The Ryen Russillo Podcast - CFB Playoff Picks With Danny Kanell, Plus Life Advice

Episode Date: August 25, 2023

Russillo is joined by Sirius XM’s Danny Kanell to discuss his potential College Football Playoff, Georgia reign, Wisconsin, and Caleb Williams (0:35). Finally, the guys close it out with some listener-submitted Life Advice questions (63:11). The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please check out theringer.com/RG to find out more or listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Host: Ryen Russillo Guest: Danny Kanell Producers: Steve Ceruti, Kyle Crichton, and Stefan Anderson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's up on today's podcast we will preview our college football playoff picks although we're not definitive about it yet with Danny Cannell hung out with him for about an hour life advice and we also have the launching of our new Fandu Parlay college football contest. All three guys, all three picks. We'll see how it works out. Enjoy. This episode is brought to you by Uber Eats. Winter is here, so be prepared and get almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. What do I mean by almost anything? Well, you can't get a ski slope, but dish soap, definitely doable. Sunshine?

That's no. A bottle of wine? Yeah. And a snow day, again, no. But blueberry muffins with the delicious crumb topping, total yes. Get almost, almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. Alcohol in select markets. Product availability may vary by region. See app for details. Good friend Danny Cannell joins us to get ready for college football i think this is going to be

kind of a fun little preview here because the last two years we have had incredible you know despite the lack of parity at the top the parity on down after the playoff teams has been pretty incredible last two seasons have actually set records for the lowest amount of preseason top 25 teams that ended up in the final top 25. So, Danny, I kind of want to start at the top, though, with I don't know if you've solidified your playoff picks. I know probably the six or seven teams. I usually always like to throw one dark horse in there, but that's what can end up looking really bad at the same time. Do you think you have your four now?

So I did a show a week ago, ago a preview show and they had me give them and i kind of hate them already you know it's only been a week that they've been out there um so like i kind of want to change them up because like i'm like you should everyone should get a mulligan like on one flyer right that you're kind of like maybe it happens and it should be like an asterisk right like if it hits you're like yeah yeah i kind of put it out there you know you don't have to get all the credit in the world. But at the same time, if it doesn't hit, people aren't like, oh, why did you ever pick that team? You know what I mean?

Because I have some flyers, too, that I would love to go for like the fourth team in. But at the same time, you don't want to be like, who's this clown with a hot take? But it's not really, you know what I mean? It isn't, though. It's not a hot take. It's the same as the NCAA tournament. Like, I don't want to pick four one seeds. I don't want to go two twos and two ones.

Although if you're trying to win your bracket, you're better off doing it because the odds are in your favor. But, you know, I think one year I remember, I don't know if it was Herbstreet or if it was Corso, but I think like, I think one year Herbstreet went totally off the reservation. He had like Arizona State in there. I think there was a pit here too so was that i kind of like des kind of always goes off like four randos it's never like zero chalk for randos no herb street had one year because i remember i hit him up after and i was like

wow but i wasn't doing it because it's nothing easier than saying like oh you pick somebody who's going to finish 22nd or it was picked 22nd the preseason like what are you a fucking idiot like i appreciated that he did it and then i think i brought it up to him again after the fact he said i'm never doing that again because it was you're right des you usually have one in there but i i don't have i admire the people that do it um that try to and i tried to this year and i'm still not solid who might i try not to recognize week zero it just drives me crazy uh which look there's other things that should drive me more crazy but let's just get to it like who are the four that you already don't like that you pick all right so i went georgia back in as

the one seed running the table uh in the regular season I went Michigan. So there's two very chalky plays. I have Texas. So that's a little bit outside the box. And I have Clemson in order not to be an FSU homer. I went with those four, which are kind of two chalk to a little bit longer shots. which are kind of two chalk to a little bit longer shots. Okay. I too have Georgia. I had them out last year. There's a rule that I will, it's going to be the George rule, but when a team wins a title like they did two years ago, and in this transfer portal world doesn't take any transfers in,

I'm going to like that team again by default the next year. Because it's funny when you look at this and you lose track of all these guys, right? Unless you're in it every single day. But there's something to be said when you're a power five supposed contender. And then I'm like, wait, your best receivers from where you just brought in. Like when I look at the tackle position for Ohio state, you know, we'll talk about them here shortly, but we know the interior of the line is good to go, but the tackle is a massive

problem. Then the guy they brought in, what was it, from San Jose State, San Diego State? He didn't even grade out that well last year. I was like, wait, can I actually pick Ohio State through all this? The Georgia one I'm with you on, the schedule, I don't know

where the second loss is. I think everybody's capable of one stupid one, but the non-conference is UT Martin, Ball State, UAB, and then at Georgia Tech, and they've got two ranked games, home against Ole Miss, and then at Tennessee, who I think

is capable with their offense of scaring somebody in a big week. But I don't know how you, unless you just want to take them out, which I did last year just to be a little different, I'm not doing it again. And I don't see the path. I don't see the path to a great argument. You'd just be leaving them out because of the unpredictability of sports, which I'm fine with. But there's no real football argument that says that team with that talent, even with a new quarterback who may be more talented than Bennett, that that team's not going to be in the mix. It just doesn't make any sense. You know, you're 100% right. And the whole Carson Beck thing, the only thing I wonder about there is we haven't seen very much of him.

