The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 1 - SECond to the Big Ten

Episode Date: January 2, 2026

In this hour of The Herd, Colin reacts to Wednesday and Thursday's College Football Playoff games and recognizes that the SEC has taken a back seat to the Big Ten in terms of college football dominance. Also, after Miami's win over Ohio State in the quarterfinal, we can see that the Hurricanes were legitimate this whole time. Finally, Colin wonders if the Pittsburgh Steelers are destined for the same, old offseason they've gone through the last eight years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an IHeart 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. 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. Your husband is not who you think he is. Your body is not what you thought it was. Your identity is formed by a secret history. I'm Danny Shapiro. And these are just a few of the stunning stories I'll be exploring on the 14th season of Family Secrets. He kind of shoved me out of the way and said, move. And he went out the front door and he jumped in a car and drove off. And that was the last time I saw him. Listen to season 14 of Family Secrets on the IHeart Radio Act Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Turn someday into right now with Body by Jake Radio. Nonstop workout music and expert tips 24-7.

Hey, head over to iHeart.com. Search Body by Jake Radio and stream it for free right now. Awesome health and wellness tips 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Remember, stick to the fight. When your hardest hit, it's when things seem worse that you must not quit. Don't quit. Body by Jake Radio, where hope meets momentum. Search Body by Jake Radio and stream it.

For free. Have a great day. I heart radio. I'm Joey Dardano. And on my new podcast, Hope From a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice.

Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to me. This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from a Hypocrite Wednesdays on the I Heart Radio. app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Saigon, the story of my family and of the country that shaped us. From IHeart Podcasts, Saigon. You don't think I'm serious about a free Vietnam?

One city, a divided country, and the war that tore America apart. It's for Vietnam. They're pouring patril all over here. Freedom for Vietnam! There's a fire coming to this country, and it's going to burn out everything. Listen to Saigon on the IHeart Radio. Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard Podcast.

Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and noon to 3 Eastern, 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRadio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Here we go. It is a Friday. Wow.

Wow. What a day yesterday in college football. Major, major NFL games this weekend, Hawks, Niners, Steelers, Ravens. One hour from now, our final regular season, Blazing Fives. I like it. Last week, dogs, this week favorites, wherever you may be, however you may be listening.

Happy New Year to those tuning in, listening. whatever platform it is. Well, I have nothing against Alabama football. But that was a glorious beat down yesterday, was it not in the Rose Bowl? Indiana sent a sport-wide message. The SEC dominance is over. The Hoosiers pushed around the Crimson Tide for three and a half hours.

The new reality is, Bama can't run the football and Georgia can't stop any good offense. It's Miami, Indiana, at least for this year, who are the new bullies on the block. And the harsh truth to all you traditionalists of which I am not one, you are and you were wrong, dead wrong, conference realignment, NIL, transfer portal. What a glorious new world we live in. It's more even, it's more unpredictable. Alabama can't stack a roster

either can Georgia or LSU. There are more paths to viability now. We had a 15-year run on this sport, maybe 20, where at this time of the year, it was Georgia, it was Ohio State,

it was Alabama, it was Clemson. You choose that? Give me more. Miami, Indiana, Oregon, old miss i mean i love it in fact to put a stamp on it in the last three years the big 10 four and oh head to head against the SEC we sort of predicted it a couple years ago we said there's

a lot of money in those big 10 schools there's a lot of money in those cold weather legendary universities it's going to start pouring in now everybody can pay players the seat. Georgia's defense, come on. It can't stop a good offense. Alabama got pushed around by Indiana. People often ask, is the American dream possible? Damn straight. It's called Indiana. Who's your football? From pathetic the powerful, awful to awe-inspiring, dormant to dominance. Great coach, the right boosters, remarkable quarterback. They play real defense. Is Indiana the best tackling team that you've seen in recent years. I mean, they were a dog with fleas my entire life.

Even in the Lee Corso days. Everybody loved them. They weren't very good. But I watch Indiana, you just change uniforms. This is a better college football. This is a much, much better college football. Not because Alabama got housed. Because Ole Miss is now representing the South.

not Michigan or Ohio State or Penn State. Indiana is representing the Midwest. Impossible not to root for unless you're playing them. We still have a West Coast power. We still have an SEC team. I don't know. The Mendoza line, by the way, if he's not the number one pick, I don't even understand football.

14 of 16, three touchdowns, no picks. And I don't know how you don't love Fernando Mendoza in post-game interviews. First of all, my team and I want to give all the glory to God. What a historic venue, the Rose Bowl, one of the best venues in all of sports. It's just a great collomerate of individuals coming together and really forming complementary football.

Coach Nigg has hit on us no complacency. And especially when you have a buy, it's tough to get in the rhythm of football. But once we got our feet on the ground, we knew that we're going to stick together and come out with this W. I mean, I know what you're saying. And it was a little cringy. I don't know.

