fine. I'm here to help you guys make successful trades, but is Miami just going to win by 38 points a game? Maybe. But I also have a little bit more, Wake Forest is much better than Stanford.

Let's put it that way. I'm not anticipating a game where Miami just goes down the field and three plays every time they have the ball. Like, you know, this is their first quasi test. You know I'm a big Jake Dicker fan. You know how I feel about this. So this is hard for me to actually take Miami here. but I also think Miami is potentially very special this season.

So I'm good with that. We'll be back to the picks as a second to first. This word from game time. That's where game time. You know it's the place you go to get tickets to any sporting event, any concert, any comedy show, you name it. Do you want to go and see Elaine Kiffin come back to Oxford, Mississippi? Do you want to go?

Of course you want to go. Well, the game. get in price $490 on game time right now. That is a hot, hot ticket. But this is the game we've been waiting for. Now, not quite as expensive if you would like to see Florida and Auburn open SEC play against one another in Jordan Hare Stadium, but not cheap either.

288 bucks is your get in price at Jordan Hare for the Gators and Auburn, who played with the exception of World War II. played every year from 1927 to 2002. They've only played four times since then, and Florida has not played at Auburn since 2011. So that's a fun game to go to. You're going to get to see that game a little more often now, but this will be a good one.

John Sumerall and Alice Golish's SEC debuts as the head coaches their respective schools. Download the GameTime app, redeem the code Staples for $20 off your first purchase, terms apply. That's Staples, STAP, LAS, is your. code $20 off your first purchase download game time today. Now back to the picks.

Ari, let's stay on Friday night. Let's stay on in-conference games. We go to Lubbock. Houston heading to Texas Tech. Texas Tech is a seven-and-a-half point favorite. This is going to be maybe one of the biggest games in the Big 12 this year because Houston coming off a really good year. Willie Fritz just wins everywhere he goes.

Connor Wegman kind of playing like the guy that we thought he might be when he signed with Texas A&M as a five star. Meanwhile, Texas Tech they played Oregon State, which by the way, Houston opened with. Now, Houston didn't blow out Oregon State either.

Houston and Oregon State were in a game until the fourth quarter and Houston pulled away. Texas Tech and Oregon State were in a game until the fourth quarter and then Texas Tech scored a couple late touchdowns. Ari, I moved. off the assuming Texas Tech will win the Big 12. When I did my projected bracket, I put BYU in the playoff as the Big 12 champ there.

So question for you, are you still on the idea of Texas Tech is just dramatically, physically superior to everybody in the Big 12? I am. I'm still, I don't think like athletes just aren't athletes anymore. What I am on a high alert for in this game isn't necessarily a negative reaction to what we've seen from Texas Tech. It's a positive reaction to what Houston could be this year. Right. It's Houston just being good.

And also, remember, Houston is not bereft of athletes. This is a team that has a lot of good players. Hey, remember Mackay Hughes, who was awesome at Tulane. Of course I remember. Willie Fritz recruited to Tulane and they went to Oregon and didn't do anything last year. Well, guess what? He's got 142 yards on 25 carries through two games. There's been 5.7 yards of carry.

Roshan Sanford is average 6.8 yards of carry. Connor Wegman's thrown for over 10 yards per attempt. Can we just come out and say that Connor Wegman is a good college quarterback? Like, are we at that point yet? Because I know that I think we are. A&M and people were like, oh, well, he failed. Because remember, he was a five-star prospect and a very good athlete. I think he's actually formed into a very reliable good,

player. So, you know, I am back in this, this weird catch-22 of like, well, I believe in Houston. And I think Houston is every bit as worthy of their ranking as people would say they are. But my, my hesitance here is if Texas Tech is just going to roll over everybody all year, and we have not seen that so far. Is it going to happen on Friday? Or is Houston going to put everyone on notice that they're a big 12 contender. It's very difficult. I will go ahead and go first, and I will say that, like, my usual reaction would be to take the points when you're getting two scores and you feel like the other team is very good. But the fact that this game is in Lubbock, the fact that I think that Texas Tech still has better athletes across the board, I'm going to

go ahead and I'm going to lay the seven and a half, and I'm going to pick the Red Raiders. So Will Hammond played pretty well against Oregon State. especially down the stretch, especially when they needed him to come through toward the end of the game. We also saw Tommy Castellanos late of UCF, Florida State, Boston College, I'm sorry, UCF Boston College, Florida State. And he came in, scored a touchdown.

This is going to be fun watching this. I thought it was interesting that Texas Tech, they gave up a big play. They gave up a 75-yard pass for a touchdown against Oregon State, but then they also give up a couple kind of grinded out touchdown drives, which that concerns me. The grinded out drives concern me more than the big play. I agree.

Because nobody could do that against Texas Tech last year, like especially not an inferior athletic team. Like that just wasn't happening against Texas Tech last year. So it could be that they are not as dominant defensively as they were, and they're going to have to outscore some people, which they may be able to do. Like Cameron Dickey's awesome too. Right.

So, but my concern here is, of the teams they play in the Big 12, this might be the best one on the regular season schedule. Remember, they do not have BYU or Utah. If you're going to give me more than a touchdown for Houston, I'm going to take it. Also, I'm going to fade you. And if this game was somewhere, if the game was in Houston, I think I would be on the other side. Yeah. Look, Lubbock does give you between the wind and the crowd's going to be outrageously awesome. They always are.

But I am, I don't know, I have a lot of faith in Willie Fritz. And I think Joey McGuire would tell you that this is one of the toughest coaching matchups he's going to face. And so I'm really excited about this. Texas Tech schedule in general. I mean, we're talking about a team that had it 11 a half. I think it's the hardest game. We'll see, we'll see where we're Colorado. winds up, where Arizona State winds up, where Oklahoma State, which just beat Oregon winds up.

But I think this may actually be the hardest game on Texas schedule. So if they can get through this, that's great. That's a huge feather in your cap if you get through this and you've got that win sitting there. Because again, this is one of the, we talked about this with BYU Arizona last week. This is one of those games that may be the head-to-head tiebreaker to get you into the Big 12 championship game at the end of the year. Yeah. So we will see. But what a, what a fun Friday night.

Ari has Texas Tech minus seven and a half. I have Houston plus seven and a half. Let us move to Saturday. You got to be very careful here, by the way, if your whole plan is to fade every pick I do. I'm not going to fade every pick you do. I might mess around and have a good weekend. So.

