The McShay Show - Ohio State’s Bad Day, A Texas Two (QB) Step, and South Carolina Makes Its CFP Case

Episode Date: December 1, 2024

Welcome back to ‘The McShay Show’! Todd and Steve kick off their Saturday night reaction show by breaking down Texas’s win over Texas A&M and what a two-quarterback system could mean for the Longhorns’ ceiling. Then, they talk Michigan upsetting Ohio State and what to make of Ryan Day’s tenure as Buckeyes head coach. To close the show, the guys react to Georgia’s 8OT victory over Georgia Tech and discuss which SEC teams could sneak into the College Football Playoff. 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: Tucker Tashjian, Conor Nevins, Daniel Comer, and Marcelino Ortiz Social: Eduardo Ocampo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mench. Another wild day. It felt like a weekend, but it's only Saturday. I guess Friday felt like a, felt like a Saturday. Saturday felt like an extended Saturday. But thanks for joining us. We're excited. We've got the week 14 live reaction show, obviously coming off of the really fascinating Texas, Texas A&M game. How you doing, bud? Do it well. Yeah. Try to catch my breath just like you, I think.

Yeah, yeah, I am. I am. All right, I'm going to rip through a few thoughts, right? Okay. This is where we sit tonight. Here's what I think I know, okay? Five things. I had 10 things last week, so we're, uh, we're getting better as we go. I like, number one, I desperately want now to see Oregon versus Texas national championship game.

But I'm also pumped to see Georgia versus Texas rematch, right? So that's, that's number one. Number two, this one's tougher. Ryan Day's out as the Ohio State head coach after this. The only thing that saves Ryan Day's job, and we'll get into this, but the only thing that I think could save Ryan's, Ryan Day's job, it would be barring him winning a national championship in January. Okay.

Number three, mensch was right. Mench was right. Miami is fraudulent. and Clemson, I think is fraudulent, but Clemson still somehow has a chance to go get in the college football playoff because they get into the ACC title game. And that brings me to number four, my number four point thing that I think that I know now. Clemson backs its way, let me start that over.

Clemson backs its way into the ACC title game. Penn State backs its way into the Big Ten title game. And we still sitting here at 1141 Eastern Standard Time, as I'm looking at the score, 14 to 10, BYU over Houston. We still don't know which of these teams, right? Iowa State, BYU, or Colorado is going to back its way into the big 12 championship game. So my number four point is these championship games in the first year of the 12th team college football championship are going to kind of suck.

Me. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Number five, Notre Dame safely in. Right. earned it. Marcus Freeman, great job this year, bouncing back from that northern Illinois loss and getting better each and every week. But how good is Notre Dame really? Don't know yet. Those are my five points. So let's get started. Texas, Texas, A&M. There's Texas. Right. There they are. Yeah.

I feel like we've been talking since just after the Michigan game almost with Texas. And since really since the Quinn Ewer's injury that the oblique, not the ankle this past week, the oblique. Right, right. That nice win for Texas. Yeah, they took care of business grinding through Sarkisians kind of holding back, protecting his quarterback. It felt like Texas tonight for the first time in over a month. It felt like Texas, okay? Quinn Ewers was not a world beater.

We can dive into, you know, details on it. But like, I wondered, I wondered about Ewers tonight. I really did. I wondered about Ewers tonight. I don't know where you stood, but coming into this game, I wondered. I wondered, you know, the offense had been sputtering. It wasn't struggling, but it was kind of just grind in. its way through. He then has the ankle injury last week. They run the ball the second half. He wants to

DKR. He wants to be in the stadium final regular season home game there at Texas. And he wanted to be there and finish that game out. And then Arch comes in and has that I think 16 yard touchdown run early in the game. And granted, you was already had the 26 yard run early, kind of squashed some concerns about the ankle. But arch comes in and like right away. Awesome. run down the left side reaches over pylon touchdown yeah and i'm like hmm but this dog has been in too many street fights i don't care velocity might not be there ankle might be dinged up he's not perfect but i get why sark is sticking with this guy i really do and the second half yeah the interception happened the fumble happened they didn't get things going offensively but the first half the way he

played the composure, the poise, he's layering the ball, the touch he has, dropping the bucket throw that he made, the confidence. And I felt like the aggressiveness in the first half, at least, the aggressiveness in the passing game was finally back. What did you see, Munch? My, you know, look, he had the 93-yard pick six. The ball was tipped. That's a tough one.

I mean, it's really tough to ding him for that when the ball gets tipped. I thought the only real play that I had a problem with was the not tucking it away and fumbling deep in their zone. That was a tough one for me. You got to protect the ball. His velocity does not look great to me, but his downfield touch tonight was awesome. He was dropping the ball in, his timing,

getting the ball out. He never looked rattled. I love the way that they ran the ball to take pressure off him, stay committed to the run. That's the Texas offense that I think at its best is to make sure that they have that running game going to. but yeah, overall, I thought it was an impressive performance from yours, especially for a guy that I do think is walking wounded.

I think he's banged up, man. Yeah, and it's interesting because now you have the rematch against Georgia, right? And it's like, gosh, how much is that game truly matter? Right. How much does it truly matter? And I even, Nick Saban, like, not many people I trust more than Nick. Nick made the comment. that he's not sure that he would want that by week.

You already have plenty of time off from the championship game, which will be, what's the date? So next Saturday, this is really good, really good live. But next Saturday, and of course my calendar is not going to work. We talked about this. You want the operation to stay the same. You want the guys to stay in their rhythm. You want them to be doing the exact same thing as they've been doing all season.

and you don't want them to have that extra week to think about things really. Yeah, next Saturday is the seven. So you still have you have a couple weeks after that to rest up. And Nick's point was I think I'd rather, yeah, I think I'd rather play that first game at home. Right. And keep in the process. Keep the grind going the right way.

So regardless, my point, I guess in all of this is I loved what I saw with Arch being involved in the offense. I do think you have, you know, you wonder, I mean, they're going to come out, they're going to play. They're going to battle. There's no question about it. You've got the SEC championship on the line. Yes, you want to be the number one, you know, number one seed, if you will. You want to go in with the buy, I guess.

But maybe, but how much, I don't know. That game will be interesting. But I do think at the end of the day, we saw a glimpse tonight of what the offense is going to be. Right. And I think Arch will continue to have Can I say something about that? Package. Go ahead.

Are you going to, you may tell me to pump the brakes on this one. Any 2006 Tim Tebow vibes when he comes into the game? Like when Arch comes into the game, remember when Tebow used to come in the game as freshman year. Chris Leak was the starter. Chris Leak, I was just going to throw that out.

So he would come into the game and you just, you felt like something was about to happen. And you know there were Florida fans that were like, it was Urban Meyer. I mean, that was a tough. decision for him to keep Leak as a starter because Tim Tebow was the heir apparent. Everyone knew Tim Tebow was going to be. And he ended up being like one of the best quarterbacks, if not the best quarterback in the history of

college football. And Urban Meyer stayed with Chris Leak. And they won the national championship that year, by the way. But when Tim Tebow came into the game, there was that electricity. There was that this dude is about to do something. And I didn't think Archer, other than that run, which was amazing, he didn't have that. I mean, they kept it pretty bottled up after that. but when he comes into the game,

there's a certain, what do we say, aura, did we say that earlier in the pod? But there's a certain electricity when that dude comes in the game. And Tebow played a bigger role that year than Arch has played so far. But in the playoff run, I could see that

came becoming a big part of their goal line package, their short yardage package. It just had that kind of vibe to me. And we'll never know, but does Florida make? make the run in Florida have the full year if they're going with Tebow and living with his mistakes. Right. And living with his limitations as a passer.

