The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Cowboys Potentially A Disaster, Bears Win Total, College Football Playoff Expansion, John Rahm LIV Champion

Episode Date: August 19, 2025

Colin is joined by John Middlekauff, host of “3 and Out” to talk all things football! Colin starts with an airline horror story of a Spirit Airlines pilot flying into Hurricane Erin and a positive airline story of using American Airlines “Flagship Suite” (4:00). They also swap Vegas stories and remark on how expensive it’s gotten and why they’ve priced out most of their customer base (8:15). They pivot to the NFL and Colin predicts a potentially “disastrous” season for the Dallas Cowboys and that Jerry Jones undervalued Mike McCarthy’s success as head coach (17:15).  They discuss the penalties handed down to Michigan for the Connor Stallions scandal and why they don’t make any sense since Michigan was winning before and AFTER the scandal (30:00). They look at the potential expansion of the college football playoff and Colin argues he doesn’t want to see it expand beyond 16 teams and see nothing but blowouts (35:00).  They talk about why a league of “haves and have-nots” in college football isn’t a bad thing, and why the most important thing for college football is “big games” (39:45).  They go through the Bears schedule and predict their record either 9-8 or 10-7, and debate whether that should be considered a success (1:02:00). Finally, they end with Jon Rahm repeating as the individual champion of the LIV Tour,  why the live experience at LIV is great, and why LIV is starting to find their niche in the world of golf (1:08).  (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.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you. 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, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer 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 ice.

Heart 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 funny.

You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis' keep coming 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. 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 Diana Maria Riva on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Volume. At the end of the season, there's only one team that can call themselves NBA champs, only one player that can call themselves the number one pick in the NFL draft. Well, there's only one electric SUV worthy of the title, The Ultimate, the All-Electric BMW I-X.

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airlines i'm like a bad 1970s comic i've always got airline material so story today i have this theory i always tell my kids don't fly any airline that has bright colors and so spirit airlines is one of those airlines it's bankrupt Today, a Spirit Airlines plane flew into Hurricane Aaron into one of the bands of Hurricane Aaron, some idiot pilot. He had to make an exit stage right to get out of the hurricane. He literally, you know, and a hurricane's coming, basically if you stay fairly aware of what's happening in the skies, they will tell you, you know, stay away from the bands

of a hurricane. A Spirit Airlines pilot flew into it today. I can't even imagine being on that flight. I can't even imagine it. So that's the first thing. Now I want to compliment an airlines. This is not an ad. So I used to be a Delta guy.

I think I probably travel more than you do currently. I could be wrong, but I think I do more long travel, Boston to L.A. Is that right? You're a jet setter. Yes. Okay. So I was always a Delta guy, mostly because I went to Park City a lot in Utah, and L.A. and Utah Salt Lake are big Delta hubs.

So now I'm in Chicago and Boston a lot, and their United States. and American hubs. American Airlines has come up with something called the flagship suite. Now, I know it sounds really boogie.

But yesterday I was just, and they've done this on some of their Airbus. You know, I wrote it down, Airbus 321XLR. They're using it on this. So it's a smaller plane. The first eight rows are

you get your own cube. That's, that's privacy, doors, more personal storage. I was in the next 12, and you shared it with somebody, but it was like, you know, your classic comfort plus when you go in an airline behind first class. It was so good. And then there was only about 30% of the plane max, maybe 25, that was even economy, and those look better. So folks, if you're flying American Airlines and you want an elevator,

experience and you don't want to buy first class. I am telling you, flagship suite is what you fly in American Airlines. You do not have to fly first class. Even the economy had better seats. I was in like the economy plus seats. They were unbelievable. They had live flat beds. It's a smaller plane. It doesn't look like my entire life. That's when you fly to Europe or something, you know, or Delta One, you get these massive planes. It's a fairly. small plane, and American figured it out. Our domestic travelers want that too, not just European jet setters. So I know that sounds incredibly booby, but I'm on planes constantly. Avoid planes that fly into hurricanes and keep your eye on American Airlines flagship suite. I'm actually going to

Hawaii Saturday through the following Thursday, and we're taking American Airlines there. I think like any young person. I definitely in my 20s, because you just go to orbits or Expedia and Frontier, you know, the cheap airlines, you just always, oh, I can fly here to Nashville or Chicago for a hundred bucks. When I was in my 20s, I flew Vegas in the summer to San Diego for $29, $29 or $39. I did it about four times a summer. I lived on Southwest Airlines in my 20s. But the one thing you learn, and Southwest is like this and Spirit is like this, Southwest is now charging for bags. And they now you have to pay for a seat. They're not just lining up, you know, how they did it, A, B, and C.

Spirit always screwed you that way. You're like, oh, I just got a $100 flight. Well, then they charge you an extra $150 to take your bags each way. So they screw you that way. And then the experience is, I mean, terrible, right? I mean, it's, it couldn't be any worse. And I do think Southwest used to be able to fly. really, really, for those of us to live to California, whether you're flying to Vegas or

Los Angeles or Southern California, you can fly for like 49.99. Those are done. I mean, we go back to Northern California and see family sometimes. It's hard to find a ticket for less than $250. So you might as well just fly the nicer airline if it's a difference between $50 or $100 and get the way better experience. Because before, you used to get a really good deal. That anyone that fly Southwest, occasionally you can, it is much harder to find. Well, it's like Vegas. Everybody, you're reading all these stories about the... Well, there's two things. Number one is, I lived in Vegas in 1990, 91, 92, 93.

