Andy & Ari On3 - The TOP 10 JUICIEST matchups of the 2026 college football season

Episode Date: March 2, 2026

As we roll into the month of March, there will be plenty of hoops to talk. But today, Andy & Ari breakdown their top 10 juiciest games of the 2026 schedule. Obviously, Lane Kiffin’s return to Ole Miss is at the top of our list, but what other games made the cut? The fellas break it down all right here on today’s episode of Andy & Ari On3.   (0:00) Today’s Episode (0:44) Presenting Sponsor (2:28) Intro: Juiciest Games (4:30) #10: Texas at Texas A&M (12:48) #9: Duke at Miami (16:10) #8 Oregon at USC (25:38) #7: Texas Tech at Cincinnati (29:37) #6: Penn State at Michigan (35:55) #5: Florida at Auburn (42:22) #4: Georgia at Alabama (49:38) #3: Miami at Notre Dame (59:44) #2: Ohio State at Texas (1:09:45) #1: LSU at Ole Miss (1:24:02) Conclusion: Thanks for watching! Do you agree with Andy & Ari’s list? Are there any games we should’ve included. Let us know in the comments below!   Thanks for watching!   Send in your questions for Dear Andy & Ari here: [e-mail] [e-mail]   Our show is also presented by BetMGM!   If you haven’t signed up for BetMGM yet, use bonus code ON3 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 ON3. 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 sure you use bonus code ON3 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.   Watch our show on YouTube! https://youtu.be/ioKojf7iH3E   Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari Wasserman Producer: River Bailey   Interested in partnering with the show? Email [e-mail] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On today's episode of Andy and Ari on 3 presented by BetMGM, it is the 10 juiciest college football games of 2006. Will they be the 10 best? We don't know. Will they have the juiciest storylines? At least right now they do. We'll break them down. Of course, Lane Kippen returning to Oxford is on the list. Of course, the rematch between Archmanning and Julian Steyn is on the list.

Of course, we've got. Cubies who left one school and went to another in the conference and have to play against them on the list. We got it all. We'll talk about it today on Andy Narion 3 presented by BedmGM. This show is presented by BedMGM, and there's no better place to be during March matchups than Las Vegas. This year, college basketball fans can win a VIP trip to the Court of Legends event

featuring the Cavender Twins. Simply play sports bets and your position on the leaderboard will determine if you win one of the 25 grand prize packages. Just sign into your BED-MGM account, opt into the promotion, and start placing sports bets of at least $10 to climb the leaderboard. Make this March 1 to remember, join the Court of Legends leaderboard, and make it legendary. If you haven't signed up for BDMGM yet, don't forget to use code CFB, that CFB is in college football, to claim your new player offer worth up to $1,500 off your first wazer with bed-MGM.

Off your first wager with BedmGM. So come see us on the court of legends and make it legendary with BedmGM. See Betmgm.com for terms. 21 plus only U.S. promotional offers are not available in New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. Gambling problem. Call 1-800 gambler in the U.S. Call 8778-Hope-N-Y or text Hope N.Y in 4-6737-369 in New York. Call 1-800 next step in Arizona.

call 1-800-327-50-50-50 in Massachusetts, call 1-800-off in Iowa or 1-800-9-1-0023 in Puerto Rico. First-bent offer for new customers only, subject to eligibility requirements, rewards are non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire in seven days in partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. Don't forget, if you haven't signed up for bed MGM yet, use the bonus code CFB and get your $1,500 first bet offer today. Welcome to Annie and Ari on 3 presented by BetMGM. It is a glorious, glorious Monday, Ari, because we are talking about college football games that are going to happen. Ah, because the free practice is starting this week at a bunch of schools. Like, it's the offseason, and I know we have a lot of offseason left, but days like today make me feel like and make it.

This is March. Let's go, baby. Right. You know, there's, I feel like there's no more appropriate way to bask in the newness of March by talking about some of the matchups that get your blood boiling, Andy. I'm super excited. And the coolest thing about this list is, this list is formulated based on what we know currently. Do you know how many games we're going to get based on things that we don't know currently that are also going to be awesome later on? Like, it's going to be amazing. So some of these games might actually age out of not being that interesting, although most of them will because of the feelings aspect of it. You know how much I like feelings.

But think about like there are certain games on this list if you want to go through some of them now that didn't make the cut. Like Ohio State Michigan is not on this list. Yeah, because we don't know if it's going to be interesting yet. But if Michigan's like a one lost team and Ohio State's a one lost team, that would be maybe number one. So like. A freaking game of the year. Yeah. Yeah.

And Ohio State, by the way, was a lot of honorable mentions. Ohio State USC was an honorable mention. You mentioned Ohio State Michigan. Ohio State playing, Ohio State Indiana is an honorable mention. Ohio State playing a hard schedule is just good for college football. It's just fun. But as you pointed out, if you look at this list, we've only got two games that are in November on this list

because a lot of stuff has to happen before we get there. And the season will set up the juiciness of most of those November games. But there are some fun, fun games on this. Let's start with number 10. We're going to Kyle Field. You and I were at this game the last time it was at Kyle Field. Texas at Texas A&M. Texas has beaten Texas A&M three times in a row, but that dates back to 2011.

So this is an extra psychic weight that Texas A&M has to carry. Yeah. You know, it is just a reminder of how deep this. list is, Andy, because I cannot believe this is number 10. And, you know, a lot of it has to do with, you know, former lovers returning back to the home of their foes and there's nothing that can be done results-wise to change any of the compelling natures of that. But when you think about this is one of the best rivalries in college football, and we're two years removed from it, but the first time I went to Kyle Field ever was for that game. And I'm comfortable saying that

it sucked. Like it wasn't, like, obviously the place is a cathedral. And it's unlike any other place in college football. The fans are great. I'm not saying that A&M Stadium isn't loud. But you remember the tenor of that game. It wasn't like a blowout, but Texas A&M wasn't really in it. The crowd kind of got out of it a little bit. Texas sucked the energy out of it very quickly. And it's interesting because in both cases, since this rivalry's return with Texas coming to the SEC, in both cases, they've both been good teams. But the game kind of went the same way both times, where Texas kind of boa constricted Texas A&M defensively. And that's what has to change for Texas A&M.

Marcel Reed, if you look at those last two games the year, he was great for most of the year. Those last two games, the Texas game, the Miami game, they bottled him up. They kept him in the pocket, forced him to make throws that he could not make in those situations. In both of those games, he had a terrible yards per attempt, very inefficient, and had zero touchdowns. two picks in both of those games. So he's got to be better in this game. But Texas A&M, just for the sake of the rivalry, for the sake of, well, we said battered Aggie syndrome is gone.

I don't know if it is. Like I think it came back when Texas beat them in Austin this year. Yeah. They got to figure out how to beat these guys. Because if they don't, like Texas A&M moving to the SEC changed Texas A&M's identity. And it's interesting because I made that list of. ranking the realignment moves of the 2010s and had Texas A&M number one. And I said they changed their identity.

And all the Texas A&M fans agreed wholeheartedly. Of course, everything felt different. And the Texas fans are like, that's not really any different. But it is different because Texas A&M is far less little brother globally to Texas now. But if they can't beat Texas, you go right back to being a little brother. So you've got to stop getting beat by Texas. Yeah, you're making me want to put it higher on the list, Andy, because, you know, we spent so much time if you think about like how many minutes we spent on this show

talking about Ryan Day's inability to beat Michigan and what that meant for his placement in that rivalry. Like this is every bit as bitter of a rivalry. Now, maybe not quite to the same extent because they also have different rivals. But, you know, in terms of me living in the state and feeling the hate on a day-to-day basis as tangible here as it was when I lived in Columbus. And now you're talking about a team in A&M that was supposed to have their own season last year. They were undefeated going into the Texas A&M or the Texas game. They went on the road

and they ended up losing and losing, I would say, you know, kind of convincingly, you know, maybe not on the scoreboard, but it seemed like Texas controlled that game from start to finish for the most part. And it's like, when does it start becoming a mental thing with Elko? Everything with Elko is perfect. And A&M is a. had a schedule and they made the playoff and they literally almost beat the national championship runner up at home in the first round. Like there's a lot to feel good about. But at what point does the inability to beat Texas start becoming bigger than maybe it has been?

Because I think you get the benefit of the doubt, you know, at the beginning. And on the other side of this, too, Andy, Texas has not broken through yet under Steve Sarkeesian. They've made the playoffs a few times. And they've already like stepped like through the first step of the development. have become a new place, but they haven't broken through all the way. So if they are a bubble team to borrow a March term or a game or a warm. And these could both be bubble teams.

