The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 3 - Breaking down Notre Dame being left out of the College Football Playoff

Episode Date: December 10, 2025

College football analyst Josh Pate joins the show breaking down Notre Dame’s exclusion from the College Football Playoff and why Indiana is a real championship contender with QB Fernando MendozaSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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IHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. We're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Let's switch to college football. I think the best young voice in the sport is Josh Pate's got his own YouTube channel. We think he's fantastic covering the sport for 15 years now. And Josh is joining us. So I saw this story this morning. This is fun.

So Ivan Maisel is a wonderful guy. No-N-N-for-long time. He's on the selection committee. So he wrote a book on Frank Leahy, the great Notre Dame coach. He was supposed to sign. He was going to South Bend to have a book signing at the Notre Dame bookstore, Josh. and Notre Dame canceled it because he's on the selection committee.

It's ridiculously petty. Are you surprised by this academic powerhouse being this ridiculously petty? No, I guess, with what I've seen over the past days slash week, no. Ivan Mazel got 10 book purchases for me because of this headline, no.

So I think he may end up all right. Is that not the kind of stupidity that you normally see like an election season, the collateral damage of politics. Like, I know who your dad worked for, so I'm not going to buy the cookies from your Girl Scout troop. Right. I just thought,

I thought we could keep it out, but apparently we can't keep it out of college football. Listen, I thought, Josh, and you're a mile deep on this, as long as Miami got in, and I don't think Miami's great, but they're common opponents head-to-head. My thing was, Notre Dame, you played A&M and Miami. You got to be one of them,

and you can complain about, at Bama. Bama went to Athens and won. And not a lot of people got, I don't know if Ohio State could do that. So my take was, I'm not into the small school stuff, but mostly, I thought the committee got it right in the end. Did you? Yeah, I didn't complain about the rankings at all. 98% of my vitriol was reserved for the process. I wish, you know, I said this morning, Colin, I wish Pete Bavacqua or anybody banging the Notre Dame drum would just stick to the

main argument. If they could stick to the main argument, they'd get broad consensus. I may disagree with a Notre Dame fan that they should have gotten in versus shouldn't have gotten in. I'm with you. I think the rankings are pretty much what they should be absent the G5 thing, which is its own conversation. But the process was so screwed up. It was so mangled. And it really occurred to me at the 11th hour that the committee, you sort of retroactively had Notre Dame ranked too high. They probably, in a knee-jerk reaction, bumped Alabama too low. after the Oklahoma laws. They probably bumped Miami way too low at the outset of the rankings.

They were all the way down at 18th. And I think they just kind of shook the snow globe and hoped everything would work out. And it never worked out. And so they had this mess in their lap at the 11th hour. And Pete Babakwa, the one really, really appreciate thing that he said, which he should have stuck to, was we got misled, independent of what you think about the outcome, we feel like we got misled,

because he's got every reason to feel that way. because the players do as well. Marcus Freeman does as well. Everybody does. Because the committee kind of made it look in the end, like they had no clue what they were doing when they had every reason to just go ahead and have Alabama above Notre Dame or Miami above Notre Dame. So that part was insanity to me. So I grew up with the PAC 12. You're from Georgia. I'm from the Pacific Northwest. But when the PAC 12 disbanded, I got it. USC had been complaining for years. Why are we making the same money as Washington State and Oregon State were in Los Angeles. So there was kind of a lack of vision.

The stadiums weren't very full. And so I remember getting the call. I was vacationing with my family, and I got a call, UCLA, USC, Oregon, Washington, going to the Big Ten. And I'm like, I get it, and I'm for it. Because I do believe Texas, Oklahoma, USC, and Oregon are glamorous programs, and that ESPN and Fox looked at college football and said, you know what?

