Andy & Ari On3 - The latest College Football Playoff rankings made South Carolina-Clemson HUGE | Saucy Takes!

Episode Date: November 27, 2024

You’ve had Wendy’s Nuggs dipped in sauce. But have you had them covered in sauce? Wendy’s New Saucy Nuggs take the Crispy and Spicy Nuggs you love and turn them up to 11. Choose between flavors like Buffalo. Honey BBQ. Garlic Parm. Or, if you’re a real heat seeker, try Spicy Ghost Pepper, only on Wendy’s signature Spicy Nuggs. This show is also sponsored by PrizePicks, America’s most fun daily fantasy game. Use the code STAPLES to play $5 and get $50 instantly. https://prizepicks.onelink.me/ivHR/STAPLES Wunderfan is a first of its kind college football stadium rewards app where fans earn real rewards simply by cheering for their favorite team. All you need to do is head to the app store to download the app, check in once you're at the game or tailgate, and let your earnings grow! It's that easy. During each game you attend you'll earn in the background once you press “Start.” Once you have enough earnings you can redeem for gift cards to your favorite brands like: Fanatics, Dick's, Lululemon, Home Depot, & Many More. There's even ticket giveaways & fun contests you can use your points to enter. New rewards are added weekly! Right now, users will get 50 Free Wunder just for signing up 40 more for using the code STAPLES. That'll score you a $10 off Fanatics code + a chance to win tickets to the National Championship! Again, just head to the app store and search "Wunderfan" - W-u-n-d-e-r-f-a-n, and start being paid for your fan loyalty. Wunderfan, It pays to be a fan. It’s a Wendy’s Saucy Take Wednesday, and the guys have some saucy takes based on Tuesday’s College Football Playoff rankings.(0:00-0:36) Wendy's Saucy Nuggs(0:37-4:10) Intro; Reacting to CFP Rankings(4:11-20:39) Andy's Saucy Take on Clemson(20:40-28:21) Ari's Saucy Take on Indiana(28:22-34:33) River's Saucy Take on Notre Dame-USC(34:34-35:29) Wunderfan!(35:30-43:40) Previewing South Carolina-Clemson, Presented by PrizePicks(43:41-47:59) Discussion on Returning QB's in 2025(48:00-56:17) North Carolina Fires Mack Brown(56:18-1:06:10) Thanksgiving with James Franklin(1:06:11-1:11:56) Conclusion; Happy Thanksgiving! Andy has a take about Clemson. Ari has a take about Indiana. Producer River has a take about Notre Dame-USC. Plus, we preview the South Carolina-Clemson game. Also, Andy and Ari discuss the end of the Mack Brown era at North Carolina and Penn State coach James Franklin talks Thanksgiving food. Watch us on Youtube instead! https://youtube.com/live/QFc9ZqeMq5U Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari WassermanProducer: River Bailey

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try the spicy ghost pepper, idaria, including the spicy variations of those three I just mentioned. That is seven delicious ways to try the nugs you already love. Pick a flavor, grab some extra napkins, and prepare to noug like you have never nouged before. For a whole new way to noug, it's got to be Wendy's at Participating US Wendy's. Welcome to Andy and Ariane 3, and yes, it is a Wendy's saucy take Wednesday and we have lots of saucy takes

Coming off those college football playoff ranking reveal from Thursday night Ari We got a little fired up last night you got twisted into a pretzel That is a call showing up at number 12 Had you feel in some kind of way? Yeah, you know what I actually came to the conclusion after the show once the dust settled? It's like, I think I'm actually okay with Clemson being ranked ahead of the three SEC teams with three losses because let's be honest, I'm not going to champion for any of those three right now. If you have three losses, again, my heart does not bleed for you.

But like, what about Arizona State? Arizona State is all the way in the back, and they have wins against two teams that are in the top 25 at the moment. And it's like, what's the distinction between Clemson, who's five or six spots ahead of them in Arizona State? Like, it doesn't make any sense. So, you know, like, like that's the thing. It's like, I'm not going to sit here and go, God, Alabama should be ranked

higher. Cause I think that that's like the thing is like, if you think Clemson is misranked, then you have to have an explanation for where or who should be ranked ahead of them. Right. And like my explanation isn't going to be Alabama. Like I don't, Alabama could be out of the top 25 right now for all. Well, your explanation could be Alabama if you wanted it to be. Yeah but like mine isn't because like I'm not going to champion for teams that have failed. Like I think that like you could say that that Alabama had failed its mission this year. So and so it's Clemson. Yeah I'd say I'd say they failed in Norman pretty badly.

They did yeah that was a that was an abject failure. So but you look behind it It's like you're gonna put Tulane ahead of of Clemson Probably not are you gonna put Iowa State probably not be white but like Arizona State at 16 maybe it shouldn't have been an anti Clemson column and more of a pro Arizona State column because Arizona State has a pretty Solid resume they're playing very well at the moment and they are behind all these teams that have been frankly mediocre this year.

Well, and they can make the injury excuse too, because they can say one of our losses is that one is one of the games we couldn't start. Sam Levitt. Right? You know, so that one actually makes a lot of sense when you when you say it that way, because if you stack Arizona States wins up against Clemson's winds, Arizona State's got better winds than Clemson.

Yeah, you know, and I think that where this gets difficult, Andy, is that like you kind of want to like if Clemson and Arizona State played, are we sure that Arizona State would win? I don't know. Probably not. I, but I think it'd be a good game. But I think it would be a good game. Yeah I think it would be a good game, yeah. And I think that Arizona State has earned it.

So it's kind of both. So, you know, like to me, this is the time of year where like actually getting wound up about the rankings makes sense because like this is crunch time. Like we are two rankings away from the final field here. And you know, it's

you know, where they put these teams now matters and it also feels like. Clemson is within punchers range of making the field and it doesn't really make sense to me and like also to as school. Put in the chat like South Carolina lost its quarterback in the LSU loss you know that could

matter to do the same. You can make the same case. put in the chat like South Carolina lost its quarterback and the LSU loss, you know, that could matter too. You can make the same case. So Ari, let's get into the saucy takes because my saucy take this week is that Clemson's gonna get jobbed here. They're gonna get jobbed if they win. If they lose, South Carolina is gonna probably get jobbed. So somebody in the Palmetto State is gonna get job if they win. If they lose, South Carolina's gonna probably get job. So somebody in the Palmetto State is gonna get jobbed here. And I'll tell you why. They've now set this up where Clemson is number 12.

If Clemson beats South Carolina, anybody ahead of them loses, you would reasonably expect Clemson to jump into that large spot. But if you think about it very hard, and that's what they're gonna have to do next week, and then the week after when they actually do the rankings that count, are you really going to put Clemson that got destroyed by Georgia and has no good wins other than South Carolina in over Alabama or Ole Miss, which both beat Georgia and also

both beat South Carolina and also have better wins than Clemson beyond that. So that's, that's the thing. It doesn't like, so they, they've set, they've set the Tigers up for disappointment because they're going to screw them. I'm telling you right now, they'll look deep into their souls and they will screw them. They shouldn't be here in the first place. I don't understand it as why put it in a position to get to that point. Like if Clemson was 15, like would anybody be wound up right now? No.