I don't want my quarterbacks to be cool. That was Johnny Mansell. I like that. Number one pick. Congratulations, Raiders. Try not to screw it up. All right. I want to talk about Miami beating Ohio State.

Because, again, on a macro level, the best part of the NFL to me is that we really don't know who the best football team is right now. We may not know until two and a half minutes left at the Super Bowl. And that's what college football is becoming. I think Indiana is the best team, but maybe it's Ole Miss. The Buckeyes last season. They lost at Oregon.

They lost a Michigan. They were the best team in the end. And this year, the Hurricanes, yeah, they lost in Louisville in mid-October. It no longer wrecks your season. And the old system, if you were ranked like ninth in like week nine or 10, get ready for the citrus bowl, season over, no Natty, not anymore. I watched Miami play Pittsburgh in like week 13, 14, beat him 38 to 7. I came on the next day.

I'm like, whoa, yeah, Notre Dame can't get in. Miami's getting like really good and bullying people. In fact, Indiana is the only team in the country, 6 and 0 against ranked teams. But it took a while to figure that out. And they were almost left out because they lost to an 8 and 4 Louisville team that's won a lot of games over the last six or seven years. College football today. And all the old timers push back,

it's a little bit more like the NFL. You're allowed to stub your toe more than once. You can lose even at home to arrival Ohio State last year. But you can get in. You can grow just like people. mistakes when you're 14 or 24 shouldn't be punitive mostly for life. And I mean, the Steelers and the Ravens play Sunday night.

You talk about flawed teams. I can't wait to watch. The winner gets into the playoffs. That's not a weakness. It's a strength of the NFL. Miami, the hurricanes are precisely what's right about the new system. Is that the candidate pool is broad

for a very long, long period. You have to beat good teams. Miami is 6 and 0 against ranked teams. We're going to count every game. But you can lose to Louisville. You can lose in conference. It's okay. Those weird conference games mid-season,

these kids are going to class. There's only 20 hours a week you can practice. All these teams are flawed. Michigan, last year, Ohio State's a 20-point favorite, loses to rival Michigan. that point forward they bulldoze people it takes a while and we know this in the NFL we thought the rams were the best team three weeks ago i hope they beat arizona sunday you don't know until you know and it used to be like week eight week nine week 10 you're like well maybe we'll get to the fiesta

ball maybe the citrus ball alamo bowl it's not the way it works anymore super mario crystal ball after that lost to Louisville, just like in life. It's a lesson. He took a negative. He made it positive. He embraced the team. He didn't bark. He said, we need to be relentless.

And that's exactly what they were in their win over Ohio State. And here's Super Mario after. We don't think we have arrived by any stretch, but we certainly think we're getting better. And when you play a team like that, that's been the number one defense in the country the entire year, you have to after they convert the third and 18 and then the touchdown drive at the end and then to finish it off with the interception those are all those are great counterpunches

those are just really like left hooks to the body and to the head those are great great counterpunches by our team I think Indiana is going to I think meet Miami in the national championship but like the NFL I'm not sure

I think Indiana by a field goals probably the best team in the country. But Miami, who stumbled mid-season, has not lost to a ranked team, won a road game against A&M. And I mean, they didn't just beat Ohio State. They beat up Ohio State. So I love where we're at in this sport.

Give me more of Indiana, Ole Missing a shootout. Oregon, that's always entertaining. And the Keynes. Cains are always good for college football. Got a personality. J. Mack, that was, I'd like to say it's crazy, but it's not after watching last year

where Ohio State loses a huge favor to Michigan. You're like, is Ryan Day going to get fired? And they just, I mean, they just rolled through people until this year when they lost to Indiana and they lost to Miami. By the way, Ohio State lost the two teams that had a similarity. Great defensive fronts that pressure the quarterback and push you around.

Indiana is a tough team. First of all, they're so well coached. They make no mistakes. And they run the ball, so they're very physical. And then they have the best quarterback by a stretch in college football. Indiana is going to be a tough out. Very tough. I was blown away by the Trinidad Chamberliss story last night.

I mean, I can't stop reading about this kid. A year ago, he's playing Division II winning a national championship. Now he's doing unbelievable stuff. I don't even have like a comparison for him in the NBA, in the NFL. I was thinking Johnny Mansell, like he's running around doing wacky stuff, and it all works. Yeah, I said, I don't know, it was week eight or nine. I remember either going to X or going on the show, and I said, I get Dak Prescott vibes, a little smaller, Dak Prescott vibes, where now, Dak moved very, very well in college

and wasn't as big and bulky as he is now. He didn't have a very good old line at Mississippi State. I get a little Dak vibes, but he's going to be up against it, against this Miami front. A little bit of a different beast. Georgia, what happened to the Georgia defense, Colin? This is a Georgia defense. It's all in the NFL. I saw no pass rush.

