The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - College Football Playoff Rankings, Ohio State, Texas, USC-Oregon Pick

Episode Date: November 20, 2025

Colin Cowherd is joined by Josh Pate to discuss the latest in College Football. They start off with this weekend's big matchup between USC & Oregon. They give their takes on who will win and the state of USC (3:00). They give their Mount Rushmore of College Football jobs (10:00) and discuss if Texas can sneak into the playoff (16:45). Does Ohio State have an all-time great defense this season (25:30) and which teams would test the Buckeyes the most (30:15). They talk about why the new Big Ten & SEC are wins for fans (33:45). Colin says why he was wrong about Oklahoma (38:15).  All lines provided by hardrock.bet (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates!  #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick.

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Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, and on my new podcast, How Hard Can It Be? I call on my Gen X squad from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS. Unfiltered conversations from night sweats to futas to scheduling sex. Wait, what sex? Is it just me, or does every woman my age want to look at Pinterest instead of having sex sometimes? They say we can't polish a turn, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with.

laughs, tears, or tears of laughter. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Gianna Maria Riva on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments.

If we didn't talk ever again, I was crying. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come in to you, he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball.

So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And here's Heather with the weather. Well, it's beautiful out there, sunny and 75, almost a little chilly in the shade. Now, let's get a read on the inside of your car. It is hot. You've only been parked a short time, and it's already 99 degrees in there. Let's not leave children in the back seat while running errands. It only takes a few minutes.

for their body temperatures to rise, and that could be fatal. Cars get hot, fast, and can be deadly. Never leave a child in a car. A message from Nitsa and the ad council. The volume. This week's crunch time performer brought to you by McDonald's new Buffalo Ranch sauce is Josh Allen. Best football player in the world. Second time in his career, three passing touchdowns, three rushing touchdowns in one game.

It's like that junior high football player that's got a mustache and nobody else does, right? No other player has ever done it once. So Josh's performance was satisfying, just like the first bite of the bacon, creamy buffalo on McChryspy, always good. He's a regular host of the Josh Pate's college football show, totally tied into college football, West Coast to East. So years ago, I worked in Portland, Oregon for a spell, and Mike Bellotti was the coach. Jeff Tedford was the coordinator. They finished number two in the nation one year. They got lucky not having to face Miami. They face Colorado and they matched up really well with Colorado and not with Miami at all. And I think Nebraska played Miami and got, you know, there was like 98% fans

at the Rose Bowl were Nebraska, but Miami kicked the, you know what, out of them. So, Oregon has used two things to become a power. One was Phil Knight's creativity and money to build facilities when there used to be the facilities war, right? That used to be a big deal. Pre-NIL, like, there was about a 10-year period. It was. an arms raised for facilities and Oregon was the forefront. They've actually used three things. Ingenuity, 100 different uniforms, to impress Southern Cal kids to be the cool place. USC has one uniform. Penn State's got one. Oregon had a thousand. So they used Phil Knight's ingenuity, then Phil Knight's money with facilities, and then third, Phil Knight's money with NIL,

where they are the big bidder on the West Coast. Most of my life, when I grew up in the Northwest, you would think you were going to land the number three running back in Southern California. USC would get number one, UCLA two, you'd get three. And then at the last moment, he would decide to just go to USC and be a backup. But that changed. Oregon now mostly gets as good of players as anybody in the West Coast. I think this is an awful matchup for USC. The teams that beat USC, Northwestern actually ran the ballroom.

Iowa can run the ball at you. Michigan last year, I think Oregon's going to be hard to block. I think Oregon, USC's O-Line's Young, I think Oregon's going to run on them. I think Oregon's a big play offense in USC on the back end at Corners Week. If Oregon, and there are a nine and a half point favorite, wins Josh, 3321, or,

wins by two touchdowns. How do you think we view, I know how we view Oregon. That's been established. That's an elite program. How are we going to view USC? Because I think it's a terrible matchup. The same way people have been viewing them. I largely see it your way. The one thing I would say is, you know, coming to the last week, if you and I were to have talked about Pitt, Notre Dame, you know, you could have held up a piece of paper and said, Pitt's got the number three run defense in the country. And I would have looked at you and said, okay, Notre Dame's going to run right through them. I don't really care what the paper says. It's lying to me a little bit.

