Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Big 10 SQUAD - Will Indiana or Oregon Make It To the National Championship

Episode Date: January 7, 2026

Big Ten powers surge toward another national championship as Indiana crushes Alabama 38-3, shaking the college football landscape. Can Oregon or Indiana claim the crown and continue the conference’s dominance? Spencer McLaughlin leads the roundtable with Craig Shemon, Jacob Goins, Ryan Herrings, and others, unpacking Kurt Signetti’s meteoric rise, Indiana’s ferocious defense, and the SEC’s fading mystique. Insights abound on Oregon’s playoff chances, Bryce Underwood’s future at Michigan, and Chip Kelly’s uncertain coaching journey.Key debates cover Kyle Whittingham’s arrival in Ann Arbor, Michigan’s revamped staff, and why mid-tier Big Ten teams are outperforming national heavyweights. The hosts riff on player development, defensive schemes, and emerging coaching talent across the Big Ten, spotlighting Fernando Mendoza’s ascendancy and the behind-the-scenes impact of NIL and the transfer portal. Will the Big Ten’s new era crush the SEC once and for all? Dive into all the drama, predictions, and expert analysis. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Big Ten will once again play for a national championship. Oregon or Indiana, who advances Ohio State did not? All that and more on today's Locked-on 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. Know her feelings and thin skin allowed.

Squad up, you're part of the Big Ten Squad. Happy Friday, everybody. Welcome to this week's Locked on Big Ten Squad. I'm your host, Spencer McLaughlin. Craig Sheiman of Locked on Big Ten is here. Decked out in Indiana gear for his Indiana Hoosiers. Ryan Herrings of Locked on Badgers is here, disappointed that we're not talking basketball.

So Zach Anderson, Yoxhammer of Locked on UCLA. Jay Stevens of Locked on Buckeyes has licked his wounds and shown up for the squad this week. And no such licking of wounds required for Jacob Goeons of locked on Hoosiers. We had Mark Colkin of locked on USC. And much like the Trojans in the Alabama Bowl, he bolted at the last minute. So Craig, I'll start with you. They forgot the Hoosiers.

The Hoosiers just completely and utterly dominated Alabama. They were the much better football to 38 to 3. Look, it's time to ask the question. Should the SEC be allowed to get a team into the playoff? They can't be competitive. They are unable to put a product on the field that is worth watching. I mean, these are the sorts of questions we've got to ask now, right? Craig?

Yeah, Kailorne is going to wish real soon he took that Michigan job, right? Because, I mean, the heat is going to be way up. And here's how far we've come in my world. I've been following the Hoosiers for five decades. I was upset in the second half. I was like, man, we gave up three. I mean, Oregon had a shutout earlier today. We gave up the three-pointer.

This is while we're up by five touchdowns in the Rose Bowl against Alabama. I had to check myself and go, wait a minute, what world am I living in right now? And I should also point out, Kurt Zignetti, congratulations, the one and only coach in America to figure out how to handle a 26-day-bye. He's the first one out of eight total coaches to figure it out. So congratulations to him. He is the best coach in America. It's actually eight total games and seven total. coaches because Kirby Smart got bit by that twice in a row, which is hard to believe.

You said Kalin Nabor had some regret. Roman Tomashoff, locked on Huskies this year. Roman, should he have just never left Seattle? I mean, honestly, yes. This was one of the things where even at the time, it was, it was so ridiculous to think about because doing that four days after a national championship, he would have had all the leash in the world here. And now looking at just what he's the kind of fire he's been under since the moment.