I mean, and anytime they blitzed, he's out running guys. That was a fun game last night. Oh, it was a great game last night. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app. Hey, this is Jason McIntyre. Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straightfire with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pod pushing the same tired narratives down your throat every day. Straight Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest sports headlines,

accurate stats to help you win big at the sports book, and all the best guests. Do yourself a favor and listen to Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, new? Huge news. We've 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 throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember.

I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Oh, 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 to be. going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, 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. 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. They're 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. Keith Gianmanca seemed like a mild-mannered suburban dad. But secretly, He became someone else, a master of disguise who went on a crime spree. At the time, did it seem like a crazy idea? It seemed very crazy. But I felt so desperate that I felt it was the quickest, easiest way out.

Did you allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong and what that might look like? No, I didn't want to manifest that. I was trying to manifest success. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man. This is going to change my life and my family dynamic forever because everything that had existed prior in my reality is now untrue.

Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is, getting a racist statue removed. And here's something that should be a whole lot easier than it is, getting a new one put up in its place. As long as there's a politics of race in America, there's going to be a politics of remembering the Civil War. To get to school, I had to go down Robert Ely Boulevard. Get to the grocery store, I had to go down Jefferson Davis Parkway. If you're an historian and you leave out half of what the history is, you're not doing your job.

I'm Akila Hughes. in Rebel Spirit Season 2 goes deep on both of those things. The fights, the politics, the people who won, and my personal campaign to add something to the Kentucky State House that's actually worth the wall space. We are more than our bodies. We contain essence. We contain spirit. How do you represent that?

They are just fueling a fire that is really catching. You'll see what I mean. Listen to Rebel Spirit Season 2 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Jared Adano. You might know me as that loud guy who yells out, help on the internet. Help!

Somebody! Please! But there's so much more to me than me. I'm an actor. I'm a comedian. And recently, I've become quite the helper myself. And on my new podcast, Hope from a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives,

helping people in need with my sage advice and thoughtful solutions. Syke! I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riffed. Grant recommends some of the most legally dubious advice known to man. If I'm calling you, even if you're on your phone, let it ring twice. One ring is too scary.

Oh, cream a chicken suit. Hey, cream a chicken suit. This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from Hypocrite as part of the Mike Cultura podcast network available on the IHartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Steelers Raven Sunday night going to be ugly. But the headlines I'm reading this morning illustrate what's at stake. Here's one of them. Aaron Rogers anticipates having options if he wants to play next year.

The Steelers signed Aaron Rogers for games like Sunday. Are Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh's jobs at stake? Here's another one. Lamar Jackson says he'll play Sunday night. you'd hope. It's like a season finale of your favorite TV show. All the storylines and all the plot lines are coming to a conclusion. Wrap a bow on it Sunday night.

I do think if the Ravens lose, the world doesn't necessarily end. John Harbaugh comes back. Lamar Jackson gets healthy. Derek Henry is still productive. I like their defense when healthy. You can just chalk it up to, you know, Lamar wasn't right. But if the Steelers lose, it's more like that Sopranos ending. fade to black with a lot of ambiguity.

The Steelers are just not comfortable. The Ravens are, but the Steelers are not comfortable with big sweeping change. For the Pittsburgh Steelers, a New Year's resolution would be, I'm going to get a haircut this year. They're not risk takers. They don't take big swings. They keep paying their defense. I feel like every season's the same for the last seven years.

The offense is outdated and dull. They don't have a quarterback for the future. they have a winning record, but they're not really Super Bowl viable. So I just don't see a path forward for Petsburg. I do think Aaron Rogers, I mean, if I had a comeback player of the year based on how he played with the Jets, I'd give it to Aaron Rogers. They got nothing to work with because D.K. Metcalf, because of that issue with a fan, he's not going to play again. They don't have a number two receiver. And now Washington, the big tight ends hurt.

So it's a little worn at running back, Aaron trying to start. away from turnovers. Can you win 14 to 13? Cudos to Aaron. I think he's had a really good year. So I think Mike Tomlin, to me, should pull a Sean Payton. Wrap it up with a team you did very well, Super Bowls, and then go broadcast for a year. You'll be great at it like Peyton was. And then do a reboot and find another franchise that needs your guidance, your mentorship, your toughness, your resilience, and your leadership. But as far as Aaron Rogers, on the possibility this could be his last game. A heck of a season for him.

All things considered, here's Mike Tomlin. You know, I don't know that I've taken time to ponder that. I'm just committed to making sure that it's not. He's certainly been an awesome contributor to our efforts and not only from a talent perspective and an experienced perspective, but just his professionalism, his relationship with the game, his love for his teammates,

and his willingness to help them grow and get better. and gain better understanding each and every day has been cool to be a part of. Yeah, it will be really ugly. It'll be low scoring. I think because it's the Ravens and the Steelers, it will be close.