Yeah. So far I have, with picking Miami to cover, against Wake Forest and picking Houston to cover against Texas Tech. Those are the picks I would have made regardless of what you decide. Do you know how many times in my life I've actually wagered money on the team I believe in, on the road against the national championship contender on a weeknight? And because I actually thought they were going to win, it's just like the one game I actually won last week was the Boise State game because you could have talked yourself into Memphis,

right? Like, oh, Memphis is a really good team. They've started off season very well. and then it's just like you galaxy brain it and then you pick Memphis and then it doesn't work out that way. I'm trying my best not to overthink myself and just go with the team that we all thought was going to be good.

So we'll see how it plays out, but I'm very excited for that game and honestly for Friday night, maybe one of the better games of the weekend. Let's go across the Pondari. Arizona State, Kansas. The Sun Devils are already there. They left right after the Texas A&M game.

This is at Wimbly Stadium, Jack Classic, I believe it's called. Kansas is a five and a half point dog. They're officially the home team here. Nobody's home. They're in England. Arizona State, five and a half point favorite in this game. Are you a little surprised at this spread?

In what way? I would think Arizona State might be favored by a little more. Although I guess they, if you just looked at the scoreboard against Texas A&M, you probably thought they got blown out. They didn't. They did not. And Kansas didn't totally get. get blown out by Missouri either, though Missouri did dominate the second half of that game.

One of the biggest things during the week discourse when it comes to trading is all about like teenagers and schedules and routine. How much do you buy in the fact that Arizona State is just like, I know Kansas is dealing with it too because they're over there, but can't Arizona States travel plans? Like, does that like weigh into anything that you're going to pick here? Not really. No, I mean, look, I watched the Rams 49ers game from Australia, and the Rams travel plans were basically insane, where you're going to Australia a day in advance,

and it played out that way. Yeah, they lost by 20. Yeah. But Kansas doesn't have a weird plan about this. It's not like they're just going in, not flying in Friday. So I do think this is going to be a little more conventional and it's going to be the game. We're probably expecting to get out of both teams.

We did talk to Lance about this at Big 12 Media Day. Like, I mean, they plan mapped out months in advance. So, you know, they try your best to do the studies of like, how many nights sleep do you need to get back on the schedule? When should you practice? How hard do you go? How much do you sight see, all these things? But like anytime you're in Europe, you know, it's not an easy trip.

and time zones are weird, and I just wondered if, like, you favored one team's travel plan over the other. But to the game, I was impressed with Arizona State. I thought they played really well, and they fought back at times when the game could have been a blowout. It ultimately turned into a blowout,

but going on the road against A&M is not an hard, or is not an easy undertaking, and I thought they handled that pretty well, even though the final score doesn't show that. Kansas coming off of a loss also in a rivalry game where Missouri got the best of them at the end and ran up the score a little bit. So, you know, both coming off losses.

So if you're wondering, Kansas is scheduled to arrive in London, Wednesday morning, London time, and they're going to practice in England on Wednesday and Thursday and Friday. So I think the travel piece of it is probably not an issue. I'm just, I'm very excited to see where this goes, because it is, I mean,

what we saw from Arizona State, I think they're better than the score. of that A&M game. I agree with that. Kansas, I'm not sure after watching them against Missouri. Now, again, that's one game. That's one game. So I am going to take Arizona State to cover here.

I'm also going to take Arizona State to cover. I think that ASU is much better than the final score. And I have some questions about Kansas quarterback play after what we saw on Friday night. All right. Are you ready for the weirdest game of the weekend? Yeah, I don't know what it is, but I'm excited. Noon game, each of the time, Saturday. North Carolina at Clemson.

This is one if, when we saw spreads over the summer for this, double digits in favor of Clemson. Having watched Clemson and North Carolina play now, the traders have settled upon Clemson minus three and a half. That is crazy, if you remember, the game last year. This was a game last year where Clemson was so obviously more talented than North Carolina that coaching didn't matter. None of it mattered. Clemson was so overwhelmingly more talented than North Carolina. There was absolutely no chance North Carolina could win.

This is a different situation entirely because nine draft picks are gone off Clemson's team. We saw them against LSU. More importantly, I think we saw them against Georgia. Southern, where, yeah, they beat Georgia Southern. They scored a grand total of one touchdown, and they looked pretty anemic on offense. Now, Christopher Vizina is probably out. He's got an elbow injury, but he may have been on the verge of being out anyway.

Tate Reynolds finished the game. Looks like Tate Reynolds is going to be the starter for this game. Ari, I think the spread fits. And if you told me that two weeks ago, I'd have said you were insane. But I think this spread is right. The spread fits. The hard part here is that Clemson wasn't very good last year,

and they still beat them by, what, 28 points? Dosting mud hole in them, they ran a trick play on the first play of the game, scored a touchdown. It was KD bar the door from there. But your contention is that Clemson is worse than they were last year, even though they were bad, and North Carolina is better than they were last year because they were a dumpster kind, right?

Considerably on both counts. Yes. Yeah, when you and I were watching the Clemson, Georgia Southern game after our live show on Saturday night, like I stayed in DKR for an extra hour up until after midnight because I was afraid to leave in case Clemson loss of Georgia Southern. Like that, like that's where we're at with Clemson. That said, I don't know how confident I can be in North Carolina. Like this is really hard. It's like you're trying to pick who's worse.

and North Carolina has not lost this year. See, I'm actually confident in North Carolina. They look competent. Like I get it was East Tennessee State last week. I watched a lot of that game, though. They again look competent, just like they did against TCU. They made fewer mistakes than TCU. But you're right.

It's hard because this is a more talented team still probably than TCU. I don't know if they're going to be coached well enough, but this is a more talented team. is probably on balance a more talented team than North Carolina. Well, and so here's, I don't know. I'm on guard for, Andy, is the bottom falling out at Clemson. Like, I, like, I'm afraid, and maybe it's already started, but that everybody's, like, this could be like a Penn State-ish type situation.

Now, I know that we didn't come into the season viewing them the way that we viewed Penn State a year ago, but when the bottom falls out, like the, the, which that can go, it can go. So it can go real fast. And this is the kind of game where it can go. I think that you're probably going to pick the same thing as me. And maybe this is just a death kiss. But I think North Carolina is not going to just cover. I think they're going to win the game.

Well, I'm definitely picking Clemson now. I was going to pick Clemson before. I was going to say, I'm saying all that to say, Clemson still has a more talented roster. And maybe they gut this one out. Like, I'm not, I don't think it's going to look like last year. But you're expecting an ugly game, right? Yes.

