Andy & Ari On3 - QB's Named, NCAA Blamed | Paul Finebaum Joins | Bold Predictions for the Season | Andy Staples On3

Episode Date: August 30, 2023

QB's Named, NCAA Blamed | Paul Finebaum Joins | Bold Predictions for the Season | Andy Staples On3Today’s show is brought to you by Rhoback, the makers of the world’s most comfortable polos, hoodies, Q-zips, joggers and shorts. Freshen up your wardrobe by visiting rhoback.com and using the promo code ANDY for 20 percent off your order.Want to watch the show instead? Head on over to YouTube and don't forget to subscribe!https://youtu.be/iLAWJk2Hoq4It’s Hot Take Tuesday, featuring the Godfather of hot takes Paul Finebaum of the SEC Network and ESPN.Before Paul joins, Andy discusses Colorado coach Deion Sanders ripping the NCAA for denying a transfer waiver for Buffaloes offensive lineman Tyler Brown. Andy also discusses Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh asking schools to share revenue with college football players. (0:00-9:44)In non-NCAA news, Ohio State coach Ryan Day announced that Kyle McCord will start at quarterback for the Buckeyes against Indiana on Saturday. Meanwhile, UCLA coach Chip Kelly announced Ethan Garbers will start at QB for the Bruins’ season-opener against Coastal Carolina. (9:45-11:55)Next up is Paul Finebaum, the dean of college football takes. Paul explains why he found it silly that Nick Saban didn’t release a depth chart, and he offers some intel on Alabama’s quarterback situation heading into the season opener against Middle Tennessee. (11:55-27:34)Later, Paul explains how Hollywood stood between him and a chance to bury the hatchet with occasional verbal sparring partner Harbaugh. (27:35-40:50)After talking to Paul, Andy unleashes a few bold takes of his own.He makes predictions about the Heisman race, the Big 12 title game, the SEC title, the Big Ten title and caps it off with his 2023 College Football Playoff Prediction. (40:51-1:07:18)For Today's Extra Point, we're going to the movie theaters to watch.... College Football! That's right, ESPN reaches a deal to show ACC and CFP games at the movies (1:07:19-1:10:16)

Welcome to Andy Staples on three and it's a hot take Tuesday we have the ultimate hot take guy well maybe the original a pioneer of hot takes I think is probably the best way to describe it Paul Feinbaum joins us with some great stories about how he almost patched things up with Jim Harbaugh, but then Hollywood intervened. Jason Biggs, the star of American Pie, featured prominently. You guys, you got to hear this. A little bit later in the show, Paul will join. We'll talk about that. We'll talk about Alabama and the quarterback situation Nick Saban and no depth chart but first we got to talk about some other hot takes because Deion Sanders coach prime he had a pretty blazing take with pretty good reason on Tuesday Tyler Brown is an offensive lineman at Colorado he

transferred from Jackson State played for Deion Sanders. He had originally transferred from Louisiana before that. So you, I think, you know, where this is going if you've been following along with the Daryl Jackson story at Florida state, the Tez Walker story at North Carolina, if you've transferred a second time, you probably didn't get your waiver approved. And that's exactly what happened here. The NCAA did not approve a waiver for Tyler Brown,

who had appealed saying that you know for the sake of his mental health he needed to be able to play immediately Deion Sanders was not happy about that situation at all on Tuesday I just had a question about Tyler Brown who has recently ruled ineligible yeah that hurt that hurt tremendously He's a kid that is dear to me, like a darn son to me. This is one of those moments when one side of me is saying, shut up, coach. The other one said, go get it. I'm going to go get it.

Tyler Brown is a wonderful kid, but he deals with a lot of issues inside. And he's been seeing specialists and seeing people to really deal with these issues and calm these things down. So I'm very privy to him. He was in my Thursday group that I spoke into their lives every Thursday, a group of young men that were there at Jackson with me last year. But that, it don't make sense. Some things just don't make sense.

You know, you say you really care about mental health, but when you have someone really dealing with mental health, there's a problem. And then ostracizing him and not allowing him to do what he's blessed and gifted to do and the thing that presents him peace, that's trying for a young man. He's not the only one. It's a plethora of people around the country. I think this was the year that they said no to darn everybody.

But Tyler Brown, I wish they could review that and really understand that. I wish you could see. I think he made a video that was sent to the NCAA. I want you guys to get that video. Please do that for me. And watch it, then tell me how you can say no to this kid. He posted it on his YouTube. He did?

Yeah. Okay. Some of you see it? Okay. It's unbelievable, isn't it? It's like, wow. Do you really care or are you just saying you care? Do you care when it's convenient or when it's profitable?

So Tyler Brown did post that video to his YouTube. Go ahead and watch it because he explains some of the trauma that he's dealt with and some of the stuff he's dealing with right now. He also posted a note to his Instagram account and basically said the NCAA stated to our compliance office that since I wasn't struggling to get out of bed, that my mental health case wasn't serious enough. Depression isn't something that just goes away. There are some days it's hard for me to get out of bed and be productive. There are some days I don't even want to leave my apartment and just isolate. Football has always been the largest

tool in helping me through my struggles and not having that hurts. But I will continue to push through and find a way every single day to be the best Tyler Brown I can be. This is a call to action. The NCAA claims to care about student athletes' mental health, but they do not care about mine. It's pretty strong words

and strong words from Deion Sanders. And we've heard this multiple times now now here's here's where it it's similar to the Daryl Jackson case at Florida State it is is similar to the the Tez Walker cases at North Carolina a little bit different because of the the situation where they canceled the football season at his first school so he was thinking he hadn't really transferred at all but in in Tyler Brown's case he enrolled at Colorado in December. That was before the NCAA did change this rule. And yes, they said that the rule change was coming.

But if we all remember, the NCAA also said NIL was going to be allowed July 1st, 2021. So when Mason Smith, the LSU defensive tackle, participated in autograph signing for money about a month before that well he probably shouldn't have been punished using that logic oh wait he's missing the florida state game because of doing something that is completely within the rules now this is why the ncaa is what it. This is why everyone hates the NCAA. They never pass up an opportunity to look terrible. Never.

And so you can say, well, they're denying everybody. They are denying everybody. But again, these are people who transferred before they changed the rule. If they're going to say Mason Smith has to sit because the rule hadn't changed yet, well, what's wrong with this? These guys did something before the rule changed. So apply the old rules to them. Apply the new rules to the people who transfer it after.