Like I just, I don't even know what the point of putting them there is. So like I think I agree with you, but at the same time too, it's like I also don't feel like they're getting jobs because they didn't deserve to be there in the first place. So like that. They're getting jobs because the committee's like, hey, look, here's this bright shiny thing. No, nevermind. Because you know that's what they're gonna do. And here's how you all,

further reinforcing I know what they're gonna do. Here's the award manual answer when he got asked about it on the teleconference on Tuesday night. The question is, just wanted to ask you guys what went into the decision to putting Clemson at 12 over things like Alabama and Ole Miss and what they've continued to do this season

with the body of work they currently possess. And here's what Ward Manuel said. Well, Clemson slid up with some losses ahead of them by Alabama and Mississippi, and they had a winning in Citadel, obviously, but that wasn't the big deal. Obviously, they're at nine and two with only two losses. The teams right behind them have three losses.

We just felt as a committee, as we looked at their body of work with three straight wins after their loss to Louisville, including back to back wins against Virginia Tech and Pitt, that they deserve to move up to that 12 position. Translation. Oh shit. We put them in the wrong place and now I have to explain why. Well, how do they even talk to the media? I don't know. It's just like, don't even talk to us. Like, cause I feel like I, when Ward Manuel is giving us, and again, coming at a place of understanding that his job is very difficult,

that like my daughter asking me why she can't have candy in the morning after she saw me eat an M&M at 9 a.m. Like that's how I respond. Like, you know what I mean? Like there's no. And like, if you're gonna say, well, they have impressive wins over Pitt in Virginia Tech.

It's like what is the litmus test for impressive wins? Just saying things. Either of those is impressive. Like wins. There's a good chance. Pitt's going to lose to Boston College on Saturday and they will have lost their last five games. They start 7 and 0 finish 7 and 5. I don't understand why they do that.

It's not just Ward. It's everybody who's held the position. It's like, well, and they they bounce back by beating Clemson and or I mean, Virginia Tech and Pitt. It's like, what? What does that mean? Who cares? We're not giving anybody credit for those wins. Why are we? Why are we even talking about that right now? So yeah, I think it's bizarre. And I wrote that after the, you know, I don't know if like flocking in on Clemson was the most important thing, but it just seems like bizarre to me. That's all.

It is strange. And the thing is it also sets up South Carolina to be screwed because you and I both think South Carolina is going to win that game. I'm actually surprised that the line hasn't flipped. Clemson is still a two and a half point favorite in that game. And we're going to preview that game a little bit later in the show that the actual game itself. But I think South Carolina probably wins the game. If they do, the reasonable assumption is they've beaten the 12th ranked team in your rankings. They probably should move up. But again, you're going to have a hard time moving them up over two teams that beat them head to head and have the same record.

So you would need Alabama to lose the iron bowl or Ole Miss to lose the egg bowl. I think Ole Miss losing the egg bowl would be better for South Carolina because I think if you could do a head to head comparison with Alabama, you probably have a little better shot. Because Alabama really probably shouldn't have beaten South Carolina, and South Carolina was on the road in that game. And Alabama did beat Georgia, which is that that's their best win, and that's what they're pegged on. But it was close. Ole Miss crushed South Carolina in Columbia. Ole Miss crushed South Carolina in Columbia. Ole Miss crushed Georgia in Oxford. So if they were to win the Egg Bowl, I don't think you want that head-to-head comparison between Ole Miss and South Carolina. Ideally for South Carolina, Bama loses the Iron Bowl, Ole Miss loses the Egg Bowl, you don't have to think about it, but the chances of both those things happening are pretty slim.

So I think they're setting up South Carolina to get jobbed as well because if South Carolina wins this game, they're going to be like, we won, yeah, we're moving up. We're going to be striking this is even at large. Just whatever happens, we got a shot. And then the rankings are going to come out. They're going to be behind Ole Miss again. Yeah, but I also think too,

and I don't even know if there's much opportunity, you know, your prediction was that, this would have been a good saucy prediction too, but that there will be two what the hell results this weekend. I think that the teams that we're talking about would benefit greatly from a team that we already have slotted in losing. Like if Indiana were to somehow get shocked

and lose to Purdue or something like that happens, where you kick out a team that we're already taking up a spot then then you have to. Because here's the problem right now with all the teams that are in the field, everybody is comfortably in and everybody is comfortably out. Like there's no debate on who should be in and who should be out right now. There's nobody in the field that you did or I did or that you saw on television last night where you could say, well, actually they shouldn't be in a team that's out should be in and who should be out right now. There's nobody in the field that you did or I did or that you saw on television last night where you could say, well, actually they shouldn't be in, a team that's out should be in, right? Like, so there was a pretty clear line

of distinction between in and out. Ari, you and I say that, but there are people watching right now, and I see them in the chat, and people who are not participating in the chat, who are also watching or listening, who are going, how can you say that? Notre Dame lost to Northern Illinois, they have no business being in the chat who are also watching or listening who are going how can you say that Notre Dame lost to Northern Illinois they have no business being in the bracket Indiana hasn't beaten anybody they have no business

being in the bracket there are people who think Tennessee doesn't belong in the bracket there are people who think SMU doesn't belong in the bracket so yeah plenty of room for debate here everybody like that exists but like we're I'm dealing in rationality here. And like when you look at the resumes that SMU in Indiana possess, and then, because it's like, if you say, well, how could Indiana be?

And they haven't beaten anybody, then who do you put in? And then once you open up that can of worms, it's like there's five mediocre examples of teams that could go in instead. And it's like, well, Indiana's clearly the better choice than those five teams that have lost three times or have gotten their doors blown off or whatever you have to choose from. So the thing that's going to put this thing off the rails is if Indiana loses or Tennessee loses to Vanderbilt or

somebody loses and they get knocked out of the thing, then you have to start picking between those four or five teams. It's really hard to pick between those four or five teams. Luckily, two of those five are playing each other, so that'll take care of itself. But then you'll still have three teams to choose from, all of whom have beaten and lost to each other, or common opponents, and it becomes very murky. So like that is, that's the problem. There's just nobody to put in if it's not for the teams that are already in. Like I don't feel good enough. You're assuming that a three loss team can't get in.

I'm not like, no, what I'm assuming is the three loss team is gonna get in if some stuff happens. Yeah, what I'm saying is that there are four or five teams with three losses to choose from and they're indistinguishable, which causes a problem. Yep. And it's like we said last night. They have problems and that's why they're down there. They're down there because they have problems. They all have flaws or they wouldn't be ranked where they're ranked.

So we will have to see what happens, but I am sure that because of the way they did this, whoever wins the Clemson South Carolina game is going to be sorely disappointed when the rankings come out next week. Hey, can I make an admission to you? Yeah. Like I don't want Alabama in the playoff, but if they make the playoff, oh my God, the column I'm going to write. I'm going to need some, I'm going to need some sound effects. Uh, you wanted this.

So there are a lot of people, like when I, when I put out the, uh, the 22 teams that are still alive, Andy and Alabama was on the list, everyone's like, Alabama's getting like the people are enraged by the notion that Alabama could still get in. And I just, and I I'm cautioning people here who are listening if you're not there already that the system that we put in place made this possible. So I don't know if it's going to happen but there's a pretty clear path to me for Alabama to get in if one thing happens and I I feel like you're the master of, it's November, weird things are gonna happen.

One weird thing happens Alabama's in, I think. See, Ari and Zach don't get it. It will be beautiful, Ari. All the people who wanted the 12th team playoff will have it blowing up in their face. Complaining, getting mad, engaging in it, and then excitedly watching the games, which is what's gonna happen, is the whole point.

