Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - DRAMA: Baton Rouge READY for Clemson Vs LSU, Week One Predictions

Episode Date: September 3, 2026

Lane Kiffin and the LSU Tigers welcome Clemson to the Bayou - but lawsuits and legal jargon have overtaken the discussion surrounding Week One's biggest clash. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! KALSHIFor a limited time, Download the Kalshi app and use code [LOCKEDON] to get $10 when you trade $10. .    IndeedListeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast. SquareGet up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at https://square.com/go/COLLEGE ! #squarepod   ULTRA POUCHES Don’t sleep on Ultra Pouches. New customers get 15% Off with code LOCKEDONCOLLEGEFOOTBALL at https://takeultra.com! #UltraPouches #ad 5-Hour ENERGYBring on the sweetness with Cotton Candy 5-hour ENERGY®️ shots—available online now at https:/5hourENERGY.com or on Amazon.  GametimeToday's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply. FanDuelCollege football Saturdays are already packed with reasons to get excited, and this season, FanDuel is giving fans even more ways to get in on every matchup. Join all the action at https://FANDUEL.COM    FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG(CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Week zero was the appetizer, but now week one is here, and it's time to feast because everybody's invited to the party. Buckle up, your remote is about to get the work out of its life. All eyes are on Baton Rouge for Lane Kiffin's LSU debut, but the bigger pressure might be on the visitor's sideline where Davos Swinney and the Clemson Tigers have lost three straight season openers. Plus, who is this year's Indiana? We got the answer for you. This is college football kickoff. Welcome to Fire TV's College Football Kickoff. You're home for everything you need to know before Saturday's biggest games.

I'm your host, Isaac Shade, alongside former Tar Heel and Dallas Cowboy Wide Receiver, Jesse Holly, and former Oregon American All-American running back and three-time Super Bowl champion, Kenyon Barner. Every week, we'll break down the biggest games, give you our picks, and bring in local experts who know these teams better than anyone. As we get going, I got to apologize to everybody in the house for missing the green shirt memo. Oh, man, party fell. It's Labor Day weekend, and I didn't get invited to the party. It's my bad.

Fellas, we're kicking off with kickoff kudos. What is the best thing you saw in Week Zero? Jesse Holly. For me, it's welcome to the big leagues. North Dakota State moving up from the SCS to the FBS and doing it in style. They take on Jacksonville State, and they got to it, rushing for over 2009 yards.

And this is a program that comes with a lot of rich history from the FCS. I'm talking about 10 national championships there. They're one of the Mountain Valley Conference there. I mean, this is a program now that has finally said, you know what? We're ready for big boy football, and they showed it this past weekend.

Kenyon. Listen, it's two things I've never seen. A turtle with speed and an offensive lineman that could block Elijah Kinsler from the Memphis Tigers. Listen, this dude had a day. Two and a half sacks, six solo tackles, completely wreaked, have it on the offensive line of UNLV. Have a day, my guy.

have a day. Let's go back to the FCS, by the way. For me, William and Mary upsetting number seven Villanova on the road. It got wacky in the final 60 seconds where William and Mary trailed by 10. And they won in regulation on the road against a top 10 opponent, a field goal. An onside kick recovered. They get in the end zone. And then Villanova, right? You just take a knee. Let's go to overtime. At home, you play for the tie. Nah, they come out gunning and suddenly they're throwing picks, field goal, William and Mary's going home, happy, the tribe. Unbelievable stuff. Can't believe that it happened.

That is our kickoff kudos. You love to see it. LSU and Clemson, Death Valley, Death Valley, Tigers versus Tigers, prime time Sunday night football. And the only thing distracting from Davos Swinney and the Tigers may be losing a fourth straight opening game is all the madness happening in Batal Rouge with LSU. It's time for our game of the week. Join now by the host of Locked-on SEC and Locked-on ACC, Mr. Chris Gordy and Mr. Kenton Gibbs. Fellas, excited for this game.

Death Valley, Death Valley coming up. It's going to be great. Chris Gordy, let's start with you. There's all this noise. Is there any way LSU can tune it out and just play ball? I think so. I mean, I was out of practice for LSU a couple weeks ago, and, I mean, it's business as usual. Sam Levitt looks 100% healthy now.