We have no idea how the first year of nine game SEC schedules is going to work out. And like what if A&M beats Texas and knocks Texas out of the playoff? I mean, there are very, very many scenarios that could come into play in this game, Andy, that make this a pretty big pressure cooker for Texas too. I don't want to just make it about Elko, but like right now, you don't want to start off 0 and 3 against your rival in the middle of a build. So I think this is highly compelling. And I wonder, because we had the same conversation about Ohio State Michigan and like when

Ohio State lost to Michigan and then went on to win the national title, like if Texas A&M, let's say they either got a different draw in the playoff or they had, you know, that pass gets caught by an Aggie in the end zone and not by a hurricane in the end zone and A&M wins and they go, to the semifinals or go to the national championship game, are we talking about this differently? I think we probably are talking about this differently, but I think because of the way A&M season ended with Texas's defense controlling that game

and then Miami's defense controlling Texas A&M's offense in that game, we know where the improvement needs to come for Texas A&M. We know where if they're going to take the next step, because remember, in both these games, since the rivalry was renewed, Texas A&M has been able to do next to nothing offensively in Texas. Yeah.

And by the way, Texas under due management on defense now, which is interesting because it's not like Pete Kukkowski did a terrible job, but they part ways with him. They bring in Will Musschamp, who's a very good defensive coordinator. It's going to be interesting to see how that changes, because Kukkowski had A&M's number. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

So, you know, this. is and the fact that it's back in college station. Like it just, it just feels like it's going to be another big time game. And whoever wins it. Like, you know, it's all about steps and levels, right? You don't just go from being okay to winning the national title. You know, start off 10 or 11 and 0. Then maybe your season doesn't end the way that you want, but then you want to build off of that.

I don't think that Texas A&M is a completely built program until they can field a team that is physically equipped to handle Texas, whether it be at home or on the road. So, you know, this is going to be a continued storyline for Elko as he builds that program and he's on the right track. But, you know, this is going to be a big, big, big game. And it had to be on this list. Little Bet MGM guests the line here because obviously they haven't put out any of the early lines yet on this stuff.

It's a total insane question on your part, Andy, but I'd love to play. Because everything's going to change during the season. But based on what we know now, what would you put the line of this game? Texas minus three and a half. I think that's fair. I think that's fair until we see Texas A&M do some stuff offensively. And look, it may be completely different by the time they get to this game. But this rivalry, the bitterness of it, the kind of Texas looking down their nose, Texas A&M, being obsessed with Texas even when they weren't playing.

So varsity's horns off. The songs about Texas. Like a lot about Texas. And eventually A&M has to break through. Eventually you actually have to solve varsity's horns off or you got to stop bringing it. Right. You don't get the sway anymore unless you actually solve RSI's horns off. Yeah.

We shall see. But that is a fun one. Our next game is our other November game. Our number nine is our other November game. And it is a quarterback returning to play against his old team. And oh boy, this is going to be, I don't know, both of these that we have on our list are contentious. But this one's going to be pretty nasty, I think. Duke at Miami. So Darien Mensa was Duke's quarterback last year, led Duke to an ACC title.

Miami did not win the ACC title, but was the ACC team that made the playoff and made it to the national title game. It was clear Miami wanted to transfer quarterback, but as the transfer portal wound down, didn't have one yet. And the day before the portal closes, it comes out that Darien Mentsa wants out. And where does he want to go? Miami. Now, I think this game would be a little bit higher on the list if the game were at Duke. Unfortunately, it's in Miami. So at least Dary and Mentsa will have the comfort of his friends around him.

It's not like Wallace Wade Stadium is known for being the snake pit there. No, I know. But like going back home, I think it's. more compelling than your ex-lover coming to you. I mean, think about, like, you were dating somebody, and you had to, like, see them. It's much easier to see them on your home turf. But I do think that no matter how this goes, like, we don't know what Duke is going to be. Duke is the defending ACC champion, something that Miami has never done.

So maybe they'll be very good again next year. But part of the reason they were very good or good enough to win their conference was because they had a star quarterback who's no longer on the team. So, like, by the way, by the way, as you're talking, we have photos of of Mani Diaz running. Let us not forget that by Emmy had Mani Diaz as his head coach and fired him to hire Mario Cristobal. So there's also that. Yeah. I mean, this is how rivalry start, but Duke has to hold up its end of the bargain. I don't know.

You know, we are still very early in the roster turnover phase to be 100% familiar with how good everyone's going to be and there will be teams that jump out of nowhere. Duke has to hold up their end of the bargain. Like if Duke is like a 500 team or less than 500 team going into this game in November. Like it might not be as compelling if Miami is wrong. We are talking about the defending ACCC champions. Show some freaking respect. No, I know.

I know. Sorry, how dare I? But they do need to hold up their end of the bargain. That's a fact. I think we know that Miami is going to be at least very good or pretty good, maybe even great. I think they're going to be very good. Yeah.

So I just don't want this to be a 17 and a half point spread is all I'm saying, because like that's what would ruin it. knocking off the list, but the feelings aspect of it. This is the feelings bowl. And on both sides of it, Miami was the aggressor and the scorned lover disputes. Yeah. They kicked Mani Diaz to the curb. They stole Darius and Mensa.

Like there's a lot of emotional angst going on here. Yeah. And I think that this is for the ballheads, really. Like, I don't know if this is the type of game that, like, some random fan that, like, watches top five matchups on night games on Saturday. night's really going to get after. But like if you listen to the show, you can probably feel the if you are our people, you're circling this one very, very early. Yeah. Speaking of early, let's get to our next game, our number eight game, Oregon at USC.

This is the, it's not the Big Ten opener for USC. It is USC's second Big Ten game. But remember, USC drops Notre Dame. They go get San Jose. State, so this was because of the difficulty of the Big Ten schedule. Soft. But it's San Jose State, Fresno State, the Raging Cajuns of Louisiana, and then they opened Big Ten and play against Rutgers. And then it begins for USC. They have a stretch of Oregon, Washington, and Penn State, starting with Oregon coming

to the Coliseum. This is the game already last year where USC goes to Outson Stadium. Austin Stadium, sorry. And USC is still in playoff contention. If USC beats Oregon, they probably make the playoff, and it was never that competitive. This is where USC shows we are here to make the playoff. We are here to be part of the Big Ten race.

Or it's where they say, all right, we're not on Oregon's level again. You know how we did this list because I wanted to be higher. And that just shows you how awesome we, like all the games above it are better. Like this is like the Lincoln Riley, are you going to, are you going to just do it already? Like, what are we? What is this year? Is this year six? This is year five. Oh, yeah, because I had to pay last. Was that?

No, like after year three, you had to pay. Yes. Oh, it was three years. Sorry, I thought that was four years. Okay, yeah, year five. That's a half a decade. That's a long time in college football world. like go do it and like I also love too that USC gets to maintain some of its pack 12 rivalries this was always a big game back in that day and you know I don't know what the future big 10 schedules are going to hold but I'm assuming there's going to be a day in time where you know USC and Oregon don't play every year so I think we should savor these moments too because it kind of reminds me of the past but yeah this is a ultimate shit or get off the pot

moment, right? Like, this is, this is do or die. Are we going to do? Because like, what, like, put up USC schedule again, by the way. Do you see that's the thing? And you, you could say, oh, they could just lose it. Well, if they lose this one, they still have to play Washington, Penn State, Ohio State, and Indiana. In Wisconsin's in the middle, and we don't know what Wisconsin's going to be. Maybe Wisconsin turns out to be an eight-win team this year, and that's not an easy game to go on the road. Like, they're going to be in Madison in late October. Like, that's like a really rough, rough schedule. And, you know, if Notre Dame were, now I kind of understand why they don't want to play it because like that would just be like impossible to make the playoff probably. Or I guess they could have just tried to be really good.

But, you know, that's too much. It would be good. But, you know, this is a pivotal game that they need. You don't want to start off that, that stretch with a loss against Oregon. Because like it's also that you've touched on this, Andy. It's not just a loss in the standings. It's also a litmus test. It's a measuring stick of who you are as a program.

and you're always going to compare yourself to Oregon because you're a former Pact 12 member and Oregon does a lot of its recruiting in your state and has traditionally built its program up from players from your state. So like if you are ready to compete at a high level, you can't lose this game and it's at home, right? It's like it's at home. So for the Ducks, this is their Big Ten opener.