No, I'm thinking like Clemson by five. Like, this is not, okay. This is not me picking confidently in Clemson. This is me saying, all of the arrows are pointing toward North Carolina. And the history of it, it's recent history,

but that tells me that's probably a little bit of an overcorrection, I think. So, yeah. I mean, it's going to be interesting, Either way. I doubted, I doubted North Carolina already this year.

Is this a fair question? Do you think that Clemson is better than TCU from what you've seen so far this year? Not necessarily. I don't either. I think I've already seen North Carolina. That's the Dublin game too. I don't, I don't know that we've seen TCU yet, really.

Yeah. Yeah. It's a, a power conference opponent. So I also think that if you're playing this game in real life, uh, I don't know what we're doing. Maybe you're just having fun.

No judgment here, but, like, it's just there are better games, I think, to feel like you have an angle. You're a sicko if you're playing this in real life. Yes. And I'm here for it. I love you. But this is going to be the one I think I'll be locked in on in that early window because everything about it is interesting. But I don't know. I mean, like what North Carolina has done.

on, Billy Edwards Jr., again, with CCU, looked very comfortable in the East ETSU game. He looked comfortable. Jalani Thurman is a legitimately good player, tight end they got from Ohio State, the son of former Georgia star Odell Thurman. So they are better. Like there's no question they're better.

I just don't know how much better, and I need more games to determine that. Well, so. Davo's kind of been in the spotlight of negativity, the last few weeks. Yes. Don't forget that if you're right here and Clemson wins and even covers by more than two and a half points or one and a half points,

it throws it back on Belichick. Belichick's right back to where he hasn't been. So, you know, I'm very curious. And their schedule gets very hard after this. Right. So, but, you know, Clemson has been consistent in what you feel like you're going to get even when they're bad. I'm just on high alert for things to get worse.

Well, here's the other piece of this. We think we're going to get Tate getting all of the first team reps at practice now. Because he was probably going to be the guy. But if Vizina's hurt, if he still can't feel his left arm, as Dabo was talking about in the Georgia Southern game, then Tate's going to get all the first team reps. Tate's going to be the guy.

And maybe that's the difference. Maybe that unlocks something in the offense. I don't know. And now, I don't think it's a case of North Carolina not having film. Like, they've seen him play against LSU, and they've seen him play against Georgia Southern. He played most of the game against George Southern. So it's not like Bill Belichick is going to be surprised by anything.

Yeah. But, well, you're also, I feel like we're also, if you're picking Clemson because Tate Reynolds gets all the reps in practice, you're also kind of expecting that he elevates the team in a way that I'm not sure he's ready to, even if he's good and he turns out to be one of the best quarterbacks in Clemson history to pick a game because Tate Reynolds is going to elevate them in week three after what's been an awful performance the first two weeks, I think is a bridge too far for me. Well, I don't know, I don't know how it's going to turn out.

I'm not taking this with a huge level of confidence. I'm willing to tell you that right now, but it's more of me, and maybe I'm Galaxy Braining here. It's more of me saying all the arrows are pointing one way, and we just may have overcorrected. So, yeah, I'm taking the points, to be clear. I'm not taking money like. Oh, I know you're taking the points, but you did say you think they might win it straight up. I think they're going to win the game outright, but I'm not confident enough in that prediction to put it on the graphic.

Understood. Understood. Hey, Ari, let's stay in the ACC. This one, very much like Houston, Texas Tech in the Big 12, could be one of those games that is a head-to-head tiebreaker. determining who plays in the conference championship game. SMU at Louisville. We've seen both these teams got their own kind of showcase in week one. Louisville on Sunday night against Ole Miss,

where they were lighten it up offensively in the second half, but just could not contain Trinidad Shameless enough. SMU at Florida State, where the lights went out. They eventually played the game, and SMU played about as poorly as you can play and still win. So I guess my question to start with you, Ari, is do you think SMU cleans up what we saw against Florida State? I think that they're probably better than what we saw that night. That was a weird night, you know, very long delay, power outage and all that.

They made a ton of mistakes and still won the game. You would think that SMU is better than what they put on film that night, right? Yeah, I mean, they hammered UCD. Davis, but we expected that. Now, Kevin Jennings, one interception was not his fault. The one in the end zone was a receiver running the wrong way. But there was another interception in the fourth quarter of it was his fault. And, you know, I just, in a game like this one, you've got to be careful. You've got to be very careful with the ball. Because Lincoln Keenholz is exceptionally dangerous on the other side of the field. And I've very much enjoyed watching him get a chance to be a starting quarterback

because we saw him as Ohio State's backup. We saw him in that one bowl game where Devin Brown started and got hurt. But Keenholz looks like he's the type of quarterback that Jeff Brom can make a lot of hay with. Yeah. Very hard game, Andy. You don't usually get matchups this early Louisville is a one and a half point favorite, which tells you, I mean, everybody's in a blender on this thing. It's also possible that whatever happens in this game determines later in the season

who goes to the ACC championship game. I've been very high on what SMU could bring this year. You know, you don't have to pick first, by the way. I don't mind doing it. I'll give you an extra tool. All right. I'll give you an extra tool in your bag. To pick.

I'm going to go SMU on this. I think that SMU is a really good team. I don't think that what we saw from Florida at the Florida State game, even though, you know, it was really bad, honestly. Like, it was maybe some of the worst football they could have possibly put on. Here's the thing. It was really dumb. Like the mistakes they were making, and I talked to Red Lashley about this,

the mistakes they were making were incredibly dumb. And I find like that's something you can correct. Yeah. It wasn't a case of they were physically overwhelmed or they had any physical issues. It was dumb mistakes on a weird night. So I'm willing to give a little grace for that. And that's my line of thinking. Louisville is a considerably better team than Florida State.

Like Trey Richardson, I know Florida's Day is due to Robinson, but Trey Richardson is scary. scary at receiver. Isaac Brown, he hasn't been that great running the ball so far this year, but we know what he can do. We saw him run for seven yards to carry last year. The truly scary one running the ball is Lincoln Keenholz.

Like once he started running around in the Ole Miss game, he got much better as a passer too. He does. You just have to defend him differently when you're scared of his running ability. And look, Ole Miss has really athletic defensive players, and he was making some of them look silly. So that's the part that would scare me if I'm SMU, is does this guy get going and we just can't figure out how to stop him? Because when we get pressure on him, he squirts out. He gains a bunch of yards.

That's the thing I worry about with him. So I don't know. You're taking SMU. Ari, we'll follow you this time. I'll take an SMU. Yeah. One, you're going to give me points.

It's not many, but I'll take it. And two, I don't think SMU can play as dumb as they played in that Monday night game. I think they will play a cleaner game. That doesn't necessarily guarantee them win, but I think if they're playing clean, they're in pretty shape.

