The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - NFL Trade Deadline, World Series, Quarterback Play, College Football Playoff Rankings

Episode Date: November 1, 2023

Colin reacts to the biggest moves from the NFL trade deadline! He picks three of the moves he liked most, including one by a team that’s not known for making smart personnel decisions. He dives into the abysmal TV ratings for the World Series and the reasons baseball is struggling for viewership. He also breaks down why there’s an incredibly important reason for an NFL rule change that fans love to hate. Former Alabama QB Greg McElroy, host of ‘Always College Football joins Colin to break down the first edition of the College Football Playoff Rankings, debate which teams are too highly or lowly ranked, and look ahead to conference realignment in 2024. Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates! #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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See sportsbook.draftkings.com slash basketball terms for eligibility and deposit restrictions, terms, and responsible gaming resources. All right. Hi, everybody. We're going to talk about a lot of things. We're going to talk about the NFL trade deadline. We're going to talk about the World Series ratings, which are in the tank. We are going to talk about a dilemma in the NFL and why you should draft a quarterback every year. and we're going to have Greg McElroy on. We have our first college football playoff poll,

and Ohio State is won because of wins over Notre Dame and Penn State, although nobody thinks they're the number one team. Do we like that or not? Let me start by applauding teams I don't applaud much, the Chicago Bears. So on the trade deadline, they went and gave up a second round pick for a defensive end into his prime, going into his prime, Montez Sweat from the commanders. Now, Washington has a surplus of defensive linemen, so they move Chase Young, erratic injuries, a bit of an ad liber to the 49ers. But Montez Sweat is more reliable, and if you're going to pay a defensive player, who does Kansas City pay? Chris Jones, defensive lineman. Who do the Rams pay on defense? Aaron Donald, defensive lineman. If you go look at who the top GMs in the league

are absolutely always willing to pay. It's a good edge rusher or elite interior defensive linemen, of which there are not many. So the Bears get a player in Montez Sweat for a second round pick, who will be better than 90% of the players they could draft in the second round, and probably over half of the players they could draft in the first. And since the Bears are probably going to move off Justin Fields, they're not going to be paying their quarterback for four years. Now, because you do this mid-season, the player now has the leverage, right? Montez Sweat has the leverage. He knows what you gave up to get him. So the agent and the player have the leverage. But he's a really good player. He's a top 10 sack guy. He's going into his prime. And you've got to pay for those guys. And he's better than anybody you're going to get in the second round. My guess on the defensive line, the elite edge rushers, the elite prospects,

defensive lineman, those guys along with left tackles and stark quarterbacks, they're gone in the first eight to 12 picks. So I don't have a problem with it. I think Chicago fans look at the Chase Claypool move that didn't work. Chicago gives up a second round pick for him. First, it's a lot easier to get a wide receiver out of college that's productive than an elite edge rusher in the second round. There are receivers everywhere in college football and everywhere in the draft. Look at the Rams Pooka Nakua, fifth round. He's a star. And also, I even understood why the bears rolled the dice on Chase Claypool. They were trying to decipher if Justin Fields could play, and all they had was Mooney, a small twitchy receiver.

Claypool was a big physical receiver who can block. I would struggle to give up a second for him, but you could see giving up a third. So they may have reached a little, but I got their reasoning in Chicago for doing the Chase Claypool deal. They had a tied-in, coal commit. They had moon. They had Mooney. They were trying to furnish fields with players to see if this is the guy. By the way, this is what Atlanta is doing. They go get Beijon Robinson running back first round, Drake London, Kyle Pitts, good old line. And they have decided Desmond Ritter is not it. They're benching him now for Taylor Heineke. So when Bejohn Robinson got picked by the Falcons, I defended it, running back in the first round. They said, they're trying to figure out if the quarterback can play.

If you give them second tier players, you'll never know. You'll have to guess. Falcons have offensive coach good young weapons, and Desmond Miller can't score with them. Time to move off him. That's what they're doing. So Montez sweat for the bears. Yes, you'll have to pay him. Okay. All right. The bottom line is you're going to draft another quarterback. You have the space to do it. And this dude can absolutely play going into his prime, mid to later 20s. And those guys cost money. I'm okay with the bears doing it. All right. The 49. giving up a third round pick for Chase Young. Well, Chase Young can be an erratic player, sort of an ad liber, and he's had some injuries. So he's never been as good as we think,

but opposite Bosa, who's getting double-teamed on every snap, it gives them another edge. Now, that doesn't mean you're going to be great. I mean, Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa are playing for the Chargers, and they're underwhelming. They also have a coach many believe should be fired. But I think what the 49ers are looking at, they got their first round pick, they got their second round pick. And you start looking at the third round pick for the 49ers in this roster. Who could start? I mean, they don't need a receiver. They don't need a running back.

