Andy & Ari On3 - Picking the College Football Playoff quarterfinals | A NEW QB1 at Georgia | Can Ohio State stay HOT?

Episode Date: December 26, 2024

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. Axia Time is the offical timepiece for both the College Football Playoff and the Heisman trophy and probably the best kept secret in college football.   Their timepieces are heirloom quality and among the coolest designs in the college space. Axia Time has created a series of limited-edition timepieces for all 12 teams in the college football playoff.  each design is limited to only 100 pieces. Check out your team’s cfp designs at axiatime.com, but you better act fast because they will sell out.  MasterClass has an incredible new class called Bet Smart: Top Sports Betting Strategies. Winning at sports betting isn’t about luck—it’s about skill and strategy. Nick Kostos, Captain Jack Andrews, Joe Fortenbaugh, and other pros who’ve made millions betting on sports know this firsthand. Now they’re sharing insider secrets—from managing your bankroll like a champ to spotting hidden edges and avoiding rookie mistakes. Stop guessing and start betting smarter with tips from the best in the game.  With MasterClass you can learn from the best to become your best. MasterClass is the only streaming platform where you can learn and grow with over 200+ of the world's best. For just $10 a month, an annual membership with MasterClass gets you unlimited access to every instructor. Visit MasterClass.com/On3 for up to 50 percent off! This show is brought to you by Panini America, makers of the most collectible sports cards on the planet. The Luminance football card series features NIL autographed cards from players including Arch Manning, Quinn Ewers, Cam Ward, Jalen Milroe, Dylan Raiola, DJ Lagway, and Luther Burden. To start collecting, visit PaniniAmerica.net.  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(0:00-0:52) Wendy's Saucy Nuggs(0:53-3:02) Intro(3:03-13:54) Transfer Portal Update; Fluff Bothwell & Beau Pribula(13:55-17:32) PaniniAmerica.net(17:33-27:24) Recapping Ari's Segment on Paul Finebaum(27:25-36:48) PrizePicks; Bowl Season is here(36:49-38:53) MasterClass.com/On3(38:54-55:09) MasterClass pick of the week: Penn State vs Boise State(55:10-56:50) AxiaTime.Com(56:51-1:03:27) Texas vs Arizona State Picks(1:03:28-1:13:42) Georgia vs Notre Dame Picks(1:13:43-1:23:58) Ohio State vs Oregon Picks(1:23:59-1:24:33) Conclusion; See you Monday!  It’s time to pick the College Football quarterfinal games, but first Andy and Ari are talking non-CFP bowls. Dylan Raiola makes his bowl debut in Saturday's Pinstripe Bowl. In fact, most of the Cornhuskers are making their bowl debuts. But Boston College has won three of four. Michael Hawkins Jr. is back at QB for Oklahoma. Can he lead the Sooners to a win against Navy in the Armed Forces Bowl? Now it’s time to pick the next round of the CFP. Hopefully, it won’t be four blowouts like last week. But the spreads suggest we might see some. Penn State vs. Boise State (+10.5) in the Fiesta Bowl (Total: 52.5) Texas vs. Arizona State (+13.5) in the Peach Bowl (Total: 51.5)   Ohio State vs. Oregon (+2.5) in the Rose Bowl (Total: 55.5) Notre Dame vs. Georgia (-1.5) in the Sugar Bowl (Total: 44.5)   Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari WassermanProducer: River Bailey

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they are irresistible and they will be gone. If you're a real heat seeker, try the spicy ghost pepper. That is on Wendy's signature spicy nugs. Seven delicious ways to try the nugs you already love. Pick a flavor, grab some extra napkins and prepare to nug like you have never n already love. Pick a flavor, grab some extra napkins and prepare to nugg like you have never nugged before for a whole new way to nugg. It's gotta be Wendy's at participating US Wendy's. Welcome to Annie and Ariane 3. We are picking the quarterfinal games today,

but we have a lot to talk about before we get to the picks because what's going on? Ari's been on fine. Bomb. We got bowl games coming up. We got transfer portal news. Ari fluff both well has found a home. That's electric. Andy.

I hope you had a wonderful holiday. I hope you had a good day with your family. I hope hope you had a wonderful holiday. I hope you had a good day with your family. I hope everybody here had a wonderful Christmas. I felt bizarre to have a weekday where we didn't have a show, but also at the same time. I hope everybody was able to recharge. It is kind of strange, Andy, isn't it, that the, you know, the new expanded playoff has created this weird world where, you know, during what is usually a pretty down time for us, at least a few days is now like in the thick of the most important season of the sport, but certainly excited about it. I had a late flight last night out to California where I'll be covering the Rose Bowl. So excuse the shot. I know this isn't perfect. I found a single person business center was a little worried about the internet was a little worried about the picture

But hopefully we can get through this. I can't wait till somebody comes in is like I got to print my plane ticket out What the hell are you doing in there? Well, I picked their single person rooms and there's no computer printer here The one next to it has the printer. So like if anybody tries to come in here, we're gonna have a problem last night we changed a flight to land in Burbank instead of LAX. And then we got to the airport and it turned out that my wife accidentally changed the flight returning home and not the flight there. Oh no. So we had kind of a running through the Love Field Airport

like Kevin McAllister's family moment. And it's, I woke up at 530 afraid afraid that I wasn't gonna have the right connection, but like everything is coming together. Everything's coming up already today. And I'm super excited to be back on the show with you and talk through these games and maybe get a little fine bomb steam off my chest. Yeah, this is beautiful.

This is beautiful. So we got, we got Fluff Bothwell has found a home. So let's, let's, let's look at Fluff here. For those who don't know fluff, both well South Alabama running back average 7 1⁄2 yards of carry only carried about nine times a game this year. He's going to Mississippi State.

Why are we talking about this instead of higher profile transfers? Because his name is fluff both well. Well, he also is really good, right? He was like it. Yeah, mean, it seems like a pretty important get for Mississippi State if I'm not, am I overstating? Oh, you're right. I just, but has there ever been a guy better named to be a star at Mississippi State than Fluff Bothwell? The school that gave us Pig Prather and Pork Chock Womack, of course, is going to give

us fluff both well now. You know, uh, I am really into, and maybe in the off season we can talk or come up with a list of guys who just have names that just have an IL deals written all over them, you know, like it's like, if your name is fluff, then there are a few things that you could endorse. I think just naturally, right? Like, uh, what was the kid's name that went to Nebraska that did the air conditioning? Uh, coldest Crawford coldest Crawford. So fluff. Yeah. Fluff.

Fluff definitely needs like some jacket company, like like a fleecy jacket company or something soft and definitely fluffy. Or he could have Downy, like a fabric softener brand. He could do fabric softener. He could do mattresses. He could do goose down pillows, comforters. Yeah, John has said pillows, yep.

He also could do the marshmallow fluff. That's also in the mix there. What else could be fluffy? I don't know. Just cotton swabs. Q-tips. Yeah. Q-tips. Listen, fluff. And you start going into Johnson and Johnson. That that's where the real real cash is at, man. Like that's a big company. Well, or they're just trying to figure out who to trade for on the Jets.

So but but when your agent's phone blows up, just thank us later. Fluff. Another piece of transfer portal news before we get into the games, because we've got a bunch of bowl games to talk about and obviously we've got to pick the quarterfinal matchups but bro per Bula we talked about it him a ton last week because he left the Penn State team to enter the transfer portal. There were other quarterbacks notably Preston Stone and SMU that which

played Penn State and then Devon Brown at Ohio State, which is still playing, who were in the portal and stayed with their teams. Pribula said he couldn't do it. James Franklin said it wasn't possible that Pribula tried. Well, Pribula has found a home. He is going to Missouri, a $1.5 million NIL deal, according to our Pete Nacos. So this is the, he's the bridge quarterback, Right already at that Missouri is going all Pennsylvania QB's. That's the that's the new thing is

Matt Zollers is the big time recruit. They have coming in the class of 2025. And per Bula is the bridge. It's an expensive bridge. Well, I mean, have you ever tried to build a bridge before? They're pretty expensive and he seems dirty. Tons of concrete. You got to make sure they don't fall into the water.

Yeah. Can we talk about this? Because I've just had this in my head and I don't know if there's a rule or I'm going to look like an idiot. But why can't he just go back to the team now for a few weeks? I don't understand that either. I want him to play on the team. I really want. Penn State's good. Okay. They are going to probably advance to the semifinals.