If we could just be a little more like pro football, Players are going to get paid anyway now. There's a transfer portal. Let's just kind of pivot these big brands into these big conferences. I think the NIL, and I know we all, you know, if you grow up in the South, you thought Bama, LSU, Georgia, winning every year in Clemson. A lot of people did, but you're a bigger picture macro guy. My take was it was hurting the sport. I think now having two massive conferences, which by the way, the Big Ten brought, it goes through three time zones.

it's not like it's all in the Midwest. I don't think the college football has ever been crazier, whackier, more discussed, or better, or more diversified. That's my view. As somebody who's from the South, watched it dominate, how do you feel about the sport? Now, you are right. And growing up, I thought, hey, if Georgia and Auburn and Alabama are doing good, the sports are doing good.

So I had a little bit of a blind spot. We are born without the rearview mirrors even on the car. So you don't really know what's going on outside of that. I will say this. You know, like my favorite candy bar is crunch bar. So crunch bar in my lifetime has been owned by 13 different companies, but the packaging has always looked the same and the taste has always been the same. So I don't really care who owns it.

And I really think down the road, when this process is complete of the SEC and the Big Ten gobbling up all of the value properties and commodities in the sport, what I'd really love to see is an understanding that mega conferences have made a complete mess. of things like conference championship pictures, but also scheduling. It's so incongruent right now. And secondly, the regionality within the national scope of the sport is something we've lost a little bit. I love if the Big Ten feels like gobbling up the Big 12 or the SEC gobbles up what's remaining of the ACC. If we're headed down that slope anyway, I'd love for us to slip pretty quick down there

and then redistribute the country up like it used to look. And I don't care if the PAC 12 is a subsidiary of the Big 10. I don't care if the ACC or the Big 12 or even the Southwest Conference is a subsidiary of the SEC. What I love is I love for the sport to get where it's going. And then in a very, very ironic twist of fate sort of resemble what it used to look like where scheduling makes more sense. A regionality still matters. But it's just kind of in a new world order of regionality. Fernando Mendoza

I don't know 6-5 humble, grateful, big arm how shocked were you that he's the best player on the field when they play Ohio State that like the Penn State game

he makes all the big throws not in a home game was the Indiana I said the other day I said I was it was hard to wrap my brain around that performance because I've had a TV my entire life like Indiana football has never looked like that ever.

I mean, even Colorado pre-Dion had a couple of big-time teams. What did you make of Indiana Mendoza and pushing, at times, pushing Ohio State backwards from the Hoosiers? I've owned a TV my whole life. It's just such a perfect synopsis of this. I, too, have owned a TV. So I, too, am moderately to severely shocked by what Sig is done there. And if anything, last year's performance was supposed to be sort of a one and then back to earth. Yeah.

And they've gotten better. And look, they won that game 13 to 10. It got a huge rating. So a lot of people watched it, I know. But for people who didn't watch it, they may be thinking, oh, it was some mistake prone, like snooze fest of a game. Well, it kind of may have put you to sleep. But I watched it, Colin, in the fourth quarter. And my mentality was, I can't believe this is still close.

I can't believe this is only a three-point game. As far as Mendoza, I'm not. not comparing the two players, so please don't misunderstand me. But it feels to me like a generation ago when Andrew Luck was coming through Stanford. Again, the talents aren't comparable, but he plays for a program you don't typically watch. And I remember with luck, people were hearing about Andrew Luck before they were watching Andrew Luck. And similarly, I think people have heard a lot about this Fernando Mendoza kid at Indiana.

They're not watching Indiana games. Well, I mean, the numbers state a lot of people watched that game the other night. And if you're not familiar with Fernando Mendoza, and Jenny Taff put that microphone in his face after the game, that personality is like a bucket of water to your face. And you're like, whoa, this dude really talks like this? Absolutely. Go look at his Cal interviews, man.

We watch some of his post-game interactions at Cal. He sounds the exact same way. It's just America is now being introduced to Fernando Mendoza. Josh, as always, buddy, you crushed it. Great seeing you. It's going to be an amazing December, early January. Thanks, bud. I appreciate it, brother.

All right. Covering college football for a long time. Josh Pate College Football Show on YouTube. Love him so much. Funny, funny guy. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the I-Hard Radio app. Fox Sports Radio is taking over YouTube, and you can be a part of it. Pay attention.