Yeah. And if we end up being right, SMU is propping itself up to be a real ACC contender because they're getting the bulk of what is challenging landmine type games out of the way. I mean, say what you want about Florida State going out there and playing on an isolated television window. And a night game is not the best time to play Florida State. You want to play Florida State at noon when it's getting lost out in the rest of the abyss. And then, of course, going to Louisville in week three, it's just that it's not an easy story. start to the season. So I think they have a real chance to get their season off to a right

on the right track if they get this thing done. It's huge for them. Ari, our next game had a bit of news on Monday. It's Florida State at Alabama. Alabama is a 20 and a half point favorite. This line has been moving toward Alabama for the past week. And we got a little news out of Tallahassee on Monday that Florida State athletic director Michael Alford has been fired. I did a whole video on that. If you want to go deeper into that. But Ari, I remind you what I said about Clemson last week, where I talked about Clemson not being able to afford to stink at football right now because of all the conference realignment ramifications. Clemson and Florida State sued the ACC to create a path out. That's one of the reasons they fired

Michael Offer. The other, of course, is probably so that he's not involved if they decide to firemark Mike Norvell at some point down the road, which definitely seems like it is a potential outcome right now. So that one, not terribly surprising, shouldn't change anything about this game. What's crazy about this game? And I still, I know last year shouldn't matter. I know teams are different. But this was a game last year that if you'd given me a hundred chances to pick it, I would have picked it wrong every time. I would have said there's no way Florida State can beat Alabama, and they not only beat Alabama, beat them by two touchdowns. I'm going to let you go first on this one because the spread's getting pretty big.

Spread is getting pretty big. That is a lot of points. On one hand, I think that Florida State's going to go to Tuscaloosa and they're going to have blood on their teeth, you know, dying to avenge what happened last year. I think that Florida State isn't very good. I have questions about Ashton Daniels quarterback play, all the things that everybody else, I mean, we could have a 20-minute review of why Florida State isn't, you know,

hitting on all cylinders. The question is, is how much do you believe in Bama's return to prominence? And is 20 and a half too much for you? I'm going to let you go first because I'm kind of waffling here. How many yards do you think Ashton Daniels threw four against Alabama? Dammit last year. Because remember, he played he started for Auburn and Iron Bowl.

How many yards do you think he threw for? It's probably in the mid-200s, if I remember correctly. 259. Yeah. We watched that game together in Detroit, right? Yeah. We did. Now, do you think that was a good game? For him? I do. I thought that was maybe the best he's ever played.

Let me give you the completion percentage. Oh, boy. 18 of 39. So below 50% completion percentage. Holy crap. It did not feel like that watching it, did it? It sure didn't. So I don't, and I know that game was close, and a lot of it was because Auburn just terrorized Ty Simpson, who was, I think, a little banged up in that game.

Ty Simpson averaged 3.5 yards per attempt, but did throw three touchdown passes. And of course, Alabama couldn't run the ball. Well, guess what? Alabama can run the ball now. And Keel and Russell is, I don't know that he's going to be a better quarterback than Ty Simpson, who was a first round. draft pick, but I think he's probably better than banged up Ty Simpson was in that game. And again, this is not the Florida State team that played Alabama last year. I'm talking about the Auburn game last year because that's the one Ashton Daniels played in. The Florida State Alabama game was Florida State really just physically abusing Alabama at the line of scrimmage, which was shocking.

All right, there is nothing about that defensive performance against Kentucky. that suggests to me that they're going to let Florida State do that to them again. Let's call it what it is. They thought Florida State was a joke last year and just weren't ready to play. Something like that. Something like that. But Alabama is like, Kane Womack's defense at Alabama was awesome on Saturday.

Awesome. I am somewhat amused because you are doing a little R.E. Galaxy brain by, you know, trying to draw any parallels between the Iron Bowl and what might happen here. Because you know, I mean, you got the quarterback who started in the Iron Bowl. I know. I know. But the Iron Bowl.

It was at Auburn. Like, it was a weird game. I know. But he also, to your point, did play maybe his most productive game of his career on that stage against this very team. So what I'm saying, though, is if he is below 50% completion rate in this game, Alabama will cover the spread. telling you that right now. So I'm going to pick Alabama to cover, even though it's going to require three touchdowns.

I will take Alabama to cover. I'll take Alabama too. I think that I'm not copying you, I promise, but I'm just, there have been a lot of, there've been a lot of Florida State picks over the years, Andy, that have blown up in my face. The thing that I get nervous about, too,

is just like last week, and the reason why I'm scared to pick Alabama today and maybe I'll flop back over, is last week I picked Kentucky, remember? And I think that when you change your mind based on one result and then you go back into the other way, it's funny how week to week your initial thing then becomes true and then you're wrong again because you flip sides. It's like if you think that Alabama is going to struggle at times this year or is going to hit some down-to-earth moments, you can't pick and choose when that might happen.

you've got to stay on the other side. So if I go with Alabama now and they play a 10-point game with Florida State, it's like my initial thought process about Kentucky was correct, but I just picked the wrong day to do it. You know, like that's the hardest part for me. It's like Alabama is so much better than Florida. I think you were wrong about Alabama against Kentucky. And that's why I'm changing my pick.

Alabama may not be struggling like that this year. They may be a better team than they were last year. When, by the way, they made the playoff. Yeah. So I will pick Alabama. for that reason. And I'm going to put my trust at Bama, a team that I threw into the top 10. They're back in the top 10 for me. I don't know where they were in the eight people. But they probably deserve to be in the top 10 given what happened to some of the teams that were in the top 10 heading into last weekend.

I'm going to say, you know what, Alabama, you're maybe a top four team in the SEC. You're playing a Florida State team that's wounded and crawling into your building. You have the cautionary tale of what happened last year. Your quarterback is now more experienced by two games than he was before the season started. And I think that's big for young players, go out and just kick their ass and show us that Bama's back or that Bama was under, maybe not back. I don't want to put them in the Texas category of like back. Like they've fallen off completely. They have not.

But, you know, Alabama still isn't a B-rate program and go prove it again on Saturday. I'm picking Bama. All right. Let's stay in the SEC and go to the most interesting quarterback matchup of the weekend. Mississippi State headed to Columbia. to face South Carolina, Camario Taylor versus Lenora Sellers. Ari, I don't know what's going to happen here.

But I think from a viewership standpoint, from a viewing public standpoint, from what we, we the viewer who have no rooting interest in this game, want to see is I want to see this thing be 49-48. And I think there's a chance we get it. Yeah. Baseline question here.