he arrived at Alabama, like even if you want to take out that first season, what it sounded like all year this year. If he never left UW, this never would have been an issue. I think that he still would have been able to build a consistent winner here. And it was very clear that he was on the right track after going 25 and three over his first two years. And the fact that he was just kind of like, no, I'm going to go try to fill the shoes of Nick Sabin is just, it was just such a bad move on his part. Yeah, it's not. It can't feel great. I mean, they got better this year. They got to the quarter final, won a road playoff game. That's, that's something. By the way, I got to bring in Jacob Goins of Locked on Hoosiers here, I assume is in a good mood. I would just like to say your

team is a bunch of nerds. Who allows a point in a quarterfinal game? I mean, what were you guys asleep at the wheel or something? Well, if you forget, we put up 38 points instead of just 23, like some, you know. Defense wins championships, my friend. Defense. Defense, defense with championships. up several actually yeah yeah several yeah how many points your defense allow three yeah you remember the 30 mark you spent through you remember 30 or 30 plus yeah just remember that number because it'll come up again in just about a week or so look indiana showed up and did what they did right they've done this all year long and i was talking with some people throughout the week leading up to the game

and it was how alabama's been here before alabama's but they've done it they're they're just they're just going to steam row. Indiana doesn't know what they're doing. And this was not that at all. So yeah, shout out to Kerr Signetti, the coordinators, the team. I mean, if people don't believe now, they never will. And I'm not saying you have to believe in Indiana to be a decade dynasty, but you better believe in them in 25 and 26 because they're the best team in America. Craig already said it. Kurt Signetti is the best coach in America. Fernando Mendoza is the best quarterback in America and the Hoosiers have the best defense in America. Sounds like a winning recipe to me. guys. Yeah. And I got to tell you, the quote about the Alabama mystique was pretty awesome. Like you said,

you know more about the mystique than the guys in my locker room do. They just know the tape. And then he went and just beat the crap out of him. Ryan Herring's locked on badgers. Are you feeling Big Ten pride over there in Madison? I am. First of all, there's so many people here, happy New Year, celebrating bowl season. Yeah, Ryan didn't get his car stolen. You didn't, right? Deans back out here chilling about basketball. All y'all guys got bulls and playoffs. Hats off to Indiana. The other remarkable thing with Indiana is they never have a bad day.

They never seem to have a bad rep. They never seem to have an off night. They're always locked in. It's incredible. I will point this out, all these bum teams in the playoffs. Wisconsin played Indiana tougher than Alabama. That was 31 to 7. Yeah.

Good point. Moral victory. Oregon tougher than Texas Tech. I'm just saying. Statistical, just ignore the hurt. They were playing in, and that's true. Better quarterback play, though. Mid-to-o-tier Big 10 teams are playing these teams harder than SEC and outside forces.

So I'll give, well, let's get Wisconsin a little bit of love here. This schedule was ridiculous, and it's validated by how well these big 10 teams are crushing opponents. Congratulations to both you guys, so Spencer and Jacob and the fan bases. No, congratulations for Craig. Screw him. He doesn't count. Craig is decked out. Indiana gear. And you're like, yeah, congratulations, all you Indiana fans and anybody that's out there.

Craig just doesn't exist. Mark Hoken, locked on USC, tough one in the Alamo Bowl. I mean, TCU did have their backup quarterback. So, you know, you got to give credit to how tough that matchup was. But that defensive coordinator search, Mark, who's it going to be? So as one of the two and a half people here in this room that has actually experienced a national championship, kudos. to Indiana. What I am seeing from them, that reminds me of, and I know U.S. didn't actually win the national championship in 2008 because of the BCS, but that looks like the U.S.C. team from 2008. That defense is freaking amazing. And the offense just does what it needs to do because the defense is going to win the game bottom line. To your question,

Spencer, I think everybody feels the same way that Pete Klyakowski is the first man, up for that job from my understanding he wants the job and i don't think finances are going to be an issue now if that doesn't come to fruition for whatever reason i've given chad bowden permission to go knock on brian hean's door and not leave until he comes back with him as a defense court you better stop right now mark you better stop yeah uh by the way you got it you got to be careful mark you can upset Roman big time by mentioning that it was half a national championship. Well, see, actually, I was going to ask you, I was the half or you were the half, or if we were a quarter each, since we both seen our teams play for a national championship.

