The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - Who’s still alive to make the College Football Playoff?

Episode Date: October 30, 2024

As we head into November, FOX Sports’ lead College Football analyst Joel Klatt looks at the college football landscape and determines which teams have a legitimate shot at making the College Football Playoff in the first year of the 12-team era. He goes conference by conference discussing which teams are alive and what they need to do to get into the Playoff. He lists which teams can afford a loss the rest of the way and which can’t. In the Big Ten, he has a surprise team that many have written off but has a pathway to backdoor their way into the Playoff. He also discusses the state of targeting in CFB and why it needs an overhaul before diving into the Mailbag to answer listener-submitted questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Stop ejecting players for this penalty. This has to be addressed. College football has never been better. Interest has never been higher. Believe that we are at the dawn of the golden age of college football. It was an epic day of college football. It was one of those days where you fall in love with the sport all over again. All right, here we go, everybody.

Welcome into the program. This is a Joel Clatt show. I am Joel Clatt, your host. And this show is always brought to you by Hampton, by Hilton. and we thank them for their support. Okay, huge, huge day here midweek of the Joel Clatchew, because we are going to bring you a week before we get playoff rankings. I'm giving you who's still alive.

That's right. I'm going to run through it. Exactly how many teams, how many fan bases out there, how many of you are rooting for like real action as we barrel down the stretch of this college football season? Here we are. We're entering these games into no- The games in November are the ones that we remember.

All the adages are true. So that's what we're going to do today. I've also got some mailbag at the end and some thoughts on targeting as well. So we've got a lot to get into. Remember wherever you're listening to the show, go ahead and rate and review us, if you would. We'd very much appreciate that and give you a slow clap for doing so. If you're on YouTube, make sure to subscribe to the channel and invite a friend and then make sure to turn on those notifications so that you know exactly when a video drops. and when we've got content that is fresh out there on YouTube for you.

So make sure to do that and then leave a comment below. I am going to bring you today the basically the race. Here it is. The chase for the national championship, I believe, is going to come down to the following teams. Now, I want to make a bit of a caveat here. I am going to make a caveat that mathematically there are, actually more teams than I'm going to unveil here today on the program. But as we all know, there is a stark difference between mathematically being alive, still in your conference, and a

realistic path. And so what I want to talk more about today is a realistic path. How many fan bases, how many teams have a realistic path to the college football playoff? And I think that we're going to see just how good this expanded playoff is for our sport and for the regular season. because right now, entering November, we've got a lot of fan bases that are interested and engaged to the top end of the sport, which I think is great. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to do it by conferences. So we're going to go by conference, and I'm going to outline exactly how many teams within each conference are actually still alive for the CFP. I'm going to start with the SECC because they're actually the conference that has the most teams that I think still have, what I would consider to be a realistic path towards a CFP birth. And we've just got to start right off.

the bat with the four obvious, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, and A&M. Those are obvious, okay? And for any one of those teams, I actually still believe that they could go to the playoff and it's a realistic berth in the playoff, even if they were to lose another game. So those are the most real candidates that we have in the SEC. Now, you've also got LSU, Alabama, and Ole Miss. And those are a little bit different, okay? So let's run down all of these. First of all, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, they're in a position right now where I believe they could still lose, even in the regular season, not make the SEC championship game.

And based on what they've done already this season, I believe that they would go to the college football playoff. They would be a top 12 team. And I think we'll see that reflected in the, I guess, original or new playoff rankings that will get next week on election night, by the way. So that's Georgia, Texas, and Tennessee. Now with A&M, here's what I think is fascinating. For A&M, they need to win the next three games to make them feel like they're secure. And then I think they could play Texas where it's like, doesn't matter the outcome. They would still go to the CFP, but they would obviously want to beat Texas because that could place them in the SEC championship game.

Once you're in that game, you win the SEC championship and you're going to get a buy. You're going to get a buy. So this is a team that's obviously still alive. the harder part comes in, and the reason that I said that you've got to win your next three games is because they already have that loss even though it's in the non-conference. So Notre Dame is sitting out there. So what you don't want, if you're Texas A&M, is some sort of situation where you're in an argument when you're on a bubble with Notre Dame.

If Notre Dame were to also be, let's just say a 10-and-2 team, let's just say Texas A&M is a 10-and-2 team. and then it comes down to kind of like that final spot. Well, head-to-head is going to win out and Notre Dame won at College Station. So this is one of the reasons why it's like these next three games, to me, are imperative. You've got to beat South Carolina. You've got to beat New Mexico State. I just hate it. I hate it.

