College Football Live - Four Tickets Punched for NYC!

Episode Date: December 5, 2023

Host Kelsey Riggs is joined by Trevor Matitch, Desmond Howard, and Pete Thamel as they discuss the insanely eventful weekend of College Football. Where to begin?! To start, the CFP Rankings have been revealed by the committee, with Michigan at 1, Washington at 2, Texas at 3, and Alabama at 4. Who's been left out? Undefeated Florida State at 5, and Georgia at 6. Then, the four Heisman finalists have been revealed: Michael Penix Jr, Bo Nix, Jayden Daniels, and Marvin Harrison Jr. Who will take home the highly-coveted trophy in New York City on Saturday night? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome into college football live. We're coming out the tunnel with the biggest news of the weekend. As the Seminoles were left out of the college football playoff, was it a snub or did the committee get it right? Plus, go ahead and strike a pose. The Heisman finalist are out, and someone new is taking home the hardware this weekend. How did the final weekend of football shape up this race?

And try to keep up if you can. The transfer portal is open, and some massive quarterback names are on the move. We've got the latest on the portal, and business is booming. Welcome to College Football Live, presented by Zillow. What's going on?

Welcome into College Football Live, Trevor Maddoch, Jasmine Howard, hanging out with me, Kelsey Riggs for the next half hour, and let's jump right into the story that all of the college football world is still debating. That is what we saw this weekend with the committee's final four

in the college football playoff rankings. Michigan is the number one team in the ranking. It's their third consecutive CFP appearance, but the first time as a number one seat. It's also the first time in ACC or an SEC team, not an ACC or SEC team, I should say, earned the top seed. Now, three of the four last national champs have been number one-seeded teams. Then there's Washington, who was number two.

And then we had Texas, you guys, who made the college football playoff for the first time in program history. Texas and Alabama are the only teams to make. make the college football playoff from the outside of the top six in the penultim rankings. That's something to keep an eye on. And then there's this, the controversy of Florida State. They came in just outside, first team out at number five.

They're the first undefeated Power 5 team to be left out of the 14th playoff. As you take a look now at the CFP, top six brought to you by AT&T, and we see Florida State and Georgia dropping out of the top four. while Texas and Alabama both jump four spots each to make it inside that top four and have the opportunity to play for a college football playoff. That was the dramatic moment when you saw Florida State number five, Alabama number four. And this is how it ended, but this is a first. There are a lot of first to come for the committee this year. First time leaving out an undefeated Power 5 team.

First time the number one ranked team was dropped outside the top four. And the first team, a team ranked outside the top six, made the CFP, and it was two teams, Texas and Alabama. And let's get Coach Prime's thoughts on the committee's decision. Take a listen. That would have been tough for me as a coach. Coach Norville did a great job of handling it and speaking his voice. But you've got to understand big market football. I mean, you're not going to have a college football playoff without Nick Saving the Godfather in the Alabama team. It's tough Texas. did their darn thing. It's tough.

Dez, it has been highly debated, online, on air, everywhere throughout college football fans across the country. What's your reaction to Florida State being left out, Des? And did the committee get it right? I thought that Florida State was snudged. Like you said, Kelsey, there's strong arguments

for both sides, whether they belong or whether they should have been left out. But I just thought that when you look at the committee and what the things that we saw, that they emphasized that are important that we always talk about each week when we talked about the college football playoffs is things like being undefeated, being a conference champ, and having a tough non-conference schedule.

Like for years, we used to talk about how some of these teams would just play cupcakes and we wish they would take a challenge. With Florida State, they took on a challenge in the LSU team beginning of season, and they won. And they actually beat two SEC schools this season, LSU and Florida. So as a former player, I'm just looking at it from their lens, and you would say, well, we checked all the boxes. What more could we have done?

And it's like the college football playoff selection committee said, well, you did everything that we asked of you to do. But there's another team right here. Even though they have one loss, we just think they look better than you. So we're going to put them in and you're going to be out, which just seemed unfair at the time for Florida State that had did everything that they could do, even including winning the conference championship

with their third string quarterback. That shows, in my opinion, the resiliency of that team. Desmond, you're right. And so is Florida State. It is a bit of a travesty, and it's definitely unfair for them to win all of their games and the conference championship and not be in the playoff.

Problem is that this year it's not about who should be in. This year, it's more, I think, about who has the best. case for being left out because there were four teams with very good arguments to be in those last two spots. And what the committee decided was that Florida State with the injury to their quarterback, Jordan Travis, in the games that the committee saw them play looked like a completely different team.