I was really curious about that. No, I, I don't, I wouldn't say that Oregon has half a national championship. How could you even make that case? He said, he said, seen. See, oh, I think he was referring. I don't know, Mark, answer the question here. I thought you were saying scene that, uh, seen the team actually win, you know?

What year were you born, Roman? 1997. Great. There's only two. The team, though, will not be winning a national championship is the UCLA Bruins. I thought they had it. I thought they're going to do it. No, Zach, you're going to have to wait.

Jay Stevens, what in the world just happened? I don't know what if, I don't know what happened. That was the worst O-line play. I've seen from Ohio State in the Ryan Day era. It was horrible. I have never seen guys at Ohio State literally get ran through their chest. And it's multiple guys that can't block. I get the running back, trying to pick up a blitzing line back or not what happened,

but they got ran through the entire game. And I'm not even going to say like the layoff was an issue. They weren't going to beat them if they had a week to prepare. If it was week 14, week 15, they weren't beating Miami. Miami was more violent. They were more physical. Ryan Day says, trust your preparation. Clearly, they weren't prepared to play that day.

They're lucky they only lost by 10 points. That was a horrible performance. It's time to ask the question. Does Mario Cristobal live rent-free in Ryan Day's head? He's 2-0 all-time. 2-0 all-time. I mean, that's... Yeah, I don't even know what to make of it.

That's just a fact... Anyway, Zach Anderson-Yoxi, I'm sure you've been watching all these games. Clean haircut, by the way. Ron Swanson approved down there. How do you feel about Big Ten football right now? And your new head coach, Bob Chesney. Pretty happy about Bob Chesney. You know, we've been talking more football than basketball on the show.

So that's surprising the middle of basketball season. But in terms of the Oregon game, we slept through that. Enjoyed the Rose Parade, you know, they should move the game back to two. I don't know how you feel about that, Mark. Then we have the likes of Indiana treating Alabama like they were playing UCLA, right? In the Rose Bowl game, that's how I felt. It's like, oh, Alabama looks like UCLA playing Indiana. So that's how good Indiana is.

That's how I felt two years in a row against the Hoosier Buzzsaw. I believe when Indiana went to the Rose Bowl and played UCLA was actually a closer game than what, than what Alabama just put on the fit. Am I remembering that incorrectly or am I right? Yeah, I don't remember the final score, but it was, it was a lot to a load. Hold on. Hold on. I think Indiana put a 40 burger on UCLA. I don't remember.

42 to 13. They lost by 29 points. Bama lost by 35. UCLA, man. They're on the comeback. Here they come back. Yeah. So we just don't talk about what happened in Bloomington. Here's what we've established in this first segment of the Big Ten squad. Wisconsin, UCLA, and sure, we'll say Washington would all beat Alabama. That's what we have laid down. We've all been held to that take. All eight of us, flame us in the comments. Wisconsin did play Bama this year. What was the final score? It was a long time ago. Yeah, exactly. It doesn't count.

It doesn't count. That's the rules of the SEC. That was last year, man. That was last year. Yeah, this is new Wisconsin. It didn't mean more then. Yeah, exactly. It meant less.

But in the second half of the season for Wisconsin, it meant a whole heck of a lot more. We'll keep talking about the playoff and much more on today's elect on Big Ten squad. is brought to you by our friends over at Fandall. Fridays already feel different during basketball season, which is not news to some hosts who like that sport more than football right now. But Fandul is making them even better in the NBA. Every Friday night before the games tip off, Fandul gives fans a new way to kick off the weekend with NBA Happy Hour. NBA Happy Hour is your official pregame, a limited time window where special offers drop right inside the Fandul app before the

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See what's dropping during NBA happy hour every Friday from 6 to 7.30 p.m. Eastern. And a little basketball, a little action, and a whole lot of Friday energy. That's NBA happy hour only on Fandle, the official sportsbook partner of the NBA and, of course, the Lockdown Network. Continuing on here on today's Lockdown Big Ten Squad dropping on a Friday, because we were planning it earlier in the week and realized, well, we usually tape this on a Tuesday or Wednesday. But all the fun stuff is happening on Wednesday and Thursday, we've got to let that all roll in. And so, Craig, I want to go back to you here. Do you think Oregon against Indiana is going to produce the national champion? Yes, I do.