Yeah. That is what you want. That's not a malfunction. That is what you want. Right. But if South Carolina got in, people would not be excited to watch the games? They would be. They would be. So what are you saying?

What I'm saying is, people are always gonna be excited. You're saying the system is what makes it possible for Alabama. Yeah. Alabama pisses people off. I know. No matter what. I just don't think that it's like if your mother tells you not to put your hand on the

stove because it's hot and then you put your hand on the stove and you get upset or mad at her because you burnt your hand, like that's kinda how I feel. It's like you can't champion in root. Your mother tells you don't do more of the thing that's insanely popular and makes you lots of money and you do more of the thing that's insanely popular and makes a lot of money and you make more money.

That's what this is. I just don't think that you could be a champion for something and then get mad at the result of it It doesn't make sense to me. He doesn't compute to me, but people are stupid are That's what I'm saying So I'm gonna write a column saying this is stupid if you're mad Then you don't like the 12 team playoff and if you're happy then this is what you want it like cuz that's what it is so

People are gonna watch the 12 people come play. We don't just want to complain about things though. They like complaining Have you not figured that out yet yeah I know I know I know but it bothers me that I just live in a world of rationality and reason Michael says I'm not stupid Michael it's a quote from men in black a person is intelligent irrational people are I can't I don't get exactly right, the Tommy Lee Jones quote, but people are skittish, scared animals. But you can at least see what I'm saying, right? Like if you want something, then don't get mad about what you're doing. You get mad. It bothers you that people like to complain and don't seem to have any sort of consistency in their argument. Yes. Okay, welcome to humanity. That's how it works. Like, yes, there are people who in their heads catalog, well, here's what I've

said in the past, and logically, this is how I should, but most people don't think that way. Most people are like, I'm mad now. And you got married really, really young. Yes. But for me, when I was dating in my twenties, my number one turnoff when it came to women was a rational thought or being irrational or angry. And the reason why I fell in love with my beautiful wife,

who's right there, is because she's a rational person who when she argues something, she has a point. She doesn't go off onto tangents. She doesn't, well, she goes off the tangent. She's a woman, but like she, she always is rational. And if you are a person who argues about things that don't make sense, it just is a person, it never be able to get on. I know, I know. And I love how much it bothers you because this, remember, we cover college football for a living. We are deep in the weeds all the time. The people who consume our show,

the people who watch the games, the people who are gonna watch the college football playoff, it is not the most important thing in their lives. They're not thinking about it that hard all the time for the most part. A lot now, a lot of our audience is, because they're psych, you know, sickos like us. But they're not thinking about,

what did I complain about five years ago? Yeah. Now, Eric, thank you for giving me the men in black quote. A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals, and you know it. It's one of the greatest men in black quote. A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it. It's one of the greatest quotes in movie history. I love that quote. You've never seen it because you know like sci-fi movies. I have seen that movie but I was 11 and I used to go to the skating rink and that was the song when we were you know going in

circles with the roller blades and I had a beeper. You know what the skating rink song was in my era? What? Stevie B. Because I love you. My heart is an open door. That's a couple of skate songs right there. Yeah, that's like Men in Black was like, you know, kind of like.

Oh yeah, you get the light show going. Yeah. Oh yeah. You were like going around. Dude, the skate rink, the skating rink is like, oh yeah, you get the light show going. Yeah. Oh yeah. You were like, absolutely dude. The skate rink, the skating rink is like, I don't know if everybody feels this way, but like in terms of like peak humanity, like when you were a kid, you were skating, you were some girls that you had a crush on that were skating around the rink with you. And then off to the side, you had your parents over there, uh, opening up pizza boxes for everybody to eat. Now that's peak peak happiness for me. Like I don't know that was you know it is hard. It's hard to beat. My kids had a skating ring phase in middle

school. It brought me back. It definitely brought me out there. No. Oh I'm not graceful Ari. What I think we've learned is I'm not graceful. When I was a kid, it was like during the X games, like aggressive inline skating phase. And I was never very good at like grinding and on poles or anything like that. But like, I was a pretty good rollerblader when I was a kid. I need pictures and video, please.

Yeah. Mr. and Mrs. Wasserman, make it happen. But like my childhood coincided with the like brink movie You know where everybody was? Into you know roller blades and now I feel like people laugh at you if you were roller blades because I thought like what? Is an activity because I live around a lake like a 30 second walk to a pretty large lake with a path What could be my activity for cardio out there? And like, it has crossed my mind

that like rollerblading would be a good one. But I asked my wife if I got rollerblades, what she would think, and like, she's like, you can do whatever you want. People do whatever they want around the lake, but she was laughing. Like, I'm just- I'm imagining a giraffe on skates for some reason,

and you're not shaped like a giraffe, but that's- I'm just imagining the's going all different directions and like, is there a way to be a man in pushing 40 to rollerblade for cardio and not be pointed and laughed at? Ari, the only way to do that is to have the inner self confidence that radiates from having a smoking hot wife. Where you just go, you know what, I don't care what you say about me. I look good. That's all you can do.

I'll do my best. Are we need your saucy take? Oh, here we go. Oh God, it's me. Yeah, see. Inter conference radiating. My saucy take. Is that Indiana is actually a top seven football team in America.

And I know that people think that like that is insane. I know that they put up 151 yards of offense against Ohio State. They had a rough day with special teams. But when you look at what they did from a body of work standpoint. Does losing to Ohio State by 23 or whatever it was invalidate the rest of the body of work? But OK, what's the most impressive part of the body of work? Blowing out everybody on your team by 14 or more points for 10 consecutive until Michigan, until Michigan.

Yeah, I think that's which which of those blowouts is the most impressive. Um, they don't have any good wins. I know you're like, what do you want me to say? Yeah, I think that's which which of those blowouts is the most impressive They don't have any good wins, I know you're like a what do you want me to say? No, no, I want I want to parse these I actually think it's Nebraska, but that's I mean, I think Nebraska was a really impressive dominating win Against the bowl eligible team. They blew out Washington. I mean going on the road at Michigan They didn't blow out of Washington if you watch that game, but they did beat them by 14 and it was good. So I think that the body of work from start to finish needs to still count. Now I don't know if they played Georgia or Alabama, if they'd get their doors blown off. But what I do know is, is that there aren't a lot of other teams to even choose from at this point. Like Alabama looked putrid on Saturday, right? Like they are, are they talented? Are they talented? Is their fifth year really, really good? Yeah, we know. But like, are we 100% certain that Indiana

couldn't hang for four quarters with Alabama after what we just saw on Saturday? Oh no, there's, we're definitely not certain. If you say you're certain, you haven't watched Alabama play this season. And I didn't put them in the top five because I didn't want to put them in the same tier as Oregon and Ohio State and even Georgia at the end of the year. But like when you get from seven to 15, I don't really know that it's that distinguishable. But I mean, like this like how many teams would be 11

and one with a schedule, a minimum of 20? Maybe but like you watch college football as much as I do Andy, you don't think 20 teams would be 11 and one with that schedule. I don't think a lot of teams lose games because it's hard to win 10 in a row like that. It's like it's not just did you play and beat Alabama that that proves it. So the thing that just irks me a little bit is that Indiana and what they did was impressive. We spent a lot of time talking about what they did on the show. Because they went and lost to Ohio State that doesn't erase everything we talked about.

