Andy & Ari On3 - The 2026 On3 Preseason TOP 25 Poll: Who are the REAL contenders in college football this season?

Episode Date: August 11, 2026

On Tuesday, On3 released its edition of a top 25 preseason poll. With 11 voters, Andy & Ari dissect the top teams on the list, while running through the ones that received first place votes. Did the guys get this top 25 ranking correct? Watch here as Andy & Ari debate the list.   (0:00) On Today's Episode (1:11) Presenting Sponsor (3:00) Intro: On3's Top 25 (7:25) Andy as Chair of Poll: Ohio State at #1 (9:50) Oregon (11:10) Texas (12:32) Georgia (16:52) Notre Dam (23:28) Indiana (24:08) Miami (25:30) Rest of top 25 - Tennessee? (29:30) Bizarre parts of the poll: LSU? (32:40) Andy & Ari's personal lists (33:35) Previewing Julian Sayin (35:21) Julian Sayin Joins (45:15) Recapping Julian Sayin (53:25) Cam Coleman's INSANE catch (1:02:32) Thanks for watching!   Once the fellas wrap up the top 25 discussion, the guys are joined by the quarterback of the number one team: Julian Sayin from Ohio State. As the guys caught up with the highly-accurate QB last week from Columbus, Sayin explains his expectations headed into this season and how he has grown as a leader.   Next up, the guys visit Cam Coleman's insane catch from Texas Fall Camp. With the addition of the former Auburn WR, is Coleman the missing link to propel the Longhorns to national title contention? Watch here as the guys break down Coleman's insane catch radius.   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.     Join On3 today! https://www.on3.com/join   Watch our show on YouTube! https://youtu.be/8P7LgI6QLtc   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's edition of Andy and Arion 3 presented by Polly Market, it is Ranking Day, the top 25 from Ossedon 3 released an average of all of our rankings. The team that averages out to number one didn't get a single first place vote. What does that mean for the upcoming season? Plus, an interview with Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin, He's bigger, he's badder, he's still deadly accurate. And of course, he's got some really good receivers to throw too. Also, Cam Coleman transferred from Auburn to Texas,

potentially one of the best receivers in the country. We didn't really get to see it while he was at Auburn. He made a catch at Texas practice last week that has everybody still buzzing. What does it mean if Texas finally has, as a true wide receiver one to pair with Arch Manning. We'll talk about it all today on Andy and Ari on 3, presented by Polymarket. We got a new sponsor alert, Ari. We're now brought to you by Polymarket.

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Trading is risky. 100% loss can occur. Welcome to Andy and Ari on 3 presented by Polymarket and Ari. I know we're just guessing. I know it's not that useful. Scott Van Pelt from ESPN, our friend, came out and said, these preseason polls, they're even less useful than they used to be. They're in the transfer portal area.

They're not useful at all. And I don't disagree. What I would push back on is preseason polls were never actually useful. But we love talking about college football, and we love ranking things, and here we are. So today we've got on three's preseason poll, which all of us voted in, all of us, you know, writers had on three, you sent your top 25 in, I sent my top 25, and not one of us ranked Ohio state number one. We all had Ohio State ranked high. Not one of us ranked Ohio State number one, but the differences in our number ones were so different that Ohio State actually wound up being

first in the average poll. I know. I was actually kind of surprised a little bit about how different the number one votes were, Andy, because to me, it feels like there's maybe a group of three teams that you could rank number one. And that's not the way that it went. So, but what it does tell you is that everybody knows universally that Ohio State's probably a top two team or a top three team going into the season. And I think that if you get ranked, to number two all over the place instead of one, three, five, four, you know, that gets you to the top. But, you know, Andy, this is the beauty, I guess, of the transfer portal expanded playoff era.

You know, these polls used to be more boring. You know, Scott Van Pelt comment that you made, I saw you tweeted about it. Obviously, polls aren't supposed to matter at all because it's supposed to be 100% original thought from the committee. So, you know, you could throw North Dakota state it in a number one, it has no impact on strength the schedule metrics or anything. Like, it should just be based on the data that happens. from throughout the season.

So, you know, I think that we're up to, I look at the top, top 15 teams, and I see teams outside the top 10 that could conceivably win the national championship this year. And I think that's a really exciting way. Yeah, Al-Andi, some people might even say outside of the top 15, you know, with Michigan or SMU or Tennessee or something, I don't know. I'm looking at our top 25.

I can see every single team in the top 25 making the playoff. Like there's a, there's a legitimate path for every, single team that's in our top 25 to make the playoff. And I think that's really interesting. Yeah. Exactly. All the one. All the one.

Yeah. The playoff, the commissioners met had a playoff meeting yesterday. Nothing. Not much happened. Yeah. I mean, there was some buzz about talking about 20 and then it went away really quick. That got shot down. Yeah.

Very fast. It's either 12 or 24. They're trying to figure out a calendar for 24. Then they're trying to figure out how much money they can make off it. We'll see. Like, don't worry about that right now. Let's worry about the season coming up. The analysis, though, is that we're just on a runaway train 224.

So just accept it in your heart, whether you like it or you don't. It's going to happen. All right, Andy. So let's go through the votes or the teams that did get a first place vote. Okay, so there were 11 voters at On 3. So we had 11 people who filed their top 25. Oregon, which came in number two in the poll when we averaged them out, had three, first place votes. Texas came in number three in the poll, but had four first place votes,

which was the most of anyone. So that tells you that some of our people ranking Texas had them much lower than some of us did. Ari and I both had Texas ranked number one. So everybody, somebody had Texas down probably near number 10, I would think. Yeah, I don't know who that person was, but we should throw eggs at them. Yeah. Well, maybe they're right, though. We don't know. Georgia got one first place vote. They finished number four in the average poll. Notre Dame one first place vote, finished number five.

Indiana won first place vote. They were in number six. And Miami with a first place vote came in at number seven. So do you want to play a fun little game with your pal Ari? I sure do. I'm going to put you, Andy, for the next five minutes is the chair of the poll. Okay. And you're going on national television right now.

Oh, my God. And I'm going to be a reporter or Reese Davis or whoever's asking him questions. And I'm going to ask you why this team should be ranked number one. Do you think you could do it? Because I think that there are some more than others. Yeah. Well, okay, before we get to this, because this is why it's hard for that person, whoever that athletic director is, it has to get up and talk to Reese Davis.