He's a full go. He was running around using it. his legs, using his arm, all these new pieces that LSU has. So I think when it's, you know, when the whistle is blown and it's just about football, we know this. Lane Kiffin's a really good exes and nose coach and they're going to play really good football for LSU. And, you know, late, you talk about focus.

Lane has this team focus so much this past Saturday. They did a full dress rehearsal of the game to the point that they, they practiced the walkthrough. They practice the halftime interview. They even practiced the flyover. So he's paying attention to every little detail. I don't think Clemson's going to sneak up on LSU this Saturday. Speaking of Clemson, look, there's not just pressure on Lane Kiff and Kent. There is pressure on the other sideline, too, where the Tigers have lost their season opener

three years in a row. How much pressure really is there on Davo in this game? Oh, the pressure kickers absolutely on, but also, why the hell does the state of Louisiana have the resources to do a flyover at any moment? I'm not sure I'll trust the boys down there in the bayou with that type of artillery. But in all seriousness, there's a ton of pressure on Davao because right now, we all know what have you done for me lately is what it is, right? As Andrew 3000 said, you're only funky as your last cut. And the last three cuts that Clemson has had a big game in game one, they have stunked up.

Those cuts have been terrible. They've gone from going double platinum to double wood. That's what has happened in terms of Clemson in these early big games here. And so when you think about the pressure that's on Davos swing, despite. the fact that Clemson since him has more national championships than they had their entire history before him, it still is, are you going to get us back to the promised land? You have put us out a position where we expect it, not meet the damn expectations. Gordy, as we record, we haven't had the court hearing in Baton Rouge on Thursday.

I'm so curious. Are either or both of Dayquan Wright and Xavier on Harris going to play in this football game? man, I hope not. I mean, it's, look, it's just supposed, it's a depth move for Lane. I get what he's trying to do, but they don't need those guys. He's got a good team assembled regardless. And so I just think at the end of the day, a lot of this is much to do about nothing. I know people are all hung up on.

Yes, they were pro players for about three weeks. But at the end of the day, I hope they're ruled ineligible. I hope at least Lane comes to his senses and says, we don't need these guys. Let's just turn the page and roll with the guys we got. But if they do play, you know. No, it is going to cause uproaring controversy across the country. At the end of the day, I don't think it's going to have any decision on whether LSU wins or loses this game. I just, for the sake of controversy, I hope they don't play.

Lane coming to his senses. That's funny that you said that. I don't see it going that way ever. Sam Levitt coming off season-ending foot surgery, hasn't played since late October. How are Sammy Brown, Will Hilton Company, going to try to make life uncomfortable for him? I mean, the same way Clemson always does, right? There was a point in time in history where you go back in year after year after year after year, there was a Clemson defensive lineman who was the ACC defensive player of the year.

I believe it was a six-year period where at least three or four times, it was not just a Clemson defender. It was a Clemson defensive alignment. So Will Helpe is obviously the first level of defense. On a defensive line last year that featured two guys that were mocked widely as first round picks to start the season, will help was the guy who led it in sex. He's returned.

He's bringing that back. He's getting better. He's getting smarter. He's getting older. And Lord knows, being old today means a lot of something in college football because we got offensive lines out here with 31 years of starts combined and all that good stuff. But in all seriousness, you're looking at a situation where if you're talking about,

well, what's the game plan to stop Sam Levitt? If I'm Clemson, I'm not doing anything too complicated or too fancy. I'm saying, dogs, go hunt. Go do what you do. They bought in some immaculate talent on the defensive line in terms of strong from Oklahoma. And of course, we already talked about Will Holt, but they have the guys up front to get after him. But if you try to overcomplicate it, which I thought was happening a lot last year at Clemson, where you had your linebackers, you could tell the mechanisms was happening and all that good stuff.

As the old saying goes, if you're out there thinking, you're out there stinky, just react, just flow, and, you know, let it hang, which I think they'll be able to do here. All right, we're going to see how this all comes together. Lots of pressure on both sidelines. Tigers and tigers. Can't wait for the action. Be good. Fellows, appreciate you both.