And look, I want to talk about how impressive that defense was against Texas Tech. I haven't watched a lot of Texas Tech football this year. All I know is they score like 42 points a game. I hear how great they are, 400 yards of offense. And for Oregon to blank them like that was impressive, particularly coming off the JMU game where they gave up 34 points in 500 yards. And by the way, at the risk of derailing this show, which that's never happened on the squad before. No.

I would like to go back because we didn't meet Christmas week. And I was very critical on my podcast, Locked Out Big Ten, about the Oregon defense against JMU because of everything they gave up. And then I got a text from one of your minions that watched Locked on Ducks. And I'd like to share it with you and get to the bottom of it. It's from Doug. He says, Craig, what are you going to say when the Ducks beat Indiana, in the semis p.s spencer says you don't know what you're talking about go go whoa whoa wait who's doug doug from eugene i don't know i got a lot of my comment section on

you too okay so as a comment not a yes you dug from now on Doug is Spencer's burner, right? Would you look like a Doug? When did I even, look, I'll, look, I'll, I'll, I'll be a hundred percent. He would be D-U-G-G-G-D. Look, I'll be 100% real. I'm on the air a decent amount. I don't remember every single word I've ever said.

But when did I say that? I don't know. My only thing, hey, if any of you guys want to rip me behind my back, just spell my name right for SEO, purposes in the note. Perhaps what he was referring to is my concern level about Oregon's defense out of the JMU game was a two out of 10, but gee, thanks, Doug, for making me look like an A-hole, just going around, Doug, Craig Sheiman, what a schmuck.

Guys, no idea what he's talking about there. It's all good. I just thought I'd bring it up. Yeah. This is a group therapy session, Greg. I got you, man. Nothing, if not a group therapy session. I never feel a therapist after I come here with UCLA football.

That's all the same. I mean, if that's the case after this season, Zach, haven't you needed therapy for like 10 years at this point? Not that long, but pretty soon. Okay. We're getting there. Chesney will change it though, obviously. So Ryan, do you think the Big Ten is bound to win its third straight now? national championship. Yeah, I think Indiana. I think Indiana is the best team left. And if anybody

beats him, it's Oregon. I think the winner of this game wins the title. Really quick while we're rolling back to carpet. I also have a comment from somebody from our show that we did, Spencer. Oh, boy. Oh, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I was like, wait a minute. We played like two months ago. I've been saving it. No, here's the thing, guys. Indiana still gets approached with a certain level of trepidation because they're Indiana. Dude, if if you had taken all these performances the last two years and remove the Indiana logo and put slapped a Bama logo a Texas logo at Notre Dame logo on what they've done nobody would bet against them

they just housed Alabama they went into odds and beat the ducks like this team's incredible they're there are a steamroller and if they had any other logo nobody would be picking against them I mean I didn't I didn't pick against them against Alabama some folks did then championship football I'm telling you this is an elite level right now guys Mark has seen a lot of football in his day. That is true. Perhaps more than any of, than the rest of us combined due to certain factors that shall go unmentioned on this particular program. Going, how do you feel about, how do you feel about that proposition that the big 10 will win its third straight national championship? It'd be a pretty crushing blow to the SEC

