The McShay Show - Todd’s CFB Power Rankings: Is Muench Buying the Hype or Calling BS?

Episode Date: August 31, 2026

It’s that time of year. On the eve of Week 1 in college football, Todd’s debuting his top 10 teams, and Muench has his red pen ready. Come for the Miami hype, stay for the heated LSU debate. (00:00) Welcome to The McShay Show! (04:24) 2026 CFB Power Rankings (06:58) Convince Me I'm Wrong (19:08) The One Thing (35:21) Buy or BS? (46:13) Plant Your Flag (52:11) Checkout The McShay Report Nintendo: Power up your play with Nintendo Switch 2. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit https://fanduel.com/playwithaplan to learn more about the resources and helplines. Host: Todd McShay Guest: Steve Muench Producers: Tucker Tashjian, Conor Nevins, and Daniel Comer Social: Abou Kamara Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's week one of the college football season, and my power rankings are out. Just 241 days until the NFL draft. Man, you good? I'm great, man. Roll that thing, Tuck. This episode is brought to you by Nintendo, when you've got different ages, different interests, and a busy schedule, finding something everyone can enjoy is a win. Boy, do I know that. The Nintendo Switch 2 system gives you options with games like Mario Kart World, Donkey,

Kong Bonanza and EA Sports FC26. Two controllers are included so you can start playing together right away. And many existing Nintendo Switch games also work on Nintendo Switch 2. Learn more at Nintendo.com slash Nintendo Switch 2. Games and systems sold separately. Some Nintendo Switch games may not be supported or fully compatible with Nintendo Switch 2, games rated E to E10 Plus. It feels real now, Munch.

I'm excited. I can't wait. It was a good weekend. Yeah, Week Zero was cute. It was adorable. Stop it. It was better than that. Everything was adorable about it, but NC State.

And we can get to that. My gosh. Yeah. Talk about taking one on the shin, like right out of the gate. We both were high on it. Bad sign. Bad sign. We're both high in something.

Is Virginia legit? it? Well, we'll discuss. It's a problem. He's a problem to defend. Well, the,

the, the, the, the grown-ass man, O-line. Defense line. I mean, oh, yeah,

yeah. No, O-line. They're like, they average, like 37 years old. Anyway, all right, let's not digress.

But it feels, it feels even more real because the McSheeigh report is out. I'm sitting out, I'm writing an article over the weekend. I know we're back when I'm, when I'm, when I'm,

typing up notes sitting in here in a weekend. It's 79 and sunny out. And I'm sending and Dan stuff, but I'm pumped about it. So 2027 quarterback class call it what you want. It's the preseason rankings, QB confidential, QB breakdown, whatever it is. It is a deep dive into the quarterbacks where not only do I share my rankings and grades of the quarterbacks and you and I went back and forth and we studied all of them,

kind of actually, I shouldn't say mine. I mean, honestly, it was a joint effort over the summer kind of landing in the middle and having to meet halfway on some of these guys and answer some real serious questions about Arch, Like where is he in this process now? Where can he get? Dan sent me these questions and he's a real prick that, Dan. I'm telling you right now. You want to know one of the questions yet?

He can be. You want to know one of the questions I had to answer? Start, sit. No, start, bench, cut. Who are the three? Carr, Levit, and Mensa. It pissed me off. I'm dying to know.

I haven't been able to read it yet. But you had to read it. But you have to read it. You can't give it away on the show. Here's the deal. The ringer.com slash McShay. Go on there and just click on the McShay report. If you subscribe, it's already in your inbox.

That's the beauty of this. It's Bill Simmons creation. And now I'm seeing everyone start to, not only say copy, but all of a sudden his newsletter, mimic the concept. And it's awesome because you wake up, you don't have to go scrolling somewhere. You don't have to find it.

You don't have to stumble upon it. It's literally in your inbox. But you can also get it on the ringer.com slash McShay, which we're about to in just a handful of short days unveil our top 50 with evaluations and roll it out and get this thing started for the most anticipated NFL draft in my 26 years of doing this thing. So all of that is coming up. But right now, and if you don't go to the site, you can just Google the McShea report. If you don't subscribe already, please subscribe.

It's going to be an awesome year. We're going to be doing the quarterback watch, like the weekly stock watch on the quarterbacks. We're going to expand from 50 to 75 to 100. And by the time we get to the end of the season, it's going to be 250 plus evaluations in there. And it just continued to grow this product that we kicked off last year. So all of that business is behind us. I want to unveil my top 10, Munch, for all the audience and the viewers and the watchers on Netflix, Spotify. If you listen on Apple or wherever else you get your podcast, we appreciate it.

But if you're watching right now, you'll see, here's my top 10, and I'll read through it in case you're driving in the car. mowing your lawn and just listening. Right out of the gates, I'm different than most. Most people I see, it's either Notre Dame, Ohio State, a sprinkle of Texas at number one overall. I'm taking the canes, man. I think Christobal, we saw a maturation, whatever.