Thanks, sir. Really is going to be crazy between these two sets of tigers, the two Death Valley Bally. I'm calling this the Death Valley Bowl. Jesse, as you look at this, and you heard what those guys were saying, which coach do you actually think has more pressure? Not the team, the coach. Oh, for me, it's Lane Kiff.

And it's not even close. Thinking about everything that we've talked about leading up to the college football season kicking off has been based around LSU and Lane Kiffin. And now coming into this game, think about all the enormity of what they have at LSU right now and him being the head coach of it. You go and lay an egg in this game and baton rules turns on you quick. Quickly. To add to that one loss or even a close game in my opinion, this brings into question the entire offseason. into question, did Lane Clifton go out and just collect talent, or did he actually create a roster? But I'm going to go to the other side of that.

I believe Dabo has the most pressure. Dabo has not lived up to the standard that he set forth for years at Clemson. Clemson fan base and the powers at B. They're accustomed to winning. They're accustomed to being in the playoffs. They're accustomed to being in those championship games. And they went four and four last year, abysmal in the ACC. A year before that, knocked out of the playoffs.

So that pressure seat is high because you have to win and you got to win now. KB, let me stay with you because this LSU defense is a little bit salty right now. They got Prince Will Uman-Mielan-Mielan. They've got Whitens. They've got Ty Benefield. Oh, man, I've been working on it for years. You said that last name. Years.

I've been waiting for this moment in the sun. How would you as a running back be looking at this matchup and trying to be like, how can I find holes? I need my line to clear. How would you approach it? I'm approaching it during the week right now by going to my offensive line. As a running back, I used to do it often. Hey, I need y'all.

Come on, fellas. It's a big game. This is a game for us to go out and make a name for ourselves. This is a game for you guys to go out and get put on draft boards and be looked at as some of the best offensive linemen in the country based off of the guys that you're playing against. So I'm attacking it right now well before the game even gets there. Then on game day, I'm constantly in your ear. I'm constantly coming up and down the sideline.

Hey, let's go, baby, I need you. Let's go. They miss a block. Don't worry about it. Let's get the next one. So I'm consistently and constantly in my offensive linemen's ear all throughout the week, telling them, hey, listen, nobody thinks you all going to do nothing against his team.

Everybody thinks you suck. Everybody thinks they're better than you. What are you going to do about it? Okay, here's the thing. Last year, LSU won this game on the road in South Carolina. Jesse, can Clemson return the favor? Yes or no?

They say death balles where dreams come to die. Which one? Which Death Valley? Pick one. This one is going to be in Baton Rouge. And Clemson will not be able to turn the favor to the LSU Tigers. Their dreams will come to die.

And Lane Kiffin and LSU Tigers, They'll get their season start up for the right foot. I'm hoping and praying that Dabo pulls it off. Because here's why I say that. LSU plays in the SEC. There's plenty of an opportunity for them to make up as I continue out the season. You won't crazy. You want controversy.

Listen, I don't want peace. I want to mess. I want peace. I want war. I like you. I don't want peace, baby. No, I want dysfunction. I want toxicity.

I need it all. But I'm hoping for Dabo to be able to go out there and get this Clemson team on a right path. right after i'd tell you about five hour energy if you got a sweet tooth like me you know how tough it is to find that perfect treat that doesn't have all that sugar i need it i'm 42 years old i don't want the extra pounds that's why cotton candy five hour energy shot brings that nostalgic flavor back in a whole new way it's that classic cotton candy tastes like i can see it being at the fair and that steel drum yes but this time it's got that nice little caffeine boost and zero sugar. Quick, easy way to take care of that and being simple and on the go. For me, I'm traveling a

little bit more now. Each Tuesday, I have to travel to Dallas and back. And sometimes I need that little pick me up. And I love the little five hour energy bottle. It's so perfect. So, bite size, it's perfect. So it's really become a go to for me when I need something sweet without going overboard on it. Bring on the sweetness with cotton candy five hour energy shots available online right now at five hour energy.com or right on over at Amazon. Check out. out today. All right, fellas, we got an eligibility showdown going on here. Like, this is an absolute fiasco. These guys trying to go from the NFL back to college. We got to keep talking about the LSU of it all, though, because that's what everybody's talking about. The thing is,

