The McShay Show - College Football 101: Arch Manning’s Future, Transfer Portal Names to Know, 2026 NFL Draft Odds, and More

Episode Date: August 11, 2025

Welcome to The McShay Show! Todd and Steve are back from vacation and ready to recap everything you need to know ahead of the 2025 college football season. (0:00) Welcome to The McShay Show! (2:10) Archie says Arch Manning will play at Texas next year (11:01) Odds for the top draft pick in 2026 (14:52) Biggest transfer portal additions (21:30) Top QBs in next year’s draft (24:57) Does an experienced QB matter? (31:43) Will the committee value strength of schedule more? (39:49) Is LSU poised to take over the SEC? (42:22) Texas Tech could contend for a Big 12 title (44:43) Oklahoma should have an improved offense (48:31) New Big Ten players we're most excited to see (54:49) The SEC has playmakers again (1:05:51) Teams that need a good start to the season On Thursday, Todd will be debuting his preseason 2026 Mock Draft. Be sure to tune in and subscribe to The McShay Report for access to his newsletter throughout the college football season. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit ⁠www.rg-help.com⁠ to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Host: Todd McShay Guest: Steve Muench Producers: Mark Panik, Conor Nevins, Daniel Comer, and Mike Wargon Social: Eduardo Ocampo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're back. Mench, I see you there. We are back, man. I hope you've enjoyed your summer. I know Steve and I have, but we're restless. Trust me, the text coming in from MEDs. We are restless, and it's time to go. Big things are happening for this show.

Even while we've been on vacation a little bit, some big news coming up. We'll share some of that today and others will start to share as the month proceeds. But today, we're going to break free from the summer scouting series and get down to business. in college football. It is time, man. Just 11 days until the college football season kicks off and 258 days until the NFL draft. Ments, you good?

I'm great, man. All right. Roll it. Let's keep the tempo rolling today, Mentsch. You know, let's get some new stuff, some information on the show. Let's get it out of the way, okay? The McShay report, newsletter. Spent a lot of time this summer while we weren't watching quarterbacks and players

and evaluated with Connor and Dan and all of our other. other trusted confidants and even, you know, talking to Bill Simmons and like trying to refine what we're doing. You got to remember, we started October 22nd last year in the middle of the season. So we're coming up on our first full season, our first full year of the NFL draft. So we kind of went back and looked and I don't think it's a surprise to anyone, listening to this show, working on this show, being my co-man over there, Mench, I know it's not a surprise to you. I talk too much. I write too much. And we got to refine things.

So a little bit more tempo in the newsletter, a little bit more news, kind of playing off the news, right? Playing off of like, here's my new theory on it. If I'm going to bother your inbox, it better be with something you need or you desire, right? And so that's the whole new strategy. We started it kind of impromptu. How about Arch Manning and his grandfather, Archie, a good friend of mine, coming out and making it kind of like yeah we haven't talked about it but yeah like he's coming back and i saw that and and conner's like hey bud i know we're gonna i know we're gonna start the

whole newsletter like tempo getting in people's inboxes but like it's kind of i need to know what are your thoughts if i need to know then so i'm like yeah i'm literally on the beach get off the beach man we got to know literally so so i dove into this that and like just 30 seconds. It's just how the Manning family operates. And when you're kind of, like there's an inner circle. I ain't in that. And I'm, there's probably another circle and I'm on like the third or fifth.

But like, I'm in a circle in the Manning family. And especially when it comes to Archie. And he's been wonderful to me. And I wouldn't have ever said it publicly, but he came out and I wouldn't have spoken about his support for me had he not just done it publicly and it got blasted all over social media. Yeah, really cool, him talking about, you know, basically I've worked with him over the years to create his list to make sure he has the top guys there working at his camp that also can showcase some of their NFL talents for people who are there and just a chance to work with

Eli and Peyton and refine their skills and get out there and throw before the season. So what I like about the McShay report thing, was it was an even-handed, balanced response to what he said. It wasn't a hot, you're not, you know, McShay report's not a hot take place. No. You're not going to go in there and you're not going to get the hot take on what's happening. I thought you explained it really well.

And if you're someone who's looking to take, there's only so much time on the pod. We can't go two hours. We'd love to go two hours every time. There's only so much pod. So that's why the McShay reports that great addendum to what we're doing, where you want to take a deeper dive or maybe we're not around during the summer, whatever it is, I thought it was a, it was a great, of what the McShake report can provide on top of the pot.

I appreciate that. So I went into all the reasons why I truly believe that is the, they have a process, the Manning's do. That is exactly what the process sounds like. And we've been telling you for months now, just like we told you a lot of things that we're going to happen with Chador and Nussmeyer. And like when you know, because you're talking to the actual people and you know the people who are involved in this, you know the information.

And I've been telling you without, I've never once. I have like my text you can go you can swipe 20 times and that's how and you're still in this last like six months that I've been talking to Archie like I've never once asked him. So was your grandson thinking about coming out after this year and you know what was interesting? I talked to a general manager who's actually close to the Manning family through some different ties and we'll get to all that as we get closer to the draft and as the season progresses. And he said the same thing. He's like he's like, yeah, I don't I don't know. I'm not asking Archie. Not because I'm afraid to ask him.

But like, if you know the mannings, you know the process. The process is we're going to do the right thing. We made a commitment to Texas. And we're going to see that through. They made a commitment to us. And they have done everything that we asked of them. Gradually bring him along. Allow him to play, you know, in certain packages.

And don't thrust him in while he's still developing. And we're going to give you everything that we have. And it goes back and forth. And that's how they do business. And so at the end of the day, the process is the process. Eli shocked people when he came back for his final year. Peyton Manning surprise came back for his. Eli, I think, was a fifth year, okay?

And so it's not about like, where do I get drafted? What number pick am I? It's about are we ready when we get into the league? And we've seen that in the last couple years with Jaden Daniels, Bo Nix, guys were coming in with more starts or having more early success and are more prepared than guys like even Caleb Williams. and certainly like Anthony Richardson and like Mitch Trubisky and Mark Sanchez, the 13 Start Club. Right.

But then there's this other side talking to an actual general manager who actually knows some stuff around it. And his thing was they're going through the process, head down, working, grinding, doing all the things. There's an expectation. Yes, he'll be back. However. One thing to factor in is I don't know that everyone quite understands what his day-to-day life, that being arch, is in Austin, Texas. And it's no fault of anyone's.

It's no fault of Steve Sarkisians, of the program, of the SID, of the president of the school. It's no one's fault. It's inevitable anywhere in the country that he went to school. And Texas is as equipped, if not more than any other program in the country. to shield him from that. They have the resources. They have the money. They have the people. All those sorts of things. But at the end of the day, like, if it's a, he's so generous with his time, he's so kind. I told you, the conversation I had with him was talking one-on-one was so different than most other 18 to 22-year-old young men, like genuinely curious and like talking

and stuff that you don't normally get. But it's going to wear on anyone. And so the bubble's a lot smaller and more intense where you go to get a bottle of water from a convenience store, like a 7-Eleven. And there's 15 selfies and videos and you just feel like you can't breathe sometimes. You get to an NFL city, it's different. So there may have to be a weighing of quality of life versus am I truly prepared to the level I wanted to be prepared, or should I just go to the NFL for a better quality of life and get into a situation, which the mannings can also help dictate,

where maybe I have a little bit more time than expected. So I don't know, just something to think about, and I dove into all of that in the newsletter. Also coming up, I'm excited. Today is college football 101. And like, just, I'm like the juices are flowing. Like, I can smell. You know, it's like 90 degrees out.