What is your viewpoint of Mississippi State after what they did in Minnesota? Is this a team that you think could be middle of the tier SEC through the entire season because of how good Taylor is? Like as a team, do you think that they've improved enough where they're not at the bottom? Yes, because they're also not just Camario Taylor. Like, this is a better team than I think people realize from a talent perspective. They did, you know, they lost starters to other SEC schools because they cannot pay as much as other SEC schools can. But they didn't lose everybody. They are still pretty talented.

And again, you just mentioned it, they have Camario Taylor, who is a complete difference maker at quarterback. But they also, like Kelly Jones is a potential first round draft. pick a corner like they have those got fluff both well sure very good SEC back love fluff both both well so I they're the only team out to the better team yeah yeah I think they might be the better team in this game yeah okay so are you going them yeah give me mississippi state give me mississippi state to cover uh I'm gonna go stop here no I'm not I'm not gonna I'm not gonna I'm not gonna I'm not to tell you this time. I'm going to go South Carolina because of where it is. You know, I think that it's possible that, you know,

Mississippi State is a much improved team. And I also think it's possible that they jump up and get somebody this year. But South Carolina was a team that I thought a year ago at this time had a chance to be a fringe playoff team, kind of the way they were two years ago. They spent the entire offseason being the media sweetheart and then fell completely on their face. Just a question for you. I like these hypotheticals. Andy is the head coach of a new expansion SEC team,

and you get to pick your quarterback between Lenora Sellers and Camario Taylor to lead that team. Who has the advantage? Which player are you taking? Two years ago, I'm definitely taking Lenora Sellers, even knowing what we know about Camario now. Obviously, Camaro was in high school two years ago. But, I might go to Camaro.

Okay. I think I would still take sellers. And the game is at home. I think South Carolina has also some freaks that you're waiting for them to break out. And this is the part that makes me a little bit nervous about my pick. We'll see the injury availability report on Wednesday night because this is an SEC game. So we get the availability reports Wednesday night. it does feel like South Carolina is optimistic

that Dylan Stewart, their absolute alien pass rusher, is going to play and that Jacarius Peak, the offensive tackle they got from NC State, is also going to play. So you talk about aliens on the field, and Camaro Taylor is an alien himself, but if South Carolina is getting a couple of their aliens back, that is a cause for concern for me. Yeah, and one of the aliens that South Carolina might get back will have a absolute impact on Camario Taylor directly.

So like that. Right, because as fast and as big as Camario Taylor is, Dylan Stewart is bigger and possibly faster. Possibly faster. So I think I, you know, Lenore Sellers, you're waiting for the light to go off. I still think we've seen some brilliance from him. I'll take the quarterback. I'll take the location, I'll take the talent level, and I'll take the fact that maybe the vibes are a little bit better

than they were when they fell on their face last year and go South Carolina. If South Carolina loses to Mississippi State or you're right here, is Shane Beamer just in hell? He's in big trouble. Yeah. He would have to bounce back pretty big because, look, you look at the rest of the schedule, it's not going to be easy. It's not going to be easy.

Yeah, yeah. If you can't beat Mississippi State, you're going to struggle pretty much the rest of the way. So that's that's the tricky part. They've got Kentucky, then they're at Florida, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Texas, A&M. They got Georgia right before the Clemson game. So you've got to be able to win a game like this. If you can't, you're probably not going to have the season you want. And we're going to be talking about something completely different come October November. Yeah. So that's where you also have a trade child aliens. Aliens better show up. I did.

I did betray your own persona. Betray young Andy who once owned a South Carolina hat that if you press the button on the bill, it played the fight song. Da-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na. If you were to told childhood Andy that South Carolina would have all these good players and they're playing Mississippi State at home in week three and they're two and O and you're picking the other team, he'd be disgusted with you. No, he remembers the 1984 Navy game.

He hasn't forgotten. He remembers all the adults crying at the pig picking. In South Carolina, literally where I was when South Carolina played Navy in 1984. Can we take a 30 second pause from this? And I don't mean pause the show, but just pause from the picks. You know, before you joined us yesterday when we were doing our Sunday videos, River and I had a moment to each other. We had this conversation.

And I said the thing that is that I'm always grateful for is that we get to do this every day. I get to go to the Texas game and I get to watch the game. The tradeoff of what we get to do, although a small one, because our lives are amazing and we are able to do this, is that when you go to big games or when you watch these games on television, wow awesome and while fun, it's also highly stressful and you don't get the boyish release or the fan release that most people get when they watch these shows, right? Or these games.

Do you get any sense of personal satisfaction? out of any sporting event ever. And I don't even talk about college football. I just mean in general. Is there any pro team or any player or any coach that gives you that gives you that fan feeling? No, there are no teams anymore. It's situations.

It's more situational for me. When I see something awesome going on, like when I see a big underdog in a sport that I don't cover. Yeah. So I don't have any, like I don't know anybody who involved. I don't know anybody who's playing. I don't have to write about it.

That really does it for me. If South Carolina won the national final. There were some games in the NBA playoffs that were like that for me. Yeah. Well, I mean, like I was in awe of the way the Knicks won the championship. Right, right. But like if the South Carolina Gamecocks won the championship, I'm not saying that you would be rooting in the press box

or that you would alter their coverage. But if the confetti had fallen and the show was over, would there be a part of Andy that looks back? And I know you went to Florida. So maybe you just lose that once you go to a different place. But a part of you that is almost nostalgic about the way you used to watch these games and where you were. I would be so happy for those people. Right.

Because I know how they feel. Like if South Carolina fans ever got to feel that feeling. And like I can say this because I know how it feels because I go to Florida. I walk onto the team and we win the national championship. So like I know how that feels. And let's be honest, I wasn't really contributing to that. So like it was more of a, I was more of a bystander for that too. And so like I would love for them to feel that feeling.

Because I think they're, I think they are some of the most loyal, cool fans in America. There are so many fans that deserve it in South Carolina. They got their teeth kicked in for years and years and years. They couldn't beat Clemson for years and years and years. Like, they kept showing up. They didn't win a bull game. They played college football for like a hundred years before they won a bowl game. Teenage Andy was at that game.

Carquest Bowl, West Virginia, Steve Taney Hill, may rest in peace. Like, I'd love for them to feel that feeling. So that's what I'd be feeling. It would not be like, yay, they won the title. It would be finally all these guys get to experience this. Yeah. We're getting old fast. Sometimes I get kind of reminiscent of like what we were, like his children.