Miami at number one, Oregon at two. Notre Dame at three. Ohio State, a little low on my board at four. Still love them, but maybe not as much as some other people. people. Texas. I actually have dropped Texas for my initial there's some concerns there. It's going to be very interesting to

see. Indiana defending champs, the reigning champs. At number six. Georgia at seven. I think I'm lower on Georgia than most people, but still high on them. LSU, higher on the Tigers and Lane. Get used to it, folks. Till they drop two games

in late September or early October and then I'm going to have to be eat it. I think Oklahoma's vastly underrated coming in at 9 and then Ole Miss. I can't leave Trinidad Chambliss out of my top 10. And I, hey,

I recognize all you folks down in Texas. I get it. Texas Tech would be sitting at 11 if I was going 11 deep. A&M right behind them. I think Marcel Reed's actually going to surprise some people this year. USC.

defense is that secondary has got to get better. But USC, how about those freshmen? Alabama, I think, getting overlooked a little bit. And Washington, I'm a DeMont Williams guy. I'm sorry, it is what it is. So that's my top 10 with some O-LIs, some outside looking in. I want to break this down into four blocks, the A block. We're going to go right now, okay?

I'm going to put a timer on this thing because I want this thing moving today. Pace. I envision this. We want to. rip through as much as we can, but we want to do it and, like, get to some answers. So I'm setting a stopwatch now. Block A, convince me I'm wrong. You look at that top 10, Mench, and I don't care, I don't care if a team should be in there.

You're too high on this team. You're too low on this team. Whatever it is. This is the convince me I'm wrong, Munch, after seeing my top 10 unveiled for the first time. You get three challenges. Go. I love that you know your weaknesses because you started pointing them out as they're going through. Ohio State's got to be number one coming into the season.

I believe that. You have an offense that just lost a wide receiver as a top five pick in Carnell Tate. Average 33 points last year and I think will be even better this year. Julian Steyn's second year as a starter, Jeremiah Smith coming back. I think Chris Henry Jr., the talented freshman is going to step into that role nicely. Most importantly is the running game. They have two stud running backs in Bo Jackson and nice. AASA West. Austin Saravelle moves in from right tackle to right guard. I think he's a better

fit at guard. Arthur Smith, the new offense coordinator, all the NFL background comes in. They're going to feature run game, play action. That suits the guys they have up front, which was the issue at the end of last year. That's why they couldn't get, you know, that's why they lost in the playoffs. That's why they couldn't beat Indiana. The Big Ten championship is because their offensive line wasn't quite good enough. I think it'll be better this year. The question is, can they reload on defense? We've seen them. do it over and over again. And by the way, Ryan Day is a championship coach.

He is. I'm very interested. It could be a negative. It could be a positive. But it is definitely a change at offensive coordinator, right? And now you get Arthur Smith coming in, and that's a departure. Okay. Julian Sayan is in a second year as a starter.

Second offensive coordinator, okay? Brian Hartline is gone. Now, are the receivers? Is Jeremiah Smith going to forget how to play football? No. But after Jeremiah Smith, there's some guys that have to step up and elevate, and heartline's not there to kind of mold that, right? So that's one thing.

I'm not saying it's going to go poorly. I actually think I can, like Arthur Smith, all of his NFL experience. And if you know Arthur Smith and his mustache, which is awesome, you know that they're going to run the football and be physical, and that's what Ohio State wants to do. And they've kind of set the tone for themselves as the season progresses, because that's where they were kind of weak, I think earlier on in Ryan Day's tenure,

is he was trying to convince them and convince himself that they were physical up front while they just weren't, they were more of a Ferrari than a Mack truck. So I'm interested to see how that plays out. If you're telling me the offensive line is going to be better, that that will play to the advantage. The thing with Ohio State, that is, you know, it's hard to realize.

They had eight guys drafted two years ago from that defense, and they were even better last year. Now they lost like first round, high first round guys. An Edge, Arvel Reese, Sunny Stiles, three in the top 11. Three in the top 11. Okay, so there's that. They could absolutely win the whole thing,

but the last two games that we saw in play, saying got sack 10 times. They scored 24 total points. Now they lost a bunch of elite guys to the NFL and defense. Arthur Smith's job, he's got to make sure that that version, the 10 sacks, two games, 24 points, does not rear its ugly head in critical moments this year. That's why they're a little lower for me than everybody else. All right, what's number two? I agree with you.

I'll also say this. I think your first four, that's a really good bucket, and you could sort them any way you want. Okay. And then I'll get to my second one right here is I think people might think that Texas is too low on your list at five. I think you could have put them at seven. Here's my problem with Texas. Here's my problem with Texas. All the talent in the world.

It's great on paper. I haven't seen enough yet. I love that they had Cam Coleman at wide receiver. This is something that we all think could help unlock Arch Manning. But the real problem with Arch Manning last year wasn't the talent at receiver. yes, Ryan Wingo was inconsistent. The problem was they couldn't pass protect and they couldn't run the ball.

I think they'll be better up front. I think they deserve to be in the top 10. I'm not ready to go top five yet because of those reasons. I want to see them run the ball. Their running game was not good last year. So I want to see them run the ball and I want to see how they pass protect, how that offensive line plays,

and then we can talk about it because if you're looking at just the talent on the roster, this could be maybe, this might be the most talented team in the country. I mean, it's up there, but I have to see more of how Arch is developing and how well they run the ball before I can really get behind Texas as a top five team.

I saw Arch at the Manning Passing Academy and he was coming off of an injury. His weight had fluctuated. Truth, you want truth serum? He looked a little rusty. Missing some throws that, like you saw on tape last year, I was expecting, I was kind of expecting to see like an advancement. But then you, like, realized in talking to people there, like, he legitimately, like, couldn't do a lot of things because he was coming off of the lower body injury and was kind of just getting back into his, into shape.