They have their own individual opinions on this, which probably differ from the committee at large. So, for example, my ballot that I sent in, I had Texas number one, Notre Dame two, Miami three, Oregon, four, Georgia five, Ohio State six, Indiana, seven, Texas Tech eight, LSU nine, Oklahoma, 10. That's my top 10. So obviously, I had Ohio State six, and they ended up finishing at number one, again, with no first place votes, which means a lot of people had them two or three. If this was the AP poll era, you would be the, what was it called when you had somebody very differently than everyone else? Like the abnormal vote. The outlier. The outlier. You'd be the outlier vote, I bet. I'm not sure a lot of people had Ohio State at six.

But why don't you try your best to give a sales pitch and I'll critique it for every team that received a vote? And you can even throw Ohio State in there, too, since they ultimately were number. Oh, I'm happy to throw Ohio State in there. I mean, we were just in Columbus. We're going to have Julian saying on the show right after this. So I can give you a very good reason why Ohio State should be number one. I mean, this is a team that brings back one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the country. They have the single best receiver in the country and Jeremiah Smith,

who may be one of the best receivers we've seen in college football in a long, long time. Well, at least since Devante Smith won the Heisman trophy in 2020. They do have to replace a lot of their defense, but the fact of the matter is the way they've recruited, they almost always are plugging in guys who are going to be stars, who are going to be first round NFL draft picks. I have no doubt that guys who have not played big roles yet, we're going to see them become stars on that defense this year.

So Ohio State has earned our trust as a team that will always be near the top of the poll, that will always be at the top of the Big Ten. So I have no problem with our on three committee starting them off at number one. Okay. Oregon, Mr. Staples. Oregon brings back Dante Moore, who could have been possibly if he'd gone out the number two pick in the NFL draft last year. So that's a great piece to start with. But let's talk about that defensive line with Amari Washington and Bear Alexander and Mateo Uiunga L.A.

Like that is a great place to start. I know, by the way, where they had a little bit of a hole in their defense because Dylan Thineman got picked in the first round, they went out and got Coy Perich from Minnesota to fill that safety spot. At receiver, we saw Decorri and Moore Blossom last year. Evan Stewart's going to be back healthy. He didn't get to play last year. Their running back room is revamped and healthy again. Remember the last time we saw them play, they had no healthy running backs.

This team is stacked. It is deep and it is capable of going all the way. Andy, before we continue the game, I also, unless I just didn't hear you, Miami also got a first place vote. Did you say them? I did say that, yeah. Okay, just wanted to make sure. Okay, Mr. Staples, which by the way, means Miami at number seven, either a lot of people had them around seven, eight. Yeah. Somebody putting them number one would have pulled them up. So I'm, that's an interesting one, but go ahead. Mr. Staples. Why should Texas be number one in your poll? Have you seen the talent they have all over the field? I mean, they're just buying luxury

goods at this point because what did the Texas need to do, needed to get a little bit better on the offensive line. They took Wake Forest Best Tackle. Needed to get better in the running back room. They take Relique Brown from Arizona State, Hollywood Smothers from NC State. By the way, Hollywood Smothers was going to go to Alabama and then Texas flipped him. So the areas of need, they pretty much dealt with. And then when they needed a true wide receiver one, they went out and got Cam Coleman from Auburn, who from a physical talent standpoint, probably only Jeremiah Smith has more physical tools at receiver. Now, Cam Coleman has not put up the greatest numbers,

but we might be able to blame that on Armour's quarterbacks. We're going to find out. We're going to find out when he's playing with Arch Manning. But you look at this team where they have guys like Trevor Gooseby to offensive tackle, Colin Simmons coming off the edge. They go out and get Rashim Biles, who's a sideline to sideline linebacker who makes plays all over the field. Again, this team has as much talent as anybody in the country.

This might be the most talented roster in the country. They have a tough schedule. They play Ohio State week two in Austin and then a very difficult SEC schedule. But guess what? The Longhorns have everything they need to win the national title. Okay. Now we're going to get into the teams that only got one vote, which I think is interesting because when you have 11 people, you know, sometimes there's group think. But I think it's good that our company thinks differently.

But I think when there's only one, that means that you're kind of in the minority, obviously. So I'm very curious to hear this one. And Mr. Staples, after long hours of deliberation in the room, why did people have Georgia number one? Well, I did have Georgia, you know, winning the national title in my projected bracket last week, but that was not, you know, Georgia being the one seed in that case. Georgia, I think, was coming out of the number six hole or the number five hole, one of those. And this is a team that has been remarkably consistent in the regular season in past two. years. They've been the SEC's best team for the past two years in the regular season. They've

then won the SEC championship. You could argue, one could if one wanted to, that they've been punished by having to play a tough physical SEC championship game and then go into the quarter finals, even though you don't have to play in that first round. You get kind of rusty and you're maybe still a little banged up and then you have to play somebody really good, which they've had to do both times where they had to play Notre Dame and then Ole Miss. This on paper doesn't look like Georgia's most star-studded team, but I do think Gunner Stockton, we're going to find out we're underrating him. The Gunner Stockton as a quarterback, as a leader, as a playmaker.

We saw it some last year. We saw it in the Tennessee game. We saw it in the Texas game in Athens. When he wants to turn it on, he can be one of the best quarterbacks in the country. Georgia is going to be great on both lines of scrimmage. Drew Bobo, their center, steady as they come. They have a freshman named is Kai Helton on their offensive line who could be the next big star. This team just churns out great players.

Kirby Smart has done it a little bit differently than everybody else. He still wants to use the old model of we're going to recruit out of high school. We're going to develop these guys. We're not going to spend huge in the portal. Well, guess what? This may be the year that he gets proven right because they, they should be great on both lines of scrimmage and should be deep enough to handle if they have a few bumps and bruises along the way. 75% of your explanation was about how good they used to be.

I think that they're going to be. I also mentioned the freshman offensive lineman who could be one of the best in the country. No, I know. That's forward looking. Listen, I think that Georgia's totally a bona fide top 10 pick. I had them in my top 10. But I think that when you, if you were to explain, and this is the. thing that I didn't do to you, Mr.

Committee Chair, is that what, ask you why is Georgia ranked ahead of Oregon? Like, like they're, like, you know, you could say why they're going to be good. We as the committee, Ari, didn't rank Georgia ahead of Oregon. We ranked Oregon two and Georgia four. That's right. Well, I would love to have whoever ranked them number one on the hot seat to compare

them individually to everybody else. I think they have a shot at one. I don't know. Who do we think? See, we can, we can recklessly speculate. These are our coworkers. Who cares? Yeah, I have no idea.

You think it was NACOS? I mean, if it was NACOS, it would make me feel better because he has the best pulse of the personnel of anybody because of, like, I guess, like, what would you rather have as a superpower right now? Would you rather be a person who's, like, really good at, like, being an NFL draft analyst who can look at tape and break someone down? Or would you rather know the valuations of these guys? What do you think is more helpful in deciding who's going to be? Well, I think the valuations come from the people who can already break down tape. So I think the valuation is probably more valuable because you're getting an aggregate of a bunch of people who are experts at breaking down tape. So I think you can make the case that NACOs is the most knowledgeable person on our staff about these guys the best players.

