Andy & Ari On3 - SEC Quarterback Decisions MADE: Tennessee, Florida, and Alabama announce QB1 ahead of 2026 season

Episode Date: August 24, 2026

SEC Quarterback Decisions MADE: Tennessee, Florida, and Alabama announce QB1 ahead of 2026 season   As many QB battles loomed entering this past weekend, many of the decisions that were up in the air now have a conclusion ahead of week one of college football. As Alabama, Tennessee, and Florida have now all announced their starting quarterbacks for the season, Andy & Ari break down each of these decisions and how they will impact each team going into the highly anticipated season. Did these schools make the right choice?   0:00 On Today’s Episode 0:51 Presenting Sponsor 2:48 Intro: SEC QB Decisions 4:50 Tennessee’s QB1: Faizon Brandon 18:23 Polymarket SEC Odds 21:30 Week 0 is here 21:55 Gametime 24:30 Florida’s QB1: Aaron Philo 34:45 Alabama’s QB1: Keelon Russell 48:26 LSU vs SEC 53:58 Arion Carter’s Flights 1:01:36 Closing out on LSU vs SEC 1:04:27 What is Tommy Castellanos doing? 1:05:41 Conclusion - thanks for watching!   Once Andy & Ari close out on the QB decisions in the SEC, another story in the conference looms before the season starts: Will the SEC enforce its rules on LSU if Dae’Quan Wright gets added to the Tigers roster? Andy breaks it down here.   Andy’s column: https://www.on3.com/news/is-the-sec-willing-to-fight-lsu-to-enforce-its-own-rule/   To close, Andy & Ari dive into the news of former Florida State QB Tommy Castellanos. After receiving an injunction in the state of Kentucky, the former Seminoles QB is planning to enter the transfer portal.   Thanks for watching!   Send your questions to: [e-mail] [e-mail] Our show is presented by Polymarket!   New User Offer: Deposit $10, get $20 upon sign up   https://app.polymarket.us/S8ac/ON3   Trade on College Football games every week on Polymarket. Download the Polymarket App with code ON3 for a $20 bonus upon sign up.   18+ only. Restrictions and eligibility requirement apply. Not available in all jurisdictions. Trading is risky. 100% loss can occur.   We are sponsored by Gametime! Take the guesswork out of buying tickets to every type of event with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code STAPLES for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Gametime.co   Join On3 today! https://www.on3.com/join   Watch our show on YouTube here!    Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari Wasserman Producer: River Bailey   Interested in partnering with the show? Email [e-mail] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On today is Andy Nareon 3 presented by Polly Market. We have quarterback decisions at Tennessee and at Florida. Tennessee announces Faison Brandon will start game one against Furman. Florida, Coach John Summerall announces that Aaron Fylo will start game one against Florida Atlantic for the Gators. Plus, over the weekend, we learned that Keel and Russell is going to start for Alabama. That's right. We went three for three in our predictions. We also told you today would be a big day for quarterback decisions,

and today is a big day for quarterback decisions. Also, else were in the SEC, LSU versus the SEC, over a transfer from the Cleveland Browns. Yeah, that's a sentence I never thought I'd say. We'll explain. All on today's Andy Nauron 3, presented by Polymarket. We got a new sponsor alert, Ari. We're now brought to you by Polymarket.

That's right, available in all 50s. States, download that polymarket app, and now we're taking positions. That's what we're always doing. We're moving markets. It feels great. Yeah, we're market movers, guys. Exactly. So this works very much like what you're used to.

The difference is, well, if you've traded soybean futures or pork bellies, you're really to know what's going on, but basically you're taking a position saying something to the tune of, I don't know, I think Auburn will win more than seven and a half games. and based on how many other people take the position either with you or against you, that changes your payout. And it also changes as the season goes on. So you've got that. You've also got positions you can take on games that are going on right now, like Major League Baseball,

or once college football gets kicked off, there will be positions on games that are going on. There will be spreads. It will be very similar to what you're used to. So download the Polymarket app and use the code on three. users get $20 when they deposit 10 on sign-up. So you deposit 10 bucks, you get 20 bucks from Polymarket and you start trading. Ari, he feels like football season, man. There's nothing better than my two favorite things in the entire world, Andy, college football

and trading. That's right. So let's start trading with Polymarket. Download that app, use the code on three. When you deposit $10, you get $20 right off the bat. Ari, let's have a show. Let's have a show. 18 plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply.

Not available in all jurisdictions. Trading is risky. 100% loss can occur. Welcome to Andy Niroin 3 presented by Polymarket and Ari. We nailed it. Not only do we tell you that this day Monday, we said a few weeks ago that this day would be a big day in deciding who starts at quarterbacks at various schools.

We also said that we thought. Bazon Brandon was start in Tennessee, that Aaron Filo would start at Florida, and that Keel and Russell would start at Alabama. That was last week, late last week, and we nailed it. Three to three, baby. Yeah, we're not going to do any more predictions for the rest of the year. I think that's done. Nope, no, no, no.

We're perfect. We're going to be perfect. And it was just, it's just the way it's supposed to be in this podcast, us being right all the time, right? You know, nobody wants to this show where people are wrong all the time. It's dumbasses who can't predict the future good enough? Come on. No, I mean, I think that these predictions were really well done by us as a result of, I think being seasoned enough in this business to read between the lines.

Like, I think it was very clear based on the comments that were being made and following the way that the coverage was moving. And it's like, you can, I feel like I have a pretty good sense of the way things are going to be going, you know, every year, you know, just based on what it was like to cover it. understanding how the game has changed a little bit helps in this too, where you really do not have time to say this lower ceiling guy, we're going to start over this higher ceiling guy, because we feel like he might be more reliable.

You're just going with the high ceiling guy at this point. So let's start with Tennessee because this is a really interesting one because it was kind of the old school quarterback battle. Faison Brandon, true freshman, which not even a term anymore because there are no red shirts anymore. Faison Brandon was in high school last year. He's a freshman. George McIntyre redshirted, not that it matters, but redshirted last year. So he played some, did not play a lot, but had played.

But neither one had played extensively. So it really was going to come down to who do you think is better. and they went higher ceiling potential potentially special guy that that's what they chose yeah um kind of the decision i would have made i mean honestly speaking i'm i'm excited to see how it goes but you know i do think that traits and elevation are very important and i don't know if this you know goes as much for tennessee as maybe it does for alabama which is a discussion that we're going to have later on in the show. But do you just go with a person that you think has a chance to be special enough

to raise the profile of your team in a given year? Is that all there is to the quarterback decision? Or do you have to, you know, weigh the floors of things? But at the same time, there's no saying that Faison Brandon's floor is any bit lower than George McIntyre's would have been. So, you know, I think that I really like this. And I think part of it, too, from an entertainment standpoint, you know, as a fan of the game, the intrigue of seeing what these guys look like when they get on the field

is part of the fun of this. And I don't know, you know, River can pop up and tell me if I'm wrong here, but I don't know if there's probably a Tennessee fan out there that's like bummed out by this. I think everyone's probably fired up about it, right? Yeah, I mean, there's all kinds of excitement. I mean, you're excited about him. You don't know what he's going to be, but it's just the ceiling is now a little more elevated. I think.

