Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Big 10 SQUAD - What the Iowa Hawkeyes Will do in Week Thirteen

Episode Date: November 21, 2025

Big Ten College Football Playoff chaos looms as Oregon Ducks face USC Trojans in a game that could determine whether three, four, or even five conference teams make the expanded playoff. Can the Trojans pull off the upset in Eugene and crash the party?The panel breaks down Oregon's defensive dominance against USC's explosive passing attack, Michigan Wolverines' controversial playoff path despite their struggles, and Penn State Nittany Lions' momentum under interim coach Terry Smith against Nebraska Cornhuskers. Wisconsin Badgers' offensive woes take center stage as they host Bret Bielema's Illinois Fighting Illini, while transfer portal drama swirls around Dylan Raiola and coaching hot seats. Key matchups include Bryce Underwood's Michigan squad at Maryland Terrapins, plus upset predictions across the conference.Tune in for expert predictions, betting insights, and insider analysis on the biggest weekend in Big Ten football as conference championship implications hang in the balance. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

With the latest rankings, how could the Big Ten get four teams into the college football playoff or maybe five? And we make our game picks for the week on the Lockdown Big Ten Squad. You're talking ball with the Big Ten Squad, sponsored by game time. From USC to Ohio State, from Michigan to Oregon, from Nebraska to Washington, it's the local experts of the Locked On Podcast Network, bringing you scoops, breakdowns, and the most comprehensive preview of the upcoming Big Ten weekend. No hurt feelings and thin skin allowed. Squad up, you're part of the Big Ten Squad.

Happy Thursday, everybody. Welcome to this week's Lockdown Big Ten Squad. I'm your host, Spencer McLaughlin, neutral arbiter of all things college football with Mark Colkin of Lockedon USC. Jacob Gohens of Lockdown Hoosiers is here with Jay Stevens of Locked on Buckeyes. Ryan Herrings of Locked on Badgers is braving the elements and showing up for a football squad again. And speaking of that mindset, Nick Arvin of Locked on Purdue is here. here as well. Gentlemen, there are currently five teams. The Big Ten could, in some scenarios, send to the college football playoff. I think at least three will be getting in as many as five.

Mark, how many do you think wind up making it after the committee's latest rankings? So I think three is probably a guarantee. Four, if the game between U.S. and Oregon plays out a certain way, as well as they have to win their rival game at the end of the year. So, do you want me to elaborate more on that or just? Yeah, no, no, no, go for it. So if USC finds a way to win a close game at Oregon and then, you know, goes on and, you know, puts their foot on the neck of UCLA the following week, Oregon has the same type of situation facing them on the road at Washington.

And that could be a path to getting four teams in, assuming that Ohio State and Indiana or the other two things. Assuming, of course. Scowens, is there any, I can't see a world. I can't come up with one where Indiana somehow falls out of the playoffs. So I'll just throw the question to you. How many big 10 teams do you think get in? I'm going to go with three. And I think it's the obvious three. And that's because like Mark said, USC has a chance to do it, but they have to beat Oregon. They have to look good. They've got to win out. And UCLA, obviously not a concern. Michigan's a whole different

scenario, right? Because they could beat Ohio State and have an argument. But then if it comes down to Michigan or USC, the Trojans have the tiebreakers. So I just, I don't see it playing out perfectly for USC in the Big Ten. So I'm going to go with three. And if USC gets in, then more power to them. And the Big Ten can, can be proud of that. Jay, you know the scenario. I have to throw at you here. I just, I can't, I can't avoid it for, no, you got to unmute your mic first. And then I'll, I'll explain. But I, I do. I do. Because for however long, Michigan will even be in the Big 10, whatever that story is, if Michigan were to win at Maryland this week, I don't think anybody in this panel is picking the Wolverines to go down because the tarapins are on a rough,