country would. I don't, I actually don't know the last time the SEC failed to win three straight national championships, which speaks to the high bar that they've said for themselves, but also that the Big Ten's adapted better to the new world of college football. Yeah, and Indiana is the perfect example of that, right? Because of how bad Indiana was before Kurt Signetti got here, before they invested with NIL, and they figured out that the transfer portal exists. And they have Yeah, they were like the UCLA of the Big Ten. They were bad. They were really, really bad. But I think it being Indiana, because I do think they go on to win the national title, but it being Indiana to win the third straight for the Big Ten would just crush college football

altogether, especially the Southeastern Conference. They don't know what to do. Alabama fans were silent on the Internet after the Rose Bowl because they were just in shock. They don't know how to handle it. And the Big Ten has proven it is top heavy, yes, but it's just so much better than any other conference in the country and it's not even close. And to Ryan's point about teams still not taking Indiana seriously, I don't think that happens against Oregon or in the national championship game if the Hoosiers get there because you'd be stupid to do so because it's all on film and they've proven how good they are in everything that they do. So I don't expect anybody, including Dan landing in the ducks in round two to overlook

Indiana by any means because they got beat by 10 last time. Roman, I don't even know if I agree with Goan's note in there that, well, the SEC's deeper, but the big 10 is better at the top. I don't know for whatever both seasons worth. One conference got a better record than the other. By the way, Mark, USC, not pulling its weight there. Not helpful. But anyway, Roman, go ahead. Yeah, no, I was a little devastated to hear Jacob say that

because the rest of the Big Ten has been pulling its weight in conference place. Shout out to Illinois for beaten Tennessee. I feel like we just need to stop acting like Tennessee is, you know, a solid program or at least their fans on the Internet seem to be acting that way when they seem to believe that they were going to steal Ryan Walters from Washington because they seem to consider Washington a third-rate program compared to, you know, the might of Tennessee and the SEC, which was its own ridiculous thing that I had to deal with over on lockdown Huskies.

But I would certainly agree that the Big Ten is much deeper at this point. And it's shown up in bowl season. I think it's shown up throughout the course of the regular season this year. And I feel like there's just no argument at this point in time. This Oregon-Indiana game, I'm just, I'm so excited to watch what this is going to be like in round two after how we saw the first round go which Craig Jacob again thank you for that that was a lot of fun to watch but again like I feel like there is no argument at this point in time that the Big Ten is the best conference in college football mark it just means more in the Big Ten right

I'm not a conference guy but let's just give credit to Indiana right now they've been really really good thank you if you're looking for one of those eight claps for me type of thing It ain't going to have. I thought you were stopping it. I'm just like, I'm done. I'm not a conference raw, raw guy. I'm always going to be USC first. But that'd be because your team doesn't care about the conference they're in

and will blow it up for their own self-interest no matter what? Right. Yes. Okay, at least you own it. Looking back, it might not have been the greatest decision, but yeah, you know, if you have the power to do it, you do it. it, Spencer. Unfortunately, Oregon doesn't have that cachet. So you tagged along and half price. All right. You're living your 15 minutes of fame. That's great. I'm going to say this.

Look, Indiana, Oregon, you guys have fun great football right now. Indiana is going to take you guys behind the wood chip. Oh. Okay. Well, the 15 minutes of fame has been going on for quite a while as they've won a Big Ten championship and then gone to the national semi-final in the last two years. but don't worry. I'm sure Lincoln Rilow gets to the playoff by 2030. Just keep going. You know, it's funny, I could drown him out because I have an actual mic and he doesn't. I could do this for 10 minutes, man. I might never stop. Yoxheimer, do you think Bob Chesney is the new Kurt Signetti? Is that the optimistic look at UCLA football? I mean, obviously with him coming from James Madison having similar success to build himself up,

he's also much younger, and I think UCLA needs cultural change. And let's remember, Indiana is the team with the most losses in college football history. So even they were much lower than UCLA. UCLA's had some success in its history. But I think he's the culture changer. To say he's gonna take them to the playoff in year one would be pretty stupid. I'd be pretty happy, but that's gonna be a rather optimistic view.

