The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Joel Klatt Joins Matt Thomas Ahead Of NCAA Week 10

Episode Date: November 1, 2019

Joel Klatt of FOX Sports joins Matt to talk some College Football

Let's go. And now we're talking college football with Joel Klatt. Brought to you by Dos Ekes, official beer sponsor of the college football playoff. And we will get to Joel coming up in a couple of minutes. He is moving from one location to the next. You're finding a good spot to join us for a weekly business. I know with this on Wednesdays, but we had the World Series on a brain. Ross, how are we going to handle the next six months?

Are we going to spend six months figuring out what could have been? I mean, is this what Dodger fans been dealing with for like the better part of three or four years? Is what could have been? I think, sorry, Matt. I think we're going to be focused on this Houston Texan Super Bowl run, Matt, and the Rockets winning 60 games. You know, they are playing 750 basketball. And they've got a lot of kinks to work out still as well.

I watched NBA last night a little bit of, each of the games are in T&T. I don't know if the NBA is playing any defense at anywhere at this point, right? Honestly, the league is really, really fun right now. The league is fun. Again, granted, I don't know if I want to call every basketball game that I'm calling that it ends up 159-158, but I don't mind 125. I can tell you right now, fans were clinically depressed in the 90s when it was 94-83.

I'd rather have this. Yeah, think back to those like the 2005-5. finals where it was the San Antonio Spurs and the Detroit Pistons. Those games were ending like in the 70s, like even in overtime. Oh, yeah. Yeah, just to think, I called the game that had the most points for the rockets on their side in regulation. Washington shot 63% for the floor, 43% from 3 point, and still lost the game.

And tonight may not be any different. The Nets are averaging giving up 122. Kyrie's second the league in scoring at 35, James is Thompson the league at 37. So yeah, maybe first to 1-30 is tonight's rocket's key to victory. Let's say how to our good friend, Joel Clyde from Fox Sports, who has been nice enough to accommodate and moving to switch to today because of the Wednesday Astro Madness. I got to ask, Joel, you're doing the Oregon-USC game.

Do you at least get mileage from Fox for this long travel trip you've got coming up? Yeah, yes, I expense them the 22-mile drive from, Newport Beach. It's good to be home. I've got to tell you. It's good to do a game on the West Coast. I haven't done a Pact 12 game and a Pact 12 venue for a couple of years now since USC hosted Texas a couple of years ago.

So I'm excited about it. And I think that this Oregon team specifically, they're starting to get the attention of the country. I don't know if you guys feel that down in Houston. I know that you guys have been indicted with that amazing rocket game that you were talking about against Washington. and the series, my condolences, by the way. Thank you.

It was a phenomenal series, but I'm sure that that was super painful for the game seven there at home. But I don't know if Oregon has kind of raised eyebrows around where you're at, but I think that this is a really good team that likely should get at least pretty healthy consideration for the playoff if they continue to win. Well, I do actually have some friends when I used to work to do the University of Utah games that have been asking me, hey, when you have Joel on, can the Pact 12 sneak into the final four this year? Is there any hope of that? I think that there's hope. I don't know if it's a large window of hope, but I think that

there is hope. Obviously, the Oklahoma loss helps them out quite a bit. I know I was just telling you about Oregon, but I actually believe that Utah probably has the better shot. And it's not because they've got a better non-league win or anything from a resume perspective. As much as it is, just they don't have the loss to Auburn. And as you guys know, like, if LSU loses to Alabama, LSU is going to be like, well, we beat Auburn and you didn't. Same with Alabama. If they were to lose the LSU and still beat Auburn and the Iron Bowl,

they would have kind of that head-to-head direct matchup when over a team that Oregon lost to, albeit in the first game of the season. So I think that Oregon's going to have an uphill battle with that. that one loss non-champ potentially out of the SEC West, whereas Utah, they continue to win. If they continue to dominate, and if they were to win the Pac-12 championship, I think people might look out there and say,

you know what, I think Utah could have a better argument as a champ than a non-champ from a difference. Visiting with Joel Clyde here on the Matt Thomas show on the Sports Talks. I mean, Joel is in Los Angeles, where he'll be on the call of Oregon versus USC. I'm here in New York with the Rockets and Nets. Joel, last night, and again, I'll be honest, I didn't see much of it, just saw some highlights, but Baylor is undefeated.

Yeah. We've mentioned a little bit about them, and as I talked with you a couple weeks ago, we had some pretty good debate around these parts of whether Baylor football is going to ever come back. I would think being a top 15 team undefeated this late in the season puts them in their back category. Oh, there's no doubt. And listen, this is way earlier than I expected. I had done some interviews, you know, right after that all went down. And right when Matt got the job, and I thought, you know, with this program's history, this is not OU, this is not Texas.

This is not even, you know, like a Nebraska that can point to some history in their past. This is Baylor, and their most successful history was exactly what they were coming out of. And Matt Rule has done an outstanding job. I said that it would take them a decade or more. and here they are three years later, and they're doing it. And this guy is going to get not only consideration for national coach of the year, which he should get consideration for and strong consideration, but also I think he's going to get real strong consideration for any job out there,

not only at the college level. I think that he could be staring at a potential NFL job. And I'm not suggesting that he's got to leave. If he wants to stay at Baylor, more power to him. He's got something going there. And this is one of those teams. that along with Minnesota, they're just creeping, right? They're just like moving along, moving along,

and then all of a sudden, what we're going to see here in the next few weeks is their ability to jump up there and really make it legitimate, right? Minnesota's got Penn State. You're going to have Baylor-O-U. You're going to have Baylor, Texas on back-to-back weeks. If Baylor gets through those, I mean, my goodness, they're not only in the Catbird seat to go to the Big 12 championship game, but then you're going to have to start considering them a real bona fide playoff contender.