So with this, like Oregon statistically, top three pass defense in the country. But I can tell you that staff up there supremely respects that Indiana had a combo of wide receivers come in there and work them a little bit. USC's got the same combo of receivers that could come in there. And if USC were to win this game and we look back, that's probably the reason why. But if that doesn't happen and if it goes Oregon's way, it's probably just more the same, Colin, And it's probably you were a head coach that left the Big 12 to go to the Pact 12 that became the Big 10, and you really were never going to be a fit in the Big 10.

They hurled these accusations at Lincoln as to why he didn't take the LSU job, and he was scared of this, scared of playing that kind of ball. I don't even care if there's validity to it because you didn't ask me what valid is. You asked me, what are people going to say? What are people going to think? They're going to throw around the same accusations, the same pejorative connotations. and the beauty of like competitive sport is you control that. But yet it is that way until you change that.

So I see the matchup the same way you do. But that's cool. Cause if we both see it that way and then they go up there and win stylistically more a rock fight kind of game, then that's how you change narratives. That's the only way you change narratives. Yeah, no, there is. I mean, I was joking with Lincoln off the air the other day. Before we did our interview, I said literally,

you are being led by a walk-on running back from Calabasas. And he lied. He said, only at USC. You find a kid in your backyard who's almost as good as any running back you faced all year. The thing I always go back to, like Pete Carroll takes over the Raiders and their defense is bad. That always worries me. You can't get your side of the ball right. Lincoln's offenses have been money.

And the fact that he's doing with a walk-on running back, and for some of the year, one receiver, Lemon's been the really good key receiver that's always been healthy. Deuce Robinson left went to Florida State. You know, guys have transferred out. It's kind of been a one-receiver offense for a lot of the seat. They don't have a supreme tight-end talent.

Lake McCree is okay, three-star kid. He's fine, not a pro. But it is, I would, say this, U.S.C.'s, I'll give Jen Cohen the 80 credit. It's a really distracted market. And money gets splintered into movies and second homes and tech companies and pro-sport season tickets. It's hard to galvanize Los Angeles. Like the Dodgers do. The Lakers do. And yet there's the Angels and the Clippers. It's just, it's hard. It's hard to, it's hard. It's hard to, it's, state of yourself, it's the biggest economy in the country. And Baton Rouge isn't. But everybody

knows in Baton Rouge, if you have money, if you have two nickels drove together, you're giving them to LSU football. I think it's much harder than people think in Los Angeles. It's an incredibly distracted market. And more so, remember, when Pete Carroll was there, Josh, there was no NFL in the city. Yeah. Yeah, there was not just media either, man. So like, it's a whole new world. And the Dodgers weren't the best organization in North America. Like Pete was there. And When Pete was there, if you won your regular season games, there was no semifinal. You won the Pack 12, you went to the Rose Bowl. So I don't know.

I think I said today there's four or five programs in the country that have an advantage for national championships. Georgia, Ohio State, University of Florida. I don't love the governor, but probably LSU. And I mean, and I said, I would say Oregon, but there's no players in the state. And then I think there's six of them, Bama in the new NIL world, they don't have a lot of money. And that changes things. They don't look like, like Oregon can go by players from the state of Bama. Bama's going to have a hard time getting them out of Oregon if Oregon wants it.

That wasn't the case four years ago. So, I mean, I've said this to friends, they don't want to hear it. I said, USC is not Ohio state in this new world. And they're not Georgia. And they're not Florida. It's another thing. Josh, cost $3 million minimum to buy a home in a nice neighborhood with good schools. The assistant, the linebacker coach is making $5.50, he can't afford to buy a home.

How do you view USC as an elite job? What is your Mount Rushmore, four best jobs, money, commitment, state with players, donors control their history? Georgia has always been, they've been my number one for a while. if you were to promise me alignment at LSU, I'd put LSU right up there. Ohio State's way up there for me. Ohio State, whatever you think about Ohio athletes. I mean, there's like a proud tradition of high school athletes.

