Andy & Ari On3 - The case for Notre Dame to get IN & WIN the College Football Playoff | BYU vs Texas Tech Preview

Episode Date: December 4, 2025

As Championship Week is about to get underway, it's a Dear Andy & Ari show to get you ready for a huge weekend in College Football. While the fellas have been in support of the Canes in the Miami-Notre Dame debate, it's time to present the case for the Fighting Irish in the College Football Playoff. With solid quarterback play and perhaps the best running back in the nation, it's not crazy to think that Marcus Freeman's squad  could make a deep run in the CFP this season. Who do you think should get the nod? Notre Dame or Miami? (0:00) Today's Episode(1:29) Presenting Sponsor(3:38) Intro: Body Wash(5:57) Full Time Fans: Notre Dame, presented by Modelo(8:47) Dear Andy & Ari: Notre Dame's Case(27:04) Gametime(28:16) Lori's CFP Blind Resume Idea(38:02) Omaha Steaks(39:32) PaniniAmerica.net(43:03) BYU's case for the CFP(57:03) Miss Teen South Carolina 2007 Flashback(1:05:58) Closing Out: Maps and Driving(1:08:15) Conclusion: Ari's Text Messages This show is sponsored by Modelo! Some things in life are just made for each other. Peanut Butter and jelly. Macaroni and cheese. Modelo and college football. If you’re watching this, it means you live and breathe football. All season long. You know what that makes you? A Full-Time Fan. Which means you deserve a Modelo. Because football wouldn’t be the same without you. Modelo is the official beer sponsor of The College Football Playoff. Drink responsibly. Beer imported by Crown Imports, Chicago, IL Our show is presented by BetMGM! If you haven’t signed up for BetMGM yet, use bonus code CFB and you will get up to a $1500 First Bet Offer on your first wager with BetMGM! Here’s how it works: 1. Download the BetMGM app and sign-up using bonus code CFB.2. Deposit at least $10 and place your first wager on any game.3. You will receive up to $1500 in bonus bets if your bet loses! Just make sureyou use bonus code CFB when you sign up! Make this college football season one for the history books. Make it legendary. See BetMGM.com for Terms. 21+ only. US promotional offers not available in New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (Available in the US). Call 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY). Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP (AZ), 1-800-327-5050 (MA), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-981-0023 (PR). First Bet Offer for new customers only. Subject to eligibility requirements. Rewards are non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire in 7 days. In partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. This show is also brought to you by Gametime! Take the guesswork out of buying college football tickets with Gametime.Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code STAPLES for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Swipe. Tap. Ticket. Go. Download the Gametime app today! Visit Gametime.co.  We’re also brought to you by Panini! Panini delivers the most collectible sports cards and memorabilia on the planet. Check out the new exclusive Arch Manning collection or the Panini Prizm Draft Picks College Football series. Visit PaniniAmerica.net to start your collection today. Go to https://OmahaSteaks.com to get 50% off sitewide during their Sizzle All the Way Sale Event. And use Promo Code ANDYANDARI at checkout for an extra $35 off. Minimum purchase may apply. See site for details. A big thanks to our advertiser, Omaha Steaks! Join On3 today and get one full year of access to The Athletic included! https://www.on3.com/subscribe/C Watch our show on YouTube! https://youtu.be/Qo3DQscsYvk Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari WassermanProducer: 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 Andy and Ari on three presented by BetMGM. It's the case for Notre Dame. I know you've been listening to the show, and you've heard me and Ari say that if Notre Dame in Miami are compared head-to-head, the winner of the head-to-head matchup should be the one that makes the playoff if it comes down to those two.

But I feel like the Irish have not been equally represented on this show this week. We had Mario Cristobal, the Miami coach earlier in the week. Mani Diaz, the Duke coach. stumping for Miami yesterday, which is crazy because he once got fired as Miami's head coach. But the Irish have not really gotten a chance to state their case. I think we should state the case for them.

And I'm not talking about in a sarcastic way. I think we should have a legitimate argument why Notre Dame, which in most metrics would be favored if they played Miami again and would be favored against probably most of the teams that would make the field. Why Notre Dame should be included in the field. We'll talk about that today. We also will talk about BYU situation because we know that BYU is win and in. If they beat Texas Tech in the Big 12 championship game, they're in the playoff.

But they're also 11 and 1. One of the better records in the country. Do they have to win? Is there a path that if they play a competitive game that they actually deserve that last, that large spot? We'll talk about that and more on today's Andy and Arion 3 presented by BEDMGM. We are presented by BetMGM, and if you're not signed up for BetMGM yet, what are you waiting for? Download that app, sign up using the code CFB, that CFB as in college football, and you can get up to a $1,500 first bet offer. Here's how that works.

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use the bonus code CFB and get your $1,500 first bet offer today. Welcome to Andy and Ari on 3 presented by BetMGM. It is a dear Andy, dear Ari show. Your questions answered, and man, we've got some really good questions today, Ari. Yeah, we do. I'm super excited. You know what I found out this morning, Andy? because I took a shower before the show.

You know that there was a major difference in body wash? Did you know that? Like, my wife has, like, expensive, nice body wash that I've been instructed not to use. And I just use Old Spice from Walmart. And I used hers today just because I got curious, you know? Yeah. Huge difference.

Interesting. That's very interesting. See, and this company doesn't advertise, but I know they do advertise on podcasts. So, hey, come our way. Duke Cannon. They have the Buffalo Trace-scented body wash and the Buffalo Trace-scented giant bars of soap.

Unbelievable. So Duke Cannon, Free ad, the first taste is free. Come our way. That's all I got to ask. Yeah, I smell like a library filled with leather-bound books right now. Like I haven't put on deodorant yet because I'm not ready for the day. And I just got out of the shower. And I, uh, I smell great.

Sorry, it's 10 a.m. where you are, Pete behind the curtain. That's when we're recording this. There's people with real jobs that are listening to this right now or watching this right now going, what is wrong with you? You're not ready for the day at 10? What do you do all day? I woke up at 6.30 in the morning and try to get a toddler ready for school and then took her to school. And it's really cold here. So putting the jacket and the shoes and the boots and all that stuff on. Like, you know, it's been by the time 930 comes, like I'm just now getting back into, you know, being a human being. it's so funny people with real jobs are like you have no idea what sort of fantasy land you live in people with real jobs also aren't typing columns at 3 30 of the morning on Sunday so like it's

kind of like it balances out a little bit eh you don't get to complain I'm not complaining but I'm just saying like my hours are different that's true it is it is true we do work Saturdays we do work holidays but hey it's the best job in the world we are blessed to have it yes we are blessed to answer your question I want to, we do these segments with the Modelo full-time fans where we declare one fan base, the Modello full-time fans of the week. I want to do that right now. So, Notre Dame fans, I want you to grab a Modelo, hoist it, and crack it.