Yeah. And look, it clearly they ended on good terms. It wasn't like they were mad at Bo Prabuola or Bo Prabuola was mad at them. Like all the discourse about it was, Hey, we wish it didn't have to be this way. Well, now it doesn't have to be this way. I mean, I don't know. Is there like some sort of like loyalty thought here of if you leave the team for a week that you're not equipped to come back?

Like I don't understand what the problem is. I mean, if I were on the Penn State beat, I would be like texting Franklin, like, why can't he come back? Like, I think this is a really interesting angle I don't know unless there's some sort of school rule or something that I'm not seeing here Right the eligibility in terms of like did were you in school like that was all that's all based on fall So he finished his fall semester, so he he'd be fine to do it You can you can even be enrolled in a new school in online classes like you can do it. It's just here's the thing

would be very weird right now like if we did a ranking again more off season ideas, but like a ranking of head coaches who the general public likes to pile on the most James Franklin will be number one right like people love piling on that man and I don't know what it is about him, but they do. Even when they're piling on other coaches, they pile on James Franklin too. Yeah, like people like call Ryan Day,

like a better James Franklin than James Franklin. The Michael Jordan of James Franklin. That was the joke going around. Michael Jordan, yes. Yeah. Why is he catching strays? And like I have been over the years, very critical of James Franklin,

because they have a lot of resources at Penn State and they can't get over the hump. And like now we're watching them get over the hump. Like I feel bad for both Pribula here. And this is what we talked about when I wrote the column, when this all happened. But I also feel bad for James Franklin in this scenario. Because it like, you know, when the news came

that Prabhula was gonna be leaving the team, Andy. Yeah. Remember when I was texting you and I asked you who's the villain here? And you're like, there doesn't have to be a villain. And like, I thought that was a really way, a great way to put it into like kind of highlight the reality of the situation, which is that

even though nobody did, cause like, I don't think the NCAA did anything wrong. It's not their fault. Well, like John in the chat says reality of the situation, which is that even though nobody did, because I don't think the NCAA did anything wrong. It's not their fault. Well, like John in the chat says he left the team, he shouldn't be allowed back. Like, why? It's a James Franklin decision. James Franklin's not mad at him right now.

Yeah, and like James Franklin only expressed remorse. So you don't wanna blame the NCAA here, right? Because the NCAA's calendar is predicated on something that's bigger than the NCAA, which is just the academic calendar. Right, it's the academic calendar, it's the semester system. And like the NCAA has also equipped these kids

to now earn money, both in NIL and hopefully rev share coming up, but also too has allowed them to leave with impunity like this wasn't an NCAA being a tyrant here like yeah Bo Prabula had all the ability that he you know he made this decision this is his decision but at the same time too I understand why somebody in his position who's never started when when spots are at a premium needed to focus on his future but like you don't think that James Franklin thinks that Penn State is, even if they are one percent better with Pribula on the sideline.

Although I think that the percentage is probably a lot higher than that because of the versatility that he gives you as they used him a lot this year. Yeah, it wasn't he's not like your typical backup. We're just sitting there like there was a package for him. He was part of game plan. So I feel bad for Pribula for being in like the thing with him too is that he grew up a Penn State fan from Pennsylvania. I think he was from York, PA. And like not being around for Penn State's first title run in four decades basically. But then I also kind of feel bad

for Penn State and James Franklin because they are breaking through in the process. Like you know when you look at like what the 12 team era has given us, Andy, Penn State season would be finished in the Outback Bowl or something last year, right? Or whatever, maybe. They would have made the Peach Bowl or they might have been in the Rose Bowl or however, yeah. But yeah, it would have been that.

It wouldn't have been in a game that people viewed as anything more than exhibition even if it was a shiny sexy one and the 12 team playoff has allowed teams to have the opportunity to have big program altering wins in different aspects of The sport that didn't exist a year ago like Penn State may not win the national title this year But if they are to beat Boise this week and advance to the semis and win two postseason games,

those are moments, those are memories, especially because their win was at home, that Penn State would not have had in an alternate universe, meaning last year. And for them to be embarking on this, and a team that had played toe to toe, I thought with Oregon, it might be surprising some people this year to do it.

They got worse without their backup quarterback. Like that's a fact, right? They're worse. And for them to not have him, sucks and it sucks for the kid. So let's just, let's get back together. Let's just get the band back together. I don't know why we have to overcomplicate it.

Cause I don't think Eli Drinkwitz would care. Eli Drinkwitz was the one last year who's like, hey, if you're in the portal, but you want to come help us beat Ohio State in the bowl game, by all means, let's do it. You don't say that Drinkwitz would want its quarterback to have high leverage snaps in big time postseason games coming into the year? Yeah, I mean, I think he'd probably not want to get hurt,

but yes, I think he'd be fine. I do, I think everybody could be grownups about this if they wanted to. I would hope, but it's probably too late now. Yeah, but James Franklin expressed remorse for Bo Pribulo the entire time he spoke about it. Absolutely, he was not angry. And let's be real here, the reason this happened happened the way it did and with the timing it did not just because of the calendar was drew our making his decision when he did if drew our doesn't decide I'm coming back.

Then that changes the math on all of this. of this. Bopro Buol is not leaving if Drew Aller is going to the NFL because he's Bopro Buol is going to be the starting quarterback at Penn State next year. Yeah. And here in the chat, John Christophic, if you enter the transfer portal, you're a trader. That's like such a 1993 way of looking at it. Or a 2022 way of looking at it. It's not that way anymore.

Like you don't get. And's it's I don't know. It's not that way anymore. Like you you don't get And here's what John doesn't understand Penn State needs both per bule more than both per bule needs Penn State right now That's that's a fact like they would love to have him He doesn't have to be there, but they would love to have him. Yeah. So maybe I'm just, maybe I'm just wishing it into existence, but it would be nice, but it's not going to happen. You know, it is going to happen. I am an open. Oh, let's go. Let's do it. Prism next week. We're going to celebrate the next round of the playoffs by opening

this box of Panini Prism draft picks. Average of four autographs per box. There's four four packs in this box. Average of one autograph per pack. We're going to open that next week. Paniniamerica.net is where you go to start your collection of your favorite college and NFL stars. Ari didn't do you bring your cards with you on trip?

I can't sleep with them in the night. Like I'm going to take Britt, my wife, my daughter to a card shop here. Like we're in the Calabasas like area up here, Westlake. I'm gonna find a card shop and we're gonna buy some stuff. Like it is a full on addiction. And did you see my face when you held that box up? I know. I was like, I thought you were doing it now.

And you're like, we're gonna open this next week. I was like ah listen I gotta give everybody something to look forward to. We got playoff games. We got playoff games but hey you can't just open up one pack right now. There's an auto in the pack. Just open it. I guess we could. I guess we could. There's an auto in the pack. Just I guess we could I guess we could Let's do it It will do it live. Thank you for doing this for me. It's uh, you know, this is my Christmas gift We love you Panini. Here we go. One pack one pack On the front of these, okay. All right, we're ripping a pack. We're ripping a pack right now. Here we go It's the candy bar noise and the in the football card noise the their college uniforms. There's Frank Gordon is Miami uniform. Jalen Polkin is watching here. Here we go. We have an

autograph. Someone who was a big star in the playoff two years ago. Imani Bailey from TCU. So we got an autograph. That one's number two, I think. Yes it is. We also. Have somebody who we might see down the road in college football prison break Julian saying, oh, that's pretty cool. That's right. We the guy we think will be Ohio

States QB one next year. Julian saying. Trophy hunting Xavier worthy. We got a Michael Pennex Jr. the guy with the greatest accent in football Xavier LeJet in his South Carolina uniform. You have a Brian Kelly card. I want I want Xavier LeJet talking to Brian Kelly, but Brian Kelly is doing doing the the fake

Louisiana accent and he's doing the fake Louisiana accent. I want to see that happen. I want to see that happen. I want to see that happen. I want I want Xavier LeJette talking to Brian Kelly, but Brian Kelly is doing doing the the fake Louisiana accent. And he's also got an AD Mitchell. He's ripping. Alright. So putting down at the table and not telling us what they're numbered out of. What a rookie move. You got crack. I love

this, man. I love these. Hold on. Let me let's let's find out the Julien's. So Julian's saying is not numbered. The colored ones are that have the. Yes. The Imani Bailey is a numbered to 75. Electric. And then the Ed Reed is a numbered to 149. Ed Reed right here. Love that. So.