And like, so where is Arch? Is this going to be that breakout year where he takes that next step? Or is this a, I don't want to say a sandwich year. Is this a, all right, we're going to keep progressing. And then it's all about 2027 college football season for Arch. and in the 2028 draft. That's legitimate. I don't say shit like this just because I, like,

that is a legitimate possibility. It's a real thing to keep an eye on, okay? But this team is constructed for 2026. The other issue that sometimes when there's smoke, it's just like there's smoke, like the toaster oven had a little cheese in the bottom of it. Sometimes when there's smoke, they're like a brush fire is going to turn into something like,

that burns down a village. Okay? Yeah. Feels like there's a little too much smoke right now. Like if you, if you, and I'm not, it's hard because separate reality from truth, but it feels like there's like this little bit of undercurrent, some players saying some things and some gossip getting out and some players getting dismissed from the team.

And I just, I want to see Texas against Ohio State. Is this all nonsense? and everything's buttoned up and Arch has had since, what's called July 1st, has had the last two months to like really get to where he wants to be. Everything he comes out, he's got Cam

on one side, he's got Wingo and the other and we're rolling, baby. That might be the case. I thought about seven. I thought about putting Indiana ahead of them. I thought about putting Georgia ahead of them. I landed at five because I think they, like you said,

they are the most talented team, at least top three most talented teams in the country. All right, what's the last one? I also think that's the next tier. I think 5 through 7 is the next tier and then there's a little bit of a drop off. I know you don't do this, McShay. I know you don't cater or curate your list

to piss me off, but I also know when you do certain things that there's a part of you in the back of your head that smiles and knows that you're going to get me get me going. LSU at 8, huh? We're going to put LSU at 8. That's what we're doing. That's what we're doing. I want people to understand our lads.com,

oh, you are L-A-D-S, dot com is a great website if you want to look at debt charts for for NFL teams and for NCAA teams whatever college football teams it's great for both of those okay you should check it out if you're a football fan what i love about them is that i'm a visual learner and what they will do for you is they will show you who the newcomers are on but you're definitely an auditory processor like my wife and like it like Andrew luck but go ahead so this my god you look at things Yeah, if you look at this. A lot of colors.

This is why you need to be on Netflix. Anything that's not blue is a new player. There we go. They are loaded. The turnover, they're loaded with turnover. Like there are so many new players on this roster. So look, I get it. Lane Kiffin is a great coach.

And if anyone can do this and navigate this craziness that's going on in Baton Rouge right now, I think he might be the best guy for the job. And are they getting better talent-wise? Yes, I do believe that. I think they are. but that much turnover. Can you bring it together so quickly that I think it might be a year, man? If we're having this conversation a year, I feel a lot better at.

I'm very high on LSU going forward. I think they're going to be like, I think Kiffin can bring them back. But right now I think we're looking at a talented coach who's had success, you know, recently in the SEC, and then you're looking at that helmet in that talent pool, and we're thinking this is going to come together quicker than it might come together. And for me, it's a little too,

soon to have them in the top eight going into the season. I mean, LSU at eight isn't based off of seven and 16 that was spiraling last year with its star player, Garrett Nussmeyer, who, by the way, has had an awesome training camp with the Chiefs. Here we go. Injured the entire season. It's based on a quarterback that I like, maybe love in Sam Levitt.

It's based on an elite porter rebuild, an offensive staff that can just manufacture points kind of no matter who's playing. where. The question is whether the line comes together fast enough, if I'm being honest. It's true for a lot of these teams, by the way.

This is a... Riscilla sent me a text recently. He's like, I'm an old line guy. I think I actually screenshot it and said to you. Yeah, you did. You sent it to me. He's like, I'm an old line guy in college football now. He's like, everyone's got skill players. The portal, everyone's got a quarterback.

Everyone's got skill players. Everyone's got some defensive stars. The offensive line is a separator. I was like, maybe I should start listening to Menchmore. if that's the case. If you're right, and I'm not sure you're wrong. Maybe I should listen to Menschmore.

So I admittedly, that's the big question mark for this LSU team. Is that offensive line going to gel in time? Jordan Seton, like he's third tackle on our board. Kind of the cornerstone guy. First round guy, I think. Yeah.

First round guy, but that unit struggled last year, okay? But you got trade as green. I'm interested to see these wide receivers. Like, none of them are massive, sold names and like preseason all Americans. But my, the birdies down in Baton Rouge, who typically chirp in my ear with, with correct information, say they got more there than people expect. Whitweeks is back at linebacker.

They get like, Deuce Gerald's a true freshman, right? They get that edge from Notre Dame that I can't pronounce. They get Daycon Wright, Xavier Harris. Like, I don't know. Like, it's going to be intriguing. And I'm here for all the mess. Me too. I'm here for it.

and maybe I'm wrong about the timing of it all. Because I agree. Honestly, I don't disagree with everything you're saying. I just think that sometimes it takes a little while for it to gel, and we'll see if it gels. We'll see. For me,

it's about how long it will take. You see it as a quicker process. I see it's going to take a little time. Their schedule is not easy. I mean, if you play in the SEC, it's not going to be easy, but especially like LSU schedule,

it's going to be tough. Admittedly, of the 10 teams there, they're the one probably most likely to not be in the top 10. But if Levitt hits and Kiffin pulls us all together, I didn't want to be dancing on the line and totally, I think they're good, but I'm going to put them at 14. Like, I'm a believer. I'm a believer in Levitt. I'm a believer in Kiffin.