I mean, Greg Sanky, do something about this. Greg is a really great commissioner. I'd like Greg a lot. Do something about these are stupid games in November, New Mexico State. Whatever. That was it. That was my high horse. I'll probably jump on that high horse a couple more times.

just I'm being truthful at Auburn, and then you've obviously got the huge game against Texas. So to me, I love A&M's chances to go to the playoff. I think them being right now in the driver's seat in the SEC puts them in a great spot. And to me, you win those next three. You feel really good about a CFP berth, a really good. Now let's talk about those next three teams, LSU, Alabama, and Ole Miss. Here's how I would put it. I think that any one of those teams has to win out.

And the reason being is I just don't see a 9 and 3 team getting into the playoff. Now, I'm going to save room for one later in the show, but you're going to see why. And it's actually something that's very much about schedule. These three teams, LSU, Alabama, and Ole Miss, I just don't believe that they've got any leeway. So here's what that means. You win out, you're likely in. I've talked about this with Alabama before, and I think that the same can be said for LSU and for Ole Miss. I think that if they went out, they're largely in the college football playoff.

If they win any one of these next, you know, or excuse me, lose any game down the stretch, I don't think they're in. So that means that the LSU Alabama game, elimination game. Alabama going to LSU, to me, an elimination game. That's going to be incredible. And that means that Ole Miss has to beat Georgia. Here's Bama's upcoming schedule. You've got at LSU, you've got Mercer. Now you're just trolling me with these schedules.

You're just trolling me with these schedules. At LSU, OU, Auburn. You have to win out. Hopefully you can get past Mercer on, November 16th. But to me, the LSU Bama game is an elimination game. That is going to be the first playoff game of the college football season. These two teams each could win out and go and either of them lose at any point from now until the end of the regular season. And I think that they're out. So that presents an elimination game, which leads us to Ole Miss. And Ole Miss still has Georgia

on the schedule. So that means, guess what? Ole Miss, yes, you control your own destiny, but it means you have to beat the Bulldogs. Ole Miss has to beat Georgia. And if they do that at 10 and 2, I love their chances. Love their chances. In fact, I would actually make a hefty bet that, like, absolutely they're in. At 9 and 3, don't love their chances at all, at all. I just don't think that there's going to be room for the 9 and 3.

And that leads us to just this one more team who's actually still ranked and still has an ability to finish 10 and 2, and that's Missouri. And here's why I did not include Missouri in the realistic path. to the playoff. Number one is Missouri just doesn't have the schedule. You look up at the end of the day, and even if they were 10 and 2, with what's gone on so far, they wouldn't have a win over a ranked team. You struggle to find their best win.

Is it like at this point Boston College? You know, is it OU? And then you would see that they face two actual teams, real teams, and they lost by 31 and 34, respectively to Texas A&M and Alabama, both of those games on the road. They've traveled away from Forreau Field three times this year. Once at Massachusetts, and then the other two were Texas A&M and Alabama, they got beat handily in those two games on the road in the SEC.

They just will not have the firepower on their schedule even at 10 and 2 to get in. So to me, Missouri is out. There is not a realistic path from Missouri from this point moving forward. And to be honest, I don't know if they're going to even have the ability to win the remaining games on their schedule. So that's why I didn't include Missouri. You know that I've been hard on Missouri all year. I believe that that's founded,

in particular with their performance against Texas A&M and Alabama. So those are the seven teams in the SEC. I've got Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, A&M, LSU, Bama, and Ole Miss. So those top four that I mentioned, they could probably survive a loss and still go. LSU Alabama, Ole Miss, cannot survive a loss and go. So it's still real for them, very realistic,

but that means LSU Alabama is an elimination game and Ole Miss has to be Georgia. Let's go to the Big Ten. Big Ten for me has five teams. I think five teams still have a realistic path. And here's where the caveat's going to come in. The first four are obvious and then the fifth one is less obvious. And I'll talk through that. The top four are easy.

Oregon, Penn State, Indiana, Ohio State. Right? Like we all know that. We can see Oregon's the number one team of the country. Penn State's undefeated. Indiana's undefeated. And then Ohio State is sitting there with just the one loss at what is now number one, Oregon. So, you know, they're just fine in terms of controlling their own destiny. I do think that Oregon probably, when it comes to any team around the country,

has the cleanest path to the playoff of anybody based on what their schedule is to the end of the year and what they've already done. You know, like I don't see really a possibility of them even falling out of the Big Ten championship game, much less the playoff at this point. If you were to ask me, name one team that you are certain is going to go to the college football playoff, Oregon would be my top answer. They've got the cleanest path of anybody in the country. All right. So Penn State, that brings us to Penn State.