And I know what you're thinking, wait, you guys have been bagging on our team for the last month. Why are you offering us a beer right now? Why do you want to have a beer with us right now? Because we've been bagging on your team for the last month. It's not, and we haven't been bagging on your team because we think your team is bad. We actually think your team is one of the best in the country. We think if your team makes college football playoff, I don't want to speak for you. Are you telling me, if Notre Dame makes the college football playoff,

Notre Dame has a chance of advancing deep again in the college football playoff. Yeah, I've actually had this internal crisis, Andy, where, like, I know that they're going to get in. And then once they get in, I'm going to, you know, we're going to have to fill out bracket. we're going to pick them to win and people are just going to freak out. Like it's like some, and then we're going to be accused of, you know, you're just using us for clicks and all this nonsense. But, you know, we do both think that you have a very good team. Well, and that's what we're going to talk about here.

So I want all the, the Notre Dame fans, you are the Medello full-time fans for this week because you have put up with it. It's not just us. And this is the problem. It's they're getting piled on right now because everybody with common sense says you put the winner of the head-to-head in when you have two teams that have the same record and the resumes are pretty similar. And the thing is, that's going to happen. And this is what we keep telling you. It's not about Notre Dame specifically. Any team in this situation that was the

loser the head-to-head would be getting the business end of this particular discussion. And so you're getting like i was on with with mike gollick junior and mike gollick senior yesterday yeah former notre dame players and they agree that the winner of the head-to-head should go so you're dealing with all that and i'm sorry you're dealing with all that it's not that everybody hates your team it is that you happen to be in the wrong part of this unique situation and when we get anybody else or any other team we'd be saying the same thing when we get into the question tell them where it came from too and who was who was right you know trying to stump to make sure that we included this because like I want to make sure the Notre Dame fans know that we're thinking

about them we care about them we love them we enjoy Notre Dame football and I want them to crack a medello I will crack a medello for you tonight and think about what your team can do in the college football playoff and we're going to talk about why your team has a great case for the college football playoff because I do feel like there should be some equal time here. And Jaden, one of our viewers slash listeners, asked us this question. Huge Notre Dame fan here and fan of the show as well. First, thanks for all the great shows. I look forward to listening to you and Andy's podcast on the drive to school every day.

This was sent to Ari. I agree that Miami should be in over Notre Dame because of head to head. But I think both should be in. I believe it should be Miami 8, Notre Dame 9, Oklahoma 10. Alabama 11 and BYU 12. Personally, I feel like Oklahoma doesn't look good. They have negative offense. Their QB is a pick machine, and I was

someone praising material heading into this season. They needed a busted coverage to beat an LSU team with a horrendous backup QB and no head coach. Yes, they beat Alabama, but Alabama also lost to Florida State and needed Auburn to leather their hands in butter before they played in order to beat them. The whole thing about Miami being favored versus Georgia was

interesting, obviously, but I think this shows more than just Miami is legit. The SEC really isn't that good this year. in comparison to past years. I'm usually a guy who believes the SEC is far superior to any conference, but when you look at it this year, I just don't see it at all. Also, I think calling Notre Dame a team with no quality wins and no vibes is unfair. They won 10 straight games by double digits.

They have vibes, and they have the same quality win as number five Oregon. My bad for the essay, I promise I'm not a weirdo. I'm just a passionate college football fan who loves to rant. Have a good one. Jayden, thank you so much for that. And this is an interesting point because we keep comparing Notre Dame to Miami and BYU because Miami and BYU are the

teams below Notre Dame. What about Oklahoma and Alabama, the two teams directly above Notre Dame? And I think that's a great question. Now, another reason I wanted to do this, because I've had some people reach out. They said, you know, you had

Mario Cristobal on the show, and then you had Mani Diaz on the show stumping for the ACC. How come you didn't have Marcus Freeman on the show? Well, Mario Cristobal and Mani Diaz called us first. They it can we come on the show? Marcus Freeman didn't. And Marcus Freeman's teams in the field. Yeah.

Yeah. Probably the better, the less he says right now, the better. Yeah. I mean, he doesn't really need. America. So like one day, hopefully our podcast will be as big as Good Morning America. And then we'll, like, let me just tell you guys one thing. Marcus Freeman's always welcome on this show.

Anytime. Right. Like, if you're a coach of a college football team with a fan base that big, you can come on and spew any type of propaganda you want. or we can just hang like you think that we would not want Notre Dame's coach on our show of course we would um but i wanted to include this because i wanted the like my incessant yelling about this i think has made an uneven representation on our show for the arguments right now what jaden sent me and he sent it to me on instagram and i saw it on instagram there some not so nice ones, but he was really nice. So I wanted to make sure that he was heard. I wanted Notre Dame's fans to feel like they were represented. Now, we can go break down his scenarios if you want,

but I think that what you're going to find, Jaden, is that when you start scrutinizing Notre Dame against Alabama and you start scrutinizing him against Oklahoma, that you're going to get back to the same main point of my contention, which is if Notre Dame had a top 10 win or a top five win, then I would be fine with them going over Miami. It's not that it's only head-to-head. It's that they don't possess any other resume benchmarks outside of data and metrics

to counterbalance that. But if you start comparing them to Oklahoma and Alabama, certainly you're going to run into the same dead end that you do with Miami because those teams with the same or fewer losses also have very high peaks on their resume of beating teams in the playoff field. Now here's the thing that has been floating around, that's important. Of all the teams that are currently in the field or in the top 12, Miami is the only team outside of Alabama, I think, that has lost to a team that's not either in the hunt

or currently in the field. And they've lost twice. Alabama has lost to Florida State. Nobody else in the field has lost to a non-playoff team. So like I would, if we're going to emphasize losses as more important than wins this year than certainly Miami's losses are worse. Though I don't appreciate the way that Miami's losses have been painted as if they're terrible. Like Miami's losses are not Florida State. So, right. The two teams of Miami lost who finished much higher in the ACC standings than Florida

State because they were eight and four teams. But I want to get to this point about Oklahoma and Alabama. Okay. So we'll go back to our friend Parker Fleming site, CFBGraphs.com. It's so much fun to play with, by the way. their met his matchup generator which uses advanced stats this is sort of similar to what the what the sports books use to to create the line on games arey can you guess what the projected line of a notre dame oklahoma neutral site matchup would be i would guess notre dame minus five

and a half notre dame minus eight You know, I'm an idiot because I think you told me this on the show yesterday. I did not. We didn't do Notre Dame. We did Miami. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, Oklahoma's offensive worries. But this is like what you're, keep going, and then I'm going to, I'll tell you what I think about it.

Okay. Notre Dame Alabama, neutral site game. Notre Dame minus six and a half. Notre Dame minus six. You got it. A rematch between Notre Dame and Texas A&M on a neutral site. Notre Dame minus two and a half. half. Notre Dame minus six and a half.

Wow, that's good. Shoot, let's do Notre Dame Oregon while we're at it. This will be fun. Who are you using the same Parker Fleming formula? Okay. Yep, yeah, Notre Dame against Oregon, who's favored? Notre Dame by three. Very close, Notre Dame by four.

Let's do Ole Miss. Notre Dame versus Ole Miss. Whose favorite? Notre Dame by three. Notre Dame by eight and a half. It's a lot of points. Yeah. Now I will follow up with what I followed up with.