And their schedule is not easy either. Like their Big Ten schedule is pretty rough too. So they can't really afford to drop this one either. This is a team that we think is almost there. We think is almost over the hump. Like if you look at what Oregon brings back on defense, they are going to be nasty on defense. They're going to be awesome on defense.

We think they're going to be pretty good on offense too. But they've got to play Illinois. They've got to play former Oregon head coach Chip Kelly as Northwestern's offensive coordinator. They're at Ohio State. They get Michigan. And of course, the Washington rivalry. And I think Washington is going to be very good this year.

So they have no slouch of a Big Ten schedule, and they need to keep showing progress, which progress for them, like they got to make it to the national championship game to equal progress over last year. So they have, they've had probably a higher bar than USC has, but they need to win this game because it doesn't get much easier after this. They're still going to be challenged quite a bit going forward. They can't afford to slip up here. Yeah, yeah, super compelling. And you know how I am with the Lincoln Riley feelings. Like that really gets my juices flowing. I love that we used juiciest as the word for this list because I think it's perfectly appropriate.

They're very juicy. And that's the thing because I think USC people are very excited about this season. And I understand why you just brought in this number one recruiting class. You bring back a really good quarterback in Jade Maya. You've got some good players, young players who played last year, who showed a lot of promise. I do think USC people should be excited about this. This, though, is kind of where the rubber meets the road. This is where you decide I want to stay excited or, uh-oh.

And I think that's what it is. I think because the USC fans, at least the ones who interact with me on social media, have gotten much more cynical about Lincoln Riley as the years have gone on. Why? Because I've been kind of even keel regarding Lincoln Riley. Like I've never been as high as you are on him, but I also don't think he's terrible. And I think he can be a very,

but he's still a very young guy. He can be an all-time great head coach if a few things get buttoned up. Yeah. But the USC fans I interact with have, they've gone from he's the greatest stop criticizing him to stop blowing sunshine up or you know what's we've seen the last couple of years. years. So I get it. I get where you are. This game is the kind of one where those people, they go back, they go back on his bandwagon if USC wins this. They may be all the way off if

USC wins. Yeah, or the torches come out. Yeah. Or if it looks like it did. Because last year's game was not a blowout, but you were never really worried about Oregon in that game. Yeah, I think that if even if you would see were to lose by three in a tight game you might still take something from it like i know we're in a no morals victory thing i think that you want to see a product but organ might be the best team in the country so we don't i don't know that it's win or go home i think it is match their athleticism and show that you belong athletically on the same field like your program is is akin to that because the thing that's been the most hard thing for them to swallow andy more than anything is that it's not just that they're not waiting a lot of games, it's that they know

their program isn't equal to the place that has pillaged their state for talent. So it seems like USC has made some major strides in their NIL front, you know, and I, you know how I feel about Southern California. The Orange County Zillow page is like my home page on my browser. Like, I think that like there is a lot to be excited about. And I was very excited when he was hired. You know, we said it many times on the show. I thought for sure they were going to be a new power because that was Oklahoma Lincoln Riley. And then the Oklahoma Lincoln Riley and some of the deficits

or deficiencies that he had when he was there, that Oklahoma fans were quick to point out once he left, actually turned out to be true. So let's see if he can overcome them. I think they fixed their defense and it's gotten better over the last few years. They lost their B.C. He had Penn State. They have to move on from that and figure that out.

But like that schedule in general, like if you're a, USC fan who says like, you know, CFP or bust, like, you might, you know, if they win nine games, like you might have a case. So, I mean, it obviously depends on how great Indiana is. I think that that's kind of a question mark too of like you lose your core, you lose your quarterback who's going to be the number of overall pick in the NFL draft. Like, are you still elite or are you just a solid team? Like, I don't know what that's going to be. There's a lot, there's a lot to unpack there. But USC has to at least exist on this field with Oregon and look like there are, an equal counterpart.

Right. And I mentioned they lost Anton Lin, the defensive coordinator at Penn State. They did pick up Gary Patterson, though. Yeah. And Gary Patterson has been, yeah. Gary Patterson is an all-time great coach. Like defensively was calling the defense at TCU for most of those years. I think he might be the greatest evaluator in the history of the sport because he can just look at some guy in 10th grade who's playing running back and be like, you're an NFL defensive end.

and be right. So that's, I'm excited to see what he does there. And I think that's, that's the thing. USC people have every reason to be excited going into this season. This will be the first real test where you decide, okay, am I still excited or is this more of the same? And I think if it's, am I still excited coming out of this game? And again, you don't necessarily have to be a USC win to still be excited. But I think that this will tell us a lot.

we will learn something from this game. Yeah. Number seven, another quarterback. Now this time the quarterback is going back to the place he left. Oh, by the way, he's getting sued by that place too. It is Texas Tech headed to Cincinnati. Brendan Sorsby returns to Nippert Stadium for the first time since leaving the Bearcats for the Red Raiders.

You're going through an absolutely bloody divorce with your wife. and she is hosting your three-year-old daughter's birthday party at her house. That's what this is. Yes, that's exactly right. You're being sued. And you got to go back to the house that you may have paid for. Exactly. You at least help pay for it.

And at that point, maybe you have paid something. I don't know if they've settled or what the deal is. you also are bringing your rocket girlfriend. Right? Yeah. Because that's going to be very good. So like, you're bringing, you're bringing,

there will be a lot of talent on your arm. Yeah. Let's put it that way. Yeah. Everybody in the room is going to think you're an asshole, but at least you can hold your head high. I think that this is going to be fun. I think it's going to be entertaining.

And there's nothing better in college football than comparing a game to, real life actually sad situations where people get divorced. So it is a... Well, why bring it down? We were having so much fun. Yeah, no, I know. I mean, I think I lean on the relationship stuff too much, but it is, I mean, but isn't that kind of what it is?

There's definitely a rom-com vibe to this, and Texas Tech's supporting cast is Brendan Sorsby's revenge body, if that makes sense? Yes. I mean, it's like, oh, by the way, I'm bringing this defense that's going to try to bury your quarterback, and maybe they probably will. Or their, or his hidden bank account from all the money that he was hiding from his ex-partner, which is part of the reason they're getting divorced.

He's not hiding it. He's just like, I'm not paying you. It was a hidden account. You know, people, you know. And look, I'm rich. You didn't know this. Meanwhile, J.C. French, Georgia Southern's all-time leading passer. That's Cincinnati's new QB.

What if he just lights it up? What if the new man in Cincinnati's life turns out to be the stepdad, the dad who stepped up? Well, you know, I think that Cincinnati in general is kind of an interesting program at the moment, too, because like last year, Satterfield came into the, into the season kind of on the hot seat. And then they like won, I believe, six or seven games in a row. And then did you see how their season ended? Obviously you did. They lost five in a row.

Yeah, it was rough. Arizona, BYU, and TCU. and then ultimately Navy in their bowl game, the Auto Zone Liberty Bowl. So it wasn't the best ending, but at least it did feel like there were some progress to me made there.

I'm very curious what Cincinnati is going to be, and I'm assuming that Nippert is going to be quite fired up for this game. And this is kind of what I was saying, like with that Mensa's not going to have to deal with, which is going back to a place where everybody hates you. He's hosting the birthday party. Brendan Soresby has to go to it. It has to wear those.

And Nippert, is already a pretty intense place to play. The fans are right on top of you. Yeah. It's kind of dug into the ground. Like, this is going to be an intense environment. I can't wait to see this. Yeah.

And, you know, one of these quarterbacks is probably going to lose. So we'll see which one it is. But that's how college football goes. I don't know if both are just going to go. You mean Mensa or Sorsby? Something crazy is going to happen, right? It's the sport.

I don't know which one is going to be. Something crazy always happens. That's the beauty. It's the king of gravity. So, yeah, certainly higher on the list because of the location of the game, in my opinion. Let us move to number six on our list. This was a tough one because this could be number one by the time we get to this game. It is Penn State at Michigan.

And we haven't seen this game in a couple of years. We haven't seen this game since the Sharon Moore taking over for Jim Harbaugh. because Jim Harbaugh got suspended while they were in mid-air headed to state college. But now you have Matt Campbell leading Penn State against Kyle Whittingham's Michigan. We'll start with the Penn State part of it because they're both in very different situations. In this particular situation, where this falls in the schedule, Penn State will have just played USC at home. By the way, Lincoln Riley, it didn't. It doesn't get much easier after the Oregon thing.