Beautiful. Thank you for doing that for me. I appreciate it. I needed a. I was fine. Ed Reed right here. Love that. So beautiful for doing that for me. I appreciate it. I needed uh I was like, you know, I've been the same way but about something else because we haven't been together since you went on fine bomb the other day and we got a clip the fine folks at the fall. Paul Finebomb show uh graciously have let us uh grab this clip from the show with Ari. Just going off. Ari took on Paul.

I don't understand though is how a tweet like that or Lane Kiffin who did a lot more tweeting than I did over the weekend and all of the people in my edge, in my part of the world, how is our discomfort with what we saw? Our comments like the one we're showing right now, which is exactly true. How is that, in your estimation, a threat? I really, I realize we can disagree, but I'm curious about that part of it.

Yeah, and I appreciate the question, Paul. The thing that I wonder is the people who make up the playoff committee are people, right? And they're not supposed to take previous years into account. They're not supposed to operate any differently based on outside reasoning, or they're not supposed to take outside reasoning into account on how they operate. But Paul, I have a lot of respect for you.

I wouldn't be on the show. I wouldn't be writing about you. I wouldn't be engaging with you if I didn't. And I think that, you know, and I know, and anybody who follows college football, whether they like you, me, or anyone else, you're a very influential person. Okay. And when you tweet things and when you assert things, you don't only change the mind of the people who are consuming your tweets, your messages, your show, you're also

creating a viewpoint that the committee had done something wrong. And if the committee had done something wrong, then what do you do when you do something wrong, you fix it. So my question and my threat really is the usage of the threat is that if the committee is to change the way that they operate a year from now, and you have some SEC teams that have good players and draft picks and recruited well who who frankly blew it with the opportunities that they did have, and we get to a place in college football where we are putting the quote unquote best teams in based on the way that they're constructed and not necessarily what they've done then we are going

to arrive at a place in college football where the games that we don't that we consume or the wins that these teams get the conference affiliations they have are meaningless and then you send that message and then you get to a place where Alabama is just rewarded for being Alabama and Georgia is rewarded for being Georgia and it's not the merit now the thing that I have the hardest time with here Paul is that making the playoff is a privilege Okay to win a national championship. You don't only have to win four postseason games you have to do in the season you don't only have to win four postseason games, you have to do in the season. That would have gone on for nine minutes.

I didn't stop. I know, we can't use the whole clip because we can't use the whole segment. We don't wanna just crib their show. But I love the car view and- You know what it was? No. So, I don't know about this how often do you brush your

teeth at least twice a day so I brush my teeth twice a day but I guess I've been doing a really bad job at it and frankly speaking I don't floss I was in a very intrusive mouth cleaning at the time. Cause like I was on my way to the dentist when they called and asked if I can go on. Gross debridement. And I had to get like a deep clean, like where they were like going into my gums and getting plaque out of my gums.

So like I need to be a better brush, I guess. I'm gonna go get a silent care or whatever. But like my mouth was bleeding. Like I left, I got up in the middle of the cleaning and I said, I need to take a 10 minute break and went out to my car to do that. That's how much I, uh, I wanted to be on the show. And the thing that I was most disappointed about, uh, more than anything, and I know that this is what fine mom does when people come on was I was

hoping for more back and forth. Like he just let me kind of recite my position and then didn't push back at what I thought. And then you let the callers rip you afterward. Yes. And then the callers come on and rip me and I, and that's okay. Like I know that's how the show works. You know, you have people, you know, it's fine. It's great. It's been successful and he's on TV for three hours every day for a reason. But I was hoping to get more, uh, pushback or more of his thoughts on how he viewed it and like what he thinks should have been different.

Because I don't know that he was in a position where he could have won any debate with me about that. Like, I just don't know. Here's the thing. I think there are people who, well, Lane Kiffin, obviously, he's... And I hate that he uses Lane Kiffin as a shield because Lane Kiffin has a dog in the fight. Like, Lane Kiffin is just positioning for his team. Like you're in, you're a media member. But I think a lot of people just wanted to complain about the fact that there were four blowouts but not offer really a solution.

Cause you could say, Oh, you could have put Alabama, you could have put Alabama, Alabama could have been blown out too. The reason Alabama was in the mix with those other teams was they got blown out by a 6-6 team. Otherwise they would have just been in. So that wasn't going to necessarily solve the problem people were complaining about. People were complaining because there were four blowouts. Sometimes there were blowouts. Like the Christmas Day NFL games stuck. It would have been nice if the Steelers had put up a fight or if the Texans had put up a fight, but they didn't. So sometimes that happens. Yeah, so that's the thing too. It's like I complain a lot, but I like to complain

when I have solutions and when you offer a solution that doesn't make sense. I get really upset. So Andy, I don't know if you thought I was dramatic. I think you went back and read the story when we were eating pizza. But to me, the number one threat to college football isn't NIL. It's not rev share. It's not transferring. It's not all the things that everybody says. It's not realignment. Because as you like to point out, and it's so true, college football is an entertainment product and we're addicted like we will watch no matter what because we love football and we love college football and I think it's beautiful. You cannot you cannot you cannot introduce apathy into the mix there if you tell a large portion of the country that their teams wins don't matter. of the country that their teams wins don't matter. That's dangerous.

I really, really do think that. And like, if you are a person who believes that the SEC should get in with three losses over two loss and one loss teams as a result of their strength of schedule, even though they are rewarded for that strength of schedule, then you don't know this about yourself yet, but you don't want to even play the same sport as SMU in in other teams like that You want them separated you want a Super League and you might get what you want one day But well everybody's in the same bloviated and didn't answer his question Sean. He answered for nine minutes We didn't play all nine minutes and you just heard why his threat is his potential influence and How that influence not that I think that Paul Feinbaum himself can change the way the committee operates, but by creating an environment where a large portion of the country believes and perceives the committee had done something wrong because of their

displeasure with the way that the games went, changes and triggers the way people view it, and of course, eventually how it operates. And I think the perpetuation of the notion that they did something wrong or that they're incompetent is dangerous. I think it's very dangerous. Well, we're gonna see what happens. I have a column on it on three right now,

if you wanna read, because I think the bigger problem is the misseding of the tournament, deliberately misseding the tournament. I think they're gonna probably have to change that. And I think they, I mean, there's something they can change even between this year and next.

And if you wanna look at how it would have looked, had the tournament just been seated straight, I did that and also did, you've got the idea for the 14 team, which is what the big 10 is pushing for starting in 2026, what that would have looked like, which would have put Alabama and Miami into the mix. And you would have like, for instance, you would have had a Miami Penn State first round game at Penn State. I think that probably would have been a good game. I think that probably been really

interesting. So I think my bigger problem is in the laws, my bigger problem is in this case, Georgia and Oregon won their conference championship games and got punished. And the teams that lost their conference championship games got rewarded with an easier path. And that is, that cannot, again. And that's a completely different discussion and you were right.

Yeah. My main concern is making sure that the right 12 teams went. And let me ask you this just bluntly, because I don't know that I've even asked you this, Andy. Do you believe that the 12 teams that should have been in were the 12 teams that got in? I don't care. I don't care who got in. You're in that mix because you're not really that great. You're flawed. So I don't care which flawed teams get in and which flawed teams get left out. No, but based on your preference though, do you believe that they did it right this year

or do you think that they did it weirdly? I don't care. I don't care. I care. Okay, well then you care and I won't. I think they got it right and I care. Okay, I don't care and I don't care how they did it. And it could have, you could have put Alabama in

and they could have gotten blown out too. Because we watched them get blown out in Norman. Like we saw it happen. I just think that's where we fundamentally disagree though. Like if they would have put Alabama in like the paradigm of the sport would have been a rock in my opinion. Don't care. All right.

We got games, games the next three days full of games. We got three bowl games today. We got a whole day on Friday. We got a whole day on Saturday. This is going to be tremendous and our friends at price picks have begun populating the board. If you're not playing price picks already, what are you doing? Best daily fantasy game in America. Download the app.

Use the code staples. Play $5. Get $50 instantly. And right now, there are all kinds of squares. For instance, the pinstripe bowl. Ari, how long have we talked about? Will Nebraska make a bowl game? What's going to happen if Nebraska finally breaks through and makes a bowl game? They made a bowl game. Dylan Riola, 198 and a half

passing yards more or less against Grayson James and the Boston College Eagles. Grayson James remembers the one who replaced Thomas Castellanos at the end of the season. Bill O'Brien's team has won three of four coming into this game and And then Nebraska, of course, coming off a very tough loss to Iowa, which seems like a million years ago. But Ari, let's just talk in general about this. What do you need to see for Matt Rule and Dylan Riola and the Nebraska player? Nebraska's had some changes, like their defense coordinator

left for Florida State, a lot of their defensive players in the portal. But what do you want to see out of Nebraska in this last game of the season? What do you think, I'm very curious what your answer to that question is, because like, I don't know, like I think that being there and existing there is what I needed to see.