And like the one sport that actually impacts me, and this is because it's not even me, it's my dad, is like the ineptitude of the Cleveland Browns. My dad's been a bronze fan his whole life, and I just want them to just do something for him one time. Like the guy's 60. Can you just be good at one time? Anyway, we can go to the next pick now,

but I just want to get a little into it. Ari, we stay in the SEC for the SEC debut for two first-year head coaches. John Sumerall takes Florida to Auburn, where Alex Golish will be making his debut as an SEC head coach. Neither of these guys making their debut as an SEC coach in an SEC game because they were both assistants at SEC schools before. But they have seen this, and now they are in charge of this. And by the way, Ari, in a different world, the doors slid a little bit differently.

John Summerall will be Auburn's coach right now, and somebody else would be coaching Florida. And I think that's also a piece of this because I think the Auburn fans are going to be watching this game judging Alex Golish and their own administration one way or the other.

And of course, if they win, they're going to be like, awesome, good job, good choice. Way to handle that. If they lose, it's going to be, well, you had him in the boat and then you lost him. How did that happen? Yeah.

Yeah, or if a different planet where Florida was good last year, Billy Napier were still the coach, you'd still be there, right? So, like, there's multiple ways that that could have happened. Yeah. It's funny because Florida was also disgusted when they got him at first. So, like, this is, you know, not disgusted anymore. They're pretty happy with him now.

Yeah, yeah, but, you know, they were in the lane, on the lane train, and they thought they had a shot there, and they had to kind of look in the mirror and go, hey, are we not as good as a, I mean, there was a position that they were put in. But, you know, I think that this is a very important game for both teams because it's going to be the first graded exam. Well, maybe that's not true for Auburn. I think Baylor means something. Yes.

The first graded exam in the SEC. Did we get the right guy? Now, what happens in this game isn't going to tell the final story. The loser of this game can certainly, you know, to have a turnaround and be awesome, and maybe both will be great hires. But when it comes to the actual scorecard of how those crazy people in the South who love their football more than they love their families are going to, you know, first impressions are first impressions.

And when you have all the other part about it, which is Summerall's decision, what could have happened, what didn't happen, what did happen, all these different things, I think, come into play. And it's going to be a very interesting cross-section between, you know, good football, but also jumping to conclusions. It's going to be very fascinating to see how this goes. Because the Florida fans over the moon about the way the game season has started,

they put up 66 on Florida Atlantic, and Florida Atlantic turns around to beat Navy the next week. So that makes that win look even better. But then they played Campbell. You don't get much out of that. Auburn didn't look great against Baylor, but they did win the game. And, I mean, great tackle on the goal line to save the win.

None of that will matter once all this gets played. Like all the happiness that you've experienced so far with the early wins. and Auburn handled Southern Miss this weekend too. All of that will go away. This will be a message board meltdown game for somebody. I don't know who, but it will be a message board meltdown game for somebody. Florida is a two and a half point favorite. So this is basically a pick-up.

I am, I love games like this because I don't think we have enough sample size to really judge who's going to win. but we know that even without really reliable information somebody's going off the deep end after this whose roster would you take I know maybe that's just the same thing as picking the game but who do you think has got better players

is it a toss-up coin flip close I think it's Florida but it's not that it's not by a lot yeah it's like what you take Byron Brown and like the freakish nature of his body and what he could do with it, or would you take Philo, the great receivers that Florida

has and Jadenba? I think I would take the whole package. Well, I think, yeah, the question is who, which offense would you rather have? And there's a lot of, there's a lot to that. Would you rather have Byron Brown and the receivers he's been playing with running Alex Golish's offense, which they all know, because they all played, you know, a lot of them played at USF for Alex Golish. and Alice Golish's offense, which is kind of a version of the old Baylor offense, which you now see Tennessee running, LSU runs a version of that. Do you want that? Or do you want the offense that Buster Faulkner has put together with Aaron Philo,

with Jaden Baugh, with Dallas Wilson, with Vernel Brown the third? Which do you like better? I mean, that's the question. And I think if you're going whole package there, I'm probably leaning Florida. But then if we want to flip this around and go defense, do you want DJ Durkin and a lot of returning guys from an Auburn defense that is pretty salty?

Or do you want Brad White and a Florida defense that has some good individual players but has not been, you know, we haven't seen this group be dominant together, even though a lot of these guys have played together for a while. But that also could be because they were. playing for the old staff. Very difficult question. The thing that I love the most is that does Florida have the best individual player

on defense in this game? Is Jaden Woods the best player in the game on defense? Jaden Woods is a good player who has good attributes. I wouldn't say he's the best player on Florida's defense. Who is? Who would you say? Yeah.

Yeah. I am, I'm not going to lie to you. I said this in the video on Sunday. Like, I'm really digging Florida's vibes right now. I'm like really, really digging the coach's vibe. I think everybody is. And that's what I, I'm trying to figure out, do you ride the wave on that? Or is it because we don't have enough information yet? We're going to find that out Saturday because two overmatched opponents.

But I'm old enough to remember when Florida didn't dominate overmatched opponents. So I do think that there is something to it. Now, I don't know, maybe not as much Campbell, right? Like, that's not something that's going to really move the needle. I think that there are certain differences in roster where they could play the game a million times and the result would be the same because it'd be like me playing one-on-one basketball, the five-year-old. You might watch it and I might score a lot. That doesn't mean I'm going to basketball.

Still, with the collection of talent that Florida has, I mean, they've got the best running back in college football, maybe. I mean, Jaden Ball is absolutely electric. he's elusive, but he's also strong. He's also powerful. He's got everything. That's an NFL back right there, a long-term NFL back. I love the potential, obviously, of Dallas Wilson, his attributes, his high school recruiting ranking, but just like the things that I've seen him do, I think I would take Auburn's

quarterback over Philo, but Philo's played very well for the first two games, and they wagered their entire first year existence on this guy, an offense coordinator quarterback package. So they are coaches. They should obviously know more about it than me. I'm going to lay the points here. I'm taking Florida and the vibes. So John Somerall, who is from Huntsville, Alabama, who again was kind of down the road with Auburn,

is married to an Auburn grad. He was asked today, I was at this press conference. He was asked if he has any family members who will be rooting against him for Auburn this week. He said, if I do, there are no family to me. Florida pays my mortgage. Any family that's pulling against us ain't my family. All politics are local.

And all politics have to do with who sends a check every two weeks. Yeah. Interesting kicker matchup in this game, Ari. Alex McPherson at Auburn, really good. The brother of former Florida kicker, Evan McPherson, who's the kicker for the angles now. Yep. Yeah.