We had Kurt Signetti on the show. We talked about Andy, I think you even picked them to cover against Ohio State. I think the reason why you did that is because you know that they're a good football team. Right. They're consistently good. They're disciplined. Yeah, they do the little things well. That to me is the take. So people are going to go nuts. They're going to make the playoff and I think they deserve to do so. And you know, I don't know. I don't know if that's crazy or not, but you help me out here. But like, I don't think it's crazy. I just think Miami, like you don't think they could beat Miami. Who's number five? You think they could beat Miami here? Okay. Ferris in the chat says who would I you be favored over in the

top 12 maybe SMU. What would the what would the Indiana Tennessee line be in on neutral field? I don't think it would be that big. You know what I'd love to see Indiana Penn State. I'd love to see that game. I'd love to see Indiana Tennessee. I think since we already had the hypothetical argument for a whole week, let's just play the game. Yeah, and we may get the game. It's entirely possible we get that game. So it's like, I don't know.

Do you think Indiana is going to if they get matched up with Tennessee or Notre Dame or Penn State in the first round that they're going to lose by 30? Like, is that what you think is going to happen? No, I don't. I, because, because those aren't Ohio State. That's what I'm saying. Those teams aren't Ohio State level talent. I think when people say face a real team, they're saying it from the standpoint of watching them go on the road to Ohio State, who is the only super team in America this year. Like, it's just, that's not the mark. Producer River is a massive Tennessee fan. He thinks Indiana might be favored against Tennessee if they played Bloomington.

Now Indiana is not going, I don't know about that. Indiana is not hosting a game. So you're going to have to probably figure out what they'd be on the road. Like you put that game at Neil and I think Tennessee is favored by by three and a half for probably. Yeah. And the point here is just remember who they played. Remember the fact that 14 of Ohio State's points

were special teams situations. And the last touchdown that they scored was on a, I don't know why, did you go back and watch that? Cause we were like getting set up for the show, but like they were doing a kneel down formation and punched one in there at the end. The score did match. It was a blowout.

But had they not fumbled the punt at the end of the first half and played hard. Right, that was seven free points they handed to them. Yeah, and then come out of the gate and they were gonna win the middle eight and then they blew the punt and then Cale Downs returned the punt for a touchdown and spotted them 14 points in the middle of the game, which effectively ended

it. Like, you know, things happen. I just I don't know. If I'm ready to just say they stink because they didn't play well against Ohio State. That's all. Rick in the chat says, well, the committee rigged the matchups for SEC versus SEC and big 10 versus big 10 or SEC? They're not gonna rig the matchups. It's funny, because I see people complaining

every time I do bracketology, because they're like, you put the SEC teams against the SEC teams, they're not gonna do that. I'm like, they're gonna rank the teams and wherever they wind up is where they're gonna go. So in this case, I have Georgia big 10. Yeah, if you use the CFP rankings,

they've got Georgia playing Tennessee again in Athens where they already played. And guess what? That's what will happen to me about this playoff system is if it comes down to a bunch of SECs like Tennessee and Georgia, it's like the entire SEC's regular season was them playing each other and. At the end of the day,

when they all get in, none of those games were going to have turned out to matter well, but what if you get an SEC game that you didn't get? What if you get South Carolina? I just want to watch. I don't want to watch a rematch of a SEC game that we've already seen that didn't have an impact on who made the fit. Well, guess what? You're going to get a rematch if that's how the numbers work

out. No, I know. I'm just saying I hope it's between the SEC and the big 10 so we can actually get some matchups to see who's like really conference of like Tennessee not getting knocked off by Georgia in the first round of the playoff is not interesting to me. Yeah, I'll watch it. I love it. First round matchup. That'd be fun. Yeah. And like you're right, they're gonna do what they're gonna do, but like I would much rather watch like Notre Dame, Texas, Tennessee, Indiana, you know, Georgia, Penn State, so we can actually get to the bottom of who I don't want the SEC to knock each other out in the first round. So I'll have to hear all offseason, Will the SEC beat each other up

in the regular season and the postseason? I want to actually see how good they are. It would be more fun that way, but they're not going to rig it that way. It is going to be what it is. Producer River, you've got a saucy take. We're gonna look at him. Yeah, here comes the ghost pepper. Let's go bring it. Go. All right USC is upsetting Notre Dame on Saturday. Why?

Because okay, so Benjamin Morrison for Notre Dame out. He's been out since Stanford been out since Stanford. Look at the game since Stan Stanford. What teams are able to throw the ball? The last five games that Notre Dame's played what teams are able to throw the ball. Oh boy. And there was no Aaron Filo or Haynes King in that Georgia Tech game. So that would be nobody. Exactly. What is Lincoln Riley known for?

Throwing the ball and terrible defense, but the defense is better this year. And yes, but the last team they played that could throw the ball, Louisville. They beat by seven. Oh, boy. I think he's talking me into it. I think USC can throw the ball. And I think I mean, if Lincoln Riley has any kind of juice left any kind of I'm all in I'm all in a pretty big question though also we have

to take a minute to laugh at how you at USC put Lincoln Riley in the graphic of the new Kendrick Lamar album did you see that they posted that was they posted the they spliced Lincoln Riley into where Kendrick Lamar album. Did you see that? That was funny. They posted that they spliced Lincoln Riley into where Kendrick was standing on his new album and they were like, you know, USC is LA kind of like gloating about UCLA and all their fans are like guys we're five and six please delete this. Not like us. Not like us. Yeah. Oh my god. So this is the thing. I don't think that's gonna happen. I hope it doesn't because I got some some shekels on this but the thing that is interesting is that this does seem

like one of the most likely spots of the weekend for a team that's currently in to get knocked out. Right? Like if you wanted to play that game, pick your spots. Isn't this a spot that you might pick just from a spot standpoint on the road across country against the semi functional team and everything's been too easy all year since the NIU loss. I don't know. Let me poop in everybody's Cheerios here. Yeah. You saw USC Michigan, right? Yep. Imagine if Michigan had a functional offense and an even better offensive line. That's what's going to happen here. Notre Dame is going to lean on USC and the dam is going to break in the second half

and they're just going to be running for seven yards of carry. Now to be fair, all of USC's losses have been one possession, right? They have. USC has not been bad. It's bad that they've lost five games. They have not been horrible in any game. Yeah. And Notre Dame they lost in Northern Illinois. I've heard that mentioned a few times in the chat.

Wait, they did. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's a good take. That's a good take. Uh, I mean, it's a good spicy take. I don't know if I believe it, but, uh, it's a good, that's the ghost

pepper right there. That is the pepper. No doubt. No doubt. And to also, didn't you put your real life money on it, River? Yeah. Yeah. Plus two 20. That's what I like. I like a man who's going to come onto the show and back up his hot takes with his checkbook. That's what I do. I like a man who's gonna come onto the show and back up his hot takes with his checkbook.

That's what I do. When I say something or I pick something, I bet it. I bet it like a man. The line has changed from six and a half to seven and a half. So if you like the one possession games with USC, Smart Play is seven and a half as well. And I don't know if this really matters anything. I don't know how hostile of an environment USC is, but this is not only Notre Dame's third true road game. Maybe Notre Dame has some fans running out on the field with them this year. I hope so.

They got the money for it. Wouldn't that be awesome if everybody running on the field this time was a Notre Dame fan? I'm pretty sure they revamped the program for the Penn State game, but I would take that. I just want to see Notre Dame blues on CBS. I think it'd be funny. River sent me a text that was like yesterday or two days ago saying, you don't really think the SEC sucks, do you? And I was like kind of laughing about it but like now you're picking the game that could like open the floodgates back up for the SEC like it's just like so I see what you're doing here and I'm on to you. Okay. You're getting the SEC back on the bus.