The reason you went to Vegas was for deals. That was the market. That was the brand. You went there because you didn't have to go to Paris. You could go to a hotel that kind of looked like a knockoff of Paris for one-fourth the price. I noticed this. My kids were with their mom several years. years ago and I would go to Vegas and I would take my son to the Fountains, is it, Bellagio,

and we would go to eat dinner at this nice restaurant overlooking the Fountains. Now, that was, I think it was, I forget what it was. It was one of those famous L.A. chefs, Spago. So it was kind of my treat to him whenever I was in town, like Friday night, we would go have an early dinner and look at the fountains. He loved it. You know, he's 13, 14, 15. We loved it. And it was expensive. Like, that was a treat. That's like the norm now. Like they, they have rodeo level, rodeo drive shopping. Like, the last couple years I went to Vegas, I told my son, I'm like, because you can see the prices of food sometimes out front of these restaurants. I'm like, this is higher than L.A. Like, Vegas just got way too expensive. And remember, these are 5,000-seat

hotels. So they're, you know, I mean, we know what we're dealing with here. Everything's packed. You went to Vegas for a good discount, but you never got like scarcity. You never got, it was never exclusive or premium, but it was pretty darn good for an incredible price. It's more expensive half the time than New York and L.A. You and I talked about this when I was in Chicago. Most people that go gamble in Vegas are not Charles Barkley or Michael Jordan. They're not gambling $50,000 a hand. You cannot go to one of the main floors of the casino, especially if you, you're not, in the evening and find a blackjack table for under $50 a hand. Impossible.

So that to me, when I went to Cal Poly, you used to be able to get a flight from Santa Maria. I think it was like $49.99. And you could go with no money as a college kid, maybe $100 to your name, and have a good weekend there. You might have to do a credit advance if you were loans of money. But you could spend easily a couple hundred dollars between your hotel, eating. You could eat really cheap. I haven't been to Vegas now since the Super Bowl a couple years ago. But me and Maria went to a Toby Keith concert and we spent a couple days there as well.

And I just remember everything being extreme, like you said, L.A., Scottsdale, New York. It's like, what are, there's nothing even, I can't find a piece of pizza for under $20 a slice. Well, the big draw now is the sphere. They say the sphere just signed a deal. They're going to show the Wizard of Odds, Wizard of Oz, the movie in the sphere. think that 15% of people now that go to Vegas will go to the sphere. It's about 10% now. So they think the Wizard of Oz movie in the sphere, which I'd love to see because I watched that 10 times as a kid. They're going to put it there. That's the big draw for me. John, again, this was six years ago when I was

going to Vegas. And I would go to like Mandalay Bay. And maybe during the day, I didn't watch. I try to avoid the casinos because I'm not a smoker. So I just try to stay out of those things. And that's the place. They had a great pool. I take my kid to the wave machine out back. We had a really, really good time. And the pool was expensive. So I would never look at the floor during the day. But like once, when we would go to dinner at night at the Mandalay Bay, we would walk through and I would look at the tables. Nothing under 50 bucks a hand. I've never in my life. I don't think I've ever, I shouldn't say that. If I did, it was infrequent. I've never bet $50 a hand in my life on blackjack. And I lived in

Vegas for seven years. Never once. I mean, I'm like a $20 guy. maybe 30, double down occasionally. I just, it's, it's just incredible that these executives, can I give you a theory on what happened to Vegas? So Steve Wynn built the encore and win, like high-end art, real luxury, villas by the golf course. And it was unique. Like if you had some money from Europe, Southeast Asia, or New York, you know, you'd stay at encore or win.

And then I think a lot of the executives with their egos felt like, well, we don't want to have second tier operations. So they try to compete with the encore and the win. And then the, so, you know, a Cesar's is like, well, we want to do that. And then the people just below Cesar's thought, well, we're falling behind. We want to do that. And so these companies got into debt. They spent way too much money on their suites. and now there's very few places to go in Vegas in the better parts of town where you can get a reasonable deal.

Everybody copied Steve Wynn. But Steve Wynn, even Steve Wynn made a huge mistake 25 years ago when he started, he said, you know, the future of Vegas, we want to bring families here. And then about two years later, he's like, yeah, kids don't gamble. I made a mistake. And he went back to like high-end places. And I think Vegas tried to copy him out of that they didn't feel like they didn't want their properties to look second and third tier. and they priced out their demographic. I also think the internet, obviously sports gambling.

I mean, it was a really big deal when I was young to go to a sports book in Vegas. It was the only place you could do that. And it was a thrilling experience for a guy in their early 20s that love sports. And it's something that for most people, up until it became legal, you had to go there to bet, right? Unless you had a bookie. But there was nothing like them walking into the MGM or one of the big casinos to the sports book. Well, I live in Arizona. I just use draft kings on my phone. Right. I mean, I actually down the street from my house have a draft king sports book that is five minutes away from where I live.

It's right next to the golf course. So that world has been changed. I also think the consumer now, which it's not, this is not a positive, but spend so much of their entertainment value. This is why isolation has become just on the internet and on their phone. So going to Vegas was a treat. I think less and less people travel for entertainment. because now we, I mean, just think of what we have access to on our TV for entertainment, right? I got a million apps with a million different shows. And I just think all the combination of sports betting, you can also play cards and stuff on the, I think there are way more cards games. Isn't Nick right? He plays card games all over the.

It's way easier to find stuff now that way. I think the internet really hurt Vegas. It took a little time, right? I mean, it's 2025. The internet's been around for 30 plus years, but it's, I don't think there's any coming back for, for, for, them. No. And I also, this isn't even a political thought, but I think Canadians, you know, they have cut their travel to the United States because of like tariffs and the negativity and kind of the aggressiveness of, you know, our current president. Canadians have, and I've seen this in the

grocery store business, Canadians have just decided, you know, they're going to thumb their nose. Well, good luck in the winter, you know, thumb in your nose at Florida. But I think there's a, you know, international travel is down to America, Canadian travel is down, the internet, the sports gambling angle. And I just, I know, again, when my kids were there about six years ago, I would go and I just remember thinking, Jesus, there are no discounts. And it's funny because when I would check in, you know, you sit in that line and you look around the line and it's not a rich, it's not a ritzie crowd.

It's like just, it's Iowa. It's Madison, Wisconsin. It's just like regular people in T-shirts and jeans or flip-flops and board shorts. And they're pricing stuff like it's a European travel. It's like, what are you doing here? Well, the other thing is the indie casinos in California, and there's one in Scottsdale, is extremely nice. Talking Stick in Scottsdale is, I mean, you could put it in Vegas and it would fit right in. So these casinos, if you want to go play cards, you just, you don't even need to leave your state anymore.

So think how many people that from California or whatever, I mean, there are a ton of Indian casinos in northern California in the valley in Fresno. So I just, I do think big picture, though, Vegas with their tax benefits, a lot of companies are moving there. The city and the area might be okay. They just have to transition away from the casino business. I think has seen its heyday. All right. Time to look at this weekend's tastiest matchup in this week's Sunday night food ball, brought to you by Uber Eats, a company I use all the time.