I think of Lamar plays. It's hard for me to see the Ravens losing, though they get sloppy, and the Steelers with Aaron don't turn it over. So I think, you know, if Pittsburgh, you told me right now, picked up a fumble and ran it in for six to keep it close, that would be their route to win.

they've done that on more than one occasion this year. They gave Drake May, if I recall, his worst effort. So Pittsburgh's got a shot, a puncher's chance, a puncher, a tough puncher's jaw. But I like Baltimore in this spot. But if the Ravens lose, I feel better about the future. And I feel the last seven years for the Steelers, it's basically been a rerun. J. Mack with the news. No, no, no, no.

Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Got it there? No, the mic won't work. That's okay, buddy. Just more of me talking. All right. Let me do a story before we go to Heardline.

And I was going to put this instead of the Raven Steelers. But the whole thing about Georgia losing late, I thought Georgia would win, and I thought they were the better team for chunks of the game. But I will say this. When Lane Kiffin left, my take was, well, like a lot of us, he's mobile and he's taking a better job. I was okay with that. I did ask the question, are you sure you can't get to the natty with Trinidad Chamblis,

who didn't start the year as the starting quarterback, but I watched this kid, and all I'm saying is Lane Kiffin has value, but he's a little small for the NFL, right? He's a little slight, only 200 pounds for the NFL. But my takeaway watching him is that he's not coach dependent. And I don't think Fernando Mendoza is necessarily coach dependent, but he's better at Indiana that he was at Cal. But I love watching this kid play. And it's going to be very interesting to see if the Sunday people like him.

I get Dak Prescott vibes. But small quarterbacks don't last long in the NFL. But my takeaway on this game was, I don't think Ole Miss is as good as Indiana. I don't think they're as good as Oregon. I don't think they're as good as Miami. I think the SEC team that got in has the worst defense of the four teams and is the worst of the four teams. But this kid's a remarkable story. He did not start the season as the starting quarterback.

He's from something called Big Rapids, Michigan, which can't be that big because I've never heard of it. So I thought it was interesting. before the game, the sideline interview, they asked him, how do you stop Chambliss in this offense? And he kind of rambled on. And at the end of it, I was thinking, that's not really an answer on how to stop him. And then you watch the game and you're like, because he didn't necessarily have a solution to stop him. So here was Trinidad Chambliss, a remarkably fun quarterback to watch. Impossible not to root for. When you look at his story, here he is after the win.

And we're not really focused on like destiny or anything like that. We just want to play ball and have fun. A lot of people did doubt us before the season and they still doubt us when our coach left. So we just want to play ball and have fun. And I think that's showing right now. So I know everybody else was doubting us this season, but the goal of this season of why Trinidad came was to compete for a championship. And that's something that we're going to do around here on a consistent basis.

Yeah, I can defend Lane Kiffin moving. But I do wonder, and we, and I watched enough, old mister in the season. I'm like, they could score their way to the final four. I don't think they're good enough defensively to win a national championship. Oregon, Indiana, Miami, all significantly better defenses, but they're an easy team to root for because of that kid who does give me DAC vibes. I don't know how it translates to the next level, but 71% completion percentage, five touchdowns, no picks. So far in the college football playoff,

and here is J-Mack with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, let's start with the Orange Bowl, Colin. Fun game between Oregon and Texas Tech, if you like sloppiness and defense. It was kind of an ugly one.

Oregon comes out on top 23-0. The Ducks Force four turnovers held Texas Tech to 215 yards. Here's Dan landing afterward. We've talked to our guys about being battle tested all year and having to win in different ways. That game went back and forth in a lot of ways. You know, struggled at times to go score points. And our defense did an unbelievable job, getting the ball back. And then our offense showed up when it mattered most there at the end of the game.

Proud of our players, the resiliency that they showed their ability to stay calm and poised and collected under pressure. It's not easy in big moments. But these guys have shown improving time after time. These two guys up here, that team in that locker room have shown time and time again that they're ready for big moments. moments. Yeah, Finney had quite a game. I think Oregon's really good. They could have just kick field goals and won. And it should be noted. James Madison blown out, Tulane blown out, and Texas Tech from the weakest conference totally absolutely dominated. I hope this is a little bit instructive to the committee that you can want to be inclusive,

but football is about depth, a regulated level of violence, elite players, elite coaching staffs. The little guy got pummeled. Three little guys got absolutely pummeled in this playoff and were left. Now, the uniforms may be different, but Miami's got NFL dudes everywhere. So does Oregon. So does Indiana. Ole Miss offensively does. So it's just like watching this game, you're like, okay, this is the worst of the final

late teams. They went and bought a defensive front, but they offensively, they're just not competent. They're not good enough to be here. Well, they might have beat Alabama yesterday. Alabama was terrible. I'll just say this. Did you notice that the three teams, of all the teams that played last week, three of the four one, Colin. And last year, it was four of four. So a big edge is not sitting out and not getting the buy. And if you bet, by the way, the first quarter, a clean sweep, easy money on the teams that played the week prior. And I wonder if the committee is going to think about changing that. Because, you know, if you think the buy is some big edge, it's not.