Speaking of existence. Let me ask you this. What happens if Notre Dame loses and Texas A&M wins the SEC Championship? Well there that that just gets keeps Georgia in probably it knocked Texas out 10 and 2 Texas first 10 to Notre Dame That's a great question because they would both have lost at Texas A&M But Notre Dame would have better wins. Yeah. That's a tough one. Yeah. But but it does open up that extra spot. So it does. It does. You may be able to figure it out. Producer River, you get the spicy ghost pepper for the day.

No question. And if this happens, it's gonna make for a hell of a show on Saturday night. It's gonna make for a hell of a next few days before we wait for the day. No question. And if this happens, it's going to make for a hell of a show on Saturday night. It's going to make for a hell of a next few days before we wait for the rankings to come out. And I, you know, I feel like everybody's kind of twisting, twisting themselves in knots, you know, and it's related to your own fandom. You want your, your school to win. Like producer River knows that if Notre Dame loses, that helps Tennessee. As long as Tennessee beats Vanderbilt, like maybe Tennessee's hosting a playoff game if Notre Dame loses. And that's it. We're all just, you know, all politics are local in college football. And it, you know, your fandom should reward you, obviously mentally, spiritually,

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because we've had folks in the chat coming after us both ways. Clemson fans, South Carolina fans, South Carolina fans reminding us that not only did Lenora Sellers get hurt in the LSU game, Lenora Sellers and Rocket Sanders were both hurt in the Ole Miss game. Sellers was limited. Sanders, I believe, was out completely. This is a healthy South Carolina team going up to Clemson on Saturday. This feels different than two years ago, where South Carolina had just pulled the surprise win against

Tennessee, and then went and beat Clemson. I feel like most people who've been watching the last five, six weeks are on South Carolina here. Yeah, I mean, I picked South Carolina outright and you know again, Mr. Prisoner of the moment. It's pretty easy to get wrapped up in how well South Carolina is playing and that Louisville game is still stuck in my head. Like I just don't think Clemson is very good and I don't think

that we've seen anything from Clemson to prove otherwise and like you can't. People in the chat. I think I are probably on board with what I'm gonna say here, you can't nag Indiana because they didn't play a good schedule and then prop up other teams that have played a harder schedule but have lost the only two games that they played against good teams and have beaten nobody either, right? Like it doesn't make any sense. You can't hate Indiana.

If you have problems with Indiana, you also have problems with Clemson. Yeah, and probably should have bigger ones because Clemson, I think got dominated worse than Indiana did in their game. They had more yardage, I think, but you know, the Georgia game was ugly. Ugly. So I just, there's not much to like about them. Like what's the path to victory for Clemson? Turning South Carolina over, hoping Lenore Settlers has a bad game. Like I just don't like their offense. It's looked explosive at times I like crazy legs club Nick when he gets out into the open field like they've done some things But the thing is just does crazy legs club Nick

Kate club Nick is who we're talking about the quarterback for Clemson who has it's interesting I was looking I just was looking at his, his rushing log and, and obviously sacks get backed out of your rushing stats, but he's had some pretty key runs in their wins. Like he he's faster than people realize. The thing is, I don't know how fast he is against this defense. When you have Dylan Stewart and Kyle Carnard coming off the edge at you. Yeah, they make everybody look slow in comparison. The reason why I like South Carolina

just in general as a team, because their defensive line is so good and they've got a really exciting quarterback. So like they have pieces in place, the same pieces that I really liked about Ole Miss that didn't show up last week, unfortunately, but like when you have a really good defensive line and a good quarterback,

like you have a chance in every game you play. Yeah. so Lenore Sellers, the if we look at his prize picks number, if you're not playing prize picks, download the app, use the code staples when you sign up, play $5, get $5 instantly. Best daily fantasy game in America. So Lenore Sellers in this game, his his passing number is 195 and a half K club. Next is 231 and a half. Kate club. It's is two 31 and a half. What they're saying is they don't feel like Lenora sellers needs to. Dominate through the air because South Carolina can dominate on the ground.

With, be it with Lenora sellers or with rocket Sanders rocket Sanders number in this game is 73 and a half rushing yards. And I think if you get a more than on both of those numbers for South Carolina there win in the game, like it, especially if you got Lenora Sellers contributing some with his legs as well.

Yeah, 100% 100%. I think that. We could be looking at a Clemson doesn't score very much game here. That I think we are too. I think the South Carolina Texas A&M game is a good. Question or a good comparison here. Clemson is a little better throwing team, not as good of a running team as Texas A&M, but. South Carolina that pass rush can absolutely put you in a blender can cause some negative plays and then South Carolina can control the clock control the tempo of the game with its offense and I think that's that's where you're going to have a problem like if Rockets Sanders is having a good game

and that was that was a really good Rockets Sanders game against Texas A&M. I just I think South Carolina. Dictates the pace of everything. Yeah, and I think they're just like the like I mean, I know Clemson's got some dudes, but just isn't South Carolina just built in a way from a physicality standpoint that just makes you fall in love with them like. The elements that we've seen from teams that we are accustomed to playing on this stage,

I think South Carolina possesses. So like to me, like they are just a better football team and I don't understand maybe other than just being on the road why they're not favored in the game. You know, I wonder about it too. And I do know Vegas does respect history quite a bit. And then this rivalry has been pretty lopsided through the years, other than that one period where Steve Spurrier beat Clemson five times in a row.

Like Clemson has pretty much dominated the rivalry. So it's hard, I think, for anybody who does take history into account to say, oh, South Carolina is clearly better here. But I feel like they are. I feel like based on what I have watched over the last six or seven weeks, that South Carolina is better than Clemson. Yeah, and like the fun thing with South Carolina

is that they have more sellers in the future too. So, like that. Here's a great question from Skoll in the chat. Is sellers a top three quarterback in the NCAA and 25? I, I'm hoping this question is a, is a video game question. Like is sellers a top three rated quarterback in college football 26 when it comes out next summer. I'm going to say yes on that. I think he will probably be the quarterback you most enjoy playing with in the video game next year. Is he going to be one of the top three in the country next

year that I don't know, but I think he's going to be in the conversation for sure. Where is he now in this year? Okay, we're all right. Let's well, let's just let's start in the SEC. Who would you rather have in the SEC? And we're talking about for right now and also for the next couple of years.

Am I insane to say that I'd rather have sellers and Beck? No, I don't think so. Okay, because that's how I would rather have sellers or DJ Lagway, DJ Lagway. Okay. Nico or so I think DJ Lagway would be the quarterback if like you get the future to I don't think there's a quarterback and DJ is the one you're taking for the whole country. Yeah, I agree. Yeah, DJ is number one. Yeah. Nico or sellers. You had to think about it. Sellers. I thought to think about it.

Sellers. I, I thought you were going there. Okay. Nussmeyer or Sellers. Sellers. Okay. So that's, that's the SEC and we can move into we could move into the other conferences we could branch it out of the other conferences.