Looking at this cowboy thing we were talking about on the show, so John Middilkoff is going to be on FS1 all week. And one of the rants I did today was about Mike McCarthy. I think the cowboys are going to shit the bad week one. I think it's going to be a disastrous season. I don't like their defensive personnel. They've got two or three things that get in the way of winning. One, their division's gotten better.

Two, their offensive line is really in flux, and they don't have elite running backs to begin with. So it's going to be very Dak Prescott dependent, which is not good. I mean, he's not the kind of quarterback that it can carry a franchise. He needs help. No run game, O line, work and progress. And the defense was terrible last year. But if you go back and look at Mike McCarthy, And this happens all the time.

It's a big brand and you run people out of town. I mean, the Lakers have run through a lot of coaches. And a lot of those coaches have gotten good gigs. But Mike McCarthy went 12 and 5, 12 and 5, 12 and 5, and then Dak got hurt. He won more games that he lost with Cooper Rush. They had the second best offense in the league behind Josh Allen and the Bills in his tenure in Dallas. And I think if the Cowboys are awful and I think they will be this year, I think Mike McCarthy is going to go from the Packers to the Cowboys.

I think he's going to get another job in an offensive league. Am I not saying that? Well, why do you think he wasn't a bigger candidate this offseason? Because I thought, you know, those three straight years of 12 wins, what he did last year, I mean, most an average to below average coach last year with DAC being injured, they ended up winning two or three games. But they went 7 and 10 and Cooper Rush was good. There's a branding issue with Mike, right?

Kind of bigger guy, kind of goofy guy. when he got fired from the Packers, it felt like his relationship with Aaron had deteriorated. Aaron's kind of pivoted and is like a supporter of him now. Sometimes a year away with coaches will do him well. You could argue, I mean, the Giants are going to match up really well against the Cowboys, right? Because they have a really good defensive line. Well, they have a dominant defense. They have second best D-lines arguably in the sport.

So, yeah, I mean, it could, it's really, I thought it was a little premature a couple years ago, but the Al Davis comps. I mean, the Al Davis thing, it got ugly because he started hiring coaches that had no business being the head coach. And that's what Brian Chott-Nimer feels like right now. And what's going on there? I mean, if they're an injury or two away from being a disaster. And unlike Mike McCarthy that knows what he's doing, who's to say that it couldn't just unravel? I mean, what if Dak rolled an ankle?

All of a sudden, you're like, oh, my God, here we go. And Brian's acting tough. Here's the other thing. Like with Al Davis, the players know that. Jerry's in charge. So it was like, why am I going to listen to Brian? And that Mike Lombardi talked about this forever once everyone realized like the coach doesn't matter here, just go to Al. You know, like you do that. You know how he's the boss. You know McVeigh's the boss or Kyle's the boss. Obviously they don't sign the checks, but the owners deal with, even Jimmy Haslam was like,

Miles Garrett was like, I want to trade. He's like, deal with the GM. Talk to him. He's in charge of football. That is not the way it works with the Cowboys. And when you get one thing, Mike had a pelt on the wall, right? Had coached Aaron Rogers, had won a Super Bowl. You're like, Brian Schottenheimer guy, some of these young coaches had never heard of his dad. So it's not like he's this famous coach's dad. I mean, he is to me and you. But if you're 22 years old, you don't remember Marty Schottenheimer coaching the Browns, right? Or coaching the Chargers. And so some of his credibility with that name doesn't resonate like it does for an older person. Or even Jerry, who I've heard Jerry say part of the reason he loved, I think he thought maybe I'm getting a Kyle Shanahan.

or a McVeigh, you know, from a football family. I think that's what he's thinking. It's like, Jerry, that's, yeah, it ain't quite the same. No, I think, I was talking to Matt Mosley on one of my pods and he said, like, Jerry doesn't respect coaches. And it's very, there's a very clear line. He hires coaches who will be indebted to him. I like Jason Garrett.

Didn't think he was great, thought he was good. Jason Garrett would not have gotten another head coaching job. Mike McCarthy was on the beach. Chan Daly, Jan Galey was not a hot prospect. nobody was even offering a top OC job to Brian Schottnheimer. The coaches, Jerry doesn't respect the coaching position, which is really weird considering Jerry usually has a pretty good sense of valuations, of properties. He's a very, very good businessman.

And I think Jerry overvalues his football IQ and feels like, by and large, we could win 12 games with Mike McCarthy. I can win 10 to 11 games if DAC comes back healthy. It's just remarkable to me that in the most important sport for coaching football, where the league has gotten much more sophisticated and intelligent with its offensive coaching, Jerry's going the other way, which is coaches don't matter. It's really remarkable to me. Everybody, I mean, now, now, maybe it's this.

He looks at Nick Seriani and thinks, well, they won a Super Bowl with Nick Seriani. Maybe he looks in his own division and says that. I mean, Seriani, to me, is a bit of an outlier where I, I understand Dan Campbell, who I wasn't initially a fan of. I don't really get Seriani still, but it works. He's got Howie Roseman. I mean, he's got a guy that's going to. be probably a first bout Hall of Famer one day as a general manager.

I think Jerry is just, he had an opportunity. Sean Payton worked for him. Dan Campbell played for him. You could argue a couple years ago, Dan Quinn, who was this rising star, if you're going to get rid of Mike McCarthy, just fire him then and hire Dan Quinn. I think a mistake he made is two years ago

when Mike lost to the Packers and everyone freaked out and he got his ass kicked. He'd let him coach on that year where his contract ran out. He probably should have just given Mike like a three-year contract extension after that year. Wouldn't it had to be crazy money. But Jerry, prideful, wasn't going to do that after they lost. And now he's in a position where Brian Schott and Imer's his head coach. I'm not as down on the Cowboys roster of being some joke like two, three win team. But the way they're built, I mean, they are an injury to a way. And if the coach is over his head, this is a sport where it's like, it can get ugly and it can get ugly fast. And if Dak were to get injured and he has a history now, who's to say they can't end up like a four win team? and be the last place in that division. If the Giants just the quarterback play stabilized a little bit and their defense is solid, we know Washington the Eagles are good.