Basically, instead of looking like Florida State, they look like Iowa, great defense, suspect offense, with a passing game that just wasn't working even against a pretty bad Florida passing defense. So they start with that. And then you've got the fact that Florida State basically got boxed out by a package deal. When Alabama beat Georgia to become a one-loss SEC champ, it was going to be really hard to keep them out because of the way they finished the season. Because Texas finished with one loss and beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa,

how do you not respect that head-to-head? So if Alabama's in, Texas is in. And that boxes out Florida State. And, by the way, it boxes out Georgia as well. So it's more about who has a better reason to be left out from the committee standpoint than who has a better reason to be in. To be honest, I'll tell you how you don't respect that head to head. And for me, it's that it happened week two. With everything else that's in it, it was week two.

And guess what happened after that game? Jalen Milrow got benched. And this Alabama team came back. Nick Saban continued to coach and they continued to get better and better and better. And then they beat the number one team in the country in Georgia. To me, Alabama deserved a spot in. But if you're looking at it, you're telling me that you value what happened week two. more than you value what something did, a team did for the entire season in Florida State.

You've got to leave somebody out. You got to leave somebody out. I understand all of these teams deserved it. The other thing for me, when you look at that criteria, you're talking about head-to-head. You can control head-to-head. You're talking about strength of schedule. You can control strength of schedule. You're talking about wins.

You can control if you go undefeated. You're talking about conference champs. You can control all of those things. The one thing that you cannot control is if your players are injured. And Jordan Travis got injured and the committee still moved them up from number five to number four a few weeks ago. And now all of a sudden you're telling me the one thing that these teams can't control is weighted higher than all of the other things that you can control. Alabama controlled that they lost to Texas. Texas controlled that they lost to Oklahoma. Florida State controlled that all season long they found a way.

to win with their second and their third string quarterback. And this thing that is an uncontrollable mattered more to the committee than all of the things that these teams could actually control. And to me, that's not fair. That's not right. You want to talk about best and most deserving. The best teams win. They find ways to win no matter what.

That's what Florida State did all season long. And Trevor, I just don't agree with it. Well, you make a strong argument. I would say this, though, about Texas beating Alabama in week two. Which week did Florida State beat LSU? It was week one, which is fine, but how many games did they win after that? And when it comes to the injury, you're right that there's no way to be able to control that. That's awful.

But it's actually part of the written criteria that the committee must take into account or can take into account injuries. And the comp is 2014 Ohio State when J.T. Barrett got hurt and then Cardinal Jones had to play his first start in the Big Ten championship game against Wisconsin. The committee was watching. And what they saw was that 59 to nothing, there was no. there was no drop-off in Ohio State, so they put him in. There was a big drop-off in the Florida State passing attack, and that gave them an excuse to keep him out. But it's big-boy rules, really.

Yeah, I just don't agree with that. I think that at the end of the day, they wanted to have an SEC school in there. I think if you really paid attention, like the three weeks leading up to last weekend, it was already discussed how Florida State was going to be left out and how Texas and Alabama was going to jump Florida State. Like it was already, you know, out there for discussion.

So the seed was planted. It was just a matter of making sure that it happened. Obviously, Alabama went out there and beat Georgia. But irregardless of that, I think that they were going to leave Florida State out because that's what all the conversation was leading up to last week, three weeks before that point. That's my thing. If you think this team is done without Jordan Travis, then why didn't we do it after North Alabama? Why did you move them up from five to four? I know other teams ahead of them lost, but if their chance at a college football playoff was done, why are we moving them up?

I don't understand it. I'll never understand it. But we've got more to get to here on college football live because it has been a busy 24 hours in the transfer portal as it just opened for business. An explosion of names in the portal. Pete Thammel here with the latest. Football Live, presented by Zillow. And in part by Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen. It's V-Week on ESPN as we continue Jim Belvano's fight against cancer. It's V-week here at ESPN when we partner with the V Foundation to highlight the urgent need for cancer research. This is game-changing research that helps save lives. You can join the fight against cancer by visiting V.

org slash donate. And remember 100% of your donation goes directly to cancer research. Let's talk transfer portal now. It's officially open and there are tons of big names already in there, including two quarterbacks from top 15 programs. Ohio states, Kyle McCord, Oklahoma's Dylan Gabriel, both entered their names on Monday. For more, we bring in our ESPN senior writer, Pete Thammel. And Pete, every time you blink, there's a new name.

in the transfer portal. It seems like there's a new quarterback in the transfer portal, and it's names that people know a lot about. So let's start with some of those quarterbacks. Tell me about what you've heard about where they're headed and what this means for them, starting with Riley Leonard. Well, Kelsey, you're familiar with the ACC to Notre Dame quarterback portal with Sam Hartman going last year. Sources have told ESPN that Riley Leonard is going to go on a visit to Notre Dame on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. So he gets there tomorrow. It's probably instructive that a lot of the schools in the quarterback market have backed off Riley Leonard a little bit.