Hard to say Meyer made the wrong decision in that situation. Yeah, I'm just, I'm, but I absolutely adore that that thought process and that comparison. Like, that's, that's an unbelievable shout to like, it's the same vibe. It really is. Right. And you know that's the future. You know the future's bright. It's so exciting.

And yeah, I'm sure there are plenty of fans out there for Texas who are like, why not just Arch now? Yeah, you know there are. But you're paying Sark a decent amount of money to know what's going on day in and day out, to know where Arch is in his development, to know what he can't do or not, Kant's not the right word. What would be challenging for him to do right now, given the practice time he's had, given the game experience.

It's like there were moments in that game tonight where things got a little dicey in the second half. Yeah. Herbie even made the comment. And he was kind of, it was joking. He's like, doesn't, doesn't Quinn look stressed right now? Right. Looks like he's really wearing this. And he was a, like, it takes kind of a quarterback to know, like, when you're in that moment and everything's collapsing or it feels like things are getting tight.

And you look down in the field and you see another quarterback and you're like, ah, he's good. He could care less. Yeah. just another day at the office. And listen, you know, Arch came into that Georgia game and put in a tough spot, but it's not like he lit the world on fire when he came into the Georgia game earlier in the year and was the answer. I mean, they went back to yours. I think of Arch had played better.

You know, I think the plan was always to play Arch at the end of that half and then put yours back in. But he didn't take it from him. He didn't say, it's mine now, Quinn. So there's something to be said for that, too, you know. I think Sarks handled it really well. Not easy. And another fascinating quarterback situation, right, was, and we just mentioned Sabin.

Nick made one of the, the balliest moves in the history of college football, like the playoffs, right? And going to Tutankai, Loa with Jailen Hertz struggling. And that wasn't something we had seen all year. That would, you know what I mean? So, and I say that because there's still that card that, that Sarcas has in his back pocket. If Quinn comes out and he's not performing

or his ankle flares back up or or the offense just isn't going, he did it against Georgia, but he did it with just like a quick jolt and then pulled him back out and put his, put his starter back in, viewers like you just said. So it's, I don't know, it's fascinating. So far.

Would you play Archmore in the championship game? Maybe. Maybe. Yeah, it's a thought, right? Maybe. And that's kind of where I was going before. And I didn't want to say it, but you said it. So let's go. No, honestly, I think that will be interesting to see because at the end of the day,

you'd like to be the number one. You think it's the first time. You know, like when you, like the NFL playoffs, sometimes it's better to play in that wildcard game because you get momentum and things are positive and you don't have that extra week of rest. And you're not kind of in the first quarter kind of getting your legs back underneath you. So it'll be interesting. to see how that plays out. But it wouldn't shock me if we saw a little bit more of Arch

in that SEC championship game with an eye on what really matters, right? The college football play up. So a couple other things from this game. And that was actually a really interesting conversation. I think it gives us something to look forward to moving forward with Texas.

You talked about it and you are the eternal pessimist with offensive line playing, man. Like my God, like LSU's offensive line with two top 50 picks isn't good enough for you. This Texas offensive line, though, has impressed you this year. Yeah. And it was an interesting stat that Connor, our producer,

pointed out in our group chat that we all, I was sitting here watching the games in the background, and Fowler made the comment, when Kelvin Banks Jr. went out, he was pulled out of the game because he got nicked up at one point, right? There were only eight teams in college football, in the FBS that had all four. five offensive line starters start every game this year.

Only eight. That's unbelievable. But believable at the same time. Texas was one of them. And so it's not just the talent level with the NFL guys that they have, banks being the best of the group, but it's also the continuity and working together and the communication. And so, excuse me, just with that is the backdrop.

up, it really stood out to me the offensive line tonight. Dude, that is. They had a red shirt freshman and Trevor Goosby come in for Kelvin Banks. Was a top 10, top 15 player in this year's draft. Might be the first offensive lineman drafted. I think he's got a real good shot at it. And it was seamless. He's the number one offensive lineman on both of our boards right now.

Correct. And it was seamless. And we're, I mean, against that. front in that, by the way, also in that environment. We didn't see. I think there maybe was one jump or one fall start, but I remember seeing a lot of like, and I don't, I'm not, but like the, and that was another thing Connor said in our group, but like there are certain times like Clemson coming down and touching the

rock with the buses up there. Virginia Tech enters sand, man. Like that environment. And A&M, A&M fans are. Like, what do you mean? We're always, it was different tonight. Right. So to your point, the communication coming in as a youngster, the way they handled it,

it was like a professional unit out there. And it just, it stood out to me because, and I'm sure people at this point in the season, no, that defensive line is awesome, loaded. You know, the shamars, as you call them, Nick Scorton's going to be one. He's going to be a first round draft. pick at the edge. They are low. Now, they're not as deep.

And that was a big part of this game. I think the lack of depth affected them with that massive offensive line for Texas, grinding their way through. But that offensive line really stood out to me. And the focus of the Texas offense. And again, everyone's probably sitting here. Like, yo, they didn't put up 35 points in this game. They didn't put up 42.

But like, they just looked, especially in the first half, they looked right. And I hadn't seen. I don't know. It just felt because I knew the defenses they were going up against. You knew the energy in the building. You knew the rivalry renewed after 13 years. And the way they came out and handled business in the first half especially really was like the attention to detail, the blocking.

The how about some of the catches? Like talk about focus. That gun or helm, it was like watching a magic trick. I don't know how the hell he caught that first down. The safety came underneath and undercut it. And Herbie was still trying to show it, and I still didn't know how the ball got through his arms and held caught it. And then if you thought that was spectacular,

what about Jaden Blue? The running back in the back corner, it was like, oh, that incomplete, nice try. And then all of a sudden, wait a second. Well, let's look. You know, I don't know. Shades of the Ohio State pick earlier in the year, when the Igwibon-Hadon had that pick in the corner.

Oh, yeah, against Penn State. Yeah, yeah. You couldn't see it really. and then, yeah, then they went back and showed it to you, and you're like, wow, he might have finished that. I just, I was impressed by the overall operation. And then, um, Quintrevian, Wisner. Holy smokes, man.

Came to play. And running back has been the kind of the bugaboo, the injuries coming into the year that like, and to have a back. And just to give the background on this, Weisner was not supposed to be the starter coming in the year. They had the injuries. he kind of has stepped up in moments early in the year, 22 yards, 30 yards, 20 yards.

Mississippi State, 88 yards. Okay, maybe he's emerging as the guy, 118 against Oklahoma. Then they go against Georgia. He injures his shoulder and only had 52 yards in that game. Vandy, he still had 79 yards, but after that four carries zero yards against Florida, 59 against Arkansas. So you're talking about a whole season where, yeah, 1,8, but everything else is like 20 to 79 and 79 was the outlier. But the last two weeks, 344 rushing yards from Wisner.