what is it, a six, seven game slide? I think it's a seven, six. Yeah, I think it's, I think it's seven straight. If Michigan wins that game and then beats Ohio State and that game is in Ann Arbor, Michigan would have to be in the playoff, right? I honestly think that's the most. most likely way the Big Ten would get four teams into the playoff because I can, the more I think about it, the more I think 10 and 2 Oregon is not going to get in. What do you think about that, Jay? I think you're crazy, just even trying to get me to go out of my norm right now because I told you I'm not going to best, but that is a scenario that people have to talk about because if history repeats itself and Michigan finds a way to win five in a row over Ohio State, I think that's

their path to get in. That would be the fourth team from the Big Ten. just don't think that's going to happen. I don't unless there's a weird situation where the injuries at Ohio State to the two receivers and Jeremiah Smith and Cardinal State, if they are so big of an issue in that game, but those guys, for some reason, don't play. And Ohio State can't overcome that. Maybe that is why Michigan wins, but I don't see Michigan winning that game at all. I mean, I tend to agree. I've only been saying that for like three straight years. so what do we know really herrings three four or five big 10 teams getting in this year yeah it's funny if this was an SEC pod we'd be like seven nine all of them right like they get such a bend of

the doubt man it's insane um i think three getting in obviously for sure four possibly i to your point spence and j i've been same for three years same thing i don't think mission's got a chance but they really don't. I really don't think they have a chance this year. Like you watched them that game last week, and you're just like, there ain't no way Underwood is beating Ohio State. But they've got, there's got to be a shot, right? We can't sit here and put the chances at zero.

That would be dishonest. It's like me and a math test. There just ain't no way. It's going to be a failure. So I think it's free. Certainly USC has an opportunity here in front of them, right? If they do what they need to do, they can take care of business. And I'd be all for that.

But I think it's three. I think that's where I'm at. Zach Seiko has joined the chat. I'm going to try and reorder you guys so that everything goes the way that there it is. Now we're in the same order there. Seiko, you can jump ahead of Nick because your team has more Big Ten wins than the boiler makers this season. So three, four, or five Big Ten teams get into the playoff.

Three sounds about right. You know, I think Ohio State, Oregon. in Indiana. I mean, USC has a prove-it moment, right? Prove me wrong. But as far as playoff caliber teams, USC's close, but not quite there. So give me three.

Nick? Yeah, I don't think three is the right number. I think there's an opportunity for four, but there are so many different variables that need to go right in order for the Big Ten to get four teams in. And honestly, I think that Michigan has a better shot of beating Ohio State than I think USC has a beat. I truly do believe that. I truly do believe that because anything can happen in the game,

but the way that Oregon's been playing lately, I don't know if USC goes in and wins that game. Go ahead, Mark. Let me remind everybody, Nick thought Purdue was going to beat USC this. Hey, hey, Mark, you know what they did do in that game? Of which all great teams do? Cover. They cover. Thank you, Goins. Purdue covered. That's basically winning. Nick was essentially right. Here's my problem. I'm going to speak up on Michigan for a second, and this is an open question

because their resume up to this point sucks. Okay, their resume is terrible. So the question what the Wolverines becomes, if they beat Maryland, is the loan win over Ohio State, which would be at home against the number one team in the country, yes. Does that win alone deserve a college football playoff first? That's the point. I think it has to. thumbs up on that to me okay that's that's the question because if they beat osu over who mark he's market mark is asked okay so i won't u sc has the same identical tenancy record and usc has the head-to-head battle why does michigan get in explain that to me i think in goin's hypothetical he's thinking that oregon beats usc and the trojans are are nine and three my correct goans yeah

yeah that's i i didn't play that into it but yes okay see i don't intentionally start fires just accidentally sometimes. But I think that if Michigan is sitting there at 10 and 2, Jacob, I think there's kind of an Indiana debate to it, except that you'd have a win over the number one team in the entire country. I don't know how they could get left out if they win that game. Jay, could you see that happening? Say it again, please. If Michigan were to be 10 and 2 with a win over Ohio State, could they get left out of the playoff? Because I don't think they could. I think they can.

I 100% think they, because they're... Well, you just want that to be the case. No, no, no. I went back and looked at the committee recently. I think there are too many coaches on the committee that use the eye test and let you know who the top teams are versus the numbers in the analytics versus what they used to use. That would keep Michigan out because the eye test doesn't prove that they're one of the top teams in the country. I think if there are more athletic directors and people that aren't head coaches don't have the coaching experience, they might get in.