And I'm a believer in talent. And so I got to stamp it. And this is how I stamp it. Okay. B block here. Let's transition. Let's call this the one thing. Okay.

The one thing. I want us to quickly, in the next 30 seconds, determine who are the six teams? And it doesn't have to be one through six on my rankings. The six teams, in your opinion, that are the most likely to be there in the national championship, which means you have to, I don't factor in schedules and all this. These are the best 10 teams for me.

Who are the six teams based on the outlook, who we believe are going to wind up in the national championship? And once we do that, then I want to answer one question for each of those six teams. What is the one thing that determines, whether this team wins a national championship. All right. So let's do this first part.

I'm glad you said that, by the way. This is not a playoff predictor. This is a power ranking. These are the teams you think are the best 10 teams in the country. So the six teams you think are the most likely to get to the national championship are? Miami, Oregon, Notre Dame, Ohio State. I'm going off your rankings. This is tough because I have the rankings a little bit different.

I'm just not a Josh Hoover guy. I'm to go Texas. in Georgia. Do you want to put Indiana in there? Let's do seven teams, but we've got to be quick about it. Okay, let's do that. All right, let's go.

All right, so we'll start with Miami. The one thing that determines whether this team wins a national championship is for you. I'm cheating. I'm going to call it the margins. I think they're going to be really good up front, and I think they're going to be really good on defense, but they were great upfront,

and they were great on defense last year. Gary Mensa is an upgraded quarterback, I think he's going to be great. I think he's going to be excellent there. It's going to be great to see him with Malachi Tony. All of those things are true. But there's the difference between good and great. Are you going to be good up front and good on defense?

Are you going to be great there? And that's the difference between winning a national championship and not. I think it's the front seven. And I don't disagree with you. But another thing, like, you know my thoughts on Heatherman, the defensive coordinator. I think he's absolutely awesome and a perfect fit down there. But it's hard to lose those two edge rushers and not feel it a little bit, right? Now, like, Damon Wilson comes in as a transfer.

But like Mensa, Fletcher, Barcate, the wide receiver who comes in from Harvard, it seems like their offense is set up for more success this year than maybe the defense. But it's a question of are these unknowns, is this, the next step up. You got like Romando Blunt and Marquis Lightfoot coming along the defensive front seven. This is a young front seven. It's good, man. I know. It's just a matter of good versus great is what I think. There is a standard at Miami that was just set by a couple absolute dogs. Yeah. And first round picks, right? Can they match that standard? Because let's face it, Miami's offense was fine. It was cute. And Mence is going to make

it even better, I think, and we can get to that later. But that's the big question for Miami. Okay, for me. Really quickly, Barcate played at Duke with Mensa last year. I just want to point that out. He started Harvard. It started at Harvard. I'm sorry.

You're right. Just want to clean that up. And an NFL draft prospect. Okay. Next team up is, let's go Oregon. Can they get over the hump? Can they get over the big game hump? I mean, that's kind of a big picture thing for me.

They've been, I mean, Dan Lannings' record speaks for itself. But can they win? the big one. I mean, going to Penn State and winning that game seemed like it was a turning point and then the wheels came off for Penn State. Like, can you win late in the year? I mean, you think about a few years back when they lost to Washington and they were supposed to win that game. You know, it's just, it seems like they lost to Ohio State in the first round of the playoff two years. Like it's two years ago. It's can they get over the hump and win the big game? You know, they're coming off. They got all the way of the national championship last year.

And then again, the wheels fall off. Another blowout loss in the playoff. So to me is can they get over that hump and show up in the big game? Yeah, it's not dissimilar. Honestly, I'm going to put it back on the guy that wants the pressure. Dante Moore. And I'm just going to honestly carry over what you're saying. You can make an argument. We talked about Texas having the best roster top to bottom.

You can make the argument. Oregon does. Yep. I'm not saying, like, good luck figuring out who. from a talent standpoint, they're as good as any team in the country. And they've got the highest ranked quarterback prospect coming back, right? But now you don't have Will Stein,

the offensive coordinator who's developed, who's helped make Dante Moore, a guy who struggled at UCLA under Chip Kelly, transferred, sat out a year, and last year explodes onto the scene, right? Dylan Gabriel before him and Bo Nix before. him. So with new at coordinator and play caller, we're still expecting Dante Moore to take that next step. This path is a little harder. It's not the hardest schedule. It's not some of those SEC

schedules, but it's challenging. He's got to have Mendoza moments. That's what was missing last year. You can argue better passer, played more consistently, all those things. But I need some Mendoza moments out of more. All right, number three, team. I'm with you. Notre Dame. A lot on CJ Car, man, and we all seem to think, and I'm in this camp, we all seem to think that he is going to take the next step and carry this offense. You've just lost Jeremiah Love. I mean, that is a huge loss.

Offensive line looks like it's going to be really good. They added some talent at wide receiver. I think that defense is going to be outstanding. And we're all just assuming that CJ Carr is going to be able to step into that light. It's going to be, I mean, to me, to me, that's it. Does CJ Cars take the next step like we think he's going to? At times last year, he was outstanding. And other times he wasn't quite as good. The Pittsburgh game stands out to me. So it's whether or not CJ Carr can step up and play the way that we all think he will this year.