I don't know what Pete's top 25 look like. I'm sure he'd tell us if we asked. But as we record this, I don't know where he had everybody. Well, I'm going to do a little research while we're recording. And then I'll get back to you when I get a response. but Andy, let's keep going here because you know what's interesting is that Old Miss, one of the teams that we got done discussing on yesterday's show, didn't have a first place vote.

All right, let's go now to Indiana. This one should be pretty easy. Wait, you just skip Notre Dame? Oh, I haven't done Notre Dame. Let's do Notre Dame because they had multiple for, oh, they only had one. Oh, that's weird. Okay, Notre Dame, Mr. Staples. Well, you didn't vote him number one, so why didn't you vote him number one, Ari?

That's true. Because Texas is the best team talent-wise in the country. Do you want me to put me on the hot speed? Hot seat, I'll do it. Well, I want you to tell me why they aren't number. Why is Notre Dame not number one? Then I'll tell you why they are number one, even though I also didn't have the number one.

I think Notre Dame is not number one because they don't have as many good players from top to bottom as some of the teams that are ranked ahead of it. That doesn't mean that it's not a very good team. It doesn't mean that CJ Carr might not go out and win the Heisman and be something truly special this year. I think that, you know, people are excited about the wide receiver core this year, but I'm not sure it stacks up with teams like Ohio State and Texas. They lost the best one-two punch in the backfield in college football for maybe the last decade.

I think their offensive line is going to be awesome. I think their defensive line is going to be awesome. They've got one of the best defensive backs in the country and Leonard Moore. But I just don't know, like from my perspective, when I'm ranking teams, I look at the All-American lists and I go, well, who has the most of them. You know, I think that other things go into play as it pertains to who actually goes out and wins it, like who has good chemistry, who avoids injuries, who is a schedule that tests them, but also puts them in a position to flourish.

I think Notre Dame is certain they were in my top three, but I just don't know that I think it's a fair statement to say they don't have as many good players, at least on paper at the moment as Oregon or Texas. I think it's fair. I think it's very simple. I think they have less famous players than Oregon or Texas. I think they have in terms of NFL players on their roster, I think they're very comparable to Oregon and Texas.

Yeah. And maybe famous, maybe famous is an interesting way of putting it. Like, I don't know, is Trevor Goosby famous? Like, maybe he is. Pretty famous. And like Will Black isn't famous yet, but I have a feeling Will Black will be famous. But I also think that in the preseason, Jack is starting left tackle.

Even if it is about fame, I think in the preseason, it's totally okay to rely on fame because those are the famous people are the most, most proven assets. Anthony Knapp is known as a very good offensive line. I mean, the year they went to the national title game, he was the one who had to jump in and be the starting left tackle when Charles Jaggiss had got hurt. So, like, we know they've got guys who can play.

And like, Will Black is one of those that he was a big time recruit, didn't play much last year as a freshman, but you expect him to be the next, kind of the next big thing. In fact, there's a lot of Joe Alt comps with Will Black, down to them being hockey players earlier on in their athletic career. I'm going to write that one down for Who Am I later in life? Well, you're going to need it because I think

Will Black is probably a guy. You have to do Who Am I on in about 10 years. But so I think Notre Dame is as talented top to bottom, which is great. Like remember how crazy this is or this thought would have been eight years ago, Ari, to say that Notre Dame's as talented top to bottom as Ohio State or Georgia. but I think they absolutely are. And I think Marks Freeman is a really good job building depth in that program.

I think there's a correlation, Andy, between being famous and being a proven asset. So as we got done talking about at the beginning of the show, that preseason rankings don't mean anything and have no bearing on how things go. I do think it's most prudent to go with the team that has the most famous people because we know the most about them. That doesn't mean that there isn't a team that'll pop out of nowhere. Did Indiana have the most famous people last year?

no, that's what I'm saying. We're going to let the season play out, but, you know, I think it would have been hard. I think we should try to figure out who's going to be the most good. And look, we're just guessing here. We're all guessing, but we don't want to be right. And so, like, for instance, you had Notre Dame number three, and I had Notre Dame number two. We're higher on Notre Dame than most of the rest of our colleagues.

Yeah, which is bizarre. because I do think that they're obviously one of the national championship teams. You just asked me why I didn't have them number one. And if the criticism is because I have, there's players on Notre Dame's team that might be better than the players on Texas that we already know are going to be draft picks is not the way I think. So, you know, that it doesn't mean that it's going to be infallible. I'm looking at on three's top 25, the average of all our rankings. from 16 up, you know, one through 16, I can make a case for any of those teams to win the national title.

Maybe not BYU. We got BYU at 15. Yeah. But you can make the case for almost any of these teams with the national title. And so I think that's why, like, it doesn't matter if Notre Dame's fifth or Notre Dame's second or Notre Dame's 10th. Like, all they got to do is win. Yeah. And they're going to be in.

Yeah, projecting. And remember that, hey, remember this. The rules changed on the college football playoff this year. This is the first year of the new contract. So the rules are different than they were last year. Had these rules that are in effect this year, been in effect last year, Duke would have made the playoff as the ACC champ instead of James Madison. Because now the ACC champ, Big 12 champ, SEC champ, and Big Ten champ are guaranteed spots. in the field. And then the other thing that would have happened is, as a top 12 finisher,

Notre Dame would have been guaranteed a spot in the field. So Notre Dame would have taken that spot that Miami had last year. So I do think that's part of it. They rank the differently. That's still the rule. By the way, this is a sandwich for my wife later, but tin foil. Oh, you think Notre Dame would have been 13 if that happened? I think they would have adjusted to it to be just. Okay. Don't you? I don't know. No, I don't think so. I still think that if at the end of the road, Miami was out and they were in,

they would have been like, this is stupid, let's fix this. That's what they did. Why would they keep doing it? Well, I don't know. They didn't think it was stupid when they ranked Miami eight spots below Notre Dame

when they had the same record in Miami had beaten them. I know. That was stupid that they came to their senses before it was too late. I don't know. There's people who are detrimental things in life. And then later on side it was dumb. And then like, you know,

for instance, like I got a bunch of speeding tickets. when I was a kid. I stopped doing it. Yeah. You know? Well, our Indiana as the number one. All right. Go ahead, Mr. Staples.