Whenever you have a person that's built. like that, you can always say this sentence. And it might be insane, but you can say it. What if he's 80% as good as Cam Newton? Like that's like, like, and it might not, he might not ever even be 10% as good as Cam Newton. But the thought process as you wait the final two weeks before Tennessee takes the field for the first time, you get to dream. And I think that the main hallmark of being a fan, Andy, in River, River probably knows this more than anybody is the hope of things. And if you take that hope away, then there's no point. And I'm not talking about the Cleveland Browns quarterback decision for Monday either.

Yes, that decision was also made on Monday. Also involving some major Tennessee donors who happen to own the Cleveland Browns. But yeah, there's a lot, there's a lot of cross-section with the Browns at this point. I would say if we were talking about quarterback decisions in which the Haslam family might have a hand, this will be the much better regarded one of those two. Yes. For those who don't know what we're talking about because they live under the rock, the Browns announced to Sean Watson will be starting. And I was also amused and I don't want to undercut later on in the show, but in your opener, Andy, when I'm not a part of it, I'm just listening like everyone else.

You're like, here's a sentence I never thought I would say. A player is transferring from the Cleveland Browns. If any team in the NFL had a player transferring out to go back to college, it would be Cleveland. Of course. I think to go back to Tennessee, though, there's so much to be gained by the hope of what could be. And I don't know if that would have been quite as true with George Bacentire, just based on the simple fact that is indisputable, which is he physically with his body cannot do the same things that Faison Brandon can do. And that doesn't mean that he's a worst quarterback, although, you know, the decision here would imply that

They believe that Faison's better. But there are certain limitations that you have, and everybody that is like George McIntyre has that, you know, can't compete with physical freakness. And I think that it's just a hard thing to overcome, really. Well, and Faison Brandon, 6-4-225 is a fast runner. So you have that element to the game. But that's not the thing probably, I think,

that it has Josh Heipel the most excited. This was a very high completion percentage guy in high school. and he wasn't asked to throw downfield that much, but you just saw the clips we played from his high school career when he was asked to throw down field. He was pretty good at it. And it sounds like, based on what we've heard from the scrimmages at Tennessee, when he's been asked to throw down field for the balls,

he's done it very well. And so you have a guy- And my understanding of the ball's offense, Andy, is that if you can't throw the deep ball, then you're probably not going to be the start. You're not the guy. Yeah. Yeah.

So, you know, the fact that- But more important than that is get the ball out and get it where it's supposed to go. And he's, he's a lot. to get the ball out, get it where it's supposed to go, who happens to be a phenomenal athlete, which I think really makes this intriguing. So let's hear Josh Heiple as he announces that Faison is the start. Had the quarterbacks in this morning, told the team this morning that Faison had earned the right to be the starter week one.

Love what the group has done, how they've competed, grown. Love how they competed and supported each other throughout the course of training camp. You know, Phazon gets the nod week one. The expectation at the quarterback position, just like at every position, as guys continue to grow, work and compete every day and continue to get better throughout the course of the season. Strength of one position group can never be one guy. It's true at quarterback. I know everybody focuses on the starter, but that group has to continue to grow and expect them to do that here.

We get on the field again tomorrow, but leading up to. to game one too. So Tennessee plays Furman week one, Ari. They play Georgia Tech week two. I would suspect if everything goes the way it's supposed to, you will see George McIntyre a little bit against Furman as well. Yeah. And Josh Heiple, predictably, the next question he got was about,

is this a season long decision? Is this a game one decision? Something in between? Here's what he said. Josh, he said phase-down starter, week one. Do you anticipate this being the long-term decision or is this a week-to-week evaluation? Every position is week-to-week. We named him the starter because we'll leave in the work that he has put in

and how he's continued to grow and play throughout training camp and, you know, the second week through the second scrimmage. He's earned that right, but just like every position you can consistently evaluate. I know you evaluate every snap and every rep, but when you went back and look, what was it about Phazon that separated himself to win the job? I don't think there's just one thing. At times, people won't want to say is there one focal point that changed it. I think in all his control, command of what we're doing offensively, that's in the run game,

it's the RPO game, it's the dropback play action. Combine that with the fundamentals technique, pocket awareness. You put all those things together, decision-making, taking care of the football, while still allowing his playmakers to make plays down the field. You look at the total volume of work, and he's learned the right to start. You know, Andy, I think that that's always the right follow-up is, is this a season-long decision or is this a week-by-week evaluation? And then, of course, that creates the chess game of every position is,

what did you take away from the way that Josh Hypoe answered that question? Do you think that this is going to be an ongoing evaluation or do you think this is a permanent decision? Well, I definitely think it's an ongoing evaluation. I think we only have to go back a few years when he picked Joe Milton as a starting quarterback and then Joe Milton gets dinged up and he has to play Hinden Hooker. And you realize very quickly Hinden Hooker is the better choice, but that's not something you could tell in practice.

You had to see that in the games. And so I would never as a coach. backed myself into a corner and say, this is a full season thing. We're not going back on this decision. No, it's always up for evaluation, just like any other position would be. And Heipel's being honest there. It's coach speak, but it's coach speak because it's true. Yeah.

You know, I am always fascinated by quarterback battles where you cannot get the full scope of who your player is until they play in game reps. So I do think that, you know, it is also within the. realm of possibility, you know, that he's By the way, the Joe Milton Hindenhooker thing from an athletic standpoint, from an arm's standpoint, yeah.

Kind of like this one with Joe playing the phase on Brandon role and George McIntyre playing the Hennon hooker role. Speaking of a bazooker Joe, do you see that guy flying rifles all weekend for the Cowboys in the preseason game? Do you see if he had a few deep shots and everyone was like, oh my God. Yeah, and it still happening. It's still happening.

Yeah, I mean, that's the thing. thing. I'm not saying they're the same, but I am like I understand why Josh Heppel would not paint himself into a corner. Yeah. You know, and I think that, you know, there is something to be gained at times when you're certain that that's your guy by, you know, settling the locker room. And I do think that is a distraction to have to field post game questions every week of did you think about putting Georgian on that series? Why did Phazon come out? Who's the starter? Like, I think that wears on a team, especially if it gets into like conference play. But at this point in the...

But I think people understand that Phazon Brandon is the starter. Yeah. And he's going to have to do something to lose that. Yeah. But, you know, George McIntyre comes in in the second half against Furman and starts to lighten it up. Then, you know, the questions come and that's part of it. But, you know, a fun stat here.