I don't know. Texas Tech looked asleep for most of that game. Could you make the layoff less? Could you move the college football up like eight to nine days so you don't have 18 days off? You've got 10. It was close to like 22. Yeah, I think that's, I mean, football, we've talked about this in pro football. There is no edge.

The only edge to having a buy now in the NFL, there's only two AFC, NFC, NFC, is you're at home so you're more comfortable. But football, unless you're an old team like Philadelphia and you've got some O-line injuries, by and large, like the Seahawks, the Ravens, the, if you start looking at all these teams, I guess the Ravens, if they could get a day off or a week off with, you know, Lamar's injuries. Most football teams in the NFL, Seattle's young, the Rams defense is young. You want to play. New England's young. want time off. And for these rosters that are 20-year-old kids, I don't need, if you give a 20-year-old

kid 23 days off, they're going to lose focus. I think it's pretty clear. I'm just curious, your thoughts on Dante Moore, who didn't light the world on fire. I know you think there's a blowout. It was 13-0 with like 12 minutes. Well, Texas Tech just couldn't generate offense, but I didn't see an awesome game from Dante. Okay, if you put

Ty Simpson, Dante Moore, and Fernando Mendoza up against each other, there is a massive gap. Yeah. I mean, I think Fernando Mendoza, regardless going forward, he is the number one slam dunk quarterback size, accuracy, moves better than most people think.

I think Dante Moore is just a kid. I think he needs another year. I think the Texas Tech defensive front's good, but it was sloppy and ugly and penalties. And this is what we predicted on Wednesday. I said it's going to be an ugly game. Dante Moore is going to probably struggle a little with that defensive front, and that's what happened. So do you, if he comes out,

Jets at three. Oh, that's going to, that, I mean, I like Dante Moore. I'm here in Jared Goff comparisons. By the way, Ty Simpson moves better than Dante Moore. He's not like this scrambling, fun, fast quarterback. It wasn't a great game. We'll see what he does in the rematch against Indiana. All right, let's move on to the NFL.

Eagles are resting a lot of starters this week, Colin, against the commanders in week 18, including Jalen Hertz. Philly's offensive strategy this year has been kind of touch and go. hasn't been working. Left tackle Jordan Milata still believes, despite the ups and downs, confidence is high. Guarded we have. I think we've been here before. We've been doubting before. We've had these same questions heading into playoffs last year. You know? So like for us, it's just we welcome that challenge.

It's not like we're just pushing it under the carpet. We're doing everything we can. We've been here before. We've been doubted. And every time, we've proven them wrong. So that's why I have confidence. That's why everyone does. Yeah, there's a lot of new playoff teams, a lot of them in the AFC, where you've got like a Jacksonville, you're like, you know, or like New England or now NFC at Chicago, it is different. Peyton Manning used to always say that.

There's regular season speed, there's playoff speed, and then there's Super Bowl speed. And like, playoff speed is different. It is really, really intense. As you pointed out, when you have a buy in the college football playoff, that first series or two, that team that just played last week or, you know, did not have a buy. They're planning at a different speed in the first.

Miami was planning at a totally different speed than Ohio State. So Philadelphia, I think this is, they're built to win games in this postseason. I think that would be a bad early round matchup for the Rams. I think Seattle matches up with them pretty well, but outside of that, they have a matchup advantage on a lot of these NFC teams. You talk about teams that could use a buy. I mean, they can't get the buy, but Sequin Barclay could use the rest. He hasn't been getting anything.

Lane Johnson coming off injury. Jalen Carter, who's going to sit this week. He had the shoulder issue. Like the Eagles are a beat-up team. Remember the long playoff run last year? I think they're going to be fine, and I'm starting to lean toward them coming out of the NFC, Cullen. I know you're a Seattle guy, but this Eagles team, man.

If they get healthy. Final story is the New York Giants head coaching search. Let's just say it's swinging into high gear under Joe Shane. Colin, prominent reporters who are credible are putting together a list of guys. Are you ready for this? Mike McCarthy, a name we've been talking about on the show for months. He's at the top. The rest of the guys, defensive guys.