They're undefeated at this point. And now you look at Penn State's schedule, excuse me, and you see that monster game that will be at this Saturday. I cannot wait to get to Happy Valley. But you look at that and you're like, okay. one loss they're in. They're in. An 11 and 1 Penn State, even if they weren't to get to the Big Ten championship game, they're going to go.

Because we think highly of them. And I think that the committee is going to think highly of them next week when it comes to their rankings. I think it becomes more interesting if you look at Penn State as a possible 10 and 2 team. They're undefeated at this point. That would mean that they would have two losses in November. which would trend them in the wrong direction, and then you would look at their schedule. Let's just presume that one of those losses would be to Ohio State,

and then you would look at that scheduling and be like, well, what's the best win that they have? You see, I believe that there will be 10 and 2 teams on the outside looking in. That's my firm belief. Missouri could be one of those. And I think Penn State, it's questionable. Now, I would probably argue for them to be in at 10 and 2 because of the way that they've played so far.

But I don't think it's a guarantee. So for me, does Penn State have leeway? Yes. Yeah, they could easily lose one game and still go to the college football playoff. But their best bet, keep it at one or none, right? Win this weekend against Ohio State. And they would absolutely be in the playoff.

That's at least in my estimation. I think 10 and 2 would be dicey, but you win this week against Ohio State and you are basically in Penn in the college football playoff. You would have a great chance to go to the Big Ten championship game, and you'd have a great chance to get a buy. Okay, so that's pretty obvious. Let's go to Indiana.

Less obvious with Indiana because we're sitting here, and they're still at 13th in the AP poll. Before I say anything more about Indiana, Indiana, to me, is the team that I'm actually most interested in to see how the playoff committee rates Indiana. because here's what happens in the AP poll. And this is why the AP poll is such trash. It really is.

And I'm sorry if you get offended by that, but it's true. The AP poll is like a NASCAR race. It matters where you qualified. So it matters where you started. And what the playoff committee is supposed to do is come in as if they did not see the rankings to begin the year and they want to take a snapshot of what's going on after this, week in our sport, and they need to say who are the best teams in the, who are the 25 best teams in college football? And they're not supposed to care where anybody started. See, because if you actually

look at the way teams have performed, you will look at a team like, let's just sake of argument, Miami, and you would look at Indiana, and the playoff committee really should rank Indiana higher than Miami based on the way that they've played, their game control, their dominance, all of those different factors. But because Miami started up in the pack and the AP, they haven't been able to overtake them. Speaking of Indiana, so they're still at 13. So the team that I'm most interested in for next week's playoff rankings, if that they, by the way, if they can take care of business against Michigan State on the road would be the Indiana Hoosiers.

Okay. So let's say for the sake of argument that the playoff committee, although I hope that this is not the case, but let's just say for the sake of argument, they have a similar feeling as the AP about Indiana. Brand bias, whatever you want to call it, but they have a similar feeling. Well, then, based on where they're sitting right now at number 13, to me, I think that they have to go minimum 11 and 1 in order to get in.

You see, I don't think that they would be afforded a 10-and-2 birth into the college football playoff like some of these other teams that I think would absolutely make it at 10-and-2. So to me, Indiana can only lose one more. And once that happens, it becomes like, okay, you better win the rest of your games. So I think they need to go 11 and 1 to get in. They still haven't trailed in a game, by the way. They have been totally dominant winning by 2 and 3 and 4 scores. They beat Notre, or excuse me, Nebraska by 49 the week before.

Nebraska suffers only a 4-point loss in the shoe against Ohio State. you can build such a strong argument for Indiana. And this is why right now, hopefully those of you that are on the playoff committee, you're listening to this because this team is much better than 13th in the country. They just are. And if you put them at 13, it's going to put them behind the 8 ball. And I think that they're going to have to go 11 and 1. So we'll see exactly how that happens.

I don't think they can go 10 and 2. And that's unfortunate for them. That brings us to Ohio State. Here's the deal with Ohio State. I think that if Ohio State were to take care of business outside of the Indiana and Penn State games. So beat the teams that, like, you know you should. So that would be Purdue, Northwestern, and Michigan. Okay.