we got all this back and forth, and that's what I want to start by asking you guys about as former players. If you don't, am I eligible, am I not? Kaby, how do you deal with that lack of knowledge? This is a space that it's uncharted territory, right? And, and, and, you So for me to pretend as if I know how to tell one of these guys what to do, I would be doing them a disservice because I didn't live this. But what I can say is stay focused on what you want, dive into it. And I just don't believe in forfeiting an opportunity in the NFL. We're not going backwards in life.

We're not moving forward to go backwards. We're in a crazy space for college football. Absolute crazy space. And I honestly hate it. I hate this with a pattern. I hate using the word hate. But this hurts the game of football. It hurts the college football game.

It really does. And as we record, it's hard to know what's going to happen both Saturday and season long. Jesse, the thing is all the Power 4 conferences have come out with statements. The AAC has come out with statements. Underdame has had statements. There's talk now about the other SEC schools, like trying to sanction LSU, not play them, all this craziness. All of that aside, are you team Dabo who was on one clear end of this spectrum?

or are you team Lane who's on the exact opposite end of this spectrum? How do we process that? Yeah, you know, I want to be somewhere in the middle, right? Because I come from a time where it was I wanted the athletes to be paid. I think that was something that was long overdue from the NCAA. But I'm also on the team of, come on now, let's have a little bit of morals. Let's have a little bit of respect for the game, unlike Lane Kiffin has. And trying to get these players back from the NFL into your college program.

to me, it just reeks of unethicalness from Lane Kiffin and company. And that's the biggest part for me is you can't do it the way Dabble was done it, right? Because Dabble talked about, I don't really want to get involved in the NIL and stuff like that. And you see how his program has went to hell. But also with LSU, I get what they are coming from the school and Lane Kiff. I do get it because he needs to win. He has to win right now by all costs. But just to do it with a little bit of integrity and that might.

might be a bit much to ask from Lane Kiffin? I don't think it's a bit much. I think it's a bit much. I think it's a lot. I think it's a lot to ask. We know who Lane is. Lane has a track record. You know, it's the saying if you're not cheating, you're not trying. Lane is trying to cheat.

Lane is trying to put himself in the best position possible to win. And to dabble, dabble, you've got to get with the program. As you said, this is why Clemson is behind the eight ball the way that it is. But for Lane and the LSU fan base, you're leaving a bad taste. their mouth in season hasn't even started yet. They paid you all of this money in here to come coach his football team, but listen, you got to be careful how you get him because how you get him is how you lose him.

You know who he is, you know how he left Ole Miss, and so what do we really expect from Lane? That's a great point. Also, Davo has thoughts. Here's what he said this week. It's just embarrassing that that's where we are. No pun intended, we just stay in our lane here at Clemson. Not so subtle, Mr. Davos Swinney. Look, from Lane Kiffin's new team to the team that he rebelled.

We now turn our attention to Ole Miss versus Louisville in Nashville Sunday night. It's our can't miss matchup. We bring in now the host of Locked on Ole Miss, Mr. Stephen Willis. Willis. We got this great lone ranked matchup of the weekend. I got to know it's the first full year of the Pete Golding era. How are the vibes in Oxford, Mississippi? Vives are high.

Now, if you think about it, now this is not a very large sample size, but Pete Golding has two more better wins than Lane Kiffin has ever accumulated. So that is something that all the people in Oxford, Mississippi are really high about. And also, this is really cool. Previously, in the transfer portal, was about a 70-30 split on offense to defense as far as the money. This year, you got a powerful safety, a powerful corner, another powerful corner, instead of getting guys that have a little bit lower ceilings, good players, why don't Williams in the league? But he's not Edwin Joseph of Florida State. Janello Guero of Georgia. So everybody's really fired up because of what this defense could be. Last year in the postseason, man, I had an absolute blast watching Trinidad

Chambliss just be an absolute magician. He became a household name. How do you expect him to kick off this hopeful Heisman campaign? It was amazing that Georgia game in the sugar bowl. I'm wearing the college football 100 hat as a tribute to Archie Manning because honestly Trinidad Chad Chambliss channeled Archie Manning in that Superdome against Georgia and kind of had a great performance. And the electricity, I think he has the right mental makeup to where he's going to be all right. He's not going to be somebody that reads his own press clippings and kind of gets back in. He's still the D2 guy, which means he's always going to have something to prove.

