Andy & Ari On3 - Why aren’t the top quarterbacks throwing at the Combine? | Forcing Notre Dame into a conference?

Episode Date: February 29, 2024

The great Phillip Dukes, the host of On3’s Five Star Flex, joins from Indianapolis to talk about the NFL Combine. Andy gets why Caleb Williams wouldn’t throw at the combine, but why wouldn’t Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels? Can someone like J.J. McCarthy or Spencer Rattler make a move or at least improve their stock?(0:00-1:09) Intro(1:10-9:52) Conspiracy Andy, What's Going on with the Big Ten and Notre Dame?(9:53-16:51) Proposed New Signing Date(16:52-46:02) Phillip Dukes from the Five Star Flex joins from Indianapolis(43:21:03-46:16)) Dear Andy Intro(46:17-48:11) Players Become Employees, Does it change Court Storming?(48:12-54:59) Changes of CFP and Saban retiring change perception of SEC?(55:00-56:44) College Football go European Soccer?(56:45-58:51) Using AI in workflow? Producer River joins to explain(58:52-1:02:02) EA Sports + ON3?(1:02:03-1:04:12) Journalists using EA Sports Rankings like they would On3?(1:04:13-1:06:21) Active Coaches with titles: 2024 vs 2006-2007(1:06:22-1:11:13) Wrapping Up with Iowa Talk(1:11:14-1:12:08) ConclusionPlus, which players do Andy and Dukes want to see put up freaky numbers?It’s also a Dear Andy show, and the viewers have sent some great questions…Is the push to add more automatic bids to the College Football Playoff a way to apply more pressure to Notre Dame to join a conference in football?Will the SEC continue to get the benefit of the doubt in CFP selections?Would college athletes becoming employees change Andy’s opinion on court storming?Should EA Sports add real recruits to the video game?Want to watch the show instead? Join us LIVE, M-F at 8 am et, and watch HERE: https://youtube.com/live/FzebAOG0RPc

Welcome to Andy Staples on three. We got combine talk. We got dear Andy. This is a great show for you. You have come up with some great questions for dear Andy. Philip Duke's host of on three's five-star flex. You can find him on the on three recruits channel. He's in Indianapolis for the combine.

We talk quarterbacks throwing or not throwing at the comma we talk about the guys that we think are going to blow up and have freaky testing numbers 40 times bench presses that sort of thing we also will talk about one particular nfl trade rumor that uh that i think college football fans would find very interesting because it involves a guy who played for two jumbo premium college programs and was a massive recruit. And he's still very much in the thick of things in the NFL. But first, we're going to go with our first Dear Andy question. We'll do this like we did last week, where we answer one Dear Andy question at the top of the show, and then we'll talk a little bit, and then we'll answer some more on the back end of

the show. But this one comes from Matt, and it is very relevant and timely. Question for Conspiracy Andy. I like Conspiracy Andy. We need to make that a segment. I come up with a conspiracy. Maybe I actually fashioned myself a tinfoil hat and I say, here's why they're really doing this. This is YouTube. That is the whole point of YouTube, right? Is conspiracy theories and going down rabbit holes. So maybe conspiracy Andy needs to be a regular segment on the show. We'll get into that, but that's a good idea from Matt. But here's Matt's question for Conspiracy Andy. It's about the Big Ten's push for multiple automatic qualifiers in an expanded playoff.

Is it possible Commissioner Tony Petitti is playing four-dimensional chess to reduce the number of at-large berths to just a few, which would then increase the pressure on Notre Dame to join a conference. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Matt, I think you're onto something. Now, I don't think it's just Tony Petitti.

I think it's Greg Sankey as well, the SEC commissioner. Hey, the SEC would love Notre Dame too. I know it's weird. Geographically, it doesn't seem to fit, but Indiana does border Kentucky. It would still be contiguous. The whole footprint would still be contiguous. Now, that said, what is really going on here? It is not, I don't think, so much that they are trying to force Notre Dame into a conference as they are trying to determine whose vote counts the most now. So remember, Jack Swarbrick, the Notre Dame athletic director, was on the group, along with Greg Sankey, that helped create the 12-team playoff and helped craft it. The difference is, when they were crafting the 12-team playoff and helped craft it. The difference is when they were crafting the 12-team

playoff, what they were doing was altering the system within the framework of the first TV contract, which runs through the 2025 season. That contract gave everybody an equal vote, essentially the 10 conferences and Notre Dame. Notre Dame had a kind of outsized seat at the table for one school. And what that did was worked within that because you've got to give Notre Dame that amount of say. You've got to give the other leagues that amount of say. But in this new one, you don't. They're kind of figuring that all out. They've not come to an agreement on what the system will be. They've not come to an agreement on what the system will be. They've not come to an agreement on revenue sharing. They've not really come to an agreement

on who gets what vote when. So what this essentially does is it reduces Notre Dame's power in whatever happens going forward. Now, is it enough to force Notre Dame to join a conference? We talked about that with Tyler Horka earlier this week from Blue and Gold. Notre Dame's biggest wishes are access to the college football playoff and relevance. So access to the college football playoff is the key thing here. The 12 team version with seven at-larges was originally six at-larges, now it's seven, is perfect for Notre Dame. You stick with that version, Notre Dame never has to join a conference because if they're 10 and two, they're in every single year. But let's look at it through the lens of the potential 14 team

playoff, which they are talking about. Ross Dellinger from Yahoo said they are quote unquote socializing, which I think means just running it by people. A 14 team model where the SEC would get three auto bids. The big 10 would get three auto bids, the ACC would get two, the Big 12 would get two, highest ranked group of five team gets one, and then there would be three at-larges. I think that's right. I'm bad at math. Nope, that's right. 11 auto bids, three at-larges. The question is, does that hold out a good Notre Dame team or would every good Notre Dame team still make that playoff? So you have to think that in most years, the top three SEC teams and the top three big 10 teams are going to be ranked in the top 14. You would think there may be years where they're not. You would think there may be years where they're not.

You would think that most years, the top two ACC and the top two big 10, a big 12 teams would be in the top 14. The top group of five champ might not always be in the top 14, but we didn't expect them to always be in the top 12 either. So the question is, would you then have three higher ranked, we'll assume ACC, Big 12, Big 10, or SEC teams, would you then have three higher ranked of those than Notre Dame? And remember, I'm not talking about an eight and four Notre Dame or nine and three Notre Dame. That's not a team that should be making the playoff anyway. So if you've got a 10 and two Notre Dame, is there a possibility that they are in the top 14,

but because of the auto bids don't get a bid? Because somebody ranked lower. I don't see a scenario where that happens. I think that would be very tough to do. I think if they're 10-2 or 11-1 or 12-0, they're going to be ranked so high that it won't be an issue. They will get one of the three at-larges. So I think they should feel okay about where they're at right now. Now, obviously, if they get aced out of the playoff, then you re-examine your options. Here's the thing about Notre Dame in a conference.