Like do you think they lose? Yeah, I think the fact that they got to practice the last two weeks is what we need to see. Right, like I don't know if there's going to be any sort of performance or something that's going to make me feel differently about Nebraska going into the game. I think they took an important and needed step this year as a program. Now they still suffered some losses that felt like old Nebraska-y. Including the last one, the most recent one I felt like was the most Nebraska-y of them all. Yeah, but also too, in order to change a culture

and to instill winning, you have to see improvement. It's kind of like losing weight, right? You don't lose 80 pounds in a month, but when you lose seven, it feels pretty good, right? And then you keep going and you keep going, you chip away at it. And I think that that's kind of what Nebraska's season to me illustrates.

And they went out and got some players in the portal, conceivably think that Raola is gonna take a big step next year, that sophomore jump is a big one. And you have to feel pretty good about the direction. Now the hope is that, I guess what you'd wanna see maybe is Raola having an awesome bowl game and then like they weaponize his Rising star to try to get more players to come play with him, right? Like that's the whole thing

But yeah, you have a quarterback and they're made a bowl game and I think for his true freshman season One that I thought maybe had much more promise that it ended up having like at the beginning of the year I was like, oh this Nebraska team might get the 7-0 right? No Colorado game was it was fool's gold for us for Nebraska but also too super super impressive still like that age well for them like you would think if you would have gone back in time and said Andy uh right after the Nebraska Colorado game and I would have said Andy Colorado is going to be in the mix for a playoff spot in late November.

Like how would that have changed? You wanna talk about fool's gold? That would have turned into a crypto scheme for me if I would have known that. Yeah, I think like if you told me as we were watching that game unfold. That Nebraska's doing that to a playoff contender, yeah. Yeah, it would have blown my mind. Blown my mind. But now the

thing is, the reason Nebraska did that to a playoff contender, the middle of that defense, those guys are going to be in the NFL next year, they're not going to be in Nebraska next year. So it's up to rule to replace them. It's up to rule to figure out defensive staffing and what that's going to look like and what the defense is going to look like and what the defense is going to look like and they've got to replace some guys out of the portal. They've got some big portal gets already, but they also have some big portal losses. So we'll see, but this will be an interesting one.

Another really interesting one, the Armed Forces Bowl tomorrow, Oklahoma and Navy. Michael Hawkins, we talked a lot about Michael Hawkins in the middle of the season on this show because remember Oklahoma replaced Jackson Arnold and they were like, well, let's see if it was the quarterback or if it was just that all the receivers were hurt and the offensive line is not very good. Turns out it wasn't the quarterback. Turns out the offensive line wasn't very good and all the

receivers were hurt and that's the problem. But Michael Hawkins did a hell of a job when he was in there, given what he had to deal with. The Auburn win, I think, is going to go down as the highlight here. John Mateer's coming at Oklahoma. Michael Hawkins is playing this game. We think he's staying, but the news on Christmas Day that Cole Gonzalez is also coming to Oklahoma,

he was the Western Carolina quarterback the last two years who threw for a million yards like he got hurt this year. The game the game before he got hurt. He threw for 620 yards. I know Cole because he lived in my neighborhood for a long time. His dad is Billy Gonzalez, the Florida receivers coach, but I would think he's coming to be materials backup. So I don't know where that leaves

Michael Hawkins in this situation, but he has a chance to lead Oklahoma to another win here. So I've rooted for him the entire time because his attitude about all of this situation has been great. 165 and a half passing yards on prize picks, so you have to go more or less on that. I didn't put Navy QB Blake Horvath's passing number on there, put his rushing number on there because they're an option team. Eighty one and a half rushing yards for Blake Horvath.

So the last time we saw Navy, they were putting it to Army, which was the best one of Navy season. Ari, no Danny Stutzman in this game for Oklahoma. The defense is is still very good, but is not gonna have everybody. And then obviously Oklahoma's offense is gonna be, not a lot of guys there, cuz there's been a lot of portal losses. What do we think is gonna happen here? Yeah, it's funny because it's the final look before we all go into Oklahoma

frenzy mode. But there are two teams that I think are gonna own the off season this year. And I think those two teams are Oklahoma and Auburn. Yeah. I think you might be right about that. LSU and Texas Tech would like a word. Yeah, that's true. They've been pretty big in the portal too, but yeah.

But I think that when you go get a stud at the quarterback position the way that Oklahoma did it makes you an inherently interesting program going into the offseason and you know we know that Oklahoma is gonna have a good defense and I am very fascinated to see what happens with Michael Hawkins and you know, I wonder too if in situations like this if this is a showcase for as a Portal asset, you know, you go out there and you play your ass off and you look good. You know, there are players who-

And how do you not like this guy? Because, you know, he's got thrown in, he's been benched. He knows the guy's coming in who's gonna, who's supposed to be the guy. Like, and all he's done is like- And he's young. He's young. Yeah, but all he's done has been like,

what does the team need me to do? Like, I love that. Yeah. And he could stay and start there in two years. Like, it doesn't mean that he, like his career's over by any stretch of the imagination, but also too, you have to understand that Brent Venables is not in a,

well, we've got to develop our quarterback mode. Like, he's in win next year mode because things could get really uncomfortable for him if this happens again next year, right? Yeah. Oh, right? Yeah. Oh, very much so. Oklahoma's not accustomed to losing. No, and like the Mulligans run out,

like you have to be good next year. Like he's already had two, what Oklahoma considers terrible seasons. And then he's got a 10 win season sandwich in the middle of them. So yeah, he's got a, he's got a win. It's a win-now situation. So yeah, this is a really weird one.

And it's the whole, like, it's hard to have a backup quarter, like a good backup quarterback in this day and age. And so if you've got, like if Michael Hawkins wants to stay and potentially be the quarterback in the future at Oklahoma. That's great for Oklahoma because that gives them potentially like a Gunnar Stockton situation because we're going to talk about Georgia when we pick these these games in a minute. But like Gunnar Stockton stayed.

He could have left. But he stayed and now he's going to be Georgia's QB one in the playoff. It's hard to have a backup quarterback who knows what you're doing, but it's hard. It's incredibly hard for a backup quarterback to take the leap of faith of I'm going to stay and be the guy in two years because guess what can happen in two years. Yeah and we don't know like he could ball out in this one hop in the portal be somewhere else. No one would blame him. They've taken two quarterbacks out of the portal already.

So it's understandable. But I think that's gonna be a really interesting game. You got those squares, Michael Hawkins Jr., Blake Horvath on prize picks. There's also multiple other squares for all the games today, all the games tomorrow. The Saturday game should be getting populated here in the next few hours.

Download prize picks, play $5, get $50 instantly, use the code staples. All right, Ari, it is now time to pick the quarterfinal games. Let's start with a message from our friends at Masterclass, because they're bringing us this first pick. You don't need to know everything there is to know about sports in order to win at sports betting. Stop betting blind. Learn how to beat the odds from our team of sharps. As long as there have been sports,

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Masterclass.com slash on three. This is your masterclass pick of the week. The Boise state Penn State game in the Fiesta bowl. Ooh boy. Ari. So the last time we saw Boise state was way back in the mountain west championship game. We obviously saw Penn state crush SMU last week. This is the one. Where we said Penn State loses to Oregon. We see the bracket were like, Oh, Penn State's got the easiest path into the semis. I don't think it's that easy. It's look, Penn State's a 10 and a half point favorite in this game. But Boise State plays a style. That does not lend itself to meltdowns, so you I don't think you will see them just hand in the game the way SMU did.

I think they will be fighting the entire way that will be in at the entire way and the question will be. When a team with really talented front 7. Sells out and loads the box to stop Ashton Gentie. What does that look like now? We actually have seen that before. With the number one team in the country,

Oregon and guess what they didn't stop him. He averaged 7.7 yards of carry against them. Did they? Did they? I need to go back and watch that game because it's been three months, but did they sell out to stop the run or had the legend of Ashton Genty started by them? Oh, they knew he scored six touchdowns against Georgia, Georgia Southern league before. Yeah. I mean they do. Watch tape in Oregon. Like they, they weren't, they weren't sitting there going,

we're going to check back in case Maddox Madsen goes off on us. Let me ask you this. Does Boise have anything that can beat Penn State that's not action gently? Yes, but it's not an offense. Boise State's defense second in the nation in sacks, second in the nation in sacks per game. So they average four sacks a game. You're getting pressure. It means you're potentially forcing turnovers.

