Shutdown Fullcast - 40 FOR 40: The 2025 Texas Bowl

Episode Date: December 26, 2025

WWWWWWWWELCOME to the return of 40 For 40, our bowl preview series where every bowl game gets its own episode and each episode is exactly as long as that game deserves.Who decides what “deserves” means? We do! Thank you for askingNow through December 31, 100% of proceeds from all PTKU merch sales will be donated to Trans Ohio. Visit preownedairboats.com to purchase BRAND-NEW BLUE SHARKS GEAR #EXCLUSIVEThis episode was produced by Michael Ray SurberFullcast theme 40 For 40 intro arranged and performed by Russell PowellFullcast theme 40 For 40 outro arranged and performed by MattDID YOU KNOW: Spencer and Holly write Channel 6, a year-round newsletter that is mostly about football, until it’s notBefore the world ends (again), treat yourself to Jason’s critically praised novel and other workTravel in your mind palace to Phantom Island, Ryan’s new show with Steven Godfrey, which is not a college football show because another simply cannot existCheck out Surber’s band Killer Antz and his new show Podcasterino

Howdy! That's perfect. Welcome to the 40 for 40 Texas Bowl preview featuring LSU and Houston, an actual ass football game in a celebration of Texan travel inefficiency. See, we're going to break some news for some of you first. Frank Wilson is interim coaching LSU through the bowl game before Lane Kiffin, who came from

Ole Miss, takes over at LSU. And when this game is over, Frank Wilson's going back to Oxford to join Pete Golding staff at LXU. I don't know if this is like a fox chicken rowboat or maybe like a square dance word problem. Alamon left to all involved. This began life as the Blue Bonnet Bowl. And holy shit, it has an actual sponsor. So Kinders is a barbecue place that makes seasonings and sauces, but it is not in Texas.

It is in California, but it is in the part of California where you get good barbecue, like halfway up into California where you start getting good tri-tip country. Anyway, this game is featuring LSU for the second year in a row. It should be noted that they beat Baylor in the best sideline event that happens in games that don't feature Memphis and BYU playing each other, which is the rodeo bowl, which is an activity that happens during bowl week where the teams compete in actual rodeo-based events against one another. You get to watch a bunch of big football players try and rope calves and whatnot.

As of the recording of this preview, that game has not happened yet. We will, of course, exhaustively cover what happens in the radio bowl at a later date. We like having two squads of big cats represented among the mascots. They are leaning into the branding accordingly. I'm going to drop an Instagram post

from the bowl there in the chat for all of you to gaze upon appreciatively. And before we get to the football, I would also like to add that the best announcing team we have going this year is in on this game. That would be Tom Hart, Jordan Rogers, and Cole Kublich.

Best per my personal estimation. I don't speak for anybody else, but I'm right. People's team. Hey, an actual football game. We haven't had one of those in a minute. I'm distracted by you know everybody jumping at once I just got distracted by the laser I don't know why the cats are looking at least yeah the cat lasers yeah yeah the laser is very distracting that's how they that's how they paralyze you that's me I'm the cat thank you I guess I am yeah maybe I understand these cats more than I realized damn yeah this an entertaining football game maybe had here additionally I would like to point out that they're here LSU, I mean, because Brian Kelly sucks.

This is like, when do we get the last tangible evidence of a solely Brian Kelly managed product sucking this game? That's it. Y'all just drove over to Houston. Houston, coached by the Charlottet and Willie Fritz, has no excuse. We do not have

Garrett Nesmire in this game, by the way. He is, I believe he is opting out and draftward bound, but it looks as though, at least earlier this week, per the advertiser that had the abdominal strain that knocked him out for the last three games for LSU is going to keep him out for the postseason. There's also, as you might imagine, a number of other LSU opt-outs that I'm not even going to

try and list because by the time this comes out, there will probably be more. Yeah, so we're firmly, I'm just guessing LSU's firmly in, and you know what, I'm here for the goodies. I'm here for a good time. Which they, dude, after this year, they've been playing for Brian Kelly for their entire college careers. Good luck in the rodeo bowl portion of things, boys. And whatever happens on the football field,

I hope the gift bag is good to you. I have a question. What did Willie Fritz do? He has creepy eyes like Steamboat Willie. That's public domain property, Willie Fritz. There's no iris in him. It's just black in the middle, like a doll. I don't like it.

Like a doll's eyes. Anyway, I posited online earlier in the season that Willie Fritz was not a real person on account of his weird steamboat Willie Eyes, and a bunch of people took it as insult of his coaching prowess. And I'm going to lean into this for the rest of time because they annoyed me. Okay. It's a good enough reason, isn't he? He literally doesn't exist, I think, is how I'm taking it.

Yeah, like, if you turned him, if he turned sideways, like he would disappear, like he's two-dimensional. Maybe so. Yeah. Flat willy. Go back to Staysboro. That team was really good. Right?

Yeah. They need to do that again. Yeah. Also, didn't see him circulated a lot in the coaching carousel. I can't imagine Houston is the ceiling of his aspirations, but I wonder what's going on there. I think you're not alone in the invisibility. I think it's not that he, uh, I think it's not that he's particularly, you know, not great at his job. He's actually really good at his job.

It's just that he has a vague Clay Hilton syndrome adjacent thing where... What is this about Georgia Southern coaches? I think it's also not the youngest guy. Mm-hmm. Yeah. He must hate that because, look, he's 65, which is not like a young coach, but he must hate that every time his name gets brought up, people are like, oh, he's the ancient coach from 200-year-old.

He's 10 years older than the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. That means he must be ancient. Damn. What are you doing? disgusting you heard about it in school he could have known someone on it it's not funny it might also be that he doesn't look like the youngest guy no he doesn't he looks like he's been around cigarettes I'm not accusing him of smoking them I'm looking hang out I'm gonna look and see who who are like people we view as modern history figures who died

before the Edmund Fitzgerald wrecked died before yeah let's see Harry Truman. Who died in 1969? Listen, I know Lyndon Baines Johnson is not far after 1960. He was like, I'm not running for president. Then he was like, I'm dying. And he just immediately, yeah. Judy Garland, Ho Chi Men.

Thelma Ritter. First, first name by now. Charles Peewee Russell, American jazz clarinetist, born and died before the wrecked the end of Fitzgerald. This isn't as good as the other one. He died on the Edmund Fitzgerald. That's why all these people died. There we go. The Edmund Fitzgerald killed all these people.

We should do one of those little in-memorium videos. Here we go. People murdered in 1969. I will remember. Thank you for setting up the I will remember you TikTok with Willie Fritz in it while he's still alive. People in McCormick. What? Fred Hampton was murdered in 1969.

I didn't know that's how they got Fred Hampton. I can't wait for the text. Sags searches tomorrow. Edmund, Fitzgerald, CIA op, question mark, question mark, question mark. They need a distraction. They need anything to feel. Just feel something good. I need a jade helm.

Somebody give me a jade helm. How about to the victors a life jacket? It wouldn't have mattered, Holly. The winds were really rough and the water was cold. Hypothermia actually said it would have been dead. I've invented Michigan Taz. You're all welcome. Oh!