Well, I think you nailed it. I think the New York Giants are, say what you want about the Giants. That defensive line, now, again, Philadelphia's O line is good enough to keep it at bay. I think the Giants D line could overwhelm the Cowboys. I think Abdul Carter, Thebado on the other side, Dexter Lawrence. I'm trying to think of defensive lines. I like more than the New York Giants. There's not a lot of them.

There are some individual players that are great. I think the Rams defensive line is really, really good in getting better. Philadelphia is obviously. But I, you know, there's some teams in this league in the Giants are one of those teams. I actually think they're a quarterback away. I think if you gave them the right quarterback, you'd look up in the Giants. They wouldn't be flashy if Malik neighbors could stay healthy. they could actually win 11 games.

That's why, you know, Daible, I think, it works a little bit with this franchise because he is good at taking average B quarterbacks and making them a half grade higher. But I don't know. I just, I,

history repeats itself. And I think we're going into a really dark cowboy stage. That was this week's Sunday night football brought to you by Uber Eats. When football makes you hungry, get game day deals on Uber Eat I do every week.

The official on-demand delivery partner of the NFL. Order now. I just did. Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, 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 a... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend.

But this one's extra special. So how do 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. We were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. 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, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer 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? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast, Point Game is about defining 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 he gives us on the night-to-night bases on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson,

we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get to fly. He running up the court, licking his fingers while he got the ball, like, After you go through a training camp with that Isaiah, 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.

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 parrot. I'd be too nervous. That's right. The very funny Will Ferrell joins Rory Scovel and me, Josh Dean, for an episode dedicated to the many crimes committed by people also named Will Ferrell. 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 lists on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Okay, so I think we're both so fired up for Texas, Ohio State. You and I love college football. And I can't wait for that game. So the Michigan penalties came down.

And basically Harbaugh can't coach in college football for the next decade. He won't. They're probably going to have to write, you know, $30 million in checks. They didn't have to vacate any wins. The best punishment you can give a huge brand is cash. I mean, they can make payments. But I got to tell you, John, I know I'm supposed to really be outraged when the NCAA says, hey listen, they were out of control.

They didn't follow rules. John, the coaches I've talked to with the transfer portal, it is so sketchy. And the NIL is the Wild Wild West that Conor Stallions,

I know I should be bothered, but I think the penalty of a pay like $20, 30 million dollars, I'm fine with it. And I, and I know I sound like I'm a big 10 homer here, but I would say this, we all know the SEC was paying guys

for years through the church. I mean, Nick Saban basically stopped recruiting late cycle Ole Miss players because if he couldn't get him committed early, he knew he'd lose late. He knew he had no chance to win. They'd get paid out. So, and then, you know, Hugh Freeze got busted. I mean, I went on the air multiple times. There were, Ole Miss was not the only school, but they were the worst defender with few frees, who by the way, gets rehired again because nobody really cares. But in the end is, if you can pay high school football players, I don't care. Nothing's illegal. I don't care. Do you feel as strongly as I do, or are you bothered that they were a little bit of an outlaw program with Harba? Yeah, I mean, I do not care at all. I'm actually surprised that people still

listen to the NCAA. You know, they're not in charge of the money generation of college football. Obviously, they have more of a pull when it comes to basketball because they have a lot with the NCAA tournament. But it's not-Mars madness. Yeah, it's not called the NCAA college football playoffs. Like, so why, think how stupid it is that Chiron Moore got suspended for games three and four because they play Oklahoma. Like, what are we doing? How does this make any sense? And the NCAA has been laughable for a long time.

It's like, no, I witnessed John Calapari, you go to the finals. You can't just take that away. Reggie Bush. I saw him. He's one of the best college football players I've ever seen. He can't take away his Heisman. What were we talking about? Because he took some shoes and an apartment from an eight.

Think how dumb that sounds now. You talked about that today. But Michigan, who has a quarterback, which I would imagine is going to start, the Underwood kid, who they stole from LSU because Larry Ellison cut a $15 to $20 million check. And we're mad about a guy with binoculars and an iPhone sitting in the, 70th row at an Iowa, Michigan State football game. The other thing is I always defended Belichick. When I got to the NFL with Andy, like stealing signs,

because technology changed a lot over the last 10 years now. It's like everyone's in the headset. But before stealing signs, everyone was doing it. Now Belichick was a little more bracing on the sideline, but he was doing something no different than everyone else was doing. Everyone had signed stealing ability and try to, to code everything and had people with cameras. So no one, you notice people in the NFL weren't that offended.

Who was offended? Fans. Roger Goodell, who's never, you know, and this is the pushback with NFL people with Roger, great with business. But he doesn't know like the inner workings of play calls, player acquisition, the strategy of football. And that's not his job. So sometimes like Bountygate and things with Roger Goodell overreacted.

I think a lot of people in the NFL is like, yeah, this is football. I think a lot of people in college football now. Did Michigan just beat Ohio State when he was gone with no counterstallions? It's just they got really good players. They got a bunch of NFL guys. But I just can't get over people still listening to the NCAA. It baffles me. Like why does football need them at this point in time in 2025?

I don't get it because clearly they had to just wave their hands and wave the white flag on all of the money stuff. So why are we listening to them about anything else? I will make a prediction in the next three years, some venture capital group will buy March Madness. And they won't change much. They may shrink it a little bit to like 58 teams or something that, you know, fewer teams is probably better for a little leaner tournament. But, you know, I just heard a story yesterday from a very good network source that, there is a lot of momentum to have like a 24 or 2018 playoff. And my loyalty has always been to more big games. And I'm, I, you just can't get me worked up. I Auburn, Alabama, it's great,

but it's regional. And the, the, the, the highest rated game last year, I think it was Texas, Georgia. That's not a rivalry. It wasn't Texas, Oklahoma. So I don't, I'm not, when I heard everybody say, well, you're going to kill the rivalries. Listen, if you're a. Michigan fan in Ohio State. Did that game feel smaller last year to you when Michigan upstead Ohio State? It didn't feel smaller to me. So, I mean, the reality is when the Rams play the Niners, it's intense. They could play three times a year. Years ago when the Steelers and Ravens and Ray Lewis was around and so was Big Ben, they play one year three times. The third game felt bigger than the first two because it was a playoff game. So there's just certain things.

in 2025, I can't get worked up over. Somebody having pot in their car, same-sex marriage, NCAA coming down on payments to players or any kind of scandal. Like, we've just graduated to just understanding the world we live in. I said it today, unless you're like a cop from Reno 911, you got a roach in your car. Nobody cares. That mattered in the 70s. And I just, if If you can buy high school players, I don't give two shits about somebody with an iPhone in the crowd. I don't care if you have 40 of them. I don't care. I do think the 24-28 team college football playoff, that's where I might get a little worked up.