Ohio State has zero problem going into South Florida. I mean, zero problem whatsoever. So I put Ohio State up there. You'd have to check, like, which period of time it is, but Texas conditionally is up there. Same. Same. But what's changed over the past, just like what's evolving right now in front of us is Texas A&M. Because Texas A&M has just been, it's been like this stack of wood, but it's been wet historically.

Meaning they, well, post-Johnny Mansell, A&M's a totally different world. If you went on that campus pre-Manzel and then you went back now, you don't even recognize it. So they leveraged one, they leveraged Mansell better than Auburn leveraged Cam Newton. Like they leveraged him so hard, so effectively. So I'd say them as well. But with USC, so to go back to what you were talking about for a second, like I remember I was way younger, I was like in school when the Pete Carroll era happens out there. And we were enamored with them.

We hated them in the South, but like we were enamored with them. You remember that trip they made to Auburn and they shut Auburn out to start a season. The entire South, even people who hated Auburn in the South, they like waited for that date. They circled that date. it was going to be like a culture clash. And the South's culture was going to rise. You can't come into Southern heat and do that.

And then, of course, they did. But I remember thinking back then that it never made sense to me as a kid growing up in the South, immersed in college football, and that being a culture, when people would say what you just said about L.A. I had never left the South. So to me, I just assumed that all the big time college football programs and the towns slash cities they were in were like Athens, Georgia, Auburn, Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Knoxville, Tennessee. That's just the way I thought it

worked. And I thought when people said, boy, there's a lot to distract you out there. There's a lot going on in L.A. I thought it was excuse-making. So, you know, since then, I've been able to travel. I've been able to go out there. And it just, it slaps you in the face when you go out there. I feel the same about Miami to a certain extent. When I go to Miami, when I go to L.A., if you just drive around for a day, be in town for 72 or 96 hours, and ask you, yourself, does this feel different? It feels way different. And you just ask, like, how much more difficult must it be to capture this place's imagination, therefore to capture the wallet, to capture the emotional and financial investment, then it must be in Baton Rouge or in College Station? And

that's the challenge. Now, the tradeoff is, if you've got it, you've got it. But if you don't have it, they're not going to help you get it. So you got to go in there and you got to do it on your own. Whoever is about to take the Florida Gator job, they'll have the full weight and full support of that community. Lincoln took the L.A. job, and it's like, this is great. We'll check back in a little while if he's winning. We may show up. And if they're really winning, we may even give a dollar or two. I'll give you an example.

They went looking for an athletic director. They contacted me and said, Colin, Rick Caruso said, hey, give me a list of about five people. I did. I gave the athletic director at Northwestern, Auburn, Florida. guy at Texas. Those people weren't interested. Yeah. They're like, yeah, it's, um, takes about $8 million to buy the home that I want to buy seven or eight. It's like, it, it costs you at $900,000 in Tuscaloosa. Like, people understand it. UCLA, if you went to the Big Ten NIL right now, I bet you UCLA is below Rutters. Yes, they are. Yeah. People, and by the way,

UCLA is in Bel Air. It's the richest college campus in America. Belair next to Beverly Hills. They have the lowest N I am because it's a basketball school. It's an international university. It's an intellectual hub. 18 languages on campus. Football isn't that big of a deal.

You got to drive to the Rose Bowl. It doesn't matter. This is what I tried to explain to someone in my social circle the other day. They were like all that money around UCLA, why is it? it a struggle? Like, why do they struggle to tap into it? Wouldn't the right athletic director be able to do this? And I said, I guess there is this magic formula where you could tap into it, but you're never really tapping into that because I'm not faulting these people. I'm just explaining as a matter of fact, those people's way of life, the way they acquired their means,

the way their mind works, the way they're wired. It would be an insult. It would be beneath them to allocate their personal financial towards something like football. They just view it. it as beneath them. That's exactly right. They would view it as beneath them. And so I guess my whole point is the world's changed with NIL and transfer portal. But it's also changed when the NFL came to Los Angeles and the Dodgers became the richest franchise in the history of Major League Baseball.

People are distracted. Tickets costs more. It's hard to commit to Saturday and Sunday. The minute USC loses a game they should win. you know, 12,000 people disappear. So I try to explain that to people and they say, oh, it's an excuse and it's like, no, it's, I've lived in L.A. There's just so much.