They've got their quarterback. Debo and Brandon Ayyuk, they've got their receivers. They could use a corner and maybe a center. And they'll probably draft that with the first and second round pick. So I get what they're doing. when you have a quarterback that you're really not paying anything to. And I mean, last player picked, you're not paying Brock Purdy anything. Roll the dice. And I think they also, they look around and they see Jalen Hertz, and they see that lion's offensive line. Remember, Dallas, Detroit, and Philadelphia in the NFC have three

of the top five offensive lines in the National Football League. Now, the AFC is better than the NFC, but the NFC may have three of the top four or five offensive lines, Eagles, Lions, Cowboys. So one pass rusher is not enough. Armstead, Bosa, now Chase Young, if those teams, Detroit with Jared Goff, Eagles, Jalen Hurts, Dallas, Dak Prescott have better quarterbacks than San Francisco, and grade O lines, how do you equalize it? You roll the dice, you give up a third round pick for Chase Young. get it. Didn't give up a first, didn't give up a second, but by the third round, what percentage

of players hit? How many people in the third round are going to be as talented as Chase Young and could immediately play for the 49ers? Even the guys they've hit on in the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh round, most don't play and make an impact immediately. Brock Purdy's rare. So I get it. They're looking at the NFC. They're looking at those offensive lines. They're looking to those superior your quarterbacks. Can Chase Young be an equalizer so Bose has not double teamed by good offensive lines on every snap? Okay, Green Bay did something. I like. Rousoul Douglas is a very physical corner. He's not as good as Jaya Alexander, but they went and traded him to Buffalo, who needs a corner, right? They're a contender. Green Bay with Jordan Love isn't. They got a third

round pick. Gave up a fifth, but got a third. Well, what does that mean? Well, now Green Bay has a First, two seconds, one from the Jets, and two thirds. Five picks for three rounds. That gives them ammo to move up to get their quarterback. Green Bay right now, I think, would have the sixth pick, so they may not need that ammo. But they've already furnished whoever the next quarterback is with good young receivers and good young tight ends. And they've got some nice defensive players in the box, good corners. They gave up one.

Rasul Douglas, kind of corner that Buffalo will love. Tough kid. is played in cold weather, very physical, plays hard every Sunday. He's not great. He's not Jaya Alexander. He's not Soss Gardner, Patrick Sertan of Denver. But how many lockdown guys are there in the league? 8, 6, 4?

He's not one of those guys. But he's physical and he's come from cold weather. He can plan it. So I like what Buffalo did and I like what Green Bay did. Everybody in the building knows Jordan loves not it. So they are accumulating picks. And so Green Bay is going to go draft the quarterback and absolutely should. Now a couple of seconds, a couple of thirds.

They'll go get a left tackle. They'll probably shore up some defensive positions. Draft another corner. I think Russell Douglas was going to be pretty expensive cap hit next year. I don't know exactly what it was, but it's pretty expensive. So I like what the Bears did, getting Montez Sweat, second round. Only about 40% of the guys in the second round of the draft end up hitting big. Montez Sweat's a star.

Second round, of course you're going to pay him. Got to pay for great edge rusher. And Rasul Douglas, Buffalo needs him and what Green Bay needs because their next quarterback's going to be young, keep getting young. Got those young receivers, young tight ends, go get talent. You're in a rebuild. Make it a quick rebuild if you hit on the quarterback. All right, I was thinking about the World Series.

I guess the ratings were absolutely abysmal for the early games in Arizona and the Texas Rangers. Well, these are two teams that don't have huge baseball brands out of their cities. They're not national brands. And let's be honest, baseball's only got a couple national brands. The Yankees are a national brand. Even the Dodgers, Denver West have fans, not a national brand. Braves are huge in the South.