Jeff Halfley of the Packers, Chris Shula of the Rams, Jesse Minter of the Chargers, and former Raider head coach Antonio Pierce, who pretty clearly is going around telling everybody. See, I wasn't the problem last year. They stink. I don't know. If you're a Giants fan, are you kind of inspired by this list? Sorry to laugh. I think Mike McCarthy may not excite you. You're not going to win the press conference, but won a lot of games when DAC was upright. 12 wins a year in Dallas when he had DAC and he was winning a lot of games. He and Aaron Rogers went sideways. Some of these coaches, you know, Lane Kiffin at LSU is going to win the press conference. Mike McCarthy is never going to win a press conference,

but I think he's a very capable coach. I really do. McCarthy is definitely not taking this job before finding out what's up in Cincinnati. Because you get the chance to coach Joe Burrow, should the cheap Bengals run off their head coach, that's the most prominent job on the market. And who knows, does Buffalo flame out in one round?

And would you rather coach Jackson Dart or Josh Allen? Like, come on. I think McCarthy is going to wait. I think the Cincinnati job is more perilous than you. do. Burroughs health, upstairs, beyond frugal. They don't make free agent moves. Everybody feel, even their star players who they draft, there's always a holdout feel to it. I think Cincinnati is, I mean, if you look at the Bengals history, they've actually been so good drafting the most important position. Go back to Kenny Anderson, to Carson Palmer,

or Boomer O'Sciason, and Andy Dalton and Joe Bro. They always, always, every decade, the Bengals get quarterback right. And what do they have to show for? What's the common thread in that upstairs? So I don't think the Bengals job is one I would take. I love Burrell, but you and I've talked about this. If Burrell has one more injury, don't you have to draft the quarterback? Don't you have to think about it?

I think you've probably got to do that anyway. But I'm curious, Jackson Dart, is he appealing? And you got the number two pick. Well, the Giants roster isn't bad. Scataboo comes back. Jackson Dart, a lot of energy. I've been arguing this for years. I've been proven wrong, but I think the Giants actually have some good players.

I just, it's just a weird franchise. Who has more better players? Giants or Eagles? Eagles by a mile. Okay, Giants or Cowboys? Giants. Oh. You just know the Cowboy players.

You know C.D. Lamb. You know DAC. I do like the Cowboys O-Line in run blocking. They're not good in Paspro, but they're good at run-blockers. Okay. All right, Jay McEckle. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The Hurd Lie News. Blazing Five, a lot of favorites I like. A lot of favorites. Four out of my five picks, I like favorites. Also some thoughts on Caleb Williams. Tomorrow night, in what could be one of the games of the season. I think it's going to be. The Seattle Seahawks at the Niners,

Darnold and Brock Purdy. We're going to go to our big board. We always do this in the biggest of games. Ten best players. I think you'll be surprised by that next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd. Weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers.

And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a...

We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. 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. Oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was...

This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. and then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

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 room 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. Keith Gianmanca seemed like a mild-mannered suburban dad, but secretly, he became someone else, a master of disguise who went on a crime spree. At the time did it seem like a crazy, idea. It seemed very crazy, but I felt so desperate that I felt it was the quickest, easiest way out.

Did you allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong and what that might look like? No, I didn't want to manifest that. I was trying to manifest success. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man. This is going to change my life and my family dynamic forever because everything that had existed prior in my reality is now untrue. Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is. Getting a racist statue removed. And here's something that should be a whole lot easier than it is. getting a new one put up in its place. As long as there's a politics of race in America, there's going to be a politics of remembering the Civil War. To get to school, I had to go down Robert Ely Boulevard. Get to the grocery store, I had to go down Jefferson Davis Parkway.

If you're an historian and you leave out half of what the history is, you're not doing your job. I'm Akila Hughes. In Rebel Spirit, Season 2 goes deep on both of those things. The fights, the politics, the people who won, and my personal campaign to add something to the Kentucky State House that's actually worth the wall space. We are more than our bodies.

We contain essence. We contain spirit. How do you represent that? They are just fueling a fire that is really catching. You'll see what I mean. Listen to Rebel Spirit Season 2 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Jared Adano.

You might know me as that loud guy who yells out, help on the internet. Help! Somebody! Please! But there's so much more to me than that. I'm an actor. I'm a comedian, and recently I've become quite the helper myself. And on my new podcast, Hope from a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with my sage advice and thoughtful solutions.

Sike, I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to man. If I'm calling you, even if you're on your phone, let it ring twice. One ring is too scary. Cream of chicken suit. Hey, cream a chicken suit. This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know.

Listen to Help from Hypocrite as part of the Mike Coutura Podcast Network available on the I-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. There's some more great football coming your way in the Trust and Will Holiday Bowl. Noah Fetida and Arizona take on SMU. It's a can't miss showdown in San Diego tonight. 7.30 Eastern 430 Pacific on Fox.

I trust you will be watching. I'm going to watch the Niners Seahawks tomorrow night. I think it's going to be great. If Sam Darnold beat San Francisco and the Seahawks get the number one seat in the NFC, I am smoking a cigar on the set in L.A. Monday with the I told you so budget. I like Sam a lot. And it's really more the journey than the question. I think he's a very good quarterback, bit reckless at times, but a very good quarterback.