But there's too many coaches in there to try to say, oh, I'm going to give you this end, put you in when you're the eye test doesn't tell me you're one of the top teams in the country. So you're saying that Michigan should find a way to clone Condoleezza Rice and put her on the committee seven times. Is that what I'm hearing? You're correct. I knew that's exactly what you said. Those were basically the same words that came out of your mouth a moment ago. Mark Dantonio's on the committee. I know he's supposed to leave your hat.

Wait, is he really? Yeah, he is. That's great. Good for him. Good for him. All that stuff. Part of me believes that he's going to try to do everything he can to not let Michigan get in if they're in that final debate room thinking about Michigan versus somebody else.

You make a good point. This has been an eye test committee. It's why Notre Dame is as high as they are. And you know what? Showcase opportunity for the Big Ten this week because it's Cupcake Week down. in SEC country. When we get back, we'll start picking those Big Ten games. That's coming up next right here on the Locked on Big Ten Squad. Which today is brought to you by our friends over at Fandall. You don't need to see everybody else. You just need to see me, which is probably too much

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Let's start with the big one. Oregon hosting USC. Mark, would you like to go first or last? We're starting with this one. I'll go. We're going to start with this one. We're going to change it up a little. Usually we tease it to the end.

We're going to hit the big one right off the top. Oregon, USC. Who do you think wins? Head says Oregon is supposed to win. Hart says USC will win. It's going to be a close game. It's going to go one or two ways. Either Oregon is going to boat race USC or USC is going to have their walk on kicker or walk off

with a winning the field. Here's a fun fact. I think this number is correct. Oregon has had four kickers this year, tie or hit their career-long field goal when playing the Ducks. So do you know what his career-long field goal is? I want to say it was either a 54 or 55-yarder that he hit earlier this year. I would like to congratulate him in advance on making a 57-yard field goal at Otson on Saturday. This is just the way that it works now.

And just for the record, he is 17 for 18 this year. His only miss, and I don't know if it affected the cover at Purdue was when he doinked it off. the upright at Purdue. Yeah, okay. So now that I know that, I think he might hit a 62 yarder. That's cool. Might be the longest in college history. Goens, USC travels to Oregon.

Fandwell's got this at Ducks minus nine and a half. Open smaller. It's widened out a bit in Oregon's direction. How do you think it goes? Look, I think this is as big as it gets. This is as fun as it gets. And everybody in the country will and should be watching this game on Saturday. Oregon's going to have to play their best game of the season, I think.

And I think they do. I think Dan Landon gets them ready. You get them up because if you lose, then, yeah, you leave your fate up to the committee. That's a bad spot to be. I like Oregon to win. But 10 points is a lot for me. I like USC to keep it close, but Oregon to win. Yeah, 10 points is a lot.

Good thing. It's nine and a half. Nick, Oregon and USC, who do you have? Yeah, these are two of the most electric teams in college football. This is going to be a much watch game. You have two of the best quarterbacks in Dante Moore, Jaden Maiava. It's going to be fireworks. In terms of the spread, I do have Orrower.

winning this game. I don't know if they'll cover, but I say take the over in this one. There's going to be fireworks and odds in on Saturday. That over, by the way, according to Fandwell, 59 and a half. So you think both teams are getting over 30 there? I mean, that's a solid over. That's kind of a big over. But still, these are two teams that their offenses, they really spark a lot for these teams, very high scoring teams. I do like the over, even though it is almost 60 points. Craig Sheiman of Locked on Big Ten has decided to show up this week. Good to see you, Craig.

Great. Great, great to have you here. Oregon, USC. Who wins the game? First of all, I caught the tail end of your previous conversation. I've been saying for three weeks if Michigan runs the table and at the end of that table is number one Ohio State, Michigan is in. It's the only way the Big Ten gets four teams in the playoffs this year because USC and Oregon, one of them will be in and one won't. So, hell merry by Michigan, maybe.