Oh, let's do, oh, we didn't do the Miami rematch. Let's do the Miami rematch because now, and I know what you're going to say, and you're welcome to say it again. Miami rematch with. Notre Dame would be Notre Dame by one and a half, which is smaller than the original line, yes. The original line that they didn't cover and didn't win. Yeah.

So here's the thing. I think I said this on the show before, but I was in the college football playoff committee mock, right? And as we were arguing about these things, I asked Bill Hancock, what was his official title? I can't remember. He was the executive director of the college football play. I always forget his official title, but very important fixture. He's no longer with them, but at the time he was. And I asked him in the trial as we were doing it.

And if for those who don't know, I think they still do it, but every year they invite a group of reporters, TV and print, to come to Grapevine and participate in a mock committee so that we can get an idea of what it's like in the room, how they deliberate, all the things that go on there, which then would inform us when we're reporting on it later on in the season. And I did it. I'm sure you did it, right?

Maybe twice. I did the first one in 2014. I did one in 2019 or 2022 or something. I don't know. But I asked how much should we take into account Vegas lines or what we think would happen based on if these teams played in the future? And Bill Hancock famously, for those who were in the room, called me the degenerate in front of everybody. And I'll never forget that.

And he was wrong. It was funny, and everybody laughed because people know who I am and what I like, and it's true. Ari, I've seen you gamble on SpongeBob SquarePants card breaks. Yes. I got one on the desk here somewhere. I hit up. I hit a squid word. I got a Squidward.

Squidward. Squidward tentacles, very important character. $150 card. But anyway, he said it in a way that was funny. and everybody laughed. He wasn't trying to be mean. And to this day, he still calls me that

when I see him around. But I think he was basically trying to make the point of like, hey, there's a place for that, but not in here. You know, and I think they're definitely doing that in there this year based on what we're seeing.

So they're definitely doing it in there this year. Yeah. So a lot has changed. But like, again, in my opinion, what should, and I got into a kind of a Twitter back and forth with Tom Fernelli yesterday.

And it's like, who do I think is better? I don't know if I've said this on the show. but I'll say it loud and clear. I think Notre Dame is better than Miami. I think. But where is the intersection of importance between what we think and what happened? And what should we be emphasizing?

I think if you want to use the metrics of what the line would be in the event of a tiebreaker, then certainly let's do it. But it certainly cannot be the tiebreaker that is used before the game they played. And that's what drives me insane. So I'm having so much fun with Parker's site. If there was an Indiana, Notre Dame rematch, but it was on a neutral field, remember those two teams played in the first round of the playoff last year. What do you think the line would be?

Wow, that's a tough one. I would say that I would say in Notre Dame minus three. Indiana minus 0.5. So it's probably you pick them. Right. Let's do Texas Tech. I didn't know. I know these metrics seem to really enjoy Texas Tech this year.

So let's see what Notre Dame, Texas Tech. Oh, my God. Notre Dame, Texas, Texas, pick them. It's kind of a game I want to see. Just do Ohio State. Okay. I'm curious how close they think they would be to Ohio State. Ohio State by six and a half.

There's a pretty strong line in the sand of who the best team is in the data. And I also don't know this, and I'll have to ask Parker this next time I speak to him or I meet him, is if like there's also an emotional aspect, I think, to the lines. that they put out. And it's like, we saw Notre Dame beat the crap out of Indiana last year. Would that be taken to account into the line or would it just be pure data? Because I think if Indiana were favorite line for that was five and a half when it opened this week. Yeah. So our MGM line that we that we picked on Monday was Ohio State by five and a half over Indiana.

And like, listen, we've been picking games all year. I'm also not moved by spreads that are less than a touchdown either. That means that it's so like, it's like, okay, so they're favored by four point. That means nothing to me. Yeah, but I find it instructive. It's instructive, but it shouldn't be guiding the thought process. That's all I'm saying. No, but it helps to contextualize this conversation we're having,

which is we keep comparing Notre Dame to BYU and Miami, but the fact of the matter is we probably should also be comparing Notre Dame to Oklahoma to Alabama. I'd say Texas A&M, but they, played. Here's the thing that I wanted to make sure I made clear to Jaden. And I appreciate you sliding into the DMs and being respectful because that's a lost art on a lot of your fellow fans right now. And I get it.

You're upset at me. But if we were to scrutinize Oklahoma and Alabama based on the criteria that you laid out, and I think it's rational. Like, Oklahoma's offense is kind of bad right now. Like, there's no question. But Alabama beating Georgia on the road. is way better than almost anybody else's best win. But if we were to move Alabama or Oklahoma out of the field

and disregard who they beat in using our notions that their offense is bad or whatever your case may be, you're doing the same exact thing to those teams that I'm upset we're doing to Miami. The thing that's upsetting me isn't that I don't think that Miami is, or that Notre Dame is better than Miami. The thing that's upsetting me is that I feel like for the first time ever, our emotions of what we think would happen are guiding the ship when they shouldn't be.

So I think we think Oklahoma would lose to Notre Dame later on in the playoff. If Notre Dame played Oklahoma in the first round of the playoff, I would pick Notre Dame to win the game, period. But what I think doesn't matter any more or less than it matters what I think about the Miami Notre Dame matchup. But here's what I do know. When Miami and Notre Dame played, Mario Cristobal and Miami moved it to Sunday for the entire country to watch.

we watched it me and you together over dominoes it was a credible night the entire country watched the game so what we think would happen if they played again should not be more important than what happened what we think would happen if they played oklahoma's bad offense right now is not more important than oklahoma's wins that's what drives me insane we all suck at picking games. We all suck out. Yeah, it's trying to do this as an olive branch to the Notre Dame fans. You're just in there poking them with stick now. It's not an olive branch. It's an olive branch because we're presenting them with the olive branch. How dare you? Yeah. What do you want me to do? Be hypocritical and say you're right? No, no, no. I, I just want everybody to understand that there's

more nuance to this than I think we've probably given it. I think that we should have aired Notre Dame's better. Yes, I think you're right. And I don't have to agree with your case, but it should have been at least, because with the point of the show here, too, and I want this to be abundantly clear. We have strong opinions about things. But Andy and I know that this is sports. This isn't politics. This isn't, you know, real life topic. We're existing in a way to illustrate arguments. And it's your prerogative, whether you agree with them or not. I don't care or get off on the notion that I'm changing your mind. Right. trying to change your mind i realize the shows are more fun when the two hosts disagree but we're not going to fake an argument when we actually agree and here's this is a case where are you and i actually agree you and i have to make a pact about something though that in cases where we do agree it's easier for the converse side to not be illustrated because you and i are in agreement right yeah we this should be an instructive moment for us yeah in terms of hosting the show like when we have this situation again where we agree and and there is another

group on the other side that is it feels very strongly about their their side we need to more fairly represent that their side and you've done a good job playing devil's advocate and i just go down and just like jive down your neck and maybe i that's my mistake to like let you be more more thorough in your devil's advocate attempt um and i just want people to know that like we're keenly aware of notre dame's case we know you've won 10 in a row we know the metrics favorite you. We know the FPI loves you. We know that we think that you're good. Like, we know all that. We know that Miami's lost to teams that aren't in the top 25 right now. We know that if Miami didn't lose to Louisville, that it wouldn't be a debate. We know all the things that you're saying. I know the AP poll exists. And I made a mistake because I did tweet, like, I think that if you put 15 national writers in a room, we would come up with Notre Dame out in Miami Inn. And then everyone was like, we ever heard the AP poll. And I was like, yeah. And then I was like, well, how many national. writers are in the AP poll. And then Tom Furnelli that said five of the six national writers, including our friend Nicole Lauerback, have put Notre Dame ahead of Miami.