It means you're causing negative plays. It means you're killing drives. That is the other thing besides Ashton Gentie. That's the other thing that gives them a chance now. So Penn State, the problem. Causing a Penn statement and it doesn't even have to be a meltdown.

Because like I said, I don't think Boise State will melt down. I think Boise State will just kind of be you know, even keel Don't make a lot of mistakes the problem Boise State will have is if if Penn State is stopping Ashton Gentry because remember Ashton Gentry after contact was probably the second leading rusher in the country this year Mm-hmm. If Ashton Gentey after contact is not having a great game. So if he's not like his line, their offensive line is not that great. So Ashton Gentey gets the ball. He goes two yards and he gets hit.

Now what he usually does is goes five more yards after he gets hit. But if he only goes one more yard after he gets hit, Boise State's in trouble. Yeah. So multifaceted thoughts on this one. Does the Fiesta Bowl magic mean anything to you? Does the fact that Boise State is appropriately returning to Glendale mean anything to you? returning to Glendale mean anything to you? And then- It does to me because I was there for the Oklahoma game. I was there. I walked, like that, that was the, they were dead. Okay.

For those who didn't watch the whole Boise State Oklahoma game, this was after the 2006 season, January 1st, 2007. Boise State was kicking the crap out of Oklahoma for two and a half quarters. Like we were like this, Oklahoma must be embarrassed there. And remember this wasn't a particularly great Oklahoma team. Adrian Peterson was on this team, but he was hurt most of that season.

And we were like, oh, you know, Boise State's gonna run away with this. And then Oklahoma comes back. And all of a sudden, is winning and his Boise State is in an impossible situation. They were four. They had a fourth and 18. So the hook and lateral play was on fourth and 18. Oh, I remember it's a miraculous.

And, and then of course you had what happened at overtime. Do you remember the first, what happened? The first play of overtime in that game? Cause Oklahoma got the ball first. Uh, I don't remind me 25 yard Adrian Peterson touchdown run. Oh, it was like, oh, this is over. There's no way this is done.

Yeah, um. I remember the highlights of it, but it would be that would be a good rewatchables. Oh my God, it was so amazing. It was it was incredible. So now I Penn State as Stephen pointed out in the chat is also undefeated in the fiesta ball. Like one of one of Penn State's greatest victories against Miami after the 1986 season in the fiesta ball where they just came out and thumped what everybody thought was the national championship team. And then Penn State is the national champ. So I think.

This could be a lot of fun as long as Boise State doesn't make mistakes. Now we just showed drew our own screen and I think he's he's a big key to this because I don't know about you are. My opinion of Drew Aller has changed quite a bit in the last few games of the season. It was even it was happening before the Big Ten Championship game. But the Drew Aller we saw in the Big Ten Championship game and the one we've seen through the end of the season, like he's a much better athlete, I think, than I realized. And when he scrambles and keeps some plays alive, like

he's very tough to deal with when he's when he's just not like this before it felt like he was totally risk averse. He wouldn't he wouldn't take any chances. He wouldn't throw the ball down the field. And I feel like he's gotten confident. So he's throwing the ball down the field more. But also if you get some pressure on him, he can he can squeak out of there and then he is going. For awhile. Yeah, so I have. I've got two concerns, one for

each team Andy. One is we've analyzed this Penn State game or this Penn State team all year. They don't have great receivers, so is that going to show up at some point? Yeah, I think Harrison Wallace says he's improved. So I don't know if I'm 100% convinced that Penn State's offense is just fixed. Okay, so if you have a really good defensive performance against Penn State, like if they struggle to score it, and frankly speaking, it's like their offense lit up SMU SMU donated a ton of field position points in that game. There's like yeah, that's OK.

There's a point in this point in the second quarter where it really should have been 14 7 SMU. And instead it was. What was it? 14-0 or 14-3? It was 14-0 and there was a certain point where the game could have been tied late in the game or SMU could have been winning. Because the swing happened too when SMU was in the edge of the red zone.

But then the other major concern I have is that we've seen a lot of really good running backs in the sport in the past. We have seen them a ton. And when they play another team that's got really good front seven and sells out, it's hard to beat another team with just a running back. So if you don't think that they have anything else offensively, like I just kind of feel like this is going to be a physical mauling in the way that we've seen Georgia do to teams in the past because usually when Georgia plays teams in the playoff, the talent gap overall is akin to what you would see in this Penn State Boise game. And I just don't know that Boise has enough even with Gentie to get there. So I see people in the that Boise has enough, even with Genty, to get there. So I see people in the chat saying, fix the audio, fix the audio.

We can't tell if there's anything going on with the audio. It had been going fine. So if there is, let us know. And what we'll do is we'll continue with the show, because we can't stop it now, but we'll put the clips out later with the better audio. But I see some folks saying the audio is fine So we will we will power on it's not going well you and I can tell like I hear you completely fine

So yeah, it's a it might be a stream yard issue where they're saying some of the audio is skipping So but don't worry. We will also have clips up of the show where we'll use the clean feed that we get locally. So we'll get we'll take care clean feed that we get locally. So we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll take care of you on this one, but this is, this is going to be a very interesting game. I think I, and, and so part of me, and I'm going to tell you who I'm picking right now. I'm picking Boise state. I'm picking Boise state in this game. Money line. What? Money line. Because something interesting has to happen at some point in

this tournament. This isn't basketball, Andy. Something interesting has to happen at some point in this tournament. And this is the one. Maybe it's me being sentimental about the fiesta bowl magic. Or maybe it's me saying the style of play here suggests that they're not going to just hand the ball to Penn State over and over and let Penn State control the game. But that's why. That's why. I push back at the sentiment that something crazy has to happen. Because we're accustomed to something crazy has to happen in the basketball tournament,

and this is just not basketball. So, like, I'm not saying it can't happen, but I'm not going into it. Like, when you fill out a bracket for basketball at the beginning of the tournament, you just sometimes just pick some grab-ass matchup of a 12-5 game or whatever because it happens every year and there's no real analysis other than like it happens every year so it's going to happen this year. Like this is the first go of it and all the favorites won by a million in the first round. I feel like, I feel like that's because it's football. So, you know, I'm gonna go with Penn State covering in this game.

We are on polar opposite sides of what we are with this. So this again is our master class pick of the week. So we'll give, if you take that master class sports betting class, you'll learn something. So Raymond asked in the chat, is Moneyline same as points? No, Moneyline means I'm picking Boise State to win outright and in this particular case, yeah in this particular case that means you're

going to you would win more if you win because they are right they are a double it is a it is plus 330. Yeah. So if you bet a hundred on Boise State on the money line to win you would win $330 is how that works Because you're you're not taking the points. You're just taking a dog to win straight up and not just a dog a pretty massive dog So that's a that's a pretty good. That's a pretty you know, you you're putting yourself out there on this Andy like I I know and I it's not I Just I was looking at all these games and I just believe something, something crazy is going to happen.

I don't see something crazy happening. In in Arizona State, Texas and then the other two games, the teams are too evenly matched for anything to be crazy for any any one result to be crazy. This is one where Boise State does not make a lot of mistakes like historically and this season. They're very well coached. Like they just do what they're supposed to do and the lack of meltdown like with SMU you had seen them do it against Clemson in the ACC Championship game where

they started that slowly. And we said if they start slowly, they will dig a hole that Penn State will never let them come out of. I don't think Boise State will dig themselves a hole. I think they will make sure this is competitive and give themselves a chance in the second half. themselves a chance in the second half? When Georgia played like when Georgia was Georgia and they played teams in the past, like from the big 12 or whatever. They had a talent advantage that was palpable and eventually

showed itself. And I understand that we are in the portal era and the NIL era, but the talent advantage, I think, from a top to bottom standpoint in any of these games, maybe also in Texas and Arizona State, but this one in particular, is pretty lopsided. And I know that we don't analyze games based on talent anymore because you're not allowed to in the NILR. But Penn State is going to boa constrictor them in this game. I guarantee it. I'm going to take Penn State and I'm going to lay the point. He guaranteed Ari's lead pipe walk of the week. I think, I think that that Ashton Gentey

can rush for 130 yards and they could lose 34 17 This is let Michael Jordan score 36 and control Scottie Pippen and Tony Kukoc You know and listen, I got a warning in the chat. Be careful Boise State fans can be relentless It's like I know I'm just picking a game here if I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt I would take every single thing. I have a rather large fan base.