So there's an expectation that he could end up there. We'll see if he signs on the dotted line this week. As for Dylan Gabriel, sources just told me in the last hour that he's expected to take a visit to Oregon this week. Oregon has jumped out ahead as the favorite for Gabriel's services. He's obviously thrown for nearly 15,000 yards and 125 touchdown passes in his career. We'll see if there's another Hawaiian in Oregon. Obviously, Marcus Marietta won the Hysman there. As for DJ Ui-Ungulet, we could see a return to the ACC, Kelsey.

Two schools that have emerged as his top suitors are Florida State in Louisville. He has no visit set. Mississippi State has also shown some interest, but DJU could be making a cross-country trip back to the Atlantic. He obviously started at Clemson, thrived last year at Oregon State, has one more year of eligibility left, and he's one of the top. Quarterbacks available in this portal. Seeing some of these teams go against their former schools, we already have seen before. You mentioned with the Notre Dame connection this year.

We will keep an eye on that. Pete Thamele staying tight. We'll check in with you in a second. But meanwhile, I mentioned the transfer portal opened yesterday. Take a look at these numbers. 1,184 total players entered, which shattered the previous record of 775, which was the first day of the window last season. 538 of those players were on scholarship up from 467. on opening day last year.

And you see that also includes 93 quarterbacks. So that is pretty big time stuff. Trevor, your reaction to what's happening with the Trevor portal, the transfer portal right now. And what it looks like with all these big quarterbacks in there? Yeah, well, it worked out well for some of the quarterbacks, the biggest ones last year, didn't it? You know, and there's good and there's bad to the portal. But had Bow Nick stayed at Auburn, and I went to Oregon, is, Would he have had the level of offensive line and the receivers that he has at Oregon?

Would Michael Pennock Jr. had he stayed in Indiana, have the same receivers at offensive line? Would Jayton Daniels had he stayed in Arizona State, had the same level of people around them? The fact that they went to another spot that better was able to support them, they're all three Heisman finalists. Now, it doesn't work out for everybody that way. But it worked out for them. No, you're right about that, Trevor. and this is a quick fix for a lot of teams. A lot of these teams, they're looking for a guy who can come in,

who's developed already, who has a resume to bring to the offense. So this is like, so coaches don't really have to develop talent, develop especially quarterbacks. Now they can just go out and pluck one to try to be a quick fix for their offense. But like you said, Trevor, it works out for a few, but there are so many players in that transfer portal who it just doesn't work out.

for it. So you're always gambling. You're always rolling the dice. But yeah, you're right. It worked out for Pennix. It worked out for Daniels and Bo Nix. But there's so many that it hasn't worked out for it too. Well, we heard Matt Roles say a couple of weeks ago, quarterbacks are what, a mill, two mil in the transfer portal. There's 93

right now. Not all of them are worth that, I'm sure, but it's going to be interesting to see. Of course, the NIL and the effect that plays. And speaking of big time money, let's talk a little bit more about it because the NCAA also trying to change their big picture approach. President Charlie Baker proposed rule changes Tuesday that would allow Division I schools for the first time to pay their athletes in ways that are not tied to educational resources.

If Division I schools chose to adopt the rules, they would be allowed to enter and to name, image, and likeness deals directly with their athletes. So Pete Thammel back with me right now. And Pete, this could be a very big deal if this happens because obviously a different stance than we've heard from the NCAA in the past. What's the likelihood that we could see this come to fruition? Well, Kelsey, there's always a long distance from NCAA proposals to NCAA reality. There's a committee upon committee upon committee in between, but I think it's important to step back and compliment Charlie Baker on having some of the foresight to actually let the NCAA take control of its own future. That's something that his predecessor, Mark Emerit, never did.

What would it look like? Well, direct compensation from schools via NIL is really a key fulcrum of this. And then when you look back, the subdivision that would be created that would allow schools to do this could control things like transfers and control things like NIL, roster size, all those things that would essentially match peers to peers, which when you go from Alabama to Louisiana, Monroe, wasn't always the case the way things are structured right now. Important to note, too, the way Charlie Baker's letter was written is that this is a step. And if it passes, they would likely need some type of congressional protection. Now, this is very different than a congressional NIL bill, which never really had much of a chance to happen. But this is written in a way with Title IX prominent and athletes all treated equally here, where they could go to Congress and say, look, here's what we're starting to do. We need a little help from you.