You're doing that to Mason Smith. But again, the NCAA is never consistent. It never does the easy thing that would make people look at it like a compassionate organization. And this is what you get. So you've got Dion speaking out. On Monday, you had Jim Harbaugh speaking out against the NCAA and basically saying, look, hey, athletes need to share in the revenue. I want them to be treated with the respect and the dignity that they deserve. What I don't understand is how the NCAA, television networks, conferences, universities, and coaches can continue to pull in millions,

and in some cases, billions of dollars in revenue off the efforts of college student athletes across the country without providing enough opportunity to share in the ever-increasing revenue. It's interesting, though, to me that we only hear this from these coaches when they have their own problems with the NCAA. Jim Harbaugh just had to take a university-imposed three-game suspension. He'll be sitting out this week's game against East Carolina because of an NCAA investigation. I know he's frustrated with the NCAA, but, and he said this before and you're saying, oh, he said this in 2022. Yeah. He was also dealing with that investigation then. So I just, Deion Sanders, it's nice that you say it now when it affects your team.

Say it when it doesn't affect your team too, and then maybe it'll affect some real change. Because here's the thing, and I'm not picking on Deion Sanders here because he obviously has not been complaining about the transfer portal. He's used it pretty liberally. But everything we've heard from coaches until these waiver decisions started going against them about the transfer portal is, oh, you got to limit it. You got to stop it.

You can't let it be free agency all the time. That's all they've been saying. They've been complaining nonstop. So the only time we hear them complain for compassion from the NCAA is when it affects their team negatively. So ask for this when it doesn't affect your team negatively, and maybe you'll get it. Because all of you coaches were the ones that were complaining about this, and that's why they tightened the rule. But it doesn't make it fair that they apply the rule to people who transferred before the rule was changed.

And it doesn't make it fair that Mason Smith has to sit out for a rule that had already been changed but had not taken effect yet. If you're going to do one, apply it evenly. If you're going to suspend Mason Smith, let Daryl Jackson play, let Tyler Brown play. It's pretty simple. But they're not going to do that. They're going to take the opportunity to look like jerks, just like they always do. We move on to some actual on- field news. Remember we said yesterday, it was mystery season. Nick Saban wasn't going to release a depth chart. Neil Brown wasn't going to

name a starting quarterback. Tom Allen in Indiana, not going to name a starting kicker. Going to keep that mysterious, keep Ohio State guessing. Well, Ryan Day, who plays Tom Allen on Saturday, will not keep Tom Allen guessing. Kyle McCord will be the starting quarterback for the Buckeyes when they play against the Hoosiers. Devin Brown probably still going to play, but Kyle McCord will go out there first. The world did not end when that statement was uttered. I don't think it's going to hurt the Buckeyes competitively. I think they will probably still steamroll Indiana either way. So there you go. It is possible to do it. Also in Los Angeles, Chip Kelly announced that Ethan Garbers will be the starting QB for the

Bruins. He won the job over five-star freshman Dante Moore and Kent State transfer Colin Schley. So it is not all of the coaches in the country that refuse to name a starting quarterback. It is just some of them and also the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. That's not something you usually see in the NFL, but man, when you're tanking for Caleb Williams, I guess you're going to do all kinds of things,

including put the old or on the depth chart when you are an NFL team that it really doesn't matter because nobody's going in the transfer portal but it's in the water we're going to see a few more of those we might actually get a few more announcements of starting quarterbacks as we get a little bit closer to the games we're only a few days away and these coaches at a certain point some of them are like listen the hay's in the barn what else are they going to do and I I think with with Ryan Day it's probably like the offense isn't really appreciably different with Kyle McCord and Devin Brown so it's not like telling anybody's going to change anything so now you know you know who's starting for the Buckeyes you know who is

starting for the Bruins you still don't know who's starting for the Buckeyes. You know who is starting for the Bruins. You still don't know who's starting for the Alabama Crimson Tide. And that is something I'm going to talk to Paul Feinbaum about. So we got Feinbaum. And then we got my bold predictions for the 2023 football season, which will finish with my playoff prediction. Top four and first two out. Who do I think will make it?

And who do I think will just miss the cut? But when we come back, the great Paul Feinbaum. We're talking Nick Saban, depth charts, and Hollywood. We'll be right back. I have to admit, it feels very weird being on this side of the microphone for this one because I have been on this man's show dozens of times at this point, and now I'm interviewing him. Paul Feinbaum, welcome. Am I on? You are.

You're in a TV studio. It's two writers who are just trying this whole show thing out. One is slightly more experienced than the other. Well, no, I am more experienced, but Andy, I can assure you of this. I've never been comfortable a day in front of a camera. I do not like it.

As you know, there are guys in this business that literally love that camera. I cannot stand the camera. So I'm a compatriot here. Yeah, it is so tough for me. My son tried to play an interview I did on another show on a podcast in the car the other day, and I made him turn it off because I just can't listen to it. I don't know about you, but I can't listen to my own voice. The only thing I've liked being on lately is Swamp Kings because I'm on such

quality people like Urban Meyer. I appreciate you doing that because they asked me about five times to do that one. And so it would have been you, me and Pat Dooley. I'm you doing that because they asked me about five times to do that one. And so it would have been you, me and Pat Dooley. I'm glad you and Pat did the heavy lifting on that thing. Well, I listen, Pat, Pat actually knew what he was talking about. I didn't. Well, see, I feel like I would have come in and said something like, hey, guys, how come you aren't asking about Percy Harvin? You seem to not realize he's a person who exists. Well, I won't say I won't say this on the record, of course, but my best stuff clearly was not used because they had no interest in telling the truth. Well, you got a couple barbs in. You were

somewhat critical, and that's what I figured. There was more probably that we didn't see. The guy from London, or the lady, I can't remember which, kept reminding me every time I said something terrible, she said, well, now in 2009, you said this about Urban Meyer. You never you were not critical. OK, whatever. Let's let's get out of here. That's the part where you say, ma'am, 16 hours of live radio a week. I'm going to say a lot of things. Yeah. But it was it was really interesting, too. The one thing I'd say I've been on ESPN 30 for 30s and I've done a lot of other things. But there's something about Netflix, Andy. I don't know what it is.

But I mean, you walk down the street and people say, hey, I saw you on Netflix. I mean, it is like it's a different it's a different spectrum than anything else I've ever done. It's a different level of fame. I've ever done. It's a different level of fame. I've talked to Joe Tessitore about this. You know, he's a famous person. He calls the biggest games in college football on ESPN. But the second he's calling mini golf on ABC, he gets recognized by every person in the grocery store. It is true.

And knowing Joe is my dear friend. He'll make sure you know that, too. That's exactly right. You know, I know Rob Riggle, but, Paul, we've got to talk about this college football season. I was listening to your show on Monday and laughing because you had the issue of the day was that Nick Saban had not released a depth chart, and we didn't know who was going to start at Alabama,

and your callers just fell 50 50 half defending Saban blindly for what for really no reason and then half criticized he he's he's lost his touch he doesn't know what he's doing is that perfect is that just a perfect talk radio storm right there? Well, it has become that way. And the only thing I can compare it to, and I hate to get involved in politics, but I will. There's a certain figure that's on all the television networks where no matter what you say about him or do or indict or whatever, there's 30 to 40 percent or more. Tim Tebow. it's okay. You can say his name.