But Penn State will have just played USC at home. Then they go to Ann Arbor. If they beat USC, there's a good chance that this game can kind of lock up the playoff for them if they win it. If you look at the rest of the schedule, they would still probably have a mulligan and would have a fairly manageable schedule the rest of the way. Yeah. I mean, if they've lost to USC, they can, then it's sort of a desperation. like, hey, we need to win this thing. You know, based on the way the Big Ten's old divisions were set up,

and during a time when Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan State, and Michigan were all very good to solid teams, like this became one of the most pivotal matchups on an annual basis, and I believe kind of felt rivalry-ish to me. And you have two teams that are in transition mode. both probably unexpectedly in this position too if you would have told both teams that they would have new coaches heading into this coming season in the middle of you know March last year they would have been like what the hell happened um both for very different reasons but both yeah a lot guys a lot happened yeah uh so i think that you have two coaches that are you know in a position where they have to show early returns and they want to be successful out of the game. and I think this is going to be a good measuring stick for both of these programs to say, hey, where are we? Who's superior at the moment?

Who's going to be more ready to, you know, climb the ladder and get back to where they were and overcome some of their hardships, whether it be self-inflicted or just bad circumstances with these two teams? Now, Michigan is going to be challenged before they get here. They'll have already played Oklahoma. They'll have already played Iowa. So it's not like they're not going to be challenged. This is a tough schedule.

Michigan's schedule is much tougher than Penn States, much. much tougher. If Michigan's going to make the playoff, they probably have to win this game because they play Ohio State, they play Oregon, they play Indiana, they play Iowa, they play Oklahoma. Like all of those could be playoff teams for God's sake. Yeah, that's a pretty rough schedule too. So, and like part of the reason why Ohio State Michigan's not on the list, guys, just so you know, is because this game is going to predicate how important that one is. Not that it's not going to be important to the people involved in it, but like I'm very curious, like what Michigan actually is in November.

If Michigan's a 10-win team in November and is going to Columbus, you could throw that in the top three. I mean, that's just an automatic every year. So we'll see where it goes. But the emotional aspect of it, I do think it's inherently interesting to watch a coach in Michigan or coaching Michigan exists in that rivalry for the first time, but we know that Kyle Woodingham has done a very good job

in that with his record against BYU while at Utah. So I'm sure he'll have his boys ready to play. So, yeah, that's, That's a really exciting Big Ten change of the guard type situation. And no matter what happens before that, I think it's going to be interesting. Because even if like Michigan stumbles a few times, it's just like, was Whittingham going to lose the boat right out of the gate? Like, it's going to be fascinating no matter what.

Yeah. And if things are going well for Michigan, this is one of those where if you win this one, you go into a pretty difficult stretch with a lot of confidence. And that's the thing I'm most excited about is we're showing Bryce under. now on the screen, if you're listening in podcast form, what is Bryce Underwood going to look like in this offense? What is Bryce Underwood going to look like with coaching that isn't just melting down? I mean, I go back to like the Northwestern game at the end of the season.

That was just frustrating to watch. But you know this guy can be really good. You know he has all of the tools that he needs to be a great quarterback. And so Jason Beck comes in as the O.C. Whittingham's the head coach. You keep Andrew Marsh. You keep a lot of the line. It feels like he's ready to take a big step.

And he will be challenged. I mean, he will be challenged pretty much from the get-go. Great defenses right off the bat in Oklahoma and Iowa. And then this will be one where you're at home, you're playing as a team that should be fairly equal to you. and where do you stack up? Because I think this is one of the... The thing about a lot of these that we've picked, they're kind of representative.

They feel like a game where we will learn a lot about both teams. This feels like a game we will learn a lot about Bryce Underwood, Michigan, Kyle Whittingham's, Michigan, what it is. I just, I think it's going to be so much fun to watch this new regime go through this season because, again, they're going to be challenged over and over and over again.

But for Matt Campbell, and I'm like, Ari, think about this. There's so many alternate histories where if the jobs had come open at different times or the short, like the Sharon Moore firing had happened at a different time, like Matt Campbell might be Michigan's coach right now.

Yeah, without question. And I think he would have done that. I mean, if you would have done it for Penn State, he certainly would have done it for Michigan. You know, yeah, this is ultra compelling. super excited for it. Yeah, it's going to be so much fun. Let us go to number five, the fifth juiciest game. And this one, we go into the SEC here. Florida at Auburn, this is the SEC opener for both teams. It is on September 19th. And we talk about alternate histories in which coach went

where. John Sumerall was down the road with Auburn. He was a ways. down the road with Auburn to replace Hugh Freeze. And then it didn't happen in part because Florida came real hard. Once Lane Kiffin ghosted Florida, they had to figure out what to do. John Somerall quickly became number one on their list, and they came after him very hard. And so this is another alternate history situation because if John Sumerall takes Auburn, Alice Goalish is probably the head coach at Arkansas. Don't know who the head coach at Florida is, but very different world that we're living in.

Yes. I was watching the Florida basketball game on Saturday night when they dropped 100 on, who was it they were? Arkansas, 111. And John Summerhold was behind the bench just like cheering his ass off. I'm like, that guy could have been Auburn's coach. Like I had that thought. And I guess maybe, you know, it is kind of a small world.

But obviously, too, Andy, anytime you have two programs that want to compete at a high level, expect to compete at a high level, who have hired, you know, a new coach, not to mention the fact that they were both interested in the same one, and you're breaking those guys in at the same time. Like, that's just SEC football at its peak, right? Which team is going to be on the fast track, which team's already going to want to fire their new coach? Like, we're going to find out. I don't think either of these teams are going into things this year,

you're expecting playoffs or expecting to be dominant in the SEC. They kind of want to see where there are in year one with their new coach. But this is one of those where people are, because this is how these fan bases operate. Like whoever loses this game, the fan base will be ready to jump off a bridge. Yeah, and they're going to be like, we're behind Auburn still.

We're behind Florida still. Like it's, you know, everything's a measuring stick. Everything is a comparison. And, you know, part of that. because of us. But I think that the fans too, you know, are educated and smart enough to say, hey, you know, we are in similar boats. We hired coaches. We had the same time to improve our rosters. How are we not as good as the team that was, you know, theoretically in the same exact position that we were in? And I don't know if that's always a fair comparison. It's not always

apples to apples. Florida did a good job of retaining some of its best players. Auburn brought in a really exciting quarterback but lost their best receiver. Like it's not the same. exact situation, but they will be viewed the same way by the fans and whoever loses the game. Also, Auburn quarterback Byron Brown, no stranger to beating Florida. He went into the swamp with USF and beat Florida last year. And obviously, he's not the only one coming from USF. So there's several players on this team who've already beaten Florida once and beat them at their place with a team that wasn't supposed to win.

Yeah, Byron Brown is a quarterback who got both coaches new jobs in this game. that's entirely true because right byron brown helped contribute to the firing of billy napier so yeah he helped contribute that was it like i think that that game was it was over probably was it yeah other things happened before he got fired but that probably was the end right yeah i think that it was like unless florida goes undefeated and shows that that was a complete anomaly which was never going to happen like everybody was out at that point yeah and we don't know what the florida's quarterback situation is going to be yet erin philo and tremel jones will be in competition this spring. And I know what you're thinking. Oh, Aaron Filo is from Georgia Tech. Buster Falkner,

the new office coordinator from Georgia Tech. That's the starter. For sure. I wouldn't go so far. If you watched our interview with John Summerall last week, he was pretty adamant that this is going to be a real competition. They had to work pretty hard to keep Tramel Jones Jr., who I think probably would have a chance to be a starter elsewhere. So I do think it will be a legitimate competition. Yes, they are. They are. And so I do think it'll be a legitimate competition to see who winds up playing quarterback for the Gators. It's not at Auburn. It's Byron Brown.

We talked to Alex Gulles, and he said, bringing his center, bringing by Brown from USF allows him to sleep at night because he knows the offense is going to, at least from the beginning of each play function, the way it's intended to function. And I think that that is a pretty comforting thing. Yeah. But this is going to be so much fun because, like, you've seen Auburn. And again, we've mentioned this stand on the show. It still doesn't feel real to me.

But Auburn has not had a winning season since 2019. That is insane. It's a long time. And the fans keep showing up. I mean, think about how they reacted. And I hate to say it, they're at their most enthusiastic every time they fire a coach. And like think about when Cadillac Williams was, the interim and how much they showed up.

But they showed up last year when Hugh Freeze got fired. They have been through a lot. A lot. And maybe it's a good show for next week. Top 10 most tortured fan bases in the moment. Oh, I like it. I like it. So this is going to be a fun game.