Cubs have a bit of a national brand. But that feels like after they won the World Series, nobody cares anymore. They were the lovable Cubs. Now they're just, you know, average. I'll say this. It doesn't matter if it's UFC. If a Connor McGregor or John Jones is on the card, the pay-per-view, it sells more. It doesn't matter if it's college football.

A Michigan, Texas National Championship would blow out the previous five to ten national championship numbers. The NBA, Denver didn't do well, not a national brand, not even big really in the West Coast. Outside of the NFL, every sport needs certain players or certain brands. if the Philadelphia Phillies and Bryce Harper were in the World Series against the Rangers, I can assure you it would get better numbers. I've been in TV 30 years.

The NFL is one of the only things that works without stars. NBA, talk shows, music shows, the mass singer, bigger the star, the better the number. I mean, you see what Taylor Swift gets going to Chiefs games. She literally elevates the number and she doesn't play. So it's easy to pick on baseball. They've made some moves this year. You know, the pitch clock, ban the defensive shift. But I've said before, those are small ancillary moves that will increase ratings or game times, 8, 10%.

You know, games quicker. Attendance has gone up like 8%. Ratings 8, 10%. Until you create urgency, chop off 20 to 40 games of the regular season, which baseball will never do. the sport simply doesn't create enough urgency. That continues to be why college football ratings are up and the NFL is a freight train. One game a week. In a more frenetic, fragmented society, we're busier, caffeinated, iPhones, you've got to make games feel big.

It's hard in baseball when you play, counting spring training and playoffs, 200 games a year, potentially. Just too many games. So a few years ago, you know, we always get upset whenever they're really. rule changes. And invariably, whenever there's a roughing the passer call and fans get worked up, this is outrageous. The game's going to hell. This is no good. You know why they protect the quarterback in the NFL? So what are we in? Week eight or nine? Listen to this. Week nine we're going into. The Thursday game is Will Levis against we hope Kenny Pickett. The game overseas is the best of the weekend. We get Mahomes against Tua. We all.

also do get Dak Prescott against Jalen Hertz. That feels really, really big. Listen to some of these matchups. Vikings Josh Dobbs against Taylor Heineke of the Falcons. The Bears backup against Derek Carr. The Rams back up against Jordan Love. Sam Hal for the commanders against Mac Jones. Gino Smith. Yeah, he's a TV Turner. Against Lamar Jackson. C.J. Stroud hosting Baker Mayfield. Whoever's quarterbacking Arizona against whoever is quarterbacking Cleveland. Gardner Minshu against Bryce Young. Whoever the Giants quarterback is against Jimmy Garoppolo. And then we get Josh Allen against Joe Burrell.

We have three matchups. That's it. Star versus Star quarterback. It's week nine. We're already on backups because of injuries and trades. Folks, as great as the NFL is, who wants to watch Sam Howell against Mac Jones? And those are more well-known mediocre quarterbacks. This weekend, we get two of Mahomes.

We get Dak and Jalen Hertz. We get Burrow and Josh Allen. And then it's a lot of drag. That's why you're protecting quarterbacks. Because as big as this sport is, and this is the argument that some are making around the league, draft a quarterback every year. Doesn't have to be first, second or third round pick.

Draft a quarterback every year. This week's schedule is a great advantage. I mean, I find Will Levis against Kenny Pickett Thursday, I'm praying Kenny Pickett is healthy. Will Levis, Mitch Trubisky? I mean, and that's with the iconic Steelers brand. That is a hard watch. That just screams three and out for three and a half hours for the Steelers. Listen, we've all had fender benders in our life.

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but here's why I would support them being number one. Because I do believe sometimes you have to create the inertia or the momentum to get coaches and ADs to schedule big games, right? And so they were willing to go to Notre Dame. That's not an easy game. And they played Penn State. Now, I didn't think they looked overwhelming in each. I thought they should have lost the Notre Dame game, but they didn't.

And they scheduled it. And I've said this for years. I can have a bone to pick with this coach and that coach. But when I saw Georgia play Notre Dame home and away, total respect. Tennessee for years has taken some of those big games. Nick Saban's been willing to take a few, although I wish they weren't always on a neutral field or in Dallas, which is not a neutral field for Bama.

But nonetheless, I think at this point in my life, if you're willing to go out and play a big boy college football game, even if you're ugly, you win, you win. And in college football to win on the road, Notre Dame's a quality team. So I don't think, I think Georgia would beat Ohio State. I think Michigan would. I think Washington and Oregon would.