If Notre Dame wants to join a conference in football, they can do it at the drop of a hat. Everybody wants them. They already have the relationship with the ACC. They could immediately join the ACC in football if they wanted to. If they wanted to join the Big Ten, the Big Ten would welcome them with open arms. If they wanted to join the SEC, the SEC would welcome them with open arms. They're the one everybody wants. They're the one that a TV network would not even blink about. No, you want a full share? Yes. You want more than a full share? We would do that for you too. Although I don't think the big tenor of the SEC would have to do that or would do that.

But that is the concern with this. I still, now I think there's probably a lot of people who may like the fact that it's taking the subjectivity or some of the subjectivity out of, it's taking power out of the hands of the subjectivity out of it's taking power out of the hands of the committee. I don't know if I like that and not because I like the committee or I think that's the best way to pick the playoff teams. But now you do introduce the possibility of what if the big 10 or the SEC just aren't very good one here. And their third best team is the 24th best team in the country.

Like what you're going to put that team in. I don't, I don't think that's a great idea either. Like I said, with Dan Wetzel on no bad ideas Friday, if you're going to do four rounds, if you're going to expand it past 12 and keep it at four rounds, just make it 16 and make it the top 16. You're going to get your three SEC teams in. You're going to get your three Big Ten teams in. You're going to get your two ACC's and two Big Twelves. And then everybody else just kind of figures it out. But I get it. These guys want guaranteed spots. They want to justify the reason for the revenue share, why the SEC and the Big Ten will get more than everybody else, why the ACC and the Big 12

will get more than the group of five leagues. I get it. I get it. David Fox in the chat with his own Dear Andy question. How many days until the season starts? My brain hurts. David, I don't know how to break this to you. We're on a very special day. It's February 29th. This only happens once every four years, but it also means we're still a solid five months and change from week zero. We got a ways to go. And Lord knows what all these guys are going to come up with between now and then, because there are all kinds of proposals floating around. Here's another one.

So the football oversight committee for the NCAA is meeting in Indianapolis this week. One of the things they were talking about, potential changes to national signing day in football, including a proposed new signing date. So we talked about this earlier in the week. There was a report from the athletic that the oversight committee was considering moving that December signing date from the third Wednesday in December to the first Wednesday after the last regular season games. That could be in November. That could be in December depending on the way the calendar falls.

But I said, that's crazy if that's all you're doing because it will supercharge the coaching carousel because essentially what you'd have is the regular season would end and you would have three days before National Signing Day. If you are firing your coach, you would fire your coach before Halloween. If you are hiring a new coach, well, you couldn't wait till that guy's season ended. Like you would have to go behind somebody's back, hire a sitting head coach who's still coaching a team. And then that either gets out and the coach has to quit in the middle of the season, or it doesn't get out and it looks really bad when that coach flips Saturday night

or Sunday morning right after the season. But that's how that's gonna have to work if that's what they do. So that is one thing they are considering. But another option, and I think this is a better option, even though I think my boss disagrees with me on this. I believe Shannon Terry, our esteemed founder at On3 option, and I think this is a better option, even though I think my boss disagrees with me on this. I believe Shannon Terry, our esteemed founder at On3, has come out against this, but I am for it.

A June National Signing Day, the final Wednesday in June, right before the dead period begins in July. And here's why I like this, because it is one of the first proposals we've seen where the leadership is looking at how things sort of happened organically. And instead of trying to bend reality into some little box that it doesn't want to fit into, they're like, this is how this is actually working. Why don't we just go with it? So right now, guys are taking official visits in the spring. They're going to camps in June. They're getting the real committable offers after the camps because the coaches have just seen them in person. They've just talked to all the coaches they want to talk to. They've just seen all the campuses they want to see. And they commit tons of commitments in late May, early June that just sit there until they can sign. Just have them sign. Just let them sign in June. And I know what you're saying,

but then if you fire a coach, you got to let them go. Okay, fine. You let them go. Like that's what basketball does. Basketball signs most of the players in November. They fire the coaches in March and they figure it out. Football will be the same thing because for the schools that don't fire their coaches, which is most of them, you've already got most of the guys signed and you don't have coaches freaking out. Think about it. If you move that December date to the end of the regular or to the Wednesday after the

end of the regular season, you've got coaches coaching rivalry games while still getting that whole class together with a week to go or less than a week to go. That's not easy either. That's not going to help them. That's not going to make their lives any better. That's not really going to make anybody's life any better. But if you move that day to June, most of the players will sign in June. Now, I don't think it would be the overwhelming number of players that sign in December now versus February. I think it would not be that high. I don't think it would be over 90%, but I do think it would be over 70%.

And I think what we don't talk about because it's a little bit of dog bites man is most of those players go to the schools they signed with and there is no drama. So it would eliminate that piece of it because when they're still up for grabs in December, everybody's still worried about it and still working on it. So that's the part you got to figure out. I don't think it's a great idea if they move that December signing date without adding the one in the summer. I think that would be incredibly dumb. If you're not going to add the one in the summer, just leave the other one where it is. The unintended consequences of the transfer portal and everything, well, yeah, it sucks for coaches in December.

But what are you going to do about it? The solution is have a date in the summer. So either have a date in the summer, then you can move to December whenever you want and it'll be fine. But if you don't have that date in the summer, you're just inviting more problems and you're going to complain. And I will happily say, I told you so. Zach in the chat, Notre Dame would go to the Big Ten with Florida State, if anything. Well, that is the interesting thing. We talk about Florida State. Would there be a partner for them if they somehow got free from the ACC? Well, that would be a heck of a partner. My producer, River, asked me, an argument for just a signing day in February.

There is an argument for just a signing day in February. There is an argument for just a signing day in February. I think that would make a lot of sense too. That's not what coaches want and that's not what they're talking about. That doesn't seem to be an option that they're discussing from talking to people who are in the room in the football oversight committee. They are discussing one or the other,

keep it two dates, move the December one, add a third date, and also move the December one. Andrew Kensley, would you sacrifice the NCAA in March Madness in order to have a good to great infrastructure and defined leadership in college football? Andrew, you don't have to sacrifice one for the other. You really don't. You can break football off. You can still have the basketball tournament be as cool as it's always been. There's no reason you can't either break football off or just reshape the leadership in the NCAA. The schools have the power to do that, to have competent leadership in football.