I still, like, feel it's starting to come in the air. And I know you, you and I have started. a ton of tape. We also have been, you know, reading and talking to people and all of our sources, and we're ready to start that conversation today. But we're going to kind of pivot, go, right? Thursday, big day. First ever, appropriately early mock draft for 2026, okay? We've had time to study the top players. You and I actually talked about some of the guys. You helped me a lot with the offensive lineman, because I just, I'm not an offensive lineman yet in July in, in the summer. So we'll unveil that. We'll have that show. The newsletter will,

will come out as well. And it's, and that, you know, you'll have the, just subscribe. It's the McShay report. Google it. Subscribe. We also as part of our decision and decision making summer self-valuation, there's going to be a lot more free. A lot more free. And if you decide when you're in there, and I hope you will, but if you decide while you're in there that, hey, like, I got to get the, I got to get the other stuff, then there's opportunity to do that too. But we're just, we're going to flood the market and we're going to be on top of things. It's good like there's going to be times at 10 o'clock at night. Something happens and we just got to respond. That's the kind of going to be coming in. And it's going to come from sources,

tape study, all the things that we do. Okay. Get in now. Get in now. Get in before it all starts. Trust me, you're going to want to be a part of the process. You're going to want to look back and be and say, Big Shea said this in September, whether you want to stick it to them or something we're wrong about or stick it to me about something wrong about go for it but i guarantee there's going to be three or four nuggets you're going to hear now that are come back into play when the college football player falls around or with the draft process starts that really unroll out there's going to be stuff that you're going to hear now you want to be on top of it and then we've got quarterback tears and i know like edwardo's the best clip guy in the whole world and he's on our show and he's going to help cut up

some of the best of what we did early in the summer and then we're going to go through tears and kind of rank and do all that. And then we're going to do the college football breakdown. We're going to come at you hot and heavy. Speaking of that, how about the odds changing after the Arch announcement after the Archie Manning came out and said that that Arch was going to stay? Do you see the odds change?

You sent that email, right? We're now it's Lenora Sellers. And I also, Lenora's sellers out of South Carolina, my guy. And the other one that was really interesting to me was Drew Aller jumped up. The Penn State quarterback is now the second favorite to be the first overall pick, which really surprised me, but that was interesting. Well, I'll give you the list while we're at it. I mean, we're going to bounce around today and we're going to have fun with it.

Sellers is three to one odds. In April, the first day of the draft, he was 33 to 1 or 28th of April it was, 33 to 1. He's now 3 to 1. What's interesting about Aller, he's number two in terms of the odds to be the top draft pick, the number one overall pick, not at the quarterback position, number one overall pick. he went from five to two which is like 2.5 to 1 if I do my math right to 7 to 2 which is 3.5 to 1 so higher odds but tied for second with Garrett Nussmeyer and the guy who I've got ranked number one number one of the quarterbacks is Kade Klubnick and he's 4 to 1 so those three guys those four guys sorry

sellers all or Nussmeyer clubnick are the the odds on favorites to be the number one overall pick. And then it really drops. Then Archmanning, obviously with that, with his grandfather coming out and saying that takes some of the pressure. I was like, come on, guys, let's just worry about the season. He's down to 15 to 2. Then Sam Levitt is 16 to 1. Mendoza, Fernando Mendoza, who obviously transferred from Cal to Indiana. We did a whole podcast. You can go back, all these quarterbacks. Just YouTube, Spotify, Apple, just type in, you know, the McShay show on YouTube. You can go find all the the video of that, the same for Spotify.

And then if you just want to listen to the shows, we did a deep dive into all these top quarterbacks that we're talking about. So that's kind. I might have to take a chance and put some money on Arch with those numbers. Because you never know. Again, we don't think I don't think,

I really don't think he's coming out. But with those odds, maybe throw a little bit at it and take a shot at it. Oh, I absolutely would. Because I just told you the plan is the plan. Right. And senior, senior knows the plan. Archie knows the plan, but plans can change due to unique circumstances and 2025 is not,

was it, 2001, 2002 when Eli came out and certainly not 1998 when Peyton came out. If I guess those, right, I'll be proud of it. But that's ballpark. It's 25 or so years later, you know, 23, 25, 26 years later. And the whole world has changed. So that's it. So we're fired up. We're like we're prepared more than we've ever,

ever have been before. And we're doing it differently than we've ever done it before. And we finally get a preseason to ramp up to get everyone involved. So, oh, final thing. We just got news. We will have more details on Thursday. But I'm fine. I'm fine, Munch's ass out of New Hampshire again.

You're always jumping the gun. I think Connor told us not to make the announcement yet, but here we go. All right. Mench and I are going somewhere early in this season, and we want you to be there and join us. I'm not telling you what it is. I'm not saying it's a live show or anything like that. I'm just saying on Thursday, be prepared.

We're going to have some more news. And after that I've got even more news that I'm working on that Munch doesn't even know about later in this month. So we like, here we go. All right. Mench quickly, tell the fine folks how they can support the show so we can move on. go go to youtube hit the follow button uh on um on the youtube channel subscribe at spotify you can find us at all everywhere you can find your podcast and and more more than that tell your friends about it tell your mom about it tell your dad about it tell your cousin about it get

the word out it doesn't always have to be the like follow share all that stuff we appreciate all that stuff get it out there word of the mouth too let everyone know our moms like it yeah why wouldn't yours a little biased little biased why wouldn't yours um here's where I want to start with college football 101. We're going to do a few shows on, you know, the rankings and really dive deep into this. I want to bounce around. Like what's, like what's jumping out to us? And I feel like it's just today's day and age.

Like the transfer portal is so critical and is so impactful that I just want to start throwing out some names and see where we go with this. Okay. First of all, I feel like we have to talk about every year now it's going to be the case. This year, it's the case. We've got some major names moving into major programs, okay? And I'm going to give you a list right now. And whatever jumps out to you, just respond, Mitch. John Mateer from Oklahoma, we talked about day two grade.

Brickin fun to watch on tape, man. The fullback. Mechanics are a disaster. Legs like a full back. None of it makes sense except the result. And the result is a beautiful thing. Just rips the ball from his, just snaps his wrist. and he's just like one of those gamers, this competitive.

I just, I love this guy, and I'm excited to see him in Oklahoma. Same coordinator, new place. That offense needed a more than a jolt. They needed, like, what is it when you, the defibrillator? They needed one of those. Carson Beck, from Georgia to Miami, one of the most fascinating, certainly the most high profile transfers in the portal this year. Fernando Mendoza, I just mentioned.