It's online. It's actually online too. It's fine. I just don't know if they have enough from top to bottom to exist in this game. Right. And like the difference between this game and the fiesta bowl was the last fiesta bowl

that they played in or the one that we referenced, is that it means something, and both teams are really, really, really amped up to win. So- You can't advance in the chat. Didn't we say the same thing about Ohio State, Michigan? I don't think that the talent advantage in that game, especially on Michigan's defense, like they've got one really, really great player,

and they've got some other nice pieces, but Penn State has 15 draft picks on their team. It's still a G5 program, and maybe I'm underestimating them, okay? And if Boise, you're right, and Boise comes out, throw stuff at me, throw eggs at me, I don't know. I'm not gonna throw anything at you, I'm just gonna laugh and point and be like,

eh, told you so. Yeah, you're an idiot, you're a dumbass. But you also, listen, Boise State's a double digit dog. There's probably a higher likelihood of you saying that to me after this thing. So, we'll find out. I'm not gonna make fun of you because you're the one who actually put yourself out there. And, a team. well, I see.

And I feel like my reasoning is sound for this. Like it's not. Yes. I said something has to happen, but I picked if Boise State was a team that was kind of boom or bust that you that had a quarterback that, you know, took tons of chances. Like I don't think I'd be picking this. I think I'd be saying no, no, the two double digit spread games are going to be blocks and that's all.

But I'm just not I don't feel that way. So yeah, but if James, if you're right, James Franklin should just drive home from Phoenix. Gosh, I don't listen that discourse. I don't even want to think about that right now, because I like we were talking about earlier in the show, the show, the guy just gets piled on by everyone. If they lose to Boise as an 11 point favorite, it would be an absolute freaking disaster for him. Yeah.

We'll have plenty to talk about next week if that happens. I know you're trying to move the show along, but like the reward for Penn State for being the sixth seed was the easiest path to the semis, right? Yeah. But when you make a deal with the devil, that's right. There's another side to this, which is, if you don't advance to the semis, it's the worst possible outcome for James Fran Frank. So there's always a price. There's always a price. All right, let us move to the Peach Bowl. Arizona State versus Texas. This pick brought to you by Axia time. Well, maybe you want to

commemorate the Sun Devils trip to the college football playoff. You can do that with a gorgeous timepiece from Axia time. Axia time.com is the place to go. They are the official timepiece of the college football playoff of the Heisman Trophy. I have a beautiful Odysseus two that I'm wearing right now that I'm wearing more and more. I think I've already I think I've ditched my Apple watch permanently because I am loving this thing. Get compliments everywhere I go. And also it's kind of unwired me. Like I love being able to look down

and just see what time it is and not that my garage door is open. So Andy, when you have a nice watch, the Apple watch becomes a utility for working out and that's it for me. Yeah. Like you have too nice of a watch now to wear an Apple watch. This thing is beautiful.

I switched it to the orange band to get the little, because you can go a little more casual, you can go a little more dressy. A nice stainless steel band that came with it too. And I'll go back to that if I wanna go a little more dressy but I went to the casual. It's awesome. It's so beautiful.

I just like watching the secondhand sweep. They are Swiss made, but I know what you're thinking. Oh, I gotta break the bank for this. No, you do not. So you're seeing that Sun Devils watch right there. You wanna commemorate the trip. Limited to a hundred pieces.

Public sale is happening right now. So go to axiatime.com and get yourself a beautiful watch that people will compliment you on wherever you go. Ari, let's go to Atlanta, Texas, Arizona State. Arizona State's a 13 and a half point dog in this game. This is the one where like Sam Levitt has been awesome. We talk a lot about scam, scat, scam, cat, a bow, cam scat a bow, who's been,

who's been tremendous for Arizona State. But Sam Levitt, I think it really has been under the under, you know, underrated piece of this team that which is crazy when we're talking about the quarterback but our guy Cody Blair told us this when he transferred there from Michigan State, like this guy is going to be a dude and he's been awesome. Yeah, it's funny because I just got done getting off a talent high horse here, and maybe that's just like G5 discrimination.

But the spread on this game is bigger. Which is weird. Well, it's not weird when you boil it down. It's Texas has more talent than Penn State, probably top to bottom, right? And Arizona State is has been pieced together. In large part through the portal, and it's hard to analyze how talented that they are from that aspect. So the.

I'm torn on this one. So I'm gonna let you go first because I don't know which direction I'm leaning. Like I know who I think is gonna win, but that doesn't make me, you know, Nicole the Tesla kind of figuring that one out. Like who do you like in the spread here? Unless you go MoneyLine again, big, big funds over there. You know, Ari, we talked about this last week out of the 24

offenses and defenses in the college football playoff, which is the one I trust the most. It's the Texas defense. That has not changed. I think the Clemson offense they just played is probably more talented than the Arizona State offense. They're going to play. I think that Arizona State. I don't know that you could make the case that it's better than Arizona State's offense. I wouldn't go that far. I don't know that's any better.

I think they're probably about the same. But I think Arizona State's defense is probably also about the same as Clemson's defense. And you saw it, like, Texas just had to run against Clemson's defense. They didn't really have to do anything else. And remember, they lost two offensive linemen and a tailback in the second quarter and still just mash them for two quarters. Like they're gonna get,

I believe they're gonna get two of those guys back. I think Weissner and Majors I believe are gonna be back. I don't know about Cam Williams. So I just, I think Texas's defense is is what it is. It's again, the most trustworthy unit in the playoff. So they're going to keep Arizona State below its normal output offensively. And I just think Texas has too many weapons. I'm taking Texas to cover here.

Yeah, I think I'm with you on that. You know, if you were upset about the blowouts from the first round, I've got bad news for you. Very similar matchups to the first round are existing in the second round. It's not over. You know what I mean? People in the chat complaining about the number four seeds of two touchdown underdog. It's because they deliberately misseeded the tournament. Like they designed it this way. They're gonna undesign that. They're gonna have to because it's dumb.

It shouldn't be like this. This should not have happened. Like Texas and Penn State should not have gotten easier paths for losing their conference championship games. So this is something they can fix for next year. According to the people I've talked to. They should fix it and just you just seed it straight. This is something they can fix for next year. According to the people I've talked to. They should fix it.

And just you just seed it straight. You don't say that conference champions have to be the top four seeds. It's very simple. It's it's fixable. This game should not be happening this way. That's all there is to it. Yeah, so and also too,

if Arizona State would have played a first round game that probably would have fixed the blowout problem in the first round too. Like if you got an Arizona State SMU type game, it would have been a more competitive game. But then again, that boils my blood because it's like this is the playoff and we're supposed to be crowning the United States. Well, actually Arizona State, if you'd seeded it straight, Arizona State would have gone to Columbus. They would have played Ohio State and Columbus. So there probably would have been a blowout there, but Tennessee SMU would have been a hell of a game. Oh yeah, maybe, or that might have been a blowout too. I don't know who knows.

I'm with you. I'm with you. This is it's it's simple. If Texas can stop Cam Scataboo, then they're going to win by 100. Yeah, and that's that's the frustrating part is we don't want to see that at this level to play off. Like, we want that to be done in the first round. So and I hope I hope that Kenny Dillingham and company can make this more fun

than than Ari and I are making it out to be. I would love that. Because if this game goes down to the wire and cam scataboos balling out like, come on, it's gonna be fun. Mental about like the Cinderella stuff. We'll talk about it. I'm not talking about Cinderella. I'm not even sentimental about that. I just want more even matchups or I want the teams that played the best in the regular season to have the easiest path. Like, if there's going to be a blowout, I

want the number one team blowing somebody out. The number one team shouldn't be sitting there having to struggle. Yeah, that's true. I mean, Oregon got bent into a bad spot this year. Yeah. Vance says, my bet is they'll fix the seating if the Big Ten and SEC decide to give more money

to the other conferences. No, they don't have to because here's the deal that this contract ends after this season And if you're the big ten in the SEC, you're like we'll let you keep playing in our playoff. How's that sound? And the other conference of like sounds good Like that's how that's gonna work But yeah They do need to fix it because the way this was designed, Ari,

if you think about it, they started designing this version of the playoff in January 2019. Back then there was still a Pac-12. Texas and Oklahoma were still in the SEC. Like it was a very different outlook. Like if you looked at this year's playoff through that lens, Oregon's your Pac-12 champ.