People will defend it. And Saban is the same way. I mean, his loyal audience, and every time he does something like what he did Monday, Andy, instead of people saying, I don't really like that, I wanted to know, they say, oh, he's an evil genius. He knows what he's doing. And you can't really fight that. I wanted to know. They say, oh, he's an evil genius. He knows what he's doing. And you can't really fight it. I mean, as a reporter, I mean, even though I'm not anymore, I mean, the reporter in me who has sat in that room like you have many times,

that bothers me because in my estimation, he's talking down to the media. And when you're Nick Saban, you don't have to bully a bunch of sports writers who are bright eyed and bushy tailed. I mean, I remember I was in that room 40 years ago or a little bit more covering Bear Bryant. I mean, I was like scared to death. And one thing about Bryant, he never berated the media. He never talked down to them. And Saban does. And I think if you have to, you know, there are many things you could say critically of Nick Saban. But that would be high on my list of things that that really bother me is the way he bullies those who really are just trying to do their job. And they're in an awkward position anyway because their bosses don't want them to push too hard because after all, they're usually, they're subscribers and circulation and advertising. And that's a big deal in Alabama.

Don't ask me how I know that. Well, here's my thing. I used to be one of those people who always thought there was an ulterior motive, that Saban has a master plan for everything he does and that he knows five steps ahead of the rest of us where this is going to go where I was disabused of that notion was speaking out about Jimbo Fisher last year right and then Jimbo hitting back because he clearly didn't see that coming and that was one that he didn't have planned out.

And you realize, oh, he is the best coach of all time, but sometimes he just does some things that maybe don't make sense. In the middle of the night, I got a text from one of my closest friends, Frank Franklin, who was involved in that event, Andy. And he said, you're not going to believe what Saban did tonight. It was genius. It was genius. It was brilliant. And I woke up and listened to it, and I'm like, I thought it was terrible.

But he caught a break, and the break came under the guise of an unhinged rant by Jimbo Fisher that will live in infamy. And what Jimbo Fisher did that day was he gave Nick Saban right – he gave him the advantage right back. Yeah. As opposed to saying, you know, listen, I respect Coach Saban. He's getting old.

He clearly isn't as close to the players. I mean, anything he said he could have – but Jimbo went Jimbo. And my favorite line, and you may not have been too far away from it when a week or two later in Destin, Scott Woodward came on our show, and Jimbo and my favorite line and you you you may not have been too far away from it when uh a week or two later in Destin Scott Woodward came on our show and I he said don't don't ask me I'm not going to get in the middle of two hillbillies from West Virginia in the middle of a fight no that's Jimmy Sexton's job and and he apparently had quite a quite a 24-hour period so the the Nick Saban quarterback situation you've talked about a lot on your show

you've mentioned you think jaylen milrose the guy who who goes out there first against middle tennessee i'm wondering about this because i watched jim harbaugh do it last year where he started kade mcnamara first on purpose so that you could see j jj mccarthy the second game as the starter he did the we'll start one get this game and won this game. And you see JJ McCarthy second, and you're like, oh, that's it. Nick Saban's done that before with Blake Barnett and Jalen Hurts in that USC game. Who do you think starts for Alabama against Texas? I suspect it's still going to be Milrow.

And I think the key is what happens. I don't think Saban wants to go through this whole ordeal and have Milrow start throughout the spring and really essentially win the job and then yank him before a big game. I think it would be easier to pull him if he's not playing well. And lately, now I say lately, Butler, Tyler Butler has been the backup.

But two weeks ago, it was reversed with Ty Simpson. So I think he's really going to use this game. And now everything I said I think will happen unless Mill Road plays so badly against Middle Tennessee and one or the other two come in. But I think that's his tentative plan. I think it goes even deeper, Andy. Milrow is popular on that team. And I think Saban is concerned about that as well.

He does not want to upset the chemistry unless he absolutely has to. And he very well may have to. We'll be right back with more from Paul Feinbaumbaum but first i want to tell you about roback did you know that roback can make you a superior athlete i don't have any scientific evidence of this but i definitely have anecdotal evidence so i was wearing my green roback performance hoodie one of my favorite things that i own when i covered the alab-Texas A&M game last year in Tuscaloosa, you know what happened in that game? I caught a pass from Haynes King, who was getting chased at by Will Anderson. He was about to get sacked. He throws

it over the sideline. It gets tipped up, and who catches it? Me, one-handed. I played offensive line, guys. I don't know how to catch things. It had to have been the hoodie. It had to because Roback makes you elite. That's really all there is to it. And they have the most comfortable polos, hoodies, quarter zips. They got shorts. They got joggers. You name it.

And right now, if you go to Roback.com and use the promo code Andy, you get 20% off your first order. So load up polos, Q-zips, hoodies. We know those hoodies are magic. I'm telling you right now. On top of being the most comfortable thing you'll own, they make you a better athlete. They make you elite.

That's all there is to it. Rowback.com. Use the promo code ANDY. 20% off your first order. Start being elite now. And that's what's so weird about this, because you don't have a chemistry problem if you pick the clearly better quarterback.

Right. But it seems like it's so muddled as to who might be better that then who the players like better does come into it. Yeah, I think it does. And I, well, I didn't buy Saban's line line on Monday. I think he's, he's just trying to keep the noise level down. And he could have done it in a different way. He could have gone down that list and had either or 15 times. And then we would have said evil genius yeah but

by refusing to give the depth chart it just seemed petty but yeah again the fans don't care I mean I I live with an Alabama fan I can assure you that the the look Ohio State's name is starting quarterback UCLA's name is starting quarterback so it's named a starting quarterback. So it's doable. It can be done. But somebody who used to work for an SEC program called me yesterday after all that and said, you know what he's really doing? He's saving himself a call from a mom or a dad that he does not want to deal with. That is exactly what he's doing right now.

Well, you're right. The misconception yesterday from the Feinbaum callers, who are by without a doubt, the most informed in the world was that he's afraid to lose them all to the portal. I think there's a feeling that everybody was going in the portal on Tuesday and be gone by Wednesday. I didn't bother trying to explain the NCAA bylaws because I don't understand them myself.

Well, you bring up the NCAA. You had you had and it's interesting because as a newspaper columnist, you were the king of very hot takes. When you are on first take, when you when you come on to these ESPN shows, you you you breathe fire on your own show. I feel like you reserve that for the guests and for the callers. But you went in on the NCAA, on the Mason Smith thing last week. What was it about that particular situation that just tripped the wire? It's just irritating. It was impromptu.