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

So how did we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. 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 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 helped make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and headwriter, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in.

Timbo, every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action, with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlic on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own

experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough because people scoreboard watch life becomes about wins and losses steve burns dustin ross because you find it important to be a good

person while you hear on earth or are you a good person because you're afraid because that's two different intentions bro absolutely and that that's two different levels of trust i want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keir Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app.

Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at

Roland Garris. Every match, every upset and what it really takes to win on Clay. Genshin won. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now and I actually can win on any surface because if she's serving, well, good luck.

Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get. You podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of I Heart Women's Sports. Josh Pate, Mark Schler, Danny Parkins, before the end of the show, he doesn't agree with me. I think baseball's best served with a reigning, wildly interesting dynasty and having several other really good teams.

The Yankees are good. The Cubs are good. I'm not Padres are good. The brewers are excellent. The Mariners were good. This idea of a little guy can't compete. The Baltimore Orioles just stole Pete Alonzo from the New York Mets. By the way, chances if he chief's dynasty is done.

That's over. Do you think that's going to hurt the league, Colin? I mean, like... No, I think the NFL is bulletproof. I think every other sport, it matters who wins. College football, college basketball. Duke's in the final. Yeah.

By the way, if the Lakers were 25 and 1 or whatever the OKC Thunder are, the NBA would be on fire right now. Everybody would love it. There's no question. Or be ticked off. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm with you. Jay Mack with the news.

No, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Start with the Eagles, man. Man, three straight losses, starting to harken back to that 2023 collapse. Remember, they were 10 and 1, then lost 5 of 6 and got smashed in the wildcard round. Nick Siriani says he's still going to be involved in the offense. I mean, a lot of people in Philadelphia land right now are coming out and saying,

not nice things about the O.C. Shady McCoy, one of them. I just saw a report that Gino Smith doesn't sound like he's going to go Sunday, so this lines off the board. If the Eagles can't get right against the Raiders, I'm just officially done with. everybody gets a turn working on the Raiders, right? We've seen, I mean, you can't move the ball in the Raiders. You can laugh at the Raiders now, but they may be in the poll position in about two weeks for Fernando Mendoza. If that were the case, I'd try Gino Smith out there because he's killing his team offensively.

He's been brutal. Mendoza of the Raiders would be interesting. Is he a good cultural fit? Nerdy, smart guy going to Rowdy Vegas. Vegas is already cool. They don't need a cool guy. The last thing you need is the next job. Johnny Mansell. You need Andrew, you need Andrew Locke, you need Fernando Mendoza. He would change the

franchise. Yeah. You may have to change the coaches, but he would change the franchise. Well, you talk about change. I just, I don't think you would bench Jalen Hertz, but I'll be honest. When he threw like the third interception, I was like, what's, do you need to pull him? Like, I know that sounds insane. I don't, I don't know. Something has to change. Something. I don't think it's all on Hertz. This AJ Brown stuff, the bet, the bunny in the locker room. Like, it's just a bunch of nonsense. No question. Poor Eagles.

All right, let's go to a positive story, and that's Drake May and the New England Patriots. One of your best off-season calls. Patriots are 11 and 2 on top of the world. How about this, Drake May is plus 200 to win the MVP. He's second behind Matthew Stafford. One big change for May was the addition of Josh McDaniels. Here he is talking about his quarterback's growth this season. Drake deserves all the credit in the world because he came in and he started learning.

and he hasn't stopped. And I was so proud last Monday night because there was things we didn't do right in Cincinnati that we got right in Monday night football. And for him to make progress this late in the year, November, December, and fix something that we identified, and he, again, deserves all the credit

because he put the work in, and then he has to do it. Yeah, he's every about five years we get an all-timer. Kind of feels like he's the guy. Accurate size, moves smart, works hard, wins games. He's a winner. This is one of these cheesy handicats. I don't know that Josh Allen lets the bills lose this game.

Does that sound dumb to say? But when he wants to take over, he can't. Right? He could just go into like the Superman mode. The more I examine this game, there is something like Indiana played Ohio State. Joel Klaught was on the show yesterday. And Joel said, Kurt Signetti said before the game, it means more for us. You know, Ohio State's been in this game many times.