Texas is your big 12 champ. George is your SEC champ. You know, Ohio State or Penn State's your big 10 champ. Like then it makes more sense as to how that would work. But that's not how it works anymore. And so they have to change it for the world that exists now. Let us move to New Orleans. This is going to be a very fun game. Notre Dame versus Georgia. So we now have official word from Georgia that Carson Beck is out. We knew Carson Beck was going to be out for this game. We've known for a while, but we now have official word. He had UCL surgery as an elbow ligament. It's surgery

more common for baseball pitchers, but he had that he's out. Gunner Stockton is your QB one for the Bulldogs. We've only seen him for a half, but it was a half against the Texas defense in which he looked better. Then Carson Beck had looked in the three halves that he had played against the Texas defense. This is where the rubber meets the road for me, man. This is it right here. I I'm super excited for the Ohio State Oregon game, but this is the one that I think we learned the most. I don't know if you leave the Ohio State

Oregon game feeling oh, OK, one that I think we learned the most. I don't know if you leave the Ohio State Oregon game feeling, oh, okay. They're good. Like we know both are really good. Like there is a large segment of the population that has underestimated Notre Dame for three months. And I have been steadfast on the show and you to the same extent, maybe not as bluntly, but also you, I think you were with me.

Oh yeah, about telling people Notre Dame was legit. And I have them in my national championship game, that bracket that I put out got a lot of eyeballs and a lot of angry people. And I just believe that Notre Dame is a better, more complete team than Georgia this year. And the line opened as Notre Dame was a slight favorite and immediately flipped over to Georgia being a slight favorite. I'm very curious where this line closes when the late sharp money comes in.

I think it goes back to Notre Dame for a little bit. It's going to. yeah, I think so. I think Notre Dame's gonna win the football game. And I think that Notre Dame is going to do so looking as good as they've looked in 20 years. That's what I'm pretty sure. So I hate that Riley Mills is done for the season. You and I were there in South Bend.

He hurt his knee sacking Curtis Rourke and he's out for the year. That sucks because they just got Howard Cross back. Riley Mills is one of the defensive tackles for Notre Dame. That's terrible injury luck this year. It is. And that's it. Now that's what I was about to get to though. Like Notre Dame has overcome that multiple times this season which speaks to the depth of this team. Like this is a deeper Notre Dame team than any of those Brian Kelly Notre Dame teams.

Marcus Freeman has done a better job stocking the roster with talent. This Notre Dame team from a talent standpoint is capable of playing with the Georges in the Ohio States and the Oregon's. Like, cause it used to be that those teams when somebody went down, they would have a few special players.

And if one of them went down, it was over. Now, I mean, think about the lose Charles Jagasov supposed to their starting left tackle. They lost him in the preseason. They've been played a true freshman there all year. They're still really good offensive line. Like it's amazing how well they've been able to to overcome some of this stuff so. It's a combination of both things Andy one it's the underestimation of Notre Dame.

But it's also the over estimation of Georgia to because like we're brains are conditioned. To look at Georgia as a juggernaut and I'm not saying saying that they're not. If they won the national title this year, it wouldn't be the craziest thing in the world. Georgia can win the national title this year, Ari. But this is not 2021 or 2022. Georgia, like I just I don't know. Georgia would kick the crap out of everybody in this tournament. It wouldn't even be less.

If Georgia ends up winning the game, I'll look like an idiot. And Georgia will be good still and whatever. But I think that this Notre Dame team is built very similarly and it's the closest that Notre Dame has ever been from an athletic standpoint to a team like Georgia, because they've gotten better and teams in the SEC have gotten less deep. So listen. We'll see. I think that like the one thing I'm going to tell you before you come back next week and call me an idiot. Is that my mindset is confirmed by the spread, right? Like this

isn't like some sort of like 13 points. Well, and that's why you're assuming I'm going to call you an idiot. It, look. I, we're going to be on opposite sides of this. I can tell you that right now, but I don't think you're an idiot for picking Notre Dame. I think this is going to be a close game. And like listen, Kirby Smart is a better more seasoned coach at the moment than Marcus Freeman. Like there's no question that that matters. I think that maybe the reason why Clemson was the best first round game is because of the experience

that Davos Sweeney has playing in these things. Like I think that that stuff matters too. And Marcus Freeman is still a young coach who has made some pretty catastrophic mistakes and big moments that you hope that he's grown from. Like there are intangibles here too. But like we're talking about Notre Dame and their bad injury luck and like not talking at all about the fact that Georgia doesn't have their quarterback. Like, that's what we're about to talk about. So I don't know that that I'm not going to say it doesn't hurt. Obviously it hurts losing Carson Beck.

But these small sample size of Gunner Stockton we saw against the defense that I've I've said multiple times is the one I think is the best in the country, the Texas defense. I like his chances now that he's had three weeks to prep with the ones. I think I watched the way the team played for him, the way those guys rallied around him, the way they sounded talking about them, about him. It is, this guy is a dude. His teammates respect him, they love him. Like, I think this is gonna be a really interesting situation because we've talked about all these

quarterback deals and the transfer portal and everything. You know, the Georgia job was going to be open in the spring. Because Carson Beck was going to lead them through the playoffs. What if Gunnar Stockton balls out and they wind up in the final or they wind up winning the national title like the Gunnar's he's QB

one yard done in Q2. A ton of stats in in high school. Like it's not like he's some sort of limited athlete that can't figure it out in three weeks. They've had a lot of time to prepare, So like you do have Georgia finding its future quarterback while kicking Notre Dame's ass on national television is on the table. So, um, you know, we'll see what it, what it turns out on.

I think that like, this is a revelatory game. You don't really have a lot of matchups in the playoffs where it's like, well, we're going to find out like what the team really is. Cause Notre Dame's schedule, though, we're going to find out like what the team really is because Notre Dame schedule, though I think challenging to get through all together, didn't have a major major test on it. So we're going to find out big time and I love that we're on different sides of this thing. I cannot wait. Well, and let me throw something else out there because I we've

not really talked about the reasons why Georgia can win this game. One, watch what they do to teams when their defense is playing really well. It's not what it was in 2021 where you just couldn't run on them. They were too big up front, too fast up front. When they're doing really well now, because again, they don't have. First rounders across the board. On their defensive front, but they have a few really good players like Michael Williams, like they can get after your quarterback.

Like if they can make Riley Leonard uncomfortable and remember, Riley Leonard is such a good athlete that in a lot of cases against the teams they've played, if he gets rushed, if somebody beats their man, Riley Leonard can just move

around, keep the play alive. And it's no problem. It will be a problem at times because there will be giant humans who run as fast as Riley Leonard coming after him. And he doesn't see that all that often. The other thing that I think is interesting, have we seen a healthy Trevor ETN since the beginning of the season? Because this guy is a home run threat. And I don't know that we've seen a healthy version of him against George's best opponents. He's had three weeks to get healthy. That could be very, very interesting. So I'm gonna throw those out there as potential reasons for Georgia to win this game. I think all of your points about Notre Dame are right. I think Notre Dame is very good. This is as deep as a Notre Dame of a Notre Dame team as we've seen. But I still think George's as deeper, deeper. And we'll see about the quarterback situation. We'll see about Gunner Stockton. But I still think George is as deep or deeper.

And we'll see about the quarterback situation. We'll see about Gunner Stockton. But I think he's going to be fine because again, you know, against Texas with a very limited menu where he had not been playing with the ones at practice, he was fine. Now he's going to have a chance to have played with the ones for three weeks at practice.