And you're right. I really, the funniest part about the show, here's the big secret. I don't really give opinions on the Feinbaum show. But it's just, I guess when I started thinking about it a month before NIL, just show some compassion. And what bothers me, Andy, and I'm pretty, I think you were there, I'm pretty sure you were, having seen Charlie Baker speak earlier this year in Washington, D.C. And listening to him blame everything on the NCAA while he was the NCAA president. And I walked out of there going, you know what? This guy is a change agent. He's going to do things differently.

And two months later, I haven't seen one thing different from the NCAA other than a bunch of hot air. And I know that it may be against the NCAA rules, but they went against their own rules in Penn State. And this is where I'd like to see some leadership from Charlie Baker or from someone out there saying, you know what, let's mitigate this problem. We've got a situation going on in North Carolina. We have the situation here. Let's try to help the player. Instead, they continue to make it more difficult. And we're not talking about some crazy scheme here to funnel millions of dollars. We're talking about really a 30-day window where if somebody had done it, it would have been legal. Yeah. And you could have just said, hey, when his knee exploded and he had to miss 12 games yeah that's probably we'll call that square how's that sound I have a lawyer uh

call me uh Monday night or Friday I think and said why didn't they just declare him in eligible to say he you know he's feeling better I think he's back and then declare him ineligible for the uh for the bowl game and be done with it. It is amazing to me. And I don't think schools think about that. The Arizona State thing yesterday where they gut punched their seniors by, oh, by the way, we're banning ourselves. You could have done that before you fired Herm Edwards.

Right. Because you knew we're going to have a bad year anyway. But I don't think they think about these things. It's interesting because I feel like this puts you on the same side of a guy who you often find yourself at odds with, and that is Jim Harbaugh. Are you feeling some sympathy toward Jim Harbaugh these days? I am. In fact, about an hour ago, I did an interview with, I was on with

Stephen A. Smith. And I said, Stephen A., I said, this would be what I'm about to do is like you praising Jerry Jones and the Cowboys. I agree completely with, with Jim Harbaugh. And I'm finding myself doing that more often, but he is right. And yeah. And I think, I think that it is a real concern. What he said, if it's going to catch fire that the players really deserve more than they're getting. And I think some people, you know, think they're already getting too much,

but the real action isn't on NIL. It's on television revenue sharing. Yeah, and I think that probably fixes one problem and creates some more issues down the road. But yeah, the reason there's NIL issues is it's not being used to give them endorsement deals. It's being used to pay them for their value as football players, which the market is going to try to do one way or the other. Jim Harbaugh is the first coach to come out and say it, though. And I'm really curious where this goes from here.

And, you know, listen, Harbaugh and for all this you know manufactured feud that I have with him uh I do respect him uh he's he's he's tough to wrap your arms around as you know and as everyone and as everyone in the industry that's Jim Harbaugh calling you right now he is he's saying wait I hear you're saying nice things about me Paul you got to stop you're killing my rep you know uh in in the middle of the of the fine bomb harbaugh feud uh we were almost we almost we almost buried the hatchet uh andy a couple years ago uh remember uh the basketball coach at at georgia who is brother-in-law brother-in-law yep yeah he we got we became we ran into each other one night in Destin. And he said, what's the deal with you and Jim?

I mean, I said, it's not. I explained it to him. And it goes back to something I said about him. And then he tweeted out my name incorrectly. He said, you know, Phil Feinbaum or Pete Feinbaum, I'm sorry, is the water carrier, the water boy for the SEC. And then it got out of hand. And he said, is there any chance you can come up here next weekend?

I'm at Jim's parents house right now. Jim's here. John's here and Jim's having a golf tournament and he'd like you to play with you. And let's and Andy, I know this sounds like a line here, but it's 100 percent true. The very the very weekend that he wanted me to come up to ann arbor i was going to hollywood to try to sell a sitcom about the fine bomb show and and it was it had been two years in the making um and we had gone through it once and and we went back and and i'll i'll speed the story up because we actually sold it to ABC and then COVID happened and nothing has happened much good since then. But that was it. Had it not been for that, I would have been a Jim Harbaugh and I would be besties right now.

Oh, he would have loved you, too, would have gotten along great. You'd had burgers at the Little Brown Jug. Everything would have been fantastic. We still have to make that happen. But now I have many more questions, Paul, about the Ray Romano-esque. I mean, because that's – Everybody Loves Raymond was a show about a sports writer who, as a sports writer, I couldn't identify with because he was always home. But this show would have been amazing. But when you're taking a power lunch with a Hollywood producer, how do you explain legend? How do you explain Phyllis from Mulga?

How do you explain these people? We were sitting there and we met with everyone and we were primarily the agent involved in this kind of missed a little bit. He said, let's do the television networks, you know, not forget Netflix, Amazon. So we met with all the, you know, ABC, Fox, CBS, and NBC. And as I mentioned, ABC got it. And we even had a star. I'll tell you that in a second. But I'm sitting there with the head, the head of CBS. And they said, well, tell me more about this crazy guy who poisoned the tree.

So I pulled out the recorder, my phone. We played the tape of Harvey Updike, and you should have seen these guys. I mean, they were cringing listening to Harvey Updike. And I tried to – legend was probably the easiest to explain. I said, very simple. You know, he killed a man in cold blood, and he's now a famous fine bomb caller. That is not even difficult.

But some of the other ones were more difficult. It is amazing to me that I would have loved it. You said there was a star. Who was the star? Who was going to play you? It turned out, and he's not that well known, but he was. If you go back 20 years ago, the guy that agreed to play me, and by the way, took these meetings as well,

was Jason Biggs from the American Pie Trilogy. What? Yes. The guy who had Congress with a pie was going to play you. And he, now remember, they had this, the series took place in Birmingham 25, 30 years ago.

So he was a much younger version of me. And that was the, that's why people, when I mentioned who it was, could not understand it. But it was pretty funny. You know, I went back

and I had to watch all the movies. And, you know, there were, I don't know when that come out, 25 years ago, American Pie. It was pretty funny. I went back and I had to watch all the movies. I don't know when that came out, 25 years ago, American Pie. It was a fun trilogy. It was in 24, yeah. Yeah. Oh, my goodness. I'm not sure I've ever said that before.

I think you told Tony Kornheiser once, but I'm honored that I got seconds on that one. Jason Biggs, that is not a name I expected to hear. No, I mean, there were the usual suspects. But I mean, it was it was an amazing experience. And when they finally right before COVID, everything just stopped. It was devastating. I mean, I've had some big disappointments, but when a network buys it, it's like you think you've got it made, and then you find out you're only beginning. So here's the thing. Once this writer's strike ends, the actor's strike ends, let's get it back going. You're now Netflix famous from Swamp Kings. Right. So I think it's time. But I agree.