I think I read this online here somewhere, Andy, that you know who the last true freshman starting quarterback was in the SEC? In the SEC? there has to have been a fairly recent true freshman starting quarterback in the SEC are anybody last year? Nope. Much further than that.

Okay. 10 seals. 10 seals at Vanderbilt. Last scene beating USC for TCU in the bowl game last year. Which, you know, and it's so funny because I still kind of go back and forth

when we talk about quarterbacks, Andy, of like what's the right thing to do? Should they develop? Should they sit behind somebody for a few years? Do they need to get in the gym for a few years before they're ready to play? And then on the other hand, now with the NIL stuff, if you're investing all this money into a guy, should he play? You know, and it's becoming more of a professional football conversation.

And it's like there really is no blueprint for this. It's kind of all over the place when it comes to, you know, Nico at the same school sat for a year before he played. But when Hypo got criticized for that, because when Nico played in the bowl game against Iowa, replacing Joe Milton, by the way. It was like, wait, why didn't you transition to him sooner? Wouldn't that put you in better position for next year?

So I also think just the way this works, you're now spending money on these guys, the moment they sit foot on campus. So every second they don't play as a sunk cost. So, and again, you're paying McIntyre too. But I think the way things work, because the old idea of, well, if he doesn't get the job, he's going to transfer. Who cares?

Like, of course they're going to transfer if they don't get the job. Yeah. Like, George McIntyre is going to be the backup this year. He might wind up being Tennessee starter if somebody gets hurt. So, but it's the same exact conversation that you're having in the pros with people. Yeah. If Faison Brandon is as advertised, yes, George McIntyre will transfer. And it'll be okay.

You'll sign another five-star quarterback. Yeah. And if George McIntyre transfers somewhere else, he might have a really awesome starting career somewhere else and everybody wins. So, you know, it is kind of the way that it goes. But, you know, I do think that quarterback position more now than ever, Andy, is a year by year thing. You know, there used to be three-year plans and six-year plans. If we're going to have this guy for two years,

this guy's going to start after him, we're going to recruit somebody in this class. and we have our next eight years mapped out. I remember writing stories when I was on the Ohio State beat back in like 2015 of predicting the next 10 years of starting quarterbacks at Ohio State. And it's like, you can't even predict the next 12 months, let alone the next few years. And I actually don't even know how much value there is outside of finding a really good player and keeping him for multiple years as your starter, you know,

how much value there is and trying to stockpile the backups to make sure you make the right decision when it time to come. I think that, you know, the way to go about it now is recruit somebody out of high school. if he's on your team and happens to be ready to go when your quarterback spot comes open, you go to him. And if not, then you dip into the portal and you get an established starter or a guy like George McIntyre to come in and compete with the freshman

or the sophomore that you have on your roster for the spot. There's no such thing as who's my starting quarterback in five years anymore. That's gone. That's long gone. And I don't think you make any decisions based on who's going to transfer and who's not because there's no guarantee that George McIntyre. I mean, Nico started all year and transferred. Like, starting doesn't keep them there all the time.

Yeah, if anybody understands the volatility of this is Josh Heiple. Hey, Ari, I'm looking at Polly Market right now, the SEC Championship Market. So I will be curious to watch this market over the next few weeks as more people get this news, that Faison Branden's going to start for Tennessee, that Aaron Fylo is going to start for Florida, the Keelan Russell is going to start for Alabama. Because Tennessee right now, only six. percent of the market. So only 6% of the people in the market believe that Tennessee will win the SEC

championship. Right now, if you were to put $10 into the market, if Tennessee won the SEC championship, you get 15777 at the end of the season. I wonder if that number changes. I wonder if that percentage of people who believe in Tennessee, who want to go long on Tennessee is going to change now that they know Faison brand as a starter. So the overwhelming favorites in the SEC right now are Georgia and Texas. Georgia has 27 percent of the market, Texas 25.

Then there's another tier down there with Alabama, 11 percent, LSU 10 percent, Texas A&M, 10 percent. And then you get into the Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Tennessee at eight, seven, and six percent. So it is pretty wide open. You know, the thing I'm very curious about, and I know that the people who listen to our show, Andy are very aware of who Faison Brandon is. But I would venture to say that 85% of college football fans have never heard of them and still haven't. Maybe they heard of him for the first time today.

Yeah, we have a ton of on three subscribers. Like they follow recruiting. They get that this guy's a big time, you know, big name. You know, when I think that market will shift is if he comes out against Furman and looks crazy good. Like when people are like, like, when you start to see it, I think that the power of visualizing what could be. But, you know, we're going to have this conversation later about Alabama. but when you think about, is your quarterback good enough to transcend your team? Or is your quarterback good enough to lift your team?

I think that this probably falls in that's a similar bucket of, you know, how do you view this? So, you know, Tennessee, I don't know from start to finish, top to bottom, if they're an SEC championship caliber team this year. But if you add in 80% of Cam Newton, which is a hope, 80% of Cam Newton, all of a sudden. You're something you're not. You're something now today that you weren't yesterday. Let's assume phase on Brandon starts out well against Furman and Georgia Tech in Kansas State. He will be welcome to the SEC very rudely by the Texas Longhorns in Knoxville.

And then they get Auburn in Knoxville right after that. You are definitely baptism by fire at that point. So it's going to be a lot of fun. That game, we talked about it back in June. But that game is going to be electric in Knoxville, man. If they're undefeated, they're both undefeated, especially if Texas beats Ohio State, too. Oh, my God, supercharged that. And, you know, we're here recording this on August 24th, but buddy, I think I can taste it.

It's game week, dude. Did you have, have you said it's game week on the show yet? It is game week. That's right. It is game week. That's right. Week zero. So we got North Carolina, TCU, and Dublin on Saturday.

We've got NC State and Virginia in Charlottesville on Saturday. We got Memphis, UNLV. we got Stanford, Hawaii. It's going to be a lot, a lot of fun. We are this close. This weekend, it all happens. All right. All right.

Let's talk about our friends at game time because if you would like to go see Faison Brandon, start for Tennessee, because he is the starter. If you'd like to see him start for Tennessee against Furman, well, guess what? You can get in for his, low as $64. You can get in Nealyn Stadium as little as $64 on game time for Tennessee Furman,

the debut of Faison Brandon. Of course, Game Time has all your tickets for every college football game, every pro football game, every sporting event, concert, comedy show, whatever you need, they have your tickets. So you want to go see Faison Brandon or maybe you're a Florida fan and you want to see Aaron Philo starting for the Gators against Florida, Atlanta. Well, guess what? You can do that. And the get-in price is as low as $60 at the swamp.