We need protection from National Labor Relations Board. We want to keep college sports collegiate. Here's our effort. Can you help us? It is just a proposal, but definitely, as you mentioned, an important moment from Charlie Baker in the. the NCAA to keep an eye on Pete Thamble with the latest here on college football live. Still to come, we talked a little bit about the Heisman, but let's really dive in. We know who's headed to New York.

How did the final weekend of football shape the Heisman finalist? And speaking of the Heisman, last year's winner has played his final collegiate game. A look at Caleb Williams career next. You're watching College Football Live, presented by Zillow, College Football Live is presented by Zillow. Jaden Daniels. Marvin Harrison, Jr. Four finalists, one dream.

And the winner is. It'll be the 89th annual Heisman Trophy Ceremony, Saturday 8 p.m. on ESPN, and you just saw the faces. But let's take a deeper dive. Jaden Daniels is the heavy favorite to take home the prestigious award, according to ESPN. Bet. He looks to be the second Ellen. LSU quarterback to win the award joining Joe Burrow. Michael Pinnock comes in second with the second best odds right now.

But Des, we saw what happened this weekend. We saw two of those guys play. Two of them didn't play. Is this the top four that you expected after what we saw this weekend? Well, it's the top three. I knew that those three quarterbacks would be invited. And going to the championship Saturday, we thought, okay, this is an opportunity for Bo Nix or Michael Pinnix Jr.

to separate themselves one of the other from the other two, especially Jaden Daniels because he wasn't playing. And I thought both quarterbacks played well. Michael Pinnock Jr. got MVP of the Pact 12 championship game, but he threw for 319, one touchdown, one interception. I actually thought that their running back, Dylan Johnson was going to walk away with the MVP trophy, who had 152 yards on the ground,

average more than five yards per carry, and had two touchdowns. With that being said, I didn't think there was a clear separation from Bowdo Nix or Michael Pennix Jr. from Jaden Daniels, who didn't even play that Saturday. So I'm really intrigued, Trevor, to see who's going to walk away with that trophy Saturday night. You know what? I know you can't say because you have a vote. I don't.

I think it's going to be Jaden Daniels of LSU. I mean, he led the nation in yards per pass attempt for all the great downfield passing from Michael Pennets, etc. Daniels was the one who actually had the best yard. yards per attempt. And then he also had over 1,000 yards on the ground, led all quarterbacks in college football in rushing yards. Usually you don't have a combination like that. And the fact that he put those two together to me means that he'll be the guy that will win the Heisman. I am really glad that Marvin Harrison Jr., receiver from Ohio State, is in there because he had a better year this year than he did last year when C.J. Straub, the second pick of the draft was his

quarterback. It is really interesting because we thought one of these guys might have a Heisman moment in the PAC 12, as you mentioned, it seems like Jaden Daniels, without having that game, may have had a Heisman moment. We'll find out on Saturday. Looking forward to seeing that. Meanwhile, let's get to some other big news across college football. And it's surrounding NFL draft news. Penn State Defensive Inn, Chop Robinson says he won't play in the Peach Bowl against number

11 Ole Miss, and he will declare for the 2024 NFL draft. And his two seasons, he has 41 tackles, nine and a half sacks, and 17 and a half tackles for loss with the Nittany Lions. Then there's USC quarterback, Caleb Williams, who hasn't officially declared for the NFL draft, but he did opt out of USC's bowl game against Louisville. That presumably means he has played in his final collegiate game as you take a look at some of his stats. Trevor, how do you sum up the career we've seen from Caleb Williams?

Magic. I mean, some of the place he made were just almost like they were CGI in the movies. And I'm surprised that he doesn't have a sore back the way he carried that entire team. Yeah, I tell you what, Caleb Williams was like the college version of Patrick Mahomes. I mean, he was just magical, even at Oklahoma. And, of course, at USC, it was a pleasure to cover his career. I'm going to be sad to see him leave. But it's just a matter of time.

We all know that he's going to enter the 2024 draft. He is projected to be the number one NFL draft pick in that as well. It's going to be interesting to see what other names come out, opting out of Bowls. And, of course, officially clearing for the NFL draft and the transfer port. We're just getting started. We're only 24 hours in. It is already going crazy. We'll see you back here.

2 o'clock tomorrow on college football live. Have a great day.