I think now every time the TV's on, you know, some show will come on. My wife, my wife was like, well, your show would have been better. Now I know. OK, already. I mean, it is. I mean, there's a lot of disappointments you have in your career. But and it sounds silly to say not having a show about your career and life on on television as a sitcom it ranks pretty high up there well have have them call me when they're when they're getting it going and casting because if i hadn't done this like if i'd gone into if i'd gotten a real job i probably would have been a fine bomb caller it would have been like you knowbaum caller. It would have been like Andy from Sunshine State or Sunshine Andy or something.

Like I'll just call it screaming about Florida. But Andy, all the things I've done, you know, hanging out with Tebow every weekend, doing all the cool things for yesterday. There is nothing quite like Hollywood. I mean, it is. I see how everyone goes crazy out there and careers are ruined and lives are lost because it is, it is without a doubt, the most intoxicating thing I have ever done. It's, and now here you sit just a few steps away from the new ACC headquarters in Charlotte,

your sanity intact. That's, that's all right, Paul, before I let you go, I do need to ask. Some big games involving teams from that league that you talk about this week. You got Florida going out to Utah. You got LSU playing Florida State in Orlando. We'll start with the one in Salt Lake City. What do you think happens with the Gators out there? Am I crazy to think Florida can can win this game you're not the cam rising thing has me uh bamboozled uh because i still don't do we know what's going

on with that we don't uh we know the line keeps moving in weird ways here here's my just i'm using as much common sense as i can take on this. They've won two consecutive Pac-12 titles. They would like to win a third. They have a lot of players back from last year who could be in the NFL right now that came back with the express purpose of winning that league again. You have a quarterback who plays with a reckless style,

but that's what makes him good. And he's eight months off in ACL surgery. Do you play him in a game that does not affect the Pac-12 standings, or do you hold him for the rest? That's just me trying to common-sensify it. I would hold him because I think you have to believe you can win the game anyway. Yeah, and they can.

They can win the game with anybody they start. So, I mean, in the end, I think Utah will win the game. So, I threw out the do you think I'm crazy just to be on the right. In case Florida wins, I've got myself covered from the Bull Gator Nation. Oh, Paul, here's the thing. And I feel like I get a pass because of what's going on. So, we're recording this on Tuesday afternoon. There's a hurricane bearing down on us

here in north central florida and so i plan on recording a pick for the game because we're going to record some wednesday show in case i don't have any power tomorrow i'm going to record a pick for that game but i don't know if i'm going to release that video or do a different one with a completely different pick. So I'm keeping I'm hedging my bets today. Yeah, it is a very difficult for all the obvious reasons. It's a game that that is almost impossible to take. But if we must. Yes. Now, how about the Tigers going to Orlando against Florida State?

This is the highest profile game of the weekend and should be fun. I like LSU. And even though I'm exercised over Smith not being in the game, I think LSU should win. I'm troubled every time I look at Florida State's roster, though, and I see first-round picks across the board. It tells me that Mike Norvell has done a really good job down there. But I think it's similar to last year in terms of the tightness. And what about this? Maybe LSU

actually makes a kick at the end of the game to win. That would be interesting. There was just a lot of sloppy in that game last year. You had Florida State fumbling as they went in to score what would have been the icing touchdown lsu gets an extra point blocked i think the sloppiness is gone both teams are playing at a high level and we get a good game but i i at this point that one i don't have to pick until uh until thursday so i'm not gonna pick it yet all right what one more one more I do want to ask this. As someone who understands how the sausage is made in television, and you played this clip on your show Monday roughly seven times, college game day over the weekend, you had Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee, Kirk Herbstreit,

all pick Alabama to win the SEC. Do you think each one of them individually went in going, I'm going to shock the world and pick Alabama? Or do you think they actually believe that Alabama will top Georgia for the SEC title? Well, the only one I knew in advance was Herbstreit because he's been saying that for a while. And I think he had a conversation somewhere along the ways with Saban. And he's just – also, I think there's a tendency to want to be different. But the rest of them – I mean, I always pay attention to what Desmond Howard says,

Andy, for this reason. Last mean, he got one right. And I think of those three, help me, correct me. I mean, I think one had a winning record or two. I can't remember. One actually, yeah. The other ones did not do so great. They were not. So when you pick four teams for the final four,

you get one right. And two of your other three picks don't even have a winning record you know i'm going to vegas with desmond howard well let's remember multiple people on that panel took tcu in the national title game last year that's all we need to know i i sat outside the hotel uh in the rain on that on that morning arguing with stephen a smith i said stephen you do not want to pick TCU. He said, ah, they're going to win the game. I said, oh, please. I'm trying to help you here.

This is one of those, it's hard because you don't want to be called the SEC homer. No. But in that situation, I was in L.A. that weekend, and people kept asking me. I'm like, do you want me to make you feel better about there being a game on Monday, or do you want me to tell you what's going to happen? Yeah.

I thought that was probably the easiest game of all time. I mean, I don't think there was. The year before, I didn't get it right. But I kind of, at the last minute in Indianapolis, I felt everything turning toward Georgia. But last year, that was obvious from Selection Sunday. Yeah. We knew it.

You can take Paul to Vegas every time, but really you need to take him to Hollywood. Listen, get the strike done. Let's get this show moving. Jason Biggs, start working out. I am one of the executive producers. That's part of the deal. I will cast you.

You will definitely be playing yourself. I can play myself as a guest on the show, but listen, you need me as a caller. There's an inner Feinbaum caller in me. Just line me up. I want you as a regular and I want you to experience Hollywood like

I did. Power lunches for days. I'm ready. Thank you ready thank you here we come welcome back and after talking to paul feinbaum i i just feel like the takes are flowing through me i feel like i have a bunch of bold predictions that i need to get off my chest and possibly that we need to revisit in de December to see how many I got right. And it might not be very many, but I'm feeling bold today and I'm feeling like I need to release my playoff prediction. Everybody else is there. They're saying coaches are shook

because they saw a certain person's playoff predictions. I don't know that anybody cares what my playoff predictions are. I think you might care. I think a certain fan base is going to care because certain fan base might be surprised that I included one of their teams in the playoff. A couple of certain fan bases might be surprised in a bad way that I included this other team in the playoff, but we'll get to that. We got to warm up before we get to that molten level of take. So let's talk about some bold predictions. My first bold prediction, I don't know how bold this is because I think since I mentioned this in a mailbag show a few weeks ago, I've seen some other folks kind of track in the same way, but this is one that there's a wide group of teams that are competing for this spot.