I have no problem. I have no problem with this. Just say his name and then I'll move on. Yeah. We're not doubting Kurt Signetti anymore. We're just not. We're not doing it. So believe that he caught lightning in a bottle at your own peril.

He's absolutely going to be good again. How good is an open question? I think like I keep saying, once you're into a top 12 situation with this, this environment, anything can happen. But I suspect they'll be very good again. And then, and then you got Miami. Miami's, I think, equipped maybe more so than they were last year to compete for a national title. And they had the ball in the fourth quarter with a chance to take the lead in the national title game. So we will find out. Now, Carson Beck, really good in that Hall of Fame game for the Cardinals.

So maybe he was better than we were giving him credit for. But I think the prevailing thought is that with Darien Mensa, they have at least equaled and possibly upgraded a quarterback. You add Cooper Barcate to Malachi Tony, and that's a terrifying receiving core. Damon Wilson comes in. Ahmad Moten's still there on that defensive line. They're going to be scary.

I never doubt a Mario Cristobal, Alex Mirabal offensive line. I never worry about that. secondary is still going to be good. Like, this team has everything it needs. I respect the person who just is like, I'm not going to just go any other direction, but Indiana. I'd rather be wrong betting on Kurt Signetti

than right, being betting against him. But I do think that you're right, Andy, all these teams have a real shot at this thing. And it's super exciting. And I think that, you know, the preseason, you know, now feels more like open

and more exciting than it ever did before because of all the teams that actually have a shot. Like, is it out of the question? Totally out of the question that Washington wins the championship this year. That might sound insane right now, but I don't think it's completely out of the question. I don't think it's out of the question for USC or LSU or Alabama or hell. I'll even throw a river a bone here who went to court this morning and pleaded not guilty. Tennessee, huh? Tennessee, could they do it?

What a phase on Brandon is Jamarcus Russell? Tennessee could absolutely do it. The Tennessee fans are mad at me because I didn't have them. in the top 25 at all. Andy, but people were mad at me because I had Tennessee too high. So I do think that it is funny. 19, I think.

17, 17. So we average each other out. 17. Yeah. Yeah, which, you know, is kind of a, I just like very much believe in Josh Heppel. And I think that their quarterback, like, if you, what was the reason you had them out because we don't know who their quarterback is yet?

Because like I have. Do you think they're going to go nine and three? because that's if they're if they're 17th they're 9 and 3 do you think they're going to be 9 and 3 River pull up the schedule let's play the game let's play the Tennessee game I'm I'm I'm not 100% sure about that I'd like to see their schedule but um it's very hard they have had first year quarterbacks most years under Josh Heipel and they've all been very productive so I didn't neg them for that but let's go Furman Georgia Tech Kennesaw State 3 and 0 lost to Texas win at Auburn or at home at Auburn win at Auburn win at

home against Arkansas. I think they could beat Alabama. Or at Arkansas. I don't think that where that is is going to hopefully play a factor for them. Alabama, I think they could beat. South Carolina, I think that they could beat. Kentucky, I think they can beat. Yeah, I think they can get

to nine and three if things all fall their way. I mean, they can get to 10 and 2. There's a window to 10 and 2. Tennessee actually has a fairly favorable SEC draw this year. Now, I know they've got Texas LSU and Bama, but there's no Georgia on there. So do we forget Vanderbilt just kicking their ass last year?

Like you're just counting Vaney's a win now? I'm just saying I've seen harder SEC draws at this point. At Texas A&M? Yeah. I mean, you're confident about nine and three with that. Do you also understand that VAL Twitter has a handgun to the back of my head 24 hours a day?

Like, what do you want me to say? I know, you're so scared. Yeah, like you want me to be like, oh, they're going to stink. No, I think that they could beat Bama. I think they could beat Vanderbilt. The things go their way, sure. And I trust that Hypo will get a lot of production out of their quarterback. And I think the part of the reason why they're probably unranked on most people's ballots is because of the uncertainty at that position.

So, you know, we'll see. I might be wrong about that. But I think Tennessee will be like in the eight and four, nine and three range. If they're not, they're 18 or they might not be ranked. They might be, or they might be ranked. So, like, they would have been also receiving votes in mine. So that's that's in the eight and four range. Yeah.

And also the difference between eight and four, nine and three could come down to a fuel goal. So, you know, right. I think that the difference between eight and four and ten and two could come down to two plays. The two field goals. Yeah. So, you know, it's not that. I don't think it's out of the question to have them in the top 20. It is not out of the question.

None of this is out of the question. Like if you want to get really weird and put, you know, let's see, who's not in there? if you wanted to put Wisconsin in there. We've made a case for how Wisconsin can be much better this year than they were last year. Well, the fun thing about the portal, Andy, is that you can make a case. Like, who we decide to believe in is kind of our own self-guided tours. You could make the case. Wisconsin is completely underrated because they've got a really great defense.

It played really good down the stretch. They got Colton Joseph out of the portal. They've had horrific injury luck. And Luke Fickle's actually a great coach that people have lost sight of. And I think that that's a compelling argument for a top 25 ranking preseason. Can I point out, though, while we're talking about this, some of the things that I found somewhat bizarre about our poll? Absolutely.

What are your feelings about LSU and where they're ranked? Doesn't that feel like, and I know that there's a lot of good teams ahead of them, so for them to be higher, somebody would have to be lower? But does LSU as a number 12 feel a little off with what they've spent on their roster and who they have on this team? Like, it feels a little. Well, no, it feels a little off because you and I think they're going to make the playoff. Clearly, others think they're not.

I know. I actually thought that, like, I came into this week and before the coaches, both thinking that everybody just assumed they were going to make the playoff. No, no, that is a very split opinion. Really? Yes. Yes. I would say, if we did a player for player draft,

for the teams ranked ahead of it, I'm not sure LSU would come out on the losing end of that very often. I mean, I think they would. The teams in our top seven, they might. Yeah. But that still leaves you 8, 9, 10 where they definitely be in the playoff. Yeah. I think it would be an epic disaster if they didn't make the playoff with this team.

Oh, listen, you didn't spend all that money on Lane Kiffin. You didn't spend all that money on the roster to not make the playoff. Like, I know. And Kiffin, you know, has, to his credit, come off the, well, you got to give us patience. No, you do not have to give them patience. The expectation is a national championship at some point. The expectation this year is make the playoff. Brian Kelly never could.

Lane Kiffin got hired. Brian Kelly got bought out and Lane Kiffin got paid to make the playoff. That's the whole point. I just want to read some of the name. I think that when you think of Lane Kiffin, you think of high-flying, fun offense. But can I just read off some of the names on their defense? We have Prince Well, Umami, Ellen, Whitweeks, DJ Daughery, DJ Pickett, Ty Benefield.