I mean, huge. Especially this time of year for a guy to emerge like that. I love that. You know, you go into a certain season and into a season, you'll say, you know, there's things you know. And then you're hoping that other players will step up and emerge. And that's what's happening with him right now. And it's a cool thing to watch.

I can't imagine them not feeding him going forward. Because the after, I mean, he's not that big. But like we always talk about contact balance. The contact balance and the determination and the effort tonight. Yeah, 186 on 386 on 33 carries and the vast majority between the tackles against a damn good hungry. Like I made the comment when we were texting earlier. early in the it was like like a pack of rabid dogs yeah this A&M defense it's not the same defense we saw a week ago against Auburn I'll tell you that yeah I was impressed and I know

they didn't run away with it and I know it got dicey in the second half and and you had the pick six and you had the punt block um and the offense kind of was just trying to get out of dodge at that point but I just for me I just felt like for over a month now I've been worried like, is this Texas or is Texas kind of waiting to put it all together? And for the good majority of tonight, I felt like Texas was, I don't want to say back, but it was the Texas that we kind of expected to see based off of some of the earlier performances in the year. Agree. Also, we haven't even mentioned the defense. And I don't know who Vernon Broughton was coming into this game, but I know who he is now.

People who have an entire drive, number 45. So we didn't even mention the defense, which is outrageous. They're a championship defense. Well, I'm glad you said that because I think we've gotten to the point where we expect this from Texas' defense. I would argue Texas's defense is the most complete defense in the country. I would agree. The fact that Broughton comes in and plays the way he did, the fact that after the first two plays, he blew up that entire drive and they had a line shift,

you know, and we're able to bring it the depth that they have behind him. I just, we've talked about Jada, Barron, how much we love him, the cornerback position. What is it? I'll never pronounce his name. Is it is a top, tafe? I think it's tafei, right? Yeah, tafei, the safety with that big interception, that fourth down stand they had early in the game, the first drive of the game, A&M was rolling.

Go on late. Yeah, go on stand late. I mean. Yep. Now, that defense is as good as it gets in college. football. Right. I mean, they had a, they had a block punt and they had a fumble. I mean, the block punt, I think, put them at their own 19 yard line and they didn't give up points. It's the fact that they pitched a shutout when their offense kind of struggled in the second

half and they had, again, a block pond, a fumble. Like, there was, you know, the only points that were given up in this game were pick six. So that defense was outrageous. Yeah, I'm just, I'm pumped to see the rematch. I mean, Texas, Texas against Georgia. Georgia handled, I think it was a 30-15, the first time around? 30-15. But it was four takeaways

for Georgia, four turnovers for Texas, 10 sacks, 15 tackles for loss. I just don't see Texas playing as poorly as it did in round one of that matchup. And I don't know, I'm fascinated to see that game. And we'll come back to Georgia what we saw the other night a little bit.

But you can, Can't go anywhere else. And quite honestly, coming into today, I didn't even know if we were going to give more than 30 seconds to a minute on Ohio State, Michigan. I really didn't. I didn't watch much of that game. I was watching South Carolina Clemson, and I just kept thinking.

Of course I was. Routing for the Cox. But I also just felt like there's no way Ohio State loses that game at home against a Michigan team that struggled as much as Michigan has struggled this year. I was having a hard time wrapping my head around it. what was happening. So let's get into it. This is hard for me, man, because you know, like Chip Kelly's my guy. We go back to Richmond versus UNH.

I have the utmost respect and love for Chip, Ryan Day, through extension. I respect them a lot as a coach, a lot, truly do. And as a guy, like, he's, he's, but today can't happen. today cannot happen. One in four now versus Michigan, set a 47 and one versus the rest of the big 10. John Cooper, remember, one, you know, outrageous winning percentage,

but was 2.10 and one against Michigan and he was gone. And this is a different day and age. You don't get, you don't get 13 tries against Michigan. In this day and age, you just don't. There wasn't a $20 million roster for John Cooper. Maybe there was, but it wasn't reporting. but it certainly wasn't $20 million back then. Okay.

The pressures are different. The NIL, the transfers, the amount of money being invested, the social media, the impatience, the lunatic fringe is bigger and louder, all of it. And so let's just, let's focus for a minute on the actual game and the football of it. Will Howard did not play well, okay? First interception, Amir Hall. It was a terrible read by Will Howard, okay, from his own end zone.

And, you know, and you looked at that, like, it just, it seemed, it was late in the first quarter. It seemed to change the momentum and the confidence for Michigan. I thought Michigan was kind of hanging on by a thread. Like, when's this, you know, the dam going to break? And then all of a sudden, Howard makes that. It reminded me, honestly, of the interception that Shador Sanders made early in the season against Nebraska, right? The same throw, same, it felt like the same throw, same route, late on it. You cannot be late throwing that far across the field.

Very, very similar plays. And Michigan goes on to punch that in for a touchdown. And their only touchdown, right? I mean, yeah. Yeah. And then the very next drive, remember, the very, like, honestly, I felt in real time I'm watching, All right. Now Michigan's got a little, all right,

they've got some cuyons behind them now. Now they think they get a chance. And then the very next drive, Paige, the defensive back goes and knocks Howard out. Now he comes back in the game and he looked like he was fine. But like I just, I didn't ever feel like he got into a rhythm or a groove as a pastor. And part of it too was,

part of it too was, I just felt like Chip in the first half was so damn stubborn with the run. game. And I remember back to that Nebraska game where they struggled in that game. And it was like hell or high water. We're going to run the football. And I understood it because they knew they were going to have to run the ball. And the offensive line had been moving parts and all that. But you're going up against a Michigan team. Michigan doesn't have Colston Loveland at tight end. First round draft pick, first tight end off the board in next April. Mark it down. Okay. They don't have Will Johnson,

cornerback. First round draft pick should be first cornerback off the board. And so you look at that. And so the only part of Michigan's team that you would give an advantage to is it's defensive tackles. But yet we're pounding it between the tackles. It's like let's test our strength is better than your only strength. You only have one personnel advantage in this game. Why don't we neutralize that? Yeah. It's worse than that. It's not even strength. against strength. I mean, we talked ad nauseum about the offensive line for Ohio State and the injuries. It's weakness against strength. Right. What those injuries have really done is thinned out the interior offensive line unless they lost their center, Seth McLaughlin to a season ending Achilles

injury, I believe. And when they lost the tackle Simmons, they kicked Donovan Jackson outside. So the weakness of their offensive line is the interior. And you're going against Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant and you're just going to run the ball inside. Again, I want to go back and watch the film, but my instinct tells me that's where the problem lies. So Will Johnson isn't in the game, best cornerback from Michigan. There's a weakness there.

You have two phenomenal, not good, phenomenal wide receivers. Jeremiah Smith is going to be a top five pick in two years when he's eligible, okay? Amika Abuka is, he's not a first rounder. I don't think, but some people I, talked to think he could be late first. Bottom line, he's a top 50 picket wide receiver.