You did ask you you did ask quarterbacks like I think Sellers has probably played better than those guys this year, but you also put in like very high ceiling guys like because like Nico like you could play that clip in two years and I could look like the biggest moron on the face of the earth and like I'll sit here right now and tell you like I don't know how close Niko's gonna get to reaching a ceiling. I like this game by the way. Like this game. So we'll wrap up our South Carolina Clemson preview and I'll once again say download the

price picks app use the code staples play $5 get $50 instantly. We're taking court we're gonna let's play a little quarterback futures since we're since we're here. You saw the one on the chat, right? That one's got me. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. DJ Lagway or Arch. Who you take it quarterback future? DJ. I think that's a it's a tough decision but I think you probably made the correct decision there. Did you see that throw? You were there. You saw it in person. You're

talking about the LSU one where he's the the LSU the LSU game. Both edge rushers have beaten their guys. There's a linebacker coming twisting around. The edge rushers are about to hit him There's a linebacker coming, twisting around. The edge rushers are about to hit him. They're about to sandwich him. The linebacker has his hands wrapped around Lague's waist. So Lague can't step into the throw. He throws it with a flick of the wrist.

It goes, well, he was probably what what 7 yards behind the line of scrimmage. So this ball travels 42 yards in the air on a rope. Exactly where it needed to be in the only place the receiver could catch it. It's yeah, there are not many people who make that throw. That was to the sideline too, right? Or is that a different one? No, no, it was. It was kind of up the hash. Did you see the one on Saturday when you were there obviously that you did see where he was being sacked basically and he threw it off his back foot with his feet off the

ground like 15 yards of the sideline? There's another one that I think actually resulted in an interception or maybe it should have been an interception I can't remember if the Ole Miss player caught it or not where he did a sidearm throw, kind of like, you know, the home sidearm thing and the camera had a great angle of it, where you should see it coming and it hits the receiver in the hands, and it just bounces off the receivers hands and toward the Ole Miss player. But if the receiver catches that it's just like, whoa. So So it is, he's done a lot of that and it's still a pretty limited sample size. So yeah, if we're playing quarterback futures,

I think DJ Lagway is the guy you're taking, but Lenora Sellers is up there. Like, and I'm trying to think in the other leagues because we think about the really good players in the big 10. Dylan Gabriel's out of eligibility. Dylan Gabriel's out of eligibility. Will Howard's out of eligibility. Drew Aller's probably going pro.

Curtis Rourke is out of eligibility. So, is it the young, like does Dante Moore come in now at Oregon and become what we thought he would be? Like we, there's a lot of unknowns at quarterback. So like if you have Lenora Sellers, DJ Lagway, Arch Manning in the chat, I saw Sam Levitt, which was a great one, the Arizona State quarterback. Like it, there's not that many QBs coming back that we're going to be like, these guys are, are, are the dudes next year. Yeah. Well, this year coming into the year, we had a star problem at the quarter. Kevin Jennings, the guys are are the dudes next

But from a star power standpoint, like I think DJ you and Arch, like if both of them, not if, when both of them come into next year, like as the starters of their teams, like could bring back the Caleb Williams stardom aspect that we don't have this year. Yeah, there's not a superstar quarterback this year. Yeah, there's not a superstar quarterback this year. So I think that's the, and that's where the Heisman race has come down to Travis Hunter and Ashton Gentry. I think if there was a superstar quarterback, that there would be a little more muddled.

But yeah, there's not that guy. But we just mentioned a few that could be that guy next year. And that's very exciting. Yeah, I mean, our one is going to be that guy. Like there's no, he's archway. He's going to get that attention. Yeah, right. But one guy who's not going to be in college football next year,

at least coaching it, we don't think is Mac Brown. He got fired yesterday at North Carolina. You had a really good column at on three already about, of course I read it. Oh, thanks. Come on. About if Mack can't do it, who can? I do want to push back on that a little bit. Okay.

Because I have the North Carolina hotboard out. The first name I have on the hotboard is John Somerall at Tulane. I, I, I feel like this was a move to go get John Somerall because John Somerall is one who, if, if there were more, if there were sec jobs open, he'd be at the top of the list for all of them. He would have been Kentucky's coach had Mark Stoops gotten the Texas A&M job. And I think the feeling is if you don't try to get him and lock him up now, some SEC jobs will open and they'll get him next year. And if you get somebody like that, it will solve the issue that North Carolina has had really since Butch Davis was there.

Like through the Larry Fedora and Mac Brown era, they were never good on defense. They could never field an effective defense. If they hired John Somerall, they will have a good defense. And let's be right, it sucks, because we don't like to predict players that aren't in transfer portal going center. But Mensa, Tulane's quarterback, if he were to follow John Somerall

from Tulane to North Carolina He would instantly become one of the best quarterbacks in the ACC Yeah, yeah So here's the deal with North Carolina because like I am kind of confused about it from a how good is this job? aspect like the one thing that you put on your list that I was like was like Rhett Lashley like I I was like, I think on the surface, it feels like North Carolina should be a better job than SMU, but when you look at the actual reality of it,

like, are we sure that's even the case? Like, it's going from- And also Rhett just agreed to a new contract. So it would be very expensive to get him. So yeah, like that to me I Went to North Carolina in 2020 as I mentioned on the show yesterday And I sat in Mac Brown's office and we talked for an hour about his plan to build, North Carolina The state of North Carolina from a talent aspect is very underrated

They've got a lot of very good players there and for the time being, you know, Tennessee and teams were down at the moment, going back to 2020. The only team that they really had to fight against was Clemson, but they were winning recruiting battles for impossible feat for them to keep kids home. But if you've been paying close attention to their recruiting the last two years, you will notice that they are not competing with the same programs that they were competing with regularly when he got there. And I think you can make a straight line comparison or conclusion that the reason why they aren't there and you know, speaking to people near the program, Andy, I'm not just making this up, that they are not competitive in NIL.

Like, Tennessee, for instance, if Tennessee wants to go to North Carolina and get a kid, they're gonna go to North Carolina and get the kid, you know, and that wasn't the case, you know, four or five, three years ago. So there is this question of whether or not and like, actually, five, three years ago. So there is this question of whether or not, and like actually too, if you go like read North Carolina basketball message boards, you see a lot of complaining about their inability

to compete in NIL for basketball players, which is at North Carolina, insane. So how good is the job really? It's a beautiful campus, it's great academically, they've got gorgeous uniforms, they've got the Air Jordan factor, like there's a lot of things that you can sell there. They also have a lot of money. Like they have good donor, a good donor base. They're not, this is not a poverty program as the kids say. Yeah, but at the same time too, I don't know if you've seen, like I feel like

if Mac Brown had every possible thing he could have needed at his disposal he would have been more successful and I actually think that North Carolina a team that played in the ACC Championship game literally last year two years ago like it's just it's crazy to me like I think he was really good for them and I don't know if it's just the result of being macked as you like to put it where he sold me the vision. I Understand he's getting up there an age. I think he's 70 I think he could put a better defense on the field

He would have had a better but why didn't they is the question if it was his fault then he's gone Well, I like but you could you could say you could say it was choice of defensive coordinators Yeah, yeah So anyway, but like if I if I person takes this job. They have to go into it knowing that they're not as competitive with the teams that they have to beat for talented NIL and that makes it extremely difficult. But maybe that's changing now with the with the way that the

sports can be set up financially, but like it's just a rough go of it to me. Yeah, the revenue share piece of it, I think, does change it because North Carolina is going to have that money. The revenue share piece of it, which would be probably about 15 million dollars. That's what everybody seems to be pegging for football. You heard Dabo talk about it the other day that Clemson is going to be on very equal footing with everybody else now. And I think that that will help them be

competitive in the transfer portal. You'll see them start taking transfers now. But it does come down to not just getting a roster, as we've seen, like Ole Miss is a great example, like you can get the roster and it still doesn't necessarily work. You've got to, you've got to coach it. Well, you've got to do all the little things. And that's why I pointed out some raw because you look at what he did at Troy. You look at what he does. He's done in year one at Tulane. He's always got a good defense. He seems to always figure out a way to have an effective offense too.