I know that's going to make Michigan fans upset. But if you take care of business in those other games, I believe that then all they would need to do to go to the playoff is split. the Penn State, Indiana, two games. Because 10 and 2, Ohio State is one of those programs and brands and teams that we would absolutely say at 10 and 2 you're in. There's a lot of those, by the way. Georgia would be that way. Texas would be that way. I think Tennessee would be that way. I think A&M would be that way, which is why in a lot of those cases I've said those teams up there in the SEC, they could absolutely lose one more and get in. And the same can be said for Ohio State. I firmly believe that.

So if they take care of business, then all they need to do is split Penn State and Indiana, and then they're going to go. Now, what they would rather do is beat all of those teams and get a rematch with Oregon so that they can get a buy in the first round of the college football playoffs. They want to go and win a Big Ten championship and get a buy in that first round. That's going to be their goal. And that's why this weekend is going to be so huge. And if they go out there and lose to Penn State, my goodness, then just think about the pressure that is on them against Purdue and Northwestern in Indiana. who's a great team, and then Michigan. I think that that would be a fascinating, fascinating into the season for Ohio State.

And then that kind of gets us to that fifth team, all right? And some might be thinking that I'm about to say Illinois, but I'm actually not. I don't think Illinois is a team that has enough. I think Illinois, for me, is very similar to Missouri. They could finish 10 and 2, absolutely, but they would lack enough marquee wins. Illinois, their best win would be like Nebraska, maybe Michigan, two double digit losses, by the way, to their CFP contenders. That would be Penn State and Oregon. So I don't think it's Illinois.

That's kind of a Missouri category. So who could go, well, who is it, Joel? It's Michigan. It's Michigan. This is the only nine and three team in the country that I believe actually has a realistic path to the playoff. Okay. And before you roll your eyes, just hear me out. Just hear me out.

I've said all year I don't think 9 and 3 can get in. However, there's these two little caveats in there. And number one is that the CFP committee is supposed to take into consideration how you're playing at the time and what's happened previous in your season. And it's pretty stark that Michigan has had to try to develop an identity during the course of the year. We've all seen that. We've seen it play out. And they struggled early doing that, trying to replace their coach and all these players from a year.

ago and they lost some games. Now, one of them is a really good team in Texas. You know, they lost some other games on the road, tough ones. And like, let's just say that they get it figured out and sake of argument. And you might not think this is realistic, but if the defending national champions win out and they're nine and three, that would mean that they have wins in November over the number one team in the country, Oregon, a top 10 team, in my estimation, Indiana, and another top 10 team, Ohio State. Two of those wins could be against teams that are undefeated at the time. So I actually do think that there's a realistic path,

but it's only because of that monster schedule down the stretch. Now, is there anything in the way that they've played that suggests that they're going to go out there and actually make a run? No. No, I'm just back of your mind, though. They've got enough talent on that defense. If they don't turn the ball over, like could they beat Oregon? Maybe we've seen crazier things this year. We've seen much crazier things this year than a team as talented as Michigan actually winning at home over an elite team. And that's what this weekend would be. So Michigan is playing for their lives this weekend against Oregon.

If for some reason they win that game, they would jump up into the polls. The committee would love them because they would have, in a lot of cases, you know, one of the best wins in the country, along with like Oregon over Ohio State or Georgia over Texas. and they would like them a lot. And they would knock them down a little bit, but they would still have Indiana and they would still have Ohio State. So there's this realistic path for a nine and three team

as long as you have those monsters down the stretch in order to build the resume. And as crazy as it sounds, I do think that they're the only nine and three team that would have any argument. Now, would it be an argument? Absolutely. Because they would have to pass some 10 and two teams as well.

Let's move on to the big 12. All right. So the big 12, this is how I see it. I believe that the top four teams in the conference currently are the only teams in the conference that have a realistic path to a college football playoff birth. So that means the two undefeateds, certainly there, BYU and Iowa State. That means the one lost team, Kansas State is there. And that means the team that still has an opportunity to play themselves into the Big 12 championship game, Colorado, is still alive for a college football playoff birth. There are realistic paths there.

For BYU and Iowa State, it's pretty obvious. They keep winning and they're going to be probably in. Now, here's where it gets interesting for me is this question of, could the Big 12 get two? Up to this point in the season, I think there's been a lot of us that have said at times like, you know, I don't know, man, the ACC and the Big 12, they likely are not going to get two teams. But then the season plays out and you've got two undefeated up to this point. let's just say sake of argument, BYU and Iowa State play as undefeated in the Big 12 championship game.