There's going to be a bunch of these. The thing about the SEC coaching carousel this past year, is that a lot of it was predicated on where John Somerall landed. And so that affected everybody else. And this one had a huge effect. And now you have Alex Golish at Auburn where, you know, you've seen him on the show, guys. This guy sounds like he knows what he's doing.

This guy sounds like somebody who can get Auburn in the place where they want it to go. And Auburn wanted to be able to keep DJ Durkin as the defensive coordinator. they did. So this is, we'll find out. SEC opener for both teams. We stay in the SEC R and heads number four on our list. And this is a game between two teams that we didn't get all that much in the SEC divisional era. We tended to get it in the SEC championship game or even in the playoff.

But now we're getting it more in the regular season. And it has been fun the last couple regular seasons. So Georgia heads to Alabama. Alabama has won the last two regular season matchups, and Georgia, of course, crushed Alabama in the SEC championship game last year. This one is a big one for Kalin-Abor. Kirby Smart's place in the world is very secure and safe.

Kailen Abor won this game last year, won this game the year before in the regular season. It's crazy to think that if you had two regular season wins against Georgia. And you made the playoff one of those years that people are unsure about you, but that is where Kailin Avor is right now. Yeah, it isn't it kind of wild. And the other thing, too, and like I know that I always, it's like a tricky scenario.

And I don't know if like a bunch of people who ate Mike Bobo or is clouding my judgment, but like, when do Georgia fans get restless too? You know, not not in any like way of like saying they would want their coach gone or anything, but frustrated. I'm sure they're already there in terms of being used to being the premier program or the premier team in college football. And it's been quite some time since they were the dominant force that we are used to them being. And maybe that's just not the case for anybody anymore in this new sport. But, you know, with the SEC in general, these are the two teams.

You know, you had a little bit of LSU sprinkled in there that I've kind of been carrying the banner for the SEC for the past decade. And neither of them have been truly elite in quite some time. So, you know, that said, there are also teams that could turn around and win the national title next year. And that wouldn't be overly shocking to anybody because, again, they've amassed talent at a very impressive rate. But, you know, this game in general is the two premier brands in the SEC playing in Tuscaloosa during a time in which at least one program is very uncertain about the future of their coach. Unless anybody's trying to hire him, that is. So like that is, that's the craziest part is we just went through two weeks of Michigan really wants

Kalin DeBoer, but Kalin de Boer's got a playoff game. And the Bamah fans are like, that's our coach. You can't take our coach. And the playoff game happens. They win it. And then they go get just boat race by Indiana.

It's like, why didn't you take our coach? I mean, it's funny how wins and losses in the play. playoff, you know, change the way things are viewed. But, I mean, they didn't win a playoff. I mean, Georgia's in the same both, though. Two years of the 12 team playoff, they've had a buy into the quarterfinals both years and they've lost in the quarterfinals both years, which to Georgia fans who have become accustomed to going deep, deep, deep, being in the national

championship conversation every single year, that's ultra frustrating for them. So if you're Kirby, the pressure doesn't really relent on you. You still have to. win games like this to be in position to get back in the playoff to then go deeper in the playoff to satisfy everybody. I mean, it is kind of funny to me that Alabama made the playoff won a playoff game and still is it feels this dire. But again, these are two fan bases that are used to only one thing. And that is win. And, you know, any departure from that is a concerning thing. And, you know, frankly speaking, this is ultra compelling just based on the helmets. It's also compelling based on the time and the calendar that it is

because it's still fairly early in the season. And it might set the table for the way that things go for the rest of the year for both teams. But you can bet your ass that when Alabama takes the field at Bryant-Denny, they're going to figure out really quickly who they are. And the answer better be that they're very good, you know. Well, here's the thing. I think they need to be 5 and 0 going into this game. So Alabama goes East Carolina at Kentucky, Florida State, South Carolina.

at home at Mississippi State going into this game. They should win all those. And I think one of the criticisms of Kalin DeBoer, probably the harshest criticism of Kalin Nebore, is that Alabama does not play great against the teams that it should beat. So if you go by that logic, of course Alabama is going to be up for this Georgia game. No problem.

It's Kentucky, Florida State, South Carolina, Mississippi State in Starkville, which, like if you saw Camario Taylor, and there's reason to be excited about what they could be. They've got to win those games. Like those are the games, Kailen-Daborne needs to consistently win in Alabama that Nick Saban always won,

that I think their fan base gets frustrated because you don't know when they're going to throw up a stinker now. And I think that's the biggest issue. And you go back to last year, like when they went to Columbia, South Carolina, they had to fight their asses off to get out of there. Right. Fight their asses off.

Yeah, and you never know, but in my opinion, if Alabama drops a game, they're not supposed to, or something like Florida State happens again, then this game becomes even more compelling. Like, I just, I think that like when the bar for both programs is so high, winning is interesting and losing is very interesting. So we'll see how it turns out, but Andy, I'm super pumped for this game specific. And honestly speaking, like the two banner programs in the SEC, if they're going to remain that or if LSU is going to creep up or someone else is going to cream up, take that title. Yeah, producer Riverass. This is the Heisman game for Gunner Stockton. We'll see.

I mean, Gunner Stockton was really good as the season went on last year. I don't know if people realized he had 10 rushing touchdowns also last year. No, he was underappreciated. He's a good quarterback. And we don't know whether it's going to be Austin Mac or Keelan Russell starting for Alabama. So we don't really know how that's going to look. Really compelling, Andy. Who knows?

What if we have like musical quarterback rap asses? for Alabama going into the year. We're going to play two against East Carolina. Yeah. Don't rule it out, man. It's all on the table. Yeah. Yeah.

And the question, like, can Alabama run the ball? Obviously, they've replaced their offensive line coach and tight ends coach with the intent of being a better running team. Georgia was the one that truly exposed how bad they were at running the ball. They were not great at running the ball toward the end of last season, but Georgia absolutely demolished. them, demolish them the SEC championship game because Alabama couldn't run the ball.

That is going to be another big measuring stick for this new regime. You know, it's not a completely revamped offensive staff, but the new parts of the offensive staff were specifically tailored to being able to run the ball better. This will be the biggest challenge they will have faced to that point. It's going to be so much fun. And Bryant-Denny, of course, is going to be electric that night. electric. Are we moved to number three?

And this game, when it was played last year in week one, was amazing. And then it became the gift that kept on giving in terms of controversy and debate for the remainder of the season. I speak, of course, of Miami, Notre Dame, the game that introduced us to C.J. Carr for Notre Dame and Malachi Tony for Miami. And really just lit the fuse on the 2025 college football season. in a debate that lasted until selection Sunday. Now, Miami goes to Notre Dame,

but the difference here, and this is a key difference, this game's November 7th. This is not the season opener. This is where the ACC put it, because this is part of the Notre Dame ACC scheduling alliance. So this is, Notre Dame needed this. Notre Dame needed a good ACC team. They got slotted against them in November,

especially in a year where they lose USC in the schedule. Yeah, you know, I was trying to think about this, Andy, just now when you said this. But when's the last time, and maybe there's an obvious one, I'm just being an idiot, that like the first game or one of the first games of the regular season lit the fuse for the story that prevailed throughout the entire year. Like that was a very interesting dynamic because it was a fourth game, it was a thrilling game. And then it was the game that we kept referencing for the next three months. Like, it was wild. for different reasons. Like in 2008, Alabama crushes Clemson in Atlanta in the season opener.

And that was where Clemson was supposed to be the best team in the ACC. They end up firing Tommy Bowden. They end up hiring Gabo as the interim. And then Alabama goes on and goes undefeating the regular season plays for the SEC title. Like that was kind of the story of the season in one game. But it wasn't like that. It wasn't like week after week at the end of the season, we relitigated that Miami Notre Dame game last.

year because it had such a huge effect on the playoff. And the crazy part about it is, if the rules that are in effect for 26 were in effect in 25, it wouldn't have mattered that Miami won that game, Notre Dame, because they finished in the top 12 in the playoff ranking, would have made the playoff. So they could have just moved them to 13. They could have. They might have, who knows. I don't know what they would have done, but yeah. I don't think they would have done that. But it's, it's amazing how much gravy that game made. Now, this is going to be a little bit different situation because it falls in the middle of the schedule. You know, Notre Dame does not have the two toughest games of its season to start out. They start out with Wisconsin and Rice. We talk about the schedule

the other day. It's not particularly challenging. If it had USC on it instead of BYU, it would be maybe more challenging. I don't know, BYU is going to be good too. But this is not what they intended. like to be finishing the season at USC like they do in most even years. This game is ultra compelling because of last year, but this game might actually ultimately turn out to be ultra compelling because depending on how Notre Dame season goes, they might absolutely need to win in order to bolster their resume enough to get into the playoff.