And there is a chance that we're sitting here against Auburn. Week five, they go to Auburn. And Hugh Freeze is kind of this unknown where I don't think Auburn's going to be a 9- or 10-win team. But I think they're going to be better than maybe people think. It's a tough environment. That's his first road game, right? It's for Carson Beck where he's going to be under the bright lights. Where could you see him overwhelmed by

the moment throws a pick early and all of a sudden it's tighter and then you got to find out what he's all about like can he respond to that you know and then is there a situation where we're sitting here saying man was Stetson Bennett a lot better than most people gave him credit for because the dude stepped up and made play and I did not believe in him after the first championship. And then after number two, I was like, all right, you can't deny how good he's executed in that system. But it is probably the only thing that you could say where it's going to have an impact and they're going to lose, you know, one or two games.

One is even like, it's hard, it's hard to find the loss on there. That it's got to be a quarter young quarterback or injured you know injured quarterback type of game and if you like to me it's got so much talent around him he's got pedigree feels like you know he's won this job that you don't see that coming but you never know how how somebody's gonna do once they're actually in the fire and all of a sudden like there was two years ago with Stetson Bennett. Was it, um,

at Missouri? That was last year, right? No, Missouri games last year where, you know, it was like, what's going on with these guys,

you know, and it was like, right. And then they just kind of woke up and they, right. Right. Um, but like,

it's hard to find that slip up on their schedule. It is absolute cake. Tennessee is probably the one that everybody circles and say Knoxville. Can they replicate what they did last year against Bama in Knoxville? Florida's always another example. A lot of this stuff, just doing it long enough, there's little lessons. You're like, is this a lesson or was this just something that happened? But you remember all the years, like the different Florida quarterbacks,

whether it was Felipe Franks, you'd be like be like oh this is actually kind of the guy remember the jeff driscoll stuff in spring um there was all there was just this run of like four or five different florida guys and none of them fucking worked out and i don't want to just make the same mistakes like hey car spec because i do think the times i saw him granted it was limited. I liked what I saw. The bigger point may be it's not about talent. It's about Stetson Bennett playing the game the way it needed to be played. I don't mean that as a game manager but I thought he always was willing

to figure out like, okay, they need more out of me. They need more risk out of me, which he didn't have very often with Georgia last year, but you get the point. And you have no idea. You have no idea with a guy who's never been in those situations, even though the talent, although I still think it's kind of funny because of the tight end talent that they've had, like Georgia receivers are not household names. You know, there's, there's receivers all over the country that are better than their receiving room,

but it just hasn't mattered because Bowers and just what they've done defensively. It's, it's not an issue where you feel like, hey, are our guys winning one-on-one outside enough? It's like, George, I mean, the scary thing about what they've done the last two years, and I know everybody kind of brings up Pickens, but it wasn't like he was playing all the time and kicking everybody's butt. They didn't necessarily have one of those studs

that a lot of these other top programs have, and it didn't even matter. It is. Ladd McConkie's a household name, by the way, in Georgia. You better watch your mouth for saying that. Bowers has been phenomenal. I did say on the outside. That to me is the scary thing.

What's that? I did say on the outside. Like, I'm talking. That's right. You know, I'm talking like the guy. First round. Right. First round talent.

Yeah. Like Ohio State's guys. Yeah, exactly. Or Bama from a few years ago. I think it's going to be... All right, so if we both agree that George is there, who are they beating in the SEC title game? I have Bama.

Because that, to me, is a way more interesting conversation is what's happening in the West. Yeah, I think we're both guilty of not, I mean, I feel way more like a loser saying a Homer about LSU than the guy who played quarterback for Florida state. But I don't know if it's because I've watched so much of Jaden at quarterback or I like see the Heisman odds and see him number two in some places.

And I think the best thing that LSU did last year, like the O-line's good, receivers are good, their front is going to be better than it was with Perkins a second year in and the big kid Mason who got hurt in the Florida State game. The corners are a concern, big time. Actually,

you can start looking at the depth chart there. But I think the best thing they did last year was they figured out a way to get Jaden Daniels to play where he was comfortable. Because I thought the first half of the season, he looked like kind of a one read and go guy, which the go part's great surviving against the speed in the SEC. But I'm a little surprised how many people are ready to hand

the SEC West to LSU over Bama. So, I'm not. You're right. That first half against Florida State last year was wild because you saw two completely different quarterbacks. He was conservative. He was very unsure of himself. And then once they got behind, they kind of opened it up.

All of a sudden, he started lighting them up, brings them back, and almost wins the game. He's got... I don't know. Garrett Nussmeyer played really well in the SEC Championship game. When it was granted, it was mop-up duty. I've talked to some people who really think there's a chance that Nussmeyer is the better quarterback on the team. That doesn't mean anything like he might be playing, but we'll see how that goes. I'm really confused on... Go ahead. Keep going. Keep going.

