College Football Live - CFB Live- 8/22- Lucky Number 9?

Episode Date: August 22, 2025

Join our crew Zubin Mehenti, Harry Lyles Jr., and EJ Manuel with special guests Heather Dinich and David Hale as they discuss the latest news in College Football after the SEC announced they will implement 9 conference games in the 2026 season. How will this affect the ACC? The CFP? Will Notre Dame remain independent? Find out on today's episode of College Football Live! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When you're flying Emirates business class, relaxing in an exclusive airport lounge, you'll see that your vacation isn't really over until your flight is over. Fly Emirates, fly better. We're all about playing as many high-end games that you can possibly play, and certainly adding another SEC game to the schedule would accomplish that. I don't think there's anybody that would trade their nine games and want to come play R-8 games that you play down here. In my mind, we're already playing nine conference games.

And then if we go to nine, we're now playing 10 conference games. If we're going to go to 11 humans deciding on a committee, which are the 11 best teams, and we stay at eight, we ain't getting in. Coach Trinkwood, you're not going to have to worry about it because you're not staying at eight. As we welcome you inside college football live with E.J. Manuel, Harry Liles, Jr. and Heather Dinnich. I'm Zubin Mahenty. So this is the big news. The news the SEC has been debating.

For about the last four years, we finally got resolution. They're going to go from eight league games to nine starting in 2026. For purposes of context, the Big 12, which of course has morphed in size over the years, went to nine games in 2011. The Big Ten, of course, the league they're most often compared to, has been bragging about playing nine games since 2016. There are so many ripple effects of this. There's a lot of information on the screen, but I would point you to the one thing at the bottom, which if you're a fan, an alum, or a player in an SEC school. In a

two-year span, you will play everyone. In a four-year span as a student or as a player throughout your college tenure, you'll play everyone home and away. So many interesting things to get into. Let's start with our college football playoff insider because I know there's some tentacles here that affect the

playoff. We can get to that later. But Heather, I know your phone's probably been blowing up here. So many ways to go. Your biggest thought, now that the SEC has made the move to nine games starting next year. This is a huge win for college football fans. I mean, look, the SEC has had its fair share of critics when it comes to the schedule because of playing FCS opponents.

But the reality is this is the toughest lineup in college football. Now, not only with nine conference games, but also the requirement to play another power for opponent or Notre Dame. I mean, let that sink in. for a minute. That's really difficult. So you're going to see more three lost SEC teams. But when you look at the big picture here, this is a historic move for the SEC. Commissioner Greg Sanky told me in July this is something they've been talking about since the Clinton administration. Well, it's a huge advantage in recruiting within the SEC, you know,

as well. And you think about the fact that like Zulman said, you're going to get your three guaranteed robberies, but also you're going to be. going to get a chance to play every team in the SEC, whether they come to your house at home or you go to theirs. And even my time in the ACC in college, I didn't get a chance to play at every single institution. The other part, and I understand why coaches will push back on this, because when you played those eight conference games, you at least had one week where you could kind of say, and kind of regroup yourself before you got into either the last rivalry game of the season or even the conference championship as you move forward into the CFP. So I think it's a win for all of us

as a college ball family. But ultimately, I think the other part that's somewhat of a downside is those FCS matchups that we won't see anymore. You'll see some of those teams, unfortunately, you know, maybe dwindled because they got those opportunities to go play at Alabama or go play at Georgia, go play at Florida. And that was a big payday for them, so we might see that go away. Very interesting. So the news was broken essentially and discussed on the Paul Feinbaum show yesterday by Greg

Sanky. The comments coming one day after the playoff committee said they're really going to be taking strength of schedule into play when determining the field. And Sanky made sure he got that point across. Some of the work by the CFP so far this year is progress. It's not a destination, but the honoring of schedule strength that's been communicated is really important for the Southeastern Conference. The non-conference competition allows for cross comparisons.

Those are important. I hope everyone follows the lead that we've established for the Southeastern Conference. Many of people take their shots and offer their perspectives on our schedule. There's no stronger, more rigorous schedule than just playing within the SEC. Got to give them credit. They always hit their talking points. Everyone says the exact same thing in locks up. Harry, to you, August 20th, the CFP says, all right, we're going to change the metrics.