You know, we saw the 12th team. That first round was a blowout. You know, there have been arguments about 16, 24. And again, I love football as much as the next guy. But does that feel a little extreme? And we get a lot of average to below-average teams in the dance. in that situation. It's been your argument for March Madness forever. We always scream over first in, last out, or whatever. Those teams never matter, right? Who are your one and two seats? They usually

determine the tournament. So I think you'd have to make it half the size of March Madness because football is a sport of attrition. So the little guy, it has no chance in a 28 team tournament to ever win like a third straight game against the bigger, deeper roster. I think, but I, I think that I've said, I think the perfect number is about 16. I wouldn't be bothered by 20. I think if you get to 28, you'd have to give the top like four seeds. I don't want Georgia playing Liberty. I'm just not interested in that at all.

I mean, Notre Dame played Indiana, and that was kind of embarrassing for the Hoosiers, I thought. It was very, I mean, Boise State, Penn State had a guy drafted in the top 10 at running back, and he had no chance. You know why? Because the offensive lineman had no chance to block the Pennsylvania. state guys. And that's always going to be the big problem. You get a 2018 playoff. But here's the other thing. It's like, it's one thing at the fourth or fifth team from the Big Ten and the SEC get in. But when you're taking the third and fourth team from the Big 12 and the ACC, that's when it could get really ugly. And that's, we don't need to see those teams play. Now, I get, it's all about

television ratings and football. I was thinking today, watching Sunday night football with Caleb Williams, what do you think the first 30 minutes of that football game did? I mean, it just had to blow everything out of the water on Sunday night on Fox, right? So the advantage, I never argue against, like, more of these games. I completely understand or argue against the people that want more football in terms of working at the networks or part of the revenue generation, because it's only going to bring in more eyeballs. It's like, listen, I hate the doubleheader on Monday night. I think it's, I think a huge part of playing Monday night football or Sunday night. football is getting the solo game.

But their argument is you put the double header. It accumulates millions upon millions of more people watching football. And that's the business, Roger and ESPN or Fox or whoever's in. But sometimes the product does get worse when I get a double header on Monday night. I don't know who's asking for it besides we're just going to get more people. We can sell more ads and make more money. Yeah, I mean, I know people get worked up over my take on college football. I'm not a traditionalist.

But I've always truly felt that if you're absolutely honest with yourself, Alabama fan, Ohio State fan, you get bored with the season. Because the Michigan game is great, the Penn State game is great, the Oregon game was great. But there's about six times that you're paying for a game that is over at half. And if you're really honest, this is something I'd pay attention to. on any given Sunday, the one o'clock window, those are not the best teams in the league. That's a lot of Tennessee. That's a lot of Carolina. That's a lot of, you know, Chicago, Saints, Washington, Saints, Washington, pre-Jadden Daniels.

Any given Sunday, there are four electric finishes in the one o'clock window. And then you're getting standalone Fox games, CB. ES games, Sunday night game, Monday night game, 30. You get at least six tremendous games every weekend in the NFL. And that's out of how many games. I mean, how many total games do you have? Like 14, 12? So in college football, you have 100 and, what is it, 135, 140 Division I programs.

There are weekends that you get. Now, again, you probably get close games with teams, nobody. he's watching. But you may get six great games a weekend. And a lot of times for the six, you know, can be like army against, you know, Boston College and it goes down to the wire. That's not the highest quality of football. So to me, I'm rooting for anything that gives me, you know, like I said, I get now Oregon against Michigan and Penn State and Ohio State or Oregon against Washington State, Call and Stanford. To me, it's just not a hard choice.

I want more quality. Yeah, I'm probably more of a traditionalist than you when it comes to college football, but it's over. Like the battle has been won and those traditions are done, right? We are going to continue to merge. And I think we have to acknowledge how do we get the best games? I'm all for not allowing some of these matchups anymore, basically mandating that you have to play your peers in the non-conference games.

And maybe that, if we go to a bigger playoff schedule, of 20 or 24 teams, then Alabama would never play a Mercer. Because remember Sabin used to bitch and moan about no one being in the stadium at kickoff. That's right. Well, it's like, well, Nick, you're playing Cal Poly, the Sisters of the Poor,

in UC Davis, and then he'd go, well, our schedule is so hard. And it's true. Your SEC schedule is hard, but you still got three or four other home games that no one cares about. And let's face it, there are a couple of SEC games, you know, Vanderbilt was before last year

in a Mississippi State, where you're going to kick the crap out of them. So it's not going to be an enjoyable experience for the consumer. So how do we fix that and maybe going to 24 teams enables us to – because where we're headed is is going to be the NFL light, right? We're going to have two major conferences and they're all going to play each other. And that's where even the Boise States and the New Mexico's – they're eventually just going to be playing. Like there's just going to be Division 1 and then there's going to be like Division 1-A. And right now there's still kind of that middle ground of some of these teams.

I don't think they will exist in five, ten years because financially they won't be able. It's like business, right? I mean, think how often Amazon or Target or some of these, you know, big companies, Oracle, meta, you know, have just white people out. And that's kind of what like Ohio State and Alabama and USC and Oregon. And it's why I read a story recently like Duke and North Carolina were trying to get to the SEC. Well, they're not going to let Clemson and Florida State just go like, we're coming with you. You know, we've got to follow the money if we want to survive. Yeah, and I think change is inevitable.