You can do both. There's no reason to sacrifice both. So we'll see what happens with all of this stuff because it's all up in the air right now. But we got to talk combine. It is combine week. And our man, Philip Dukes, is in Indianapolis. And I went on a little bit of a tear about the quarterbacks. I want to see if I'm crazy. I want to talk to him about it, see if I'm nuts or am I onto something. So Dukes the Scoop from Indy right now. We are joined now by the great Philip Dukes at Dukes the Scoop, host of the Five Star Flex. Dukes is in Indianapolis. I found this out yesterday morning when I woke up and saw a text message that had arrived at 2 51 a.m with somebody I know a former co-worker of mine and

who covers an NFL team saying hello to me and I'm like I know where Dukes is Dukes is in Indy I even think I know what bar he's in I bet he's at prime 47. What, how close did I get? Like on the GPS, how close did I get? Spot on. Absolutely killed it. Nailed it. Beautiful, beautiful. Well, and thanks to Colton Pouncey, the Lions writer for the athletic for, uh, for giving Dukes a reason to text me at three in the morning. I appreciate that. But Dukes, I'm so happy you're there because I want somebody who cuts through the crap to talk about these quarterbacks with. Because I went on a rant on the show, mini rant, not a huge rant, mini rant. Because Caleb's not throwing, Drake's not throwing, Jaden's not throwing. Like I get Caleb not throwing.

Caleb's the number one pick. He's QB1. There's no question. Nobody's arguing that but my thing is like if you're drake drake man you couldn't beat virginia couldn't beat georgia tech last year you're supposed to be the number two pick in the draft you're afraid of throwing in shorts next to jj mccarthy right i mean it's i don't I don't I really don't get it. That seems like a layup to me. Right. It's like. Right. What is a quarterback is not asking him to do your best bootleg.

It's not asking him to pick up a block on Philly special. It's asking him to throw the ball, which is the essential function of a quarterback. So it really doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but I think the cool part about it is it'll shine a light on the guys who do want to go and throw the ball. So hopefully the guys who are, who are right now in that next tier of quarterbacks can take advantage of that situation.

Well, and that was my thing last year. Like CJ Stroud did it. Now CJ was probably going to be picked number two anyway. Right. But what if okay what if the texans didn't see cj stroud throw and throw for throw with anthony richardson and said you know what maybe not right or maybe because they had that they had another pick in the first round which they ended up trading up to get will anderson so maybe they just used that pick on Will Anderson and were like, if he's there with that other one, maybe we'll take him. But like the whole NFL season could have changed.

Right. Absolutely. There's so even being up here, just being around. And as you know, like sitting at the bar with some of these agents and you see the chess games that's being the chess games that are being played with agents and teams and scouts and front office guys and sometimes you just figure out i mean sometimes you just want to know like bro can you just go throw the ball can you just let's be football players right now and um yeah maybe that's above my pay grade but at this point as a fan and a guy who's around it right now i'm'm like, bro, it doesn't really make a ton of sense.

But there has to be some method to the madness. And I think it's the comfortability. And you've seen the throws. And we want to have him throw in the most. That's exactly what it is. They want their private QB coach wants to script the whole thing. It's these throws at this time in this order to receivers that you're used to throwing to i mean so at some point nfl teams have to see through

that right because how many times are you gonna uh pick uh zach wilson no disrespect to the guy but you saw how he killed it with the scripted throws but how many times are you going to base your decision on that solely itself? Will you be able to script your throws in Arrowhead Stadium in January and negative 20 degree conditions? No! With McDuffie and LeJarrius Sneed back there covering people? No! They will not. My favorite quote today came from Mike Barrett, theigan linebacker he was talking about jj mccarthy because jj is gonna throw and it's it's crazy because you see people talking

about jj as a first round draft pick i still that that like anthony last year i was like i get why you're talking about this it's still hard for me to see after watching it watching it in college like i think jj could be really good but i don't know because michigan didn't ask him to do that much but mike barrett goes he will throw a ball out of his butt now here's my question to you dukes if jj mccarthy throws a ball out of his butt on saturday and it's accurate will that make his draft stock go up or down well when you talk about arm sliding, right, you can add butt sliding to arm sliding. It's got to be worth at least 10 spots. So absolutely.

I mean, that's a heck of a quote. And I think it's a testament to how people feel about JJ's athleticism and the things that he can do that are different than a lot of the quarterbacks that are out of here and that a lot of people seem to think that Michigan's offense did kind of hold him back some but I mean yeah we we watched a lot of Michigan this year and nobody ever saw I mean just last year he was splitting time so nobody saw this top 15 s quarterback on the horizon when you watch JJ McCarthy but as you start to dig into it you see some of the athletic traits so you hear guys say things like that it makes you intrigued and he's one of the guys who will throw at the combine so that i think the spotlight is going to be on mccarthy well is it like when i was at the combine last year i was talking to a scout who i've known

for a long time who's been in the league for a long time and i was talking about anthony richardson i was like please tell me what you guys see that that those of us who watched him in college maybe didn't notice or didn't didn't appreciate fully because you guys are acting like he is a guaranteed top five top ten pick and i just watched him go six and six. And the scout goes, there are only so many human beings like that on the planet. And you have to take a chance. And with JJ, like there are some throws he makes, like there was, and there was one national championship game in particular,

it was to the right sideline. It was in the second quarter. And I'm, and you're just like, oh, oh, okay. That's it right there right yeah and i think uh even with anthony richardson's case last year there was a play i think it may have been tennessee and it was a fourth down he throws the ball out of bounds and i'm like all right bro you got to take it you you can't throw the ball away on fourth down, right? That's not an NFL quarterback type throw. Or does he have the moxie or the ability to process in those situations? But as that scout said, there are only a few people that are built that way with those type of skills.

And is it something that we can teach? Because you can't teach a guy how to throw the ball out of the stadium like michael vick did on that nike commercial in 2008 right mayor mayor it was may or may not been edited but i i used to believe it was not i i i always used so back in those days uh i used to experiment with the herbals and i used to sit back and say man that, that would be cool, right? So, yeah, I chose to believe it as well. Well, listen, we still haven't seen anybody like Mike Vick. Right. I want to imagine what Randall Cunningham would have looked like in today's offenses.

I want to imagine what Mike Vick would have looked like in today's offenses. Steve Young, I would have loved to see that. But we're getting to see it now. But so speaking of a guy who in his college offense was everything, Jaden Daniels, like I'm fascinated by him. And that's, he's another one I'd love to see in this situation because he evolved so much as a QB, you know, almost like a Joe Burrow situation. Now, except the difference is he started three years at Arizona State and Joe Burrow was on the bench at Ohio State. But then an OK next to last season at LSU and then good God, he's unstoppable. Yeah, I saw I got a chance to see Jaden Daniels in a leadership role at Elite 11 last year and just seeing how he was kind of coaching

some of the younger quarterbacks and kind of just, you know, having that presence about him where it seems like, where it kind of seemed as if he was getting ready to take a turn. I can't say that I could, I exactly saw it, but there was a certain awe about him in the way that he carried himself in that moment. And I think that did carry over to the season. Like you got to think about it. The previous year, Jalen Carter jacks him up like Homer Simpson did Bart Simpson. No, OK, that that that is one of my favorite plays of that season. Jalen Carter picked him up like he was a small child, right?