August 21, Greg Sankey says what he does on Feinbaum. August 22, you're here to tell us it's not a coincidence. Yeah, it does not seem like a coincidence at all. Look, Greg Sanky's North Star is to get as many teams into the playoff field as possible. Whether there's 12 teams, whether it's the 5 plus 11 model that has been discussed, we even saw the Big Ten float the idea of 24 or 28 teams. So to me, this was Greg Sanky doing the thing that he absolutely needed to do before. Even that got down the tracks and said, hey, all right, we are going to go to nine

because even as Lane Kiffin said, we had at the top of the show, he said, hey, I don't think any other conference would trade their nine for our eight. So now the fact that you do have a nine game schedule, you do have the fact that you have to add a power for or Notre Dame opponent as well in your non-conference. The SEC is saying, hey, we believe based on that metric, nobody else is going to be able to stack up against us. So now, yes, we are probably, I believe, as Heather mentioned earlier, going to have a lot more three lost teams. It's going to be very tough now. It seems to keep more of these SEC teams out, no matter how deep we end up expanding the playoff, Heather. 10 Commissioner Tony Petiti, though, told me at Big 10 media days that there's no magic formula or metric to help determine the difference for the selection committee between three, four lost Big 10 SEC teams and a two or a one loss team from other leagues.

So I would caution people to assume that just because the SEC went to nine games in part on the heels of this schedule. metric enhancement for the committee does not mean that the Big Ten is necessarily suddenly going to say, okay, a 16-team 5 plus 11 model works for us. They are now turning their attention to a 24 or 28-team college football playoff with automatic qualifiers, and this could actually enhance their belief in those automatic qualifiers because the SEC is now going to lose more games. It's simply more difficult to finish undefeated or with one or two losses in that conference. Yeah, Heather, that's a great point. And when I saw the news of this yesterday, I thought about that because, you know, when I first heard 24, 28 teams in the playoff,

it seemed like a long shot at first. I'm almost kind of chuckled at it. But now I'm like, you know, the SEC goes in nine games. You're going to have a seven and two. You're going to have a six and three in conference record. And those teams probably will get over or get into the playoff over a team from the ACC that might, you know, be six and two in the ACC. So I think that's going to be the interesting part as far as propping up these teams, giving them more ammo as far as their schedule. And guys, let's be real. A lot of the teams are going to be ranked in the top 25 throughout the entire year. I know the APs top, you know, preseason, doesn't necessarily matter for college ball playoff rankings. But once we get to week seven, week eight, most of those

teams are still going to be in the conversation. And you can imagine if you're a team that's lost one or two conference games, you get that extra opportunity or two or three. You get that extra opportunity or two or three to play more conference opponents who are in the top 25, which helps your resume. So this is a smart decision, and I wouldn't be shocked if we see the ACC try to follow suit. And Harry, to you here, take me inside this. One thing that Heather really said that piqued my interest, because there were so many things that come off of this, the idea that you're playing nine games, taking away your FCS opponent, and adding a high-quality non-conference team and or Notre Dame, if I'm a lot of.

a coach, I'm worried about it. But at the same token, I know the schedule strength metrics are with me. It's kind of a tricky balancing act because there's nowhere to run and hide anymore even for a week. Yeah, 100%. Look, as much as coaches will try to tell you, hey, like, we don't care who's on our schedule, we'll play, whatever. The amount of production meetings, I'm sure EJ could speak to this as well that I've stepped into. And you walk in there and sometimes it's like, hey, coach, like, who put together the schedule?

And he's like, man, I was hoping you guys could tell us because this is not a good time. So that is a very real thing. And again, I, again, I think most coaches, again, you tell them, hey, play who's on your schedule and they'll tell their team, hey, we're going to go out there, give it our all. But it is a very real thing that coaches, they take it one week at a time, but it's also sometimes hard not to look down the line and say, oh, my goodness gracious. If you're the Florida Gators this season, you look at your schedule this year, and you just look at that hall and hope that you stay healthy and all the little things go right just to give yourself a shot. So yes, I'm sure that while SEC coaches realize this is good for them for the long haul, there is.

a little bit of sweat on the forehead like, all right, we really got to make every single week count. Yeah, Harry, that's the point here because you think about the health of your team, when you get into week six, week seven. And, you know, if you have a left tackle that's out, but you don't really get that opportunity to give him that extra week where he maybe doesn't need to play because your team is more talented. And this just makes the schedule harder, but I will say this. If you sign up to play in the SEC, you've got to put your big pants on anyways. I mean, you know what you're signing up for.