Well, I'm torn on LSU because I... I don't want to say fraudulent. That's a strong term to use. But they did capture a lot of magic last year. And to Brian Kelly's credit, like going for two against Bama, that was an outstanding game. But they did catch Bama on a year where they were vulnerable and gettable. They got blown out by Tennessee, 40-13. That one was kind of shocking. They got beat by

Texas A&M in a game that mattered. That was a game where LSU could play themselves into the playoff conversation, maybe that second team to get in from the sec and they lost that game like i i don't know i i but i mean at the same time they had a phenomenal year i just wonder if they can replicate that again um you know who i'm big on i'm not big on bama i think bama i'm on the under 10 and a half wins for them uh i think they're more likely 10 and 2 than 11 and 1 or are better i kind of think texas a&m is in a really good position right now i'm buying into the bobby petrino fresh freshened up offense new set of eyes jimbo giving up some of his stubborn you know play calling mentality which i do think that was a part of why

the negotiation took a little bit longer, why Petrino didn't. There was like a two- or three-week gap. I think that was over power structure, and I think the offense is Bobby Petrino's. But I think a quarterback-friendly system that's not so antiquated and really quarterback-heavy system, which is what Jimbo had. There was a lot on the quarterback's plate. I think Connor Wegman, you're hearing stuff about him and this roster still is stacked. And they still did last year, like kind of the opposite of LSU, you know, getting some big wins. They did beat some good teams and they had Alabama on the ropes. Like to me, they threw in the towel at the back end of the season. If they're motivated and invested, they're as talented as anybody in the SEC.

And if they can put it together offensively, which I think they might have this new wrinkle, it might actually work. I think they could be a team that could be playing for the SEC West. A&M burned me so bad last year. I can't bring myself to do it because I just thought it was heading in the right direction. We all know about the talent. And they're kind of the poster child of like oh just throwing together talent doesn't mean it was like bullshit like nobody would ever go hey you know what we were way too talented we focused on recruiting way

too much you brought way too many studs in here you just it didn't work one year and you try to do it again uh there is no question i mean the respect that the guys that do it every week that they have for Petrino's ability, whatever, you know, when I think about the guy, that's pretty far in the past. I really, people hold him in like the highest regard of play callers. I mean, he's up there with anybody and they need somebody to be steady enough,

a quarterback to match the rest of the talent they have. So when they beat LSU last year, I wasn't shocked. LSU, it's Zone's weird story where you could say, hey, is last year fluky? I don't know that there's many teams that are going to beat Bama last year. I even look at the Bama losses and go, look, all-time night in Knoxville,

a two-point conversion against LSU. Are you going to tell me it's slipping in Tuscaloosa because something like that happened? And if I want to talk myself into LSU, I could be like, if they could feel the fucking punt against you guys, and the Tennessee game got so out of hand so early, and the special teams thing was kind of an issue,

especially on the return game for a while, but then it's like yeah but when you watch lsu play against georgia you're like okay this is a pretty significant gap like this is a gap despite the fact that you feel like you have an adult with brian kelly you know you've got somebody that is putting together like a long-term plan uh but i'm not ready i just i don't understand bam has held such a standard and you if Georgia were to three-peat, then we're talking about stuff that just doesn't happen. But it feels like the college football public is in a hurry to make it sound like Bama's going seven and six. with some of these elite, elite runs that we see. Like, this is the greatest run in the history of modern college football that Saban's on.

So what if Bama were to win another one this year? It's not impossible. It's Bama. What if they, like, does that mean Georgia actually took the belt from them? No, like, Georgia has to do something really, really special for me to think that Alabama's afraid of the guys in Athens. I don't think Bama's afraid of them,

but you don't think Georgia's the dynasty in college football right now? It's undisputed? Like, you think Bama's still kind of... It's a different dynasty. I mean, this run is since 08 for Saban. Yeah. So, and to me, like, the run is not over. And again, like, to that point, the way they get talked about,

like, oh, are they slipping? Let me see an awful season. Let me see a five-loss season before I'm even entertaining the conversation. And that's where I just feel like the mob goes a little too far with that for me, where I'm like, do you guys realize what their season really was? Like, sure, it's disappointing by their standards, but go through the results. And I didn't think they should have been in the playoff, so it wasn't like I was arguing that over TCU, but go through the results. And I didn't think they should have been in the playoff, so it wasn't like I was arguing that over TCU, but go ahead.

I don't think they get in this year, but when we go 12 teams, they might be one of the biggest beneficiaries just from getting access. And then all of a sudden it's like, well, how many more could save and win if that's the case? Because a lot of times that is. They have a season like they had last year, where who knows what they could have had if they got in. Again, I think we agree they didn't belong in,

but in a 12 team, if they get in, they could have been as dangerous as anybody. Okay, let me ask you about... All right, stay on that thing. Go wherever you want. With Bama, though, here's my concern, because I do think it's sort of... I think the light is starting to fade, clearly, on the Bama dynasty, and I the light is starting to fade clearly on the Bama dynasty.

And I think it is starting to come towards the end. I think this season specifically, Tommy Reese, 31-year-old offensive coordinator, coming to take over a very questionable situation, a quarterback that was so, I don't know if bad's a strong word, but they did go out and get Buckner after the spring. They were trying to get Van Dyke from Miami. There was effort to upgrade the position because they were genuinely concerned about it.

And bringing in Buckner, I don't think, was the best option. But if they thought that's an upgrade, that to me is a concern. So they have a lot of questions there. And I wonder if Saban's going to go back to where he started the dynasty was, his bread and butter, which is, hey, we've had a real luxury of having first-round talent at quarterback and wide receiver and being able to have a top-five scoring offense in the country, but we still have a lot of guys on the defensive side of the ball.