We haven't. You just played Michigan. We haven't. So there is something to be said. It's very easy to sell to a locker room. Guys, they beat us the first time. This is our last chance. This is it.

We got to get into the playoffs. You're going to see a very unified bill's team. That's not to say New England won't be, but Buffalo's a favorite. So the guys in Vegas are feeling it. The bill's defense, though, is leaky. and May could be able to take advantage over the top. How about that Joe Burrow drive after they went up by two touchdowns? Burrell got the ball.

Bang, bang, Higgins touchdown. Like, Leaky is being kind. In the snow, too. In the snow, it's a road team. Yeah, I got to see the injury reports. I'm leaning bills, but I don't know. You got anything here? I would take New England.

Better team at home points. But there's an interesting, I've gotten hot on a game. that may eliminate it. Oh, okay. All right. Let's wrap up with some NBA here. Janice Attenacumpo. Hopefully I said his name right.

Listen, man, the bucks are in a bad place. Everybody knows Janus is gone either at the deadline or in the offseason. But according to Chris Haynes, Yannis held a team meeting to discuss, hey, we need to focus on the importance of basketball and not allow outside distractions to interfere with the process at hand. Janice's big point was that he's here for the time being, And I think everybody understands what's going on.

But at some point, what Miles Turner looks and says, So, Janice, are you staying or going? Well, I don't think anybody's going to know. Somebody asked me this last night. Where do you think he's going? I don't know. But he wants to go somewhere. Not Milwaukee, right?

I think he wants to go to more of a cultural hub in America, a Miami, a New York, a Los Angeles. I thought Milwaukee had delos, and it was like a cultural crossroads in Milwaukee. Come on, what are you mean? Jeez. Frank. I border Wisconsin. It's a beautiful state with wonderful people.

How much time have you spent there, by the way? None, but I'm planning on a couple of big summer trips. Yeah. Listen, I know some Bucks fans are distraught over this. He brought them a title, right? What more can you ask for? Listen, I don't feel sorry. You have the Packers.

Yeah, the Brewers. You got to be kidding me. Are the Brewers are so immaculately run. You have not everything's great. And the Bucks are still going to make the playoffs. Let me take a minute and count all the Brewers World Series crowns. Oh, all right. I don't know.

Nicks, Lakers, there's some rockets chatter out there. Miami. I would love to see him go to the Knicks. Selfishly. Oh, God, that's great for the league. Jalen Brunson and Yannis? Yeah. As long as they don't have to give up O.G.

And McGill Bridges. Katt and two number ones. No, I'm driving a hard bargain if I'm the next. Who are you not giving up? You can have cat and any picks you want. I'm not giving up anyone else. To get Yonis. Yeah. I'm holding on the Bridges and OJ.

And two first round picks. Kit Kat! Oh boy. That's all I get. No, no, you could have more stuff. Just not any of the court guys. I want Mikhail Bridges, who's a B player, but he's a Villanova dude. I want, I want Kat, I want two first. I want Mikhail Bridges and a bench guy. Pound Sand. No, I don't know. That's a tough one, man. You're given two of your top five players for Janus? I get Brunson and Janus, who work together.

They're much better because Janus is an elite defender and Katz a liability. The counter, of course, is this is the year in the East. Like, who's the best team? It might be the Knicks already the best team. I don't know. Listen, you've got to go for it. Jason Tatum's coming back. Halliburton's coming back.

Not this year, are they? No, go for it. You're the Knicks. It's your conference. Dude, Brunson and Janus the next five years, you will compete for a title. This team right here in the West is a five seed. They can't defend. You are driving.

Bridges has happened like one of the best seasons. I know. Iron Man never misses the game. I love him. He's a B plus B, B guy. He's a hard worker. What do I like? He swapped out Josh Hart for Bridges.

I like Josh Hart is not. I love Hart. Hart does everything. He's the heart of the Knicks. No, no, no. He, so I get, no way. I got to do better than Josh Hart, cat, and a pick.