I'm talking guys, like, he's not there yet. But to summarize a 50-minute show that we did earlier in late June or early July, and you go back and watch it, he's got the tools to be a first-round pick. And I like a lot of things on tape. And what Indiana is going to like is they were so damn good. They weren't not so damn talented, but so damn good up front in terms of like cohesiveness and blocking together. and they had a pinpoint accurate quarterback in Rourke,

and they did so many things well. But when push came to shove against better competition, they didn't have mobility at the quarterback position. And now they get Mendoza who can be all the things that they had with their previous quarterback plus that mobility. I'm excited to see what Signetti and the gang have cooked up for Mendoza. Then our boy, Nico, I Amali, EMA Leava.

E. M. I mean, big, big news. Everyone knows the story. Like, he messed with the bowl and he kind of got the horn. So let's see how it works out at UCLA. Tommy Castellanos at FSU from BC. I read all these magazines, all these publications. No one's talking about that. He played right up the road here, played right up the road here, the heights.

you may not like the way some of the things he does. I'm certain a lot of people in this area don't love the departure and how that ended, but he is a playmaker. And at FSU, they've got to bounce back. And they've obviously made some moves in the transfer portal and recruiting and everything else. Miller Moss, nobody knew about Tyler Shuck last year. Shuck is more talented than Miller. Moss. I promise you that. By the way, everyone's killing Shuck until he went in for his first

preseason game and all of a sudden, oh, maybe he's not as bad. People need to calm down with their overreactions to everything right now. But go ahead. Yeah, Shuck through a pick six and could have kind of, you know, folded a letter effective mentally and it didn't at all. Right. He wound up completing like, what was it, 18 of 24, like 184 yards, something like that. Calm down. It's going to play out. It'll play out. It'll play out. And you know what? He's going to have some real downs and he's going to have some high. But that's part of the process. And you know what? This is what we said during the process?

He's uniquely prepared for that because of his career and the three different stops and the seven different years and all that. Miller Mastow, now the Brahms brothers get their hands on another transfer whose career has not gone the way he wants and has some talent, not as talented as shuck, not as fast, doesn't have quite the arm. But I saw him at the Manning Passing Academy. I kind of like the way he carries himself. He's kind of, I don't know.

I think that they're going to do some good things there in Louisville and transferring obviously from USC. And Gio Lopez is the last one I'm going to mention. You can take all of this anywhere you want to go, Mitch. South Alabama to UNC, the hat backwards, crooked, doesn't look anything like. Doesn't look any. It's short, but like unbelievably athletic, snaps the ball off.

He jumped out. Of all the quarter, like, I went to see certain quarterbacks at the Manning Passing Academy. And we know the names. Sellers. Clubneck. Nussmeyer, obviously. And a handful of others.

I was disappointed that Aller wasn't there. I was disappointed that Mendoza wasn't there, even though he desperately wanted to be. Because I dropped my pen. But then this Gio Lopez guy stood out. And he was just ripping the ball. And I'm not talking about NFL draft. I'm talking about college football this year.

Bill Belichick chose him. And he doesn't look at anything like Brady and he doesn't play anything like Brady, but there's a reason. I'm fascinated to see how that goes at UNC this year. Let me give you an under the radar guy. Okay. Caden Salter from Liberty,

transferring to Colorado, through for almost 6,000 yards and 56 touchdowns at Liberty in four seasons and ran for over 2,000 yards. I think when you look at him, it's not Shador. He's not that pinpoint, pick you apart, pocket basser. That offense is going to look a lot different.

But if Colorado is going to be competitive, that kid's going to have to have a big year. And he's talented. It just seems like he's a player that no one's talking about. But he's one of those transfer quarterbacks that I think at the end of the year could surprise you with what he does. You made an interesting point to me,

Mention about the landscape with the quarterbacks and the top 10 teams. And I want you to share that with everyone and kind of take me deeper into what you were able to find. But I do think it's fascinating that we've got, here, I was texting with Rosillo last night, right? He just asked me a question out of the blue.

It's like 10 o'clock last night. And he's like, how, you know, how many quarterbacks do you have in the first round? And he was talking about, who are the SEC guys? Just curious, don't need, just give me a loose answer. So I just started, you know, but I'm like, I'm just going to send a few names and I kind of got going and I'm sitting out in the porch and I'm like, yeah.

I was like, excluding all. Arch, you get Clubnik, Nuss, Sellers. I said with Sellers, I wanted him to go back for another year, but he's up, as we saw by the current odds, right? After that, I said, maybe Mendoza, if he takes that next step, I said, I'm not completely sold on Aller, but you're going to have a lot of people who are, including people who set those odds, right? I'm also, I'm not like, I'm not selling Beck as a, as a round one guy, but certainly another.

Basically, the Aller and Beck are two other names you're going to hear that I'm not as high on. Let's just call it what it is, okay? I said, but here's the thing. There's a handful of other guys that really like their potential. I see them as day two guys and or like potential risers this year. Keep an eye out. You know, like Carson Wentz, I told NC State coming in the year before. Nobody knew about him all of a sudden.

we're talking about number two overall pick. Cam Ward last year. Like there's some guys here that could have big years. And I said, I said, Avery Johnson, Miller Moss, Gio from UNC. I'm not saying second. I'm just saying these are other guys. Oh, no, sorry. With the day two and or risers, I said those are included in that list could be

Mateer and Leavitt. John Mateer now at Oklahoma, Levitt coming back for first full year. Well, coming back for a second year at Arizona State. Then I said, other names that could have big years, too, like Avery Johnson, Miller Moss. I said, I like the UNCGO and the Washington kid. Both are undersized guys. I'm not talking about NFL, but like they're going to have big years, I think. And I said, that's a ton of freaking names.

And then I said, I said, it's going to be a fun year. After that, I said, oh, by the way, Sawyer Robertson, Baylor, he's got some shit too. And he's kind of my long shot guy that could be a big riser. So that, I'm not going to sit back and count, but that's like 12, 13 names I just ripped up and ripped off. And that's not even everyone. So this is going to be a fun year in college football. But what's fascinating is I also get a text from Mench being like, yeah, that's great, Todd, for the draft. But there's some unknown.

So take it from here. It is, listen, it's great for the draft. And what I'm going to, and I'm super excited about it. What I'm going to talk about is a small sample size. I acknowledge that. quarterbacks don't necessarily win or lose games. It's the whole team, some of these guys that I'm going to get into. I just want to, you know, disclaimer here.

They were overmatched roster-wise, okay? I'm just going to say that. But let's go back to a year ago when the top 10 teams or the first rankings came out, the coaches poll on the AP, what we are today. Okay? This year and last year, the same thing. Same top 10 teams, slightly different orders, but those polls have the same top teams, 10 teams. Last year, when you looked at those teams, only when you looked at their,

Michigan was, when you looked at those top 10 teams, Michigan was the only team of the top 10 that didn't have a quarterback coming back with fewer than 13 starts. And you fast forward, Michigan ends outside of the top 25. So Michigan's the only team in the top 10 to start the season last year that had a quarterback coming in who had fewer than 13 starts. Everyone else had 13 or more starts in the top 10, the nine other programs. And then, go ahead. Then what happened to Michigan? Whenever I do math, my head starts to spin.