We can still win ugly if we need to. And maybe that's our best chance to win so that we don't have a quarterback that can go out there and throw it. We need to protect and maybe even hide that position like we've done in the past. And I don't know if that works in today's environment with all the offensive firepower that's out there. Yeah, because I used to love that when Shaw still had it going at Stanford

where it's like, actually, nobody's preparing for this anymore, so it's an advantage. Like three tight end sets, tight formations, we're going to run it over the center. Like, you know, this is actually harder. Bielema used to talk about it at the beginning of the spread just kind of being everywhere when he was towards the end of his run at Wisconsin.

And so I don't know. I don't know if Saban would do that, but I think you're absolutely kind of back to the portal rule that I was talking about. I'm going to call it the Georgia rule, at least for myself personally, if Bama's bringing in Buckner, who,

you know, I'm not going to tell you. I loved towards the end at Notre Dame. I think they were hurting with receiver depth, to be certain. That should tell you something. If the people running the team are in a room going, hey, can we go out and grab another Power 5 guy somewhere? I don't know what that means.

I don't know if it ends up being the freshman who was the five-star kid who just has more talent and they decide to do it. I don't, does it, does it work? Can a defense be so solid now? You know, I was looking at some of the big 12 stuff like Iowa state, granted they lost a lot of close games, but like they had the best defense in the conference last year. And you're like, yeah, but does that, like, could you decide to do that? I want to stay on this though, because there's a coordinator conversation, whether it's Reese there, Longo in Wisconsin, where they're going to try to mix the air raid with Fickle, who doesn't exactly, you know, scream air raid. And then Petrino, who you mentioned. I used to always think the turnover was ridiculous. Hey, we weren't as good on defense. You got to keep firing these guys. And then if it doesn't work out, you lose your job as a head coach. I think there's probably tons of head coaches everywhere that are like, I wish I had never had to fire that coordinator, but that's just the way it works. But at Bama, the turnover feels different because it's like

those guys have to come in and go, I have to do the best job ever. Like there are no coordinators more motivated than any of the Bama guys that come in because they know they're either going to get replaced, but if they have a great season, they're going to get a much bigger gig somewhere else. What does it really mean to have that kind of coordinator turnover? And let's just stay on the offensive side of the ball. I mean, it's been insane how much success he's had there. I was trying to figure out when the,

because I had assumed when I was looking at some of the stats that Lane Kiffin like should get the most credit for sort of this you know because i think there's really two parts of the dynasty it's the one that i was on like the pre-offensive firepower pre-tua alabama dynasty where they're winning with the insane defenses and greg mccarroy and jake coker at quarterback you know like game manager and agent mccarron he was probably one of the better ones but you know what i mean like it didn't look like it has so i was trying to look at it and it was actually it was like brian dayball and then sark like took it to this level

and then bill o'brien picked right up and so they've had like a top five scoring offense for five six years consecutively and with lane Lane, now granted, the first year Lane took over, he had Jalen Hurts, and there was a lot of speculation that he wanted to play Tua, and that they kind of felt limited because of Jalen. And so they ran him a lot. Remember, it was kind of a little more conservative. And then when Tua took over, it felt like it just opened up. But it is remarkable that they've had that much turnover and you haven't seen one bit of drop off at the at the production in fact it's only increased i think some of the stuff you talk about like competitive aspect of it the opportunity of it and then of course the talent around you

that you're calling it with absolutely has a massive impact but you've been able to go out and get these really bright offensive minds, plug them in with that talent. And like that's, I used to get so much heat from Alabama fans because I would troll them all the time on Twitter, but I also would criticize the offense being like, man,

the thing that is scary about this band is, is could you imagine if they actually got an offensive, you know, a current you know offensive philosophy and opened it up and sure enough they did and that's where you've seen like them look almost unbeatable like they did a couple years ago uh when they won it all and so that this might be the first time that there's this many question marks though because whether it was to uh even mac jones i guess that was probably the

last time there was really a question mark but he was there for a while and he felt like he was there apparent and then with uh bryce young just they've had incredible quarterback play and i i think it's gonna be hard for them to maintain that okay by the way if you want to take the opposite side do you know who has the most four and five stars on their roster going into this season it's bama 90 they're up to 90 on uh my guy bud elliott's blue chip ratio that last year georgia was number one and albama's back in that uh full position for that one 90 of the roster four or five stars. Okay, so let's stay with the playoff part of it then

because we've done a lot of SEC. Do you have Bama in? No. No, okay. I as of right now... Texas Clemson. Okay. I know you already told me that,

but you said you hated it, so I was wondering. Get ready for the NFL season with incredible offers from FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. Right now, new customers can bet $5 and get $200 in bonus bets, guaranteed. Plus, all customers who bet $5 will get $100 off NFL Sunday ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV. All right, so we'll take a look at some of the options here. Remember I was giving you the Saints over and then Arizona's over just because of how bad I think the NFC quarterback situation is.

As far as just a straight spread, why not get in on it early September 7th? What are you doing? You're watching Lions Chief. Lions football. Everybody loves the Lions. Looked at the public money. Still 55% of the public money is on the Chiefs minus six and a half. And no other scenario with this line be less than a touchdown. So I'm laying the six and a half to start the season with the Chiefs against the Lions. Because I think in any other week it would be different.

But it's opening night. All this Lions momentum. Who the hell is going to be good in the NFC? Because the NFC is weak, I feel like the Lions are being propped up. I don't think they're good enough to hang within a touchdown against the Chiefs to open the season when they are healthy and everybody is fresh and ready to go.