And a few picks. The McCale Bridges is a higher-end player, a wing defender. What about Austin Reeves? By the way, I don't want to give Hart up. I want Brunson, Yonis, and Hart. Hart can be the glue guy. Who would you rather have Bridges or Austin Reeves?

Bridge is a better defender. Reeves has proven he can be a high-end too, bro. And he needs the ball in his hands, and Brunson always has the ball in his hands. Bridges can play off ball a little better. Milwaukee's got nobody. I mean, I don't know. It's a fascinating story. What could the Lakers give him?

Austin Reeves, two first round. You could have Marcus Smart, Rui. Well, what? That's like at Christmas the stocking. When you're praying, you'll at least get some M&Ms. Oh, geez. M&Ms. Well, I mean, I'm just saying you're giving me a, what are they called, the poo-po platter. Yes, that is exactly what I'm doing.

I get Mikhail Bridges. You can't call the shots. Yonnas wants out. What are you going to do? Well, you call some shots. Yeah, the team to watch is in Miami Heat. What do they have, Tyler Hero? What do I get?

Tyler Hero. Do I get Aaron Spolstra? Give me Spolstra? Tyler, Hero, and three first rounders. Well, that can give you Pat Riley, the GM. He's like 81 years old. Pat's not leaving. Spolstra?

Would you leave South Beach from Milwaukee? Can you not? Sorry. Milwaukee is an emerging tech hub. Whatever. Stop. Jay Mack with the news. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Live News. It's an emerging something. Positive. It's the Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, Weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name?

Huge news. We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. 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.

And, well, 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 I-heartedly. radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Keer Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. and we're still chasing it

and we don't know when we've done enough because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth, or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro.

Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast. Learn the hard way.

Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo.

Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down,

give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jenchian went.

I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world. right now and I actually can win on any surface because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports.

See them every day on first things first. From Chicago, Cubs and Bears always on his mind and both are interesting today for different reasons. Our friend Danny Parkins now joins us live. So I've talked about Caleb Williams. I say when you criticize Caleb Williams, you got to add Bo Nix because it's the same thing. Brilliant offensive coach. Bonsa wins.

Uneven. Great late. You wish they were more consistent and more accurate. They're way above average athletically can miss badly on simple stuff. It's the same guy. So just with the same circumstances with a brilliant

coach. But Caleb, because he was the number one picks getting more heat, do you think his accuracy is correctable or this is who he is? I think it's correctable. I would like to believe that it is. He had high completion percentage numbers in college. So some of the throws that he makes, it's like, how can you make that throw, but you can't hit the layup? The throw to Zakiya, I honestly, like, the throw to Zakiya's in that game, I was like, does he have the strongest arm in football. Is his arm stronger than Josh Allen, Justin Herbert? I think it's a legitimate question. Out to the right touch pass over the defender where he drops it in a bucket to Cole Komet. It's like, oh, well, that's prime Aaron Rogers, 99% difficulty throw. And then, you know, he loses

the game on the interception when he goes for the hero shot to commit and he saw it late, through it late, and underthrew it. And then he goes, I make that throw nine times out of 10. It's not that difficult. So I think his ceiling is much higher than Bo Nix's. I definitely think what I've seen on film in stretches suggest that he can be great. But that's Ben Johnson's job. Ben Johnson's job is to raise his floor because his ceiling is frankly just natural raw ability. So a guy that's been around in the league, I think I said this earlier, I put up a graphic, and I said, I'm going to put up a graphic of all the quarterbacks in first place, plus Joe Burrow and the leading candidate for MVP.

And I put them up and their size. And they're all six, three, or up. It's a big man sport. And I watched Jalen Hurd struggle and Tua struggle. And Kyler Murray's always hurt. Same with Brock Purdy. And my feeling is a great example of where size matters is Justin Herbert. He's been hit 106 times, broken hand, no run game, and he's in the playoffs today.