Now, they might go unfeated or be a one lost team and it might not matter. I don't know. But if Notre Dame stumbles against somebody before. this starts, they absolutely cannot lose it or they're going to find themselves in the same exact situation that they were in last year, which is 10 and 2 without any real quality wins. And who knows, the schedule is a living, breathing organism and we don't know which teams are going to come out of nowhere and turn out to be tough. Wisconsin and Michigan State suddenly get good.

This schedule looks completely different. Yeah, they lose to Michigan State or something in a weird game and they go undefeated elsewhere based on what I'm looking at the schedule. Like maybe SMU will be a top 15 team. I don't know. but that's a pretty pivotal game and like the entire benchmark for like what Notre Dame is as a program next year.

So like I hate and I don't want to like relitigate the show from last week about Notre Dame and USC. But like if you look at Notre Dame's perspective, like my viewpoint still remains that like they would have stand and they would have stood to gain quite a bit from maybe playing and beating USC. Although USC schedule is really hard and maybe that would have turned out

to be like last year's game. But like still like they don't have enough meat on the bone as we stand here right now where this game is an ultra important for them. Hey, you know who else doesn't? Miami. Producer River, please throw up Miami's schedule. If Clemson and Florida State aren't back and there's no telling whether they would. This game matters a lot for Miami.

Like, Notre Dame's schedule as it's written might be tougher than Miami's. Like, Clemson needs to be in or this may not be a very tough schedule at all. Yeah. It is kind of bad, isn't it? We may, like, the craziest part about this list, this top 10 list we've done, is we may have Miami's two toughest games, and maybe there are only two tough games on the list. The Duke game and the Notre Dame game. And we don't know what the Duke game's going to be yet.

We just know it's going to be juicy because the quarterbacks. Yeah. But this is like, imagine Clems is not good again. And imagine Florida States what they've been the last two years. Like Miami has to win this game or they're in the Notre Dame spot from last year. You know, and the thing that is so interesting too is that we talk about like, I think that Notre Dame in general is probably a more established program at the moment than Miami. Is that a fair thing to say?

Like they have already proven to be more reliable. Right now. Right now. I think they're kind of in the same place. They both were the national, like both of them have made it. national title game the last two years. Yeah. I think they feel like they're in similar spots.

Notre Dame also was a very good team this year again. They didn't get in the playoff, but they also had a playoff worthy team for a second consecutive year. And I'm very curious. I think it's very hard to imagine that Miami won't again be very good, especially against that schedule. But I think that that game, it may or may not factor into how the CFP deliberates

at the end of the year. But I certainly think, again, to get back to the measuring stick, benchmark feelings discussion that they are going to measure each other against each other. And whoever wins that game, it's a statement for where they are as a program. And I get into that. Like, I think that stuff matters. And I know that sometimes I can be a little.

There's also the possibility. And this, this would make it less juicy if it happened this way, that they're both 11 and 1. Yeah. Or 111, 112 and 0. Yeah. Yeah. If they're both undefeated or they both have one loss. Well, again, if Notre Dame has one loss and they lose, then it would be a great game.

becomes the same conversation again. But if it gets to a place where it doesn't matter, then at least we as consumers get a compelling game that helps us kind of get the context of who's elite. Because I'm anticipating that both of these teams are going to be in the top 10 when they face each other. And when they do, it's going to be really good. And you can bet that Notre Dame is going to want that one.

And you can bet that Miami is going to want to prove that they are a consistent winner now. Like Mario Cristobal has gradually improved that program year over year. And these are two teams that really build well. on both lines of scrimmage. You're getting a playoff caliber, playoff quality line of scrimmage matchup

when these two teams play. And that is always going to be fun. And they have to go up north in November. And it's their turn to get their spot in the snow. But like I do think that this is a highly competitive game. It's a compelling game. And I think it will have impact both on the national discourse, the college football playoff.

discussion points and of course the hierarchy of the sport in general, which I get into. So yeah, cannot wait for this game. And I believe this is either going to be, I have to check when the, when the rankings reveals or I don't even know if they've actually decided when they're going to be. This could be right after the first one or right before the first one. Yeah. Because for last year, it'd be right after the first one. Yeah.

I'm thinking it's right after the first ranking. So this will be right after the first, which is, The thing that kind of messed it all up, I don't know anything about schedules. Yeah, it's usually right after Halloween. But the thing that messed everything up in terms of the debate last year, which probably set Notre Dame in a

place where it made sense what their reaction was when they didn't get in. So having Notre Dame in Miami so far apart last year was what messed it all up. It'd be nice if they had these rankings come out before they play and then they play and then they can actually in real time adjust to it. it. Yeah, I think if Miami would have been ranked ahead at the get-go, then we would have

probably avoided some of the criticism that they got. Or even if they'd have been a little closer together. Either one. Yeah, I mean, like, it's funny how the argument, the framing of the argument changed over time, too, Andy, if you remember it was, you know, Miami should have been ahead or Miami should have been behind, but then it turned out to be like, well, Notre Dame's fine being left out. They were just pissed. They were lied to all year. Like, it's like that, and it's like, my columns were saying the committee is lying. Like, it wasn't the way that it was supposed to be. So the college football playoff committee does certainly hold some responsibility of a

fallout of this thing. And my hope is next year it'll be a clean, competitive, obviously telling game that will, you know, be ranked properly when it's concluded. Yeah. That is going to be so much fun in the cold, in South Bend. I hope I was an early snowstorm. That would be awesome. Yeah.

Those Miami icy whites in the snow. Come on. Oh, yeah. Wow. Who's not watching that? We can do a green-white game. I don't know. We'll see what the uniforms are,

but it'll be beautiful. And I will say this, South Bend is awesome, man. It is unlike any other place. And I love going there. So it'll be a fun time. Let us head to Austin, Texas, for a rematch of a game

that we probably severely overreacted to last year. And we were probably severely overreact to this one this year. But I feel like this is completely different. than the situation last year. Ohio State is going to play Texas. Last year, Texas opened the season against Ohio State in Columbus. This year, Ohio State goes to Texas in week two. But the biggest difference about it is you will not have two quarterbacks making their first start. You will not have game plans that are designed to protect those quarterbacks. And, you know, we made our opinions of Archmanning pretty quickly. I don't think

we had many opinions of Julian saying after that game because Ohio State really didn't ask him to do a whole lot and just tried to squeeze the life out of Texas's offense. But Julian Sagan went on to be a Heisman trophy finalist, took his team into the playoff. Archmanning got better as the season went on, was a pretty good quarterback by season's end. Their line got better as the season went on. This is going to be a completely different vibe for this matchup because you go in with two now experienced college quarterbacks who we agree are both pretty good. Imagine being a human being that just thinks that they shouldn't play this game.

God, couldn't be me. You know, the thing that is interesting about this is that the compelling storylines that made last year the game of the century like don't exist anymore, but then you also have two teams that expect to win a national championship playing in a rematch of a highly competitive game from the year before and you have two quarterbacks that are now seasoned veterans who are going to, you know, really lay the foundation of their Heisman campaigns potentially. Like, you have two teams that expect to win the national championship and neither team that loses is going to be cooked. But, you know, I think that it's a great information gathering game.

As a result of Big Ten SEC supremacy, like Andy, you know this. The audience doesn't. Like, I went on Crane & Co. and debated Brooks Austin for 45 minutes this morning for their show today about whether or the Big Ten is as good as the SEC. These are the games that help fuel that debate. There's just nothing better than Blue Blood versus Blue Blood, man. And not just that. Blue Blood versus Blue Blood when they're both supposed to be very good. Yeah.

And I think I'm excited to see a more complete version of these teams because I think last year it was a little bit of feeling each other out. And can you imagine now that Ryan A knows exactly what he gets out of Julian saying there's no kid gloves there. Like you are you are letting Julian say and let it rip in this game. And that's going to be so much fun because you're probably going to have to because Texas is probably going to score more than they did last time. I mean, let's go back to last year's game.

The only time Texas really moved the ball is when they went up tempo right at the end that it felt like it was kind of desperation mode. I don't think that's going to be the case this year. I think they're coming much more confident. this Ohio State defense will be in its own transition phase. But think about, like, we just got out the combine. Think about what Arvell Reese and Sunny Stiles were. Yeah.