But a lot about quarterbacking in the NFL is survival, just sort of like all of our 20s, right? Like Mahomes gets Andy Reid out of college and Bo Nix gets Sean Payton. That's like being bored into a trust fund. It's hard to screw it up. But Sam Darnold, 20-year-old, goes to the Jets, bad head coach, front office over at skis. That's like the rest of us when we're 20. We've got student loan debt, our boss is a jerk, car keeps breaking down. That's like, that's a real 20-year-old experience, and that's what Sam Darnold had.

You know what I mean? Your mom and dad get divorced. That's how a lot of us were in our 20s. And so I think Donald's an easy guy to root for. And I think Brock Purdy's got a little bit of that, although he got Kyle Shanahan being the last guy drafted Iowa State. He's easy to root for. But I think it's a battle of two quarterbacks, Donald and Purdy.

on heaters with a lot of skeptics. And here's Sam Darnold on the showdown. At the end of the day, it's just football. You know, and I think that's the best part about it is, you know, people want to make it a little bit bigger than it is, but we're just going out there. We're playing against the Niners, a really good football team, a team that we're going to be prepared for.

And, you know, it's going to be great, though. You know, the fans are going to be into it. It's going to be a great atmosphere. But other than that, it's football. we'll be ready to go for it. So in big, big, regular season games, I pull out the big board, and I say, let's see who's got the 10 best players. You cross your fingers if Trent Williams and George Kiddell can play.

I think they will. I think in terms of highest end players, San Francisco's got more. Of the 10 best players in this game, I think Christian McCaffrey is the best. JSN is second than George Kettle and Trent Williams. All three of those Niners are Hall of Fame. gamers. Then Donald and Brock Purdy, five and six, I don't care who you put in front. If you like Purdy, put him five, Donald, six. But I do think the depth is not close. I think Seattle's roster

defensively, this is a mismatch. Byron Murphy, Devon Witherspoon, Nick Emmanwari, DeMarcus, Lawrence. If I went to 15, it'd be mostly Seattle players. So I think if Kittle and Trent Williams play, this is a really, really good football game. Blazing, it's one of my picks. But we've got to be honest here. In terms of depth and youth and speed and defense, it's a little bit of a mismatch. This Seattle roster is stacked.

And again, I love Donald. I think the journey is the part that I appreciate because I hear all the time about 20-year-olds. It's hard for 20-year-olds to get jobs. It's hard for 20-year-olds in my generation. It's hard. 20s are hard. You don't make a lot. High expectations. Your first job usually stinks.

But I think what Donald's been able to do, it really proves the quarterbacking in this league. A lot of it is not how you start. It's how you finish. It's survival. Can you overcome that first awful boss, that first awful job? And that's what Darnold's done. I want to go back to Indiana beating Alabama. One of the things that is really hard is that college football has always been sort of a tradition sport. It's got an older fan base. The NBA fan base is much younger than the college football fan base. And tradition's incredibly powerful.

That's why these fans have so much trouble letting go of these unwatchable, awful bowl games. Well, I've been watching the citrus bowl and they're unwatchable. There's nobody at these games. and the ratings have got into the tank. But I think people forget this. Indiana, the last two years in college football, not Alabama, has had the best point differential. They've been beating the crud out of everybody.

The last couple of years, they have the number one red zone offense, the number one, number two, scoring defense. They have a better record the last two years than Notre Dame, Georgia, and Ohio State. Yeah, Indiana. But it's like the Coke, Pepsi taste test. Pepsi won it forever. But you know, you've always been drinking Coca-Cola and

your parents did, your brother did, everybody did, you see the commercials. And so it's like, Coca-Cola's better. I remember years ago, Pepsi was winning all those taste tests consistently. And, you know, it's funny, I live in a neighborhood that's got a Pete's coffee and a Starbucks. I like Pete's coffee. Starbucks is packed. I can get a coffee at Peach in 30 seconds. Starbucks, I'm sitting waiting in line. You know, marketing is powerful. Indiana is really good. I think Indiana is the best team.

I had predicted Wednesday, I said, they're going to blow Alabama out. Indiana, I told Urban Meyer, Indiana is going to blow Alabama's doors off. Because I watch a lot of college football, and I'd watch Alabama play six or seven times. They couldn't run the football, and you never knew what you were going to get. I've watched Indiana five or six times this year, ten times last couple years. Indiana went to Oregon and thumped Oregon. That game was not as close as the score. They thumped Oregon.

Ohio State went to Oregon last year and lost. Oregon is always good. Always top six or seven. And Indiana went there and thumped them. It was like, oh, this isn't a good story. This is a really good team. In fact, the only team I think matches up with Indiana is Miami.