It's 37 music venues, eight pro teams. Like, sorry, guys, it's not, it's not an excuse. Like, you go on a two-game losing street, the whole town that moves off you. So it's interesting, the Lane Kiffin story. We all know Jimmy Sexton controls college football coaches. Jimmy, Trace Armstrong. Jimmy Sexton, they control it. So Sark snapped at people today when they asked him about the job.

Rumors, he's like, I'm not going anywhere, nor would you. To me, Texas has always been arguably the best college football job. Top 10, 15 job in America in sports, like, you know, Yankee manager, you know. Yeah, it's up there. Philadelphia, Eagle coach, whatever. What if Texas hammers Texas A&M? they can go and say this. Oh, we're three and two against top 10 teams.

Went to Columbus. Only team that's been competitive against them is us. Hammered Texas A&M. Hey, we don't match up with Georgia. We can be on three times in a row. They've slapped us around. What if they blow out Texas A&M? What are we to do with the Longhorns?

I was wondering that yesterday. I thought they weren't going to drop them as low as they did. The AP dropped Texas to 17. and I thought surely the committee will have them 13, 14, 15, something like that. Yeah, same. They dropped them to 17. And, you know, they did that to Miami a couple of weeks ago. And then it felt like they course corrected in the following weeks.

I think with A&N or I think with Texas rather, if they go in there and do that to Texas A&M, but it would be a strong talking point going into that Sunday. You'd have to see how the rest of the country played out. But yeah, they would have an argument. To be honest with you, there are a couple of arguments. arguments SEC schools could be making right now about anything from strength of schedule to, you know, scheduling up out of conference, which is admirable. I mean, that's what everybody should do. But there are going to be a lot of anecdotal debates and arguments right now if

your three lost Texas in that scenario gets left out or like you got Alabama dropping down behind Notre Dame last night, which confused a lot of people. And they're going to look at it and they're going to say, we're really about to add a ninth conference game. Why would we do that to ourselves? Why would we put that on ourselves? The simple math there, if you've got, what do they have, 16 teams, you're adding eight more losses across your conference slate that you are voluntarily adding, but you're doing it because you want to increase revenue. You want to play the toughest schedules in the country. You want to have a great TV product, and they're going to succeed and all that. But if the committee kind of shortchanged you on their logic and short changed you on their

criteria, and they really weren't as serious as you thought they were about rewarding scheduling, which is going to be reflected in these next two weeks rankings, then maybe a little catch 22. And the one you mentioned Texas, but the one I'm dovetailing off of with that is, yeah, what if Texas is in if they win? Or what if they're not in if they win? But I'm also looking at the SEC championship game

because there's this weird scenario that started to get floated. You and I are recording the night after the rankings got released, where Bama's at 10. Yeah. But they still control their own destiny and whatnot. So they beat Auburn, if they do. They go to Atlanta and they win the SEC championship. I had assumed it was a foregone conclusion.

The SEC champ's going to have a first round by. They're certainly going to get one of those top four spots. Now, I assume that was like 99 to one logic. It feels like about 70, 30, still on the side that we're agreeing there with. But it feels like there's this sentiment out there that, no, you can't jump them up all the way to the top four just because they won their conference. And I'm like, no, you can't afford not to. because I was just in Athens, Georgia last week. Those people have little interest in playing in the SEC championship game.

They're totally happy where they are. They're totally happy with a five or six. They feel the same way at Ole Miss. They're totally happy not going. So you've already got people openly questioning what's the value in playing for the conference title. If your champion does not secure a first round by, you have essentially invalidated the entire existence of conference championships within this overall playoff framework.

So there are a couple of them in the SEC I'm watching right now. All right. Today's show is brought to you by our new presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet. They're a great partner. On Hard Rock Bet, there's always something to bet on. If you haven't tried your first bet on Hard Rock Bet yet, there's still time for you to get $150 in bonus bets. If you win, just place a $5 bet.

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Admit it. In Indiana, if you or somebody you know has a problem, wants help, call 1-800-9 with it. Gambling problem. Call 1-800 gambler, Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia. Hey, it's us, the Jonas brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news?

We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys?