Florida State, I'm hitting miss on. They haven't played anybody. I think Texas would. I don't think Ohio State's a very good team. But they're undefeated, two nice wins, albeit ugly, I'm for it. Well, they're one of several teams that have, and we'll get through the top six in a moment, but LSU to an extent rewarded, the highest ranked two-loss team, they were willing to play Florida State on a neutral site in Orlando,

Utah playing Florida in a home-in-home. They won the game. They're rewarded. They sit there in the top eight. So I do think there is value to play, even Tulane. Tulane, a good example. If we're going to get to the G5, they played Ole Miss. Yeah, they have a loss, but guess what?

They're ahead of Air Force who's played nobody. So I agree with you. And I think that's a good indicator of where we might be heading down the road. Where seating really might matter because it'll determine who will get a home playoff game in the first round. Yeah, I think. So I've seen Oregon play twice in person. I think Oregon at six is probably the most underrated team on the first. this list. I think Alabama's kind of figured out what they are at eight. They're better than eight.

I think Texas will trounce Oklahoma if they play again. I think Oregon could trounce Washington if they play again. And then I think, I think Georgia, Michigan, and Texas are the most physically impressive teams. I don't think this is one of the more impressive Alabama teams. I just think it took a while to figure out what they were. I think they have figured out what they are. And so now, I think Bama at eight is now undervalued or Texas at seven is undervalued. Oregon at six is undervalued. Washington is the most fun team to watch because, I mean, they have three NFL receivers. Now they're getting two guys healthy who will probably also play on Sundays. So that's how they beat Oregon. Oregon just couldn't stop their receivers. And they have NFL offensive linemen. So I think it's all

going to play out. One of the things I like about pro football is you're allowed to lose early. You're allowed to improve. That's why the 12 team playoff, which I was against years ago. I used to always argue, Tell me a team at eight who should play for the title. You know what? Look at the World Series. Look who's in it. Look at the NFL playoffs. One seeds lose all the time.

Cincinnati went road, road, road, road, road, ends up almost winning the Super Bowl. So I like the idea of, you know, you got the transfer portal now, Greg. You stink in September. Alabama, I watched him a couple of games. I thought they're awful offensively. Well, now they're not. So I like a sport that you are allowed to grow.

And I think if Bama keeps winning and Oregon keeps winning, they're going to end up potentially in the playoffs. Yeah, I think it's in all light. Let's start with Oregon because I think that there are really interesting discussion today because there's so much recency bias. All of us respect Utah. If you don't respect Utah, you haven't watched college football for the last 15, 20 years. I mean, they're real. And Whittingham and Urban Meyer before him, they did an amazing job in building up a consistent winner.

But I think all of us are being prisoners in the moment when assessing what Oregon's capable of. And I also think, too, Colin, and we need to be really careful of this because we do it every year. And it drives me insane. We give teams credit for close losses. Oregon is getting credit for losing close to Washington. And I understand that. I get it.

I think that game, there's a thousand times they play it. I think Oregon probably wins $750. They probably pick up one of those fourth down conversions. They probably don't let a drive that goes 52 yards in 26 seconds. They probably hit a field goal to tie it instead of the overtime. So, yeah, I think you could make a case that they are the better team, but I don't want to prop up Oregon as a result of a close loss. Their second best win is against a four and four Colorado.

And that, to me, is just not good. enough. Yeah. I mean, so I was at the Oregon Washington game and my takeaway was Oregon was the better team. I don't know how many teams would have won in Seattle at. Right. It was, it's a really loud, raucous place. So I don't think Oregon's getting too propped up. Washington at five is ahead of them. But I do think Washington has struggled with Arizona schools. And it's the way Washington's winning. They can't stop anybody. So when I watched Oregon beat Utah. Some of it was Utah had just beaten the SC Trojans. And that's a big win out west. So they were in flat. In fact, I thought Oregon minus six was the bet of the day in college football. And I had said