Like he was a child that was about to run into traffic and he was picking him up and bringing him back to the sidewalk come here come here son it was unbelievable and jayden daniels isn't small and so just think about the the mental fortitude you have to have as a grown man to be picked up that way and a bounce back from that season. And you come out and have the type of season that he has. So if I'm thinking about a quarterback with mental toughness, who's been through some things, think about Arizona state when they told him when they cleaned out his locker form,

like a lot of things that he's been through previously that he's been able to overcome. So when I see things like that, I think that attitude that are that I kind of saw a little bit earlier i think it's going to play well i feel like he's one of the cooler customers in the draft this year i that's the thing i i see a lot of the same things that you saw that made cj stroud so good as a rookie right you see that with jayden like when you hear him talk and i cj the georgia game for cj in the road in the peach, that was a good example of, okay, here's what you can do when you've got to get around and move and create, which Ohio State

had not really asked him to do that much. And he was great at it. And so it's been fun to watch. But let's talk about some of these other positions. What guys that you loved in college are you excited to see here and in this draft process so that the wider world gets to discover them i think that nate wiggins the cornerback at clemson uh i think he's really going to surprise some people i think he's started to move up the board a little bit where he's in that top 20 range but i'm hearing he could run far too and if he runs for two he's gonna like to combine up at this at his height uh he has the own game he has the uh in-game production that you would want he's got the limbs he's got great hips he high points the ball contested catches or he really he wins a lot more at the point of attack when you talk about

high pointing the ball as a defender. But I think the speed factor is something that people aren't factoring in. I know he's going to run 4-3, but I think he's a guy that could have pushed 4-2. So Nate Wiggins, Atlanta guy, Grady High School. Westlake. Oh, sorry. Westlake, that's right. You cover these guys. You see them in high school. You meet them in high school.

What is it like when you see them get through college and get to this point where they're on the precipice of going to the NFL? It's a great feeling, man, when you see guys who – and Wiggins has a great story. And I think I'll let, you know, some of that come out as people interview him. But Nate is one of those kids that you say, all right, the process worked. He didn't chase a bag. And, you know, he could have left Clemson and chased NIL money. And he didn't do anything. He did everything the right way. And to see things go the way that they have for him

and for him to be able to showcase his talents on the biggest stage for a guy who wants to be an NFL player I think is amazing especially when you have a guy that's kind of overcame some odds and Atlanta in itself especially when you're a popular guy there's so much to do in Atlanta you don't even have to be a troubled kid or a bad kid to get in trouble it's just just so much to do in Atlanta. And to see guys who are able to kind of navigate Atlanta and that home life and just, and when I say home life, I mean, social life. I mean, I mean, there's so much, and I'm pretty sure you're familiar with the nightlife in Atlanta. Absolutely.

Especially as a star player, not even just as an 18 year old, but, but a 19-year-old, a 20-year-old. Being able to navigate that with no smut on your rep, so to speak, I think it's a beautiful thing. And it really excites me and gives me hope for the next batch of players coming along out of that area. Well, and, you know, speaking of Atlanta, we got to talk about this. This is not an nfl show but this fascinates me this idea of maybe justin fields getting traded to the falcons because he's an

atlanta guy like i i always wondered what would happen if an atlanta guy became the falcons quarterback and was good like how much of a superstar would that person be i mean when you think about it it would kind of be like if i were to compare it to something it would kind of be like how people are about batman in atlanta he basically would be able to take a hologram and put a jf in the sky and people are going to go wherever he is especially if he's the guy that can get the falcons over the hump when you got a hometown guy atlanta has a sense of pride that i haven't seen in a lot of cities but when you're from atlanta literally i have on a college park t-shirt right now like this is how we are and uh i think having a hometown guy and

especially when you get over the stigma of uh you know, you still have guys who felt like, oh, they made him leave Georgia because he was a black quarterback. I mean, we've had multiple black quarterbacks with the Falcons, but people still seem to say, oh, the Falcons don't want a hometown kid. When you're able just to kind of cancel out all those naysayers and really just kind of show that Atlanta is a team that's based on winning and all of those narratives that are painted by natives just because we have been subjected to painful memory painful core memories as Falcon fans uh they start all kind of narratives but I

think that Justin Fields coming home if that were to happen would probably probably be the most exciting thing that happened to the falcons since uh going to the super bowl yeah and that was exciting right up until about the middle of the third quarter oh my god so let me ask you something all right at what point did you realize that the falcons were going to lose okay Okay. There was an Edelman catch where I thought he was going to die. Right. And I was like, if he's doing that, they ain't losing. They ain't losing. And that's when it felt like it was really slipping away.

And I've watched Dan Quinn be – I love Dan Quinn. Like when Will Muschamp became the head coach at Florida, he brought Dan Quinn as the defensive coordinator. I got to meet him and kind of see him up close and saw how much players love playing for him. He's a dude. That killed me to watch him lose that lead in that game because he's right there.

His whole career is made, and I realize he's made millions of dollars, but still, that's on your resume forever now right man it's it's tough man and atlanta needed it so bad and you know like one of those crazy narratives was like the falcons lost because the first thing they did was they said uh atlanta said they're going to open strip clubs on sunday like people were just like trying to figure out is god upset with atlanta like how does that even happen so i couldn't even imagine how it would feel for a guy like dan quinn do you think god really doesn't want people to have magic city wings on sunday i mean when you think about it i don't know man um so i know you had to hear the other one which is they built they tore down churches

in order to build a new stadium so that's the one they're like the curse yep yep the curse of the falcons well i always believe that outcasts will get back together if the falcons win the superbowl man i love that andy i love it and and you know what i think if they at least go to the playoffs you could invite andre to come play the flute and maybe big boy will wrap over a flute instrumental and we'd start something we'll get andre would do that he would do that i think if yeah it would be yeah you has to be something like you you can play the flute right all you have to do is play the flute that's it because they're not they don't dislike each other they're still friends like Andre would go see big boy son play football in college when he was at Oregon then so we know they still get along right we just need them to collaborate again

I said speaking I know this isn't a music show either but my son my son asked me this question actually last night we were driving home we had a long drive home from his game and he goes do you think andre felt like he was carrying big boy and i said no no no big boy kept andre from floating off the surface of the earth while andre kept big boy from just being another chains and cars type rapper. It was the perfect, perfect. They're the perfect combination.

Yeah, absolutely. Like the yin and the yang, the pimp and the poet. I mean, however you call it, they were always the best versions of each other. And whatever, there was enough of andre and

big boy to make him well-rounded and there was just enough big boy and andre to make him well-rounded and that's why they're probably in my opinion the greatest group of all time oh this you will hear no arguments here i'm a i am an equipment eye guy i know others are stankonia guys, but this is a, this is a long way of getting to, you know, that, that feels question. I just, because I've always wondered and, and fields was the one I thought because the, the Matt Ryan era was ending when he was coming out and he thought, could, could it ever be that you have this hometown guy ever get to the Falcons? And when that rumor popped early this week, I'm like, okay. Because if you're the Bears, I think you take Caleb. I think you have to.