Like, I think you might have five, and those, and that's not everybody, but five players. Those are all NFL players with, you know, some of them have very high ceiling, potential first round ceiling, yes. And all have potential first round ceilings at every level of the defense. Like there's somebody there that can like, there's a linebacker that's amazing. There's an edge rusher that's amazing. I think Ty Benefield might turn out to be one of the most impactful portal editions that actually happened.

And that's not even taking into account at Jordan Seaton and all the other guys they got on office. Right. And DJ Pickett is like what you'd build in a lab if you said build the perfect cornerback. Yeah, I know, I know. And of course, we can't forget about a certain tight end that they

have on their team too, right? Straight as green. Yeah. Tradez green who also would be built in a lab if you were building a tight end. Design a red zone threat, please. Here he is, straight as green. or a tank. I don't know if you needed for the military.

Like the guy is built like an absolute alien. I don't know. It's just like I think that there's a reason to be excited about them. But if you think that they're properly ranked at 12, that kind of goes in to show you how good the top 10 actually is. But I clearly don't because I didn't rank them number 12. So clearly I don't think that's okay. Yeah.

But I thought that was bizarre. You had a number 10. Yeah. You had a number 10 and I had a number nine. Yeah. No, I don't think anything's weird about this. I actually put a group of five team in my ranking, a group six team. I had Navy in there.

I think Navy's going to win the American. You were married to that. I think Navy's going to meet the playoff. Yeah. Yeah. In the Navy. Oklahoma State. Oklahoma State.

I had Oklahoma State 23rd. Yeah. I'm drinking the orange Kool-Aid. Eric Morris porting the North Texas offense and it just being awesome right off the bat. I am drinking that Kool-Aid. So that's fine. I may be wrong. We all may be wrong.

We're all going to be wrong. That's the beauty of this. The season's going to prove us wrong, and that's the fun part, and I can't wait. Now, one thing I know I'm not wrong about Ari, I know Julian Sayan's going to put up big numbers this year. He wins the job at Ohio State this time last year, which essentially gave him the privilege to throw to Jeremiah Smith and Cornell Tate.

carnell tate was the first receiver off the board in the draft this year and how they bring in chris henry junior they've got i mean basically brandon in us is back like they've got a loaded receiving court led by jeremiah smith we were in columbus last week ri we visited with julian saying uh the first thing that you notice when julian sayin walks up is this man has been in the squat rack since he got to columbus Yeah, I think I noticed that the second we cleared the Woody Hayes indoor and saw him on the field. Like, he looks much bigger. And then I made note of that online and people are like, who cares? That does who cares if he's bigger?

And it's like, I think that being in a better shape matters. Pretty much everybody because he was small. Like when he got to Ohio State and last year, he looked like a guy, you're worried about can he take hits? Can he, you know, absorb punishment? If he needs to run the ball, is he going to be able to do it? Well, guess what? I worry a lot less about that now seeing him what he looks like in person because he's clearly put in the work to add weight and it's not bad weight. And I think that as long as he's still as accurate as he was, but now maybe on the goal line, you can sneak him or run a little read option with him.

That's a bonus. Yeah, yeah. It was really cool to talk to him, really cool to see him. Thank you to Ohio State for having us out there. It was a really fun interview, and it was cool to talk to a Heisman finalist going into the year, Andy. Here is Julian Sane. We are joined now by Julian Sane, the quarterback of the buck guys,

and Julie, so guys have been coming over, getting selfies with you. The last thing somebody was, stay healthy. Is that like break a leg in the theater world? You just had one practice. Yeah, it's always, you know, stay healthy. and I think it's awesome that our fans come out and support and we have such a great fan base and you know, they're very supportive of us. So it's, we appreciate them a lot. Julian, what's like the regular interaction in public with people? Like, how does it usually go?

Very respectful. They're all, you know, our fans are great. You know, whether they're, you know, ask for a photo or anything like that, they're very respectful of our time as players and they're always let us know they're supporting us. So, I mean, you grew up in Southern California, not around this, but you obviously were planning on playing in this because originally you signed with Alabama, you come here. Is it still an adjustment? Like when you become the starting quarterback at the Buckeyes, when does it hit you? Like I have one of the biggest jobs in sports. Yeah, I think, you know, my freshman year when I was here, I was able to kind of see it with Will.

It was good for me to, you know, sit and learn. And I learned so much that year and learn kind of the pressure of, you know, being the quarterback at Ohio State. And, you know, I was able to kind of see everything. you kind of got to handle and deal with, and it prepared me for the role I'm in now. After a full year starting, playing in the Big Ten championship game, making the college football playoff,

how more prepared does a year of playing actually make you the end of this year, too? I think having, you know, it's always important to have experience. You know, having last year's experience is definitely just going to give me more confidence going to the season and give me more, you know, the ability to play with more confidence in play, having seen different defenses and having seen, you know, a lot of things at this level.

So what was the thing that, you know, even watching Will and seeing on it, couldn't prepare you for that now a year into the job, you're like, I got this part figured out? Yeah, I think you never really know what it's like until you're in it. So you can watch it as much as you want to and try to prepare yourself, but you never really know what it's like until you're in that big game. So I think, you know, just kind of having that. experience from last year playing in, you know, big matchups. So it's going to, is the Texas.

It's like, Colin Simmons in your face is like the first. Yeah, you don't really know. You don't really know it's like until you get in the game. And, you know, you're playing on, at playing at noon and college game days there. You know, Ryan Day has said multiple times and, you know, new taking the job that, you know, you're expected to win every game. And there aren't a lot of quarterbacks in the country that live under that pressure, which is, if you fail, that means losing once. Or some, some teams you can lose five times and have a good year. And what's it like living in the constant pressure of the expectation of excellence at every turn? And, you know, even the smallest failures are just a huge deal here.

Yeah, I think that's, you know, that's the reason you come to Ohio State is you come to Ohio State to play in those big games. And, you know, you come to Ohio State to play for national championships and big rings and hardware. So I think, you know, we wouldn't want it any other way. We love the pressure of being at Ohio State. So what is it like, you know, obviously you lose Cornell Tate? That's a huge loss. But then Chris Henry Jr. walks in the door. And obviously you know he's coming, but when you first get to throw to him in spring, how does that feel?

Yeah, I mean, you know, that room is just extremely talented. You know, they're very disciplined. They work really hard. And I think it's, you know, you have kind of like the groups. You have the guys that, you know, played before them and they all want to be like. And then you have the guys that are here now. And so it helps us recruit even even more receivers to come in and just kind of cycles through. And it's really, it's a great group.