And I think he's going into this first game. I expect a really good performance against Louisville. Well, there's a guy behind him that's not too bad at carrying the football. His name's Kwan Lacey. But on the other side, we got Isaac Brown for Louisville, an elite running back matchup. How's this ground game going to play out, Willis? I think this is the best running game matchup and running back matchup that we're going to see all season, if we're going to be honest. I like Isaac Brown a whole lot.

Kiwan Lacey, I just think, is simply the best running back in all of college football. You put them on the field together in game one where there's going to be communication issues. misfits, that normal game one stuff, I think both of them could have pretty good days. Look, Sunday night, Nashville, the music's going to be popping. I can't wait to hear it going. How much havoc is Will Eccles going to play? And how does this game play out? Will Eccles is a special, special player.

Everybody talks about Santeran Perkins. Some people mention Cam Franklin, the transfers that came in. But Will Eccles is somebody that's from Houston, Mississippi. He's a homegrown guy. he was found as a low three star by Randall's joint of the defensive line coach, and he blew up to basically a near five star by the time he graduated. He's somebody that led all of power four and defensive tackles and quarterback pressures a year ago.

I can only expect that those pressures turn into sacks a little bit more this year. I think he had four and a half a year ago. I would expect somewhere this season seven to eight sacks from a three technique, and that's nothing to sneeze up. nothing at all to sneeze at. Can I'll wait to see this game Sunday night. Labor Day is rocking. I'm going to be eating a hamburger.

Can't wait. Be good, Willis. I appreciate you, man. Take care, guys. Jesse, you just heard Stephen Willis talk about this. Man, Pete Golding was great in the off season, in the postseason. It was a phenomenal run. But now this is his team.

This is a full season. It ain't just three games in January or whatever it is. How does that? How does he deal with that? How does you reckon with that? I mean, winning cures all, but a lot of people are going to want to see for Pete Golden. You know, it's the old adage of you never want to be the man after the man. And everyone knows what Lane Kiffin was able to do to Ole Miss and bring them to prominence.

And now Pete, the cupboard isn't bare. Lane left you a little bit. He didn't take everything. He left your Trinidad. He left your key one, left you three started on the offensive line. He left you something in the cupboard. Now the folks in Oxford wants to, they want to know, are you the man? for the job or were you in the shadow of Lane Kiffin?

There's two things that you mentioned that stand in place that helps him. That helps Pete. Kiwan Lacey and Trinidad Champa. When you talk about a backfield, that's a grown man backfield and that's going to make his job a hell of a lot easier. When you have a quarterback like Trinidad Chambley who can go out, dominate a game by himself and then you add in Kiwan Lacey who can absolutely take over the line of scrimmage and dominate a game, that makes your job as a head coach a heck of a lot easier.

So having those two guys really going to be a benefit. Really hoping Louisville can come with something, you know, and make this a challenge. Because here's the thing, Jesse. It's not like Cleve Lubin's just going to say, come on through Mr. Lacey. Have fun, right? Like, what is Louisville going to do on that side of the ball? I think for Louisville, it's kind of winning the trenches. It's committing more guys to the line of scrimmage to stop the run game because if the run game gets going,

now you not only have Kiwan, you not only have Trentondad, but now what opens up is, I have to bring more guys into the box. Safety's come down. And now, while Lane Kiffen may not be there, there's still some of that explosive office down the field that Old Mills will want to run. So stop the line of scrimmage as best as you possibly can first and then deal with whatever is down the field

and the explosive plays later. See, I'm with you until you're wrong. Okay. And I feel like you're wrong. I feel like you wrong. Okay. Because here's the thing. If Louisville crowds that line of scrimmage,

Trinidad Chambers is going to annihilate you through the air. He's been there. He's proven it. We've seen what he did in the college football playoff last season. To Georgia. He absolutely annihilated, though, guys, not only with his legs, but with his arm. So if you load the box, you get out of position. As you said, it's the first game.