that. Why don't you tell me that beforehand? I would have liked to have had that information beforehand. It was my draft king Twitter bet of the week. So, but I think what Oregon is this year, they don't make mistakes. They had their first fumble. There's not a lot of penalties. Bo Nex throws to the, Bo Nex is the most improved quarterback. I think I've seen. in a decade. I didn't even like him at Auburn. Some of that was bad coaching. Lannings been a home run coach. They recruit. They're the best recruiters, Denver West. It's not USC. It's Oregon. They got another five-star edge rusher two days ago. So when I watched Oregon, I sat in the third row for this game. I was end zone and 40-yard line in Seattle. They look like an SEC team. They're big

upfront. They're NFL guys. NFL quarterback. Very twitchy, quick on the perimeter. So I think Oregon, spot below Washington is fair. But I think if they played again, and I think Washington knows this, they'd be in trouble. They would really be in trouble in a neutral field. I think Oregon would win convincingly. So I think I don't have a problem where Oregon is. The only team I struggle within all of this is Florida State at four. And I just, they haven't played anybody. So I have no context for how good they are. They've got some really good NFL players. They got a couple of first round guys. But I mean, Michigan at three hasn't played anybody, but they're just annihilating everybody. So, Ohio State 1, Georgia, 2, Michigan 3.

I think, I don't care what order you put them in. It's not going to matter. I said today, I believe the four best teams I've seen are Georgia, Michigan, Texas, and Oregon in terms of size, talent. Now, Texas is now in a backup quarterback. And they play Kansas State this weekend. They could be derailed. I think if they get quenures back, they're a really good team. I think they'll punish Oklahoma the second time.

But we got a long way to go, and nothing bothered me about any of these rankings. Yeah, and let's for a moment discuss Florida State. And I have their resume here looking at it. I think the win against LSU has gotten stronger over time. Will it continue to hold up? I would assume so. I think LSU is real. Nine and three team probably.

Maybe they drop another one. It wouldn't totally surprise me. Maybe they beat Alabama and represent the West and the Yves. SEC. I think that's possible. You have a good win against Duke that's weakening, and you have an okay win against Boston College that you play to their level on. So I kind of agree with you. My thing about Florida State is that when they're on, and believe me, it's hitter, it might be, it might be serious to series. But when they're on, they're, I'm not going to call them Washington, because that's the scariest team when they're clicking to see on the other

sideline, but they're dang close. And they got some guys that could close the game with their pass rush, and they have some high-end capable weapons down the field. And I think their quarterback's matured and has played a lot of football. So I love Florida State. I still think they need to go undefeated to get to the college football playoff, which is really sad because I really like the ACC this year, too, Colin. Yeah.

You know, what I'm excited about in college football is, and I've said this before, baseball and college football. Greg McElroy, by the way, if you're listening to the Colin Coward podcast. ESPN just watched them tonight. WJOX and Bama, alum, Alabama. It does a great job on the air. Really knows what he's doing. Very popular morning show, the morning show of note in the South. One of the things, college football and baseball have older fan bases, and they tend to push back on change. NIL is going to ruin the sport. The transport portal is going to ruin the sport. It's just the Sports never been a more unhealthy right now, and yet we have unbelievable ratings. But I digress.

Go ahead. I agree with you. Yeah. And I think it's going to explode next year. And I tell my Pac-10 fans and brethren, guys, Washington State at UCLA, that was getting nobody outside of Pullman and barely anybody in L.A. to a TV set. We are going to get so many quality games. I mean, Michigan against Washington, Oregon, Penn State, USC against Washington.

Wisconsin, Nebraska, Michigan. I think the sport is next year is the start of almost Greg, a new sport. Baseball made tweaks to the pitch clock and the defensive shift, but they didn't really fundamentally change the game. They chopped some time off it. Fundamentally next year, I think you're going to see going forward. Team schedule bigger out of conference games, not afraid to lose. You're going to see more. I've always thought college football has one issue, not enough great games. Yeah. Every Sunday in that early window, there's three down to the wire finishes. Minimum. It's crazy. In college football, you may get two games a weekend between really competent teams that are great because everybody's afraid to schedule anybody. I think next year is the beginning of almost a different version of college football. I think the Pac-12 folding into the big 10, the top teams, is fantastic for the sport, although initially we blanch, we push back because college football, fans love history and so do I in the regionalization of the sport. But I think we're in a great spot and I look at this top 10. Can you imagine if these teams were playing each other and I could get Bama in Florida State and Michigan and Texas? I mean, God, Greg, this is fantastic. Well, I tweeted actually just a moment ago before we got linked up and it's been posted for 13 minutes

and it has thousands of views already. And all it is is the picture. of the 12 team playoff for next year. And you have Tulane at Michigan. You have Oklahoma at Alabama, Penn State at Oregon, and the Ole Miss at Texas. And then in the next round, Washington has a buy Ohio State host the winner of Bama, Alabama, Oklahoma, Florida State host the winner of Penn State, Oregon. Georgia host the winner of Texas Ole Miss. First two teams left out are Missouri and Louisville.