I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. And, well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast,

where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy,

not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and headwriter, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam, Isaiah Thomas? And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about Define the Odds. like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game.

His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall.

And then he has to give us everything. everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get to flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball, like,

after you go through a training camp with that, I say, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean.

I'll bet you a perimenopausal chin here you do. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast. How hard can it be with Deanna Maria Riva, where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden, I'd had hanginess happening on my own. I was like, what the hell is that? was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that nest was going to be. Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive.

Wait, what sex? Dating at 45. How hard can it be? How hard can it be? How can I be getting naked at 50 with the new guy? That one's kind of hard, well, that's lighting. They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter, and dive into it, unfiltered and unbothered and ask, how hard can it be? I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public.

Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva as part of my Cultura podcast network available on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This week on Crimless, we're joined by our first ever guest. Sorry, our first ever human guest. I don't think I could be in the same room with Shamrock the pair. I'd be too nervous. That's right. The very funny Will Farrell joins Rory Scovel and me, Josh Dean, for an episode dedicated to the many crimes committed by people also named Will Farrell. They called to his fellow officer for the nippers.

What are the nippers? Very good question. No, I was thinking, would that be a good name for like a salad dressing? Simple assault. And it's a play on word, salt? Maybe not. I say we invest and we see. There's only one way to know. This did not amuse the cops. By the way, normally the cops

are amused, but this did not abuse the cops. Will even comes clean about some of his own crimes. I didn't get caught. You know why? If you don't want to be suspected of anything, you whistle as you walk. Listen to Crime List on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

You know, I talked, today I was talking to Joel Clad about this. I said, the best defenses I've ever seen in college football, the Huskies was Steve Edmund in the early 90s, just bulldozed people. They brought in the four or six, and nobody knew how they brought it from the Bears. And the whole college football for a year did not know how to attack Washington. I mean, they literally every game just, it was over in the box. You couldn't get downfield. And they had NFL safeties and corners.

So for about a year, then there's the USC defense was really good with Pete Carroll, where Clay Matthews didn't start at linebacker. And then it was NFC rookie of the year defensively. They couldn't start for USC. Then there was, there were a couple of. of, I always love the, was it the Rolando McLean, the linebacker for Bama? It was the one that beat Texas. I was like, man, they hit different.

There were a couple of Sabin defenses that were, and there was a Georgia defense, a couple with the Jalen Carter. So there's been about four or five that I've watched and gone, that doesn't look like, that's somewhere between Saturday and Sunday football. It's not Sunday, but it's close. Ohio State has an advantage none of those had. It used to be, even Nick Saban, you know, have a hole in your defense and you'd go to junior college. And he was never quite as good as the

ranking. You have the number two corner in junior college. And you're like, he's probably our third best corner. But he solves a dilemma. Well, now you just go by the best corner if you're Ohio State. And you're like, you know, we need to be better at corner. We're just going to go buy the number one guy who are already in the sport in crushing. And I look at this Ohio State defense. And again, I want to see them play out and who they play. Josh, the windows to complete passes. are Sunday windows. Like there, even when, even when Nick's teams were great, you'd have a corner like D. Milner,

who wasn't really a great corner. He was great with the Nick's system. They got two players that could go top five. They have another two that could go 15, between the 15th pick in the third and the second round. What do you make, just forget Ohio State, just what you've seen from their defense. It really boggles your mind a little bit,

because of what conventional wisdom would have told you. Conventional wisdom, like we all watched 2004 Ohio State in that stretch run, and you know in the back of your mind, or you think you know, they're making this run because of all this senior veteran talent, like they're going to lose all these guys. Their entire defensive front is going to be gone. We didn't even know Jim Knowles was going to be gone, but they also lose the coordinator.

And so, like, just say that out loud. You had anybody, I don't care who it is, Ohio State or anyone else. They are powered by their defensive front, entire defensive fronts wiped out, and coordinators gone as well. Not to mention, you're just coming off a national championship. So there's that natural propensity to get a little complacent, maybe come back to Earth a little bit. Everyone's gunning for you the next year.