That would mean that the winner would be 13 and 0 and the loser would be 12 and 1. 12 and 1. That would be in a lot of cases, two more wins over some of these teams that they would be arguing against on the bubble that are 10 and 2. So I do think that there is a path for two teams out of the Big 12. I do think those are the only two teams that could go because if you're talking about Kansas State getting themselves into that Big 12 championship game, they could not lose it and then go and they can't get to that game with another loss.

So Kansas State is not a team that could be a second team in the Big 12. Colorado, similarly so. One, they can't afford another loss in the regular season in order to get themselves into that championship game. And they certainly could not be a 10 and 3 team getting themselves into the championship game and then losing it and winning out an argument over some of these other bubble teams. So two teams from the Big 12 is possible. I do think that that possibility is an undefeated BYU and an undefeated Iowa State.

Now that leads us to kind of this question of does BYU and Iowa State have to go undefeated to go? Well, obviously not because the champion would be into the college football playoff. So their path is absolutely secure. and in a lot of ways, Kansas State's path is absolutely secure because they still have a game with Iowa State. So they can play themselves into that game and then winning it puts them in the playoff. So the top three in the Big 12 control their own destiny to get to the college football playoff. That's not the case for Colorado. What Colorado is going to need to happen is that they're going to need Kansas State to beat Iowa State to give them that loss.

They're going to need BYU to trip up along the way and then they're going to need to win a tiebreaker. That's how they're going to get into the Big 12 championship game. Now, if they do, now it's 60 minutes and you've got a chance to go to the college football playoff. But that's kind of the scenario right there. There's just to me not a plausible path for Kansas State and Colorado to be at large teams without that champion moniker. That is only afforded for BYU and Iowa State and really probably only if they're undefeated the way that this kind of all plays out.

So that's the Big 12. Let's go to the ACC. So the ACC is kind of similar to the Big 12 because we have speculated about the number of teams that could potentially go from that conference. And I'll be honest, up to this point, I've been pretty adamant that this should be a one-team conference. Now, having said that, similarly to the Big 12,

is there a scenario where you get, you know, Miami and Clemson, and Clemson gives Miami their only loss of the season and both of them go to the college football playoff? Absolutely. And so that's how we'll start with this is what I think is the best chance team would be Miami. The other is Clemson. Then you've got these two upstarts pit and SMU. Those teams also still have a path to the college football playoff. Miami, I don't think that they can afford to stub their toe in the regular season and still get in. Because as an at-large team, I'm saying, listen, the champion's obviously going to go. So when I talk about this, they can't afford to stub their toe. And really, I don't think that they're going to get into that ACC championship game, even if they do lose a game because of the way SMU is playing in Clemson, they could all be undefeated with Miami. So if Miami loses a game, there's a real chance that they don't even get to the ACC championship game.

So it is incumbent that Miami goes undefeated in the regular season. That's really the best possible scenario for them because I believe it gives them two avenues to go to the playoff. One win the ACC championship game and the other would begin in as an at-large. Clemson, Clemson's got to win their next three games. And then those last two may not matter as it relates to the ACC. Because remember, they've got five left, but they've got Citadel and then South Carolina. both of those games, non-league games. So in their next three,

they're going to know whether they can get themselves into the ACC championship game or not. One of those is going to be a little bit tougher than the others. But I'm looking at Clemson as a team that if they can run the table over the next three, they'll know that they're at least in the ACC championship game and then you're 60 minutes away from the playoff. If they run the table throughout the regular season, Now it's a conversation because then they could be like an 11 and 2 team.

And I know they would have that bad loss to Georgia in the opening week. But I could see them getting a nod at 11 and 2 as an at large. So that's a path for them. Pitt is a little bit more dicey. They have an avenue, but they've got to beat SMU. I think they need to beat Clemson in the next three weeks. Look at this team right now. They've got three wins by four points or less.

Now Eli Holstein, he's been. banged up their quarterback. So I don't really see it for them, but there's a path. And then we come to SMU. And here's the deal with SMU. They've got to run the table. They've already got the one loss to BYU. So if they lose again, like they're not going to get into the championship game and then they're not going to get in that large spot. They've got Pitt at SMU on Saturday. That's a huge game for SMU. And that's how it's real. They've got to just run the table. And if they do that, they'll go. All right, let's talk about some of these non-power four teams real quick. You start with Notre Dame. That's easy. The Texas A&M

run this year via Mike Elko is absolutely helping them. So Notre Dame is just going to have this like this constant what are they called buoyancy. I think I think I use that correctly. You know, it's kind of an elevator lifting them up. Notre Dame's got Florida State, Virginia, Army, and USC. And I think that they would still be in the mix even if they lost one of those games. because again, they have Texas A&M lifting them up. That win in the first week of the season is going to be huge for them, huge for them. And so Notre Dame wins out. They're certainly in.