I don't know if Oregon matches up. They didn't earlier this year, and Ole Miss does not match up at all with Indiana. I think Miami does. I think the way to beat Indiana, you got to stop the run game. You got to make Fernando Mendoza really uncomfortable, and I think Miami has the ability to do that.

But it's a brand thing. It's just, it's hard to get over Indiana Hoosiers, fumping Alabama. they didn't beat Alabama. They imposed their will. They inhumiliated them. You don't blame Canlan DeBore all you want. Indiana is a much better team.

And I got to tell you, Indiana is the best coach team I've seen in a long time. When Bama went to try to pull them off sides on the fake punt, when Ty Simpson was in the game, went to the line, tried to fake Indiana out. Hoosiers were totally prepared for it. So Kurt Signetti, the other thing I love about the Indiana story, and this is why I gave Belichick a fighting chance at Carolina. It used to be, I always thought college football was a young man sport

because you were on the road going to all these high school games recruiting. But college football now, this is why Whittingham at Michigan, I think he'll be pretty good. Great, I don't know, he'll be pretty good. A lot of college football now is staff building and administrative. I mean, you're writing your check. you get out the checkbook. If you got the right donors, you're buying seven or eight starters,

high-end starters. So Indiana's got good business school, a lot of graduates made a lot of money. They're giving back. They found a coach. He's a good administrator. He's got an excellent staff. His offensive coordinator probably in the next couple of years

he gets a big job. But I think this is just so good for the sport. Everybody in college football, and I understood it. I was talking to somebody last night about this. College football fans are older, and older Americans love their traditions. And a lot of traditions, Augusta, it's great.

There's a lot of old stuff I like. But college football traditions were, I mean, really, outside of the Rose Bowl, you could have most of them. Yeah, I don't know, give me Michigan, Ohio State, give me a Rose Bowl. A lot of this stuff was, you were, you were, you had to force yourself to really argue it's really fascinating. I what we're watching now is unbelievable. We are just Indiana,

I know you're all going like, because even Miami, you've seen Miami be like physical and great. You know, old miss has had some, you know, Elaine Kiffin last several years. You've seen Old Miss drop 40 on people. You've seen Oregon now since the Chip Kelly, Mike Pilate days. You've seen them in big games rolling people.

Indiana's like, what? And all Nick Saban's buddies are telling them, yeah, you guys are going to crush them. No way. Indiana's way better. Way bad. I think everybody, when I said the other day, I said, Indiana's going to blow Alabama out. People are like, whoa, whoa, whoa. I would have gotten less pushback if I'd have said Bama's going to blow out Indiana.

In fact, I told a buddy who got a lot of money on this game, I said, I cannot believe how many people are online or on TV saying, Bama's going to win comfortably. Have you watched have you watched Alabama play? Indiana is so much better than Alabama. Forget the coaching. He's got better players. Way better at quarterback.

Their receivers maybe aren't quite as good, but front end, back end of the defense, the old lines much better. So college football has never been more transitional. And that transitional nature of it, the portal is, I think, Indiana, is now a beacon of optimism and a beacon of hope for the sport. I mean, when you think about Indiana, most of our lives, it was Bobby Knight.

I mean, that was it. And if you really followed academics, you're like, good business school. Oh, Bloomington's kind of a cool town. You never thought football. Well, those days have changed. And I don't necessarily think people are saying, ooh, Kurt Signetti, take another job. this is what I said about Lane Kiffin. I'll defend you taking LSU.

But if Ole Miss has the right boosters, you're watching Ole Miss with this coaching staff. I don't know. I don't know if you can win a Natty at Ole Miss, but if you can win one at Indiana and they're favored to, then you probably can. The old traditional great jobs, right now Indiana football is better than you.

USC. Sorry, and Alabama. And Clemson. I'm sorry, it is. Blazing Five, next. 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 get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

Your husband is not who you think he is. Your body is not what you thought it was. Your identity is formed by a secret history. I'm Danny Shapiro. And these are just a few of the stunning stories I'll be exploring on the 14th season of family secrets. He kind of shoved me out of the way and said, move. And he went out the front door and he jumped in a car and drove off. and that was the last time I saw him.

Listen to season 14 of Family Secrets on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Turn someday into right now with Buddy by Jake Radio, nonstop workout music and expert tips 24-7. Hey, head over to iHeart.com. Search Body by Jake Radio

and stream it for free right now. Awesome health and wellness tips 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Remember, stick to the fight. When your hardest hit, it's when things seem worse that you must not quit. Don't quit.

Body by Jake Radio, where hope meets momentum. Search Body by Jake Radio and stream it for free. Have a great day. I heart radio. The story I've told myself can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown

if you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole. This podcast is for you. to hear more. Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021. And I'm Kunky, his best friend and business manager. And we've got a new show called The 1021 podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes

on how I became one of Twitch's most popular streamers. We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the course, corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines ahead of the big tournament here in the USA.

Listen to the 1021 podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.