So not only are they back, But this is, you know, they're playing at the top end to college football right now, and more power to them. You and I have discussed in the past about whether or not Lincoln-Ronle would ever want to leave Oklahoma for the NFL. So we'll forget about him unless you want to drop the name. But give me one coach you think would be the first to leave college and go to the NFL? Or do you think at this point that's just, it's just too many speculative things even to throw a name out? Yes, it is. But I will tell you that the names that the NFL has most interest in.

think if you start there, then you can kind of get to a point where you're like, all right, one of those guys will be the first one to go. There's two that they always have interest in. That's Matt Rule and David Shaw. David is an interesting case because it seems like he's running into a bit of a lull right now at Stanford, and it might be the case whereas his kids have grown up a little bit, and maybe it's time for him to move on, but I think Matt Rule or David Shaw would be the two guys. that I put at the top of the list.

And then here's the next one that I think is sneaky. Brian Kelly at Notre Dame, guys. And Brian Kelly at Notre Dame, he might be thinking to himself, is this ceiling for Notre Dame currently? In particular, after last week, when they got their doors blown off against Michigan, he's been to a national championship game.

He's been to a playoff. He's trying to recruit at the highest level in a tough academic institution in the northern part of the country without a great local recruiting base. It's hard to do. That might be a sneaky one that could get some interest from the NFL crowd. I could see him specifically doing well, fitting in Atlanta if they change. And so that's just something to maybe hold in your back pocket.

I'm going to be in Miami tomorrow, Joel, and I'm going to a Miami Hurricane Watch Party against Florida State. As a kid and you and I are comparable in age, Without having a dog on the fight on either side, you wanted to be in front of a television for Miami and Florida State. What the hell? Oh, my gosh, it was the best game. It was the best game of my childhood.

Yeah, what happened to this series? Well, you had, listen, rivalries, and that one I wouldn't say is historic necessarily, like a Michigan and Ohio State that can kind of survive, but you've got to have good competitive teams. And right now, both of those schools are in a spot where they're not, they're not doing it. They're not recruiting very well.

And you know what's interesting about Florida State, and I think this is a tough indictment on Willie, is that when you look at the 24-7 composite rankings, so what that is is that you take every team in America and you basically look at their roster and then you look at what those kids were when they were recruited, four-star, five, star, three-star, whatever it is. And then you can come up with a composite score of like,

well, of the current construction of rosters, who's the best team in the country as they were recruited? What you'll see is Florida State is supposed to be in the top five this year. That is not a good look for Willie Taggart. And I know that they've had some defections and everything, but it's not about where the kids came in. It's about your current roster and the stars that they had attached to their name coming out of high school. So they have not developed well at Florida State. Miami is certainly in flux.

I don't think it helps Miami that they're playing at the Dolphin Stadium. I think part of the mystique of the hurricanes was the old Orange Bowl. And now without a real true home, I don't know if they can ever get back to what we saw from them during the 80s and 90s and even early 2000s. Last question, if you had to hand in your Heisman vote today, who would you give it to? You're not going to like this down to. part of the country, but mine would be Chase Young by a hair over Joe Burrow. And Joe Burrow is going to have a chance to, of course, put his name right at the top of that ballot when he faces Alabama. But, you know, from what I saw and I got to see the entire Auburn game, and he was good.

He wasn't great. He was good. Chase Young's the most dominant player in America. And he's got a lot of factors working on his side as far as a defensive player potentially went in the Heisman trophy. But, yeah, and mine would be Chase Young right now. All right. I love it. We can ask that almost on a weekly basis and maybe even get a different result. I think that you might. You know what?

You're right. You're exactly right. What are we going to get 300 points tonight? Well, let me tell you something. And by the way, I got to tell you, I peeked into the Fox baseball booth when the Astros were playing in Houston last week before I got on the road. Y'all have like 900 cameras, 600 audio. I mean, there is no way as a play-by-play guy you could possibly screw up because you have more cameras and whistles. I'm assuming the college football number one broadcast has the same sort of technological advancement.

So you guys are in a perfect spot to call this game. Me, I'm in the second deck of an NBA arena losing my breath. I didn't call a single miss for like two and a half hours. It was 317 points among friends. It was a great day. Listen, I'm not saying that it wasn't. I can help you out here. even if you don't see anything,

like if it's like vague to you and fuzzy, if you're getting tired, if you haven't had any food, just be like, James on the left wing, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, step back, three. Good. Harton with a three to win it.

And he's got 59. See? Made it. You and I are a great team. I could just figure that out right off of that last 30 seconds right there. back next Wednesday my friend thank you for the time as always you're the best see you we'll see you later Joe Clyde Fox Sports here on the Matt Thomas show

a resident hater of all things James Hardin and that's fine he also hates your puppy too other than that Joel's great all right back on the baseball beat next as we continue to have a little left of the hangover of a world series loss AJ Hinch and Jeff Lunoz spoke to the media we'll hear some of that coming out of the break 115 is our time it is the Matt Thomas show if you want to get in you can do so right now at 713212 5 790