People forget when you look at these two offenses with USC and Oregon that the Ducks actually have the number three defense at FBS and number one passing defense in the big 10. That's where I think they'll have some success in this game and pull away. I'm going with the Ducks all the way in this game to win and cover. This is just a great group of individuals who I enjoy being around on a weekly basis. It's just a pleasure to work at this network. I really enjoy it. Speaking of people whose company, I enjoy it. Ryan Herrings, locked on Badgers, who wins?

Yeah, it's important to just asterisk what Craig just said. If you play the badgers this year, you're passing defense stats do not get to be used in comparison or ranking. Those numbers get thrown out. I'm sorry. You know, I just love the classic Big Ten matchups. You know, somewhere up in like football heaven, Woody Hayes is getting together with, you know, Hayden Fry or something. Wow, Oregon, USC, just classic Big Ten football. I think USC is going to play really well.

It's a huge moment for them. But Oregon, a little too much on the ground. I like what they're doing. I'm going to give me Oregon USC to cover. I think Oregon wins the game, though. Seiko, what do you think? I like what Craig said about Oregon's defense and really pointed out just, I mean, because USC likes to throw the ball around.

And so that matchup, we'll see how much it actually happens on Saturday. But Mackay Lemon and Brandon Finney, that's going to be a good battle if I had to highlight an individual one. But give me a high content, like this is a game seven, so to speak, for for USC and Oregon. You know, pointing that out that Oregon doesn't get in if they lose this game potentially. So they're not going to be in the mood to score as much. So this will be defensive conscious. I'm going to go against Nick and say that this game stays under 2724 Oregon. Let's continue rolling through.

It's kind of hard to peg down what exactly is the next biggest game in the Big Ten. But I think we have to go to Michigan here, given the playoff implications we were just discussing. They travel to Maryland this week. as a favorite of just under two touchdowns? Is it 13.5 according to Fandul, Mark, your score prediction for this one? Yeah, I keep pretty close last week with that whole northwestern Michigan thing. I don't think Maryland has the chutzpah, so to get it done. The what?

It's a Yiddish word. Okay. Michigan should win. I don't know if they cover the spread, but they're going to win. Goins. I like something funky here, like a third. 31 to 6 or something. Maryland's offense has just sputtered out

against good defense as Michigan's got one of those. So, yeah, give me 31 to 6 Michigan. Goins, I thought you're going to do a classic Colin Coward move. If you've ever listened to him, do a blazing five segment. He always picks the most random scores that never show up. Yeah. Like, he's just like, I'll take Indianapolis to win, 26 to 22 and a half. You got me in the NFL, right?

So you could throw one of those out there if you want. That's true. Nick, do you think there's any chance that the Terrapins can get off what is a, it's a six game slide for Maryland right now? They started the year four and oh, they went into Madison earlier this year. They thrashed the Badgers. They were feeling good at six straight losses since then. Yeah, I mean, I thought that Malik Washington was going to be the next guy that was really an underrated quarterback in the Big Ten. Unfortunately, they kind of fell off a little bit. I'm going to go the opposite way from going. So I'm going to have a very typical score. with 35 to 7 Michigan as they cover and win pretty easily.

No field goals in that one. Craig, what do you think? I will point out that in Michigan's last couple of games, they barely beat Purdue. They barely beat Northwestern. I generally do not take Michigan to cover point spreads because they run the ball so much. Their top two running backs are down now.

Jordan Marshall got hurt at the end of the Northwestern game. Justice Haynes has been out. He's not coming back for the regular season. They'll be going with a true freshman and a warm. walk-on freshman for the two running backs in this game. Michigan will win the game, but they will not cover. Maryland will keep it close. And I thought most of the season, this would be a matchup of the future Big Ten freshman of the year with Bryce Underwood and Malik Washington. They've both kind of been somewhat underwhelming lately, particularly Malik

Washington. So I don't know about that, but it's a quarterback matchup I'm interested in anyway. Ryan, your score prediction for the Wolverines and the Terrapins. Yeah, I think Craig nailed it. that Michigan, they're not, I don't see them covering. I don't think I'm seeing them scoring a lot of points. They're just not geared that way. A lot of people thought under would be further along than this. And if you remember early preseason, I was pretty high on the leak. And that didn't turn out great either.