So you're talking about two guys that are going to be starting NFL wide receivers. Do you know with about four minutes left in the first half, they had combined four targets? Four. Will Johnson, the first round draft pick at cornerback for Michigan is not in the game. Screen them. Take some vertical shots. I don't care. And that's like, this is one of the first times everywhere.

where I'm like, Chip, like, I don't, I don't quite understand. Does it make you wonder about their faith in Howard? Does it make you stop and pause and think, you know, we like Howard as a runner. We're not really ready to lean on him as a passer. Yeah, of course it does. Yeah. And he didn't give you any reason to go, you know, to change course with the interception. He was 19 to 33 for 175 yards in this game.

Two interceptions. They have a ton of race cars and no one to drive them, basically. I mean, they just have, I mean, they look great in the garage, but they can't get them out on the course. You know what I mean? Like, it just, I don't know if that's the best analogy, but it's a damn good one. They can, I mean, all the talent they have there, it's just, it's, if I was an Ohio State fan, I don't know how frustrated I would be,

just knowing that, you know, you got those receivers running routes for you. And you have Brian Hartline, who gets the most out of these guys. And that's why I wonder, like, quick game, rub routes, something. You know what I mean? Switch releases, like, drags. There's ways to, I just, Chip is so good of the run game concepts, but they just, it wasn't working. It just wasn't working effectively the way they needed it to be.

Yeah, they threw the ball 33 times and yeah, Will was off. But it just, it seemed like there was opportunity to get. those two more involved. Reverses. There's just different ways to get the ball in those guys' hands. And I didn't think they did that enough. The second interception that he threw, I just mentioned two interceptions on the day.

Talk about, like, places you can't do it. Deep in Michigan territory, right? And it was a great ID by page, the defensive back, and a bad throw by Howard. And so, I don't know. You got a terrible decision laid on a throw. A throw you can't make back in your own end zone for the first touchdown. The second one, a bad throw.

And the, you know, the defensive back page made a really good play on the ball. But those are two spots deep in Michigan's territory for the second one in your own end zone for the first one. You just, you can't make those mistakes. And give a shout out to wink Martindale. That was a hell of a job defensively. You know, like if we're going to, if we're going to beat up on Chip and Ryan Day. Let's give a little bit of love to wink in that defense without your best player corner. I don't want to make it sound like Will's been there all year and has been excelling.

He hasn't. But there was talk that he might decide to play or be able to play in this game. Colston Loveland tried his best to play, couldn't play at tight end. But I just, when you're an offense. I want to see Loveland versus Downs, who, by the way, had another. their monster game. Caleb Downs is safety from Ohio State. I mean, Loveland versus Downs would have been from a draft standpoint.

Oh, that would have been so watched. Yeah, but he, I mean, Downs was awesome. I feel like we do it every week, so I don't want to wear it out. But my goodness is he, I mean, he's the best, I think he's the best defensive player in the country. But it's, that doesn't matter at this point. And that's not what anyone's here to discuss, including and especially, including and especially Ohio State is.

Let me. So when you're an offensive head coach and you bring in your guy as the offensive coordinator and you've got a complete mismatch to go out and put that performance on tape and score 10 points. At home, mind you. We're not talking about 110, 115, whatever the pitch or the number count is at Michigan Stadium now. This is at home. Everything is working for you. The weather wasn't that bad. It was cold.

It was nine mile an hour winds. I looked at one point just to see if that was affecting anything. You know? Yeah. Yeah. It can't happen. And so what you've done, what you've done is, and let me get to the fight, okay? And this is where, fuck it.

Let's get to the fight. Because it's going to be, it's national news. Like, everyone's talking about it. So it's not what we do. But just for people who might not totally understand, like, it's an unwritten rule. You don't plant the. flag in the middle of the field. Sorry, people are doing this now.

If you do plant the flag, you better damn well understand that you're going to get some pushback, okay? Right. And I don't want to give credit to these young men because this is all emotion, college kids in the moment. No one is thinking about consequences. There are certain times when I'm driving a vehicle and I'm speeding. I still don't probably think of the consequences the way I should as a mature 47-year-old

adult. And I sure as hell wasn't when I was 18 to 22 years old. Okay. So I'm not giving credit to these 18 to 22 year olds, but Michigan doesn't have a care in the world. They're doing this out of pure emotion and all that. And I get it. They plan a flag in the middle of our field. We're going to defend our field. But you know what? Ohio State? A couple things. One, and this is where I don't expect them to understand it, but you've got so much more to lose. And here's the thing, too. Like, we're not talking about, there is no Big Ten championship game. If there's suspensions handed out, and we'll see, like, again, it's 12, 12 on Sunday morning.

And I haven't heard anything about it. It probably will be a little time before we, but if there are suspensions handed out, it's not going to be, fine, I'm suspended from the shitty bowl game that I'm in if I'm a Michigan player. If the suspensions are handed out for Ohio State, we're talking about a playoff game. Okay. So the punishment is a lot bigger for Ohio State than it is. And listen, I love you, Jack Sawyer. I love the fact that in today's college football with the NILs and the transfer

portals and all the old football guys bitching about how there's not loyalty. And, you know, back in the day, we were just playing a bowl game and all that stuff. love that there's a Jack Sawyer of the world who's going to who like no not on my field get that flag out of here go go get the flag and throw it on the ground so i'm not mad at anyone for i'm i'm not mad at jack and i and i understand why it happened let's put it that way and number eight for michigan's an idiot by the way and in his name's tyler morris i'll just say it like the fight was broken up you guys planted your flag ohio state came over and ended it and it kind of subsided.

And then and the number eight brings the flag and races it over to Ohio State as they're walking off the field. What do you think is going to happen? He incites a second riot, right? But you know what was terrible in this whole thing? And it's and and it's just Ryan Day, part of it you can say is having just the worst luck in the world. But when this, when the, the Fox cameras. Like it just so happened. Talk about terrible luck.

It just so happened that Ryan Day, when the camera comes over to him, that you can read his lips and he says to one assistant walking by, what happened? Dude, you just put 10 on Michigan as the offensive coach who brought in his offensive guy, Chip Kelly. You could only muster 10 points against me. And now you got a riot on your own field with your own field with your. own players. And we're talking like five minutes later, man, the whole thing was over. Two, two, two fights. And the initial one and the secondary one. And then they pan to him.

And I get it. Like his world's like collapsing. But you're still the captain of this ship. And when you see all your players racing over the middle of the field, you better get involved. Right. That's leadership. So like, I hate that I'm having to do this. But it was terrible. They could have come over to Ryan Day. And he could have. have been looking in a different direction. They found it out of pure luck, the one moment where he's like, what happened? It's like, not a good look, man. It's a terrible look.

There's another shot that, just from the human element of it, I guess, that Sawyer was clearly, I think it was Sawyer, he was clearly losing his mind. And Ohio State Staffer was trying to restrain him and get him to come. Yeah, I saw that. Right in front of Ryan. And right in front of Ryan, Danny. He didn't do anything. He didn't do anything.