So lots of strong opinions either way. But this is the last year that the group of five will be competing for a spot in the New Year's Six. Yes, you can make the playoff as a group of five school. Cincinnati proved that coming out of the American in 2021. But chances are there won't be a group of five school in the final 14 playoff. There definitely will be one. Well, we think Wednesday there's a playoff meeting,

but we're pretty sure there will be one in the first 12 team playoff in 2024. So this is a good barometer, a good way to check and see who we think might be in the mix for that playoff berth come time next year. But right now for that new year six berth in the group of five, I think it's going to be SMU. I think the Pony Express, which listen, SMU may or may not be an ACC school by the time all this goes down, but I think they will be the one that gets it this year. I think they'll win the American and they'll be the highest rank champ of those conferences. And so Rhett Lashley and company,

very excited to see what they do. You know, Rhett Lashley came in and, and Tony, Sonny Dykes had built a nice foundation there. Rhett Lashley just, just kept, uh, Sonny Dykes had built a nice foundation there. Rhett Lashley just, just kept on going and Tulane. Yes. They bring back Michael Pratt. They did not lose Willie Fritz, but I think this is, this is probably the Pony Express's time. So SMU Mustangs, get her done. Make me proud. We'll stay in the American for the next one. Well, we'll be in the American and in the Pac-12 partially. A couple coaches, first year that came,

kind of the non-traditional route, both very outspoken. Biff Poggi, the Charlotte head coach. You know him, you love him. He's the one who did the interview on this show, never letting a cigar go out. Former hedge fund manager, former high school coach in Maryland. He's now the head coach at Charlotte

after working at Michigan for a couple of years. He will win more games in year one than Coach Prime will win more games in year one than Coach Prime will win at Colorado in year one. Now, this is more of a compliment to Biff Poggi and a statement of fact about the Pac-12 than it is saying anything about Deion, because I actually think Deion's going to do a good job. And I think once they get into the big 12 and he's got a couple of recruiting classes under his belt, it's going to work out pretty well for him at Colorado. But right now they got a roster that they turned over completely. It's very hard to find effective big guys in the portal. They are playing against a loaded PAC 12, the deepest PAC 12 we've seen in

years. And it's going to be tough tough it will be tough for the 49ers too they're moving from Conference USA to the American but they are also a completely different roster Biff Poggi's stocked that thing with guys who played for him at St. Francis in Maryland and these are guys that went power five for the most part and then maybe things didn't work out they're back with him they were very effective playing for him in high school the chemistry probably should should come together more quickly than a lot of situations where a roster has been turned over as thoroughly as it has at Charlotte so it's not going to be easy for them and we may be talking about five wins versus four

wins or four wins versus three wins but I'm saying Biff Pogey is going to win more again with coach prime if he wins four or five games I'm not even saying bowl eligibility if Deion Sanders wins four or five games with the roster he took given the roster he took over Colorado given the situation he took over Colorado and given the depth of the Pac-12 this year I would celebrate that. That's one of those. I wouldn't say, oh, you know, Dion didn't do what he did at Jackson State. No, I would celebrate a four or five win season. But I think Biff Poggi will have the 49ers win in pretty quick.

And listen, you come on my show, you wear the cutoff shirt, the deep V-neck, you puff the cigar the whole time. Yeah, I'm going to consider you pretty swaggy. So we thought Deion was the swaggiest first-year head coach. I don't know. I think Biff will give him a run for his money. Fascinated to see how both of those situations turn out and also how Trent Dilfer turns out at UAB.

That's another one where he's been very defiant about, you know, people saying that he shouldn't have gotten that job. I don't have a problem with him getting that job. His experience in the NFL is just as valuable as if you ground your way through as a GA and at lower levels as a position coach or coordinator. So he has a lot to offer, just as Biff Poggi has a lot to offer given his relevant work experience and also his other coaching experience, his CEO experience as a hedge fund manager

and as the head of a high school program at a couple different places where they did nothing but win. So I am fascinated by these first-year coaches. I don't think these are stunt hires. I don't have a problem with looking outside the box for somebody when you haven't been winning. And UAB is a little bit different story because that situation, that team was doing pretty well.

Incredible resilience from that program as they came back from getting basically canceled. But Charlotte, they got to turn things around. Colorado, they got to turn things around. They got two guys that are going to the extreme to try to turn them around. So we'll see what happens. But my money is on the man with no sleeves, Biff Poggi.

Here's another one. We're now going to the SEC. And I've said this before, and I got a lot of heat for this one. Carson Beck, the new starting quarterback at Georgia. I said, if you're looking for some value in a Heisman future, bet on Carson Beck because he's going to put up good numbers on a great team. They're probably going to be 12-0 going to the SEC championship game. He's probably going to be viewed as one of the best players on the team.

And there's a really good chance he winds up in New York for the Heisman ceremony. I don't know if he's going to win, but I feel like there's a really good chance he winds up in New York just based on who makes it to New York. I know he's a first year starter that that shouldn't matter. And you say, Oh, maybe he's not as good as Stetson Bennett. Maybe he's not, but what if he is? And what if he's matured? Cause he's not as good as Stetson Bennett. Maybe he's not. But what if he is? And what if he's matured? Because he did get beat out by Stetson Bennett a couple of years ago. But what if he's matured and his probably superior physical tools allow him to have a higher ceiling and be as good or better?

Well, there's a real good chance he winds up in New York. And I realize there's been a big push for Brock Bowers to be there, to be that one in that spot as the best player on what might be the best team. It's possible, but Jalen Carter was the best player on the best team last year and he didn't win either. So Brock Bowers, in terms of numbers, because he's used so much as a blocker, he's not going to put up numbers like Devante Smith put up when he won the Heisman T blocker. He's not going to put up numbers like Devontae Smith put up when he won the Heisman Trophy in 2020. It's going to be very difficult.

If a Georgia player is going to be the mix, it's probably going to be Beck. So we'll see what happens. I'd love for it if it was Amarius Mims or Tate Ratledge or Cedric Van Praan, one of the offensive linemen. I know that's not going to happen. But I wouldn't be shocked if Carson Beck goes to New York. Speaking of the Heisman though, I know I've said this, and as recently as this week, I've said, there's no way Caleb Williams

is going to repeat because we're going to nitpick him to death. We're going to come up with any way we can not to vote for him. But I watched him play again on Saturday night, and guess what? If anybody's going to repeat, if anybody is going to become the second two-time Heisman winner alongside Archie Griffin, it's going to be Caleb Williams. Because this guy is just as good as he was last year,

maybe better, and he's going to have to be Superman probably, because I got a feeling that USC defense is going to be not dominant. I don't know if they're going to be as bad as they were last year. They could be better than last year. But given what they have to play at the end of the season, Caleb Williams is going to have to put up massive numbers to keep USC winning and to keep USC in position to play

for the Pac-12 title and to play for a playoff berth. If he does that, he may overcome all of the reasons and the roadblocks that we put in the way. And remember, he's going to have the double roadblocks because one, we hold returning Heisman winners to a higher standard and two he's the presumed first pick in the NFL draft and we hold that person to a higher standard too so I think of the ones that we've seen come back definitely a better shot than Johnny Manziel Johnny Manziel started 2013 with the cloud the auto all the autograph stuff which again stupid wouldn't matter now but he didn't didn't have the same vibe going into 2013 Tim Tebow in 2008 I think would have had a really good shot and was in New York it's just that Sam Bradford had an incredible year at Oklahoma was just a record-breaking offense there so we didn't

see him come back and then Sam Bradford got hurt coming back from winning the Heisman. So it's really hard to do. There's a reason only Archie Griffin has done it. But if somebody can do it, I think it's Caleb Williams. Now, you hear me say that, and you probably assume I think USC is going to win the Pac-12. I do not. I think Oregon will win the Pac-12. And I know I'm the one who always beats myself up for forgetting Utah in this conversation.