I mean, you and I think are pretty safe when it comes to AI. But I mean, look at what's happening in AI. Like if you, I would, I just read a story in the Atlantic today, how AI has changed universities and academia. And a hundred percent of students use it. and, you know, universities, and they were quoting some of the kids talking about it. And they're like, listen, man, I work hard. But sometimes I just want to go lift weights. I don't want to write another 16-page essay. And which is, you know, a lot. I mean, do you remember anything from college? A lot of it's nonsense. I really do. I think finally over the course of my life, people have come to terms with a lot of college and a lot of universities as status, unless you're a doctor or unless you're lawyer and you're getting a certain license or degree. But in a lot of instances, you know, you end up getting in sales. But I think like AI job displacement, like this is the way of the world. And sports fans, like I never got adults that collected baseball cards. I guess there's

a financial benefit. It's a water down diluted market now. But I think you just have to get comfortable with sports are going to change. And I felt for years that boxing was screwing the fans. and here comes UFC and knocked it out. And I felt for years that college football was the worst run, $8 billion a year sport. Boom. The network stepped in, Fox and the SBN, NBC, and said, yeah, we're going to take it over. We're going to make the decisions. And so I don't have a problem with it. If you're a well-run company, like people can bitch about the NBA. They just signed a $76 billion $11 year deal. You can complain about the NBA, but nobody in venture capital, is going to buy the teams. The league is incredibly profitable. College football was a poorly run

mess. Boxing was a mess. Horse racing's a mess. Golf with a PGA being a charity, never took care of it, stars. So look at what's been upended. Poorly run college football, poorly run boxing, and the poorly run PGA. Stuff that's well run, nobody's buying meta, right? Like nobody's buy an Amazon. Like they're buying companies that are, you know, vulnerable. So or significantly smaller. So I don't feel bad for sports that change. They only change when they're poorly run. But my question then is, when does it ever end? Like in the NFL, we can make fun of the Brown family or I feel like the Davis family, Mark has pivoted much better with Tom and his group coming in. So they got more financial backing. But at the end of the day, the Cowboys and the

49ers and the New York Giants, they're partners with the Cincinnati Bengals and the Arizona Cardinals. Right. But if you're Ohio State and now USC and Oregon come, you start looking around like, why are we carrying Maryland and Minnesota? And that's the problem in Alabama, LSU, Georgia, Florida go, why do we need Mississippi State for?

Vanderbilt, great academics, who gives a shit? We're not even going to be associated. Our kids aren't even going to go to school in five or ten years. We're just going to have a side-load football program. And that's the problem with college athletics. is there is a lot of kinks in the business plan because how many programs truly carry it and can splinter where Jerry can say all he wants is like, we're the most watched team or the chiefs now. But you're in business with all these other people and that's how you sell the business model to

the networks. In college football, you buy the Big Ten, but I mean, you've been at Fox like they've rode Michigan and Ohio State. If Maryland disappeared tomorrow, besides Scott Van held, who would notice? And that's what, like, that still matters to me. I mean, I grew up around cows. Read the athletic article on Andrew Luck. It's pretty good about him going to become the GM. It's a really good article came out today.

If Stanford football just disappeared tomorrow, no one would notice. And it's like, how long is this sustainable when everyone is just kind of backstabbing? You know, the big guys are just constantly backs. Like, ultimately, Jerry can't ass out Mike Brown. He just can't, right? or Jed York can't just screw Michael Bidwell. Like, they're all in business together. And in college, they kind of are, but kind of not.

I mean, why did USC and UCLA just kind of piggybacked off USC, but USC was just, we're not carrying Washington State anymore. Screw you. So why can't USC and Ohio State and Michigan just go, why are we carrying Minnesota and Maryland? I'm picking on Minnesota. Maybe they're bigger than I give them credit for, but we just start trimming the fat. And that's, it's the fat's going to keep getting trimmed until we have 25 programs. This is Alabama, Florida, Clemson. That's where it feels like inevitable, right?

Yeah, I mean, but like, listen, the English Premier League has relegation. Like, I just think, like, Major League Baseball right now has, and for my entire life, has had six to eight teams that can't really compete when the season starts. I don't know. Let me rephrase that. So baseball has no salary cap. No salary cap. So this should really be a sport in which big markets dominate.

Yet the Milwaukee Brewers are clearly the best team in baseball. The Dodgers until they just swept a series were reeling. The Yankees and the Mets, you know, they're chasing, you know, the Blue Jays, the Yankees are. The Mets are no longer in first place, not really a very good baseball team. So I think in the sport of baseball in which it really should be a have-and-have-and-have-not sport, if you look at the last 11 World Series champs, the Yankees aren't in there. The Dodger in twice, one of those is sort of the much malign COVID World Series title. It's the Rangers, the Astros, the Nats.

The Royals are in there and the Yankees aren't. And so my take is Iowa football has never run the sport. has never been hugely valuable to the sport, but will always produce quality teams because it matters to the people of that state, and they'll always be a viable seven to eight win program, and that's what they've always been. And if you look at the history of college football, you can go back 30 years. There's only one new top 10 program, Oregon. That is it. It's always been ridiculously top-heavy. But the difference is when it was top-heavy and we were paying guys behind the scenes or it was top-heavy because of topography, geography, or population centers,

everybody was okay with it. But when things get lobsided because of money, we feel it's very unfair. And the truth is, Ohio has always had four more good players in it than Indiana. And Indiana is a basketball state and Ohio's a football state. And the Buckeyes and Michigan have been kicking everybody's ass in that conference for my entire life. But now it feels like it's money that's separating them. And I think people get worked up over money. They just, especially men, they don't, they don't like, people don't like to talk about money. And the truth is, the Big Ten has been lobsided my entire life since I started watching sports in 1972. It's been, I mean, for years, Penn State was independent. They joined it later. It was, it's always been. It's always

has been. There's been in the occasional Barry Alvarez Wisconsin team or Hayden Frye had a good Iowa team that goes to the Rose Bowl. It's been Buckeyes and Wolverines my entire life. I do think part of sports though, especially college football, which is, you know, in the NFL, a big

upset is in the playoffs or the Super Bowl. Upsets happen all the time in the regular season. Regular season games don't, one game doesn't determine your success. We're in college football. Now it determines less of your success. Ohio State lost to Michigan. It didn't ruin their season. They still won the national championship. But some of the biggest moments in my