He didn't do anything. He said, hey, man, look, you know, we just got to come down. I love you. Let's get out of here. Yep. I saw it. I saw it. It was just a black guy for Ohio State. It was a black guy for Michigan, too. There was no need for it. But it was a bigger black guy for Ohio State. And it was a big, it was a black guy for college football. But like the person who took on the most water today through all of it is Ryan Day. And it's going to be interesting to see how it plays out. But I just knowing this rivalry the way I do, since. childhood, basically. I don't. And you know what, to be quite honest with you? I don't, his record, he doesn't deserve to be fired at the end of the year. He's done a hell of a job.

He's a hell of a football coach, okay? Ryan Daykin, coach ball. He's been a major part, and I know the money drives it, but he's been a major part of recruiting. He's been a major part of developing these young men. These players love him and will go to war for him. He is everything you look for in a university. as a university in your head coach, your head football coach.

Developing young men, developing them as players, as human beings, all of these things. But you get to a point in a crossroads, if you will, where I don't think you can function as a coach professionally. When this much noise, like living in that, it's not a small community, but like it's a small bubble. I don't know how it would be productive for this program to move forward with him as the head coach, given the circumstances. Not because he does not because he can't do the job. And everyone's going to say, good luck finding someone better. I get it. And I agree.

Good luck finding someone better than Ryan Day. Who are you going to get? Don't look at me. But no matter who that person is, he gets a fresh start. And I think this program is probably just going to need a fresh start. after what happened. What has happened in big games, what has happened against Michigan,

what has happened in the biggest moments, but especially after what happened today. I wish I could disagree with what you're saying. I just can't. It's unfortunate, but it's the reality of the landscape. And I wish I wasn't saying it, to be honest with you.

Like, this is not a comfortable place. It's just not my thing. But I've got to, it's just what's happening. It's what's real. It's to yell up in the room. Yeah. Yeah.

I love how we just broke down a fight. What has come of this show? All right. So those are the two big, like the biggest games. The Texas, Texas, A&M, Ohio State, Michigan. After that, I want to touch real quickly. And I mentioned it before. I just, I'm underwhelmed.

And I'm not, I should, I should have more excitement and more, like, juice for next week. and I'm going to watch every game. And there are absolutely, you know, ramifications. And it's critical for many programs in the championship games. But I'll just throw it to you. What are your initial thoughts of Penn State Oregon? I mean, it's damned if you do, damn, we don't. I mean, you kind of want Penn State to win that game so they can show that they've won a big game.

But then Oregon doesn't look as good as they have all year. I think Oregon's in a tough spot because it's just hard to keep winning. I mean, it's just hard to win that many games in a row. It wouldn't be the worst. I don't think it'd be the worst thing in the world for Oregon to lose that game. It's like we've talked about several times where Savin says sometimes losing the game, you know, even tonight, I think Sark is almost grateful for the way they won because now he can go back and be like, you guys think you're so great. But here's what we need to clean up. We need to do A, B, and C.

Totally agree. But how do these guys, I just, I'm interested to see how these coaches manage these games. And we kind of, again, I'm going back to Texas, but we kind of hinted at it. how do you manage your roster in those games? I mean, if you're down two scores, do you start pulling starters to make sure you're ready for the playoff? I don't know. I don't know how I doubt that. I think they still mean something.

But in terms of the SEC and the Big Ten, those four teams are in. And how that affects the way they manage a game plan, how they manage their roster will be interesting to see. And the motivations, too. Right. Like what does it matter to a 20-year-old who's being paid? a million dollars a year or $100,000 a year or whatever it is or $0 a year.

But it'll just be interesting to see. I just wonder what the will we see the same energy and pack of rabid dogs feel and vibe that we saw tonight from Texas, Texas A&M in the Big Ten championship game in the SEC. I think the SEC championship game will be an absolute.

dog fight because I think Texas is out for blood and Georgia is trying to prove. Georgia doesn't have but, you know, much room to, they're still in if they lose. There's no question. But, but I think Georgia's trying to make sure that they continue to build.

Yeah, it's just, I, it's hard for me because I don't think Penn State is is one of the top teams. And Ohio State still is a better team. They just can't beat Michigan and, and what happened today, happened today. But, I don't know. It's frustrating.

We're looking at this conference championship matchups, and, you know, the Texas Georgia is the best game. Penn State, just, I don't know, I don't,

I don't, unless Oregon just doesn't play to the level, I don't see Penn State. Penn State is everything to gain in this game. Let's put it that way. Right. Everything to gain. And nothing to lose.

All right. Moving on, the fourth thing I wanted to get to, let's come back to the, the SEC in a couple games. Let's go back to yesterday. Eight over times, Georgia. Truth be told, flying back from Ohio,

wonderful trip to seeing my family. Got kids in the plane, you know, kind of managing all of it. But land, catch some of it coming back. But seven was, what was it? 17 nothing, was it?

It was a halftime. Yeah, I think 17. Yeah, 17. Yes. Yeah. 17 nothing in half time. So I caught the 17. second half. And I, you know, I've since have gone back and seen what happened in the first half.

Georgia Tech had had an awesome game plan. Georgia Tech had an additional three days to prepare. And I think they threw their best punch, but Georgia Tech hung in there, right? Yeah. My takeaway was, quite honestly, I'm loving what I'm seeing from Carson Beck recently. That was my biggest takeaway. And the reason I say that is they, Georgia couldn't, they could, they couldn't run the football, right? They couldn't run the football in that game. They were struggling to, Nate Frazier was a leading rusher from the running back position.

It had just 50 yards. And nobody else really had anything of major significance. One of the receivers had like a 30-yard rush. Like it was Nate Frazier and he did 50 yards rushing. Carson Beck answered the bell in the clutch. And he's done this. He's played great when it, when, when the chips are on the line in multiple games and sometimes just a half of a game.

But listen to this. And watching the game, it just felt good because when you're evaluating quarterbacks, are you feeding it to your alpha dog at wide receiver? Are you forcing it? Are you benefiting from a guy who's just so great at one wide receiver spot or a couple guys that are so good? you know, like with Stroud had all those receivers and like Tua had all those, the four first rounders. Like is it that situation or are you having to play the quarterback position the way it was

designed, if you will? Going through reeds, understanding what the defense is showing, making smart decisions, anticipating throws and just winning with your mind before it even matters what your body does with your arm or your mobility. And I love Carson Beck took off and ran. it was important to run in those moments. And he has the mobility and we know that, but he wasn't running just a run.

He was running when they needed him to because nothing else was available. And he completed 28 passes, Munch, to 10 different receivers. 10 different targets, running backs, tight ends, wide outs, didn't matter. It was what, it was where the reed took him. And he was, he was throwing them open. And I made the comment earlier in the year. And it's still a part of the evaluation process. and he's still not perfect by any stretch.

But when you study his tape versus Shador Sanders tape, Carson Beck makes his receivers work for the ball. It's not missing in the strike zone. His receive, like, balls thrown behind him, balls overthrown, receivers having to go up and taking rib shots, all of it. I'm not seeing his receivers have to work for the ball nearly as much. In fact, he's now leading them open.