Like, that was not a great time. I mean, I mean, it did for one game. Yeah. Yeah, I think it's Michigan. They have a lot more to play for. Ultimately, it comes down. They have a lot more to play for. I think this game, I think it matters to them more.

Michigan, like 24, like 10, something like that, 24, 30, 13, 14, something like that. Seiko, what do you got? Can I take a page from Wisconsin here? Because when they found out that... Actually, no, I would because when they re-uped and said, hey, Luke Fickle's going to be our coach next season, Maryland did the same thing with Mike Loxley.

Does that boat of confidence just motivate a young roster that's just like, hey, let's go be a bull in the China shop. I'm not calling for an upset, but I'm calling for a cover of the spread from Maryland's point of view. And Malik Washington right now is better. looks better than Bryce Underwood. When we get back, we are indeed going to bounce around the rest of the Big Ten. Why?

Just because I know it's going to annoy Mark Culkin. There is no other reason. That's true. All right, wrapping up our picks for this week across the Big Ten. These games still more interesting, however interesting they may be, than what's happening in the SEC where no one is playing a real meaningful game, at least that I've seen on the schedule. I want to go backwards now because Seiko,

Penn State's got to be fit. Big Ten win on the board for the Nittany Lions. How about this? Bowl eligibility is in play. Does that continue this week when they play host to the Nebraska Cornhuskers? Bull eligibility is also favorable. Penn State is almost a 10-point favorite over our friends at Fandul. and I have to agree with them.

Just interesting, a little bit of a shakeup going on in Nebraska. Okay, so now there's steam, there's smoke that Dylan Raola might enter the transfer portal, Dayton Rayola decommitted this week. Just what does that mean? What does that mean for the future of Nebraska? There's more to play for here, and Dylan's hurt. So Nebraska's without its starting quarterback. Kudos to them for getting a win over UCLA.

Penn State couldn't even do that. But I will take the nitty lines that are, you know, want to talk about momentum with with coaches and everything these guys like playing for terry smith the interim head coach so give me penn state to win comfortably against nebraska this game was supposed to mean more when the season kicked off but alas here we are ryan who do you think wins the ball game i'm with zach i think penn state they've been playing really hard and that matters you know there's a lot of teams that fold when the season goes away when it becomes untenable and pen state has shown recently that they haven't been one of those teams so there is some culture

that's still in place there. And Nebraska, it just deals like this is going in the wrong direction when you start to look around that program. So I do think Penn State takes care of business here. Craig, what do you think? And could Dylan Raola be one of the hottest commodities in the transfer portal along with potentially Sam Levitt from Arizona State come January? I thought the same exact thing when I saw his brother was transferring out.

Now, the freshman that's replacing him, T.J. Lateef is pretty decent. And they've got a pretty good quarterback coming in class of 2027. So maybe the younger brother who was only a three star, not a five star said, I'm out of here. I don't know. I'm very interested in that. Remember, Penn State, there were still a lot of people that thought there was enough NFL talent on this team to make them the number two team of the country in the summertime. And they've just, the wheels fell up. They outplayed Ohio State maybe for two quarters in their game.

They outplayed Indiana in two and a half, maybe three quarters of that game. So they were starting to put it together. They were just playing the toughest part of their schedule. and then they blew out Michigan State. So I think Penn State actually is ready for a nice, comfortable day against Nebraska by winning by double figures. Yeah, I think Craig makes a lot of really good points. I think any team that has won at Penn State this year

should just be a lock to the college football playoff no matter what. I just, that's, that was my takeaway from Craig's thoughts. Yeah, yeah, you know what, Northwestern's favorite. There's your fourth team, Northwestern. Exactly right, Northwestern Scrappy Squad, who's favored at home this week against Minnesota, but we'll get to that moment. Nick, do you think Penn State at 4 and 6th? This has to be a first. A 4 and 6th team is favored by almost 10 points against a 7 and 3 football team. What do you make of that? Yeah, I mean, you kind of have