She works for NBC, Paul. I would love to have Nicole on the show. I'm going to text her maybe. I guess it doesn't matter now because we're, it's, this is the. Yeah, I just say, we don't have any shows left between now and when they reveal it other than the post games. You know what I don't like when people do this to me. And I don't know if this ever happens to you. I think it does happen to you but like when people i know kind of like see our takes on the show and then like text me like you're stupid type things and i know they're not trying to do it but they want to talk to me about it and like i don't want to like text nicole and be like what are you thinking like it's like that's her opinion and i respect her opinion i don't want to like bicker with her over text

when all we do all day is we would just invite her on the show and and this is again our fault we should have done this this week that so i didn't find out she did that till yesterday i should have done a better job of sifting through the results of the AP poll, but I don't even consider the AP poll right now. And I truly do believe that, like, if you look around the landscape of national writers that we interact with, you know who else votes Notre Dame ahead of Miami? Brett McMurphy. And he worked with us.

Yeah. We should have had him on. Yeah. I think I know what he'd say. And this is an argument I understand that if Notre Dame played most of these teams, you have in the field, they might win. They have a better chance of winning than a lot of other teams.

Am I just misremembering how the CFP used to work, though? No, you're not. We've been operating under the way they operated for the first 11 years of it. This committee's been different. It's okay. If they're going to be different, that's fine. Just explain it accurately. Ari, we need to move on to another question.

It's from our friend Lori, who I think should be commissioner of college football. But first, I want to tell you about game time. Do you want to go to some of these amazing conference championship games? Do you want to go see Indiana play Ohio State in the game that we've all wanted to see all season? You can go to the Big Ten championship game. Game time has your tickets. Download the app. You can see exactly where you'd be sitting at Lucas Oil Stadium, exactly how much you'd pay.

because if you hit that button and you say buy, the price you see is the price you pay. No stupid fees. They're not tacking on a bunch at the end like those other guys. Use the code Staples for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply, of course. If you want to go to the SEC Championship in Atlanta, if you want to go to the Big 12th Championship at Jerry World,

you want to go to the ACC championship in Charlotte and see the Duke Blue Devils, coached by Mani Diaz, who was on the show yesterday. Go to Game Time. Download the app. Sign up. Redean the code. Staples for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Get yourself to the game. And hey, tomorrow morning, Saturday morning. If you're like, hey, I just, I decided I want to go to this game. Game time will have your tickets. Swipe, tap, ticket, go with game time. All right. Let us take this question for it. So for those who don't remember, Lori, who is again, one of, my bar none favorite members of this this family that we've got here she's the one that introduced us to the uh the coaches and teams white elephant gift exchange like who wants to get rid of their coach

which coach wants to change programs uh we we change it to the uh the coaching key party uh it was awesome and very instructive right before this wild coaching carousel began and i kind of think we should we're probably going to make a tradition that we do it every year. Our producer River just pointed out, and we're recording this at 1145 Eastern time on Thursday. So potentially something has changed by the time you saw this. But Penn State is essentially like the last person at the party right now. Like they're sitting there holding.

I don't even think they picked up a key. But they're sitting in the corner with their cell phone looking at Instagram, trying to look cool while everybody's making it out. So Lori, Lori has a college football playoff selection committee question, and I read it, and I'm just like, Lori should be the commissioner of college football. I just want her thinking of stuff, period. Could there be a world in which the committee is forced to rank teams using blind resumes? If they're going to refuse to be fully transparent about how they decide the rankings, I think it would only be fair if they also had information withheld from them as well. I think it's fun and interesting when I see an article or just a tweet with blind resumes and the question, who's in?

Forcing the committee to only work from the stats, making them act more like the computers that some of us miss so dearly. This could still benefit Notre Dame because a data point would be conference affiliation and it would be obvious which one Notre Dame is. But I think this could largely solve the problem of subjectivity versus objectivity that we're all experiencing. It seems so simple that I don't understand why this wasn't the plan all along. am I definitely missing something? The other way I think we saw this problem is keep the human committee, but have them each bring their own computer model. Let the nerds at their various institutions come up with a computer model

that they think benefits them and run all those together. There are a bunch of models out there who rank Notre Dame ahead of Miami despite the head-to-head results, and there are a bunch that weigh that head-to-head more. The whole concept of having committee relies on the phenomenon known as the wisdom of crowds, which only works that the people in the crowd are not in conversation with each other. Andy, you asked, are these intelligent people? and confirm that individually, yes, they are. We go to any Bachelor or Bachelorette party

and you'll witness a group of very intelligent people make very stupid decisions because one dummy can be very persuasive. Oh my God, I love Lori so much. By the way, we're going to be in Nashville this weekend. We're going to see so many Bachelorette parties. I don't know if I'm the dummy in the Bachelor party. Of course you are.

I've done some stupid shit in my life. we all so here's all been the dummy at the bachelor party at least once i think uh one time we went to a bachelor party for my buddy tim in lake placid and we ran out of firewood and then i decided to use their furniture to keep the fire going um that for one are you a member of ac dc like what's wrong with you I was 23 or 25, I don't know, I was really stupid. You are an asshole in your early years.

It wasn't nice furniture. It was like, does it matter? It wasn't your furniture. Well, we paid for it. Let me be clear. Oh, good. I'm glad. Yeah, I'm just trying to think of like some of the stupid things that I've done.

We still had to go buy new furniture. God, you're a jerk. Yeah. Yeah, I'm just imagining 23-year-old Ari ripping legs off a chair and throwing them in the fireplace. Literally what we were doing. Yeah. It was very cold. Okay. And to our defense, the heat wasn't working great. Well, I don't think the committee's ever going to have to do that with the furniture in grapevine, Texas.

But let's examine Lori's well thought out question. And I have, and I actually think she's right. Let me ask you this, though, Andy. Mm-hmm. does the play of individuals or possessing a dynamic player or somebody who could take over a game or a quarterback, does the committee need to be aware of the personnel? Well, here's what I'm going to say.

Let me explain how I think you could work Lori's idea in and have it be an effective tool. So we know they do it in pods, basically, you have three or four. I would have the staff, the college football playoff staff, figure out what the pods were going to be anyway break them up

and then present each pod absent the names of the teams and see where it comes down see where everybody comes down then put the names of the teams on there and see if they adjust a little more because once you've already used the blind one you're going to be a little bit different

in your thinking especially if you pick somebody you didn't think we were going to pick once you see the names again you may think about it all differently. Yeah, you do both. Start with blind, then unveil it, let that educate you, and then use. Because it's like, let me just,

like if Ohio State, for instance, and like this isn't, this wouldn't matter anyway because their numbers and their record and everything would give it away. But like, let's just say Ohio State was like they were last year, like a 10 and 2 team and in that clump of 10 and 2 teams that we're arguing about. they would be so far ahead of the other ones it wouldn't have been that's why we had them number five

in our i mean this year i meant this year where they don't play anybody that great they lost a bad game whatever like does jeremiah smith's existence make you like right and you think they should why after the blind you do look at it with the name with the team names and tweak but yeah no that's a really interesting thought process and i do like the thing that like is so frustrating to me and I just say it keeps coming back to this. But is that like for by and large, like the committee has arrived at the same general place that we all arrived at.