And I just, I like the way he's playing. the game. Five touchdowns, now granted, two of them were in overtime, but five touchdowns, three in regulation, zero interceptions. He's not pressing like he was early in the year. And that combined with the defense gives them a chance in every game they play. True. Yeah, I agree. I mean, watch out for Nate Frazier. I know, I think he's talented, man. He's going to be a big part of him going forward. He was a contributor. It wasn't as much Nate Frazier as it was, they just weren't able to open up holes and the run game wasn't reliable. It was super interesting to me was at one point in the game,

and I think it was late in the first half, it kind of lost his cool. And you can look at that in a couple of ways and you can say, oh, he's not keeping his boys. I actually saw it as like, you know what, man, you have every damn right to be upset right now. You have every right to get after your teammates. And sometimes that's good, too, man.

Tom Brady didn't go around saying, I'm just going to be this calm, cool, collect a guy all the time. When he was on the field, he was, but he would rip his teammates when he got to the sideline. And I kind of appreciated the emotion. I kind of appreciate it because I feel like he's been all years like, you know, we're just about the team.

And he's taking all this heat and all this, you know, all this criticism. Some of it fair, I think, or especially early in the season. And he's just been like, I'm just trying to, you know, stay even and steady and I'm playing my game. You know what? You're allowed to get pissed, man. You're allowed to get angry.

And sometimes I think it fires up your teammates. I think it fires you up. he didn't lose his poise he wasn't out of control but he did show a little emotion and i was like you know let's go you know you have their team's out 17 nothing with a playoff of the line against a team that you should be handling and why not get upset why not try to fire some people i will say this haines king the quarterback for georgia tech had 110 rushing yards on 24 carries he threw for 303 yards and two touchdowns and he had that heartbreaking fumble at the end of the game and that kid was an absolute warrior in the game.

And I know it doesn't matter in terms of the playoff picture and all of that stuff. But that Georgia Tech team, they were fun to watch that night, man. They brought everything they had and made Georgia play what, what was it, eight overtimes? I mean, it was insane. Eight. The record's nine. Eight. I'll never.

The first, like, long overtime ever was Tennessee, is Tennessee Alabama? Tennessee Alabama, I think it was. And I was there. I'd always something like Godfrey, Ron Franklin's stories back in the day, SEC. But that was before we had like the new rules and the two point. God for the new rules. We were there for like nine hours, man.

It was brutal. I remember being like, oh, God. I got to go to the airport now, you know, for my Sunday morning. Can I say this doesn't matter. It's not about the college football playup, but like it's 1230 in the morning. I'm a Brent Key guy for life, I think now. Yeah, man.

I love that, dude. You talk about like steady, emotionless, kind to referees. Now, I'm not saying that, but like, maybe within this day and age, we're yelling and screaming, going nuts. You saw the referees come over and, like, actually interact with them.

It was like a different strategy and, like, having conversations with this player. And then, you know what? You'd watch. And they're in a, They're in the fight of their life. This is their Super Bowl. This is like, this is not a rivalry game for Georgia.

This is, we got to get this off the schedule so we can move on to the SEC championship game and then they call it college football playoff. This is just like another, you know, road trip. We got to have this meeting at three o'clock in the afternoon, right? On a Tuesday for Georgia. This was everything for Georgia Tech. And to see the poise that they played with, even when Georgia started coming back and things were getting wild and things were getting crazy.

And to see how a great. Brent Key kept that offense, and it's not by nature an aggressive offense. He pressed every right button. He took Georgia. He took his Georgia Tech team, and they took Georgia to eight overtimes and stood in there, like, let's go, round after round, after round, like. The interaction between Kirby and Key at the end of that game, one of the best moments I think of the season.

I mean, it was just genuine. I mean, Kirby, the amount of, you could just tell the amount of respect for what he had gotten his kids to do, how he'd gotten them to play, just the whole thing. I mean, it was pouring out of Brent that moment. You know, of course you're going to ask

in the press conference, what did you say? And of course, they're going to say it's between us. You know what they said. I mean, you don't know word for word, but you know what he said. Yeah. You know, I mean, he was just, appreciate you, man. Appreciate what you did.

I know how hard this is, you know. That was one of my favorite parts of the season so far. Yeah, his composure throughout the whole game, just, it got me. It just got me. So I'm a Brent Key guy moving forward. Yeah, I mean, for whatever it's worth. Just to get, though. No, I truly, like, I just, he was like a breath of fresh air.

I just, it was, it was awesome. And it was awesome to see, I'll say this, too. Kirby's won national championships. He may or may not make a run with this team. it feels like it's one of the best coaching jobs he's done though yeah this team doesn't have all the pieces the offensive line struggling the running back was fumbling early in the year he's talented but it's inconsistency ETN three touchdowns versus texas hasn't really been a part of the whole thing receivers they're just not working lost two receivers early in in the year after losing lad

mcconkey who's been awesome as a rookie in the NFL after losing brock bowers who's like putting up setting numbers as a rookie for the Raiders. The defense. Brutal schedule. Brutal schedule. Like by far the hardest schedule. So I just, it feels like despite the record and all the blemishes for Georgia, it feels like this is Kirby Smart's best coaching you for whatever that's worth to.

And as Connor said, our producer before we came on, and I totally agree, we're going to have to have come up with like a Kirby Smart rule. the next iteration of the adjustments of overtime rules. We can't give Kirby and every aspiring Kirby smart coach out there a timeout every single overtime drive because they're going to, you know, they're going to utilize it the way Kirby did the other night. And it was brilliant.

Wisely, yeah, the right way. And it was effective. Every time it was effective, I think, if we go back to look every time, but maybe once. Once I think, yeah. Yeah. But it became a little bit of a grind. All right.

Let's get to the most important game of the day. Maybe the year. I don't know. Obviously, thank you again, everyone who's joined this live show. Your maniacs, truly maniacs.

It's 1232 Eastern time. And the only game of relevance right now, BYU, by the way, up 2110. So Colorado is watching this and like literally watch them fall apart. 611 left in the third quarter. But it looks like, be a big play for Houston. I think they muffed a BYU muffed a punt. Houston's got the ball at

midfield. So that's where we are. But your maniacs for watching the show and we appreciate it. We only, we truly love maniacs around here. And we'll be back on Tuesday and Thursday this week, as we always are. So please, whether it's on on YouTube, whether it's on Spotify, whether it's on Apple, anywhere you get your podcasts. Please subscribe and like. We need the help. We're just starting now little engine that could right munch um that's right but but i don't know that everyone who's here now heard your epic rant about clemson i mean it was it was brilliant i had some things to say i had to get some things off my chest so today after you you called like why why do we respect clemson why do we think clemson's any good why is clompson in the discussion like they just they don't belong

Let me paraphrase it. They don't belong. They haven't done anything to deserve the discussion or the ranking at number 12, I think it was last week. Yeah, they were ranked number 12 in the college. Yeah. Okay. They don't deserve that.

That was, so that is your lead-up, folks. Mench, having watched the game today, where are you on Clemson? Kind of a near miss. Kate Klubnik earned a lot of respect for me today. I thought he played a hell of the game. But at the end of the day, I still, I don't see them that high. I think they're a good football team. I just don't, I think that it's name recognition that's gotten them to the 12th spot.

I'm just going to be honest about it. Again, there are serious problems in their schedule and they've lost to another three lost team today. And I think South Carolina is, if we're being honest, right, South Carolina is a 50-50 shot to make the playoff right now. I know where to get in this, but let's just get into that, say really quickly. and they lost to a team that's a 50-50 shots getting the playoff. So to me, I don't see any signature wins. Pitt lost again today. That's not good for them.