So great deals on GameTime. The price you see is the price you pay. And also, you can see exactly where your view would be at that particular seat on the GameTime app. So download the GameTime app. Redean the code Staples for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. It's easy, couple taps, and you have your tickets. Use code Staples, $20 off your first purchase.

about the game time app is the view the view simulator oh i know i love it it's it's you know exactly we did it for the uh the megamoroni concert that we took our daughter to in sunrise flor which is that it's the arena where the florida panthers play and the photo of the tickets that we were getting was spot on it was exactly what it looked like sitting in those seats and it really helped make the decision because i was trying to decide between the those seats and some other ones that were, you know, maybe a little bit more money, but theoretically in a better location. Because you don't want to spend more money on tickets that have a generally same view.

And it's so hard to tell from just a chart. So to be able to actually see it as such a helpful unit of just guidance. It's unbelievable. And in that particular case, we lucked out because we did not realize when we bought the tickets that they also came with the club lounge access. where we got unlimited food and drink before the show and during the show. And that was pretty spectacular. So, but it is a, it's such a great service.

So download the GameTime app. Use to go Staples, $20 off your first purchase. Ari, let's talk about the Gators. Let's talk about Aaron Philo being named the starting quarterback at Florida by John Summerall. And we talked about this last week. The reasoning on this one was a little more logical based on the business of college football today. Aaron Philo left the starting job at Georgia Tech because he would have been the starter after Haines King left to follow his offensive coordinator, Buster Fultner down to Florida. You don't usually do that unless you think you're going to start.

And so Walter Ramele Jones made it a much more difficult competition than I think anybody realized he would. when that Sumerall staff got there, Philo was always going to have the advantage here. So let's hear John Sumerall explaining the decision. We are moving forward with the quarterback situation. Aaron Filo is going to go with the ones more than anyone. Doesn't mean Tramel won't get some with the ones. He's still going to get some.

But as we prepare for game one, Aaron Filo, we are preparing for him to be the starter for week one. There will not be some crazy big hoopla around in our best. building. It's just how we're moving forward. I've met with both guys, met with them both yesterday afternoon about 445. Both are awesome. Both fully understand and see where we are in the competition. And, you know, I'm excited about the room. The good news is, is both of them have elevated their play and love both of them, fired up about both of them, you know, and grateful for both of their approaches as we've gone through this. But Philo will get the Lions

share the reps with the ones as we kind of start to try to create cohesion within our football team to get ready for game one. The good news is I've seen Tremel Jones improve so much from April the 11th to right now that it's been a real battle. Like it's not been some, you know, empty competition. It's been real. And that's where we are. So I'm sure you all have any more questions to follow that quarterback thing up, right? That's it. So there are more questions. and he's got a really interesting answer to the next question. But I do want to talk about this first, the way he phrased this for week one, so sort of the same as Josh Heiple.

The difference with Florida, with week one and week two, Florida Atlantic Week 1, which that's not a gimme. It's not a gimmy. But if it goes well, you're going to see some Tramel Jones. Campbell and FCS team week two, you're probably going to see a healthy dose of both of them. if you would like to reevaluate at that point before you go play Auburn in week three, you can. But some all seem pretty secure in saying it's Philo. That one seemed more bolted down than the other one.

Because of the decision to get Philo there is different. Yeah. And I think too that this is a pretty good rule of thumb and something that I've kind of tried to guide my perception around college football around, which is, you know, what coaches do is often more important than what they say. You know, like just the action in general of bringing Buster Faulkner in and a quarterback following him, I think is kind of all the information that, you know, you would probably need.

It made this one very easy to predict. That said, some Rall said more than most of these guys do when they name it. quarterback. And that, I told you, his answer to the next question is really interesting. Here's that next question, answer. Yeah, I would say operate at the line scrimmage at just a touch higher level and be more efficient. You know, there's no surprise to that in spring because he had been in the system and Tremel had not. Tremel has improved a ton, but I still think we're able to operate the full offense at a little bit higher level right now with with Aaron and with the whole package.

And so that's probably the biggest separator. Their arm talent, Edgar, is very similar. They're not like, what's unique is both of them, play style resembles each other more than it differentiates each other. They're kind of similar players, arm talent-wise, running ability. They're similar-ish, like on the GPS numbers. They're about the same speed. So I would say it's probably the biggest differentiating factor.

It's just been being able to maybe get us into the right call, out of the wrong call, check things, alert things, kill things off of defensive pictures, and then maybe see the middle of the field a little bit more in the throw game. But both guys have done a lot of great things, but that's probably been the biggest difference. It's just operation. That's about as specific an answer as you're going to get when somebody makes a QB decision, where he says he operates pre-snap better. talking about Aaron Philo, he sees the middle of the field better. So those are the two things. And that tells you if Tramel Jones wants to win the job, that's what he needs to show when he gets in those first two games that he can do well.

Yeah. And he's still relatively young. So if the differentiating factor here was Aaron Filo's been in the system longer and can process things faster because he's more experienced, then if I'm Tramel Jones hearing that, that is probably a pretty good idea that if Aaron Fylo is successful, that they would be comfortable moving on to me later on down the... Well, right.

If Aaron Fylus has a great year and he goes to the NFL, Tremel Jones could just step right in. Yeah, especially... Third year at Florida at that point, yeah. With a year as the backup and processing the system and watching film and doing all the things that Aaron Fylo has had the advantage of in terms of years, you know, I still think that there's a possibility that Tremel Jones can have a very bright, future at Florida. So, you know, in the same breath, the same podcast as you can't make a plan for the future at quarterback, you know, maybe you can't. But, you know, in terms of, you know, two guys who

are similarly athletic, have similar GPS numbers, the way that he just mentioned, which I'm kind of surprised to hear. Why? Why are you surprised? Because I thought that Tremel Jones was like a really good runner. I thought that he was. Aaron Filo is a really good runner. Have you, have you seen him? I mean, we've seen Aaron Philo play. I've seen Aaron. and Philo's escapability, for sure. There was one throw that I saw on Twitter

today. Georgia Tech tape. Philo escaped a dirty pocket and rolled to his right and layered a pass to the back right corner

of the end zone. I don't remember who they were playing, but I was blown away by that. Yeah. So it probably would have been

NC State, Virginia Tech or Miami because those are the games his freshman year where he had to really play a lot. Yeah.

But I think it sounds good. I think it sounds like a pretty functional decision, Andy. And honestly speaking, I don't know

where you stand, on this, but when coaches are more forthcoming with their decision-making and more transparent about how they arrived at them, I think it's easier to accept. You know, believe it or not, information is good. And I think summer all probably needed, from a PR standpoint, summer all probably needed to give a little more detail there. Because in the parts that Florida fans had gotten to see, like the spring game, specifically, Jones had looked better.

And so there is a little more, you know, you'd have probably more pushback on the decision saying, well, are you telling us what we saw with our eyes was wrong? But now he's giving you the explanation as to why. And again, with this one, I just don't think, I just don't think this is necessarily final because of the way the first two games lay out. Well, you know, I'm just, I'm very interested because Florida in general

has not been in the news from a national perspective as much this offseason. I think in large part because the Aaron Philo transfer wasn't that dramatic. Like it wasn't like a Sam Levitt or Darien Mensa. It wasn't a big name changing schools. But if Aaron Philo has a really good year, like Florida might have a chance, although I'm not sure the roster is 100% where John Summerall would want it to be a pretty good team. in the SEC this year. So I think that Aaron Philo is more of an unknown commodity.