So now you just add one more opponent here where you got to go. to their house so they come to you. And I think coaches, again, when they look at their schedule, it's going to be vaunting. But once you get into the season and you said, man, we just lost last week. And let's say we lost about one, they're going to be glad they get another top 25 potential matchup within the conference to go there and win at home or even when on the road. Again, this is all about building the best resume you can as we get toward the end of the season. I would also just remind college football fans that this is for 2026.

and that is when they're looking at possibly making changes to the playoff. And it is very possible that they don't change it. We keep talking about 16, 24 now, 28. It can stay at 12. Greg Sankey and Tony Petiti have both said to me, there is a playoff format for 2026 and beyond. It looks exactly like it does now. If it's going to change, they have to agree to do that.

And right now, I still don't believe. believe that they're on the same page. Heather, I just can't see a world where if you have nine conference games in the SEC, coaches have to deal with that. And then you're telling us we're only going with still 12 teams, which really allows, what, maybe a max of four spots for the SEC. I feel like this is, again, a situation where we're going to go to nine conference games, which the Big Ten has been calling for for a while.

So we appeased them on that. Then I think expansion is certainly down the road. I hear what you're saying, but I think it's either going to be 16 or for all accounts, might end up being until the 20s, but I just can't see this thing staying at 12 now that the SEC's playing non-conference games. That would be crazy. All right, we'll see.

I do believe that. Go ahead, Heather. I was just going to say, I do believe that CFP expansion is inevitable. I'm just wondering if they're going to be able to get it done in time by December 1st, which is when they set the deadline

to make that decision for next year. Yes, the 2025 December 1 date will tell us what's going to happen. in 2026. So keep tabs on that. On the way. So what does this ripple effect do for the one league that's playing eight conference games, the ACC? And remember what the coach that lost to Notre Dame in the playoff said about all this. All right. So we figured we'd just adopt SEC's scheduling philosophy. You know, some people don't like it. I'm more focused in on those nine conference games. Football Live is brought to you by Popeyes.

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the ACC Network on there on the brand new ESPN and the big story with the conference with the SEC going to nine league games. The ACC is the only one left of the power four leagues that remains at eight. As they used to say, eight is enough. But for how long it's one of the more interesting tentacles that's coming off of this SEC decision to go to nine? Let's discuss it with EJ. Manuel, who of course hoisted an ACC championship of his own and our David Hale, who covers the league as well as anybody. David, let's start with you. Give me the implication here of the ACC at this moment being the only one left on the 18 Island. Yeah, they've been on this on the radar for a while.

Jim Phillips has been in conversations with Greg Sankey keeping tabs on how that league was going to go. And the ACC has been talking about should we go to nine, I mean, for years, but as recently as last week on an AD's call, they had this same conversation. The ADs that I've talked to seem to think that this is almost a foregone conclusion that they will have to follow the SEC's lead. Now, I will say some people that I've talked to who said, hey, maybe we don't need to rush this decision. The ACC historically, if you look over the playoff period, has played about 50 or non-conference power five opponents than the SEC has.

They've not been ducking the heat, so to speak. But where it really becomes an issue for the ACC is in scheduling future games. Are some of the scheduled games that they currently have on the docket for future years against the SEC going to go away? That's one of the reasons Clemson and Notre Dame set up their scheduling agreement. If the SEC and Big Ten continue to consolidate power within the scheduling framework of non-conference play, what does that mean for the ACC in Notre Dame? Frankly, there's just maybe an inventory to schedule out four non-conference games every year. And so just going to nine makes sense just from a ease of life situation,

not to mention how the college football playoff committee is going to view these things. Yeah, David, that's the most important part to me is how are you going to be judged at the end of the season when you try to compare apples to apples? Is it going to be big apples than comparing it to smaller apples? And for the ACC, the tough part, you know, even though you look at Clinton's situation right now in the preseason top 25 as far as their schedule, they got three total teams. One of them they play in week one against LSU. So after you play LSU, if you lose that game, you get two more opportunities as of right now with top 25 opponents. Whereas LSU, and again, this is in 2026. at a ninth conference game.

They got seven teams on the schedule other than AP top 25, again, pre-season. So I do think this is something that is going to force to handling the ACC to now go to nine games, is going to create more of a balanced debate or comparison between the other three power conferences. And to me, I think it makes more sense because also as a player,

you get a chance to play one more team in your conference. And the sad part is just some of those FCS matchups will go away, unfortunately. One thing quickly for you, David, and that is, I think a lot of people tell you, you know, I'm old enough to remember when Florida stayed in Miami ruled college football and the ACC was the dominant conference. Is there part of the thinking

there that says, listen, we just got to get up with these teams because our level of ascension, there's still a long way that this thing can go in our favor, even if things don't look awesome at this moment. Yeah, I mean, look, you're not wrong. History a lot of times here, but the ACC's schools have had a lot of success. You know, the funny thing is, if you look at their non-conference record against Power 5 opponents in the playoff era, it's like 38, 39% win rate.