I just don't see any signature wins. They played Georgia and they got handled in the opener. And I think teams change over the year and I think they've gotten better. And they're banged up and you can say all that stuff. And that's true. And Kade Klobnik definitely earned some respect today for me. I thought he played a hell of a game. But I don't see this as a big.

But I don't see this as a playoff team. I still don't see it as a playoff team. Well, here's the thing. The beauty of what has happened, the beauty of what happened today for you is it no longer is a committee thing. You know, because if the score, if the score was reversed and Clemson is the number 12 ranked team by the college football playoff had beaten South Carolina,

1714, South Carolina being the 15th ranked team in the college football playoff rankings this week. Clemson and had Miami won, Clemson's in. Clemson would have gotten their quote unquote signature win or, you know, win versus a ranked opponent. So, and honestly, for the betterment of the college football playoff, Clemson lost today. And Miami lost today.

Not for the betterment of you and I as talent evaluators because I desperately wanted to see Cam Ward play against good defenses, like a really good defense in the college football playoff, but they don't deserve to be in. I mean, Miami's defense is, that defense does not deserve to play in a college football playoff game, period. It's been proven time and time again. So I'm over it. I would love to see Cam in that environment.

We're not going to see it. So Miami's out. Clemson now is in a play in game, if you will, against SMU. But today's game, excuse me, let's just look at today's game. As I have been one of the great proponents of South Carolina, like all season, the vast majority of the season, despite the two early losses and then three losses. You know, I was making the argument, LSU and Bama, I think it was, combined five points in those two losses.

And the combination of Lenora Sellers a quarterback in the way. he's progressing. And that vicious defense, to me, they could, in a one game situation, they could beat not everybody, but a handful of teams that will be in the college football playoff. I think they deserve to be in. But I watched this game today. And it was difficult because I didn't, it just wasn't a clean game.

It wasn't, let's put it this way. I did not feel like it was the best representation of South Carolina as a team. I agree. I thought, and if just between you and I, it was kind of a, it was kind of a boring game. Right? Like it just like it got crazy. It got crazy at the end and it was a lot of fun at the end. But it just, it didn't have a lot of like rhythm and pace to the game.

It just, it felt like two teams that just were, we're missing their way. I thought early on, early on Clemson looked great. Like they neutralized those, those past, Dylan Stewart and Kyle Kinnard were neutralized for the first half of the game or whatever, whatever it was. heavy emphasis on the quick game on getting the ball out quickly in the passing game, screens mixed in. I thought the receivers, Antonio Williams, especially with the yards after catch, the explosive play call, explosive play that he had in the double coverage catch he made, contested catch.

I thought he stepped up. I thought Westco, there were plays and flashes of this offense having a big day. And again, they were doing it. against the defense that I really respected. But early on, I was like, uh-oh, this is going to be a long night for Mench, because I'm not going to go easy on them.

And to be honest with you, I kind of have sided with you, but I'm going to let you, I mean, I take plenty of hits. I take plenty of bullets in this role. So I'm going to let you take these bullets from dabbo and the gang. But Clemson played better for half of this game, I thought.

The difference was in the story of the day, it was Clemson's inability to stop sellers when it mattered. as a runner. That was a big surprise. Remember, this is the same dude who was Superman in your eyes. Lenora Sellers was Superman just two weeks earlier against a ranked Missouri opponent through for 353 yards and five touchdowns in that game. And don't forget, led them on two comebacks, not just one, but two comebacks. That was a frenetic, frantic, like wild end of that game. The last like seven, eight minutes of that game were crazy. And he led him twice on comeback. okay because he had to but he did and he got him in this position and then he remember he this guy's a freshman so he had that unbelievable performance as a passer and then comes out today and he rushed he only passed for 164 yards but he rushed for 166 yards 10.4 yards per carry two rushing touchdowns and his his mobility completely neutralized the pass rush for for um

For Clemson. Yeah. Don't forget the, there was some drops in this game, too. And he had that, he had a great run to put them ahead, right? It was like third and long. They had gotten backed up by a false start. He's running laterally. You're like, what are you doing?

Then he cuts up. It was an unbelievable run. I think it was two plays before or the play before. He had a great touch pass to the back corner of the end zone and the receiver just couldn't keep it as he went to the ground. He couldn't finish the catch as he went to the ground. he's I you know I'm just going to say this I don't know why you wouldn't want to watch that kid in the playoff right now I just think that he's must watch television so let's let's do this now you ready

so I just I gave you the scenario so so Clemson loses and backs its way in to the ACC championship game because I can see them winning that game by the way I'll say that I totally could I totally could against SMU right SMU right SMU last week was right nine I believe it was and so you get nine and 12 we'll see what the updated rankings are on Tuesday night. But they're playing. Let's pull up our rankings now too with the results from today. I want to walk you through this. Everyone who's watching it will be easier.

Everyone who's just listening, follow along here. But here's how I see it. It's going to be interesting to see. At the top, we've got Oregon, Ohio State, Texas, Penn State from last week's rankings. Ohio State's going to drop down after the loss, but obviously they're still in. You get down to Notre Dame. they won again.

Miami at 6, they're out. Not in the ACC championship game, not in the college football playoffs. So they're out. So one spot opens up. Now after that in the rankings, you've got Georgia was at 7, Tennessee at 8,

SMU at 9, Indiana at 10. You know my stance on Indiana? I can, till I'm blue in the face, bitch and moan about Indiana, they just don't belong. They're taking a spot from a team that's more deserving. I've brought Fandoul in in my corner fighting with me.

We're throwing haymaker. Like, no one's listening. I got it. So I just got to back off. Indiana is going to be in. They blew out Purdue today for whatever that's worth. But if they were ranked 10 last week, they're going to be in. And one. So here we are.

So we've got all those teams. So you get down and 11s behind them is Boise State. 12 is Clemson. That's this week's rankings. Clemson loses, but it doesn't matter because they're playing SMU in the winner of that game gets into the college football playoff and the losers out. So essentially those two ACC teams that are in the top 12, only one gets in. Miami is out, right? Right.

So now you've reduced it by two spots. The other 10 teams that I mentioned are still in. Okay. However, while it appears that there are two open spots, Boise State is in as that fifth conference champion, if that's how it plays out. If not, it'll be Tulane probably. So if that's the case,

you get two spots left, but the Big 12 champion, which does not deserve to be in the college football playoff, just like Indiana does not deserve to be in the college football playoff, will be in. And the messed up part, man, is there'll be a four seed. right so now we got one spot one spot i want to take you back to the rankings from last week

you don't have to put it up the rankings last week alabama 13 old miss 14 south carolina 15 well Alabama what do we want to call it handled Auburn today yeah handled handled solid Auburn they had the recipe for success milrose good on the ground they play their game yep yeah but not great but if any handled handled a team that that beat texas a and ianm a week ago but has not been good this season okay old miss struggled with mississippi state had to had to fight back in that game that was that was surprising old miss is sitting there at uh at 14 from last week so Alabama 13 old miss 14 south carolina 15 South Carolina

struggled to but beat the number 12 team a team that was in the college football playoff as ranked by the committee had the playoffs started on Wednesday morning of this past week okay and they beat him on the exact and they beat him at Clemson in Death Valley

in a game that mattered dearly to Clemson okay not just because of a rivalry but because of the implication because of you know, if Miami had won, you got to understand. Had Miami won, Clemson needed to win today to get in. So this game mattered in all ways, shapes and forms of Clemson. And South Carolina still pulled it off the win. I don't think Ole Miss is going to be in because you look at it.