Tua, if he has hit just seven times in a game, is one in six. I think Herbert finally has the right coach, and then finally his offensive line disintegrates. Herbert's the one really high-end quarterback in this league that there's major pushback on. Where are you are on Justin? Where are you on him? I think if you watch the NFL and do not have Justin Herbert as a top five quarterback, I'm not terribly interested in your opinion on anything else in football. It is so obvious.

I mean, by the way, the numbers are great. Like the career numbers, the aggregate numbers, most passing yards through the first five years of any player in the history of the NFL, so it's not like he has no numbers. But you just mentioned it, and I can give you more. Quarterbacks this year when they're sacked five or more times, Herbert was sacked seven, of course, against Philadelphia. Justin Herbert this year, 4 and 0, the rest of the NFL,

9 and 38. Quarterbacks when they're pressured 20 or more times this year. Justin Herbert was pressured 28 times against Philadelphia. Herbert this year is 2 and 2. The rest of the NFL is 3 and 25. I want for one time to see Justin Herbert have a year where he has competent coaching, competent kicking, and above average health around him.

I legitimately believe if he gets that, he will win a Super Bowl, and I also know this isn't possible, but you mentioned Jalen Hurts, so I'll bring it up here. If Justin Herbert was on Philadelphia, Philadelphia would be undefeated. But he is so great, I think that is so clear to anyone who watches, and it drives me insane when people doubt him because of wins or losses in the past. Are the Chiefs a rebuild or a retool?

A retool. I think as long as you have Patrick Mahomes in his prime and Andy Reid, I think you're going to go into most seasons as one of the favorites and deserve it. Last year's team was 15 and 2. They probably should have been 11 and 6 or 12 and 5. They were 12 and 0 in one score games, a completely unsustainable. This year, they only have one win in one score games. Their underlying statistical profile actually suggests they've been a little unlucky this year.

They should be a little bit better than they've been. One game it's been drops, one games it's been penalties, one game has an uncharacteristically bad game. I actually don't think the Chiefs are that far away from being a pretty good team. They just had a lot break against them this year. So maybe a tinker or two to the coaching staff, get some new ideas in there on offense, got to improve their pass rush, got to improve their running game. And I assume that they'll be right back in the playoff mix and the Super Bowl mix, frankly, as soon as next year. So when George Steinbrenner was around back, you know, it's 98, 99, 2000, 2001, the Yankees had their dynasty. And the sport was really hot.

There was the Red Sox and the Yankees and Steinbrenner's mercurial personality and the coverage. And the sport was big. And then it felt like for about 20 years, it felt regional and small, less significant. Football took over the country. And now it's big again with another dynasty to Dodgers. another coastal powerhouse. So the last two times baseball has felt like, I mean, I watched more baseball in October in the playoffs than a lot of football.

The last two times I felt that was the Yankee dynasty when they just own the hot stove league and bought all the players they wanted, and now with the Dodgers doing the same. So I hear all the fearmongering in my take is baseball needs these big Cubs win the World Series, Yankees, Dodgers, NFL, doesn't. NBA does. Baseball doesn't. I don't think the Dodgers buying up top players hurts the sport. What say you? So we disagree here, and it has nothing to do with anything that you said about the Dodgers or World Series ratings or even popularity of the sport globally. Like,

I think all those things are objectively true. Like the dynasties do make sports interesting. If the Dodgers are in it, the World Series ratings will be through the roof because of Otani and his global brand and his reach in Japan and Asia that does feel very big. They signed the last great local television deal. You get to keep your local media revenue and everybody else is struggling in that way in a way that the Dodgers aren't. So I do not personally think that great inequities across sport is good for the overall health of the sport. I don't think it's good that the Dodgers can afford every player and big market teams get outbidding. on all of them. I don't think it's good if every good player goes to one team, but they are

objectively interesting when they get it. I think this is one where both things can be true. It's good if the Dodgers are in the World Series, but if all of the good players are on the Dodgers and then they're not in the World Series, so the teams that aren't all that talented, then it's like, well, then I don't really care as much about what I'm watching. All right, that's fair. Have you, I've been on a little bit of a heater, no reason to go you know into too much deal on my picks last year you were very very warm how have you fared