It's one specific circumstance that doesn't make sense that's throwing a wrench in the entire thing. And I feel like Lori and other people rightfully feel like they have to be the ones who solve these issues when really solving the issue is as simple as just changing your mind about the thing you're wrong about. Like it's not like it's stop being wrong. But it's the only time I can think of outside of the Florida State debacle where they were ever really truly wrong.

It's the first time. Every other time you might be angry or disappointed, but you understand the thought process. So, you know, like they're doing an okay job. And I don't think that there needs to be some wholesale change on how they deliberate. But I think that like in the bylaws or in the criteria that they use, there needs to be a real. written sentiment that says your opinions about what a team will do moving for it's supposed to be should not be taken into account it should be based solely on merit and what has been done period but like we're close to like if you

if Notre Dame was 12 right now in Miami was 10 would you have a single problem with this nope I'm sure Notre Dame would yeah if Notre Dame were 12 and Miami, or if you swapped the resumes, though, it would just be another different fan base that's mad at us. Yes. So, like, it doesn't matter. It doesn't bother me that Notre Dame fans are mad at us because if it wasn't Notre Dame, then Miami fans would be mad at us. We'd be stumping for Notre Dame. It's the same thing.

But there's one individual decision that doesn't make sense to me. And I, like, look back through the history of the entire thing. And I can't come up with another one. And if you want to say Florida State Bama, that's fine. But it was different because it was an impossible situation. This is a very easily solvable situation. Well, again, I will point out. I think they would have still put BAM over Florida State had Jordan and Travis been healthy.

That was just the excuse they used to do the thing they were going to do anyway. If you're right about that, if Jordan Travis were healthy and that injury never happened, and they would have picked Alabama over Florida State at the end, I think I'd be selling insurance right now. Like that would have driven me to Matt. I would have gone insane if an undefeated. power champion with a healthy quarterback wouldn't have been left out because it was already hard enough to accept with them out. I think that's the excuse they they made for what they were going to do anyway. But we will never know because that's not what happened. I'm happy the way

it happened happened that way because then if that happened, that would have just thrown the entire sport off of off the deep end. But then it wouldn't have everybody else would have come on. It's a stupid, look, it's a stupid sport, but it's our stupid sport. Yeah, like when I say that, I don't mean that people would stop watching or that we wouldn't be debating it the following year. What I do mean, though, is that that would change the confines of reality that we're currently living in, which is there's a rhyme and reason why things happen. Well, we shall see what happens on Sunday.

We've got a couple questions about a team that will very much play into this that could actually win its way in on Saturday. But before that, I'm going to tell you about Omaha Steaks. From holiday hosting unforgettable gifts, Omaha Steaks delivers the world's best steak experience. It's unforgettable gifts, by the way. So if you want to gift your family and friends, USDA certified tender steaks, juicy burgers, cozy and convenient comfort meals, go to Omaha Steaks.com. You're looking at producer river making those ground tenderloin burgers with that Omaha Steak Steak seasoning. It is spectacular.

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those i ate the hot dogs last night really good hot dogs i'm a big hot dog try those so all right they still have those they've got desserts they've got hot dogs they got it's great it's great man beautiful also head to panini america.net to start collecting your favorite college and NFL stars. Ari and I have been going through the ones we had we opened an Ohio State pack yesterday got I got a I got a Jeremiah Smith campus legends I got a Julian saying college ticket so those are fun but let's let's head back to the guys that are already in the NFL. Now, some of these, we get guys in their, in their college uniforms, too. I've got a pack of Donorous Elite here, 2025 Donor's Elite. I love this product.

It's just so, like, these are just beautiful cards in general. And of course, we're looking for the numbered ones, the inserts. Oh, so the Donor's Elite base cards are silver anyway, Ari. This is a Bo Jackson in his Raiders uniform. So in the silver and black. That's just, that's a thing of beauty right there. Ozzie Newsom was a great tight end who became one of the best general managers of all time. For his team's rival, by the way, I should add. Well, no, he was in the original Cleveland Browns, and they just became the Baltimore Ravens. And then the original Brown won a Super Bowl in year or two in Baltimore and then became a rival and then ruin their lives for 20 years.

Yeah, true. Trey Hendrickson, excellent pass rusher. Mike Evans, future Hall of Famer. Texas A&M fans rejoice. And we got a, we got a numbered to $7.99, Devante Adams, the elite, right here. He's had a great career. Yeah.

And it's researching. And the Rams are good this year. So. Yeah. I think he leads the league in touchdowns this year, no? Am I wrong about that? I believe, I believe he might. But he is a, he's just been, because receivers tend to fall off.

and he's 32 years old but he's still he's still chugging really and the rams now they did they did not play well against the panthers the other day but they have played about as well as anybody all season so uh we will be watching oh what's you got what's got uh i joined a mosaic break and i hit some cards this is a mosaic choice uh quinshawn junkins brown's rookie auto variation this is number to 89 i've got somebody on our show in a super short print. This is the Peacock short print from 2025 Optic Choice of Maxwell

Hirsten. Remember when he came on the show last year? Oh, yeah, we had him at the draft. Yeah. He's playing really well for the bills. He's playing really well for the bills. And that's a very short print card. And then here's one. Here's another Hirston. This one's not numbered. And then I've got Josh Allen numbered to 89.

It's always good to have quarterback that are going to the Hall of Fame. So, yeah. And then one one that's that I got in the mail from Panini. You know, sometimes you have to do the the redemptions and you have to wait the trait yeah yeah sometimes it takes a while i got this in the mail uh after you know a year 2020 23 painting donorous optic football tank dell uh rookie card rated rookie a i'm not out on tank dell yet i'm not either pink velocity numbered to 50 so uh great hobby and there's nothing better too than like when you redeem a card and then

you forget about it for a little bit and then it just shows up one day it's like you know Christmas year round. All right. Let us, Paniniamerica.net is where you go to collect your favorite college and NFL stars. Let us move now to a couple of questions, one from Joe in London and one from Chase. They're both about the same team. We have not probably talked enough about BYU on the show this week because BYU is in an interesting situation. We think Alabama, if they win the SEC championship game, they're in.

But we also think if they lose it, they're in. BYU is in a very different situation. They are not above the cut line at the moment. If they beat Texas Tech, they are definitely in the college football playoff. They will be one of the five highest ranked conference champs. If they lose, they're probably out. But I want to read you, Joe and Chase's questions, and I want to see, and I've got some numbers for you too. And I want to see if that changes your opinion on what happens if it's a very close game in BYU loses.