So there's the pick for week one. Now is the time to join FanDuel. The app is easy to use and you can be on everything from spreads to player props and more. So visit FanDuel.com slash Ryan, R-Y-E-N and kick off the NFL season with an offer you won't want to miss. FanDuel, official partner of the NFL. Must be 21 or older and present in select states. First online real money wager only. $10 first deposit required.

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TV. Redemption requires a Google account and current form of payment. Commercial use excluded. Let's do the Big Ten part of this then. I have Ohio State in with Georgia. I cannot believe Ohio State lost that game to Michigan last year.

I cannot believe it. I do think it was, and Michigan fans don't want to hear it, but it was like the weirdest fucking game ever with the big plays and like, wait, you're going to gonna let this happen we've already talked about the tackles the fact that one of them is going to be a transfer portal guy both quarterbacks are really talented completely unproven and i know coaches spend more energy than they should on

trying to pretend to be super vague about who's winning the camp but i've read all the latest stuff and i think they're being pretty genuine. And when Ryan Day is like, we just don't really know. It didn't separate itself in spring. They're really competitive. We both think they're going to be good. He even said something specific, which leads me to believe him a little bit more

than I normally would believe any coach in this scenario, where he said he pulled all the coaches, and the coaches voted basically split, was split down the middle between the two kids they were going to have there. They've got insane receivers, the two best receivers, probably the top duo in college football. The running backs are stacked.

The defense, I know, was probably more disappointing with some of the stuff they were trying to do, but it's coming down to, like, if Penn State is good, like, Ohio State and Michigan need Penn State to be good if they're going to get two teams in. And looking at the schedules and the way it shakes out, Penn State's going to have a good record. And I was off of them last year when they got smashed by Michigan.

They came back, played a lot tougher against Ohio State, but I had like a problem with Penn State in some of the expansion talks. I'd be like, this team has not beaten anybody good this year, and they would be in the playoff competing for a championship. Congrats to beating Utah with a bunch of injuries. But I'm just kind of looking at the way the schedule lines up at the end of the year and going, I don't think Ohio State's losing this game three times in a row. Even though it's in Ann Arbor? Yeah, yeah. I'm aware.

And whoever the quarterback is at that point is going to have three months of playing behind them. They're going to know what they can get away with with the offensive line at that point. And the rest of the schedule, even though they do have Notre Dame in there, which give Ohio State a ton of credit, feels like they're one of the few programs every year that will still find a marquee matchup

in the out-of-conference stuff because unfortunately with more of the conferences playing the nine games, it's cutting back on the opportunity. I don't even blame the ADs for not doing it because you're trying to compete here, but this is a stupid thing that I'm looking at this result from last season, but when that game is played, I don't see them losing it three times in a row. I don't have a huge problem. I picked Michigan. Returning quarterback, they've been pretty dominant physically.

To me, it's been one of the bigger differences. It's probably been an eye-opener for Ryan Day, I'm sure, too, of how much they've felt physically superior than Ohio State, been able to run the ball on them and really kind of have their way. I would say that. And I think J.J. McCarthy has another – I think he has another gear in him. We've got to remember – I want to jump in there, though, because I think J.J. going into this season

is talked about as if he's in that top tier, and I don't think he should be given that benefit of the doubt. So that's also playing into this a little bit. I like going into it all these assumptions are made that he's taking this next step I'm not sold on that at all I don't know if he has to like and I don't know if that's what Harbaugh wants that's the other thing that's kind of weird because there's their schedule is really light to open up the season um they've got this you know four cupcakes right off the bat I remember talking about that when Harbaugh was going to be missing her. Like, so what's the big deal? Like, it doesn't even matter that he's going to be there. But Harbaugh, I don't think he cares if J.J. McCarthy

wins a Heisman. I don't think he cares if he leads the country in passing. I think he wants him to play the role of Michigan quarterback, which is a lot of time handed off to Blake Corham or Donovan Edwards. But you're going to need him in when it matters the most, which is against Ohio State, which he played good last year. And when he, you know, if you're playing against in a playoff, which, you know, if he doesn't have those two pick sixes, they're beating TCU all day long. Right. But he still did throw the pick sixes and he still played pretty well after

that. That to me is like where you have to see from JJ McCarthy is because I'm with you. Like, I because I'm with you, I don't think he gets talked about that much as far as the top five quarterbacks in the country, because he doesn't have to be. He doesn't have very many games where it's a J.J.

McCarthy game, the same way you would see last year, we'd see games where it was a C.J. Stroud game, or a Drake May, or Bryce Young. You'd just be like, wow, look at that QB just ice in his veins, took over the game late. You don't really see that from Jason McCarthy because they don't ask him to do that.

I kind of wanted to put two Big Ten teams in, figuring Ohio State beats Michigan, but if they both beat Penn State, but then Penn State beats everybody else, that also has Ohio State with a win against Notre Dame. You mentioned the non-conference from Michigan. ECU, UNLV, Bowling Green. They'll have that one at home. They'll be at Penn State, obviously. It's weird because the division after those three

teams isn't very good. The West is always a free-for-all. Although I really want to believe in wisconsin i just i just do bringing in mordecai and their talent they have everywhere i want to believe that they actually can kind of contend with whoever comes out of the other side uh but it's just been so weird with the big 10 west where it's like i look at some of those schools or certain years they have and i'm like are any of these teams any fucking good you know like there's some years where i feel like the whole division i was like is there one real like I'm not talking about a playoff contender but I'm like can any of these teams show up against one of those big boys and have it not

be a fluky game like feel like it's been in even 60 minutes it just hasn't felt like that you know I would grab my Iowa helmet that I had that I displayed proudly in Bristol when we were there that was given to me that had the hashtag ANF on the side. America needs farmers. Yep. You know, the irony in that is I told you the story how I stole all the helmets. Do you know somebody stole the Iowa helmet from me? It was like the only helmet that was stolen from me. Wait, somebody stole the helmet from you that worked at ESPN?