to throw the record out when you talk about Penn State because this is a team that's much more talented than their record shows. I kind of want to ask Saco about that because you guys fired James Franklin. And then it's now like a renewed football team where they compete with Indiana. Saco, do you think that James Franklin was the problem? Was he really that bad that this Penn State team plays a little bit of the problem? Yeah, very not. That bad? Well, they they did get run out of the building by Ohio State, right? They still couldn't win a big game even though James Franklin wasn't there. It takes two to tango, right? I think Penn State needed a refresh. So did James Franklin, because he looks very happy at Virginia Tech.

And Virginia Tech's very happy to have him. But there were, James Franklin was the lead guy. He refused to make changes quick enough. And those changes were necessary. The media, the fans were calling for him. So it's like, why do the outsiders seem like they know ball better than the head guy himself? So yeah, James Franklin bears a lot of responsibility just for not made. Because these changes could have been salvageable.

They could have won against UCLA and Northwestern. They didn't. So to answer your question, yes. Yeah, I got Penn State. I think that they're on fire right now. Sorry, go on fire. Penn State on fire, just as we expected to say. I mean, better than they were.

This is true. This is objectively true. Go into anyone going to give the Corn Huskers a chance? Yes, I will. And I'm second to last in picks, but only because I think Mark is going to say the same thing everybody else did about Penn State. Deep down, that's what I believe.

But just to, you know, save the. pick, save the graphic, whatever you want to call it. I'll pick Nebraska to win. Why not? They can get to eight wins. And who knows what chaos they'll stew up in Happy Valley on Saturday. Mark, is that what you think as well? Are you, were you waiting to, or are you thinking what Goans thinks you are thinking? No, no. If you got rats already jumping ship and talk about transfer portal, Matt Rule is not going to be their head coach next year. You know, he just signed a big extension. Where's he going? That means absolutely nothing in today's day and age. all right all right news both mark do you know that i how about we dubbed that a breaking news

opinion because penn state doesn't have a head coach do you know something i'm getting a little nervous over here is he going to pen state i can state this weekend you know talking okay they don't i hope they don't say a word to anybody nobody says a word to anybody yeah marks uh marks mark's Mark Stur in the pot. I imagine no one, you know what? I was going to go Minnesota Northwestern because I want the Wildcats to make a bowl game this year. But just for Ryan Herrings,

let's talk about Illinois, who's suddenly back in the top 25, which I don't actually object to. I mean, they lost by 17 points to Washington, who's unranked. Speaking of teams that have flipped the script mid-season, Ryan Herring, the Wisconsin Badgers. That's a new ball club, isn't it?

Silence. Yeah, no, like, it's, listen, Bert, you know, Brett Bielimo, we call him Bert, but Brett, it's coming back into Madison, you know, so that's always a little fun. It's always a little spicy. He's a guy who left to chase greener pastures and then did not do great at Arkansas. Actual titles. Yeah, yeah, you know, that didn't work out. You know, so this, this Badger's team has been playing better. They have two games left. Listen, we can still backdoor our way into a bowl here. You win those two, and then our grades are great. You know, we can go get ourselves a little bowling in there. The five and seven, the five and seven academic bowl team. The five and seven, eight yard team out. So, you know, we're still fighting for that. I know kids have been putting extra hours in the classroom. A lot of study hall going on in the top right now.

Let's go. Ultimately, I think Illinois win. I just don't know how this badger team can score. The defense is playing really well. Some people on this panel have seen that, you know, with their teams coming and playing the badgers, but the offense just can't score. second worst scoring offense in the country right now ahead of only

Massachusetts and I don't know if it's going to get any better the last two weeks so I think Illinois wins close game defensive game but Wisconsin scores 10 13 at most Illinois could take pity on them not with Yelma there there's bad blood there's a little there yeah oh okay well in that case Illinois by by 40 this will be our the last game we pick because I don't think anyone's got the guts to take Michigan State to beat Iowa right because or Rutgers to beat Ohio State. I mean, hey, if they win that game, they might find themselves ranked again. They did have another close loss last week, did those Iowa Hawkeyes. Their fifth one of the year.