I don't know if the team overall is better. The defense looks better. I don't know how that even happens. Matt Patricia came in, and here's one of the early warning signs. I remember when Ryan Day got, elevated there. And I remember, you know, Ohio State is Ohio State. So they could do a national search if they want to. They can go land most any head coach they want. And they said, no, the guy we need is already here. And I remember some people looked at it and said, that's crazy.

They're cheating themselves by not doing this, not doing it. And I looked at it and I said, they're not stupid. They know what they have in the building, just because you don't know who Ryan Day is. It doesn't mean they don't. Well, it's the same way when Ryan Day needed to fill that defensive coordinator role. There are guys who would leave really good jobs to be the DC at Ohio State. And he went and got Matt Patricia. That's not a name that would have been on anyone's radar. You take the biggest industry insider. Give me your top 10. Matt Patricia is not on it. And Ryan goes and hires him. And you see why. Like hiring, I mean, it comes down to players making plays. But if you can staff properly in college football and you have top 15 talent, let alone what

they have, you're going to be really hard to beat. Now, that doesn't make them invincible, but what you're talking about is there's going to have to be a team if Ohio State gets eliminated that puts together such an airtight, like tight rope walk performance, precision, poise, accuracy, no turnovers. That's what it's going to take. That's what it used to take to beat those saving teams. It took some insane performance, something just plays out of his mind. And if that happens, you tip your cap to the other side. Short of that happening, Ohio State's going to win the national championship. Well, the other thing is the way to beat Sabin

was Mansell or Cam. It was generally somebody that could go off script that Nick couldn't prepare for. There's nothing you could do. Nick knew you were in the pocket. You could go back and look at this. I'm not sure he lost three times. If he knew where you're going to be. That's why I think Ohio State beats

Indiana, because you know where Mendoza is going to be. The way to beat Ohio State or a great defense is, oh shit, Josh Allen. I mean, never forget what Josh Allen did to Belichick when Belichick was in New England. Bill couldn't do anything. It's the only quarterback that Bill's ever fayed. Even Peyton Manning, he gave some trouble to, he could do nothing with Josh Allen. Because Josh, especially when he was young, about 60% of his game was off script.

That was Mansell. That was Cam. Those are the kind of guys that just off-script guys gave Sabin trouble. and Mendoza is a classic big arm pocket guy. And the other thing is you could beat Nick if you got a lead in the second half and his defense had to cheat a little or guess. Right? Like if they could dictate terms, Saban squeezed you out like a towel. But if you made Nick trailed, Nick now was taking some risk defensively.

I've got to get the ball back. we've got to generate pressure with extra people. I think if Ohio State leads in the second half, you're in big trouble. If you have to throw against that, I think you can, the way to beat great defensive teams in college off script, and you force them to take risks they normally wouldn't take because you lead late. Yeah. I think another thing that happened like with Deshawn Watson Clemson teams when they played. It's another one.

Yeah. It's just that was at the, I'm not saying it's the first time you ever saw anyone run tempo, but it was still that early period, like Malzon comes into the picture. And like guys are running tempo as the foundational aspect of their offense for the first time. So the game, like the rules hadn't shortened the game yet either with the clock rules. Clemson ran over a hundred offensive plays in one of those national championship games. So I'd rarely seen Bama defense on the field. Trevor Lawrence.

Yes. Yeah. So ran down the sideline against Alabama. I think it was Alabama. He ran down the side. Again, Trevor and Deshawn. It was off script plays that beat Baman, not just the pocket stuff. That's why.

Like, that just, you don't run that many plays anymore. So that's another thing that's taken out of the toolbox. See, what you're saying is why I'm really interested how Marcel Reed would play against them. Like, Marcel, we're coming off the worst half of football we'll ever see him play in his life, followed by one of the best. So that's, it's a little weird timing. But, you know, when you talk about matchups, people always misunderstand you intentionally. there was, oh, you think A&M's better than Ohio State? No one said that, dude.

What I did say is, out of all the matchups, they could draw in the postseason, that's the one that would get my attention the most, because that's the one that would probably keep them up the night at night the longest. Yeah, no, I really feel like that. That's interesting. You bring that up. Deshawn Watson, Trevor Lawrence, Johnny Mansell, guys off script, they get a lead.