Even if they lose another game, I think that they could possibly still be in as well. And then you get into this battle for the group of five. So then the rest of those teams on there, and I've got, what is that, six teams that are going to be battling for the best group of five champion that will end up getting that. last birth into the playoffs. So I'll just start with this. If Boise State wins the Mountain West, I think they're going to be the playoff participant. So they're kind of at the top of that group. Then I would look at like probably Army is next. The way that they're playing is an undefeated. If they win the American, they're probably going as the highest rated group of five champion. There's this caveat, though, that if you see some chaos in the American and UNLV beats Boise,

now you can see a situation where UNLV because of some of those wins, they're receiving votes right now. They could be elevated as the highest ranked champion, depending on some of the chaos and the American. And then you've got like Tulane and Memphis and Navy. And the way that they get in is that UNLV beats Boise and then those teams went out and win the American. And then they would probably be the highest ranked group of five champion.

So there you have it, folks. That's a long dissertation to tell you that in this 12-team four, format entering into November, we've got 27 teams. And I'm not talking about a mathematical possibility to go to the playoffs and to win your conference and things like that. This is a realistic path. These are teams that it's like it's very real. A lot of them feel like they control their own destiny in terms of getting to the

playoff. And so it kind of made me think to myself, I'm like, well, what would this look like last year? Because we always did the opposite. Like last year, we had the four team play. And then we said, hey, this is what it would have looked like if it was a 12-team playoff. So I want to do it in reverse. And just to show you, because I've been hammering away on this show and on other platforms about the way I feel like this playoff expansion has helped the sport, I believe that

what you're looking at on the screen is the evidence of that, 27 programs and fan bases having a legitimate path to the top end of the sport. That's great. That's great. And we're entering November. It's Halloween, folks. This is really good news because in the past it wasn't this way. If there was a four-team format, I believe that generously,

and I mean like very generously, there would be 14 teams available as we enter, November, and these are the teams that you see. I've just reduced college football down to four teams in the SEC, four teams in the Big Ten, two in the Big 12, three in the ACC, and Notre Dame. There's your 14 teams. If you want to hear them because you're not watching on YouTube, it would be Georgia, Tennessee, A&M, Texas, Oregon, Penn State, Ohio State, Indiana, BYU, Iowa State, Miami, Clemson Pitt, Notre Dame. 14 teams. And again, that's generous. That's giving like pit the mathematical ability to actually go and win the ACC and be one of the four best teams in the country, which I don't know. I really don't.

That's with, I'm just telling you, that's, that's very, very generous. The 12 team format is great for college football. I just look at this and I think of all the fan base. now that are more engaged and this is going to be better for the sport. All right, let's move on. And speaking of doing something that's better for the sport, did you guys notice that the Rvel Reese, who's a backup linebacker for Ohio State, he was called for targeting late, really late fourth quarter against Nebraska. And it was a highly questionable call. I mean, very questionable call, which a lot of targetings are, but this one was then reviewed by the league, and Ohio State won the appeal.

They appealed to the Big Ten, who went to the NCAA, who overturned the call. If you're watching on YouTube, you can see the play being laid out there. They go back to the league. The league goes to the NCAA, and it was overturned. And they say, they say like, you know what, that shouldn't have been targeting. And so his suspension for the first half of the Penn State game goes away. because remember, if you get ejected via targeting in the second half of the game that you're playing in, then you have to sit out the next half. If you get ejected in the first half, you send out the second half of that game, that's how it kind of becomes equitable.

But now he does not have to sit out against Penn State, which is actually huge for Ohio State's defense because against that run game, they're going to need some depth at the linebacker position. So that's a big boost for Ohio State. And let me just say, give you my two cents really quickly on targeting. Targeting in and of itself is not bad for the sport. The way that we penalize the players is what's bad for the sport. If you want to call unnecessary roughness or targeting on some of these hits, I'm fine with that. You want to try to legislate safety into an inherently dangerous game.