That's what you want. Now I mentioned Arthur Smith on the hotboard because we heard some chatter in the agent community about Arthur Smith. He's the Steelers offensive coordinator. He was the Falcons head coach. He's also the son of Fred Smith, who is the founder and chairman of FedEx.

Now we've seen FedEx do a lot of NIL stuff and corporate help stuff with Memphis in their hometown. It'd be nice, you know, corporate money is kind of the key to the next step of this, Ari. Well, I mean, like, yeah. If like we're a few days removed from Michigan getting a quarterback because a billionaire like got on the phone with him,

it was just like, we're gonna do this like the possibilities of what can be done. Like it's like the whole Phil Knight theory Andy of like, oh, I'm a billionaire. All this money is nothing to me. I care about this team here. Take it like I think that like it's not just corporate that just like independent wealth too. You know, I think I'm gonna need the corporate money because of the way they're gonna structure this thing because they're gonna say, oh, it's gonna be true NIL. Okay well big big corporation hires you to do ads for them that's true NIL. The funny thing about billionaires is

that they happen to be affiliated with a corporation of some kind. Crazy how that always works right? So like I don't know if there's a lot of like billionaires out there that's like I have no connections to anything. Although I don't know the Bryce, Bryce Underwood's gonna be doing any Oracle ads. The craziest part is why not? The craziest part is is Larry Ellison went to Illinois. I know that's my favorite part. His wife went to Michigan and that that should prove more than anything else. If you're an Illinois fan, if you're an Illinois fan, you're just like, what the?

Well, Illinois has got Larry Ellison and Shad Khan, the owner of the Jaguars. Now I think there may be some rules there about an NFL owner. Yeah. Because there may be some tampering rules that have to do with the NFL draft and everything. But yeah, I think we're gonna see Bryce Underwood

on Barstool, obviously Dave Portnoy had a lot to do with that and that they're going to start making like Bryce Underwood like clothes and stuff. Well, yeah. Well, I was expecting Nico pajama pants to take off and they never did. So yeah, so that was always the thing with him, right? Because I went to four camps and he always wore pajama pants. Yeah, yeah, that was the thing. But it didn't become the big thing I thought it would. Well, does he wear them to class? I think he kept that energy. Do you think he has classes that aren't online? I don't know. Does he wear

it to 2024? Ari, does he wear it to the union? That's not how the world works anymore. Listen, okay, here's what I'm going to tell you, buddy.. And you can listen here and listen good Lassie. If I'm the starting quarterback of Tennessee's football team and I am 19 and hopefully single, I'm going to be all over campus. Whether I have an online class or not. I don't know what you're doing, but the whole point of being quarterback. You're just dropping pins everywhere. Ladies, here's where I am. Here's where you can find me. What are you talking about? He just sees a recluse just sits in his dorm all day in those online classes and just goes to them from the building to his apartment back

and forth get out of here I'm gonna be at the Union having a big Mac in front of all the honeys saucy no ladies kids come get your saucy nugs when you were when you were in college what was your number one concern? The ladies. It's where 19 year old boys and now imagine being the hottest thing on campus. But it's not as much of a concern when you are like a rich guy and there's probably quite a few who you would be targeting who are just basically, all right, here I am. So they're not thinking the way we had to think. We had to work. I know, but like, I'm not even in it for like the,

you know, the fun part. I'm in it for like, I wanna be lauded. I want people to applaud for me in public. You know what I mean? That's not just a girl thing. Like I want people to be like, there's Nico. You don't feel uncomfortable. That wouldn't make you uncomfortable. I think I would do really well with being famous. Like I think you do the pageant wave. Oh, there's Ari. I know I'm great. Aren't I like, yeah, it's amazing. Or at least I think I would do it

well for a year. But I think being the QB1 at a SEC school would be a pretty great existence. And I wouldn't want to waste that time by being a shut-in in my dorm room. I appreciate it. I appreciate the honesty. And if I were Nico I would wear the pajama pants everywhere I went. Because that would be a nice little way to get a you know apparel. Yeah it's your brand. So James Franklin has developed a brand. Thanksgiving week every year has a tradition. If you are asking questions in his press conference, you must answer a question from him regarding Thanksgiving dinner. So that press conference, you must answer a question from him regarding Thanksgiving

dinner. So that press conference took place this week ahead of the Maryland game. Here is a super cut of James Franklin and the Penn State Beat Riders giving some very interesting Thanksgiving takes. Rich, rich, rich, yes Thanksgiving press conference we got a tradition around here. Okay white meat. No no no I got it I got it I got all my questions written down here yeah and actually and actually I think you missed that one white meat or dark meat. I did miss that. Add it to the list. All right, turkey or ham? Turkey. Turkey. Is there a reason why? You justify your decision?

It's called Turkey Day for a reason, isn't it? Okay, and what part of the turkey do you eat? White meat. And do you use gravy? Yes. And do you eat the turkey and the gravy alone or do you take a little bit of mashed potatoes little bit of stuffing little bit of corn little bit. How do you do it?

I take a little bit of everything on one bite. Sometimes I don't really think about it. What I'm saying is when you eat the turkey do you eat it on its own with gravy or do you include other things in that bite? Hey, James. Happy Thanksgiving in advance. You too, Mark. How you doing,

man? Good. What do you got for me? Alright, here we go. Pumpkin or sweet potato pie? I know the answer. I'm going to go sweet potato. So Mark James. Hey Mike. Hey Mike. How are you? I'm good. All right. I got one for you. Yep. Fried turkey or roasted turkey. You know, I've never had the fried turkey. So I got to go roasted. Maybe that's a maybe that's a lame answer. But it's not a lame answer. You can't answer because you haven't had. Yeah, that's true.

It's reality. Would you be open to it? All right, here you go. You ready? Oh, yeah, sure. Thanksgiving dinner or whatever the time you eat, whatever time it is, whether it's a lunch, dinner, whether it's a dinner, all that's fine. But Thanksgiving dinner or the leftovers. Where do you fall on the sweet potato versus

pumpkin pie debate? I think they kind of taste similar to be honest, but I like pumpkin. That's what I would say too. I like the, the, just the forcefulness of James Franklin's answer. Now later he said why, because he had a group of ants that was all, all of them were great at making sweet potato pie. So that I think it's more of a sense Mary, you know, it's, it's more of a memory of them and the love of them than the pie itself because I agree with you I don't know that sweet potato pie and pumpkin pie are that different In flavor profile. I don't think I've ever had a

Fried turkey either. It's spectacular. Yeah, it's spectacular. I just I know me and how clumsy I am and I'm just imagining. A turkey turned into a projectile. Now, that's what happens if you drop a frozen turkey in oil, like I don't think I would be that stupid, but I just have a feeling I would figure out how to do something incredibly stupid. Yeah. I like that James Franklin did that because like he was into the answers too. He's like, hmm, I love he's writing down the like he's taking notes.

Yes, whether or not you're but like it is my favorite holiday. I don't know about you. Is it your favorite one too? It's a day built around food and football. Is there anything better than that? Like I like it better than Christmas day and you know, save the Jewish stuff. We also enjoy Christmas because it's not festive and we get the day off too.