Yeah. Out of your office yeah and it was like one of the coolest helmets because it was one of the only ones that was like a real personal one because they were like so happy that I had you know spoken kindly of them yeah but they didn't they didn't realize your game any team that wasn't in the SEC you were just gonna hype up the whole time and so it had nothing to do with Iowa. It had nothing to do with farmers. And look, it pains me. If Iowa had a D-plus offense last year, okay? D-plus. They might have beaten somebody better. That's how good that defense was.

And Iowa, when you go through the pro rankings, that kind of stuff. They put out dudes in the NFL. In Iowa, when you go through the pro rankings, that kind of stuff. They put out dudes in the NFL. I think they're 10th. Was it maybe at the end of the year of active NFL players? I think Iowa was 10th. Okay?

I love Iowa. I just argued against them that year because they hadn't played anybody. And then it was some victory lap because the Michigan State lost. And then you just were anti-SEC. So you got the helmet. But yeah, the other story in that is it turned into a fucking just carnivores there. Once they found out the show was over, dude started just ripping helmets left and right. I don't want to give any,

uh, comparison, but there was serious, there was some serious looting going on. When you look at the West. Do we know who stole the Iowa helmet? Yeah, I know who it is. I'll text you who it was later.

Really? I think he went to go work for the Big Ten Network. And he was an Iowa grad that worked with us. Yeah, but see, that's still a fucked up thing to do. Yeah. I think that's because, I mean, the schools were sending us the helmets. Okay? And they really were sending them to Scott and I.

And then you got the Iowa one because of your bullshit propaganda that year. That's so messed up. It's so true. Can we talk about the West for a second? Yeah, please. Let's go. Give it to me. Because I do think Iowa gets a massive upgrade in Cade McNamara,

a quarterback who took Michigan to the... Are you kidding? And it's been so atrocious at quarterback. I love the fact that Brian Ferentz has the clause in his contract to get 25 points a game. That's his number that he's got to get to. I can't believe it. It's unbelievable.

Seven wins, seven wins, and 25 points per game on average, or he's terminated. But I think the termination is in June of next year. Is that true? Yeah, I think they're going to get it, though. Like, I think Iowa is a team that I don't I don't think they're going to beat any of the big boys. Like you were saying, what really intrigues me, though, is Wisconsin, because I am a massive Fickle fan. I thought it was like the and I don't like giving grades to, you know, I just give them all C's. But that one I loved.

And the Phil Longo hire I think is fascinating because I think the perception of him is what you saw last year with North Carolina and Drake May. Oh, he's going to come in and they're going to throw it all over the place. If you go back two years ago, they had two 1,000-yard rushers

in Javante Williams and the other guy, which is escaping my name. They had two 1,000-yard rushers. He's got one of the best backs in the country in Braylon Allen. I think Luke Fickle and Phil Longo are kind of laughing behind the scenes thinking everybody thinks we're going to run it or throw it all over the yard. I think they're still going to be pretty physical. It is not like you were talking about Luke Fickle's personality and defensive minded guy, hard nose.

I think he wants to still bring that physicality on the offense side of the ball. I think Phil Longo will bring it, especially because he's got talent there. And I do think they'll also have the threat of the past, which is something that we haven't seen probably since Russell Wilson. So I'm, I'm, I am, but I'm nervous. Cause I look at, I think their wind total was eight, eight and a half. But I'm nervous because I look at it. I think their win total was eight, eight and a half. And I'm like, I love the over.

And it almost seems too easy. Ooh, free money. Is that what you're saying? Right. I love those free money plays. I love when you're like, oh, that's, I can't believe how bad this number is. Those idiots.

I'm going to look up something here real quick because we both have Texas. Oh, you're on Texas too? Yeah, big time. It's not a talent question. What do you think of yours? So I think last year was exactly what he needed. Like I couldn't stand him

when he was coming out of high school and there'd be these viral videos of him like throwing the ball. And he was the worst footwork you've ever seen. And he like owned it. He thought he was like Mahomes, right? But he was like out there

like doing the off balance, like sidearm throws. And I was like, ooh, look at his arm. And then, you know, he goes to Ohio state, he gets paid, he goes to Texas, he brings the mullet. I think he got humbled and I think it's good for him. I think he, I think he was kind of a cocky punky kid that thought he could just show up and do everything he did in high school, which was only a year. And it was like two or three

years ago. Right. But I think you also saw why people salivated him when he was in high school, salivated all over him, is because of what you saw in that game against Bama before he got hurt. Like, I remember thinking, this kid may be all that he's cracked up to be. Then he gets hurt. Then he was kind of sidelined. He had some issues, you know, with his hand against Oklahoma State that I don't think a lot of people knew about.