There's going to be a lot of guys in wrong positions, filling the wrong gaps. He's going to make you pay. And so for Louisville, you kind of have to pick your poison. You kind of have to read the game and see what direction is going. Is Trinidad throwing the ball well? Is he not? Is the run game working? Is the offensive line working well?

So I think you kind of got to pick and choose and go with the eves and the flow of this game. Quick picks, fellas. This is our lone-ranked matchup of the week. O'Miss number nine, Louisville 24, 730 Eastern Sunday night in Nashville. I love it. Ole Miss, five, Jesse Holly. Yeah, I'm going with that. I'm going with Ole Miss winning this football game.

I think they're the better football team overall. Kewan Lacey, the best running back in college football. I think he'll have a big day. Listen, give me the little, give me Ole Miss. Okay. I'm not going to say, I'm with you when you until you're wrong. No, listen, give me Ole Miss all the way. I just think there's too much on that side of the football,

on that side of the sidelines with Ole Miss. I'm going there. I don't think it'll be close. I'm going to be boring and do the same thing. How about if Ole Miss and LSU are both winning this weekend in these SEC ACC games, that'll be crazy. Right after I tell you about Fandle, college football fans, time to put your knowledge to the test right now with college football pick them from Fandul.

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sponsored jobs. I want to have a conversation now about some dark horse title contenders. Basically, I want to ask you fellas, who is this year's Indiana Hoosiers? Last year the Hoosiers, started the season number 20 in the preseason AP poll. Hey, we know what they did after that, right? They ran that table. Mendoza diving in the end zone, taking a shot in the back. Man, I can't get that image out of my head.

Unbelievable. My question for you guys, though, some team outside the top 10 that could be this year's Indiana. Who is it, KB? Listen, it pains me to my core, to my fibers to say this with the Michigan Wolverines. Shout out to the Go Big Blue. Here's why. Kyle Whittingham, this is a man who builds grown men football. I've seen what he did.

We all seen what he did at Utah. He turned that program around, have them playing at an elite level. His style of football will carry through the Big Ten and throughout the rest of college football. Then secondly, Bryce Underwood is no longer a freshman quarterback. He's no longer young. Now he has games up under his belt. He has experience. If he can make the jump mentally and his mental can catch up to his talent, now the Michigan

Rovereans, they have a problem at quarterback and the rest of the country will have a problem as well. For me, I'm going LSU. And I know that sounds like that's not really a dark horse, but it is. Coming up before LSU came from, adding a new head coach, had the number one portal class. So you got a bunch of new guys coming here. This thing will be on the shoulders of Sam Levitt. How is he going to be able to play this year?

Will he stay healthy? I will say this about LSU. Because now they will be the hunted, right? No one will look at them as, you know, favorites, not favorites, but no one will look at them with a little bit of sympathy. everyone's going to be gunning and trying to take out LSU. And if Lane Kiffin, despite how you may feel about him, and we all feel some kind of way about Lane Kiffin, he can coach.

He can coach a game of football. He can straight up coach the game of football. And if he gets all of his Jimmy's and Joe's and those X's and O's playing right, this LSU football team can definitely be one that run the table. And think about Lane, guys will run through a brick wall from him. He's a player's coach. And so you've got to expect that. And right now you can see that LSUF.

schedule on the screen. I got a shout out my son, Paxton. 10-year-old Paxton, draw these schedules. Shout out the packs. We got all of them. And you'll see another one coming up, because my pick is Mr. Alabama. Kalin DeBoer.