They're freaks of nature that don't really exist anywhere else. Caleb Downs has gone too. Ohio State's defense is going to be the one in the transition phase, whereas last year it was Texas's offense and Ohio State's offense. Well, one thing that we're also like, kind of forgetting is last year this was the opener and they were very different teams and they were feeling themselves out not even just each other like they didn't even know who they they were yet this year you're bringing back your quarterbacks and um you will have been playing you would

have played a game already so when you finally play this game it's not going to be like this like weird awkward like junior prom dance where you're holding each other at the waist trying to figure each other like you're just going to like go at it you know what i mean yeah that got highly sexual for no reason. You know what I mean? Like it's going to be right out of the gate a high, high powered. Yeah. And even if it was the season opener, I still think it would be that because the coaches are so

much more confident in their quarterbacks now. They were really trying to make sure their first time starting quarterback did not make a mistake last year. Yeah. And now they don't have to worry about that. They know what they have. They know what those guys can do. If they make a mistake, they'll be like, fine.

don't worry about it, shake it off. Let's get back to it. So it's going to be so much fun watching Steve Sarkeesian and Ryan Day just open the playbooks. And this is the one thing that I don't think that people appreciate enough. It's also going to be the biggest heavyweight fight

receiver to receiver in the entire sport next year. Like if you actually look at the Cam Coleman Jeremiah Smith matchup, like I know we always do quarterback versus quarterback, but it's like, I think Cam Coleman is the closest thing to Jeremiah Smith and college football going in the next year. And he's going to be. And they came out of the same class and the results have been completely different for the two guys.

And I wonder if you'd sent Cam Coleman. Like if, let's say Jeremiah Smith had picked Miami and Cam Coleman had said, you know what? I'm going to go play for Brian Hartline at Ohio State. And he'd spent two years of Brian Hartline. How would we view Cam Coleman now? Entirely differently. Yeah. Yeah.

We would still view Jeremiah Smith the same because, right. He was going to be good no matter of worry. Although, what if Jeremiah Smith had gone to Auburn? Who knows? I don't know. Having a dysfunctional offense does, you know, play, you know, a factor on a receiver. But I will tell you this. Both of these guys will be first round picks next year.

Obviously, that's not really much going on on a limb. I think that you could maybe make the case that I'm certain that they'll both be top 10 picks. See, I'm not certain Cam Coleman will. I'm certain Jeremiah Smith will. Yeah. I mean, Cam Coleman, I'm giving the benefit of the doubt. and now that he's in, like,

I think that, like, Texas's offense is going to be so much more functional than it was even a year ago. And part of the reason is his existence. Like, I think he is going to have a monster year. And we had a Heisman long shot. You know who would be way down on the list?

Coleman. Like, Jeremiah, I think is sixth or seventh. Can you imagine, like, putting a Jeremiah Smith-like freak on Texas when we're undervaluing what they might be offensively. If he has, like, a banner year and Texas goes to the playoffs, If he's like 40 to 1 or 50 to 1 right now, I would smash that.

He's going to have a great year. The thing is, if he has a really good year, you have to worry about Arch cycling boats off of that. So that, he's going to get all my votes. Well, you need harsh to get those votes. I'm not going to show any voter ID when I vote for the Heisman next year. Let me put it that way. If it gets me, if it gets me out of running five miles, man, I will do anything. Well, the thing is like, we know with Jeremiah Smith.

There's always been talent around him in the receiving corps as well. It's not just him. You know, it was Carnell Tate this, the past couple of years. Brandon Innes is still there at Ohio State now. They've got receivers that everybody coveted out of high school that are very capable, some of whom like Carnell Tate would have been a number one receiver at almost any other program. Texas has that kind of talent around Cam Coleman as well. And I think that's where, you know, your confidence in Cam Coleman producing, I think,

my confidence in him producing is more because there's more around him too, because you can't just worry about Cam Coleman. You've got to worry about Ryan Wingo. You have to worry about Emmett Mosley. They like Khaliq Lockett. So they've got guys that scare you beyond Cam Coleman. And that's the thing. If you're Matt Patricia, if you're a high-state's defensive coordinator,

you're trying to figure out, how do I triage this? You know, who do I devote the most resources to? And that has no bearing on improved offensive line and Relique Brown and Hollywood mothers on the team now. So they've got. Right. And it also has no bearing on, remember last year, you're dealing with Rvel Reese and you're dealing with Sonny Stiles.

And Ohio State obviously is extremely talented. They're going to have a bunch of future NFL players on their defense now. But that was a pretty old group of superstars they had who played a lot of football. People mocked me last year. year when I said that Ohio State might have the five best players in college football after they lost. Like a lot of people on Twitter were like, this guy's an idiot. Remember when he said this, whatever that? Have you looked at mock draft lately?

I think they're going to have four of the top five players taken and Julian Sand and Jeremiah Smith won't be that. Right. Jeremiah Smith would be if he were out if you're in the draft this year. But yes, Arvel Reese, they're talking about like number two or number three. Caleb Downs they're talking about like safeties are not. valued as much, but they're talking about Caleb Downs being a potential top 10 safety. And then Sonny Stiles, his combine performance was the stuff of legends. Yeah.

Yeah. So, and, you know, it's this, Ohio State's going to be talented. They are not going to be as talented as they were last year. Like, period. Like, I just like, I think the baseline. And that's not an insult. But just like, you can do that. The Texas defense also is revamping.

Ant Hill's gone. Michael Tafts gone. Like, they've lost some really good. good players too. They've also recruited very well, just like Ohio State. We don't know that the guys that are taking those spots are not household names yet, but obviously Texas has guys who've already become household names like Colin Simmons. Yeah. You can't, you know, you can't make this hype up any higher. Like this is, you don't need to. Yeah. You just put those two helmets together. It's already good enough. Yeah. But the circumstances of this particular meeting make it even better.

Yeah. God, I love the sport. Okay. And now we get to the... Numero Uno! The juiciest game of 2026. And here's the thing. For the other games, we've said,

hey, the circumstances of the season may change where this actually lands. We don't know if this is going to be this juicy. I can promise you, no matter what happens between now and then, no matter what happens before the game gets played after the season starts, this will be the juiciest game.

In terms of storylines, in terms of feelings, Lane Kiffin returning to Oxford, Mississippi, as the coach of the LSU Tigers, is going to be the juiciest game of 2026. I've got a 4K camera here. Can you see the goosies? Can you see the goosebumps?

Oh, yeah. You know, Andy, if there was like a polymarket odds of which would be the number one, number one game on our list before we aired the episode, I think it would have been like 99.9% this. Like there's no question that the, I mean,

this is college football at its finest because you have two teams that are inherently going to be very good and very talented and should be in the at least conversation to make the college football playoff and maybe even advance in it. But when you layer on a coach returning to a place that he spurned before their playoff run a year ago and then you add on to that, it's Lane Kippen. Like, come on. I don't know, like, when you think about like a cocktail of interest, a cocktail of... It's a Molotov cocktail of interest.

Like, this is, think about this. He's the coach. He's leading them to the playoff for the first time in school history. And then in the middle of that decides, I'm going to the rival school because the rival school offers me a lot, a better long term chance of success. And they're like, okay, cool, you can't coach in the playoff. Oh, by the way, we're going to promote the defensive coordinator. And we're going to win playoff games without you, sucker. And then you're coming back.

They go to semis and look, one bounce different. No misses in the national title game last year. You know, the power of coincidence and the power of, of the sport always never ceases to amaze me, Andy. The fact that it is the SEC opener to on the road. like you couldn't have written this better. They made the schedule before all that stuff happened too. It wasn't, that was a, this is purely an accident. Coincidental.

Yeah. And it's a beautiful accident. And like, I think because of how many characters are are and how much movement there is now, like you get to see a lot of like redemption stories and return arcs and villain arcs and all these things. Like it's, but this one seems to be a little bit. This is like Picante spicy. Like this is not just kind of spicy. This is.

Think about this. because Lane Kiffin wanted all of the good Ole Miss players to come with him, all of them. He wanted Trinidad Shamblis. He wanted Keywan Lacey. They stayed at Ole Miss. But he got Prince Willow, Umi and Mielan.

He got T.J. Daughery. It's like some of them left to go with him. So those guys are coming back to Trinidad Shambliss. We didn't know if he'd be playing this season. He wins the injunction. He is playing this season. I don't know if we talked enough about Kiwan Lacey's decision because I think that is incredibly crucial here

if Keyw on Lacey's back for Ole Miss. Andy, there's only one game in the history of my memory that I could say had more compelling off-the-field storylines than this one. And even then, it might not be as juicy. And that's the 2020. Ohio State Michigan game? Was it the year that was it 22?