this year well thanks for following parkins picks con yeah no i noticed i noticed that you started putting up your win loss record at the beginning of blazing five when you're out in front of it i noticed that you're introducing totals this year i didn't want to say that nick wright and i have a group chat

with a couple of other gambling friends that are maybe doing audits of where's colin getting these lines i didn't I didn't have this number available at the right time. Wow, it's in his favor on the underdog, and it's against that. I'm not saying that that's something that people are talking about. I'm just saying that maybe people are talking about it. I don't know. But I'm hanging on above 500 this year.

I'm above Nick Wright in the standings, but it's a far cry from my 65% record from last year. Last year was a good year to have a good year, my first year on national TV. Jay Mack and I rams over the lions. It's a strong one this way. If you need any help, not that you will. would, but we would offer it. Oh, well, listen, I appreciate the, I appreciate the charity. You guys are crazy.

If that win-loss record of the beginning of Blazoned 5 is accurate, you guys are absolutely crushing it and crushing me this year. Lions have beaten the Rams both times that they've played them since the Stafford trade. So the Stafford Golf Trade, yeah. So is that the best win-win trade in the history of sports, by the way? We just talked about that earlier today. Literally, both teams hit a home run. They needed a draft capital and a competent quarterback,

and the Rams needed a slight upgrade. Like, home run for both. And virtually identical records, virtually identical yards per game, golf gets a home, Stafford gets a ring, Lions get younger. It's just truly one of the greatest trades

in the history of sports. Can you tell Danny, if he needs some help with the picks, just fade the chiefs. I think they're 0 and 5 against a spread in their last 5? A bit of a dumpster fire? That's an easy, easy lay up there. for you. Yeah. I was on the Texans plus the points last week. That wasn't

a problem. I have not been on them all five, though. Good seeing you, buddy. Always, Colin. Good to see you, J. Mack. Danny Parkins, first things first after our show. No, it's a lot of trades. It's like the honest. Generally speaking in NBA

history, whoever gets the star wins the trade. Yonis is fascinating. So he's 31 and he's had injuries. He does not shoot from the perimeter, which is what the league is. He's a devastating defensive player and low post score, but there are arguments that, you know, Chet Holmgren or Wembe, who can hit the three and are in their prime without as many injuries, are, and by the way, the Schengoon at Houston. He's awesome.

Now he's not as dominant defensively. Beautiful touch, beautiful player. So I love Yonis in New York because I think you'd have two of the top four players in the east, and I think Janus feels like culturally big New York and I do think McAle Bridges, two first cat and a bench guy feels like that's not bad. What do you think the window is for Janus to win a title? Wherever he goes.

I would say the next two years. Two or three years. Two or three years. Because like Curry is competing deep into his 30s. LeBron's deep into his 30s. I don't know what Janice ages like at like 37 when he's making like 50 mil a year. I don't know what he's going to look like.

I don't think anybody can't. As you said, he can't really shoot. outside the paint. No. It's not his game. No, and Brunson can and, I mean, if you kept Josh Hart, I have Hart, Brunson, Yannis, I can figure the rest out. Well, Bridges

is actually a better shooter than Hart, and I want shooters around Janus. That's what I want. I mean, you get Janus in the pain, he's going to take anybody one-on-one. If I'm Milwaukee though, I definitely want Shengun. That's the guy I'm targeted. He's better than Cat. He's better than Reeves. The best trade for Milwaukee is with Houston.

Yeah. You and I both love Shangun. I think Now, he's not as physically dominant, but a soft, velvety, finesse, passer, score. Shengoon is one of those guys. He's overshadowed by a lot of bigs, and he's 22. My guess is after these playoffs, I think the rockets are going deep. Probably to the final. I would go Schengun, the money doesn't make sense. No, you can make the money.

He could make sense. Fred Van Bly. He's hurt, but yeah. All right. First thing's first around the corner. Tom Brady tomorrow on the show. I'm all grill. I'm America's honesty broker. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers.

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