So, I mean, maybe put a number next to their name. They deserved it. Ever get blown out, though? I mean, that is the way Iowa loses. Folks. Yeah. They win close. They lose close. They're the most excitingly boring team in college football. There's also thrilling and electrifying. But, Seiko, you think Illinois could get knocked off by Wisconsin? Do you think there's an upset? I'll put it that way to wrap the show. Do you think there's an upset? Could be Illinois losing it. Wisconsin could be Washington falling at UCLA.

Anything you think wild happens this weekend in the Big Ten. I would like to think that Washington wins pretty comfortably. UCLA now can't stop anybody with a pulse anymore. So Washington runs away with that one. If you're looking for me to put stock into any potential upsets, it's Wisconsin. Nobody else can, Rutgers right? It's Wisconsin all the way. Craig?

A couple interesting things with the Illinois. Illinois, Wisconsin game. First of all, you know, if they do run the table and they win a bowl game, that's two years of a row. Bert Belema is a 10-win team at Illinois, you know, border top 20 team. That's pretty good. They got to get to fire him. And then I will say this about Wisconsin. And Ryan, feel free to jump in. You know, the big problem for Luke fickle in the three seasons now is he can't get quarterback, right? That's one of the problems. Carter Smith's from down here where I live in South West, Florida. And look, his numbers weren't great this weekend with his first career start, but he kind of, there's some there there.

I thought he passed the eyeball test. I'm kind of wondering what your opinion is, is whether he's going to be the guy next year. I think he could be. Yeah, so this has actually been an interesting talking point. So for everyone else, Carter Smith, four-star quarterback. Well, let's reframe Wisconsin quarterbacks. It's interesting. Was a Florida kid, really highly recruited, went to Michigan, came and then ended up

decommitting there when they got Underwood. So he's got talent. He's got pedigree. But Wisconsin has already come out and said, we're going to kind of open up the paper, our paycheck this offseason. We're going to go spend money. And there's no way they're not going to go get a veteran quarterback. So I think he's going to be on the roster next year.

I think he's going to compete, but they will definitely go and get a veteran guy. Wisconsin quarterback Dylan Rayola. It hasn't worked for them recently. So that doesn't mean it's going to work out. But they will definitely go get a veteran and pay some money for him. Nick, what do you think is the most likely upset in the Big Ten this week? I mean, I don't think that Wisconsin's going to beat Elwood.

Illinois, but I also don't think there's any chance that UCLA wins that game. I don't see an upset happening, but kind of, I think it was Craig that said it, just process of elimination. It has to be Wisconsin because there's no real other games on the slate this weekend that look like there's an upset possibility. So I would have to look at that Wisconsin, Illinois game. Goans. It was Nebraska.

I've talked myself into it the last five minutes. So I am a die-hard Nebraska fan second. They are going to do it. they're going to walk in and beat Penn State and be an eight-win football team with a chance for more. So, yeah, Cornhuskers all the way. Mark, you're most likely upset in the Big Ten this week. Yeah, I'm just going to stay on the same tangent.

UCLA needs a head coach. Am I allowed to use that game? I'll say it. USC upset Oregon. I think you should. Yeah. Go for it. It gets kind of anticipated coming from me.

I'll say this. UCLA needs a head coach. Washington's coming down to L.A. Keep an eye on that. For the same reason, and I was being a little facetious, Matt Rule, going to Penn State, we'll know where Nebraska head is how they play in that game. Stop it.

All right. You don't want it? Saco doesn't want to hear it. It does not want to hear it. That's where we wrap the squad this week. Mark Colkin locked on USC, Jacob Goans, locked on Hoosiers, Nick Arvin, locked on Boilermakers, Craig Scheman, locked on Big Ten.

Ryan Herings, locked on Badgers, Zach Seiko, Locked on Nanny Lines with future head coach, Matt. Stop it. Okay, fine. I will stop. I'm Spencer McLaughlin. We'll see you next time. And until then, hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day.