They call themselves Zone 6. It's a great group. Is it odd for you to be? now the guy that somebody wants, like there's a five-star recruit out there right now somewhere in the country who's like, I want to be Julian saying someday. It's definitely a cool feeling because I remember being a kid growing up watching those guys when I was a kid

and watching, you know, guys like CJ here and, you know, watching him throw for five touchdowns in the Rose Bowl and, you know, watching that. So I think it's really special. Julian, there's a photo of you that I'm sure you've seen. I don't know if you've seen it. It was at the Heisman Trophy ceremony. And you're sitting next to the other finalists and there's a media scrum.

And all the media was on Fernando Mendoza and you were off of the side without a ton of reporters with you. And I was wondering, as much as you accomplished last year with, you know, being a Heisman finalist and being in the playoff, are you driven at all by unfinished business from last season? Definitely. I think, you know, we didn't end the last season the way we wanted to. And, you know, didn't achieve our goals. So I think, you know, there's definitely that show. on our shoulder for our team and for myself going into this season. How do you talk about those goals amongst yourselves? I mean, are there specifics? Is it just national championship?

Or do you have smaller guideposts along the way? No, we definitely have goals. You know, we want to beat the team up north. We want to win the Big Ten championship. We want to win the Nash championship. So it's always those goals and, you know, those goals at Ohio State. When you got here, by the way, did you ever accidentally say the M word? You know, you learn.

quickly when you get here. You learn the history of that game. You learn how important it is to this state and to this fan base. And, you know, it becomes your livelihood. You haven't lost the game as a starter, but you've been in Columbus when a loss happened. What was it like in the building kind of reeling from that first one? And is it a feeling that is just so awful that you just can't imagine having to go through it again? Yeah, it's definitely not a good feeling. You know, I was fortunate enough to be on that team and watch that leadership and And those players, you know, rally back and end up winning the national championship that year. But it's definitely not a feeling that you ever want to go through. So one of my favorite parts of this era of Ohio State football is there's always somebody who wasn't really playing last year. We remember from when they were recruit.

But then they just blow up. Argole last year, Bo Jackson last year. Who's it going to be for you guys this year? I mean, we have a lot of good players. I think it's kind of, you're going to have to wait and see. We have a lot of talented players. I think our defense is loaded with guys. I think, you know, guys like Peyton Pierce, you know, offensively, we got great players.

We got new receivers in the building. Ask him about your young guy from Texas. I know you want to talk about here. Isaiah West and Boj Jackson in the backfield. We got some good players. No, that Brock Boyd's kind of been getting a lot of pub. I live in Dallas, so I'm kind of familiar with. Yeah.

I mean, under the radar, a lot of guys know about Brock Boyd-Rae, which is pretty funny. You know, you have a lot of young kids like talking about they want to be like Brock Boy, which is funny. But he's he's done a great job. Him and Chris have both done a great job this kind of offseason. And they've been learning a lot. I'm excited for them. He mentioned earlier Chris Henry Jr. We're talking about Brock now.

You know, you're the person who's throwing them the ball. How much can the quarterback sense this guy has it? And how early can you sense that? Yeah, I think you can tell pretty early kind of. There's just different nuances about a receiver's game. when you can kind of tell like okay he might he might be might be one of the one of them ones Jeremiah I got to ask the first time you throw to him what is that like yeah I mean it's obviously a very talented receiver you know somebody who is

is a great leader of that room and you know he's he's the guy you want to represent your program you know a great teammate somebody who's putting the team first and it's just we're lucky to have my offense well I was insane I mean Obviously, people like him with the physical tools he has don't come along very often. But everything I've heard about him is he puts in all the work as if he was just a walk on. It's rare to find it because, you know, you have somebody who's the best athlete on the team, somebody who is the strongest and fastest, but then also has the work ethic of, you know, he's staying late on the jugs, you know, whether he's, you know, getting extra film work.

And he's somebody who just who loves the process, loves the game. and is trying to make himself better every day. Does that force everybody? I can imagine if you're a freshman and you come in and see Jeremiah Smith on the jugs, you're like, I have to be on the jugs too. Yeah, I think, you know, you hit it right on the head. I think, you know, you see Jeremiah in there. When you're a young freshman, you see the guy who's leading the room.

You see him and Brandon, you know, guys who have played a lot of ball here. And, you know, they're still working every day. It makes you, it sets the standard for that room. Julian, when you, I remember interviewing you. I don't know if you remember this, but at the Elite 11 when you were committed to Alabama. He doesn't remember you. Yeah. I mean, I don't know why he would.

But we were talking about your future at Alabama and during the time period of which, you know, Nick Saban, people thought it was going to move on. And then, you know, you were saying, we're going to continue this going, as you should in that position. What was it like to go there, go through the retirement, and then your entire life changed? I know you're at a similar place. I'm sure things are very similar to Alabama as they are here. But was that a rough patch for you? I never really got to ask you how that was to have to transfer

and change your entire life plan so soon in your college career. Yeah, it was definitely a little bit challenging when you kind of thought, you had your whole college kind of planned, planned out. Things kind of changed when you're 18 years old. But I feel like I couldn't have picked a better spot here. Just to play for Coach Day and be able to be. a part of this culture and be a part of this group. It's a very special group and, you know, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Well, they are happy to have you. We know, but thank you so much,

Julian. Appreciate it. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. That is Julian saying entering year two as a starter at Ohio State, not any question this year. You know, this time last year, it was very much up for debate still. He's trying to beat out leaking Keenholz. We thought he was going to be the starter, but they hadn't named him yet. now he's gone through an entire offseason as the starter. And Ari, it struck me that he just, he looks very comfortable in that role. You know, during the interview, I tried to allude to this, but there is a photo, Andy, and of him at the Heisman last year.

I don't know if you've seen this photo. Yeah, I know what's talking about. Everybody was surrounded Fernando Mendoza. And that's kind of how it goes when you kind of have an idea who's going to win the trophy before. And it wasn't disrespectful to him, but people wanted to get their Fernando Mendoza clip because everybody knew going into the ceremony he was going to win. But it kind of felt like a little bit of a, you know, a commentary on where he stands right now in the pantheon of college football quarterback discussions.

I saw that Pete Nacos just did a story about quarterbacks to, you know, keep tabs on. And, you know, we've had a lot of discussions. And even I've illustrated some questions. The NACOS quarterbacks to keep tap, people thought that was a ranking. it's just quarterbacks in interesting situations. The fact that Julian's saying is not that high on that list means he's not interesting. Yeah, yeah, okay, yes.

Sorry, I misunderstood that then. It's not that he's not interesting. It's that there's no drama around him. Yes. Then it makes perfect sense. But I have also personally expressed some, I don't know, trepidation about just saying he's the best. Obviously, he's inherently accurate.