Outside the top 25, right? Yep. So then fast forward to the first year of the expanded playoff, right? 12 teams. Michigan is the only team that finished outside the top 25, or they finished outside the top 25. Florida State also did too. For other reasons.

Yeah. Okay. Right. So they weren't the only team that did that, but it's interesting that of the one team, The one team that had an inexperienced quarterback did not finish in the top 25. Fast forward to the 12-team playoff. First year we have it, right? And again, small sample size.

The four quarterbacks who were not, we were first-year starters, all lost the first game they played. That was Tennessee, Boise State, SMU, Arizona State. Some of those, I mean, Levitt played his tail-off against Texas. So don't get me wrong. It's not all about these quarterbacks. We're not talking about the quarterbacks right now. We're talking about how well teams are going to do going forward. Okay?

So that was just last year. The four guys who were first year starters all lost their first game in the playoffs. There was only one team that had in the top 10 that had a first year starter and that was Michigan. Fast forward to this year. We got Texas first. I'm doing the coaches poll. Texas is first. Archie Manning has two starts.

Ohio State, Ryan Day has a named a starter. But when he does, it's going to be a first year guy. Then you got Penn State. You got Aller coming back. Gunner Stockton, first year starter. Notre Dame. CJ Carr, it looks like, probably. Could be Kenny Menci.

First year starter. Oregon. Dante Moore started five games at UCLA. I don't consider that a full season of starter. That was also two years ago, didn't play at all, really limited playing time last year at Oregon. They're number seven. Alabama, first year starter.

I mean, you're starting to look at these teams and I'm saying to myself, look, I'm not talking about how Dante Moore is, I mean, wildly talented. Julian's saying from Ohio State wildly talented. These guys are all talented. No, no, I know that. It's a great point. But I'm looking, I'm spinning this forward and I'm saying to myself, does having an experienced quarterback,

is that going to matter when it like push comes to shove? And you're looking at all the other talented quarterbacks that you mentioned. A lot of them are outside that top 10. Are we in a month or two months from now talking about how, man, there was a lot put on these young quarterback shoulders and some of them weren't ready for it. And that's open the door for some of these more seasons guys to step in. So we'll see.

It's something we'll keep an eye on with seasons going forward. with the new expanded playoff, but it's something that jumped out to me earlier. I should never do math. My head starts to spin, but it is interesting. No, it is. And you look at, I mean, I'd have to go back, but like, Michigan in 2023, J.J. McCarthy experienced starter, Georgia in 2022 and 2021. Was that both, what's his name with the rant?

No, no. no no not bad sets a benna yeah yeah sorry um Alabama in 2020 was that to uh two I think Tua came in was that the year he came in in the playoff to replace Jalen Hertz or was that the year after you I'll say this about LSU and 19 was Burroughs Clemson 26 or 2018 was that was a young that was a young Trevor Lawrence. But yeah, it's just an interesting point. I like it. With JJ McCarthy and Michigan lost to that TCU team, that was J.J. McCarthy's first year. First year, yeah, early. So it's not, we'll see. Yeah, we'll see. But it's something to keep an eye on. The word you use when you text

me, it creates a lot of potential for volatility. I love that, yeah. There's a lot of volatility here. And I'm excited about that. I also think it also spins into what we're going to talk about with some of the transfer portal stuff, which is, I mean, you look at these. teams and Ohio State 14 guys drafted, Georgia, 13 guys drafted, 12 at Texas, 10 at Oregon. Now you have the LSU lost four offensive linemen, including Will Campbell. You have now all this portal stuff's going on. The volatility in college football, I don't think has ever been higher. And I love that.

I think that's actually exciting because there are so many unknowns. We're sitting here trying to preview the college football season. I'm like, man, wait until the lights come on. I have no idea. Like on paper, this all looks great, man. This all looks great. You got this guy from that team and this school. They brought in a starting center from Troy,

and they got a receiver from Virginia and all of these things. And it looks really good. But, man, they haven't played a snap together in competitive football. I mean, old miss was the portal king last year. I get it. Didn't make the playoff. That's what I'm saying. And so, and Ohio State won the national championship.

And yeah, they spent a bleep ton of money. but look at how much money was spent on that defensive side to keep the players there. What was it? How many 14 players drafted from Ohio State last year? 14 from Ohio State. It was either eight or nine on the defensive side. Those guys, I think every one of them. I think every one of them was a like three, four, five year player.

Ohio State, okay. Caleb Downs was the only guy who came in. and they brought in Quinshawn Judkins. Caleb Downs was the only significant piece that was a... From Alabama, yeah. From Alabama. Right. At the safety position. And obviously a star.

But they had eight other eight or nine other guys who got drafted. That they had to fork up the money to keep them in school and keep them in that school. Right? Yeah. They were homegrown. And they had Trayvion and Henderson and Juddkins, Quinshan Juddkins, yes, they had to pay him a couple million and whatever it was to come in from Ole Miss. And that certainly played a factor.

Their run games certainly like, no question. But of all those guys, like you're talking two or three that made massive impacts that were transfer portal guys. And then you look at Ole Miss, they like, holy, like, I can't believe all this talent. And Ole Miss did have all that talent. And they had a bunch of players drafted, that whole defensive line, right? But they didn't make the college football playoff. So there's something still to the cohesion and the development within a program.

So how do you balance all this stuff? Can I ask you this? Are we going to start? Are teams going to start this? Because I wanted to get into the college football playoff committee at one point, right? Because they did the right thing with the seating. The seating is no longer tied to conference wins. The top four teams in the rankings get bys.

Right thing to do, glad they're doing. Absolutely. There's a no-brainer, yeah. Are they going to pay more attention to strength to schedule? this year because it seemed like last year's strength of schedule was not that important to them when you look at a team it was all about wins and losses SMU had one less loss than in Alabama or an Ole Miss and they thought that that was so listen to me are we going to start seeing softer schedules to start the year are we listening i'm listening to you is the texas

ohio state clemson lSU uh matchups are they going to go away i'm listening to you the same way the same damn way that I listened to the same executives that came up at the college football seminars that we had in Orlando or Hartford, Connecticut, or wherever else it was with the top analysts in the freaking world there. And all these executives from rules officials to to, you know, ESPN, Disney, ABC, like there were probably a billion dollars worth of salaries and revenues in that room. And every year it was the same thing that we're going to balance all of these factors. And we're going to have some coaches in there and some analytics. And it went from the BCS to the computers to like committee.

And at the end of the day, yeah, it's maddening. But like what are we going to do in the show? Sit here and like complain about it. And like, yes, I'm hopeful, Steve. I was hopeful for 15 years sitting in those meetings that we were going to have people who understood how difficult it was to play in an SEC schedule. And that it's not just about the one week. And Big Ten, but whatever, yeah.