Look, I will say this. I don't think Caleb's a slam dunk. I think Caleb gives off some Kyler Murray vibes. But you have to take him, number one of the the ceiling is enormous right and then you you can trade justin and he comes in with a chip on the shoulder and you can trade justin and possibly keep the eighth pick from what i'm hearing yes so that's that's the slam dunk. You instantly become a playoff team. And Raheem Morris' quote yesterday was like, that's what the Falcons need. Like, don't shoot us the malarkey.

Like, don't give us the BS. Tell us the truth, what we all know. A better quarterback last year gets the falcons to the playoffs and when you talk about the last great memory of the falcons being good is probably the super bowl the minutes leading up until the loss i think it's something that the falcons deserve man justin fields will sit will set that city on fire if that happens absolutely i i i can't wait i i like those perfect matches of quarterbacks and cities and like you you just love to see when somebody really fit like caleb would probably want to go play for the commanders that's his hometown but he's he's gonna be the first pick

like he's got to be the first pick so but other guys i'm excited to see in the combine like tyler guyton from oklahoma the offensive tackle when i was in the combine, like Tyler Guyton from Oklahoma, the offensive tackle. When I was at the Senior Bowl, seeing the offensive tackles who come out of college now who are big NFL prospects, they're not fat. They look like just jumbo super athletes. And Tyler Guyton is going to put up numbers that nobody who weighs 330 pounds should put up no I I think he's going to be great there was a guy I saw at the senior bowl that was massive that was moving people around like children and that was to Vondre sweat out of Texas I loved about 362 pounds so when you said Andre came on the show. Oh, yeah, he did. Here's where I really, I liked Tavondre all along,

but this was, well, first of all, his story, talking about how his favorite thing is go back home to all of those people who said he'd never make it to Texas and just show them his degree from Texas. Like, it's a good story. But I go, Tavondre, what's your favorite part? With D-Line, what's your favorite part what with d-line you know what what's your favorite thing to do together and he goes meetings what is your favorite thing to do

together together uh probably meetings and i'm like damn y'all are all business no he's not playing around and i was seeing i think he signed the agency that he signed with i was just oh i was kind of privy to some of the conversations they were having off the field and it really is all business i mean and a lot of times we can be we can be stereotypical with uh guys that size and defensive linemen but he is a really really intelligent and cerebral guy very thoughtful and i think i think you know he he may have been a kind of a late bloomer academically which is why people in his hometown said oh you're not going to make it through college but you talk to him now you're like oh no this guy he's got it all all together yeah absolutely and he's 362 pounds yeah i mean what you gonna

say like yeah you need to be doing this oh okay yeah right you saw what happened never mind i'm not even gonna go there uh i'm gonna tell you a guy who i like that's under the radar uh tape uh excuse me trevin wallace out of kentucky all right linebacker um all ncc he had great production i think he was all sc SEC the year before if he wasn't, or honorable mention or something like that. But he's a guy that I watched him since he was in high school. He can really run. I think he'll probably perform.

He should have the fastest 40 of anybody of linebackers. I'm a 40 guy. I love the speed. And I think he's a guy that can change his draft status if he goes out here and runs the way he can at around 230 pounds. I think he can go 4'4". Well, and that's the thing. Like, if you can run, it solves everything, especially if you can run with size. And that's – linebackers changing now.

It's going back. Cause you're seeing teams look at what the 49ers do. They're, they're bringing it back closed in more tight ends, heavier sets because every, all defenses got light. So now you got to find that rare guy who at two 30 at two 35 at two 40 can still run because they're still going to like,

they'll, they'll have those sets, but they'll just motion out and all of a sudden you got a cover at that size so yeah I that that one's a good one to watch I I can't wait and then um you know it it's these are always fun because there's always somebody who just blows up like one guy I think people are like. I'm pretty sure this guy's going to throw on Saturday, Spencer Rattler. I think they're going to like watching him throw because all of the stuff that made him such a high-profile quarterback recruit, the pretty ball, the arm strength, the arm talent, is still there.

It was a bumpy college career, but that part's still there. And somebody's going to take a chance on him in a middle round. He'll have a chance to be a good NFL quarterback. And then imagine what if Caleb Williams doesn't go to Oklahoma and Spencer Rattler has a longer lease when it comes to being able to work through some of the tough times he had in Oklahoma. We're talking about a potential Heisman candidate with the type of protection he had at that time. So when you look at the – and one of the most cliche terms in these type of environments is traits. But he has them, dog. Like, it don't even matter.

Like, you can say it a million times, and every time you talk about traits, he's a guy, when you talk about quarterbacks, the pretty ball, the delivering the ball on time, the release point, the throw angles, all of that, all of those catch phrases, they all apply to him. And so I think he's definitely a guy that I think can really do a lot to help his draft stock by having a great performance at the combine. Dukes. I know you're having a great performance at the combine because I got that

text at three in the morning, man, where you'll be tonight. I know, I know. Well, actually where's, where's dinner first? What's the dinner plan? So there's a party I got invited to. I think they're going to have, like, souped-up hors d'oeuvres or something. So I'm going to go over there. I'm going to stuff my face with as many potato skins,

and hopefully they have something that makes me feel a little more ritzy. And from that point, I may go and have me a Tito's on the rocks with a little lime. I might get a little garnish on there, make myself feel a little classy, a little sexy. And then from that point, I'm just going to go and shake hands with a whole bunch of men and come back to the room and FaceTime all of them. That's the way to do it. That is a productive night at the Combine. That is how you get the it. That is a productive night at the Combine. That is how you get the scoop. That is how

Dukes the Scoop gets the scoop. Close to the five-star flex. Phillip Dukes, about to go take on Indianapolis today. Man, thanks a lot, Andy. It's always fun, dog. Yes, sir. Appreciate it. The great Phillip

Dukes. Spencer Rattler, Bo Nix, Michael Penix Jr. They're throwing. I'm interested to see how that, does that help? Does that matter? Because last year, the CJ Stroud part of last year is the one that's really interesting to me. Obviously, Anthony Richardson came out as the story of the combine, but CJ Stroud showing that willingness to compete

showed a lot of the things that you saw on the field for the Texans this year. And I think that changed a little bit of the NFL season. I don't know if the draft would have worked out exactly like that had CJ not gone in and looked good and had a great combine. But we shall see. The top QB is not through. Daniel Orlovsky just went on first take and said he thinks Jaden Daniels should be QB one. I don't know if I can go that far.