And you can already hear the griping about, well, we're not big brands. We're getting penalized. I can already hear that. and the format's not even finalized. But you have five big 10 teams, five SEC teams, an ACC school in Florida State, and Tulane. It's going to be absurd. And I want to embrace the current format because that's where our feet are.

But I can't disagree with you at all when thinking about what's coming and some of the matchups that will be created in the postseason. Let me ask you about Nick Sabin. Kirby Smart now feels like the coach of record. Lane Kiffin, not surprisingly, has made Ole Miss really fun to watch. I think people think the kid at Tennessee is really talented. I think there's a clear unseeding of Bama as the number one program. As a defensive coach, he hit on several offensive coordinators. He's got to miss on one of them eventually because he hit on, it was McElwain or Nussmeier and Kiffin and Sark and Bill O'Brien. He's hit on most of these guys. Does it feel like to you for the first time that Nick is now, you can see. see the age, there is a bit of disconnect with offense, or do you think it's a hiccup? I think it's more about, I'll answer your question by asking you a question. What's the difference between Penn State and Ohio State right now?

Because I think it's one player. Penn State's got a better young quarterback? Well, I don't disagree with that necessarily. But as far as being asked to win the game, both quarterbacks have a comparable load share. Ohio State has Marvin Harrison and Penn State does it. And I think right now what Bama is going through is a six-year run of having incomparable, incomparable talent at wide receiver. And we think about the NFL.

What was Tua Tunga Balo in the Miami Dolphins before Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddle? What was struggling? Average, right? I mean, average is the day as long. What were the Cincinnati Bengals? And I know Joe Burrow tore his knee six games in. season, seven games into the season, but what were they before Jamar Chase? There's, frankly, if we watch the Chiefs right now, I don't see the game breaking wide receiver.

And Mahomes, well, he doesn't look human. He doesn't look like a superhero at times like he has in the past. So I think the world's changed beneath our feet in the NFL and in college that if you don't have a takeover the game wide receiver, you become very human very quickly. and right now I think that's what Bama has struggled with. Now, Jermaine Burton has been good at times. The A&M game stands out. Jalen Milrose is a good deep ball thrower,

but he struggles on the intermediate and the underneath. And when you are all boom and bust, it's hard to put together methodical and rhythmic offense. So I don't think it's necessarily Tommy Reese's fault. I just think the personnel that Alabama is relying on right now is different than that than what they've experienced the last. handful of years. Everyone at Clemson has blamed DJ Owey Youngloula and Cade Clubnick, but if you look outside, with all due respect to Bo Collins and Brandon Specter,

they're not Mike Williams. They're not, you know, New Hopkins. They're not the guys that they've had in the past. So I think it's just the personnel is coming back to Earth just a hair this year. But in a portal era, you can improve that overnight with the addition of a guy or two in the offseason. Yeah. Listen, I'm out in California and Chip Kelly has a better team than Lincoln Riley. And you think the sky is falling. And I keep telling everybody, listen, these offensive coaches, Kyle Shanahan deeply cares about defense, but some of them just don't care about defense. Kyle Shanahan does. McVeigh does. But Lincoln Riley, I don't know if he does. And I don't think Lane Kiffin early in his career does. Now I think he does. So it's, you know,

college football. I like all the big brands I'm getting. I think we're in a good space. I also like geographic symmetry. I think what hurt college football for about 15 years after USC and Pete Carroll is Oregon was the only consistent brand that was fun flashy in a top 10 program. And now that Washington, absolutely, Kalin DeBores, they have their next Don James and Chris Peterson. He's really special. They've won 15 straight games and they don't have elite talent. They have elite receivers and an elite quarterback. But Greg, they don't have Georgia, Ohio, State, Michigan talent. They're not even close. So I think this sport has, we always need a big Texas school. We need some West Coast love. It doesn't have to be USC. I think Michigan's a bigger national brand than Ohio State because Harbaugh is so, such, so polarizing. You know, his NFL, his, you know, I mean, and this is just added to it with the recruitings or with the scandal on the advanced scouting. So, yeah, I mean, the whole thing, as I watched today, I would just, it put a smile.