And with that, the wide receivers. Yeah. Right? Like you've got, you got Jordan Faison who led the team last year and it's on our wide receiver board, like kind of far down. He's not elite. He's not Jeremiah Smith. He's not, he's not, he's not, you know, like, you go through all these other teams that almost all of them have Malachi Tony for Miami, right? You've got two of them at Indiana with Marsh and our guy. Becker's Jr. Charlie Becker.

Yeah, Charlie Becker. So there's a couple transfer portal guys coming in. There's a true freshman that I'm hearing a lot of good things about. Kadeon Finley, who's going to step up? If this does become more balanced run-pass, if this does become Carr's team where they're throwing their way out of trouble or they're attacking through the air more,

who are the weapons that are going to step up? That's my big question for Notre Dame. Ohio State number four. To me, it's going to reload on defense. I mean, you hit on it. I mean, they did it last year, but can you do it two years in a row? Can you continue to do that?

I mean, I don't know, man. It's going to be tough to do. I still think that the top team going into the, the end of the year, but that's the big question. Yeah, I think we just covered it with Ohio State. I also want to see Julian saying, like, training wheels off. This is now, you're not just like the facilitator and kind of steering this thing. You've got to be a difference maker.

And we saw flashes of it. I know it's there. But like taking off and running, taking command of the offense, taking control, and grabbing them between your legs and be like, this is my team. This is like, let's go. I want to see a little bit of that from saying, taking some deep shot, more frequently, like, aggressiveness while they're still trying to establish the run and be all the things that they want to be.

All right. Next team up, Texas. I think it's easy to say that it's Arch. I actually think it's Arch and Steve Sarkeesian, the head coach, as the play caller. I think, how does he get off to start the year? Because correct me if I'm wrong. Tell me if I'm wrong. But it seems like in recent years, especially with Quinn yours, that when his quarterback

starts to falter a little bit, the offense gets pretty predictable and pretty, the aggressiveness really comes out of it. You have two Lamborghinis on the outside, or at least one in Cam Coleman. I think Ryan Wingo is an elite talent as well. Maybe not quite the same level as Coleman, but he's up there. So it's going to be the play caller in the second, you know, second year starter and how they gel and whether or not they can really take off. That, that to me is the biggest question for Texas. I want to see him run the ball better, too. That's part of it. He's got to help him out with the running game.

He's got to figure out a way to help him out with the running game. Again, when I talk about the play calling, that's part of it as well. Like you have to, there's got to be balanced, man. You've got to take some pressure off of arch in that sense. It feels like Texas always had a back. Like, you know what I mean? Like, they could always run. And even when it was two backs, they still like, I didn't get this.

I guess maybe in the last two years, I have to go back. But like, and they were mostly. There were weeks. There was like two or three weeks stretches. I want to see this offensive line a little bit. Texas high school football is the best. The crowds, the pageantry, the quarterbacks, the passing, the offenses, all of it. Texas high school football, sometimes you question like, is it the toughest?

Is it the 10? It's interesting you're saying that because I see, and I've seen this in Texas's roster over the last couple years, all kinds of speed at running back. But do you have a guy who's just going to stick his nose in the fan, get downhill and pick up two yards on fourth and one? Like, and not going to be denied, has the power and the size and the strength just to make that happen even when he doesn't get a scene? I'm not really sure that that guy's on the roster.

Like, I like their backs, but I want a guy who can, who's 220 pounds and he's just going to get downhill and get what you need and keep you on schedule, set up the play action package. And yeah, maybe he doesn't break a 60 yarder all the time. But, like, man, they don't have great size of running back. Yeah, I mean, this year they're counting on two guys, right? And Hollywood Smothers comes in and is exactly what you just said, speed. Explosive, man. Yeah.

NC State Transfer. He's the guy that, like, he's going to be the guy. They also get this Relique Brown that I'm hearing about, the former USC, Arizona State back. More explosion. You're brushed for 1,000 plus yards in 20, 25 at ASU, average 6.1. Great. The talent's there.

I'm actually focusing more on the offensive line. And now we get Goosby with the injury. Sounds like it's going to be all. They got deeper in the portal. So keep an eye on that like O line run game. When it's on the line, is there more arch? Yes. Yeah.

I know. You look at that smile on your face. All right, number six, Indiana. It's as good as Indiana was last year, and I keep harping on this, They were outstanding team from top to bottom, and they still had moments where they needed their Heisman quarterback to come up and make plays in big moments. And do you trust Joss Hoover to do that?

Sort of like we talked about with Dante Moore. I'm not there with Hoover. One of the thing that really sticks out to me with Hoover is when he was at TCU, the turnovers. And there's this little bit back and forth between Signetti and Sonny Dykes, the head coach at TCU about the turnovers. And, well, you know, Sidney's like, now he's got a great defense in a run game.

So he doesn't have to really push. and force. I get that, man. But his zebra doesn't just change his stripes overnight. Like, it's one thing to say that these things exist and that he no longer has to do that. It's another thing for him to go out and no longer do it.

I think that's a tough thing to do as a quarterback and break habits. It'll be interesting to see, again, I think there's going to be some ass chewings on the Indiana sideline this year. I think that Josh Hoover is going to get an earful at times. And how he handles that

and how he reacts and grows and develops is going to play a big role in where Indiana ends up at the end of the year. I completely agree. The only tweak to what you're saying, and it's still, it's the same concept. I actually think Signetti will demand it to the point where the turnovers will be cut down. Significant. He could. He could.