life have been Appalachian State beating Michigan, has been, you know, some of the, Aaron Rogers almost beating the undefeated Pete Carroll team. And then Vince Young, like an upset happening in college football. And the little guy, and whether that's, you know, Minnesota or a Maryland beating Ohio State once every six, seven years. Last year, Vanderbilt beating Alabama for the first time in 50 years. And you do need, like, Tiger Woods needed Chris DeMarco every once a while to give him a run for his money. That's good drama. Ultimately, this is the drama of Michigan, Ohio State can't play every single game, right? So who's Ohio State or Alabama or Oregon going to play? I mean, last year, I was on the edge of my seat thinking, is Ashton Gentie and Boise State

going to beat Oregon? Which is ironic. They used to, they beat them multiple times in the past with Chris Peterson. But it felt like this is going to be pretty nuts. And you just wonder, if that goes away and it just becomes, which it feels like it's going to become like 40 teams, it's just going to be every single week. It's like, well, Ohio State plays their non-conferences now, Florida, Georgia, Clemson, and SC. But I'm going to argue you're going to watch that and it's going to get bigger ratings than playing Purdue again. And that's my takeaway. Like I watched so much college football last year.

I loved college football last year. You and I both really are heavy college football leaners. We love the sport. John, I went through about an eight-year cycle with Clemson, Georgia, Bama. I was watching less. The sport was incredibly lbsided. Well, now Texas gets to play Bama, LSU, Georgia, Florida. I get USC schedule, Penn State, Michigan.

Like, to me, I had more fun watching college football last year than I have had in a decade. And so I'll go back to this. I know it's money and it makes people uncomfortable. But if you're telling me, Ohio State, I mean, let's just do this. Let's do this. So I'm going to read Ohio State schedule. Texas, Grambling State, Ohio, at Washington, at Illinois, at Wisconsin, Penn State, Purdue, UCLA, Rutgers, Michigan. You know the two games you'd get rid of tomorrow?

Grambling State and Ohio. And everybody says, oh, that's part of the fabric. Those are the two games you would eliminate immediately. And the third game that you'd probably eliminate would be Minnesota at Ohio State because it'd probably be a blowout. So my takeaway is in the new world, if we have a bigger playoff, you're going to get more Texas, Ohio State, more Ohio State Washington, more Ohio State Wisconsin, more Penn State Ohio State, and more Michigan, Ohio State. and more Michigan, Ohio State. You're just going to get more of those games. Are you not?

Yeah, I'm not arguing for grambling or Ohio to be on the schedule. I do wonder there has to be some hierarchy, though, of like, eventually are they backstabbing the Purdue's, the Minnesota's, and Maryland's and killing them all off, and we're just talking 25, 30 teams, just playing in college football. I mean, that's, that's, that's, like D1AA almost feels like, right? North Dakota State, Montana. and I just wonder like there has to be some sort of balance.

I have no problem with you're not allowed to play. Grambling if you're Ohio State. And Ryan Day would be like, well, we're opening up against Texas. I'd say, great. Ask Sean Payton. He's like, yeah, we open against the Chief. Then we play the Chargers. I mean, welcome to football.

But that's the way college football works. And that's always Sabin's excuse. And I respect all these programs that play real non-conference games. But they do that. And then they justify their other three non-conference games are against me, you, and the dude down the street. And they're like, see, we played Texas on a neutral field. I'm like, great.

Then you played three teams that, I mean, you feel bad for those kids. Like, is it safe for gambling in Ohio to play Ohio State? I mean, I don't know if it is. But that's just the nature. I guess my ultimate thing is, and this is why college football has been, you know, it's been really successful. I mean, it's the second biggest sport in America in terms of viewers, but in terms of it's chaotic.

a lot like golf. The leadership, everyone just kind of stabbing each other in the back out for themselves. We're in the NFL, even the NBA, you're kind of with it as a group. And there's just, and maybe that's just the nature of their business model with these conferences. It was always destined as it got this popular to be so fractured and be through this period of time. But I don't think we're even close to being done. Like the traditionalists, they lost. But I don't think we're close to being done to being situated. Like, I think we still got 5, 10, 20 years of a lot of moving parts here.

Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, 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 a...

We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it's a lot of them.

was on a call about what we should call it. We were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. 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 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, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer 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. 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, and our podcast, Point Game is about defying 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 play. 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 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 Nash will get that thing.

That man, hell get to fly. He run up the court, licking his fingers why he got the bar like, you go through a training camp with that Isaiah, you figure it. 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. Agency, the ability to know that we're the experts in our own body. On the podcast, cultivating her space, Dr. Dom and Terry Lomax create a space where black women can show up fully and be heard. I wholeheartedly think, you know, you hit 30.

You shouldn't have to share one with anybody. Mm-hmm. from navigating friendships and healing to setting boundaries and prioritizing your mental health. These are real honest conversations. We don't always get to have out loud. Totally unreasonable with different parts of life, right? Like, oh, have all three meals and make sure you're mindful during all of them? Absolutely not.

During one meal, I'm standing. I'm standing and handing my children food. Because healing, empowerment, and resilience aren't just ideas, their practices. And this mental health awareness month, there's no better time to pour back into yourself. Listen to cultivating her space on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Okay, I want to play a game. I'm going to go through the bearer schedule because I did this flying back Boston to L.A. Yesterday and I was surprised at what I landed at.

Okay, I'm going to give you the game and just your kind of gut instinct, win or lose for the Bears. Minnesota Vikings come to Chicago on September 8th. Brian Flores against Caleb Williams. Win or a loss? Win. Okay, you have a win.

Bears then go to Detroit in one of the louder environments against Dan Campbell and two new coordinators. Loss. Okay. They get a host of Dallas Cowboys and Brian Schottnheimer. Win. I think that's one of my favorite wins.

Then they go on the road to face Pete Carroll, Aston, Jenny, Brock Bowers, and the Raiders. That's a tough game going to be loud. Seattle's going to have a fast start. Raiders. Oh, Pete, oh, never mind. Win, win. Okay, so you have a win.

Win. I think it's a really good game. Bears then go to the commanders. Side of the crime last year, right? The Hail Mary. It's a late NBC level game. It's a 515 start. So that's a big Washington at home late game.