I think the Bruins will be much improved. I think James Madison would have crushed UCLA if they played this year. So I'll gladly take whoever they bring over from the portal to this year's team and take the upgrade and be more competitive. And I think optimistically, you make all the comparisons, but it won't lead to two playoffs in two years.

that's not words headed. I do think it will lead to success sometime in the near future, though. Hey, if you'd said that Kurt Signetti was going to take Indiana to the playoff in year one, you would have been crazy. I didn't Google him. I didn't Google him. You did not. You did not Google and you did dip into ageism a little bit right there. He's younger. What, Signetti? 70 or so I don't even know, man. He's, he's six. Oh, okay, whatever, 64. He's just got that look. Does he have the best expression of any coach in this conference the grumpy look with the frayed eyebrow like the google b i was like i yeah absolutely oh i know that one's great too but but just the the cuts to him on the sideline i feel like the

telecation one the fourth and one the fourth and one is incredible television just unbelievable timing great work by the broadcast i feel like they should just have a constant look up in the top right corner of the broadcast just of his face just so we can yeah yeah yep This is a game. That's great audio, by the way. Yeah. Great audio. Can you move your eyebrows, Spencer?

Let's be real. Can I move them? Yes. I can't actually, I just realize I can't move my left one. I've never done that before. I could move both or my right one and apparently not my left. So we're learning all sorts of new things on the show. By the way, Jay, is Ohio State going to try and poach Chip Kelly from Northwestern?

He's on his third O.C. job in 365 days? No, I don't think they're going to go down that road again. I don't see Ryan Day trying to lean into his mentor to try to be the O.C. again. Honestly, I think this year's team

would have been perfectly fine with Ryan Day calling plays. The office would have looked different. It would have been more successful. And it's possible Ryan Day is going to go back down that road. I know the narrative that the last time a national champion head coach called plays and won it was Jimbo

Fisher in 2013, so that could set him back. But I think this offense would have been better if Day called plays. And so maybe he gets an offensive coordinator to just be a coordinator, but Day is still the true coordinator run to the offense. And so I don't see Chip Kelly coming back. I don't at all. Should have grabbed Jerry New Heisle when you had the chance. Instead, they're both at Northwestern.

Craig, you're dying to jump in. I just wanted to say, I actually thought, Ryan, they called a great game the other night. I mean, he mixed it up. They took shots to Jeremiah Smith. I would have liked to see Carnal Tate get a couple more touches. They threw to the tight end. The running game, they used both of the running back, C.J. Donaldson and Bo Jackson. But the problem was when Bo Jackson, C.J. Donaldson, got to the line of scrimers, they got smushed.

But I think the play calling, I thought he was brilliant and mixed it up all night. I don't think that's a disadvantage at all if he wants to go back and call plays. But Ohio State job is like the biggest job in the country. It all depends whether he wants to add that on his plate or not. Yeah, they did spread the ball around a lot. They even found a Miami defensive back as well. That's a big brain play to inspire your team to go in a 14 nothing hole. When we get back, what are we discussing?

Of course we're going to talk about how good Michigan could be. First, this episode brought to you by our friends at game time. There's nothing like college football season, tailgates, pack stadiums, being right there in the middle of it all. The energy, the bands, the moments that you remember forever, but actually getting tickets. part used to be frustrating past tense with long queues, logins, prices jumping at checkout. Game time says to hell with all of that. Game time gives the advantage back to fans. The easiest way to unlock amazing college football tickets and experiences in just a few

taps. Maybe you want to go to the Peach Bowl and watch a Big Ten clash to see who will advance to the national championship game between Oregon and Indiana. Maybe you want to go to the non-Big Tang. I don't know why you want to watch anything other than the best conference in America, of course. But if you want to go to the Fiesta Bowl, well, and go watch Miami play Ole Miss.