What resonates with me with what you just said is, they were so fucking good in everything they did. hat on hat, gap discipline, eye discipline in the secondary and linebackers, zone coverage, switching to man, like confusion, everything they do is a coaching clinic. And they had the most draft picks. In fact, I think it was eight draft picks last year. That's as many as Indiana had in the last decade combined. So while I'm not saying that they were as talented as Ohio State or some of these other programs

last year, I am saying they were talented. and they were more talented than the year before when they made the college football playoff and she kind of shocked the world. But they still, despite all of those things, like you started off with, they needed magic a few times. A few to five times.

And I don't know that Hoover, I think there are going to be times where Indiana's just rolling. Like, I think they might even put up points consistently throughout the year. They might have a better roster this year overall. They might have a better roster than they did last year.

of those things, but every single team is faced with those, whether it's two, four, five times a year where your best player, typically quarterback, has got to have magic in him. I don't know that he does. I think he's awesome. I think he's a perfect fit. We'll see.

That's my big question mark. All right. Last one, Georgia. What do you got? Kirby's, I love Gunter Stockton. I love Kirby. When Kirby has won, when they have won the national championship, they have been dominant on defense. They're be very good on defense. Will they be dominant? That's their recipe. They play smart football. They

never quit. They're always in it. Nothing ever. You know, they can be down 50 in a game and I'm not going to rule them out. That's kind of the mindset that they have. They play all 60 and they're going to, you know, keep coming at you all of those things. But their recipe has been dominant defense. Will they be dominant on defense? I actually think they're going to be a lot better. I remember doing this last year and that defense kept getting better. I remember, keep saying, I kept saying to you, their best players are the young guys. And they, and they grew up up a little bit last year. And I think now that, I'm not saying it's going to be the Jalen Carter, like that era. But I do think the defense is going to be good enough to be in every single game.

I truly do. Oh, I agree. I agree with that. I think like KJ. Bolden, Ellis Robinson on the back end, I just, I think they got a, my big thing with them is the wide receivers. They're going to run the ball. That offensive line is pretty damn good. Gunner Stockton's going to run the ball. Gunner Stockton is going to make big plays and key moments. I don't know the wide receivers love going to Georgia because of what you have to do at Georgia first and foremost in order to get touches.

And the passing games, it's just not electric. It's not sexy enough for some of these wide receivers who are the five stars coming up. I want to go to Texas to play for Sark with Arch. I want to go to Ohio State. Look, they've just produced. I want to go to LSU. I want to go.

So I think, and from what I'm hearing out of camp, the wide receiver room is the one that maybe has the biggest question mark so that's going to be that's going to be what i'm watching especially early in this season um all right we got to play some catch up now two minute drill c block here this is my favorite one this is going to be good i've heard none of these buy or BS do you buy what i'm saying or you calling bullshit buy or BS is the name of it. I'm going to give you five things on the clock. Give me about, give me 15 to 20 to rip it off.

You got 60 seconds or so to buy, to buy what I'm saying or to call BS. You ready? Got it. Yep. Miami. Darian Mensa is an upgrade and makes Miami the best team in college football. Two questions there. Absolutely.

Dary and Mensa is an upgrade and I'm buying that. I, you know, I just think he is. He is, I mean, he's, I mean, He led the power for conferences in passing last year. He is an assassin. He is a surgeon. Is men's up about this? Is he mentioned an upgrade over the last two quarterbacks for my...

100% yes. I think so, yes. I think he's the best... He's the best transfer quarterback they've gotten. Yeah. I think there's a reason there was a legal fight for this kid. I think all of the... Like, there is...

I think he's that good. I think he's an elite quarterback. So right there. We got to be carefully. I'm not tip... I'm not like just like... I think for college football season going in with the experience, with the ability to distribute with the way he throws the football,

Cam Ward is more physically gifted. There is no question. He was the number one overall pick. Got it. Mens is sealing, even if he has the best year, humanly possible this year. He's not a number one overall pick,

but he could be a first rounder. Ooh. I don't know, man. Okay. Depends on it all falls out. That's what I'll say. I don't think it's a... But most scouts had Cam Ward as a third, third, fourth rounder going into his year at Miami.

That's what I mean. That's why I mean that I think Vincent could be the first. Yeah, that's what I mean. It does it make them the best team in the country? We'll see. Again, I already hinted at it. Let's see how the offensive line gels, how quickly and what level they get to. Is it as good as last year?

And the defense, again, going to be good. Is it going to be great? Number two, LSU. Sam Levitt under Kiffin is the, this year's Mendoza. Absolutely not. Mendoza Cal was getting, because at Mendoza Cal, it was, I think more than anything else was a protection issue and him holding on to the ball too long.

It was a lot of sacks, okay? Levitt, when he gets time and he can deliver the ball. He doesn't need time. He doesn't need time. Oh, okay. No quarterback needs time. As a matter of fact, they should play with three offense. It's nice, obviously.

I'm saying Leavitt needs less, Levin can produce more under duress than Mendoza can under duress. Levin can get himself out of trouble. Levit is like an explosive, dynamic runner, scrambler, extender, creator. Just like Fernando Mendoza. That's what I mean. He's not the next Fernando Mendoza. Like, Ments says the next Fernando Mendoza.