Obviously, he's, I mean, I guess it's frequently accurate, would be the word I would use. 77% completion percentage last year for 3,610 yards, average of 9.2 yards per attempt, which is one of the highest in the country, 32 TDAs, 8 picks. So, yeah, from a statistical standpoint, he's everything you want, and the accuracy is the thing that really matters.

You know, it's the one thing that the coaches say you can't teach. So there were, let's see, there were nine guys in the country last year, who averaged over nine yards per attempt. Julian Sane was one of them, Fernando Mendoza was one of them. C.J. Carr at Notre Dame was one of, Drew Mestamaker at North Texas, who's now at Ohio State, Diego Pavia. So Byron Brown now at Auburn, Brad Jackson, who stayed at Texas State. Colton Joseph from O'D, who's now the starting quarterback at Wisconsin.

So this is exciting stuff, but Julian Sane very well could lead the nation in that stat, which is a pretty try and true efficiency stat. He could be the best in the country of that this year. So Julian Sayan, though, is also not usually included in the same conversations when we're talking about Trinidad Chambliss and Dante Moore and even Arch Manning despite the fact that he had a better year than Arch Manning last year. And I think part of the reason for that, if not all of the reason for it, Andy, is that he did not elevate the team in their final two games of the season last year,

which was Indiana, the Big Ten championship game. And then, of course, the loss to Miami and the CFP quarterfinals. Now, I don't know how much of that you want to pin on him personally. The offensive line certainly did not hold up their end of the bargain in those games, and they were playing against very good defensive fronts. But how fair do you think it is to have Julian Sayan in a tier below some of the players that we already have considered to be some of the best country? Let's look at the game log.

Did Indiana and Miami hold Julian Sane to considerably under his average? Was he much less efficient, much less accurate against them? he was definitely less accurate against Miami. Against Indiana, he completed 72.4% of his past. So 21 or 29, he averaged 8.9 yards per attempt. So that is kind of on the screws what he was in every other game. Miami, he averaged 8.2 yards per attempt. So Miami did limited somewhat.

Now, remember, Miami's past rush got after him probably worse than Indiana's did. So if there's a knock against Julian saying it is that if you can get to him, you can rattle him. And 24 total points in those games, I think is an important stat to acknowledge to. But he was like the Indiana game, which they only scored 13. I was sure they only scored 10, Indiana scored 13.

They, he didn't do anything really different than he did all season. Yeah. But is the expectation for a player who wins the Heisman to be great in those moments and to make a play or to do things that he did all offseason or all during the season and beyond to help elevate his team. And I think that a lot of people view Julian Sagan. And I'm just, I'm, um, uh, doing the, the,

hater voice right now. This isn't what I think, but I think the hater voice would say that he has not, uh, or that he's a Jeremiah Smith merchant, which is a fair criticism. It's definitely a fair criticism because nobody else has that weapon. but the thing is you got there a complete 77% of your passes. You take care of the ball. You find the end zone.

You don't take stupid sacks. He does everything you want. So the question is, can he elevate? Can he do that? Like, Fernando Mendoza is a good comp here. Because Fernando Mendoza did elevate in those situations. Like, Indiana loses to Penn State last year. if Fernando Mendoza does not have an incredible final drive.

He elevated in that moment. And Julian Sane, when he gets in that moment in a game against Indiana or a game against Miami or that type of game, and he's going to have plenty of those this year with Ohio State schedule, does he elevate? And if he does, we're talking about him having the crowded table at the Heisman thing. Also, is there, this is just, this isn't even a Julian saying discussion, but it's kind of Julian saying adjacent.

Do you think that there is prejudice in college football quarterback discourse if you're not a runner? Well, it's interesting because, you know, Yahoo's got that new fantasy football, college football, fantasy football that I think a lot of people are going to play in this year. And the way that thing scored, the dual threat guys are so much more valuable than the guys who just sit back there and throw darts. Now, Fernando Mendoza made two beautiful backdoor shoulders to Charlie, shoulder passes to Charlie Becker in the national championship game. And what's the play you see on ESPN over and over again when they're remembering the game?

So, like, I do think that there is a certain element of this guy could be a bona fide NFL player one day, a starter. But I do think that when we're talking about him in the college sphere, that he has forgotten a little bit because he is not a running threat. And maybe that'll change a little bit. Maybe he'll get out there a little bit more now that he's bulked up his body. But I think that as I'm trying to diagnose why it's not what I want. want to do if I'm Ryan Day, though. Like, I don't want him running that much. I want him sitting back

there and throw in passes to those great receivers. But I also think that if you put yourself on tape as a threat to hurt somebody with your feet, even if you don't use him all that much, I think you have to account for it. It kind of reminds me of how Ohio State deployed Justin Fields when he was in his final year at Ohio State a few years ago. It's like he in the NFL has turned into this player that everybody views as like a run first, can't throw type guy. But if you go back and watch his final season at Ohio State, they rarely ran him. And he was a very efficient pass. So I think that that's the way it would go. But when people were preparing for Justin Fields in Ohio State, they had to account for the ability to rush for 100 yards at any point. Now, Julian

Sane is not going to be able to do that. It's certainly not to Justin Fields standpoint, but if he does keep the ball on a on a read option every now and then or scrambles for first downs, I think that adds a little bit of an element to their game and the defensive preparation that didn't exist last year. So let us move from the Buckeyes to the team Ohio State will face in week two. Let's talk Texas because over the weekend we got the first one of those Cam Coleman clips. You knew what happened. If you watch Cam Coleman in high school, if you watched Cam Coleman at Auburn, you knew there was going to be something spectacular.

It would come out of Texas camp. And this catch, if you're not, if you're listening in podcasts more, you're not watching on YouTube, you probably just need to get to the YouTube or at least get to social media to see this catch. this is a one-handed stab. He's floating in midair. He's reaching back with his left hand. He grabs it. My favorite moment of all this is, you know,

this hit the internet almost immediately after it happened. And our guy, Blaine Crane from Crane and Cone goes, who threw that pass? So I want to say this because it is very, well, no, before I say this, okay, it's tips, yes. If you watch the video, the ball was tipped. This is an incredible adjustment to a tip ball. But this is why you paid Cam Coleman all this money.

There was a lot of haterate out there of people saying Arch Manning stinks and who cares? He's got sticky gloves on. It's fall camp. Someone's going to hit him over the middle in the game. It's like, guys, I understand that. But the athletic ability put on display on film for all of us to see with our eyes, it's the beauty of technology, is the tools that this guy brings to the table. Now, I don't know if you'd be able to make a play like that in live action.