They needed to do more today. They definitely need to do more today. Their strength of schedule was 29 compared to Alabama's was 14 and South Carolinas was 15, okay? Mm-hmm. And then you add the fact that, so, so to me it becomes down to Alabama and South Carolina. The helmets, the history,

will that persuade the committee to put Alabama in? When last week, the strength of schedule was 14 for Alabama, it was 15 for South Carolina. But this week should, that changes it, because Alabama beat Auburn. South Carolina beat a ranked Clemson team on the road. Here's what I would say. They do have the head to head.

I mean, Alabama did beat South Carolina. I know. Here's why I still think South Carolina gets in. Oklahoma was two weeks ago, man. And it was, that's, I don't, South Carolina doesn't have a loss like that. They don't have that bad loss. They got handled. They lost by 21 to Oklahoma.

an Oklahoma team that has really struggled this year. Meanwhile, you have a young quarterback starting to hit a stride. South Carolina is on a six game, I think, a six-game win streak. They look good, and they played, those losses that they had were tight. I mean, they, other than the Ole Miss game, where they lost by 24, they lost by two to Alabama, they lost by three to LSU in a game. Yes. But again, listen, there's no moral victories, but if you're looking at it out of that committee,

you're like, wow, that LSU game, man, it was a little funky. It was early in the year. There was a couple of pick sixes that were called back. I mean, it was, you know, that game could easily have gone to South Carolina. And again, who's playing the best football right now? They beat a Red Missouri team a couple weeks ago. It's not Alabama. No.

Yeah, they've beaten in their last three outings, and one of them was against, who do they play? They beat Texas and San Francisco. But their last two legitimate outings have been ranked, Wofford, yeah. Wofford, Clemson B College of Charleston. But their last two legitimate outings were against ranked opponents, and they won both of those games. And they beat Texas A&M 44 to 20.

Yes, yes. Meanwhile, the losses for, 2417 loss to Tennessee for Alabama is totally respectable. If you're stacking losses, but 24 to 3 to Oklahoma and 40 to 35 against Vanderbilt and Vanderbilt and 5. Six and six now, I think they lost today, right? Yeah, the tennis. Yeah, I think that Vandy, I mean, that Vandy team was playing tough at the time.

No, I know. I'm saying, but the Oklahoma one is the one that I can't get out of my head. Of course. That was the one that knocked them out to me. Yeah. It's going to be fascinating to see. And Tuesday, we'll be back on Tuesday. to do a show on Tuesday before the rankings.

Then we'll come back on Thursday. And we've got a lot to talk about all week long. But that's kind of the scenario I see is that 10 of those teams will be in. Miami's out. The other ACC team's out. Big 12 champion is going to be in. BYU is going in for a touchdown right now. So it's going to be Iowa State, Iowa State versus Arizona.

Arizona State's on a heat. You know what? Strike that. Your voice, Gadaboo. I was in the mood earlier in the Big 12. I'm not saying there's good as, like, is Alabama better than Arizona State? Absolutely.

Is Ole Miss better than Arizona State? Absolutely. But Arizona State deserves to be in given, given what they've done this year. And they're rolling teams now. Like, they're rolling teams. Arizona's on in the basketball season today. Like, you know, that was a joke.

So, or team that I think they were picked last in the Big 12, I think. I think they were picked last. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think they were picked last coming into the season. And, you know, I read this earlier today, too. I'm glad you mentioned that. We can end on this nugget, I think. South Carolina was picked 13th in the SEC coming into the year.

It's going to be interesting to see. That head-to-head is fascinating, Alabama Clemson. But if you're going off truly the best teams right now, I think South Carolina is slightly better than Alabama and deserves to be in. Right. And I'll tell you one thing, I'll tell you, I'll take either of those teams against Clemson. I'll take either of those teams against SMU. I'll take either of those teams in a, like a bloodbath against Indiana.

I'll take either of those teams against Arizona State. Yeah, I get it. I'm getting a reputation for being an SEC show. I don't work at ESPN, ABC. I'm not doing games. No, it is what it is. Like I'm not, I have nothing to gain. Spotify's not writing me a check to pump up the SEC.

The ring is not like, hey, we're tied in. We get roots with you. It doesn't matter to me. I just watch these games. And I'm telling you right now, I would take South Carolina, Ole Miss and Alabama head to head against Penn State. Fanduel get it ready. Todd's odds Tuesday.

We're coming back to it. I want after these results, I'm telling you those three teams, I do not believe they all deserve to be in the college football playoff. I get it. But I do. think um i do think that they would they would beat more they would beat more teams that are in that than you know than they should yeah if we're trying to get the best teams in that's what we do

yeah it would be a cc heavy and again it's it is what it is it is yeah um what else you got anything richmond lost a richmond lost a tough one today damn it lehigh yeah Damn it, Lehigh. Yeah. So good run. Great run. Great run. Love you guys.

Always in Richmond's Corner. The spiders. Our guy, Winston, October, doing a hell of a job there. But, yeah, I mean, back-to-back CAAs, you can't. It's tough today, but you look back on the season, total success. Total success. Yeah. All right.

So what do we, let's think about Tuesday. I want, I want Fan Duel. I want these three SEC teams, Alabama, Ole Miss, South Carolina, against all those other teams that I just mentioned. Throw in Penn State just because I want to have fun. And I know that Fanduil loves Penn State. But I bet you the spreads are really close. But more importantly,

excuse me, SMU, Indiana, Boise State, Clemson, all those teams, Arizona State. And tell me I'm a homer. Tell me I'm a shill after that. when we talk about it on Tuesday and we get some some fan dual backing on that all right all right it's always fun man appreciate everyone truly so lucky really appreciate everyone who stuck with us each week it's growing a little bit in terms of people who are joining us in the live feed next week we'll be back for the championship games in the meantime tuesday and thursday check it out

we will um we will be will be on youtube in the afternoon we'll also have our podcast on Spotify and Apple and everywhere else that you get your podcasts. And until then, take care, get some sleep. Hope you enjoyed Thanksgiving. Hope you enjoyed your family. Mench, I know you did. Going to the Patriots game tomorrow. God bless you.

Get a few hours sleep. Get up. Bring the boy and a bunch of friends there. So you're going to have your hands full, but I'm sure it'll be a fun day. Yeah. Can't wait. All right. See you Tuesday.

Thank you. Thank you. Must be 21 plus and present in selects. States for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in D.C. Gambling problem? Call 1-800 gambler or visit RG-Help.com. Call 1-88-88-88-88-8-9-7777 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut. Or visit MDGamblinghelp.org in Maryland.

Hope is here. Visit gambling helpline-ma. or call 1,800-327-50-50 for 24-7 support in Massachusetts. Or call 1877-8-8-Hope-N-Y or text Hope NY in New York.