Like, you could say that he's the next Cam Ward. you could say he's the next John Mateer. I mean a transfer portal quarterback coming in with very obvious weaknesses, but very obvious skill set that translates to top five, top 10 pick. If he's with the right coach, right coaching staff, right system, and follows in line. Mendoza needed to cut down on mistakes. Mendoza needed nowhere to go with the football. He needed an offensive system and parameters and discipline in place.

in order to bring out the best in him and more talent than he had at Cal, no question. I see the same thing with Levitt. I think Levitt's more physically, I don't think, Levitt is more physically gifted than Mendoza, even though Mendoza's four inches taller and 20 pounds heavier.

He's dynamic, he's explosive, he's got a bigger arm, it's a looser arm. Mendoza was way farther along in his progress as a quarterback coming out of call it. Fine. Levitt is. Okay. Fine, but now you bring in Levitt

with Kiffin. Yeah. And I don't know. We agree to disagree. You're calling BS. I buy what I'm selling BS. Yeah. Here's the third one for you. And it involves Ohio State, Texas, IU. And you can actually throw in.

Multiple choice. Yep, I'm looking around to make sure I'm not missing anyone else. Ohio State, Texas. Yeah, that would be it. Indiana and Texas, actually have a better wide receiver tandem top two receivers than Ohio State does with with with Jeremiah Smith who's obviously the best of but opposite him is in this and you get the freshman and um Chris um jr jr jr jr yeah yeah go it's this dude are you buying it because you got you got

Charlie Becker. I think I am by it. I hate this question. I'm going to go by. I love the premise. Because we don't know enough about Chris Henry Jr. I think he's going to be awesome. And Jeremiah Smith is obviously the best receiver in the country.

Don't get me wrong. I think Texas right now is actually number one. Because King Coleman, if you have not, if you've not watched Coleman's tape, like go, just go through all. Just throw the highlights on YouTube. Do yourself a favor. He is, again, I think the gap between Coleman. and Jeremiah Smith is going to get tighter

as we get close to the draft. I think he's that good. And Ryan Wingo is super frustrating. It's A.J. Green. Coleman is the A.J. Green. Yes. Yeah. Was it 2011?

Yep. I'm telling you. Yeah, that was 2011. Yeah, and Julio Jones is Jeremiah Smith. I love that. That comp. I really do. And I think Ryan Wingo as frustrating as he is,

man, he's good. He's good. Like he's, he's just, you see when he's playing at a high level, you see him after the catch, his frame, his ability. I mean, his frame is just strength. Oh, he's so good. I think Texas has the best one-two punch in the country.

And then you put in Indiana there too, and they're pretty good. I might have Ohio State ahead of Indiana, but it's right there, man. It's right there. So I love the premise. I hate the question. Let's check back in.

November. I want to see how Henry Jr. does. Oklahoma is my next one. There's two remaining. Oklahoma and Texas, or the last two. Okay. For Oklahoma. If I told you, I'm going to pitch this to you. Okay. John Mateer was, like, he was, he was, I don't want to say anything offensive.

He was a, he was 15 to 20 percent of himself last year. Correct. We didn't see John Matier after the thumb injury. He has spent the offseason training, reshaping his delivery. He is the embodiment of what you want in a leader, tough guy, team first. He's everything.

Oklahoma's got that front office with Jim Nagy putting it. Like they love the fact no one's talking about Oklahoma this offseason. You know, we had Texas and Georgia is going to be back. They're ascending. And we got LSU with Kiffin. look at Ohio State again. Oregon's got the best roster in the world.

Miami's a sneaky team in that ACC. Nobody's talking about Oklahoma. What have I said to you? I think there's a legitimate chance that John Mateer finishes top three in Heisman voting by the end of the year. What would you say?

Buy it or BS? Buy it or BS, Mench? I'm going BS and I'll get into it later. I'm buying all of the positive stuff around Mateer. Like I'm here for it. love watching the player. I just think, and he's going to mature every once in a while. And I think that their schedule is so tough that they, it gives them the opportunity, right?

That it gives them the big stage for him to have a Heisman year. But I don't think it'll quite all come together, especially when we're looking at all of these talented quarterbacks around the country. Like, it's going to be tough. It's going to be, one of the things we haven't talked about is with all that talent of quarterback, this is going to be a great Heisman race. It's going to be an unbelievable Heisman race. Last one.

Last one. There were two really high profile teams last year that came into the year. Some people had them number one, including me. Like I didn't have Penn State one. I was lower on Penn State coming into the year. I had Clemson at number one coming into the year. They both finished out of the top 25, Clemson and Penn State. They both were ranked like preseason top five, I think, if you looked at like AP and coaches and all that.

I've got Texas at five. most like if I were to pitch to you, Texas is the most, and I kind of feel like we covered this, but also I want you to look at, is it Miami, is Oregon, is Notre Dame, is Ohio State? Could it be Indiana? Could it be Georgia?

Of those seven teams, is Texas the most likely to be this year's Penn State or Clemson? If I said that they were, are you buying it or are you calling BS? I'm buying it. I'm buying it. They got the most talented, maybe tied for the most talented roster in all of college football.

Yep. But that's what we did with Clemson last year, too. And I think that Texas has a tougher, you know, road to go. Like, it's road to hoe. Like, it's, to me, in that group, yes, like, I'm tempted to go with Georgia. But Kirby is so consistent in what they do in their process. Whereas I love Sark as a head coach. I really think he's an excellent head coach.