And Big Ten, yes. Absolutely, this past couple of years, absolutely the Big Ten. But I think what gets lost is the wear and tear and what it does to a program. But I don't want this show today to go down that road. Awesome point. valid. Hold on. We all hope.

What do you want me to tell you? If our hopes don't, what I'm asking you is the next, the next step. If we, what we hope doesn't happen. And you're the athletic director for an LSU. And are you now not scheduling and out, tough out of conference schedule? Because why would you? Yeah. You know, all these games, we're getting, we're getting Texas, Ohio State.

We're getting Clemson LSU right out of the game. It's a dream. It's so awesome. But going forward, why would programs do that? And it's important for the listeners who don't know. And I assume a lot of people do, but maybe not. These schedules are done like five, sometimes 10 years in advance. So like, do teams start backing out? I mean, we've seen that happen before.

Teams start backing out of commitments. Stranger things have happened in college football. Texas, Ohio State, LSU Clemson. Is Notre Dame, Texas, A&M? Alabama, Florida State, okay? Notre Dame Miami UCLA Okay

TCU Bill Belichick Yeah That's the first week Michigan and Oklahoma The second week Plus like Iowa Iowa State Arizona State Mississippi State Kansas Missouri it's okay

But the third week is awesome again Georgia Tennessee Florida LSU Alabama Wisconsin Yeah, that's a good point. Right. I mean, some other teams, I'm just pulling it up now. I'm not going to see who these teams are.

But there are going to be some teams playing, you know, Delaware. There are going to be some teams that are playing these lower end competition out of schedule. And, you know, do care for what you ask for. I always think about App State Beach, Michigan. I hear you. The only thing we have working on our advantage. And again, I don't want to spend too much of that. But the only thing we have working to our advantage as football, college football fans is, like, money is,

always run this sport and every other sport. Let's not lie to it. That's true. That is true. And now more than ever, you look, I read something recently. I forget the numbers like $200 something million that Texas had as an operating budget for football last year. But it was like they only netted like 20 or 12 million or something because they, because it was a, it was revenue versus budget, you know, very simple math.

revenue versus expenses. And so you have 246 million or whatever the number was in revenue, but $212 or $220 million went out in expenses to pay these players to have the facility. They just put in new lockers. The new locker room with the locker with chairs and lockers. Unbelievable. They're so sick. We had a fucking folding chair.

or metal folding chair in college. We had, at Richmond, there was a freshman locker room and then an upper class. Yes. I'm not kidding. The freshman locker room was, it was a storage closet. I mean, it was a glorified storage closet. Oh. So my point is, you got to pay the bills.

So you got to play some games. It's true. All right. So I do, I love that about like the volatility. I think coming into the year, we've got so many great teams. and programs that we know and that we know the coaching. We know the recruiting. We know what they've brought in.

We know some of the portal stuff. But we don't know like the quarterback position and how they're going to mesh the portal stuff. Right. Right. What I do know is this while Ole Miss was a very good team and quite honestly, probably should have gotten into the college football playoff last year, but didn't. I saw that look. Um, there are some other LSU now is taking on the, the SEC mantle apparently. I just, I love this stuff.

It's like the gossip and the especially down south, man. I've got myself a southern, a southern woman. I love the, like I've been traveling down south of the SEC my whole life in the ACC and the big 12 and I just love the passion and the, you know, but I also love, I don't love necessarily, but I'm always fascinated by like the boo. booster clubs and in what goes into all this. And LSU apparently was like, we got Nussmeyer one more year. Open it up.

I would love to see the text messages, the emails, the phone calls. Hey, buddy. This is our, you know. Let's go. Let's go. On Tuesday, August 26, it's Fan Dual Futures Day. A new holiday for football fans. It's 24 hours of deals on all your football season predictions.

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because Futures Day is one day and one day only. Fan Duel, play your game. Must be 21 and older in present in select states are 18 and older and present in D.C., Kentucky, or Wyoming. Gambling problem? Call 1-800 gambler or visit RG-Helpshelp.com. Call 1-888-78-8-9-777 or visit ccpg.org backslash chat in Connecticut. Tigers allocated more NIL funds is what I read to this portal cycle than any other program in the country.

And I'll get to the other that was just behind him, apparently. I mean, if you believe all the reporting. But the reporting is, I understand the jumping off point is it's inaccurate because there's so many private deals. But essentially, LSU and Texas Tech are the two programs that just... Who had Texas Tech number two before he said it? Texas A&M, Texas Tech, man. I know. But LSU, they opened it up.

Jack Pieburn from Florida, Patrick Payton from Florida State, two edge rushers. LSU's always got edge rushers. They haven't developed the guys that they wanted, apparently. So they brought in two guys to make sure that they always got edge rushers. And weapons for Nuss. They brought in some weapons for Nuss. Brian Kelly, like, now can he do, and I'll get to some, I'll get to LSU in a little bit with the weapons,

and I want to get to the SEC and all the weapons in a little bit. But can Brian Kelly do what Lane Kiffin couldn't do and make it all gel to a national championship level. Lane did it. They were a damn good football team. They just, it wasn't, they couldn't take that next step. So I'll be fascinated to see. And now Nuss, and the reports are that Garrett Nussmeyer, this, this Patella tendon, tenneditis, whatever it is in his knee, they call it a 1.5 out of 10. It's nothing to see here, right? But I told you last year, it was unique to me because I don't often see from a quarterback that the season wore on the quarterback and his he didn't have the same twitch and urgency mentally he did physically his body couldn't he just it was too much on him they got to run

the football this year and that's the number one thing if you're an lsu fan like going back and watching the amount of tape that we've watched and talking to the people we've talked to that have kind of the inside knowledge of the system, the personnel, like, if they can't run the football significantly better than last year, it's going to end with this. With four, with four offensive linemen that got drafted, including the guy who got drafted fourth overall. They couldn't run with that group. I know.

So, I know. I mean, you better figure it out. So I'm just going through a few of the top portal. Like these are the programs that think that they have solved all the issues and put throwing a lot of money at it. and now it's kind of on the coaching staff to make it all work. LSU, as I mentioned, Texas Tech, the Red Raiders NIL collective. I love this name.

It's called the Matador Club, El Matador Club, right? Cody Campbell, the top booster has been very vocal. Like, it's been, you know, I just love this stuff. 16 transfers from the portal class, number one ranked portal class, according to a couple of different places. Doesn't matter. 16. Three offensive linemen, four cornerbacks.

four defensive linemen, including Edge David Bailey, who we could be talking about. We'll see if he's in my mock, my appropriately early mock draft that's going to drop on Thursday, and we'll do an entire show surrounding it, okay? So Joey McGuire now, head coach, 23 and 16, I think he's right. Yeah, 23 and 16 during three years. It's pretty good. They haven't had great talent. They lose Tage Boyd, right?

Or sorry, Taz Brooks. Brooks. Yeah, sorry. Tos Brooks and like 15, yeah, 1505 he rushed for last year. So they lose that. But now you got all these other. And now we're in the Big 12, right? Not as not the competition level of certainly the SEC and Big Ten and even the ACC.