The year that Harbaugh was suspended or was it 23. 23. It was the 2023 Ohio State Michigan game. With Harbaugh suspended the SpyGate stuff happening, Ohio State's losing streak and Ryan Day's placement of the rivalry, all that stuff. That was ultra compelling.

But that had characters because Harbaugh and Ryan Day were characters in it. Connor Stallions was a character. Again, that one was pure. That was Walter White, college football meth right there. That was as pure as it could get. But like this here was the blue. Yeah. Yeah. This is also the blue. This is this might be Pinkman's blue, but it is high quality, high quality college football drugs. And like I'm super excited. I mean, I feel like like we have to be there. Like I don't even know like this is one of the few games in in the off season where it's like, you know, well, that'd be cool to go to Oregon, you know, USC. It'd be cool to, you know, get up.

to this game or that game. Like this game is like, it is March 2nd and it's like we will have to be there. Like there's no missing this. No, there is no missing this. And the thing is the week leading up to it is going to be bananas because Lane Kiffin is not going to suddenly go silent. He will tweet. Yeah.

He will post things on Instagram. He will be asked questions and he will not. be able to help himself when he answers. Yeah. Like the drama, because other coaches would try to tamp down the drama. That's not a big deal. There's just another game. We're just focused on them because they're on the schedule this week.

This is not going to do that. This is LeBron James going back to Cleveland with the heat for the first time, but LeBron being a troll on top of it. Exactly. Exactly. It's going to be amazing. it's going to be and think about this is week three because coaches usually want to downplay they want to downplay the off the field story stuff typically yeah i think lane kiffin's going to want to promote it i don't know if he wants to or he can't help it but it'll it's going to happen either way yeah like for instance i want to eat pizza for lunch i'm going to have pizza for lunch and it's not because i just I want it, and it's going to happen.

Like, it's like that is my nature as a human being. So, like, that's the nature that Lane Kiffin has as a human being, and he's going to do it. Like, he might, like, the question I want to know is, how are old Miss fans going to behave that day? Like, is it going to be like a secure? Bullustily, will they throw things? It wouldn't be the first time a fan base that Lane Kiffin left behind

had thrown things at him during the game. Tennessee throws a lot of stuff, though. Tennessee throws stuff more often, I think, don't they? Do they? I don't know. Dave O'Bin. Made me another game where they threw stuff. Remember Dave Ubin wrote a story? Like, I don't remember what game it was,

but they threw stuff like six years ago in one game. It was Ole Miss. It was Lane Kiffin. It was. That's the game. He's the only time we've ever thrown stuff at people. Okay. Only time.

Well, Dave Oben, Robb. Producer River, Volfer Life. Okay. Mustard bottle golf ball. But what I wanted to say is, and thank you for hopping in there and saving me from Wall Twitter. But Dave Ubin wrote a story about how inappropriate it was, I think, to throw things back for the

athletic back then. And to this day, any time, any sporting event, anywhere on earth, fans throw things, Vol Twitter reminds David Ubin by tagging him in the stories. It's like, it's been six years. We do that. I see it every time. and I love it. They never forget.

And the Ole Miss fans, they ain't letting this go. No. Anytime soon. Do you think this is guaranteed a night kickoff? It doesn't matter. ESPN does not put this in prime time.

They are foolish. What is it about Lane Kiffa that makes you want to throw a hot dog at him? I don't know what it is. Didn't they throw golf balls? They threw anything to be a bottle of mustard. A bottle of mustard. There was all kinds of. and stuff on that field that night.

Beer, water, golf balls. Most year. And by the way, like, I know that, like, we can all get precious about how. River was at the game, by the way, in case you're wondering, you saw it first. And take, um, I think that, like, you can get precious about if you throw a golf ball from the upper deck and it hits someone in the head that's a very big danger. Like, that's a safety hazard.

And I would never want anybody to get hurt. But I'm also here for the throw shit at people side of it. Because I also think that, like, that makes the game. game's compelling. See, I think Lane Kiffin should totally embrace the heel turn. It's already happened. He's already gone. He's already pissed them off.

You're not going to ever get them back. They're never going to love you again. So don't even try. Like come out in a freaking Rick Flair robe and throw it off. Could you imagine if he wore a Rick Flair robe and then he threw it off and he had his LSU like rowback hoodie on and then on the back

somebody like tape the target like mocking people who throw stuff at them like a like a little target practice thing I can see it I can see it you would do something like that and I think it would be amazing

but I am all here 100% for throwing stuff on the field when you think there's a bad call like go do it like create a scene like what am I like supposed to be like the CEC office police and the fines to Ari Wasserman I'm just saying

Like when Texas and Georgia played a few years ago and they made that weird call, I don't even recall what the call was. It was an interstate. It was a bad call and they got them to change it, I think. They changed it. And then Texas, well, I think Texas threw stuff.

Then they changed it. They threw stuff on the field to delay the game and then magically they're like, well, we looked at it again and then changed their minds. Yes, right. Like, I think that that was compelling. Now,

I don't want anybody to get hurt, but I want college football to be a dysfunctional zoo. What if, what if he comes out in a beekeeper's outfit or some sort of padded outfit? Like, you know those outfits they used to train the canine, units for the police force where they're all

patted up and they just let the German shepherds bite them like what if he just comes out in that? Yeah. We'll have to like have a whole offseason discussion point of like what should Lane Kiffen wear to the game because I think if we do it I truly believe that if we discussed this once a week and we

had people write things in that were funny for him to wear and like we made it a bit like we could influence his attire. I think so. I think so. too because I think it would gain momentum and all the shows that listen to us first before they come up with their topics. We would

that would also get rolling Lane Kiffin Hill regularly retweets people in things that don't tag him. Like he finds like I think yeah he's searching his name. He searches his name. Yeah. I think the canine

training outfit is a good start. That's a good way to say. So if you've got a better idea for what Lane Kiffin needs to wear into Vaught Hemingway Stadium send it our way. You know where to find us. You know how to find us on social media. You know the email address is Andy Stapleson3 at gmail.com. Ari.com.

What does Lane need to wear to make sure whatever comes out of the stands doesn't harm him? Here's the thing that I want to leave people with. Now, don't do anything stupid or break the law or hurt anybody, obviously. but I think Ole Miss should do everything in their power as a fan base and even as an institution to make sure that he feels hated that day.

Oh, they will. I have no doubt they will. From the second that gets into town until the second he leaves, I think there will be no grace. Now, a lot of teams do not stay in Oxford. Yeah. Although they have a lot of nicer hotels in Oxford over the last few years. They've done a good job building some stuff.

Definitely way more nice. hotels in Mississippi State. Oh, stop it. That's right. Stop it. It's just a Brandon Walker, jab. Carrey Watson and my white ass. Do you remember,

you remember last year when, when Kenny Dillingham said what he said about Mississippi City? I remember that. He got all mad about it. That new Marriott Courtyard, new-ish Marriott courtyard in Stargull is fantastic. But the point of this is, they're probably not staying in Oxford, LSU.

they may be staying too below and maybe staying you know just south of Memphis there's probably good like don't stay in Oxford fire alarms would be going off all night yeah fire alarms driving past your hotel honking

yeah it would be a bad idea yeah stolen stolen gear playbooks yeah play sheets listen this is not going to be no grace there will be no grace there'll be

no class, nor should there be. He left you in the middle of a playoff run. You'd be as mad as you want, you show it as much as you can. Meanwhile, he's going to try to prove to you that he left for a reason. And LSU's going to try to prove that this is the better job. That's why he's here. That's what makes this game so juicy. It is perfect.

This is exactly what you want. You would never, ever get this in the NFL. and I'm not an NFL hater. Great product. But you'll never get anything like this. This is 100% pure sulfuric acid. Yeah. And it's blue.

It's so good. This is so good. I cannot wait. This is like just knowing this is coming is going to get me through the next few months. Likewise. I hope everybody's ready for some college football. We still have ways to go. We got spring practice and everything else.

This is March. But yeah, yeah. We got an awesome thing. We got March Madness. We got the Masters. We got the 4th of July. Lots of fun things still coming up. But nothing's as fun as college football season.

And now you got your roadmap. You got your games to circle. And we'll have this. We'll have one of these every few weeks where we give you something else to circle. Another reason to get pumped. But that game, that game, LSU at Ole Miss, it's going to feed families. It's going to be amazing. And we will talk to you tomorrow.