So I will take Georgia to win this game and like you said earlier, I am watching the sharp money on this one because I may be taking the underdog by the time the game actually kicks off. Yep. Yep. We'll see how it goes. I'm on Notre Dame. Let's play. And producer River wants me to know if I want to know if I want the money line of the points. I'll take the points. You're gonna give me points with Georgia. Oh, excuse me. I'm sorry. What am I thinking? But yeah, I know. I'm already in the mode that this is gonna flip back and think I'm

gonna get some points. So no, I will take I'll take Georgia to cover. I'll take Georgia to cover because it's a one and a half. I mean, come on. So yeah, I will. I'll take Georgia cover because it's a one and a half. I mean come on so. Yeah, I will. I will take Georgia Ari. Who you got again? Other name. Alright. It's on, we're on opposite sides. Who boy alright? Off to Pasadena,

the game you will be covering in person. I'm so jealous. Ohio State and Oregon. They've played once in Eugene Oregon won by one point. As you would expect for teams that play a one point game in one of their on campus stadiums. You move it to a neutral site. The home team advantage gets pulled away. Ohio State is a two and a half point favorite. That's kind of how the math would work out on that. How much do we take from the first game Ari? A lot, I think. I think that Oregon proved I think that Oregon proved that they are able to compete with and are equipped from an athletic standpoint from top to bottom to exist in a blow for blow game with a team like Ohio State who I think played their second best game of the year that day. Like Ohio State during the last 10 years when they lose,

a lot of times when they lose, they didn't play well and only a few times have they played great and lost, and I think that was one of them. Like I thought they played well, right? So that's my thing about this game is. When I was watching. The Tennessee game with you and we

were up in Columbus last weekend. I was thinking, oh, when it was the last time they played like this. Well, it was the Oregon game. They played like that against Oregon, yet they still lost. Right. So from when you say, do you take, I don't know that I take the result. Like who won? Like who won the game?

If you go look at the box score, it was an identical game. Both teams put up all the same yards, time of possession, first downs, points, even like it was all similar. And it ended with a penalty call that usually like the offensive pass interference call on Jeremiah Smith was correct. It's just not one they normally will make like, yeah, and like the time they just let that lie. The other thing is you had the clock situation where Dan Lanning, now they've adjusted this rule so he can't do it. He can't bend space and time again. But Dan Lanning stole seconds off the clock with that 12 man thing, which was brilliant.

And then you also had Will Howard not manage the clock properly at the end of the game. So that's the difference. Otherwise Ohio State's kicking a field goal to win. And that's not a big difference. These teams are very even. They played an identical game and who won and lost is important for resume and stuff. But as it pertains to analyzing this game, I think it's irrelevant because it was so similar. for like resume and stuff but like as it pertains to analyzing this game I think it's irrelevant

because it was so similar. Now I don't know how much you think Oregon's home field advantage helped or the fact that Ohio State had to fly across the country all that stuff whatever again irrelevant. The the question here is is the Ohio State team that showed up against Tennessee who they are for the rest of the playoffs and if it it is, can Oregon beat them twice? Like that, that to me is like where I'm at. So, you know, in my preseason bracket, I had Oregon winning this game. And then we went to Columbus and saw what Ohio State did to Tennessee. And I thought that that was a really dangerous scenario. And I think that the illustration of your column that you wrote, which was the number one seed can't get screwed is like in the point spread here. Like they have the toughest second round matchup of anybody and they're

the one seed. They're the underdog as the one seed. And like we said it all year, like the big 10 championship game, you should be incentivized to lose and like, look at that. Look at the difference between them and Penn State. So, you know, I feel for Oregon in that sense, but like I just, I don't know what it is about Michigan, but Ohio State has a problem with them. Ohio State against everybody else is really, really good. And they were really, really good against Oregon. I just have a hard time seeing Oregon doing it again. So I'm going to switch my pre-playoff. I don't see any mental blocks here. seeing Oregon doing it again. So I'm gonna switch my pre-playoff.

I don't see any mental blocks here. No, if they revert back to what they were, like I just, Ohio State has, I mean, if you went down the list, they have more good players and they're playing well. So, I don't know. I don't know. Like I think Ohio State's gonna win, but I don't know. That's what we want.

Okay. This is what we want in this round of the playoff and and the next ones by the way, like that's what we're hoping for. Like we want. I don't know because they're both really good. This is what we're hoping for and this is what we hope all of the games in the next round will be that the two semi-finals and the final will be like this. Like Ducks forever is like they have more good players great analysis. Well what what what else

analysis like why is that bad analysis? Well I don't know that they do. That's the other thing. That's the question but I'm not sure they do have more good players than Oregon. I think this is pretty close from a talent standpoint. Well, the fact that it's close is the illustration of why Dan Lanning is the best young coach in the entire sport. Yeah, like when you think about the amount of investment that Ohio State has had in assembling their roster this year and putting together what they have out on the field there. And then you

have a team where you're pushing back on the notion that Ohio State has more good players. That is master class to borrow our sponsor and building a roster. Can we, can we go, let's, let's go group by group. So receivers, I think we're going to take Ohio States, even though Oregon's are very good, but I'm going to take Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Buko over anybody. Quarterback, I'm taking Dylan Gabriel. Yep. So that's that's Oregon. Offensive line, I'm taking Oregon.

Running backs, I'm taking Ohio State. Yep. So it's two two. Defensive line now at the beginning of the year, I would have said Ohio State, but I think I take Oregon right now. Ohio State had their best defensive line performance in like the last four years against Tennessee. Yeah. Yeah Yeah, and they have all five players. They rotate in there are gonna be playing in the NFL for a long time I don't know the organs are all pros to yeah

Secondary I'm taking Ohio State Yeah Linebackers is all kind of a wash like this is going to be an incredible game. This is also to Ohio State's receiver advantage is like absolutely unbelievably stark against everyone else. Like Oregon's the only team where it's like, OK, you can take Ohio State's receivers. I think Evan Stewart says Johnson against almost everybody else. Like, you've got great receivers, too.

So I don't know. Who I don't know, man. It's going be a I think this is gonna be the game. Like I think there's some people who will say and Ralph Russo even said this I'm gonna put him on blast that this is the de facto national title game. No, if I'm there yet, because there's so big time team still left. That is this is what the sports about and I can't wait to get Yeah, okay. This is what the sports about and I can't wait to get it. Yeah, OK. This is not that effective national title game. One of the winning team may win the national title. But not because they won this game like they're not going to blow through, you know, because you remember. The team that wins this is probably have to play Texas next and then you're going to have to play.

The team that wins this is probably gonna have to play Texas next and then you're gonna have to play Georgia Notre Dame Penn State somebody like that in the final like yeah, it's you're not Or Boise, yeah exactly, so you're not blowing through that Yeah, but The national champion may come out of this game for sure the national champion may come out of this game for sure. Yeah. Yeah. So I don't know. Do you have a do you have a pick here? Like mine is Ohio State ID. I don't know. I think I think we watch Dan landing ascend here. And the first big win for him because remember he had those three Washington games one in 2022 and two of them in 2023. We couldn't get over the hump and they were they were right there for a couple of them.

The packed well championship game. I think Washington sort of enforced this well at the end, but we're like, OK, when's Dan landing going to win one of these? The one against Ohio State was the one of those. And then we thought they were going to win the Big Ten championship game. The Penn State team that showed up in the Big Ten Championship game was awesome. And they still won. And they still like it was it wasn't a case of they were in danger of losing.

Like Penn State kept getting it to eight and then Oregon kept extending the lead. So I just I think we're Dan landing is the next Kirby smart or Nick Saban or whoever we keep or dabo like who's the next one of those. Dan landing is the next one. I think we watch him ascend here. Yeah, and also I think he's already ascended. They could lose this game and I would be more than happy saying that he's the number one coach outside of Kirby smart in the entire country. Like I don't know that this is gonna change my mind on him

and what he's done from a talent accumulation standpoint is going to have Oregon in this position over and over and over again. And that's all that you really want. And you want him to win, obviously, but your coach has that team in a very good position and then beating Ohio State would be the least surprising thing

on the face of the earth. So yeah, no, I'm excited. Andy, you were a little bit worried coming into the show that we weren't gonna be able to make it to an hour. Oh, River wants to know if I want the money line or the two and a half. Give me the money line. Andy's feeling a little, feeling froggy today. So, you know, what did you think he was going to pick? But we made it to the end here, an hour, because JD's going on, right? Like we, you were afraid that we didn't have enough to talk about. And pretty soon, you're going to find out that that should never be a fear of yours ever again. Okay? Okay. So you're taking the buck, guys. Ryan Day returns the conquering hero, then he's going to go to another bowl game and do it all over again. Love it.

They're just, they're just playing too well right now to pick against them, in my opinion. That was too impressive. I cannot wait unless you want to get a 20 minute discussion about whether Tennessee should have been in the playoff at all. We could talk about that if you want. Let's say that for the offseason. Kidding. I'm kidding. Guys, three bowl games today. Full slate of bowl games tomorrow. Full slate of bowl games on Saturday. We got shows Monday, Tuesday. The things the things back on like the Penn State Boise State game is Tuesday night.

It is truly the most wonderful time of the year. You got JD Piquel the hard count coming up in three minutes here on the on three Sports YouTube channel. We will talk to you on Monday.