I still think you've got to probably take the risk on Caleb Williams, even though, like I said, there's a little Kyler Murray vibes going on there. Because I think the ceiling is really, really high. But Jaden Daniels, I can hear the argument for Jaden Daniels as QB1. I can hear it. I can certainly hear the argument for Jaden Daniels as QB2. Which, again, is why I don't understand why he's not giving himself as many opportunities as possible to prove that he is. Maybe Drake may. Maybe he needs to not throw to receivers who aren't his

own. Maybe he wants that controlled environment because he's not comfortable with receivers that aren't his own. But guess what? In the game, your receivers are going to be jostled by defensive backs. Things are going to be changing quickly. If you can't handle this, I'm a little worried about the future here. So this will be an opportunity for those who choose to take it. Now, you could blow it. You could look terrible. But, like, Michael Pennix is going to look good throwing the football in shorts.

I'm telling you right now. He's going to look great. Bo Nix has a chance to help himself because in that Oregon offense, he's kind of spraying the ball around. A lot of stuff behind the line of scrimmage, near the line of scrimmage. He gets to be side by side with Michael Pinnock's throwing the ball down the field. He has a chance to either look good by comparison or look bad by comparison, but he's taken that chance because if he looks good by comparison, he could make him some money. All right, moving on to the rest of Dear Andy. We gave you a little

tease of Dear Andy. Now we got some other great questions for you. We will start with a question from Paul. It's about a topic we've been talking about all week. If players become employees, does that change your perspective on court storming? Seems like it might require an approach more like the NBA or the NFL, or is it really just down to the youth of the fans in college? Paul's not the only person who's asked me this question. I've gotten this a few times, and it's weird that that's where people go. Like, it's fine to risk players getting hurt if they're not employees, and suddenly it's not okay if they are?

I don't know. That doesn't change anything for me. Because one, as I talked about yesterday, there have not been that many incidences of players getting hurt despite there being a lot of field and court stormings. Yes, the Kyle Filipowski thing happened. The Caitlin Clark collision happened, but better management would prevent those things. And then you'd have just the students having fun and the players getting off the court. So I don't think them being employees would change that for me, but I find it odd that that's where people's minds go. Suddenly, they were just expendable before, but now they're not. The schools were investing in, here's the thing. This is the part the NCAA tried to hide and argue against in court and got laughed

at when they did try to argue against it in court. They were already investing in players. Players are very valuable assets to these schools. They just tried to pretend they weren't, but we know they are. So you codify that relationship in another way. I don't think it changes anything. They were already valuable assets. They would just continue to be valuable assets. All right. Our friend Nathan, this one, he actually sent in last week and we didn't get a chance to get to it. So we now catching up with Nathan who's in the train station. Deary. So as we saw with Washington this past year, perception is everything in college football. My question is, is a large chunk of the SEC's success over the last 10 years due to their perception as being one of the best, if not the best conference in the world? And will the recent changes to the CFP and even just Nick Saban's retirement changed that in the near future. Now, I want to

make a caveat. I don't think that the SEC is a bad conference. In fact, it is actually the best conference. But because they're perceived as the best conference, in large part because of what Nick Saban and Alabama have done, they have gotten opportunities, like Alabama getting into the playoff, that another conference wouldn't receive. And they've been able to, you know, do good things with the opportunities that they've gotten, which in return brings them a lot of press, good press, and gets people to go to their schools who maybe wouldn't have if the teams in that conference weren't perceived as good. So with more teams being able to get into the playoff, and with Nick Saban's retirement, is the SEC kind of due to take a little bit of a step back towards the rest of the pack?

And meanwhile, you know, the Big Ten taking a little bit of a step back towards the rest of the pack. And meanwhile, you know, the big 10 state taking a little bit of a step forward. So here's the question. And I agree with Nathan that the SEC has gotten the benefit of the doubt in playoff selection, probably because the SEC has won the most playoff games. And when they get into those games, they tend to do well in those games. Like Alabama losing to michigan is one of the few times that that hasn't worked out but like 2017 alabama everybody's saying no they shouldn't even be in they won the national championship so yeah they were probably deserving of being in so what does it mean going forward with the 12 team or the 14 team, whatever it's going to be

going forward? Will the other conferences show that the SEC was getting preferential treatment, that the SEC didn't deserve that? I don't think we know the answer to that. I think Nathan's theory will either be proven or disproven by the next few years, because we'll see how the SEC do. If the SEC teams that make this expanded playoff dominate the teams from the other leagues, well, then everybody was right about the SEC. It wasn't a media creation. And look, let's be perfectly honest. We already know the SEC has the best players because the NFL draft happens every year. People whose jobs are on the line as they choose players don't care what conference they're in. They're just trying to choose the best players. The SEC has the most players chosen every single

year. The SEC has the most players per school chosen every single year. The SEC has the best players. That's not a media creation. That's a fact. If that changes, you will see it reflected in the NFL draft. But right now, that's a fact. So the question is, though, do they have the best teams? And we will find out because we will get more sample size. We will get situations where teams that would not have made it into the 14 playoff now make

it in. Perhaps there was a big 12 team or a big 10 team that should have gotten in and would have gotten into that situation and would have beaten an SEC team. We'll find out. My guess is we'll find out that the SEC has really good teams because the SEC still has the best players. I don't think it's that complicated. Conspiracy Andy, if we have that segment, if we decide we're going to do that segment, which I think we are once I fashioned a tinfoil hat, like that's not going to be a conspiracy. Andy segment. It is not a vast media conspiracy to that.

Everybody got together and decided to say the sec is good. Like it is good. It has the best players. It has had the best teams. Now the Nick Saban part of it that Nathan mentioned, I think that's interesting because you're talking about taking a guy out of the equation who won six of the last 15 national titles. That does change the math a little bit, I think. Now, it could be that somebody in the SEC just sort of picks up the slack there, but I think more than likely that gets spread over everybody. There'll be somebody in the Big

10 who takes advantage of that. There'll be somebody in the, in the ACC or the big 12 who takes advantage of that. So I think that piece of it probably more than anything else could change the numbers. And I, but I'm excited because here's the thing. I don't think the 14 playoff gave us enough of a sample size to even figure it out. So the SEC was going to continue getting the benefit of the doubt. Now, if you have all these auto bids, I don't think it matters, but the Big Ten will also get those auto bids. ACC will have theirs. Big 12 will have theirs. But I do like that we're going to get to see it play itself out on the field because sometimes you don't know. And I always go back to before the SEC became the SEC, 2006, we all assumed that Ohio State and Michigan were the two best teams in the country,

and no one else could even come close. And the winner of the Ohio State-Michigan game was going to be the national champion. And then Ohio State just got dismantled by Florida. Florida embarrassed Ohio State. And I covered that Florida team as a beat writer. I remember when they made the national championship game, I'm like, these guys made the national championship game. They barely made it through the SEC. Well, it turned out that the SEC was pretty tough that year. From Zach, only Ohio State, Michigan, Clemson, USC, Texas, Miami, Florida State have won it outside the SEC. People forget the BCS domination. It's true.