Bama's got to create a turnover. They take a big risk. I think Ohio State's kind of that level. You know, I said this. I have been very much a proponent of the college football playoff, NIL and the Transfer Portal. And I'm a Pact 12 guy. But I told friends three years before it disbanded,

I said, the conference is in big trouble. There's no money here. USC is getting $30 million a year. I said they can make that going independent and pick their schedule and have a better TV deal. At one point, Fox Sports, I think went to USC and asked about buying all their home games. buying a TV package. So, and I don't want to speak, you know, above my pay grade, but I do remember hearing a little bit of that in the building.

USC was grumbling for years about splitting revenue with Cal and Washington State. I just didn't like it. So, but I think we both agree. I'll give you an example of why Texas, Oklahoma to the SEC and the four-pack 12 schools to the Big Ten is great. I've watched back-to-back Iowa games that were thrilling, that were thrilling Iowa, Oregon, thrilling game. I love seeing big traditional schools never play each other, and this is the one I remember.

And then Iowa goes to L.A. in another sloppy weather game and plays USC. And I'm like, I have not watched back-to-back Iowa games start to finish. Ever. Maybe ever. Ever. Ever. in my life, start to finish back-to-back Iowa games.

I don't, and I know I'm not alone on that. I saw the ratings for both. So anybody that pushes back on this, the convergence of the SEC in Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma, Alabama, you can't turn it off. No. It's fantastic. Otherwise, you get Oklahoma and Texas Tech. I don't give a shit.

Right. They, I mean, you were sitting there looking at a situation Saturday where you've, got OU-U-Bama, Texas, Georgia, sandwiched on top of each other. Both of them popped a 10-plus rating. And it's just like you're, you want to look at it and you want to say, I told you this last week because I was going to the Texas Georgia game. I said, can you believe we get this in the regular season? Just look at the helmets on the field at the same time.

You don't have to know a player's name. The spectacle of that is amazing. And I think here's what people struggle with. So, you know, we were talking about the playoff rankings a second ago. And you're talking about the Pact 12 dissolving as a conference. And like there's some romanticism in it. Like there's a part of you that hates to see it happen. It's like your childhood being ripped away.

There's another part of you that understands the business side of it. And you understand this is the way the college football world's going. It's the way that the athletic world's going, the sporting world's going. It's right. So there is still something we try and cling to in the playoff model. All the conference chants are going to be in there. So you're going to have representation. at the table at least. You're going to have a G5 team in there.

And I'm always conflicted on this. Because I know it's not an accident that 10 plus million people are watching the games they're watching. They're watching it because that's where the best football is, largely. And yet we've also got this construct where we are headed towards a mess on selection Sunday. There's going to be this glut of two lost teams. And we're going to have to maybe make room for a second Big 12 team. If Brigham Young's inside that bubble on the Saturday, before and they lose against Texas Tech.

And you got that unwritten rule where you can't drop someone out of the bubble for losing a conference title game. And you're just going to have, you're going to have Oklahoma knocking on the door. You're going to have Oregon or USC maybe knocking on the door. You can have Miami knocking on the door. So there's that constant back and forth of we just want the best TV product for the playoff versus, no, we want fair, maybe even somewhat equitable rules for the playoff. And I'm always torn because I could make either argument. I could debate myself on a stage because I can make both. sets of points so seamlessly. But I think we're very much in a transition period on that front

right now of we're in an era right now where, yeah, we're going to have a G5 team that's a three touchdown dog in the first round. And we're all just supposed to pretend 136 teams are playing the same sport. Therefore, we have to have representation. And everyone knows it's not real, but we're kind of winking and nodding and, oh, we've got to be fair. I wonder how long that lasts. Yeah. I will say, um, Of all the teams that joined the conferences, so Oregon, UCLA, Washington, SC, Texas, Oklahoma, I, I, you could not have convinced me that Oklahoma, I thought Oregon would do well. My take was they play in crappy weather already.

They'll be fine, and they're going to be able to buy the play. Oregon's going to be fine. USC, UCLA, warm to cold weather, and it's a little finesse. Washington, I knew, didn't have a ton of NIL money. I thought Texas would be fine. And if you really look at Texas since they joined the SEC, take out the Georgia games. They're doing just great. It's just Georgia.