Utah is absolutely in this conversation. USC, Oregon, Utah, Washington, probably Oregon State, all in this conversation to win a very deep Pac-12. UCLA may put itself in the conversation in a very deep Pac-12. But I'm going to go with the ducks. You got older guys like Brandon Dorless, who've been very good there for a long time. New guys coming out of the transfer portal,

like Jordan Birch, who came from South Carolina, Dan Lanning has, has really tried to beef up that defense. I'll give you another name that maybe you haven't heard yet with regard to Oregon's defense this year. Chris Hampton. Chris Hampton was calling the defense at Tulane last year.

He's an assistant now at Oregon. There's a very good chance that that defense, schematically, play-calling-wise, is better than it was last year. Just telling you that right now. Forget what happened against Oregon State last year where they just kept running the ball over and over. They're not going to let that happen again.

And then maybe you don't get in a situation against Washington where Bo Nix has to bail you out every time. Bo Nix, if he's healthy, he's going to put up big numbers. Again, before he got dinged up against Washington last year, he was tracking for a very similar season to the one that Marcus Mariota had when he won the Heisman Trophy. It's entirely possible that we see Bo Nix and Caleb Williams in New York. Maybe Bo Nix, Michael Pennix from Washington, and Caleb Williams in New York.

The quarterback play in the Fact 12 is going to be fun. Cam Rising at Utah. We will see what his health situation is going into the Florida game on Thursday. But if we see him back this season, there's a very good chance that he's leading Utah to some big wins. But I think the ducks can do it. This is, this is one where they probably should have found their way they should not have lost to Washington they should not have lost to Oregon State last year Dan Lanning was a first year head coach first year head coaches make mistakes first year head coaches can fix those mistakes so we all talk about with players how the the jump from year

one to year two is significant I think it's the same with head coaches. So we will see how much Dan Lanning has grown as a head coach this year. I think Oregon wins the Pac-12. The Big 12. You know I love Kansas State. You know I love when you bring back that many offensive linemen. You know I'm very intrigued by TCU. You know I'm very intrigued by Texas Tech. Now I'm going to make them and Brett Yormark and all the people in the Big 12 office very unhappy and say the Big 12 title game will be a Texas-Oklahoma rematch. None of them want to hear that.

The thing that would make the teams and the schools and everybody that will be in the Big 12 going forward the happiest is a Texas Tech-Kansas State or a TCU Kansas State or a Kansas State Baylor or a Texas Tech Baylor Big 12 championship game. I think it's going to be the big dogs. I do. Texas is as talented this year as we have seen them. And it's not necessarily because they're recruiting stars is because they finally developed some guys once they've gotten them on

campus. And there are legit NFL players all over the field at Texas right now. What we need to see from them is can they win the games they're supposed to win? Can they win the games they're favored in? They're probably going to be favored 11 times this year, probably every game except the one they go to Tuscaloosa to play Alabama. That doesn't mean they have to win them all to make the Big 12 title game. They could lose to Alabama and then lose two games in Big 12 play and still be at Jerry World as a three-loss team. So that's why I don't think that Texas is going to make the playoff necessarily if they win the Big 12 or they have to win. They have to make the playoff if they're playing for the Big 12 title. They don't.

The Big 12 is going to be pretty gnarly this year. And it may be that the champion has two or three losses. It's entirely possible. Oklahoma don't know a lot about them other than they should be better. I'm saying the same thing about Brent Venables that I just said about Dan Lanning. Coaches improve from year one to year two. These were first-time head coaches. Brent Venables was a first-time head coach last year. Didn't know what he didn't know. One thing he learned, have a backup quarterback ready. That was malpractice, not having a backup quarterback ready in the Texas game.

You can't do that. If your defense is complicated, that's fine, but make it easier so your players can function. And then maybe you don't look so lost against a team like TCU. I think that they've probably taken some of these lessons to heart. Very new look defensive line, lots of transfers in that group. They've got to be good. They have got to shine this year, or you're going to have some of the same problems as last year, but it's Oklahoma. I do give Oklahoma the benefit of the doubt because it's one of the most consistently successful programs in the history of college football. Ohio State is probably the only one more consistently successful than Oklahoma.

So that's why you get the benefit of the doubt. So Big 12 title game, Texas-Oklahoma rematch, but I don't think it's for a playoff berth. And that brings us to the college football playoff. That brings us to my prediction for the college football playoff. And so I saw that game day segment that Paul and I talked about earlier. And I thought, man, everybody's drinking the Alabama Kool-Aid. I know that I've said multiple times on this show,

hey, Nick Saban seems relaxed. Nick Saban seems to have something for everybody. I do believe that, but I don't necessarily believe that Alabama is the best team in the SEC. Like I didn't suddenly forget about Georgia. I didn't suddenly forget they have the best offensive line in the country, that they have basically everything you need. I just mentioned that I think their quarterback is going to wind up in New

York. So that's the, that's the thing. I don't really get how we've gone from three months ago, LSU is going to beat Alabama for the sec West title to all of a sudden, everybody thinking Alabama is going to beat Georgia for the sec title and go win the national championship. I do think Alabama is good enough to be a national title contender, but I'm not ready to crown Alabama over Georgia yet because Georgia hasn't done anything to show that there's going to be a drop-off. So here is my playoff prediction. Number one seed, the Georgia Bulldogs. I know none of you are surprised. I get it.

But I think you're going to be surprised at number two. The Big Ten champion, Penn State Nittany Lions. If you've heard this show all along, you know why I've been hinting at this. That I think Penn State, in terms of very special players, has closed the gap on Ohio State and Michigan. Michigan, at this point, in terms of pure NFL talent on the roster, might actually have the most. But Penn State has quite a bit and has some very special players, which Ohio State always has that.