It's just that if the wheels come off in Austin, I think it's. It could be, it could get, it could get bad. I think it could get bad. So I think they are the most likely. Do I think it's going to happen? I want to make sure that everyone in Austin understands this. No, I don't. I think it's more likely that Arch makes a Heisman run and Texas goes to the playoff than

it is that they drop out of the top 10. But if you're looking at this group, it's a good group, man. That's a good group. That's a strong 10. Texas A&M didn't even make it in there. It's a good group. Texas has enough questions and enough pressure. that they could be the candidate

to be the team that falls out. All right, beautiful. This is well played. Final block. We got one thing each. We're going to call it plant your flag. You can take this anywhere, Minch. You can plant your flag on an offensive guard

from Weber State if you want. You can plant your flag anywhere you want to plant it. Heisman, finishing the top 10 that's not listed here, national championship, make the college football, I don't care where you plant it.

But if you had one thing that we can remember, clip, and come back to, you either laugh at or heap praise, plant your flag on something as we embark on week one of the college football season.

Oklahoma is a top 10 team. I'm done with the, we're going to the playoff take. They ain't going to the playoff, dude. You got a Michigan, you're going to Michigan in when, I'll get back.

I'm going to circle back on that one, okay? You're at Georgia. You got Texas. I mean, these are not, this doesn't even include the pitfalls. Then you end the season with Ole Miss, A&M, Missouri. And as much as, and I'm going to just go back to this a little bit,

as much as I love John Mateer, he does things that will drive you nuts. He's going to win a couple of those games. You're going to fall in love with them. You're going to look at those tapes and say, they had no chance. They had no business winning that game, but Mityer pulled through. And then you're going to go back and be like,

oh, what happened against Florida or South Carolina? There's going to be that schedule, man. Again, excellent team. They're doing everything right in Norman, Oklahoma. They are going to be competitive for a long time and deserve to be in that top 10. I just think the schedule is too much to overcome. And I'm telling you right now, this is my second sneaky take.

Michigan's not going to be a playoff team. Their schedule is ridiculous, but they are a team to watch is going to be a team that really has an impact on what the playoff picture looks like. Because of that schedule of Ohio State, Oregon, Oklahoma, I think there's another team that I'm missing.

Kyle Winningham's going to go there, and he's going to bring stability to that program. And Jason Beck, I don't think people realize, with Devin Dampier at Utah, they had the fourth highest scoring offense in the country last year. How good will Bryce Underwood be under him? I don't know yet, but I think he'll be better.

And again, I think Michigan, I don't, An Armour fans don't want to hear this right now. I don't think they're a playoff team, but I don't want to play them. I don't want any part of that game. Tell you another team, the Big Ten, you don't want any part of. Yep. Iowa Hot Guys.

By the way, the Big Ten's a little deeper than I remember. But go ahead. I think, I'm planting my flag. on this. Fuck it. You ready? I'm planting my flag on. The Big Ten is going to wind up with five teams in the college football

playoff. Okay. And Iowa's going to be one of them. Iowa went nine and four last year. Losses by three to Iowa State, Indiana national champion by five, Oregon by two, and USC. And it took Mackay Leonard. and like rabbit out of a hat shit in the fourth quarter.

They lost the USC by five. They were already a playoff caliber team last year, truly. Yeah, they were good. Norm, you talk about a formula that travels, bro. Norm Parker's defense travels. That defense is going to smother you, confuse you, frustrate you, and they're just going to keep punching in the mouth, no matter what the offense does in the position it puts that defense in, okay?

Zach Lutmer's your guy, secondary, right? Special player. At Vanessa, like potential breakout out front. Then you got the offensive line and the run game, okay? You're talking about a couple potential first rounders along that offensive front. Yeah, you are. They're arguably the best.

Yeah, look that smile on. I love that line. Everyone sleeps on them every year. They're just so good. Santa's happy. That offensive line is coached up. and you got two first rounders. All right.

Then you got Kamari Moulton's back, 878 yards, five yards of pop last year. LJ Phillips transfers in from South Dakota. He had 1920 yards, 19 touchdowns at the FCS level last year. Let me repeat that, 19 120 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns. They don't go hand-pick guys. They always pick guys that nobody knows about South Dakota,

then bring them in. It's like, let's roll. They don't need great quarterback play, and I don't think they're going to have it. I keep looking for updates. Is it Hank Brown? Is it Jeremy Heklinsky? Yeah, who's it going to be in?

But they don't have to carry. You got two great tight ends I've talked about with DJ Vaugh. Yes. And the USC transfers, more of a blocker. I've told you about Tony Diaz. That little shit, man, at U.T.R.S.V.J.W. whatever school, Rigo, Van, wherever it was.

Rio Grande Valley. Yeah, I mean, 15 yards per catch, and he's like, balls in the end. I just, I like, and the schedule gives opportunity. They get Ohio State at Kinnick. They play Michigan at Michigan and Washington. But after that brutal stretch, that's a three-game stretch early on. Yeah, boom, boom.

Fine, let's go win one of them. Let's win one. Yeah, yes. Then it's on to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Purdue, Illinois, Nebraska. Like, there ain't no Oregon. There ain't no Penn State. There ain't no Indiana on that. Like, that's it.

Yeah. All right. Reminder, the McShay report is out. If you want a deep dive into all the quarterbacks and our quarterback rankings, it's out. McShay report. You can go to the ringer.com slash McShay or Google the McShay report. Please subscribe. It's going to be the year to do it, man.

I'm telling you. You got Miami winning it, right? That's your futures. that's, that's, yep, all right. I got, I also had NC State as a nine-win team, and I want to grow up. Yeah. Oregon wins it all this year. Great way to end.

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