Be my guest. Do I agree with it? Not all the time. Not all the time. I would just break this up, just so that you know, there are two very different categories of targeting. Not to get too technical here. There is one category of targeting when you as a player, use the crown of your helmet, the top of your helmet, basically as a weapon, and you initiate contact with the crown of your helmet,

spearing, targeting with your own head. Okay, so that's one version. The other version, which is what this R.Vell Reese penalty fell into, is this version where there are certain players on the field at, any given time that are deemed defenseless. And when they're deemed defenseless, you can't contact them forcibly in the head or neck area. Okay. So that's the penalty that is now a targeting and the ejection is attached to it that I totally

disagree with, completely disagree with. Because a lot of times these are just football plays, which the R. VL Rees play is just a football play. and now you're ejecting the player, that's crazy. If you want to eject a player for spearing with his helmet and going down and actually targeting with the crown of his helmet, I can be on board with that. But suspending a player, ejecting a player

for making a football play that is deemed forcible contact into the head or neck area of a defenseless player, I'm not on board with. I'm not on board with. If you want to throw a flag and mark off 15 yards, fine. Okay, fine. I'll give it to you. You can have your little feather in your cap, but stop ejecting players for this penalty.

This has to be addressed. And it's been egregious ever since they instituted it. And the only reason that they don't want to go back and revisit it is the optics. They don't want the optics that they're taking some safety legislation out of the game and making the game more dangerous or more physical. They feel like that will open them up to litigation. I hate it. I absolutely hate it.

people that quite honestly aren't involved in the sport to the degree that they need to be involved in the sport are the ones making these decisions. And that needs to change. And so the ejection based on the contact to the defenseless player, that needs to be revisited. Let's get to the mailbag and then we'll be done with the episode. I love mailbag, by the way. I love mailbag. So here we go. Here it comes in from the depressed chargers fan says, one simple question, how in God's good name is Missouri still ranked? It just doesn't make sense, the press chargers fan. No, it doesn't. It doesn't until you look at who's behind them in the receiving votes, this is the best of the bad options at this point. I don't think that there are

25 really good teams. We have this stigma attached with what we think a ranked team is, and we think that the 25th ranked team, because they're ranked, is so much better than the unranked 26th ranked team in the country or the one just on the outside receiving votes. And the fact of the matter is is that there's just not very much difference. They're going to get the benefit of the doubt because they're a bigger brand than some of those other brands that are receiving votes. Missouri is ranked this week because there's no other option. That's why they're there. They're a placeholder. And Missouri fans can be upset with me, but you know what?

You started the season 11th. And so you're going to get buoyed by the fact. fact that somebody deemed you the 11th best team in the country in the preseason. They have played five games against power four opponents. Here's how those five games have gone. A six point win over four and four B.C. And overtime win against Vandy. It looks not bad right now. 31 point loss to A&M.

Four point comeback win against Auburn. That was at home. And then a 34 point loss at Alabama on the road. It's not the 11th best team of the country. It's probably not the 25th best team of the country. But because they start at 11th, they're going to get the benefit of the doubt over a bunch of brands and teams that no one thinks much of. And so that's how they're ranked. We move on. Okay, so from J.D., J.D. says, first off, I'm a huge fan of the show and have been

listening to it since it began. Thank you, J.D. I appreciate it. You know what? Continue to share with a friend, my friend. I love it. He says, as a graduate of Indiana and a diehard I.U football fan, there he is. I hear a lot of visiting fans talk about what an awesome college town, Bloomington is. do you? Between your playing and broadcasting careers, what are your favorite college towns that you've been to? Love the show. Thanks for the time. J.D. I was able to appreciate Bloomington really for the first time. We've stayed in Indianapolis before doing Indiana games. We unfortunately stayed at a really unfortunate hotel one time in Bloomington years ago. And that wasn't great. and this last time we stayed right there. I walked down. I got ice cream. It was hopping. There's a lot of energy. And I loved Bloomington. Now, the best that I've been to in my career, I start with the one I loved and grew up on and then went to, which is the University of Colorado.

That's the best campus in America. Sorry, just is. And then when it comes to other campuses, you have to understand, I don't get a great picture of what campus is actually like. I get a great picture of what game day is actually like. So for me, a campus is only as good as the game day environment. So the ones that I really love are the game day environments that are incredible. Penn State's got an incredible environment. Michigan's got an incredible environment. Ohio State's got an incredible environment. Oregon's got an incredible environment. All like all these things, those are really cool campuses.