Somebody will come over to the middle and disrupt. you. Obviously, we don't know what the play looked like or how it unfolded that way to give him that much space. But if you are surprised or, you know, haven't seen this of him, like I encourage you to go watch his highlights from last year. When you said earlier on that, you know, when referring to Cam Coleman as maybe having the closest physical tools to Jeremiah Smith in college football, I think we have to remember that these guys were ranked very similarly in the same recruiting class a few years ago. and he is one of the most athletic players in college football. He is a bona fide first round.

If he has the same exact season this year that he had at Auburn last year, he will be a first round pick, guaranteed. Like I think this guy is locked into the first round every bit as much as Jeremiah Smith. And I actually saw some people even asking, is it possible with a huge season that he would be even selected above him, which I don't think is an insane question. You know how I feel about Jeremiah Smith. I felt that way about him since the beginning of his career.

But I am very close to as in love with Cam Coleman as I am, Jeremiah. This guy's insanely good. And I think this year is the reason why Texas has a real shot and an expectation to win the national championship. Yeah. And so Cam Coleman last year, 56 catches for 708 yards, five TDs. That is squarely on the shoulders of Auburn's quarterbacks. I think they only threw it to him 70-something times last year, Andy. Yeah, it's a misuse of a very talented guy.

He may only get 70 targets at Texas this year, Ari, because they have other very good receivers. Like, that may be the case, but I think they're going to be better at getting in the ball. Yeah. You mentioned Yahoo's fantasy league. And I wonder, too, how interesting of a player, like a guy like Ryan Wingo will be this year,

as a result of this man's presence on team. Like, we talk all about the, you know, acrobatic catches and all the things that he's able to do physically, but I wonder how much attention will this person bring that opens up things that weren't working for Texas last year. Last year, our number one criticism of Texas was that they didn't have anybody on the field that could take a swing pass, 80 yards for a touchdown. There wasn't a lot of special yak plays. And I think that Ryan Wingo as the number one option might not have just been where he was suited best. I think where he's suited best is being the number two and a guy who has some space to operate.

And I think that he's going to have a tremendously big year as a result of Cam, Coleman's presence on the team. Yeah, and I think that's, we think that offense is going to be better for a lot of reasons. And the running backs being better also will help Cam Coleman. Like, they'll have a better, more consistent running game than they had last year, which will force defenses to put more people in the box. I probably need to get vaccinated for the, for the Texas flu, but I have no idea how you can be listen to this conversation and not think they're the number one team in the country

going into the end of the season. It blows my mind that, I mean, it just, it seems. obvious to me in this regard. I don't know. You think I'm nuts? You might be. You very well might be. The running back tandem, the receivers, the quarterback. I mean, they've got everything, man. They sure do, but they also have a very tough schedule. They play those Buckeyes that we were talking about earlier in week two. And then they're going to Knoxville, week four. They've got Oklahoma, which, has not played them very well the past couple years, but we'll see Florida beat them last year, but they get them at home this year,

Ole Miss, which we haven't seen them against Ole Miss. Since Texas has joined the SEC, I don't believe, that's going to be an interesting one. See, this is a very hard draw of a schedule. If we can compare it to Tennessee's now. Okay, Tennessee's got a difficult schedule,

but Texas is much worse. So, you know, I don't know what's going to happen here, but Ohio State, Tennessee, oh, you, Florida's going to be better. Ole Miss, Miss, LSU, and A&M on the road in a rivalry game. That's a pretty rough go of it. Also, Texas, I know that you've spent the entire offseason being resentful of your tough non-conference games and being left out of the playoff at 9 and 3.

I do believe that your resume last year would be good enough in other seasons to get in. And I think that 9 and 3 would be disappointment with what they've spent and what they have on their roster this year. But if they go 9 and 3 against that schedule, I still think that they're not eliminated on August 11th as we're recording this from playoff contention. So I think that your strength of schedule is going to help you. And I hope that for your sake, after what you guys had to live through last year, that actually playing a difficult schedule will do what it's supposed to do,

which is reward you for your service to the sport. Yeah, I am very excited to see what this team looks like because they've done everything you want roster-wise. And Cam Coleman is sort of the crown jewel of that. And they made it pretty clear, I think, from the get-go. They wanted to upgrade that receiver room, and this is the guy to do it. Now, they've got young players, I think, that are going to wind up being pretty good, too. But I think Cam Coleman, they didn't pay all that money for him to not be the number one receiver,

for him to not get targets. And by the way, Steve Sarkesian, very much enjoyed watching that catch. That was crazy catch, man. I don't know. I tried to check his gloves. I thought it was old school stick him on there. That was a heck of a play. How does this catch radius compare to other receivers that you've coached?

That's to give you more confidence of play caller and more confidence for arms too. I think that's one of his strengths, right? I mean, everybody's got strengths and weaknesses in their game. And one of his strengths is his catch radius. But beyond that, it's the balance and body control. There's a lot of tall receivers with long arms. but it's his ability to have the right balance and body control and timing on balls, you know? Because you can have a high pass, but to time your jump, to contort your body,

and then to have the ability to make a catch like that, I just think speaks to the catch radius, but also the body control to make those types of plays. Money well spent. No old school stick. That's right. No old school stick them. that's just that's just pure talent right there so the question is will that talent and will that investment result in what texas wants which is a national title you and i had texas number one

in our top 25s preseason but interestingly enough only one of us had texas winning in our projected playoff because weird stuff happens but yeah weird stuff happens but i think this is the Texas flu. We haven't done bold predictions, Andy, and I think we should maybe this week or next week before the season starts at least do like a 10 bold predictions. My bold prediction for the season is that one of the coaches who is knocking on the door finally breaks through.

And I don't know if that's Sark. I don't know if that's Lannning. I don't know who Marcus Freeman maybe, but I think, does Mario Cristobald's knocking now? I think one of the teams that has been knocking or has been flirting with the national championship is going to break through and win it this year. I think it'll be Texas, Notre Dame, Miami, or maybe even Lane Kiffin, who knows, or Oregon. Like, we'll see, but it'll be a new, I think it'll be a new coach this year.

Interesting. That's a great one. A new coach to the national title club. Good bowl prediction from you, Ari. It's a little tease because that's absolutely what we need to do at some point next week with accompanying written pieces. Ari, it's that time of year. We're there.

We're there. You feel your heart beating? Yeah, I do. Yeah, no, it does. And there's a little chill in the air, too. So I'm feeling good about it. Well, just because I'm in Colorado. Maybe where you are, it's still ungodly hot where I am, but that's okay.

That's okay. We will power through the dog days of summer, and we will get you to football season. We'll talk to you tomorrow.