The SEC also dominated in the BCS era. It was not as dominant in the BCS era as it was in the CFP. But the tail end of it, well, the tail end of the BCS era, yes. So from Florida in 2006 on, remember, it was the SEC until Florida state beat Auburn in 2013. So I think this is going to be fun to watch. I don't know what the answer is going to be, and I'm glad we don't know. I'm glad we get to watch it play out. Our next question comes from Chris. If they're going to insist on multi-auto bids, go full European soccer. Four and a half SEC, four and a half Big Ten, two each ACC and Big 12 in one group of five, take out the committee,

play in between the SEC and the Big Ten each year for the fifth spot. I guess Chris is forcing Notre Dame into a conference. Conspiracy Andy knows that Chris is forcing Notre Dame into a conference here. What if he did three and a half? And when he did the half, I was like, what the hell is he talking about? And then he's like, yeah, have a play-in game. I do love the idea of the play-in game. You could play it the same week as the conference championship games.

Maybe we could have multiple play-in games. Maybe instead of conference championship games, you have play-in games among the teams that are at the bottom of the potential to get into the playoff. Not bad teams. These would be good teams, but the team that was the best all regular season gets to rest, and then you play it off between the next two or something like that for the wild card. As Zach just pointed out in the chat, he just said wild card, which is right. Chris, where were you on no bad ideas Friday? This is amazing. Dan Wetzel and I should

have added this to our, like we said, get rid of conference championship games, but why not replace them with something? This would be awesome to replace them with. Two teams desperate to make the playoff. And you reward the team that was the best in the regular season. This is brilliant. I love it. I love it. All right.

Next question comes from Dan. First question. He has got two. First question. How do you use AI in your workflow? First of all, I don't use words like workflow. I'm not sure I know what those mean, but I don't use AI intentionally. I do think we work, we try to work around AI because AI is everywhere. Like as we do these shows, as we develop topics for these shows, if we write headlines for these shows, we're dealing with Google's AI. How can we write this, craft this topic so that Google will serve it up to you on YouTube and serve it up to the most people. Maybe people who haven't seen the show, people who might be interested in the show who don't know about it yet. We definitely talk about that all the time. But my producer, River Bailey, reminded me we have used some AI recently for the show. River,

why don't you come on and explain how we did that? Yeah. So when we're remote and we do the interviews like with DJU, Brandon Dorlis, the audio is not pristine like it is now with the mics and the headset and all that good stuff. So we use Adobe Podcast and what that does, it just kind of boosts up the levels, clears it out so you don't get any background noise, things like that. So Adobe podcast is an AI suite that we have used AI in the show for edits and things like that. All hail our new AI overlords because that DJU interview was great. So there was something off with one of the mics. Either I didn't plug it in all the way or something was wrong and there was

like a buzz a notable buzz coming from the mic that dj was using not dj's fault it was just it was my fault setting it up and river ran it through this this thing and it sounded amazing so thank you to our new ai overlords thank. See, we can give River a mic. Absolutely. Absolutely. Pop in whenever you want, River. Here we go. All right.

On to Dan's number two question. I'm no lawyer, but with the recent NIL ruling by Congress, it wasn't Congress. It was a federal court system. But I understand, you know, we can mix up our branches of government. It seems like there are no NIL rules. Could EA Sports take advantage and make the game even more realistic and even have real recruits in the game? They could partner with a recruiting firm like On3 for the database, have kids opt in to give access to a player's name, location, position using the Compass app, but randomize their overall and star ratings. Developers already work hard on it. Nobody cares.

The 983rd player has his likeness, right? Okay. Maybe add skin tone preference. 99% of the players would do it for free. And since there's no actual tie to a school's brand or skillset, perhaps skirting the need to pay anyone for likeness. It's like sending your picture into a social media contest or a sporting event with fans generated content. You're not providing any actual value worth being paid for, but you can see yourself on the screen. And that feels pretty cool. The contract would stipulate that it's only for 2025 graduating seniors, would be compensated for future releases if they are on eligible rosters like current players get their 600 year in a free game. Players not in the on three database could create their own profile for verification purposes to opt into the game, similar to how they can

submit their profile now. Am I wrong to think there are no losers in that scenario? I think that's brilliant. I love the idea of EA partnering with us at On3. That would be incredible. Use our recruiting rankings. Because listen, it's hard enough for them to create their own rankings. Yeah, use our recruiting rankings.

Have the recruits in the game and pay them the 600 bucks if you need, or don't pay them with a free game. If they're cool with that, it's an opt-in. It's not an opt-out. I would love that. And I think it would add to the realism of the game. I know that like the people who frequent on three, the people who watch the show, the people who read our site, they would who watch the show, the people who read our site, they would love the idea of real recruits. And I think the recruits would absolutely love it. So why not?

Why not have at least the five and four star recruits available? I don't know that you'd want to pay them because it's more people, it's more expensive. I don't know that you even have to pay them. it's more people. It's more expensive. I don't know that you even have to pay them. I think they could opt in for a free copy of the game and they do it. You could have their actual likeness. They could upload a picture or we could upload their photos. And I think it'd be really cool. I think that would be awesome.

And again, anything that involves us partnering with EA Sports, let's go. Not just because I want to get the game early, but yeah, EA Sports, if you want to work with on three, I know a guy. Well, the founder, he's my boss. But yeah, we can call him and let's make this happen. Let's make this happen. And for partners, for valued partners, maybe a week or two early they get the game maybe like you don't have to pay me any extra just a week or so early i'll i'll buy the

game i don't mind but just a week or so early this next question comes from david do you think in the future journalists will use the EA Sports Player and Team ratings the same way they use the On3 Composite rankings to compare the talent between teams? Will reporters trust EA to have legitimate ratings? Is there an advantage that their ratings would be based on more college production than high school recruiting rankings?