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Download the GameTime app. Don't do it tomorrow. Do it today. All right, rapid fire a little bit to wrap today's Big Ten squad on a Friday. I think Michigan has currently assembled probably the second best and most proven staff in the conference. That can be debated. I don't know that they could go any lower than third. Craig, Kyle Whittingham, has got Jay Hill, former BYU defensive coordinator, Jason Beck, his OC from a year ago.

I think that's a great mix with Bryce Underwood. They got to make some moves in the portal. But, boy, Kyle Whittingham off to a strong. start in Ann Arbor. It's phenomenal. And, you know, I thought if we go back to Penn State's job search, you know, they failed upward. I thought that was a disaster, get your popcorn ready, and they end up with Matt Campbell. Then Michigan said, hold my beer. Our job search is even more disastrous, and they failed upward, and they got a great coaching staff. It all looks good at Ann Arbor. This is a good start. Now we'll see what happens starting with the transfer port

opening right now and see what they do. They do need some help. Ryan, I love the winning him, higher, love the coordinators. Bex in his 40s. He's young. He's really dynamic as an offensive coordinator. I think he's going to fit well with Underwood. But Whittingham itself is just a tough coach. That's what Michigan needs. He's won almost 200 games at Utah. I think that's a tremendous hire for them, despite, as Craig so perfectly said, hitting every pothole in the coaching higher road, it felt like. For them to end up with Whittingham is a home run to me. I think it's a great hire. Trent Condon of Lockdown Hawkeyes is here with, I don't know, three minutes left in the show.

Why the heck not? Nice to show up, Trud. We do appreciate Iowa, getting the win over Vanderbilt and the bowl game. That's a good look for the Big Ten game. Had one opt-out. So it did not just mean more in the SEC. Trent, we'll get to you. Are you driving right now?

Yeah, yeah. I mean, some of us got to work during the day. I don't know about you guys. Okay, well, I mean, we love the energy to participate, but please don't die. That would take a dark turn here on the Big Ten squad. So, Go, it's your thought on the staff. at Michigan. Yeah, I thought the whole Wittingham stuff, and I still can't get over how it all went down in Utah, right? Just up and out in the direction that Utah is going right with the private

equity and stuff like that. But I think it's a great hire for Michigan. I mean, like Ryan said, he's old school. He's hard-nosed. And that's exactly what you think of with Michigan. And I think he's going to do a good job. And look, I'm a believer that college football is better when Michigan is good. I think the Big Ten is better when Michigan is good. I mean, those are things that are, important Ryan does it right it's just disgusting like man another staff that's better than Wisconsin's what are we do like I'm really quick sorry I know we're gonna I love Jake Jake

Jake Bowen is my dude um he's he's awesome but like who cares if the idea that the sport is better when a Michigan is good like the sport has never seen higher ratings than this year in Michigan sucked I mean they didn't suck but my no no Wisconsin sucked my point is the sport moves on regardless of who's good or not It does. I just think Michigan, I mean, it just has the games like, again, Michigan, Ohio State, not that it needs a bigger, you know, aura to it, but when Michigan is a top five team and Ohio State's a top five team and you got another team competing for a national championship with the Big Ten, I mean, it may sound crazy, but that's just kind of how I feel I am more of a conference guy. That's because you are. That's because you are crazy and we all know it. Jay, does Kyle Whittingham scare you? Scared no, not me personally. It may scare Ryan Day, just they can clip it. Clip it. Clip it. Clip the

sound bite. I think the Rose Bowl thing from when he was at Utah and how Ohio State's defense looked horrible and it took a field goal late for them to win the game, even though in Jigba broke records, Rose Bowl records in that day. I think Ryan Day thinks about that. I mean, as it sounds, it's very similar to Mario Cristobal and what happened in the, in the whatever bowl game, they lost, the Cotton Bowl. I think Ryan Day remembers games from with certain coaches that he's played.