I would agree. Arizona State still the top dog. Sam Levitt returns. Scataboos out. They brought in a running back transfer. They're going to have two or three man rotation. they're going to spread things out more. It's going to be Levitt's offense, not Scatiboods, not the run game.

Jordan Tyson, yep. Jordan Tyson, a wide receiver leading the charge, yes. BYU, Kansas State with Avery Johnson, Iowa State with Rocko Beck, Beller, with my guy, Sawyer Robertson, who I mentioned before, maybe Utah brought in some transfers as well, but in that offensive line, you love those tackles. I love that offensive line. I watched some just to make sure that I agreed with you and I do. But I would put, so I mentioned all.

those other programs, BYU, Kansas State, Iowa State, Baylor, Utah. Based off of like the portal and all this talent coming in, there are a lot of people that believe it could be ASU, Top Dog, and Texas Tech. And I haven't even mentioned Colorado, right? Like, so that's going to be fascinating in the Big 12. Oklahoma, our guy Jim Nagy, senior executive director or executive director of the senior bowl. of ours for 25 years or so dating back to my first job coming out of college sleeping on

Gary Horton's couch in Midtown Manhattan in a one bedroom and going up to the office in 57th and 7th I think it was and every day I'd open up a door to a okay-sized office and with an awesome view but a Gary in one corner naggy in the other corner and me sandwiched between the two It was a one person office for Mike George, the agent at the time. Three of us were plugged right in there. So I've known Jim a long time and you have two. But Jim comes in and the program's committed to making sure that they bounce back. I don't know.

I can't think of a better combo than Mathier and Ott for an offense that was struggling. Yeah, it's got to bounce back. It wasn't as good last year. He's banged up. Well, yeah, the injury in the first or second game last year. Yeah. We were talking about him as like a second or third. third round pick at Cal is at the running back position. I agree.

Got to get the offensive line right too, though. I mean, they've got to get that offensive line right. You're in the SEC now. That was a big problem for them last year. If they can get that offensive line right, it's going to be interesting. Yes. I love Mateer. I don't think he's the best quarterback. I wouldn't say that, the best transfer reporter quarterback, but he might be my favorite. Yeah, and our guy, Connor, who's our executive producer on the show. It was his, it was his midnight snack every week, just watching. watching like we started last year in October. I think by November Connor was talking about material.

Have you guys seen this guy with here? Have you seen him in the tear? Yeah. And now I get why he wouldn't shut up about him. Truly like he not only is he really talented and successful and competitive and all the thing. He's just a blast to watch every so fun. You have no idea. So Oklahoma is going to be a lot more fun this year.

And I think when we go to our rankings in a couple weeks with the top 50 I think Oklahoma is going to be in there for me. Speaking of Oklahoma, Jackson, Jackson Arnold, transferred from Oklahoma to Auburn. Putting a lot of stock in that, right? They had an awesome report of class too. Eric Singleton, absolute flipping burner.

It's like 4-28, I'm told he could run. Something crazy from Georgia Tech, Horatio Fields. I'll get to the kind of the weapons in the SEC below. Oregon, another program. Dylan, uh, Tinaman. Go ahead, Dan. I don't know how to say it either. Text me in the private chat, how I screwed it up again.

This one's on me. The first time's on Dylan. The second one's on me. Dan Lanning also added seven other starters or seven other players that were starters for their previous program, okay, in the portal, including Mackay Hughes, two time, thousand-yard rusher, two lane, and three offensive linemen, including Isaiah World, who check on Thursday might be in my first round as well, okay? And three defensive backs.

So a lot of portal stuff for some big programs, LSU, Oklahoma, Auburn, Oregon, and then this wild card coming out of nowhere. We know where the money's coming from, still drilling into that ground. But Texas Tech put some oil into it, man. All right. I want to get through the Big Ten. I'm going to give you three names that I'm really excited to see. And you can go anywhere you want on the Big Ten.

You can go anything. I don't care. Again, new newcomers. Penn State desperate. This is one trend that I saw throughout. And especially in the SEC. we'll get to in a second. But one turn I saw is some big-time programs were desperate for playmakers on the perimeter.

Penn State was like chief among them. They brought in, brought in Trebor Pena from Syracuse, 510, 186, not even a burner, but just a great, like a really good football player. Former five-star had 84 catches last year, led the ACC. and you now give Alar a weapon on the outside. They've got to get the receivers more involved because they don't have a first round tight end, right? Right.

Although I like their tight ends. Although Frank Leonard thinks they might. Yeah, I like Dinkins and Reynolds. I think they have, they're not, it's not Tyler Warren, but they have two pretty good tight ends. My point is that Aller, like, you have to believe that Alar is going to have to advance his game and be able to throw to receivers when they're running away from him

with accuracy and timing. And if he doesn't, Penn State season's not going to be the season they wanted, and Aller's not going to get drafted where he wanted to get drafted. And I think Panya is going to be a big part of that. But you can't deny the one-two punch they got it running back. No. No. I'm a massive fan of Nick Singleton.

I think he's, I don't know if he was in the conversation for you, but I think he's got a chance to go early next year. And Ketron Allen might not be as naturally gifted, but damn, he's a good running back. He's just a good back. And Singleton could be in that first round much as well. So yeah. Yeah. And I'm interested to see how they use those guys.

I mean, the Penn State's going to get creative with how they use both of those guys at the same time. I think they did that last year. Singleton almost lined up in an H-back spot. And by the way, kind of reminded me a little bit of Trayvion Henderson when I went back and watched the tape with how willing he is to block. He had some monster blocks in the run game for Penn State last year. Okay. Michigan running back Justice Haynes

Alabama I don't think he's like he's not special special but he's he's got a chance to be a really good player and I think he fits that offense Chip Lindsay comes in from UNC he's bounced around he's been with some really bright minds over his career

and he did some really good things at UNC and they're kind of entrusting him to maintain the integrity of Michigan football, offensive line play, run the ball. But let's like maybe not have five tight ends on the field at once. Let's try to like a-

Seven offensive linemen. Let's advance things a little bit. We got Underwood Undercenter, right, coming in, who's going to have some bumps in the road, first year starter, pop, but very talented. And now we get a little bit of kind of mobility. No matter what, like how hard the first year stuff is for Underwood. it's going to be better than what they had a quarterback last year.

And Lindsay adds a little bit of, like obviously Omari and Hampton, downhill runner, kind of try to spread little things out some more, create some creases. And I think that's what Haynes has brought in to do. I'm interested to see, but you got to remember they lost Donovan Edwards and much more importantly, Kelle Mullings last year with 1537 combined rushing yards. So he better be ready to step in. And it's going to be a rotation, but I think Haynes has got a chance to be a big impact player and another guy in the big 10 and i know this isn't like sexy to talk about but

ohio state lost two two two tackles the first round right donovan jackson went earlier than we thought and um the chiefs drafted um uh Josh Simmons my gosh Simmons thank you they said a brain squeeze um at 32 right or 31 and Seth McLaugh on the center graduated and I think he signed as an undrafted free agent right they They got some work to do up front. So Ethan Anyanwa from Rice comes in, and apparently this guy is talented. I'm not going to sit here and lie to you and say, I've watched Anianwa's tape from Rice. He's next to my list, man.