So let's start with Joe in London. Love the pod, and I listen loyally from across the pot in England. It seems obvious that the thing keeping one lost BYU just outside the CFP cutline is their blowout loss to Texas Tech. In terms of strength of record, strength of schedule, offensive defensive rankings, and certainly overall record, BYU compares favorably to many other teams on or inside the cut line. A loss to a top four team on the road wouldn't be a deal breaker if it wasn't so utterly uncompetitive. So my question, how would the view of BYU change if they go to the Big 12 championship? game and play an extremely competitive game with Texas Tech losing a nail biter with the

committee view VRA's resume differently if they show that road game was just a bad day and not indicative of their overall team strength. And then I'm going to go to Chase. Chase was mad at URI, really mad, but like a lot of BYU fans, Chase is super nice. So he got mad at you in the nicest possible way. Andy, I'm writing as a BYU fan in response to a discussion you had on your episode today. In your discussion, you debated Miami versus Notre Dame versus BYU and their resumes. Partway through the conversation, Ari said something that kind of set me off.

He said, because like the thing with BYU is they haven't played a way, they have played a way easier schedule than a Big Ten or an SEC schedule. And that's a fact, and it's not a debate. What makes this statement so frustrating is that when you look up strength of schedules for all the teams in the hunt for the playoff, you find that BYU's strength of schedule is higher than five currently projected CFP teams, including the number one and number two teams. And yet, Ari has the gall to proclaim that it's a fact that BYU's strength of schedule is undeniably worse than a Big Ten or an SEC team. What makes it funnier is he contradicted by

his own employer's website. So there's a story we published with Strength of Schedule. This is the ESPN-FPI Strength of Schedule that one of our people... So at least that didn't contradict our own website. Yeah, it's one that they collected when they put out the new version. But has the number 35 strength of schedule in this one. And it actually puts BYU pretty squarely in the middle. In this particular one, and I, because remember,

you had someone who works with the CFP that slipped us some info, that ESPN FPI strength of schedule is not really something the committee uses. But I went and got Sagrin and Massey, which are, you know, they can just, you know, they're at least similar,

Andy, even if it's not the eggs. Well, no, we can look at all of them. But so, So BYU is 35 in this one. So let me read you what this one is. Texas 8, Alabama 11, Oklahoma 12, Texas A&M 15, Oregon 16, Vandy 22, Georgia 25, BYU

30, Notre Dame 42, Miami 45, Indiana 45, Ohio State 46, and Texas Tech 59. So BYU squarely in the middle of that. And so Chase continues. That's why the it's a fact and not a debate line rubbed me the wrong way. If someone wants to leave BYU out of the discussion, fine, but it's frustrating to hear definitive statements that aren't supported by any available data, especially when your platform has a large,

such a large influence in the CFB sphere. I appreciate that, Chase. I don't know if that's true, but I'll take it. Thanks for reading if you've gotten this far. I guess I'll go drown my sorrows in a crumble cookie or something. You got to be careful. Like, I don't know, like crumble. Have you ever looked for the nutrition facts of a single crumble cookie?

Yes, I have. I'll take like 1,300 calories for one cookie with like 150 grams of sugar. Not like that many, but they are large cookies, and some of them are actually pies. Yeah, delicious, but of course. They have brownie battered this week. I think I mentioned that when I talked about the person

door dashing crumbull cookies to Pat Kraft. Oh, did you see that James Franklin also had crumble cookies? Yeah, I did see that. He made it seem like it wasn't on purpose and that he wasn't like thanking BYU for honing up the money to keep Penn State from finding his replacement. but I hope in my mind and in my heart that he was just denying what he was rightfully doing. Who doesn't love them, though?

They're very good cookies. I did go look up the Sagrin Strength of Schedule and the Massey Strength of Schedule to see, you know, was this FBI just an outlier? And it's interesting. So BYU and the Sagrin is actually one of the lower. I just picked the 12 that we're considering as still having a chance to be at large teams. So it's the top 10 plus BYU and Miami. And so here's Sagrin.

These are strength of schedule ratings. This is not how they're ranked as teams. Eight Alabama, 10, Oklahoma, 15, Texas A&M, 16, Oregon, 18, Georgia, 28, Miami, 32, Notre Dame, 37, Ohio State, 40 Ole Miss, 44, BYU, 56, Indiana, 69, Texas, Texas. So that one does have BYU toward the low end. But Massey does not. Massey says 10 Oklahoma, 13 Alabama, 11th A&M, 14 Oregon, 18 Georgia, 31 Ole Miss, 39, VYU, 40 Notre Dame, 41 Indiana, 48 Miami, 54 Texas Tech, 58 Ohio State. So you can kind of say that, and this is a way of explaining, you can make strength of schedule, say whatever you want it to, depending on how you program your formula. Yeah, two thoughts.

First of all, Chase, thank you for calling in, and I'm sorry that I created sorrow in your life. That's not the purpose of the show. But you might have gotten a crumble cookie, so that's okay. And if it did get you a crumble cookie, then, you know, sorry Penn State fans, but, you know, I'm helping the bottom line there. Here's the thing. I know that there's data that states otherwise. Are we going to live on the show and make it feel like playing a Big 12 schedule is equal to some SEC schedules? Like, do we want to do that?

well according to you think certain strength of schedule metrics it is okay now here's the one thing that bothers me about strength of schedule discourse to begin with is that even if you lose that strength of schedule gets factored into it so a lot of the teams that you are compared against haven't played a top four team currently right and he way and you that BYU lost to the only top four team it played against, but let's throw a schedule back up. So the non-conference

Portland State Stanford, East Carolina. East Carolina actually wound up being good, and that win was on the road. Yeah. In Arizona, it turned out to be pretty good. Utah's ranked in the top 15. Cincinnati. Right. Yeah. So here's the deal.

I don't know that all strength of schedule metrics are, like, you don't arrive at your strength of schedule the same way. Some teams play three top 14 teams and no one else. Some teams play a bunch of top 30 teams. And I'm assuming that the data, like, I'm not a mathematician, but I'm assuming that the data will probably bear out evenly if you don't play anybody truly elite. So maybe it was a mistake for me to say that, and I can acknowledge that, that BYU definitively, without a fact, no debate, has a easier path. But if your strength of schedule numbers are buoyed by the team that beat your

ass like that's not a persuasive argument to me okay period so that again i think and like that's like notary doing it too so like but that gets us to the first question from joan london what if they play an overtime game and b yu loses i think that if they played an overtime game and b yu lost they would have a pretty good chance of getting in because then you don't really have to have the Miami Notre Dame debate, you just put BYU in over both of them. And nobody remembers or emphasizes the first matchup more than the second. So if you're,

if you're, if you're, if you have, and I actually think that if you lose the same team twice, it's basically one loss in my head. You're just not as good as them. Like, because like, that's the whole point, right? Like, you play the games to see who's better. And we're, we're accepting that all these teams down here are not as good as Texas Tech. Otherwise, they'd be ranked

above Texas Tech. Yeah. And like, I think that if anybody were to sit here and say they know exactly what the committee is going to do to the big 12 conference championship game loser they're lying to you unless texas tech beats them again like and it looks like the first time yeah and tex's a hard time this is because the line's so big we've not really talked about this possibility but you're right because if b yu wins they're definitely in that's the way the the whole system works they'd be in the top five highest ranked conference champs if b yu won we're assuming texas tech gets in a

as an at large but do you think that would be a debate uh i do let me ask you this river can you put up the strength of schedule uh graphic that you had so i can visualize it i have a bad memory and i can't just like read Texas tech had the worst strength of schedule in all of these except for one one they were next to last so let's use the strength of schedule that's on this graphic here and chase's question and hello darkness my old friend but notre dame strength of schedule is 42. BYU's is 35. BYU has a better win than Notre Dame, and BYU's

strike the schedule is better, and they only have one loss instead of two. Why is BYU ranked behind Notre Dame? Is that the question about why is BYU ranked? Do why is BYU ranked behind Miami? Because Notre Dame has Miami has a better win, but not by much. BYU is ahead of Miami.