He has played. I know he's experienced, but I'm not sure that he's a player that most fans, general fans speaking I am, are familiar with. And you would have had him pretty deep in the ACC in in 2024 to have seen him play. And again,

that was a long time ago, too. So my assumption is that he's a much better player than he was from those clips. So if he's a high level player, then, you know, kind of the theme of the show today is what does your quarterback say about what your team can be. Yeah.

Like, I don't know. I think it's okay for a Florida fan to dream. Hey, what if this guy's much better, much, much better value than people are giving us credit for? Because I do wonder where Florida is, he was Buster Faulkner,

who everybody seems to like as an offensive coordinator, was going to pick this guy to replace Haynes King at Georgia Tech. So. And those are big shoes to think he's very good. Yeah. So very excited to see how it goes. but seems like a good competition, a real competition, and a functional competition,

which I think is a good thing from a first year head coach, right? Yeah, I think if you were to give them truth serum at Florida, they'd probably say we feel pretty comfortable if either guy has to play. I think he said that. Didn't he say that? Yeah, yeah. But I actually believe him. A lot of times I don't believe these guys when they say that.

This I believe. Yeah, we're pretty comfortable with both guys is kind of like the breakup version of it's not you, it's me, right? Right, exactly. Exactly. No, I do think they're actually comfortable playing both guys. And I think that's a pretty nice position to be in the year of our Lord 2026 in the transfer portal and quarterbacks and NIL and all that stuff. So let's go to another place where I think they are comfortable if they've got to play either one, but they definitely definitively picked one. And I want to ask you this just straight up, Ari.

So we're going to talk about Alabama picking Keel and Russell as the starter. the word came out on Saturday. Our Pete Nacos and Chris Lowe reported that Keel and Russell was going to be named the starting quarterback, beating out Austin Mac, who had been with Kaylin DeBoer for four years. He'd followed him from Washington. Keel and Russell, of course,

played at Duncanville High School near URI. The level of talent on the Duncanville team. Did you see that tweet? Like, I think their left tackle, their center, the running back and wide receiver are all powerful starters there. Okay, so Caden Durham was the running back. He plays at LSU now. DeCorean Moore is Oregon's best receiver.

Colin Simmons is Texas's best edge rusher. And I believe they've got one of Texas's starting defensive tackles. They've got one of Florida's edge guys who is maybe not a starter, but is a rotation guy and he's young. So it was an insane amount of talent. But Keelan Russell was special, special in high school. You will be shocked to hear that Keelan Russell in Duncanville won two, Texas UIL 6A Division 1 state championships.

Right. 6A football in Texas is as big as it gets. You know, winning two with those players. Sometimes this game is hard and sometimes it's pretty easy. Yeah. But when you have those guys. This is a guy everybody's been really excited about for a long time. So I'm going to ask you this, Ari.

Would you like a mulligan on ranking Alabama now that you know Keel and Russell's going to be the start? No. Okay. You did it assuming he was going to be the start. I, well, the thing is, is that even now that he's the starter, let's just use the AP poll for reference here, Andy. Okay. And let's play a game.

All right. I love games. Would you rank Alabama ahead of Ohio State? No. Would you rank them ahead of Oregon? No. Would you rank them ahead of Georgia? Nope.

Notre Dame? Nope. Texas? No. Indiana? No. Miami? Nope.

A&M? Okay. Ole Miss. Oklahoma? LSU? No, I don't think LSU is no for me. And then Texas Tech at 12 and probably, yeah. Okay.

So, so that's that I want to, I'm happy that you made that noise. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think the listeners are happy to that I made that noise. I mean, the highest place that they could be based on Andy's audible reference would be around eight. Eight.

But that's different than 13? It is different than 13, but I also think it's quite negligible when you think about how many teams are on college football between those five spots. And I don't think that, you know, making this decision, I mean, Keel and Russell was still on the roster before the decision was made. So it's not like he just arrived and now he's on the team and he wasn't before. I think that Alabama is correctly placed. But I also think, and as polls tend to do when you update with. new information. If Keelan Russell comes out and is awesome the first few weeks, then you might see Bama

jump into that range. So like as of right now, you know, number one question for me about Bama is everyone's question, which is, will they be able to run the ball? And I think that having him out there elevates things. Obviously good things can happen when a freak athlete has the ball in their hands. But in terms of did they do enough in the offseason and do they have enough players from top to bottom to be unequivocally. ranked ahead of some of the teams that you went eh for i'm not sure that the calculus changed there now

if you thought that alabama should be ranked higher than 13th you probably thought that before today right like i don't know if today changes that yeah i would think so can i can i read you a quote though yeah i would love to talk about summerall being very specific with with the breakdown of tremel jones jr versus erin philo brian ellis the quarterbacks coached alabama he uh he talked to the yay collective on Saturday. So this is how Alabama wanted to release this news was was through the collective. And this is a hell of a quote here. Keelan is going to be the starting quarterback here because he's a playmaker, Alabama

quarterbacks coach Brian Ellis told yay Alabama. He's the guy we know when the ball is in his hands, a lot of good shit can happen. That's a quote right there. Yeah. I mean, and the guy is so very true. And the other thing, too, that I think, gets lost in a lot of the Keelan Russell discussion is the level of competition and the number of reps that he took in 6A high school is like valuable. And I know that he's young and it's not

the same thing as playing in the SEC, but it's not like this guy is like unfamiliar with playing with high level athletes around him. Right. He's not coming from from two A ball in Maine. Yeah. Like I think that he is probably more down the line in terms of what he could potentially be than people give him credit for. I think he gets negged for his age. And I think that, you know, very early on in his tenure, I think we're going to find out that, hey, maybe this guy's got something that,

you know, we weren't taking seriously enough. And if they do, then Alabama certainly could be a team that can crash the playoff. I don't think that anybody views Bama as a team that can't make the playoff. I think Alabama's ranking is correct because it's kind of like, show us, show us. Yeah. I think Bama is an interesting spot because what Bama fans are used to is

you're either going to be very good or great. I think the continuum here is good, very good or great, and they could land anywhere along that continuum, but they're just not used to good being one of the options. And good isn't good enough for them because it means you're not making a playoff. Yeah, we had a play date with my daughter at my buddy Andrews house yesterday, and he's a big Alabama guy who went to Bama. And he was like, I can't totally buy into this thought that Keelan Russell is the starter

because he asked me this question. I was like, I'm going to ask Andy this on the podcast tomorrow. But do you think that if you are a program like BAM or anybody else at high-level football who has invested a lot of money in a young quarterback like Keel and Russell, a highly rated guy that, you know, is going to be an NIL jackpot in the future? Because Keel and Russell exists today, there's going to be very many more Keelan Russell's in the future, that there is anything negative from a program standpoint. Like if they would have named Austin Mack, would they have had a hard,

harder time in the future selling their vision to five star players? Or do you think that everybody is just all about money all the time? Like, do you think that there's any? No, no. I think guys want to play. Yeah. But do you think that there's anything that can be taken from a individual quarterback decision from the past that could be hurt,

hurt you in future recruitments of five star guys like this? No, I think as long as you're making competitive offers, you're probably all right. You're probably all right. So, because like my, the thing that I'm most fascinated with when it comes to quarterback decisions. And I've always kind of been in this camp, even before the NIL era, is what do your quarterback decisions that you make with your current roster do, or how do they impact your future efforts in accumulating more talent? And maybe it's so much more simpler now. It's like if you are a competitive offer, then you're going to get those guys. I think that the sample size is small.