on my face. I really like the top teams. I mean, God, I get a Big Ten team, an SEC team, an ACC team, two pack 12 teams, a Texas school. You know, it's like then Bama, Oklahoma, and Lane Kiffin. Yeah. I think the sport's in good shape. I think it'll work itself out. And I'll go back to Oregon, Texas, Georgia, Michigan are the best four teams. If I said to you, who do you believe will end up in the playoff? Four teams. I think it'll be Michigan, Georgia, Florida State, and Oregon. Those are the four I'm going with right now. I don't love the PAC 12 as I love the depth. I love the depth.

And I look at what Washington's done the last couple weeks. And while some people have looked at them and said, well, you know, I mean, how do you win against Arizona State? I'm going to pick six. I mean, how can you only manufacture a handful of points offensively? And while I agree with that, it was a pitiful performance offensively. it was. And they backed it up with the game against Stanford in which they let their quarterback go for 450. You know, I mean, 80 on the ground, 370 through the air or whatever the heck it was, 3.50 through the

air. So, yeah, it's a hard one to wrap your head around. So I think if they, if they played it out over again, in a neutral site, I lean Oregon. I think they're trending in the right direction. Yeah. I reserve the right to adjust because I think it's still. inside Washington, and they're learning how to win at a high level and where the target. And I remember when I was at Alabama, the challenge that we experienced going from a team that was perennially average to all of a sudden being the grand poobah in college football, and people are now talking about you and the Heisman, and people are now talking about your team in the national championship. That was a heavy burden to take on for the first time.

And it all came crumbling down, Nick Sagan's second year, there after the lost Florida and the SEC championship game, but it all came back around the next year when we actually believed that we could do it. That was a difficult mental hurdle for us to overcome. And I think Washington's dealing with that right now. And if they can get through this weekend, because this to me is the last, granted, Utah, I think Utah's human. I think they'll wear them out. They're on third, their third quarterback. I mean, come on. They're going to, I mean, Bryce and Barnes, with all due respect, he's going to come back to becoming a pumpkin at some point, you know, from being the Cinderella that he was.

And that's not a disrespectful thing. He's just going to have some ups and downs. But I think if Washington can get through this one, they're going to be in great shape. And this one against SC this weekend, to me, is extremely difficult because everyone saying SC is dead. Everyone's saying SC can't play. Their defense can't defend.

I think SC still has a lot of talent. And when you're on the road and you're backed into a corner and everyone's ripping you to shreds and you're only a three-point dog, something's telling me something. So I think this is the one that they need to be very careful with. Yeah, it's going to be a shootout because Washington doesn't put consistent pressure on the quarterback. It's in spurts, and USC does not have elite corners, and those are Sunday receivers for Washington. So it feels 44 to be huskies, but, you know, listen, it's almost like USC's last

stand. Yeah, right. Like, really, they're, you get to a point now where this feels like the season, because they're not beating UCLA. They're not. And UCLA right now is a much better team defensively. And frankly, there's a, a spirit about UCLA that people out West, it's like nobody wants to play them. They're, because there's no expectations. They're brutal to play against, man. That d-line is ridiculous. Oh, they got two big time player, one lottery defensive. Oh, Liatu Latu 15, for those that haven't watched them, that dude is like a tarantula. Like, he could stand at the linebacker level and sack your quarterback. That's how long he is.

He's unbelievable. He's unbelievable. Greg, good stuff. Ohio State, Georgia, Michigan, Florida State in the first poll, don't have a huge problem with it. I'm just happy we got some West Coast representative and some geographic symmetry. It makes me feel good. It's been a long time. Well, we appreciate you, man.

Thank you so much for taking the time tonight. Oh, Greg loved it. Thank you so much. The volume. For a limited time, you can save up to 40% off on an NFL Plus Premium annual subscription when you sign up through Plus Play from Verizon. Plus Play. It is a platform where you can shop, manage, and save on the subscriptions you already love, like NFL Plus. With NFL Plus Premium, you get access to live games on mobile, NFL Red Zone, NFL Network, and more.

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