And he was very up and down, which is totally normal for most quarterbacks, especially on that big stage. I think he went back to kind of like, I want to go to work. I want to prove my worth. I want to prove my value. And one of the best things I think Sark did was coming out of the spring with the Arch Manning circus, with Malik Murphy having a phenomenal spring game. Sark said, Quinn Ewers is our guy. And it hasn't been an issue. There's been no talk of Arch Manning. It's been this is his team.

And I don't think Sark does that without somebody who has owned his mistakes, owned his position on the team and earned it. So I think he's kind of a revamped, you know, person and sort of somebody who's been humbled and kind of used it to kind of fix himself. And he did cut the mullet. So we didn't talk about this, I don't think, when I saw you were throwing person at camp. And we didn't talk about this before the pod. But I saw him throw before he even stepped foot on campus. And as just a guy who doesn't

understand the position as well as you do i was like dude this is sick and i turned to one of the coaches i was like man what is that like that guy's got crazy arm time because i was watching his feet be all fucked up and thought like who's that backpedaling you know it's like the boxer that can still connect by backing up and it just looks really cool. And then I turned to one of the guys, I was like, man, that's, and he's like, that's all bullshit. He completely dumped on me for even liking it. And he was like, no, he just keeps doing it. He keeps doing it because it looks cool to you fucking guys. He's like, it's stupid. And then you're right. You watched it be implemented. And I think a lot of the stuff with throwing, this is just my own personal opinion, when people talk about like good base and feet and all this shit, and you're like, how many throws in a real game allow you to set up that, you know, some of those quick throws, you get to have the power behind it. But there's so many throws that are off schedule that are poor everything. And so you have to be able to do those things.

But it'd be nice to do because the accuracy numbers are bad, but the big play numbers for him are really big. And I know the counter to Texas, it's history, right? It's like, oh, you guys are falling for it again. You're falling. One year, we're going to be right. And there's no one else in the conference, even though I have a ton of respect for the depth of this conference. I think there's really good teams top to bottom here. And I know the expansion thing makes it weirder to keep up with who's in the conference and who isn't.

And the fact that I just don't, you know, maybe it's K-State. I have a hard time believing TCU is going to come close to replicating that thing. Baylor had some bad losses late, but it felt like they were still in the mix of at least to be respected. And then, of course, there's the Venables question to Oklahoma. They gave up more first downs than any other team in college football, and I love their quarterback and their offense and that stuff. I'm not worried about that, but I just don't know

that Venables is going to get that thing righted to compete with Texas this year, and I just don't think Ewers and Sark and those guys give a shit about Charlie Strong and Tom Herman. So I know what the history is, but that history is irrelevant to those guys that are playing. So I have Texas in the playoff. I'm with you. What was it, 49 to nothing last year against Oklahoma?

And I know Oklahoma had the issue with Dylan Gabriel where he didn't play. And they were on their backup. I think I like Dylan Gabriel a lot to Oklahoma. I'll tell you, Jackson Arnold, the freshman that's backing him up, if Dylan Gabriel gets another concussion or he doesn't excel early, I wouldn't be surprised if Jackson Arnold's playing at some point this season for the Sooners. Now, Dylan Gabriel could be the quarterback he was at UCF

when he was leading the country in passing. You could see that version of him too. And maybe that's what the competition brings for him in another year in the system with Jeff Lebby. But the stuff I'm hearing about Jackson Arnold is very familiar to what we heard about Caleb Williams when he was on the bench there too.

But to the point about Texas, I look at the same things. There's not many slip-up opportunities. They're favored in every game except for the Bama game. And they're only, it shows you how far they've come. Last year at home,

they were a 21-point underdog and now they're only a touchdown underdog on the road. They are, I think they're legit, which is crazy because I get nervous saying you're going to get burned. Oh, Texas is back, but I'm with you. I think defensively is the area

that you have the most concerns, clearly. Their offensive line is going to be good. Their receiver talent is going to be sick. They do have to replace two backs that were really good, but I think that's not positionally. B. John was great, but I think you can still replace some of that production. I think the defense is really the only question mark in a league where you get

some wild funky shootout type of games, you know, anything could happen, but I think their defense has to be better. Yeah, I think it will be. And you know, Bama can be a competitive game. It can be a loss and They're still totally alive. Bama's really good. I mean, hell, people should give them credit about losing that game last year. So, all right. I'm going to defer to you on the

ACC stuff. It sounds like you want to pick Florida State, but you went with Clemson. Why? I don't want to be a homer. I don't want to jinx them. Do you think Clemson's better or are you just picking them because it's at Clemson? No, no. It's more of a respect for what Clemson's been. I mean, Clemson's been the top dog. They have been the team to beat.

Florida State has not. Their first year back being relevant was last season. It's been a great offseason. I think they could beat Clemson. I think the scenario that's kind of popular that's playing out is that Florida State loses in Clemson in the regular season, then beats them in the ACC championship game, which I could totally see playing out as well. huge for them because anybody who watched Clemson's offense the last four to five years, really even since Chad Morris left, because if you remember,

like that was what turned the corner for Dabo was when he was getting pressure, just like he got this off season, you know, was he going to keep the job? He goes out and he hires some of the best coordinators. He brings in Chad Morris and Brent Venables. And all of a sudden,

you know, Clemson starts this, you know, dynasty of their own winning multiple national championships. If you know, Clemson starts this, you know, dynasty of their own winning multiple national championships. If you watch the offense the last 45 years, it looked like guys were calling Chad Morris's system, but not understanding the adjustments, why you're running certain plays, and it just did not work. And it looked like they weren't, because every offense, and even every great play caller, you're tweaking things, you're updating things, you're adding elements, you're adding motions, formations, little tweaks to routes to keep it relevant so that it's ready for the counter punches that you're going to take. Right. Because defenses are just sitting there watching tape. They're trying to that step where they were tweaking things. They were still