We don't really know yet. Because remember I said, I think I said this, ever Notre Dame did the Sam Hartman thing and the Riley Leonard thing. I think I said on a show, like, this is going to hurt their ability to recruit high school quarterbacks. Well, now they have CJ Carr who they recruited out of high school. Who's awesome? Who's going to be their starting

quarterback for at least two years? And it'll depend on whether it goes the NFL or not. They just got Noah Grubbs from my alma mater, late Mary high school in Florida. Defending state champs because of Noah Grubbs. And he looks like he could be really good at Notre Dame. They have other really highly tatted

quarterbacks. They had a guy who's classed 27 who reclassed into 26. They're recruiting just fine. Like, taking Sam Hartman and Riley Leonard renting them for a year each did not hurt their ability to recruit good quarterbacks at all. Yeah. I think that it's our nature as journalists and analysts of the sport to try to like draw baseline inferences from the things that happen. Like if this happens, then this is going to happen. And I think maybe, Now we live in an age where NIL has completely stopped trends, completely in their tracks. And it's just like what happened three years ago is completely irrelevant to every new recruitment. Whereas, you know, back in the day, if you recruited a bunch of quarterbacks and then something happened,

you might have a harder time selling something to future high school. Maybe that's completely out the window now. But I am very curious. It's like if in three years or two years from now, Alabama and Tennessee were fighting over a five-star kid from Chattanooga. and they decided to start Austin Mac today. Would Tennessee have a leg up because they've already shown a willingness to play the guy that they paid early? Did you say Chattanooga for a reason? Did you intend to mean Peyton Manning's kid?

I did not mean to, but I'll take full credit for it. I was thinking, what's the first city that's not Nashville and Tennessee, and that's what popped into my head. Knoxville? Memphis? I'm not saying that Chattanooga is the best one. I just saying that's the first one. any place for the Baylor School in Chattanooga. And I purposely avoided Knoxville because I didn't want it to be the city that Tennessee is in or that UT's in.

Yeah, yeah. No, you know, you get what I'm saying. Like, there's no, there's no, there's no, um, when a, what's it like when a boat is in the water and then it's like leaving the tracks behind ripple effects of, of the system that you make. Because very interesting thought processes about not just what do these decisions mean for the, upcoming games in a week or two, but what do these decisions mean about your program's view of things and how does that impact the future? I think that are very interesting thought processes

and it would just suck if they just didn't exist anymore. Yeah, I'm fascinated by Keel and Russell because he's the one you talk to about people, when you talk to people about the quarterbacks in that class in the class of 2025, who could be special, who's dynamic, who's exciting. He's the one people come back to.

Yeah. And that means this could go very well. Because again, when you have, and they had a first round quarterback last year. I'd like to point out, Ty Simpson. And remember, you were making fun of me last year when I was like, yeah, Ty Simpson should be up for the Heism Trophy because he's dragging Alabama to wins.

But he was. What if Keel and Russell's better? Yeah. So some other names in the 2025 class at the quarterback position, and I'm sure you could just name them because it wasn't that long ago, but I want to name them for the people who are listening here in the rival's rankings. Bryce Underwood, Hussein Longstreet. Can you just pronounce J.K.S.'s's name for me? He's number four. Jaron Kiave Sangapolitelli. Thank you. Tavian, St. Clair. Deuce Knight Mario Taylor

So those were the top seven And all of those names have been Kind of in the Ripple effects or You know in the discussion Martin was also up there Yeah Who's the current starter at Maryland

Hearing very good things about him this offseason So there's a good point Lewis is up there He's a starter Colorado This year George McIntyre also was up there So but there are The top seven

in the 2025 class, their stories are still being written. Some are starting. Some are high-profile backups. But of that class when it was happening, Bryce Underwood probably got the most attention considering his NIL situation with LSU and then flipping to Michigan late. But in terms of players that were dynamic game changers

that people kept coming back to, I think Keel and Russell probably takes the show there. Yeah. And the thing is, he waited behind a first round draft pick at Alabama. Yeah. If Ty Simpson had said, said, you know what, I've been here long enough. I'm going to go go start somewhere else.

We might have seen Keel and Russell start as a true freshman. If it had been him and Austin Mac last year, he still might have beaten him out. And it was kind of confusing last year because Ty Simpson was still kind of an unknown commodity at this time a year ago. And then Ty Simpson played himself into being a first round draft pick. But now it makes more sense. This all makes more sense. So, you know, Alabama, I think is kind of cautiously optimistic about this season. and it's very unfamiliar territory for them to be outside the top 10.

Yeah, outside of the top five. So, you know, will this quarterback move show that we all made a mistake by undervaluing their ranking at this time? Maybe it will. But one thing I know for sure, Andy, is if things hit the right way with this kid, you know, they could be much better than people are giving them credit for. And, of course, you know, the 13th ranking is right on the fringe of the playoff contention already. So, you know, East Carolina is the first game of the year, and it's not a gimmey game. either. So we'll see how it looks because East Carolina has been pretty good, though, they lost their

quarter. All right. Let's stay in the SEC, but let's talk about LSU. Let's talk about lawsuits. Yeah, there's a lawsuit that is causing all of this. And so I am sure you've seen the headline. You have heard people talk about there's a chance that Dayquan Wright, who was in Cleveland Browns camp and was playing for the Browns in the preseason, that he, could wind up playing for LSU this season. Now, what makes this interesting is Dayquan Wright was a tied-in at Ole Miss last year, played for Elaine Kiff in at Ole Miss. So here's the thing.

This is more of an interesting story because of what the SEC has talked about doing behind the scenes if this Senate bill doesn't pass, because the SEC has said plan B could be. The SEC makes its own rules and tries to enforce its own rules. the reason Dayquan Wright in particular is so interesting because he's not the only plaintiff in this Louisiana lawsuit that is getting more eligibility. Jack Pyeburn is one. He's a former LSU edge rusher who is currently with the Bucks. There's a Notre Dame transfer that has committed to LSU.