Oh, yeah. Well, but we're talking about whether BYU and Miami like who's getting a spot because I think they all they're all going to get impaired again. I think that Miami's eliminated. Unless something crazy happens on Sunday, I don't think unless they just change their mind or BYU wins. Well, no, if you are you wins, they're definitely might all be out. Yeah. Um, so my question though is honestly, if you look at just the results of the games and the strength of schedule metric, BYU has one fewer loss. It has a better win. and it plays a harder schedule.

So, like, what in the right mind would you put Notre Dame in there ahead? So I think Notre Dame is better than BYU? Absolutely. But if we're going to do it with the old-fashioned way, which is using the data, there's no argument there to me. You know, Notre Dame fans,

if you saw the title of this show and then got this far, I'm sorry, Ari keeps poking you with the Olive Branch. I'm very sorry. What's the title of the show? The title of the show is, the case for Notre Dame.

Okay. Notre Dames, here's their case. They're freaking awesome and they can be. You're probably better than these teams. There's your case. You want the case? Your case is everybody has eyes. We watch the games. You're really good. Marcus Freeman

is awesome at his job. Your quarterback is playing better than he did at the beginning of the year. You have the best running back in college football. Your defense is humming. Your uniforms are beautiful. And everybody who roots for them as attractive person. Like, is that a good case? like that I love it now that doesn't mean the case for for like they're going but like clearly that case is going to win because they're going like they're going but I'm answering the BYU

question and if you're yeah I know the schedule discussions like I cannot not point out what's right the BYU fans hate you too so this is a good good way to get it on their side I actually think I just won BYU fans back if I think you did yeah I think you did but it's true like if you are a BYU person and you want to use the strength of schedule metric as your North Star, then I think you have a case. Now that said, how much is BYU strength of schedule propped up by a team that made you look like a JV team? Like, and then now you hate me again. Like it's like when they meet, they'll have played and if they made them look like a JV team again, then there's no argument. There's no debate. And you why you plays them differently,

there's a debate. And part of the reason why I think we haven't really. spent as much time and the BYU injustice as some of the other teams is that they are squarely in control of their own destiny. Right. They just win the game. If you want to be a playoff team and like I think that we lose sight of this, Andy. The point of the playoff

is to compete for the national championship. It is a privilege to compete for the national championship. You have to be really freaking good to win a national championship. And if winning your big 12 championship game against a two touchdown dog or a favorite,

is too much of a challenge for you, then why do you think you're entitled to compete for the national championship? That doesn't mean that you're not very good. It doesn't mean that we think that your team sucks or that Kalani Sataki sucks. If you heard anything that we've ever said about BYU, it's very respectful, positive thinking.

They're a very good team, and I think that they would give a lot of teams a hard time. That said, you are, the playoff for you starts on Saturday. You're in the playoff, game one, Saturday. Can't wait. Can't wait. We're going to be in Nashville watching those games. Before we let you go, I need to pay off something that I promised earlier in the week.

At this point, I don't even remember how it came up. But Miss South Carolina, Miss Teen South Carolina's answer to the question about why a certain percentage of American children couldn't identify America on a map came up in the show the other day. And I found out Ari had never seen it. And I almost watched it yesterday. because you forgot, but I'm happy I didn't, because now you're paying it all. Yes. Ari is now going to watch this clip in all its majesty. If you've seen it before, prepare to cringe again, if you've never seen this, I'm jealous

because I'd love to experience it the first time again. Ladies and gentlemen, Misteen, South Carolina. Recent polls have shown a fifth of Americans can't locate the U.S. on a world map. Why do you think this is? I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because some people out there in our nation don't have that. And I believe that our education, like such as South Africa and Iraq everywhere like such us, and I believe that they should, our education over here in the U.S. should help South Africa and should help South Africa and should. should help that Iraq and the Asian countries. So we will be able to build up our future for our job.

Thank you very much, South Carolina. Poor Marta Lopez. Meanwhile, there's somebody in Johannesburg going, how do we get involved in this? Can I try to answer the question? Yes. Because, like, I thought she was on the right track there for a minute. Oh, I can answer.

I think the reason why the kids are stupid. That's the answer to the question. I don't know if you want to do it in a politically correct way that makes you look as pretty on the inside as on the outside. Let me try. The public education system in America is not funded equitably based on area code and based on tax brackets of the citizens that live around the public schooling system. And in some areas are underfunded as a result of this, making it less likely for those kids to get the same enrichment in their education processes. kids in the country. If I were Miss America, USA, I would do everything on my power to try my best to make sure there was equitable funding for all of our public schools in order for everybody

to have access to the same quality of education as other American citizens. Is that like a fair? I think you won the pageants. Can you incorporate the Iraq, though? And if it's not the Iraq, I feel like that's what she was trying to say, no. Is the, is, is the Iraq? like the Ohio State University. Is that the same thing? They just print t-shirts in Iraq that just say V on it. Hey, Andy, is there actually another reason for that or did I nail it? Like, that's just my stab in the darn.

You nailed it. I mean, again, I would get up and be like, because a bunch of kids are stupid. And I would probably not get high marks from Amy T.garden, who played Coach Taylor's daughter on Friday Night Lights. is um yeah yeah is that true though you still think it's like one in five kids can't pick out a united states of america on a global map it seems impossible doesn't it but who knows listen i don't know anything about geography within the i drive around and and and you know when you're just driving you see, you know, the whole population. And I got to tell you, one in five might be that dumb.

Yeah, there are a lot of stupid people. Have you ever seen people trying to figure out how to sit in the right seat on an airplane? It's fun. Like what? People look at their ticket. Look at the, it's this. They're very clearly marked as well. Andy, you do have to tell people, though, that we were in the press box.

Where were we last weekend in Michigan? And we were talking about where we might be going. for the CFP. Yes. And you said that... Oh, actually, wait a second. Why am I letting you criticize people about their ability to use maps? You've never used a map in your life.

That's what I said. I don't know. And I can pick out America on the map of a globe. But I don't know anything that goes on within the confines of that American map. That said, you did, you did have a driving estimation that was way off like I always do. And I correct it. That's true. I did.

I wanted the gloat about it. You thought that... Atlanta to Oxford, right? What? Atlanta to Oxford, right? No, it was Lubbock to College Station. Oh, that's right, because I was thinking you... I was thinking of going through Dallas and not straight up.