I think that this would be just like the madden rating the madden rating is a highly controversial number as you see players complain about it every year fans complain about it every year nobody's ratings are going to be considered completely accurate but i am curious to see how the people use that information. It's opinions. How do people process those opinions? Now, one thing I find interesting, like if you talk to people in the personnel world, in the college personnel world, and this is something that's been going on in the NFL forever, but in the college personnel world, basically like some schools actually give their, their current roster players, a Madden rating, not to, they don't hand it to the player. They keep it internally in their personnel department and they use it to make decisions. Like when somebody comes in, when you've got two guys,

the same position who come in and say, we're thinking of entering the portal, but we might stay if you sweeten the NIL deal. Well, maybe there's only so much NIL money. And you're like, we can only really retain one of these guys. Who's better? Who do we have ranked higher? And so that's already going on internally. What I would love to see, and hopefully some of my friends in the personnel world might be able to make this happen, is once we get the EA sports game ratings for some of these players, how do they match the ratings that the schools keep on their own players in terms of how do we decide the hierarchy for NIL? How do we decide the hierarchy for who we want to keep and who we're willing to let go in the transfer portal. I think that would be fascinating. So hopefully my friends in the personnel world

might be able to give us a little peek behind the curtain on that. Next question comes from Arthur in Atlanta. It's not so much a question, but a research project. And it's really fascinating. Andy, I saw a note the other day that as of now going into the 2024 season, there will be three active FBS coaches with an FBS national title, Mack Brown, Dabo Sweeney, and Kirby Smart. That seems like a crazy, possibly historically low number. Now on the other end of the spectrum, it got me thinking about what season had the most active national champion coaches, at least in relatively modern times. I wasn't going to go back to the earlier days of college football with 12 different polls. I think we might have a winner in 2006 with an amazing 13.

Here's the list. Get ready. Joe Paterno, Howard Schnellenberger. Remember, he won at Miami. He was at Florida Atlantic at the time. Dennis Erickson had won at Miami. He was at Arizona State at the time. Bobby Ross, who'd won at Georgia Tech, was at Army.

Bobby Bowden was still at Florida State. Steve Spurrier was at South Carolina. He, of course, won at Florida. Lloyd Carr was still at Michigan. Phillip Fulmer was still at Tennessee. Bob Stoops was at Oklahoma. Larry Coker was still at Miami. Jim Trestle was at Ohio State.

Pete Carroll was at USC. And Mack Brown was at Texas. Now, here's what Arthur also says. Amazingly, all these guys were active SBS coaches during the 2006 season. 2007 would add two more names to the list, but Bobby Ross and Larry Coker got fired. So the 2007 also had 13. So you take Bobby Ross and Larry Coker out. You add Urban Meyer who had just won the national title at Florida. And then Nick Saban, who won at LSU in 2003, returns to Alabama. That's crazy. 10 more coaches with a national title back then than there are working right now. Now, again, just like we said with Nathan's question, a lot of this has to do with Nick Saban just winning so many. So the wealth will get spread. And I think we'll

see years where there are more coaches, active coaches with national titles, unless they pull a Jim Harbaugh and then go to the NFL. Two questions now about our favorite offense in college football, but one's got a little basketball twist on it. From Crawford, is Virginia the Iowa of men's basketball? And from Justin, if the new Iowa offensive coordinator, that would be Tim Lester, does complete a drive to 325, that would mean averaging 25 points a game. What does the Iowa football season look like? Iowa is losing its two most valuable weapons in Torrey Taylor and Cooper to Jean. That is true, but I don't worry about Iowa losing a special team or like Torrey Taylor or a defender like Cooper to Jean because special teams and defense, not their problem. Like they're going to be good on those no matter what. So I'm not particularly concerned with those losses.

I am more concerned with what the offense is going to look like. I think that that matters the most. And you know, the question is how does Iowa fare in the new big 10? The schedule is going to be different. We'll, we'll do our deep dive into Iowa later, but let's, we'll start with the basketball section of this question is Virginia, the Iowa men's basketball? Cause Tony Bennett's style of play, the pack line defense, the bleed, the shot clock when you're on offense drives people crazy. And people are like, these guys can't score. They suck. Okay. This version of the Virginia basketball team can't score this version of the Virginia basketball team very much like the Iowa offense that we've seen the last couple of years but that's not how it's always been this particular Virginia team can't score they're ranked 181 in adjusted offense on

Ken Palm they're number nine in adjusted defense which is why they're probably an NCAA tournament team but not a particularly highly seated NCAA tournament team. But let's go back to 2019 when Virginia won the national title in men's basketball. You had DeAndre Hunter who could create opportunities offensively anytime down the court. He's going to create in half court. Kyle Guy could fill it up from anywhere. He could shoot from the logo, make threes. Ty Jerome, you always had to worry about him. He's a 6'5 guard. He could shoot.

He could do a lot of things. Kihei Clark, the freshman point guard, was a very good facilitator. That team was number two in adjusted offense on Kempom. A football comparison, that would be like the 2013 Florida State offense. Not very high tempo at all. Very slow tempo, but super efficient. Like they were incredibly efficient. That was what that 2019 Virginia basketball offense was.

And that team also, I believe, was number five in adjusted defense in Ken Palm, which is why they were number one overall. But this team is not that team. And it's sort of like, if you want to make an Iowa comparison, when Iowa had CJ Beathard at quarterback, that offense was fairly efficient. The last couple of Iowa offenses have been ridiculously inefficient. Now let's talk about Justin's question. If they were to complete a drive to 325, what does that look like in terms of a record? Well, remember, and I said this multiple times and not just about Iowa.

I've said about Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois. What does it look like now that they are not trying to win the Big Ten West? Now they have to compete with the Big Ten writ large. So non-conference, they've got the Iowa State game. That's a tough one. But if you're driving to 325, I think there's a good chance you win that game. Troy under new management, if John Summerall were still coaching there, I'd be kind of worried about that one too, but I think they're going to be all right. So I think they're 3-0 in the non-conference.

Minnesota, old Big 10 West game, Floyd of Rosedale. Feeling okay about that one. Ohio State. Ohio State probably wins that game. Washington. See, this is where it gets tough. If you're driving to 325, you're playing Jed Fish's Washington team. We don't exactly know what that's going to look like yet. I feel like you got a really good shot, especially if your defense and special teams are as good as they always are. At Michigan State, we'll see what Jonathan Smith's team looks like. Jonathan Smith, Kirk Ferentz, kindred spirits there. I think they might get along famously. And then you got Northwestern, Wisconsin, UCLA, Maryland, Nebraska.

Hey, if they drive to 325, you may be talking about a 9 and three, 10 and two Iowa team. You may be talking about a team trying to compete to get into the big 10 title game. You may be talking about a 12 team playoff contender. Holy crap. That would be something. So good luck to Cade McNamara as he returns to health and returns to the helm of the Iowa offense. Because, yeah, if you can drive to 325, this could be a very special season. Great questions. Love the Iowa questions. Love them.

Speaking of the Big Ten, Sean Fitz from Blue and White Illustrated will join us on Friday. We're going to take a deep dive into what I think is the most interesting Penn State football schedule since Penn State was an independent. The new Big Ten just made life a lot different for the Nittany Lions. The 12-team playoff makes life a lot different for the Nittany Lions. Two new coordinators makes life a lot different for the Nittany Lions. Two new coordinators makes life a lot different for the Nittany Lions. We'll talk all about that.

Plus our friend James Fletcher III will join us to talk to some college hoops. Great questions today. The Dear Andy days are some of my favorites. I love it. Keep them coming. And we will talk to you tomorrow.