There are other guys involved here too. There's a couple more former Ole Miss players, in fact. But what makes this so interesting, is if Dayquan Wright does wind up at LSU, the SEC will argue that he transferred from one SEC school to another, but he didn't enter his name in the first transfer portal. So the rule in the SEC, which is different than everywhere else, is that you have to enter your name in the transfer portal by February 1st

if you want to play immediately after transferring to another SEC school. You could come from another conference, You could go to another conference, but you couldn't go between SEC schools. The reason that rule exists, it was passed in 2021. It was to keep SEC players from going to other SEC schools in the spring transfer portal. Now, spring transfer portal is not a thing anymore. So we didn't talk about it. That rule was never challenged when it was in effect for three years because the other leagues didn't have that rule.

The NCAA didn't have that rule. So if you wanted to transfer from an SEC school in the Spring Portal, you could just go to another conference. So what we have here is a rule that is unique to the SEC, that if the SEC going forward, let's say the Senate bill fails, if the SEC would like to make its own rules about compensation, about eligibility, about everything else, and then enforce them, well, will you enforce this one? And I don't know the answer to that. Because I also, if Greg Zanky and the SEC don't try to enforce this, don't try to sell me on the fact that you're going to start enforcing your own rules because if you won't do it now, you're never going to do it. Well, the thing that I don't, well, first of all, I'm amused by the fact that

Lane Kiffin's at the center of this. Elaine Kiffin. Definitely. Player at Ole Miss goes to the Cleveland Browns, warms up on Saturday during the broadcast, and then is going back to college. might be at LSU is so funny. He still has to clear waivers. He's in waivers now, right? He was waived. Yeah, yeah. And he's expected to. Yes. So he is expected to clear waivers and then he can go back. But like, does the NFL-ish part of this impact the cleanliness of that clean break?

Because it wasn't just one to one. Well, the NFL thing is what, what sets most people off here, is that he's essentially, the last football team you saw him playing for was the Cleveland Browns, and that drives people crazy. I don't necessarily, care about that as much because I think if the NCAA had decided this five for five rule where you get five years to play five years, had they made that in a more expedient fashion, had they not decided to screw the class of 2022 on it, I don't think this would have, like, Dequan Wright would have, let's say he knew in November that you were going to get five for five and the class of 22 would be able to do it instead of them having to sue to get it, which he sued to

get it. He would have been in the transfer portal in January and probably wound up at LSU. Like, he would have had he known this was even possible. So this is a fairly unique circumstance. Or return to Ole Miss, Andy, you know. Or he could have returned all. But see, he could do that now. Like, the SEC doesn't have a leg of stand on if he goes back to Ole Miss or if he goes to another conference. Yeah. But does the route that he took as unconventional as it is changed the way that the rule is viewed the fact that he went to the NFL. His attorneys will argue for sure.

It's not like he just left Ole Miss in the spring to go directly to LSU. They'll argue he would have been in the portal before that deadline had he known. And I think it's an acceptable argument, honestly. I think they'll also argue that he's transferring from the Browns, which I think will be hilarious if they try to throw that one out there. Yeah. Transferring from the Browns is something. I think a lot of people wish they could do.

But it's just that graphic on the screen if you're watching on YouTube is objectively hilarious. Virginia Tech, Ole Miss Brown tells you. Producer River, Ball for Life goes, did Dayquan Wright accept any flights? Yeah. Because remember Tennessee linebacker, Ariane Carter suspended for the first two games because he accepted a plane ticket to go train in Miami for the draft. I know I'm not the first person to think this. I'm assuming that when all this happened over the weekend, you were thinking about Ariane Carter.

Sure. Did they cross your mind? But I wrote a column today about how crazy this is. But I think we need to unpack that a little bit more. We had a brief phone call about it this morning. But Arion Carter, for those who don't know, accepted a, I believe it was $427 flight from his agent. And repaid it. But at the time, took it to explore the NFL draft.

then found out he was, you know, had an injury, which then ultimately caused him to decide to go back to Tennessee. He repaid that loan. And the NCAA has suspended him for the first two games of the season as a result of the payment that he took, which, by the way, isn't malfeasance. It isn't trying to get one over on anybody. And the NCAA's rule is like you can't take anything. You can take whatever you want from your agent who's representing you for NIL. while you're in college,

but you can't take anything from an agent when it's to pursue a professional career. Which is insane to begin with, but we don't need to unpack that again because we did that already. But now you have a player who went to the NFL, and I believe the Browns were his second team. Didn't he originally sign with Philly?

And then he signed with Philly. So he's been on two separate teams. We're missing a logo from the Eagles graphic on the logo. Yeah. But the, amount of money that he's either accepted or taken as a professional from multiple franchises is far- He would have to repay it. But it's far more egregious in terms of NCAA rules than taking the flight would be.

But the NCAA rules, but the NCAAs are enjoined, which means they can't be enforced, by the temper restraining order he received from the judge in Louisiana. Which is crazy because the only difference between, this and Aryan Carter is that Ariane Carter doesn't have a injunction or a court decision to fall back on to say you can't touch me.

You can get one if he wanted it. I think I think Arion Carter could go to court in Knoxville and probably get that pretty good. But how long would that take? I don't understand like the timing of legal proceedings. Well, if you ask for a TRO or an injunction, they move pretty fast because what you're saying is this this needs to be

decided on quickly because the person can be harmed quickly. But it just sucks because everything that I understand about Carter is that he's like the perfect professional. Like he's a great kid. Everybody at Tennessee loves him. He's done things the right way. He got screwed,

somebody. That's what they do. I know. It just, it sucks. So I wrote about it today. You got the nuts and bolts of it here. But like,

it's just so much stupider than it even was two weeks ago. Or was it late July when we were talking about this a month ago? Oh, my God. And that's what drives everybody crazy about all this stuff. Nonsense. The most interesting thing about it, though, because all this is going to end, like, after this year, the five-for-five thing is going to be done,

and, you know, the class of 22 people will be out of the system. Everybody's going to be on the same path. But what's more interesting about this is, will the SEC fight this? And again, like, if it wants to, of being Jack Pipern wanting to go back to LSU, they don't think the SEC can fight that because they don't have a rule

that's any different from the NCAA. There's a basketball player going from Missouri to Kentucky and all the LSU fans are like, how come you're not mad about this? Well, because the rule for basketball players in the SEC mirrors the NCAA rule, which has been enjoined.

Can you explain something to me like I'm 12, though? Sure. So everybody saw Todd Munkin's comments over the weekend about laying Kiffin calling him. Yes. And it kind of made me laugh because it was just like. So wait, Todd Munkin, if we're going to boil this down, Todd Bunkin accused Lane Kiffin of

tampering with the Cleveland Browns. I don't know. Because like what does he want with the coach? Is he like urging him to wave the guy? I mean, I don't know. I don't know how that conversation went. Sure would be a shame if you, uh, if you were to wave the guy who played tight in for me last year.