But in reality, it's really just kind of the game day atmosphere. So that's kind of where I would go with. Let's see. Alex S writes in, have you noticed meaningful? ways that non-professionals have incorporated sports into their life during your career. I am in the medical school and becoming a physician. Wow, congratulations, Alex. But I love sports, especially college football and want them to stay a part of my life. How impactful could I be as a sports medicine physician? Oh, this is interesting. Are the team doctors and trainers impactful

to the team in your experience? Thanks. I'm a big fan of your show. Alex, great question. The medical professionals are some of the most important people in the program. I owe so much to those individuals. And I remember them fondly. I mean, like, I love these people. Our head trainer was a guy named Steve Willard. Steve Willard, man, I still remember just the environment that he perpetuated in training room during, you know, when everyone was getting their ankles taped or when you would

go in for rehab. And it was always a positive environment. The guy was exceptional at his job. He deeply cared about the players that he cared for and wanted us to reach our best potential. But he also always had our best interest at heart and not just the best interest of the team. Steve Willard was a phenomenal trainer. And I can remember, you know, being injured on the field. Steve would come out, getting my ankles taped every day, and Steve always taped my ankles. Steve Willard was awesome. And the way that our training room sat at the University of Colorado, Steve's training, our taping station was kind of on the east side of the training room. And our assistant trainer, Andy Holtzapel, was on the west side of the training room.

It was like the same guys got taped by Andy and taped by Steve every day. And so we had like in the training room, it was like east side. West Side, West Side Wars. He was like, it was awesome. Those are the things that I remember so fondly. Steve Willard was phenomenal. And then the doctors as well, if you're training to be a physician, I remember our team doctor, Sharav Podar in general medicine.

Shirov Podar was instrumental in helping me stay healthy. I remember when I got knocked out against Texas and had to stay the night. after the Big 12 championship game in 2005 in a hospital. My parents had flights. They had to leave. My wife at the time, she had a flight. She had to leave. And Chirav Podar stayed with me in the hospital and flew back to Boulder with me that next day.

I do remember that vaguely because of the concussion, but Chirav was there. I remember Chirav being there every time I needed anything. Eric McCarty, when I blew out my shoulder, he was the orthopedic surgeon. on the team. And he was incredible and had such a strong faith. And I always knew that if some, I remember sitting during a game. Okay. So I get thrown to the ground against Washington State as a sophomore. My AC joint pops out. You can kind of see the like lump in my shoulder. It pops out. Bam. Blow out my AC joint. We went into the training room and we're getting an x-ray and he calmly looks at me and he says, Joel, I've got really good news. You can't hurt this shoulder anymore today.

So if you can deal with the pain, we can let you play the rest of the game. And then we can deal with it later. And I said, great. Give me whatever you got. And he put his hand on my shoulder and he prayed for me. I'll always remember that. Eric McCarty was awesome. Thank you guys.

All of you that I just mentioned, I hope this finds its way to your inbox somehow, somewhere. Love you guys. Love you guys. Great question, Alex. Do it. Go into sports medicine. go into football because you can make such an impact on your players careers.

All right. Now, last one from Beverly Christmas, Hampton's Waffle boss. She says, hey, Joel, we're sure you had to fuel up for breakfast back in your days as a quarterback. What was your go-to pre-game workout breakfast? We bet if you were playing today, it would be our Hampton Waffle. There's no doubt it would be the Hampton Waffle now. And in fact, even when I was playing, I always had to have more of a complete breakfast. and so I would always go down and have whatever was out, you know, in our team buffet, the waffle, the pancake, the eggs, the bacon.

I would eat all of that because I always felt like I played better if I got kind of a balanced breakfast. And that's why when I'm traveling now with Hampton, I do the same thing. Every morning I go down and get their breakfast. Their breakfast is awesome. I go down and get a cup of coffee, make a waffle, have some yogurt, some fruit, sometimes some eggs and bacon. I always love that. So I appreciate Hampton for that as well. All right, folks, tomorrow we've got picks.

And by the way, I have not had the opportunity. We've had long shows the last couple of days. And I have not, like, hey, Notre Dame fans, I hear you. I see you in the comments. Yeah, horrific picklacks last week, picking Navy to win out right against Notre Dame. Kudos to the Irish. I was dead wrong. They played great.

Congratulations. And that's why they've got such an amazing opportunity to go to the college football playoff. So they've obviously gotten better and they overcame a lot of those injuries that I was talking about. I am here to eat a little bit of crow. Irish fans, great victory and I was dead wrong. That's what you wanted to hear and that's what I gave you. We'll be back tomorrow with picks and previews, some great games in college football. We'll be back with that one on the Joel Clatchel.