I'll go L. That's what I did. Okay. Saints go to Chicago. Is that a W? Bears at the Ravens loss. Yes. Bears at the Bengals. win. I think the Bengals could just be not as good as people think.

Okay. Giants at the Bears. That's one of those sneaky tough matchups where I think most fans would give the Bears a W. I could see an upset city. They're going to get upset where they might start feeling themselves, you know? Okay. You give them an L. Okay. This is getting interesting. Now the Bears are at the Vikings. L. Okay. Steelers at the Bears. Win for the Bears. Okay.

Bears at the Eagles, probably a loss. Yes. Bears at the Packers? They've beat them once in like 30 years, right? Yeah. Going L. Loss. Okay, now get near the end, and we'll see what this means.

Browns at the Bears, that's probably a W. Yes. Packers at Chicago now. I'll go split here, win. Bears at Niners? Win for the Niners. lost for the Bears. And finally, Lions at the Bears. Win. Okay. What do you think their record is? What have you predicted? Nine and eight or ten and seven? Nine and eight. I got to eight and nine.

And so I went through it last night and I said, instead of predicting, I'm going to go every win. And I was like you, they're going to split with Green Bay. I think I had them losing on the road. I think I had them like losing to a giant's. I thought the commanders was a loss. So here's my thing is they're a nine and eight football team and they're out of the playoffs. And my question to you is, will you deem that a success at nine and eight if Ben Johnson and Caleb cut the sacks in half? He does make mistakes.

He add libs. But they're a nine and eight football team. and Caleb looks like a top 12 quarterback, maybe number 12. Do you think it's a successful season? 1,000 percent. They just fired the entire coaching staff. They drafted 10th overall. They have been losing for years straight, 9 and 8 in that division.

Even if you missed the playoffs, which I would think the last couple of years you've had a decent chance in the NFC. To last weekend determination. That means you play important football the entire season. that is one million percent a win. Okay, I don't think people in Chicago agree, but I agree with you. I got to eight and nine, and I was like, wow, and I feel pretty good about it. You won the games at home, you should win. I would say this, eight and nine and nine and eight might be the difference of a fumble,

bouncing your way or bouncing in someone else's arms, so it really might not be that big of a difference over the course of a season. But that number, it feels pretty big when you say it out last. I do think going over 500. I also think 8 and 9 with the 17 games is kind of the old 7 and 9. Like 7 and 9, a lot of people got fired, 7 and 9. And 8 and 8 was actually much more respectable. It was like, oh, 500.

They were solid football team. Or 7 and 9 felt like, oh, that kind of sucked. Even though, again, it might have been one tipped ball that landed in another guy's hand of pick 6. But I do think going 9 and 8 is 100% of success. were 8 and 9, I think people would be a little, just because the hype on Ben Johnson. I mean, let's face it, he's considered immediately

the next Shanahan, McVeigh, Kevin O'Connell. Like, he's very highly regarded by fans and football circles. I mean, he's just impressive. I've been impressed. He's not just some pushover. He's kind of a hard ass, and he even talks. Like, I've been hard on Caleb, and he hasn't liked it all. I was like, I kind of respect that.

You know, he's been very, I mean, you're back there seeing his local press conferences. He's, he's pretty candid about, like, it's not, he's not running some, it's a pretty tight ship, I would say. He's got some Dan Campbell qualities, which I did not expect from an offensive guy. Wrap it up. John Rom repeats as the Live Golf League champ. $18 million check to him. That's pretty handy. The team champion will be determined this coming weekend Michigan. Did you see the attendance in Indianapolis? I did. It looked fantastic. They sold 50,000 seats. So that's almost double Chicago. So I was talking to an executive at Fox today and I said, I don't know if it works on TV. I don't know. Some stuff does. Some stuff does.

You know, boxing is captivating in person. It doesn't necessarily work on network television, you know, for whatever reasons. Hockey doesn't work on TV. It's unbelievable in person. But the live, I mean, to sell 50,000 seats and the merchandise they sell, as you and I saw, crushes. So literally they doubled in a smaller area. They doubled the ticket sold. So this weekend, they wrap it up in Michigan. And I think they're on to something with this sort of Midwest swing and golf because it feels like the PGA has gone very coastal, very Florida. and I think they've kind of found a little bit of a niche.

It took them a while to do it, but I think they found it in the States. Well, I think you could probably work six or seven events in that Midwest swing. You could find somewhere in Missouri or Kansas City area. Obviously, Chicago's an easy one. I mean, going to Michigan, Indianapolis, I do think, and I've told a couple people that have asked me, like, what do you think? And I said, listen, I've been to U.S. opens. I've been to multiple PGA events. This was unlike any event.

I've been to every baseball, basketball, football. This was very unique with the music and the vibe. If you're a young, 30-year-old, you and your buddies want to go have some drinks, if you want to bring, like, just go hang out. It's just an easy event for a couple hours. It doesn't take a lot of time. They all tee off at the same time, you know, so it's like you go for a couple hours and leave. And I do think they've struck something with the musical acts.

They had a Riley Green as a country star played. I follow DJ and Paulina. They're all taking pictures with them. So I think they kind of got something going there. I disagree, Scott, and talking about the team element. I don't know how big that. Golf's an individual sport. It's why, I mean, think about why they've had some.

John Rom is an individual star. Bryson's an individual star. So they got something there in the Midwest. And I would keep hammering home the individual aspect. But they're big on the team, which I understand. That was kind of their point of difference. I'll tell you what, they're selling a shit ton of merch. They are selling, oh my God, they sell a lot of merch.

They really do. And it's been a lucrative move for some of these. I mean, $18 million. I mean, that's pretty huge. John, the only merch I've ever seen in my life sell for golf is the Augusta hats. Yeah. Those are all over the country. But if you take out the Augusta hat, I don't see golf birch.

The merch they're selling there is incredible. Yeah, they're doing, I mean, he's got something going. I was really impressed how many people were at the Chicago one we went to, and obviously the visuals in Indianapolis. Just people go there. And it all kind of younger people, just there to screw around, have a few drinks, eat a little food, watch a little golf. It's the Phoenix Open.

Yeah. It's the same thing. All right, John, good stuff. Talk soon. See you tomorrow. The volume. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers.

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