I was like very amused by it because it was tampering with an NFL team. And maybe the Browns, I'm sure the Browns certainly would have made the same decision. I'm not saying that he only got waived because Lane Kiffin told him to wave the guy. If he could play in the NFL right now, he would be playing in the NFL right now. But I don't understand what the purpose of the call would be. And Todd Munkin, in an attempt to try to be funny, like kind of like made Lane Kiffin out to be. Listen, Todd Munkin's life is miserable right now. He's trying to have as much fun as he can.

Not Todd Munkin made the decision, bro. he made this decision, right? Do we think that? Sure he did. Totally on his own. After essentially sub-tweeting Deshaun Watson saying, don't complain about people booing, you play better. Also, if the decision was made for Deshaun to be the starter beforehand and the fact that he got his ass kicked by the Bill's third string defense for an entire half of football on Saturday,

why the hell did Shador even start the game? But listen, I'm glad the Browns got roped into this. I really am. Both ends. We started and finished it. They fit the circus that is this LSU, SEC, college football stuff. And now for the final segment of the show, Andy, would LSU beat Cleveland Browns? I love to hear your thought process on that.

With the Sean playing, maybe. Yeah, with the Sean playing, I think they would. Yeah. So here's the thing. there's an SEC meeting this week, AD's meeting, and I will be very curious to see if this gets settled in-house. This is a league that likes to settle things behind closed doors. I think that's probably the SEC's hope is that they go,

hey, guys, anybody that you're thinking of taking who blast played at an SEC school that isn't you, maybe just don't take them. Yeah. Let them go to another conference. Also, doesn't LSU have the best tight end in college football? But I don't think LSU is going to be like, okay, fine. I don't think LSU is going to respond that way.

We may have a showdown like we had with the Big 12 in Texas Tech over Brennan Sorsby. You want to do a tinfoil hat Monday? Let's do it. Because they have trade as green, who from all accounts is really good. Yes. My thought is that Lane Kiffin just loves poking. the bear. I agree with that. I also think trade as green might be your might might be possibly your best wide receiver if you just wanted to play him out wide. Yeah. And you can make that

and you make sure want to write more of an inline tight end. Like most places would probably have a spot on their roster for a for a player that was productive at Ole Miss last year and made it through a camp. Yeah. Trade as green though to to your point is the most souped up like Lamborghini version of the tight ends that Lane Kiffin had at Ole Miss. Right. And I'm not saying that the only reason why Lane Kiffin is engaging in this is because he likes conflict, but it does kind of feel appropriate that Lane Kiffin's in the middle of this. It's like what are we fighting over right now,

especially when you have green under roster already. But it's like almost like he's amused by the fight of it. I don't know. Well, and also LSU probably going to have his back. because they're in too big to fail mode with Lane Kiffin. So LSU could just tell the SEC, hey, okay, tell us how you're going to punish us. And if you do, we'll see how that works. Yeah.

Because with Texas Tech and Brendan Sorsby, ultimately the Big 12 was going to ban Texas Tech from the Big 12 championship game if Brennan Sorsby played. And in the Big 12, if you don't win the conference championship, there's a good chance you don't make the playoff. The SEC's a little bit different. I don't think just banning them from the conference championship game would do anything. I think you'd have to say something like the Patriot League said for Pat McQuaid, the Villanova quarterback, where they said it. Villanova, if you play Pat McQuaid, every game you play him in conference, you will forfeit.

Yeah. And so would the SEC do that? Would they say that to LSU? I don't know. Yeah. I don't want people to take what I said as like Lane Kiffin's doing something bad. like we also have to zoom out and also understand that if lane kiffin's perception is that adding right to his team makes his team one percent better it's his duty to try to do that so like i'm not saying that you know he shouldn't or that he's just being antagonistic i think that he enjoys the drama that comes with it but i also think that he's probably doing his team of service which is adding a player of that caliber to your roster the only thing i don't i don't understand and i just don't like he has to wait for a plyburn decision and all these things things is like is he studying lSU plays in the playbook and everything in bucks camp right now you can't

just like drop onto a new team and play can you well blake baker's the same dc no i know i know he already knows i know it just but you just like drop in like the week of the game and you're in the game like it's like he already knows the plays yeah dequine right already knows the plays it's just like the timing of all this stuff is like seven and it sucks if you were the If you were, that's who you thought you were going to beat LSU and you were going to have snaps taken away from you by somebody who you didn't think was going to be there. Yeah.

But also everybody gets paid, so just be the best player. Yeah. One more thing. All right. Tommy Castellanos is in the transfer portal now too. He got an injunction in Kentucky. Former Florida State and Boston College quarterback and UCF quarterback, Tommy Castellanos, beat Alabama last year as a starter at Florida State.

did not beat other teams as a starter at Florida State. The Athletic reported, it is possible that Tommy Castellanos will wind up at Texas Tech, question mark. Seems to make sense. They need a backup, right? He does. Yeah, he could be Will Hammond's backup. But, I mean, who had that on the bingo card when they signed Brendan's source beat?

I was always in the camp of I hope Tommy made a lot of money from the T-shirts they sold that for the Bama game. But, you know, maybe he'll have a chance to sell some research and love it. Who knows? Well, this is going to be very interesting. Again, it's all weird. It's all part of the NCAA being a little ham-fisted when they arbitrarily decided those class of 22 guys

who played four years are just done. My departing take here is fix nothing. This is perfect. Just wild as possible. Just, yeah. Just make it as crazy as possible. Yeah. There's a game Saturday.

There's multiple games Saturday. We don't have to talk about this much longer. We can, but we don't have to because there are games coming. And that is the most exciting thing ever. In fact, I think we will delve into some of those games. We've got North Carolina, TCU. We've got NC State, Virginia. Ari, we need to talk about those games.

And I think tomorrow seems like a fun day to do it. So let's do it. Let's talk about actual college football. games tomorrow on Tuesday. And remember this. The game week's schedule begins this week. So we are on Monday through Thursday. Show will drop at 3 p.m. Eastern time on the on three sports YouTube channel.

No show Friday. We're coming at you after North Carolina TCU from Dublin. So that game's a noon Eastern kick. We'll be on right as soon as it ends. So we're talking, you know, 315, 3.30-ish eastern time. But that will be the new schedule. And remember, when we get to week one, that live Saturday night show is going to be at 1130 p.m. Eastern time. But just this Saturday, we're going live right after UNC and TCU,

because we're going to be so excited about there being an actual college football game that we're not going to be able to contain ourselves. We're just not. I know what to say. And also wind up, Andy, if you're here and you're going to miss us on Friday, we've got a big Bill Belichick show coming Saturday. No matter what happens, Bill Belichick. That's right. He might win. He might win.

Or he might not. He might not. Either way, it's interesting. Either way. But we'll talk about that game tomorrow.