Thanksgiving is just football and smashing food. And it's always beautiful weather outside. I love the crisp of the fall air and I love it. So anyway, we go in, I'm in charge of the sides this year. We're going over to some friends houses because you and I have a date on Saturday and we couldn't leave town. I have a take. I've been meaning to get off my chest and I don't know if you are with me on this and I don't know if it's because

you think I'm a raccoon or a garbage rat or whatever it is. Trash panda, which is just another phrase that means raccoon. Yeah, I'm a trash panda. I think that the best side that you can get is boxed stuffing. Boxed stuffing. Like I think it's so- Boxed by whom?

Stovetop stuffing. Oh, oh,'s so. Boxed by whom? Stove top. Oh, oh, oh, oh, okay. Okay. Like people go and get like gourmet, but people go get gourmet stuffing. They got cornbread stuffing. They got stuffing with sausage in it. Like they make their own cornbread. Then they make the stuffing like, okay.

All right. Like the best stuffing on earth comes out of the stove top box and I and I could smash that with my bare hand. I don't think that's that hard of a take. Okay, I'm just saying it's my favorite slide period. Yeah, because really you're talking about you're making, you're making, you're letting bread go stale and then you're shoving it in the cavity of the bird if you do it that way or like in the south there's a lot more where they do it in a in a dish and they call it dressing instead of stuffing But it's the same thing. I thought those were synonyms. Is there a different way to make them? No, well One you make in the cavity of the bird like they call it stuffing because you actually literally stuff that stuff in the cavity

The bird the the grease drips down and cooks it while it's in the bird the other one you're just doing it in a dish, cooking in the oven. But ingredient wise, they're very similar. But the best Thanksgiving side, and I think that you and I, because you're the Mr. Famous macaroni and cheese, right? That's the holiday you make your macaroni and cheese. I'm making it tonight,

because I pre-make, and then I just bake it on Thanksgiving day. But I think that any, like macaroni and cheese is the best side period. Like the king of sides. Like the best side on earth. Any day of the year, stuffing is the best Thanksgiving side. Like that is, like it is, we don't, because I don't't do you ever eat stuffing from Stovetop any other day of the year because I don't like I'm the only time I ever have

stuffing. Do people make make stuffing for dinner like in in February? I say somebody does but stuffing is the official flavor of Thanksgiving. I think of that. I think of stuffing. Yeah, I can live with that. Ari, we need to have a further discussion of this. I'll tell you what we'll do. We're going to give folks a Thursday show. I understand if you guys are busy with your families and aren't going to be around, but I know a lot of you are going to be driving this weekend, might need something to listen

to. We're going to give you a Thursday show where we answer your questions and we've already got some really good Dear Andy and Dear Ari questions and we're gonna draft Thanksgiving sides. I worry it may get contentious but I feel like Ari and I are off to a good start. We've made it this far with these takes

and nobody's gotten mad yet. So that's good. We may bring in Scott Dockerman to bring his cottage cheese. Yeah, that was the most psychopathic thing I've ever heard in my entire life. Scott Dockerman, another thing, the athletic was like another one too. Oh, go ahead. Yeah. Sorry. Oh, we were doing a similar exercise a couple years ago on the show. He was rafting sides. a similar exercise a couple of years ago on the show. He was rafting sides. And he says, Scott, cottage cheese.

And it was the record scratch needle drop. Like what? Our jaws just hit the floor. But yes, apparently in Iowa, Nebraska, in that part of the country, at Thanksgiving, occasionally there's a big old bowl of cottage cheese and people will just kind of scoop out of it. Andy, the thing that didn't make it egregious, the thing that made it egregious wasn't that he said cottage cheese,

is that we were drafting sides. It was a draft. And there was a lot left. There was a lot left. Like, I think like, turkey was still there or whatever. And like, he's like, cottage cheese with a third overall pick. I'm like Turkey was still there or whatever. And like he's like cottage cheese with the third overall pick. I'm like, what the? That would have been, that's an undrafted free agent, Scott. No one's drafting cottage cheese in front of you. And that was the thing that made it the worst.

But like also too, the thing that I've noticed, and I guess like I've never done this for me, a lot of people, and I saw that on three, had a little Thanksgiving feast yesterday at their office in Nashville. I don't know, were you invited? Cause I was not invited to that. I was not invited.

They had deviled eggs there. And I'm a deviled egg guy. I love a good deviled egg. Is that a Thanksgiving side for people? Cause somebody posted here in the chat deviled eggs. And I didn't know if that was a normal thing. I do think, or Thanksgiving appetizer for sure. Like would people draft deviled eggs?

I would think so. Okay. Yeah, because especially like in the South, like deviled eggs are a very common appetizer for any sort of family gathering. Like there's that tray of deviled eggs, and I'm not a big deviled egg person, but I have family members that would just house a whole tray of deviled eggs.

So that is a very common like family gathering appetizer or side dish. But yeah, so in fact, there may be deviled eggs at the one I'm going to my mother-in-law's house because it's one of those that everybody's bringing something. So I, of course, am making mac and cheese. You can make it along with me. So the mac and cheese I make is the mac and cheese they make at Clarkston Union, which is a restaurant in Clarkston, Michigan. And I had it for the first time when I went to Union Wood Shop, which is their sister barbecue restaurant. And I'm like, this is the best mac and cheese I've ever had in my life.

Now I don't use the very special only in Michigan cheeses that they use, one, because I can't get them where I live. But two, I found the kids don't like it as much when you go a little bit exotic with the cheeses. So my cheese is a little more conventional, but I cook it the same way. It's so freaking good. I can't take any credit for it.

I just follow the recipe. All I added was a little bit of crumbled up bacon, but it is so freaking good and the recipe is on the Internet. So if you guys want to try it, you know, go get your heavy cream. He sent me the pic and it was just like I like was like the dude from Jurassic Park

with the glasses the first time I saw it. It is lastly, it's so good Andy. I know we were going to Park with the glasses the first time I saw it. It is so good. Andy, I know we were gonna try to keep this short, but I gotta say one more thing. The most elite way, cause James Franklin asked us in the video, to eat your plate in my opinion. And obviously I've had struggles

with keeping my weight down in the past and currently. The best way to make a plate is to take one of the rolls to cut the roll open and to put everything on the sandwich the way that they do at Wawa. Gobbler! The Gobbler, yeah. That's how I actually make my plate at Thanksgiving. Like I will take a roll and like'm like, my wife knows get buns. You throw some cranberry sauce in there too, right? Cranberry sauce.

I feel like that's what makes the, when you do the Thanksgiving on a sandwich, you need, here are the crucial ingredients. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce. That's your Thanksgiving on a sandwich. And I'll throw some corn on there potatoes, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce. That's your Thanksgiving on a sandwich. And I'll throw some corn on there if there's corn too, because I like the texture of that. I think corn and mashed potatoes

is an electric combination. It's just starch and starch, bud. It's all it is. Now I want a Thanksgiving day sandwich. But that's how I, like to me,'s all it is. I want a Thanksgiving day sandwich, but that's how I like to me. Like that's the epitome of Thanksgiving. Beautiful, beautiful Ari. We will have this conversation in greater detail tomorrow.

Everybody, if we don't see you tomorrow, if you're busy, I understand. Have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving. Enjoy the games this weekend. Otherwise, get your ass back here tomorrow and argue with us about Thanksgiving sides. We'll talk to you then.