So Alex hit a 55-yarder this past weekend against Southern Miss. Patrick Durkin. who is one of the few players that did follow Summerall from Tulane to Florida. He nuked a 53-yarder against Florida Atlantic in week one. And Patrick Durkin, a 195-pound kicker who squats 500 pounds in Power Cleans, 300 pounds. And they have these gauntlet drills where he apparently beat Jaden Baugh this off season. Sorry for the last 90 seconds, Ohio State fans. I hope you didn't listen to that.

But, yeah, the kicker matchup. But, I mean, you got a two-and-a-half-point spread. we probably should be talking about the kickers because they may come into play. They are. They're both good. And one of them can bench press a house, which is pretty amazing. So, I think, Florida, what are you thinking? So at the risk of sounding like a homer, I believe I'll take the Gators too, because I do think they've looked when the starters have played very smooth.

They're operating, especially offensively, they're. operating exactly as planned. I know John Summerall was not pleased with the way the backups played against Campbell, but that's why they're backups. And so I think we're going to see Florida's best players out there. And really, it will come down to whether Florida can stop Auburn in the run game. That offense works when you can run. It doesn't work very well.

If you can't run, I believe, you know, when Somerall and Tulane played out, Scolish and U.S.F and Byron Brown and all those people, in 2004, not last year, before. I believe Tulane won pretty handily, and they held USF to 26 rushing yards. And so if it looks like that, it's not going to be pretty. But I don't think it's going to look like that.

Yeah, Tulane, when they got 45 to 10, held USF to 26 rushing yards. But John Summerall, defensive guy, I imagine the plan will be somewhat similar. both teams have upgraded in talent. You know, both coaches have upgraded talent. So it's going to be big either way. I mean, for whoever wins this game,

whether it's summer all or goalish, it's going to be a massive feather in your cap. Now, you've got to turn around and keep doing it because the schedule doesn't get any easier. But for the loser, well, avoid the internet for a week, please. That's all I can tell you. All right, Ari.

Let us go to a game where a coach, might have, I don't know, I don't know if anybody's even left from this time. But James Franklin, leading Virginia Tech to college park to play Maryland, James Franklin was once the coach in waiting at Maryland, Ari. And it did not end well. They end up firing Ralph Regian. They're like, James, we know you're coaching waiting, but nah, go do something else. And he ends up coaching in Vanderbilt.

Now, obviously, Mike Loxley and company had nothing to do with that. Nobody who's at Maryland now had anything to do with that. That said, James Franklin still strikes me as the kind of guy who might do something about that, who might have something to say or who might want to stick an extra touchdown in just because of that. It is kind of crazy how much has changed since James Franklin has brought teams to Maryland because the spread would not have been two and a half in the past. but yes. But I guess he's played Maryland a bunch of times.

Yeah, I don't think it's like the first time he's played Maryland. But, you know, I still think that that motivates a guy. Look at the young change right. I went up there. Look at that guy. Here's the other piece of this. What month is it, Ari? It's September.

And I know where you're going. What is Mike Loxley's record at Maryland in September? Is it 1,000 and 0? It's 21 and 5. It's close. But that record also is predicated on the fact that they usually don't play very good teams in September. No, they have played some power conference teams and won. So, like, these are the games that they seem to have a chance in and win.

So I'm not going to just say that James Franklin and Virginia Tech, which have looked really good so far this season. Like, they dominated O'DU on Saturday. I'm not going to just say they're going to waltz in there and win this game. But yes, this is when Maryland tends to play its best. It's October and November that they fall off the table. Okay. Well, if you don't want to say it, I'll say it.

Virginia Tech is going to waltz in there and win this game. Give me the Hokies. How dare you? I'm going back through. Okay, maybe some of those wins were not as a. Yeah. What is the signature win that I'm forgetting that Maryland has in September that makes you think twice a time? They beat Virginia 42 to 14 in 2023 and then follow that up by beating Michigan State in East Lansing, 31 to 9.

What was their final record that year? Their final record that year was 8 and 5. Okay. That's what I thought. That was our actually best year of the Mike Loxley era too. Okay. Well, maybe I'm wrong. I was taking Virginia Tech anyway.

Virginia Tech's a two and a half point favorite. I'm taking Virginia Tech. Okay, I thought you were taking Maryland that whole time. Okay. No. I want to sell a little drama here, Ari. I mean, come on. Yeah.

All right. Let us now move to the game. The game that everybody's talking about. And of course, Lane Kippen has said something, Ari. Sure has. We knew. because he was taking the podium shortly after we started recording this and we're like,

wonder if he's going to say anything. Probably going to say something, right? Oh, yes, he did. Here, you're ready? You're ready? This is Lane Kiffin talking about Ole Miss. The pressure is on them. We, as an LSU, won seven games last year.

They, as in Ole Miss, won 13. They returned two Heisman candidates. You guys get to go play. The pressure is not on. on you referring to his LSU team. I disagree with that a little bit. I just posed. Being a good company, man, I reposted the on three tweet.

I'm like, yeah, I disagree with that notion. You know, maybe if you want to try to, you know, change who the eyeballs are on. But Lane, it doesn't matter what you say, buddy, the eyeballs are on you. you can try to shift responsibility or shift attention. The thing about it is that there might be more pressure on Ole Miss as it pertains to how people feel about the feelings of this game. But even if you take away that this is Ole Miss and it's the team that you left and that you're going to play there, if LSU was going to play any other really good team on the road in the SEC, there would be a tremendous amount of pressure on you.

Like that's what it is, man. Like you're that's the job. That's the job. So, you know, I know maybe that's an attempt at downplaying, you know, the return or attempt to try to, you know, put focus back on the other guys. But every single person watching this game is watching it because it is Lane Kiffin's return to Ole Miss. No one's watching it. Now, we watch Ole Miss all the time because of Trinidad Chambliss and Key one Lacey. Don't get me wrong.

They're very good players and they're very exciting to watch. This game is what it is. You introduced it this way. Lane Kiffin's return. That's where the eyeballs are, and that's what we're going to be judging. LSU is a three and a half point favorite in this game. And I think after everybody watched the Louisiana Tech game, a lot of the excitement of LSU's best team of the country,

a lot of that faded. And now it's more like, okay, these two teams are probably somewhat evenly matched. One has a quarterback who we know is absolute magic. Sam Levitt, we've seen have. some magical moments before we've also just watched him throw three interceptions in the first half. So

I don't think this is a case where either one of these is prepared to just dogwalk the other. I think this is going to be a really good game. Ari, I think LSU has the better roster. I think Ole Miss has a good roster and has the better

quarterback. Which would you rather have? Pretty good roster and the best quarterback. and because Trinada Chamos may be the best college quarterback in America. So pretty good roster and the best quarterback or the best roster. I think that I would always take the best roster, especially if we've got a pretty good quarterback. But I, and I like the math we're doing here.