I am shocked at how good Oklahoma is doing. One, I didn't know of Venables was a head coach. Two, the state doesn't produce a lot of players. Three, Lincoln Riley left. It's become an offensive sport. I look up at Oklahoma and I'm like, I've watched them play Bama back-to-back years. They've disassembled them. I'm sorry.

Alabama is just mistake prone. Of all the teams that join conferences, my bad, Oklahoma looks and plays, Josh, like an SEC team. If you didn't know where they play, Texas still feels pretty. Texas still doesn't like to get punched in the mouth. Oklahoma, to me, feels like LSU, Georgia, feels like an SEC team. Like, if you didn't know, you'd think they'd been there for 20 years. I think where their position benefits them. A lot of people look at where their position.

geographically, and they thought it was going to be a hindrance. If the moves would have been made 15 years ago, it would have been a hindrance to them, because they would have been cut off from a lot of the talent. The world has shrunk so much for an 18-year-old. The state lines don't matter. You're gaming every night with a headset on, and you're talking to someone in Virginia and Washington State and Southern California. The world is so small.

It means nothing to go from Charlotte, North Carolina, to play. football in Norman, Oklahoma now. Half their NIL packages involve private aviation for family to come watch and play. So it's so much easier to go into Houston or go into Orlando or going to Charlotte or Atlanta and get talent out there. The one thing they had to do is they had to nail the coaching hire. And look, I'm not even ready to say that Brent Venables is just a total nail of a hire, but he's been very good. And the one compliment you've got to give him is that team reflects his attitude. So the identity of the team reflects that of Brent And you can't say that about every team out there.

So in retrospect, two things happen. Okay, the SEC brought him in at the very time when the talent acquisition game was totally transforming. So some barriers fell down for them right there that they didn't really control. And then number two, Lincoln left at the right time. We just didn't know it. But his style of ball was not going to fit nearly as well as the style they're playing right now.

That's right. And look, they've had a quarterback hurt this year or else they may be making more noise than they currently are. Yeah. No, I just, I missed on Oklahoma. They, when I watch Oklahoma SEC games, that's just an old school SEC game. Physical linebackers, standing guys up.

And SEC teams increasingly always have a Sunday quarterback, or he looks like one in college. Like, I don't know if Trinidad Chambliss is going to play in the pros. It looks like that to me. But it looks like, that's a competent, that's a Sunday athlete. Josh, you're selling me on this. your latest quick trip experience.

Went down to Athens, Georgia. So the drive, if you go Nashville to Athens, is going to take you past several quick trips. So I like to drive at night. I don't know how you travel when you do it, but I like to travel at night if I'm going to drive. And there is, I can consume caffeine now and go to sleep. So I'm totally immunized from it.

But it does help when I'm driving. So I am the psychopath who I'm going to stop there for gas. Yes, I'm going to go in there, though. And that quick trip, like cold brew on tap. that entire station. Yeah. That is a lifesaver. Maybe literally a lifesaver for me

with how late at night I drive. So it's been good, man. It's been a real good partnership, too. Like, if you love college football and you like to patronize brands that love college football, dude, they've stepped up in a big way for us, and they've just like seamlessly infuse themselves

into our show. They're really good with giving back to our audience. So QuickTrap, huge salute to them. Great stuff. Josh Pate. Football season's here, and if you want to go to an NFL or college football game, game time is the place for you. The game time app just gives you the advantage back to you, the fans.

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I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it.

We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends.

Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman helped make. you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and headwriter, Streeter Seidel, help an acapella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments.

If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come in, he's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball.

So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva. And on my new podcast, How Hard Can It Be? I call on my Gen X squad from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic B-S. Unfiltered conversations from night sweats to fupas to scheduling sex. Wait, what sex? Is it just me or does every woman my age want to look at Pinterest instead of having sex sometimes? They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And here's Heather with the weather. Well, it's beautiful out there. Sunny and sunny. 75, almost a little chilly in the shade. Now, let's get a read on the inside of your car. It is hot. You've only been parked a short time, and it's already 99 degrees in there. Let's not leave children in the back seat while running errands. It only takes a few minutes for their body temperatures to rise, and that could be fatal. Cars get hot, fast, and can be deadly.

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