I've heard some things. I got to watch him too. But he's 6'6, 357 pounds, and Ohio State chose him. Right. I'm interested. They also added Max Claire, who we both like from Purdue. I watched enough of his tape. and there was somebody else too but but i'm interested to see with that tackle position that

offensive line and then and then claire at tight end i'm interested to see what those two guys do i love claire i think he's got a chance to be really special i think he's going to do some big things from them this year i do we've already talked about two names feeling bad for peru peru lost some talent they lost they lost the safety to oregon they lost claire to ohio state the edge will help the edge to Clemson. Clemson. That's the flip side of the portal, man. I mean, it feels like Purdue got raided.

Did a great job of bringing these young kids in. And that's the reality of it. It's just the nature of it. I'm always like, make sure you're an SEC home or blah, blah, blah. I was, it was punishing watching programs like, like Georgia last year without weapons. It was even hard, like Alabama, obviously Ryan Williams, absolutely awesome. But didn't have anything next. opposite him, like not, didn't have anything.

It just felt like it was very like we've got to get the ball to one spot. But I actually going back, I like Jeremy Bernard. I think it was more of a quarterback thing, quite honestly, than it was. So I'm going to rip through. Here, like the SEC has been down by standards. Very clearly, if not in one, they've been number two. And they've been the number two conference the last two years by most people's accounts. okay and I wouldn't I wouldn't disagree champs are the champs it is what it is

but I think one of the things that's been missing is like playmakers difference makers yes he's always had awesome defense and they've always had dudes like play you know offensive playmakers and only recently if in the last like seven eight years maybe 10 years now had top quarterbacks too to go with it but I want to just rip off some names you ready for this mention go Alabama Isaiah Horton comes in former five star broke out for Miami last year, 56 catches, 616 yards, five touchdowns, six foot four. He goes opposite Ryan Williams.

Which puts Bernard in the slot. I mean, think of the matchups Bernard's going to get, yeah. I mean, everyone slides into their spot. So is Ty Simpson, who's an upgrade as a passer, not nearly, but is he good enough to take this offense to another level? That's going to be fascinating to watch. Georgia. Wide receiver's been a problem for a long time. Consistent production, whether it's guys with drops, not feeling that, you know, feeling

that they're blocking more than they're going out for routes. The tight ends are too involved. The running backs are too involved, all that stuff. But Zachariah Branch comes in, former five-star, USC transfer. He's a burner, 435. Gunner Stockton's got to rely on Branch and some other guys that have already been there, like Dylan Bell. and then the tight ends, Lawson Lucky and Delp, Oscar Delp.

But, oh, and by the way, Nate Frazier, super talented running back. Got to protect the ball better, but like, but this is, so there's weapons there. Can Gunner Stockton play at the level? And they were perfectly fine letting Carson Beck go. But is Stockton going to be able to sustain that for the entire year? Massive question down in Athens. LSU. Nick Anderson, right?

Former five star, you at, no, no, no, no, sorry. Nick Anderson, yeah, he's the big, he's the big, he's the six, four, 216 pounder, okay? Average 20 yards per catch in 20, 223 at Oklahoma, injured most of last season, didn't have a catch. Huge weapon, though, for Nussmire that size, 6,4, 216. Florida, Dallas Wilson comes in. Five-star freshman. This isn't a transfer. Five-star freshman.

Apparently, this guy is the goods. I'm pumped to watch him. 6-3-209. You're ready for this? Lagway, I might have this guy. Another speedy receiver in Florida. Yeah, but 6-3-209. He had 10 catches, 195 yards, and two touchdowns in the spring game.

Okay. And we saw last year, Jeremiah Smith, Ryan Williams, some of these guys that were freshmen come in. That's a position you can absolutely have a massive impact. And he's going to, I believe, have one for Florida this year. He's also got a brutal schedule. But we're going to find out. Billy Napier can't win, man.

Yeah, but maybe he can. Yeah, you know what? I'm saying, you're right. I should have worded it right. I should have worded it differently. But your point was well taken. But it's like, pro to go. But they might just be that good.

they honestly might just be that good that D-line Ely Banks is that quarterback if 100% can stay you know Ole Miss is a Dizan Dizan Stripling Here's a Washington straight transfer

Washington State transfer Oklahoma State He has 2,153 yards and 17 touches in his career Those two different programs Average 17 yards per catch Career Best last year for the Cowboys boys six to two 200 pounds that's going to be interesting to see old miss can they can they recalibrate okay south carolina all these other guys are wide receivers i'm talking about they they needed a running back after uh rahim sanders is gone and they bring in uh resuel phasing 25 years old began at marshal then

jc then utah state had 1845 yards rushing and 17 13 touchdowns at utah state he comes on now at South Carolina with sellers, with those wide receivers. I don't know that South Carolina is going to have the dip that everyone seems to think that they are, but I'm a South Carolina homer, too, right? Oklahoma, we talk about Jade Knott, rush for 2,597 yards, 95 catches too. That's the big thing. I think that Ben Arbuckle, remember we talked about him coming with Mateer from Washington State as the offensive coordinator.

They like to get running backs involved in the passing game. I think that that's going to be a big part for Ott at Oklahoma. Auburn, Eric Singleton, Berner. I mentioned him earlier, right? 104 for 1468 and 9 the last two years at Georgia Tech. Chess piece on offense. Jackson Arnold, we just mentioned it. But remember, it's not just Singleton.

It's Cam Coleman. Who had that three-game tear at the end of the season, outrageous. As, you know, I'm so excited to watch. Jeremiah Smith and Ryan Williams. By the way, Ryan Williams, maybe I'm wrong about this. I feel like people kind of sleep on Ryan Williams, the freshman receiver from Alabama, as talented as he was because Alabama just had a down year.

I watched his tape the other day. Oh, my goodness. He was putting, I loved your mom, McCoy, the corner from Tennessee. He put McCoy in a blender a couple times. Ryan Williams is sick. And then you had Cam Coleman, who's also a true sophomore, or a software super talented, had that absolute tear in the last three games,

all the talent in the world. You look at those young receivers, man. I'm excited to watch those guys go. You put Singleton opposite Coleman. You've got to be excited as an Auburn fan about what that offense could do. And they added this guy, Horatio Fields from Wake Forest, also really productive, highly sought after.

So, like, Hugh Freeze's got some dudes now. It's interesting. And they've got to believe in Jackson Arnold to make him the guy to operate this thing. So it's going to be fascinating. Texas, I'm not leaving him last. I'm just, like, I'm just kind of threw these things in. No rhyme or reason about the order of this.