Penn State now has Olufashnu, who may be the first offensive lineman off the board. Chop Robinson, who could be a very early round edge rusher, Abdul Carter, who's a sophomore. He's not eligible until the 2025 draft, but very similar to Micah Parsons. And because they already had Micah Parsons, they know much better what to do with Abdul Carter and how to, how to play him. So you've got those guys. How is this going to work, you're asking? Because when I get down to my first two out,

I have another Big Ten team in there. So I'm saying that Penn State's going to beat Michigan and Ohio State. They get Michigan and Ann Arbor in state college. They don't beat them in Ann Arbor, but they get them in state college. So got a shot there. They play Ohio State tough seemingly everywhere, but have not been able to get over the hump since 2016. I think they can get over the hump now. That doesn't mean I think they're going undefeated. They could drop another one along the way, but I think Penn State's in there at two. Number three, the Clemson Tigers. Listen, I'm very

intrigued by Florida State. I've enjoyed getting to know guys like Jared Burse, who was on the show on Monday. We've got a couple of their offensive linemen on Wednesday's show. They've got a lot of talent in that receiving core. Jordan Travis is outstanding but when Dabo Sweeney went out and got Garrett Riley to run the offense when he decided okay I've I had I had hired from within to replace Tony Elliott but I decided that's not going to work I'm going to go outside and get new ideas that's the part where everybody else in the ACC really needed to worry because historically when Dabo Sweeney brings in new ideas, that's when Clemson makes a leap. And they already have a bunch of talent on defense.

They're already very, very good up front. This is a group that you've got legit NFL guys across the front. So the question is, do you find receivers that can compliment Will Shipley that, you know, Kate Klubnick can, can develop chemistry with, but you saw what TCU did with Garrett Riley's offense last year. So what I'm saying is Clemson beats Florida state, whichever time matters, they're probably going to play twice, but beats Florida State and then also beats Notre Dame, which I think is going to be very good this year, too, with Sam Hartman. That game helps Clemson's case.

Clemson, it would help them also if South Carolina wound up being pretty good and they clap back after last year. But I do think Clemson moves back toward what we were used to seeing from them after a couple years swoon and we'll see exactly how good they are they played Duke on Monday night and I know what you're saying it's Duke Duke won nine games last year Mike Yelko's done a great job in Durham that's a pretty tough opener for Clemson we'll see how smooth they look remember last year against Georgia Tech which was about to fire its coach they were not very smooth in the season opener we'll see how they do this year but I predict it will be a little more smooth sailing for Clemson number four Alabama so here's what I'm saying happens in the SEC because

there's really only one way this works in this order and that's Alabama goes undefeated in the regular season I'm predicting Alabama 12 and 0 and then losing to Georgia in the SEC championship game, but still making the playoff. That's very specific. It's a very specific scenario. And I know what you're probably saying, Andy, if Alabama is 12 and 0 in the SEC championship game, they will be much more battle tested than Georgia because of their schedule

versus Georgia. And you're right. You're absolutely right. But that is me having faith in Georgia's talent and in Kirby Smart's ability that, you know, let's be honest, he took a lot of stuff from Nick Saban. One of those things is the ability to make his team perform consistently regardless of opponent. So I think they'd be ready. So I'm saying Alabama number four, the first two out, Michigan and Oregon. So that means I'm predicting Michigan to beat Ohio State again.

Because remember I said, I think Penn State beats Michigan and Ohio State. I'm predicting Michigan to beat Ohio State again. And listen, Ryan Day's done a great job. I can say that. Everybody can say that. If it happens in real life, Ohio State fans are going to go nuts. They will go nuts with a third consecutive loss to Michigan.

The name John Cooper will be thrown around quite liberally in Columbus if that happens. Right now, I need to see Ohio State prove they can beat Michigan on the field. Michigan has closed that gap really with its development, because obviously if you look at recruiting rankings, they're still not the same in what they bring in, but in what they put out to the NFL, they're pretty similar right now. And if you're pretty similar in what you're putting out to the NFL, that means you're pretty similar when you meet on the field in terms of talent.

So this is their chance. This is Ohio State's chance to prove that the last two years were an aberration, that they can get back to dominating. And really, you don't have to get back to dominating. You've got to win every once in a while, which is what we were saying for all of those years about Michigan when they couldn't break through so Ohio State not nearly in as dire straits as that they have the talent they can do this but I'm saying that Michigan because of the the consistency they they're old they seem to stay old like they they do a great

job in the transfer portal, just kind of picking and choosing in spots and making sure they're experienced in certain positions. So I'm saying Michigan, Oregon, first two out. Realizing that this looks very different next year when we are predicting a 12-team playoff and probably a first four out. Is that what we're going to do?

We're going to do first four out like the basketball tournament? We'll have to figure that out. There's a lot to decide between now and when we start the 2024 season, but let's savor this 2023 season because it'll be the last version of what we're used to right now before everything changes, before the conferences change, before the playoff expands, and it's going to be a fun year. And it gets started this week in earnest. Everybody playing. I cannot wait. When we come back, my extra point is about another place

you can watch football in the 2023 season. Today's extra point is about a deal that ESPN reached on Tuesday with the Theater Sports Network to show college football games in movie theaters. This includes the college football playoff and the New Year's Six Bowls, also selected ACC football games. Now, I don't know why just ACC, but probably because that's the only thing ESPN owns wholly at the moment. The SEC, they will own entirely next year, but certain ACC games, you can get a big bucket of popcorn. You can get a giant bucket of soda and sit back and maybe hopefully it's one

of those reclining chairs and watch it on the big screen. And for a playoff game for, for big bowl big bowl game that that'd be a lot of fun for i'm assuming notre dame at clemson is the type of game that's you know on an acc campus that seems like the kind of game you might be able to do uh florida state clemson for sure i'd love to see that now i'm not sure i want to see Virginia and Boston College on the big screen, but a lot of these games, I would really enjoy seeing the quarterback be 30 feet tall in front of me. I think that would be pretty awesome. So we got to think about the, why, why they're doing this. The reason is there's a writer's strike going on. There's an actor strike going on. One of the studios just moved Dune 2 from a November opening to a March opening. So a lot of the movies that were going to be available

aren't going to be out this year because of the strikes. And so there will be available theaters. So that's why. But the idea of a community experience watching a football game, you know, we don't get that community experience anymore very often at the movies, except I guess the Barbie movie in Oppenheimer this year. But for the most part, we watch movies at our houses and we don't get that communal feeling, like especially the big comedies. Like I remember watching The Hangover in a full packed theater

and the laughter just, you know, surges through you into the next person, I imagine it's the same thing if it's a bunch of fans of the same team watching their team's game in a movie theater. So it could be pretty cool. I'm not going to make fun of it. I made my Virginia Boston College joke. That's it. I actually kind of like the idea of having a giant bucket of popcorn and a huge 64-ounce soda, and I'm just laying there in a recliner watching a football game. That actually sounds like a really nice way to spend three hours,

and probably three hours with the new clock rules. So there you go. Tomorrow, J.D. Piquel joins us. We're going to envision some disaster scenarios for week one for certain teams. What is going to have your message board crashing if it happens in week one? We're also going to pick some of the Thursday games,

and you will hear from a couple of Florida State offensive linemen as they get ready to play LSU. We'll talk to you tomorrow.