And, yes, I messed it up by a solid two and a half hours. I was like, Andy, how far of a drive is that? Four hours? And you're like, no, it's 13, you idiot. I can say 13, but yeah. No, no, I'm doing like usually what I'm wrong. I'm like, wait. Oh, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah. You were the person who thought that, South Carolina, like, sat on top of Georgia, so... I'm the person that thinks that Atlanta is a three-hour drive from everywhere else in the south. It pretty much is. Yeah. Knoxville, Nashville, Nashville. It's two hours from Birmingham, so three hours from Tuscaloosa.

Atlanta's the thing that puts me into a blender, though, because I think Atlanta's closer to Dallas than it is. How far is Atlanta driving from where I live in Gainesville? I would guess four hours. Five hours. You see, you're doing better. Okay. That's good. But like, one time I was like,

how do you have to drive? Everything's long. One time I was like, I'm just going to drive from Dallas to Atlanta. And then I looked at the map and it was like 11 hours. I'm like, oh, that's way further than I thought it was. Well,

and I'm thinking back on your South Carolina on top of the top of, some of South Carolina does sit atop of like coastal Georgia. So it sits on, it sits on Savannah and Brunswick. One time when I was dating Brittany, she was in Florida and I was in Columbus. And I drove from Columbus to Fort Lauderdale able to spend a night with her. She's very pretty, so you can understand that.

I brought McDonald's, too, by the way. And I went through South Carolina to get into Florida. Am I right wrong about that? Like, that's the, right? It's not the, I'm trying to think, I mean, you, I would have taken I-75 down through Kentucky and Tennessee. Well, no, you were in, you were going to, you were eventually going to have to get over to 95 anyway. So, I'm pulling it up on Google Maps, right? And by the way, you know, that's, you, that's, you're going to, fine yeah because you have to get over i 95 so yeah i mean like the fact that you are like and this is the problem in the difference between you and me you grew up in a time i think before navigation systems yes and like you actually in your life as a driver had to look at the stuff of gas stations

and ass directions right i never had that like my first car outside of the one that i had in high school like the first car i took to college where i ever did any driving that was further than 20 minutes away for my house had a navigation system in the dashboard. So like I've never once in my, it was a Honda Accord. I don't know why I had an navigation. It was nice. A nice car. But I've never in my life

ever had to picture directions in any other way than doing what the machine tells me to do. So like when you're like, oh, you have to get over an I-95 I never know what highway I'm on. I don't pay attention to that. It's like, oh, take veer off left here for 80 miles. I don't like look at the highway. I knew a guy in college named Craig

If you gave him two cities, he could give you all of the interstates you'd take to get from one to the other. Yeah, there's some special people out there that know how to do that stuff. Yeah, South Carolina right about South Carolina down into Georgia through Savannah, down through Jacksonville, and into Fort Laudorail. Yeah, I'd tell you, the best exits in that stretch, Pooler, Georgia, right before you cross the South Carolina border, they got everything. Pooler, Georgia has every chain restaurant, every single one. It's like the opening scene of heavyweights. what was so awesome about this drive too and i don't know if i had to veer off but there was a poker tournament and this is like in rivers neck of the woods there's a town in i think it's in north

carolina though Cherokee north carolina have you been driven through there oh yeah and this is beautiful mountain town um that's up into the um that's up into like high elevation in the clouds and there's a heras there and i stopped there for two days on the way back because i had like a week It was like in the middle of whatever. There was no college football happening. Single childless people like it's been so long since I've been one. Like this is so hard in this idea. It was one of the best weeks of my life because I went down, you know, hung out with

Fort Lauderdale with an absolute rocket and then like, you know, had a good dinner, had some fun down there with her and then drove all the way back up. And then I had no reason to be home for five days because she had to fly back to go to work or whatever and then i like stayed in cherokee north carolina's harrows for two days by myself um and i played poker and ate and drank and had a great time all by myself and i got to say i've never been a solo trip guy but i think i could be a solo trip guy everything on your terms what you eat when you go to bed what you do how much you gamble whatever you want to do it's a lot of a lot of dinners at the bar i used to think that the guys eating dinner at the bar by themselves

were sad haven't it's some of the best times in the world just a decompress and be a lot alone in your thoughts um but cherokee north carolina shout out to you that was awesome and that's not that far away from where river grew up i don't think no isn't it all kind of the same general area i believe if he wanted to gamble that's where he went yeah yeah my dad he used to get a group of his buddies and would go down and like every other week not every other weekend but they would go down a good quite a good bit so and it was kind of dead but like the poker room was lively the hotel rate was like 130 a night it was like just really yeah very affordable very affordable yeah and it was a nice room everything sometimes you go to a casino and the

like i've stayed in some of the casinos in beloxi not a great like hotel experience down there this is where i will i will talk about our bed mgm friends again the mgm grand detroit hotel was amazing to stay in there last week we did not get the spa music in the shower that you did i didn't get that and by the way that should be a feature in everyone's shower if you have a shower i know i I want it in every hotel room now. Yeah, I'm actually going to look into buying like a Bluetooth shower speaker and they just play like spa music while you're like to watch. Imagine how many great ideas you will now have if you do that.

Probably a bunch that'll make a lot of people angry. But that's, yeah. That's the key here. But hopefully we brought some Notre Dame fans back into the fold. Well, until you punched them in the face again verbally. But that's a lot of it. Sorry. Sometimes, sometimes the hardest part about being my co-host, I think, is probably like, are you missed the point of this? And I can I understand why that would frustrate it. Yeah. For those who don't know when Ari asked, what's the headline of the show? It was in our group text before we started the show. Just like what time we were recording a show was also in our group text. And the first text I wake up to this morning is what time we're recording today? You have to understand. I was sleeping. You guys texted at 11 p.m. And I was sleeping last night. Not true because it was before 11 Eastern when that text came through.

All I know is that I did not see that text last night. Okay. So you never see the texts. But then like, Yeah, it's not just that text. It's more than all the texts. When you have nine texts below the important one,

sometimes I don't scroll up all the way and see all. I don't know where they end and where they begin. It was it was three texts below the one. You know, there's. The one was a link with a video, so it took up the entire screen of my phone. So sometimes, like, I don't. There's an arrow you can hit to, like, go to your last red message. No, there isn't.

Yes, there is. I'm in, like, 27, like, group texts, all of which are affiliated with On 3, and I don't know how to, like, it's, like, it's, like, overwhelming to try to keep up with all of them. Well, update your phone, and you might have that feature. You just hit an error and old, that's what Rivers trying to tell you. You're an old. All right, everybody. Have fun with the conference championship games. We may pop on live, like if Penn State hires a coach, but we'll definitely be live after the Big 12 championship game, after the SEC championship game, and then after the night games, the ACC and the Big Ten. And we will try to project the college football playoff.

And then we'll, of course, be back on Sunday. As the playoff field is being announced, we will be at on three world headquarters in Nashville for all of this. It's going to be a blast. Ari, I can't wait to see you in person tomorrow. Everybody, enjoy the conference championship games. Enjoy the debate because it will be lively for the next few days.