If they're playing a conference game, it's going to be 50-50. They'll win 50% of those games. They might actually end up with more wins as a conference at the end of the year by playing the extra conference game. But to your point, Zubin, at the end of the day, the debate for the playoff committee is going to come down to the overall relative strength of your league on top of the schedule. And the ACC has been viewed as something less than the SEC or the Big Ten. you've got to start winning big games, whether that's in your conference or out of the conference,

and particularly those games against Notre Dame where the ACC's been terrible, you have to win those to change the conversation. The number of league games you're playing, it's not going to matter at all if nobody thinks anything of your league. It's a great point, David, thank you. You invoke Notre Dame, and for more on that, we bring back our college football insider, Heather Dinnich. Bottom line here, Heather, how does this new news from the SEC cascade down upon Notre Dame, who's part of the but still remains an independent. Suven, sources at Notre Dame told me today that the SEC's move to nine conference games only further solidifies Notre Dame's commitment to independence. And that's in part because the SEC said that it would still schedule games against

Notre Dame in the non-conference lineup, but also because there have historically been three things that Notre Dame has clung to to determine its independence, One is a fair path to the playoff, which it still has. Another is a committed TV partner, which it still has. And the third is a home for its Olympic sports, which it also has. So because the SEC is going to continue to schedule games against Notre Dame non-conference, and those three things are still in place, Notre Dame remains committed to its status as an independent. Of course, Notre Dame familiar for, of course, being the Fighting Irish.

And that's what we have on our mind, because week zero begins. In of all places, Ireland. But not with the Irish this time. They played there before. This time, it's the Cyclones and the Wildcats, counting you down to kickoff at Aviva Stadium. Both teams are in Ireland. Hours away from kickoff. We're back with more next.

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Not so fast. Not so fast, my friend. Looking forward to seeing that. Looking forward to the start of week zero. Remember last year's crazy finish with Georgia Tech kicking a field goal in the final. seconds to defeat Florida State. It turned out to kind of be a harbinger for both teams.

What a finish that was. Hopefully Iowa State and Kansas State can give us something close resembling that. They'll kick off in Dublin Saturday at noon. Eastern. Starting it out with a conference game, right? This is supposedly the tightest conference in the country. They're the odds for some of the teams to win this league. So I ask you guys as a league that's had five different schools win it in the last five years.

EJ, let's start with you. Who will be the Big 12 champion? Well, Zubin, I like the plus 700 with Baylor. And the big reason is they bring a lot of production back from last season. You look at Soya Robertson, their quarterback, pass over 3,000 yards, a really good touchdown interception ratio. They also have a very good young running back coming back as well in Bryson, Washington. another guy who can get in between the tackles. I just think Baylor again on defense as well.

One of the leading tacklers in the league coming back, Keaton Thomas had over 100 tackles in last year's season. So my expectation for them is to be much better. They're not ranked right now, but they're going to find ways to win. The schedule's not too crazy either. E.J., I think that's a really good pick. I mean, there's six, seven, eight teams that you could convince me

that could win this conference. Zuban you mentioned the key number, though, five in the last five years. So it's got to be somebody different. I'm not going to go with Arizona State. I'm going to go with the Utah U. This is a team that has had a lot of bad luck with injuries the last couple of seasons. They finally look healthy at quarterback with Devin Dampier coming in from New Mexico.

They brought in his offensive coordinator. We know Kyle Whittingham football teams always play really, really good defense. They do have a tough schedule. I don't think there's an easy schedule in this Big 12 conference this year. But they get a lot of those games at home. I'm taking the Utah youths. And they have a ton of motivation considering what happened in 2024. On the way out the door, E.J.

I was looking at your scouting report the other day. They did say you had really good scrambling skills, But this is you using your feet last year, step dancing in Ireland. Take us through this. Yeah, I was trying my best, guys. You know, normally I'm a little light of my feet as a quarterback, but I can't lie. I didn't really catch this one.

But if you get me some hip-hop, some R&B, I can move to that. But that dance, I was struggling. I'm not going to lie. Harry, would you do any better? I didn't have the wrong shoes on, too. No, I'm with DJ. If there's some hip-hop and R-N-B or something like that in there, I'm good to go.

But I don't know about all that step-dance. That's not good for me. Fair enough. We'll see two toe taps their way into the end zone more tomorrow between Iowa State and Kansas State when week zero begins, and we'll see it for more college football live Monday.