And I'm very curious about how Ryan Dave used this. I mean, personally, taking the Ohio State hat off, I think it's a good hire for Michigan because they need somebody to come in to provide stability to the program, somebody that does not have issues or cheating scandals tagged to their name. But I think for the Ohio State side, they better figure out stuff on the interior

because if they don't figure it out, that game Thanksgiving weekend could be ugly. By the way, your hat is still on, but we'll leave that as it is. Trent, carried away in on the Michigan staff for your one and only thought here on the squad. Yeah, I think I have questions. I think more questions and certainly, and I haven't heard all your guys' takes at this point in time. But Wittingham, he's going to lie on the injury report.

We know that already, and it's going to be different for him on this front. Let's just hope that Bryce Underwood, if he does stick around, that he's not banged up because that is going to be very difficult for us degenerate that are jumping on our fan dual app and trying to figure out how to bet on Michigan in this one. but it's very simple for Whittingham. When he doesn't have a quarterback, his teams aren't very good. Now that kind of goes with everybody to a certain degree, but I have some concerns on this one. I don't think it's the home run that a lot of people are equating. I think it'll be solid.

It'll be good, but elite. That's what Michigan wants. I don't know if it'll be elite under Wittenham. Roman thoughts? Yeah, I kind of have to echo a couple of things that Trent said, where I think this is a really nice stable hire. He's going to give you a high floor, but I'm very curious to see if,

if he's going to do anything about the ceiling. Because we know that Michigan ceiling is national titles, but I'm kind of not completely sold on that with Kyle Whittingham. Yeah, he's 11 and 6 in bowl games, but can anyone tell me the last bowl game that Kyle Whittingham won? Yeah, it was the, uh, oh, this is, I know this, but I don't give it to us.

Dang it is not a bowl. I'm sorry, there's a cheese at bowl, but not a dangit ball. It's the 2017 heart of Dallas Bowl. He is not won any of the, you know, the real big games if you want to throw the Alamo Bowl into that, sorry, Mark, with USC. The last two Rose Bulls have certainly not gone his way. I'm very curious to see if he can actually get over a true hump and win some bigger games at Michigan. Yeah, tough record. A lot of them.

Tough record in some big games. But, you know, Mark, he's got a Pac-12 championship to his name. You remember that one at all? So Michigan, at least he's not a. Michigan man, which is, I guess, a good thing in this day and age. He's a solid hire, solid hire. I think his two coordinators are really going to help. One thing, Winningham is not as a quarterback coach, so it'll be interesting to see how

they develop Bryce Underwood if he's sticking around. And then going forward, what kind of, you know, what kind of quarterback you bring in? Because that's really been Michigan's Achilles' heel is they are still playing that boring brand of football. And Wittingham typically can get them. most out of what he has, but he's going to have a lot more at Michigan than he's had a Utah. And he can he take it, can he get off that step that's at the very neck second from the top? He now needs to find out can he stand at the top of the ladder. Yoxheimer make like John Denver

and take us home. I mean, hey, if the Michigan job was still open and Caitlin DeBore after New Year's day was still available and that became a real thing. That would have been really exciting. but I think Kyle Wittingham stabilizes. I would like to see Kyle Wittingham have more success on a national level. I think he's done a fairly good job at Utah, can bring that to Michigan. But I think Kalin-de-Boor would have been a lot more exciting if they could have solidified that one. We end the squad show there with a rare sane thought from Zach Anderson, Yax Hamer. We had Craig Sheiman, locked on Big Ten, Ryan Herings, locked on Badgers, Jacob Goans, locked on Hoosiers,

Jay Stevens, locked on Buckeyes for a moment in his car, still safely driving. Trent Condon, locked on Hawkeyes. Roman Tombshop, Lockdown, Huskies, Mark Colkin, Lockdown, USC, and of course, Zach Anderson, Yoxhammer of Lockdown. UCLA, I'm Spencer McLaughlin from Lockdown, wherever. Appreciate everyone listening. We'll see you next time. Until then, hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day.