The math that I am very interested in is how emotional and how motivated will Ole Miss be and will Ole Miss's team play the game the way that their fans behave. Like that to me elevates who you are. And like that, like, I don't know if you like understand what I'm trying to say there, but it's like, will they game with as much passion and as much, I don't know if hatred's the right word, but it's a rivalry. Let's say it.

Hatred. Yeah. Well, that because Lane Kiffin through his behavior, disrespected your program in your place, period. And I think that that to me is what we're picking here. If LSU was playing Ole Miss and LSU was playing the LSU was playing the Ole Miss players in a different uniform in a different circumstance and it was just team versus team, I would take out, I would lay the floor for LSU every time. The thing that I'm struggling with is this is not normal. This isn't a normal circumstance.

And I don't think that, you know, I think that in college football, emotions in crowds, in home environments, all these things play a bigger role than they do in other sports. I don't know if you agree with that, but I truly believe that. So I think LSU is the better overall team this year. I think this is a really hard game because Ole Miss might play the best game it's humanly possible, the most violent game that it's humanly possible to play. And I don't know if LSU is going to match that energy. Like, maybe they will because LSU is probably tired of all the stuff that came with and Giff and two.

So, like, that's, you know. Can I ask another question? Sure. Does Lane get better The more mess there is around him I think that the evidence would point to yes on that one Right? Mm-hmm

That's the thing I wonder about Because you saw it with I mean the weak Lane Kiffin got sued by the SEC He beat the ever-loving bejesus out of Clemson And was shooting jump shots on the sideline palpillar And was shoot right right Right seemed like not a care in the world maybe it's the boring weeks that we have to worry about Lane Kiffin.

Yeah. Maybe it's weeks like this that you don't worry about him because he is the center of attention. He is the focus. Everybody seems to think he wants to be the center of attention. And maybe he does, maybe he doesn't. But he is, whether he wants to be or not. Yeah. And we just saw him be the absolute, I mean, he was the main character in college football

week one, the main character. and it didn't bother him in the least in terms of how his team performed on the field. And I kind of wonder, because we didn't, we didn't really talk about it much last week. And they kind of looked a little sloppy. Being, I wonder if this sharpens him. If being sharpened by pressure and attention is what he has, that's a superpower for a coach. Because attention and pressure is what people usually crumble under. Yeah.

And I think that that should hopefully translate to L.S. you when they're just playing a random playoff game during his tenure. And I don't know that that's necessarily been the case throughout Lane Kiffin's entire coaching life. They haven't always been effective in their biggest games. Like we remember old, like remember Ole Miss three years ago and four years ago? Couldn't beat Alabama. Yeah.

Couldn't beat Georgia. They always win big games with him. Oh, wait. They did beat Georgia that one time. Who's coaching them when they beat Georgia? Um, who was it? Oh, was Pete Golding. Oh, God, I'm an idiot.

Yeah. Like Mark Rick, what? No, no. Yeah. No, no. Kirby Smart was coached Georgia, but Pete Golding was coaching Ole Miss when they won the game. Lane Kiffin was coaching Ole Miss when they lost the game. If you actually go back through Lane Kiffin's coaching tenure,

and it's also possible that we're hitting his prime. So, you know, he's obviously viewed in a much different light in college football coaching circles now than he was even two years ago. So maybe we're getting into the place where he finally breaks through and gets to where he needs to go. So I don't know if this is a 100% right indication. but his resume isn't littered with Hallmark wins either. Like, let's not pretend like he's just like infallible in these situations because they beat Clinton. He did be Kirby and Georgia that one time we were there.

Yeah. That was the best one of his career, right? Yeah, turn around and lost to Florida after an open week. Yeah. And caused us to overrate DJ Lagway for an entire off season. So maybe I'm just a little bitter about that. Are you bitter? Yeah.

I've got a little like, it's a little extra time. I mean, that made me look very dumb. But I think that's probably my fault for being dumb. But also that doesn't pertain to this game because who cares what happened to Florida. They still beat Georgia. Like we're picking the Georgia game right now. So like, yeah. Well, we're picking, we're picking the LSU on this game.

You know what I mean. We're picking in that example. Yeah. Yeah. But it's funny because we're not talking about Golding that much. Lane is getting all the attention. Golding probably is equally entertaining. If one, like once we really get to know Pete Golding, I think we're going to be highly entertained by him.

So. And what, Ari, if Ole Miss wins this game, is Pete Golding going to just act a fool on the mic? I would if I were him. Maybe he's more mature than me, but I would. I would expect that. I'd be taking every shot I could. We're at that time.

Do you want me to go first? I'll go first. I don't want anybody to think I'm just playing off you. Give me the targets. I'm also going to pick LSU to win the game. I think LSU is covered the spread. I think LSU is a national championship contender. Now I can't change it.

Damn it. No, I was locked in on who I was going to take before the season started. I think LSU invested in their roster. And again, I think that there are all the things that I said at the beginning of the pick could come into play. And that could be the reason we're wrong. Ole Miss is a very good team. but I'm also thinking too like some of those defensive miscues

that we saw against Louisville like I'm sure like Lane Kiffin had a field date drawing up stuff to confuse people in the back end and I don't want to pick the game purely on emotion of what's happening I want to pick the teams and I I think that like what happens emotionally is kind of hard to predict so that said

I think that we very easily could be wrong and I'm here for it if we are like I think it's better for the show of Ole Miss wins but like I just the question is how many people are picking LSU I I think the majority of people who pick are going to pick LSU, which for the Ole Miss fans, like that's just fuel to lean into it.

Yeah. So I can't wait. It's going to be a good game. It's going to be fun. I don't really know who's going to win. But, man, this is what we've been waiting for. Since that man decided he was leaving, since he said, I'm out.

But I want to coach. And Ole Miss is like, get it. out. This is what we've been waiting for. I cannot wait. Cannot wait. It's coming Saturday. We'll be here all week.

We'll hype up this game. I've got a fun Lane Kiffin game to play tomorrow, Ari. Okay, good. Good. We're going to play a little Lane Kiffin game. Yeah. We're going to talk about Lane a lot this week. If you don't like that, well,

we see the numbers. You do like that. You like that. You like that. We'll talk to you tomorrow. Thank you.