But one of the big, one of the big additions is C.J. Baxter returns from knee injury. He's, I think he, if he's 100%, this guy is a star. And then they brought in Emmett Mosley, the fifth from Stanford, and Cal tied in Jack Endries. Mosley's 6-2, 205 pounds. He's, like, he's a, weapon, I think he's going to really complement the explosive duo they already have in Ryan Wingo and DeAndre Moore, if he catches the ball more consistently, DeAndre Moore's got a chance

to have a huge year too and move up as a, you know, day two prospect. So this is a conference that I felt like was lacking firepower. Not all, not in every place, but you looked around and it's like, well, who's opposite Matthew Golden in Texas and what happened? And then it's like Georgia with their struggles. And Alabama's got their one guy, but maybe the passing game isn't going. This, it's set up for the SEC to have a lot of playmakers and more explosive firepower this year. And I think that that, if it plays out this way, we may look back and say it was this sweepstakes of weapons that they brought in prior to the season that allowed them to get back at the top. If that's how it plays out.

I agree. I definitely agree. I thought, you know, looking back on it, I was a big proponent about the, the SEC, but I think the Big Ten had the better year last year. So, I mean, it's going to be. I agree. It's going to be a battle between those conferences. I really believe that.

I think they say power four, but to me, it's power too. And then it's everyone outside that. Well, here's the problem. Because Ohio State and Michigan have been better than the best in the SEC the last couple years, right? Right. Truly, they have it. And they proved it on the field.

Right. But I still always go back to this. And let's look at this year. right big 10 Ohio state and it's in relative order but I'm not saying we'll we'll do our rankings in a week or so okay in a couple weeks Ohio state Penn State Oregon Michigan Indiana Illinois and then you get Washington Nebraska USC as that like seventh maybe one of those belongs where we're talking about teams that legitimately feel like top 25 or top 30 whatever whatever it is okay So there's like there's six when you get past Illinois,

and then there's like maybe one or two of those could rise, but like, I don't know. We'll give them seven. Then you get the SEC, Texas, Bama and Georgia, big question marks, but there's still Bama and Georgia, LSU, Florida, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas A&M, and Auburn. That's 11. This is a difference.

Yeah. What? Yeah. I mean, we're sneaking some guys in there. Texas A&M, I think we're sneaking in. I think Florida. Auburn. So Texas A&A is not our Auburn.

Like when we were kids, Auburn, it's not there yet. All right, fan duel. You got a week to help me here. The first fan dual shout out of the year. Let's go. Van Duel. Help me. A&M, South Carolina, or Auburn.

I want to know what the, would be neutral site against Washington, Nebraska, USC. We'll get to those when we do our top 15. Okay. And I'm sure they'll come through. They always do. I got to give you one more portal guy that I don't think we're talking about enough. Go ahead.

Notre Dame, because they're outside of the conferences. We kind of done this by conference. Talk to me about Notre Dame. Yeah. Malachi Fields, receiver from Virginia, really productive over the last two years. They're going to have a first year starter at quarterback. was probably going to be CJ Carr. That's what we're,

that's what it looks like it's trending towards. But he's, this is a big bodied athletic receiver, which could be a young quarterback's best friend. I also think he helps the other receiver slot into position. That offensive line was banged up last year, especially at the end and they still got all the way to the end. Obviously the quarterback's a big question mark.

But if you bring in a guy who can make some plays downfield in fields and let everyone else go into their same, their, their most natural positions, I think that could be a big, big, big ad for Notre Dame. Let's end on this, because you sent me another note. Some programs that got, like, what does a start to the season look like and the importance of?

You mentioned three teams. I'll let you rip on it real quick, but Notre Dame was one of them. Yeah, well, we'll just start with Notre Dame because they start with, I think I got it wrong before. They start with Miami and then they play Texas A&M. I think it's Miami and then Texas A&M. That sounds right. It's Miami, Texas A&M the first two weeks,

and maybe I've got the order wrong. And then it's the only other ranked opponent down the stretch is Boise State. And I'm looking at that, and I'm thinking to myself, they can lose those first two games. You're right. It's at Miami, August 31st and September 13th. So they've got a week in between,

but September 13th is Texas A&M. So the first two games of the year. Yep. Look to be their toughest, right? I think they could lose the first two games and still get into the playoffs. because you're looking at that team, especially if they have a, you know, they have a first year starter, a quarterback. Maybe the committee looks at it and says they play those teams top. They, you know, the young quarterbacks develop.

They're a different team than they are. I'm a believer in Marcus Freeman, by the way. They've gotten better every year under Marcus Freeman. And there's no reason for me to believe that they're going to take a step back under that guy. I mean, they've gotten better. He's been three years of the head coach. They are, they get better every single year. They are, they do really good job recruiting.

Again, I mentioned the offensive line. I think that offensive line is going to be one of the better ones in the league. I mean, in the country. I think they're going to be that good. So to me, it's interesting to look at that. You think that they might have to get off to a great start? I'm not sure. The one thing you have to realize, though, is if that happens, there is no parachute for

Northern Illinois loss. They cannot have that blip game. And there could be a blip game. It could be Boise State. You know, it could be a number of teams. It's not a cupcake schedule. It's just the toughest matchups are earlier in the year. So that's one to keep an eye on.

But the real one, to me, is Clemson-LSU. LSU hasn't won a season opener under Brian Kelly. He has not won a season opener yet. And Clemson has lost three of their last four. These are two teams that have national title aspirations. It seems in their media, in their press, they're not running away from it, especially Kelly, talking about what they need to do to get off to a strong start.

But that's the one that's going to be fascinating to me. And I think one of the most fascinating matchups to me in that game will be that LSU offensive line, as good as LSU looks, almost the, every spot that new LSU offensive line again four new starters how does it look against that Clemson defensive front because that comes a defense front it might have two unless I'm wrong top seven top 10 picks they're going to come to play man and that's it should be a good game I think Clemson's a three point favorite right now should be a good game all that stuff but LSU's going to

learn a lot about who they are in that first game and I think it's going to be that battle up front that'll be really interesting to say I'll also say this Clemson's offensive line returning a bunch of starters. I didn't think they were that great last year. Everybody keeps talking about this Clemson offensive line about how all these guys coming back. All these guys coming back. Here we are. And it could be.

It could be. But they need to hold up their end of the bargain because Clemson is stacked everywhere, everywhere, in my opinion, except for that maybe that one spot. So that that seasoned offensive line for Clemson is also going to have to play well. So that's an interesting one for me. There's a lot on the line for both of those teams. I think even mentally, If you lose another season opener after being one of the early favorites to make a championship run,

it's going to be interesting to see how those teams bounce back. This is awesome, man. I feel it's in the air. Now, I'm not going to lie. I'm literally, I'm going to turn off the lights here and I'm going to go down on the beach. Thank God we're back, though. Thank God we're back. I missed you.

You were getting stir crazy. I'm excited. And we got a bunch coming up. Thursday, we get the mock draft show and McShay report, the newsletter. Google it. Please subscribe. We're going to have an awesome run. And then we've got a lot of, we got show news.

We got some big things coming up there. Thursday, I'm going to explain in more detail what I tease too much of. And Connor will yell at me again and Menthal's show yourself. It's why Mench is Connor's favorite. You're the teacher's pet because I go popping off all the time and you're more responsible than me. We appreciate you watching. We love all the support. Please continue to support us.

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