We're talking about some teams that need to be the guy after the guy. It's tough for Kalin-Daboard, but I think they're going to get it going. Here's why. The main reason to me that Alabama belongs outside the top 10 is because of uncertainty at quarterback. But Keelon Russell comes in. He just doesn't have the... evidence yet. But if he can be that dude, I think this Alabama team is easily top 10,

easily top title type contender. If he's not, they're perfect right where they're at at 13. By the way, last week we mentioned that this is the first season since 2011 that Clemson has started outside the top 25. This is Alabama's first preseason outside the AP top 10 since 2008. That is bonkers kind of stuff. We'll see how the tide can. Do. Coach saving. He was a dude. Shouts to my guy, Paxton. Thanks for drawing those for us.

All right. It's time now for our playoff playbook. It's Labor Day weekend. That means we get games all the way through Sunday, all the way through Monday. Take that NFL. What else do you need between going to the pool and getting stuff off the grill? I need some college football. And that's what we got.

Rapid Fire. Let's get after it. Jesse, we start with you. Number seven Miami at Stanford. Friday night, Cains by 24 and a half. Pressure cooker on the West Coast? No, not a pressure cooker, man. This Miami football team is legit,

and they're starting with their quarterback, Darien Mintz, almost 4,000 yards last season. He may have a better season than Carson Beck with this Miami office, Malacottoni, and company. I got the Miami Hurricanes handling the business out west. I'm with you. KB. Wisconsin is playing, or excuse me,

we've got Boise State at some school called Oregon. Some school. Oregon. No. Look, I actually like this week one game. Boise State right now, the highest ranked group of 16. They're not ranked, but they're in others receiving votes. Any shot that they can do.

Do we need to worry about the Statue of Liberty or anything like that? Listen, I grew up a wrestling fan, and Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon had theme music, and it would go, no chance in hell. No, there's not a chance that Boise State comes in and does anything. Boise State has a history versus Oregon. But history won't be planning. You finally get to see this defensive front for Oregon. You get to see Dante Moore and all the offensive weapons that he has.

I don't think this game will be close. I think it'll be a blowout. I think it'll be over early. Wazoo at number 17, Washington, Jesse. The pack is back. We talked about it last week. But is the pack going to win this game? Yeah, this is going to be Washington all day long right here.

Behind their quarterback, William, the dual threat quarterback out there. This is the 118th Apple Cup game between the two. And so I think this one is Washington from start to finish. A lot is happening at Washington State. They're trying to revamp that program a little bit. New head coach out there. But the Washington Huckies will take this one easy. We got Wisconsin.

We got number four, Notre Dame. This game is at Lambo Field. Here's my question, KB. Are we getting a Lambo leap from CJ Carr? I believe so. You can get a lot of Lambo leave from Notre Dame. Again, this is an opportunity for Notre Dame to come out and really put the country on notice for who they are and what they plan to do this season.

Wisconsin struggled last season. I don't think they will get off the struggle bus versus Notre Dame. I believe, like I said, I believe Notre Dame goes in and gets the job done. Marcus Freeman and the fighting Irish, we're going to get a big one. And finally, Jesse Holly, number 19 SMU. We're in Dallas, by the way. Shouts to Coach Lashley at FSU. How about this?

The Mustangs are favored going to Tallahassee. What? Make sense of it. When is the last time if you heard an SMU team headed to Tallahassee to play Florida State in football and they are favored? Well, the times have changed a little bit, especially for the SMU Mustangs, and they have a good football team all behind Kevin Jennings. They're going to spread this thing out against Florida State.

They want to spread it out, and they want to go vertical down the football field. And if you don't keep an eye on old Jennings, he definitely will come out the back door and hit you over top of the head and hit his head on the goalpost. I got SMU heading down to Florida State, Tallahassee, and getting the dub. Beginning of the end for Mike Norville is here. I am afraid. Hey, one more quick hitter. no more games. Labor Day food. What is it? Oh, give me ribs and

give me some potatoes salad. Salivating, Jesse. Potatoes salad. I like that right there. Give me some brisket. I'm here in Texas, baby. Give me some brisket and macaroni and cheese. I'm out of taking a trip back. I don't need a showout. Let's get it. Pulled pork. That's me all the way. I'm in Georgia boy. That's what we do. It's been great to be together. Top five clash next week when Ohio State visits Texas. Oh, you visits the big house in Michigan. Keep that remote close and the snacks closer. We'll see. see you next week.