running the same stuff. And it was so predictable and uncomfortable when you're watching DJ run the ball and have this like quarterback lead draw. And you're like, that doesn't, he doesn't want to do that. And you're like, Nope. So I think bringing in Garrett Riley was huge, uh, for them. And there's a lot of like fresh enthusiasm around Clemson's program, uh, for them. There's a lot of fresh enthusiasm around Clemson's program for them. I think Cade Clubnett's a baller, too. I think he's a stud. He's a baby, though. He's very young. Florida State's got to split

two of those four games there with LSU and Clemson. Are you going to Orlando? Let's go. I can't. I can't. I have other trips planned out. And honestly, Orlando's not in the top 10

of Sillow destinations. That's my one bummer about this whole last year and this year is that they weren't home and home. Neutral sites suck. But the problem for Florida State is if they were to lose to LSU and Clemson, so it's LSU, Southern Miss, BC, Clemson. If they're 2-2 with only wins against

Southern Miss and BC, they're not. And again, these rankings, especially if we've learned anything in the last couple of years, could change. But in the ACC, it just felt like there's some drop-off there. And on top of that,

who knows what Florida's even going to be if that's even a good win. They could fall victim of losing too much ground in the rankings. And depending on how the rest of the conferences go, if they were to beat clemson in a rematch will it be enough for them to sneak in with the two losses in september and again you

know look starting to bet on two lost teams here in august isn't a great idea anyway all right i do want to get to usc because i flirted with it um they could be they could be guilty of the transfer portal rule a little bit where it's like okay so their defense we know it was bad last year and then they added that many guys just because guys are new all of a sudden you're going to be that much better like i used to i always get a chuck like it's always kind of your guy verse right from small bony is one of the most dominant edge guys in the country not just at florida state it works but when i see other power five teams that are supposedly in contention for the conference it's like you grabbed a linebacker from Vandy like you you got a receiver from Wake and again that's not entirely fair but when I look at some of the SC stuff it's like okay is it better

or is it just different and the problem that I have with SC is San Jose State, Nevada, at Notre Dame, who knows what Notre Dame will be. I don't know what to expect of the offense there. They're ranked 13 in the preseason, but then they finished with four ranked teams in five weeks and then UCLA, who very well could be ranked by the end of the season. So the Pac-12 towards that top half felt like it's eaten each other alive there a little bit. It's cost us maybe some better matchups because I've liked some of those teams.

But that's a lot to ask of SC, at least if we believe any of the preseason stuff, because a lot of the teams that we spend a lot of time talking about, it's like you've got two games out of 12. Two games where you're wondering if they can pull that out, where SC feels like they're going to have a tough second half stretch here. wondering if they can pull that out where SC feels like they're going to have a tough second half stretch here. USC, Oregon, Washington, they all play each other in that final five weeks of the season. It's like a little round robin. I think there's going to, I would love to see one of them go one loss. I'm a little bit more bullish on Washington than I am USC because I think their

defense is better. And I think Pennix is really good and he's got two NFL talented type receivers on the outside. But USC's got Caleb Williams. He really is the great neutralizer. That dude is insane. I don't think I've ever seen a quarterback, and this is including anybody, mahomes aaron rogers throw running to his left full speed like full speed not really stopping like you'd have to teach young quarterbacks like

all right you got to kind of get your shoulders turned towards the get your shoulder turned to the target and just rifle a ball on the run like 20 yards down the field. He's insanely talented. I think he's the great neutralizer. But the defense, I'm with you. You don't see the programs that are constants at the top with this much turnover in the transfer portal. And I'm glad you mentioned Jared Burst because I do think, like Mark Morvell has really done an outstanding job

of getting guys that really filled needs positionally and then developed them. He's got a good eye for talent, and he's also plugged them into useful positions. But he hasn't been, like, numbers-wise, Florida State hasn't had the most transfers. He's just been very selective in the transfers he went and got, and they played a role.

When you see this much turnover, like you're pointing out, it is a concern. And, like, the whole Bear Alexander thing, too. Do you see how many high schools he went to? I did not. Pretty sure it's five. Basketball, that's normal now. It's insane.

It used to be something that you'd be worried about, but now I don't even care about it anymore. I know. It's a little thing. It just kind of bothers me that it's a trend. But he's got a professional athlete in his bio. And clearly, he was bought to go to USC. And he leaves on the day of the Georgia spring game. But does Georgia let a guy like that go if he's that good?

I don't think so. They can afford to spend with anybody. Kirby could easily give the signal or whatever they do in Athens. Be like, no, we want to keep him. They've done that with other players. I don't know. He's supposed to be all that he's cracked up to be, and that's where I think the biggest difference is. Clearly in the Pac-12 and everywhere else is that interior, the defensive line. I don't know. I think it's going to be interesting to see how much success he has in LA.

I hope he crushes it. I hope there, I guess I would love to see a Pac-12 team get to the playoff. I'm just, I think there's going to be too much carnage again. I think there'll be a two loss champ, but you know what's messed up? Utah, just completely forgotten about again. I even know I was going to bring them up.

I left them out. I left them out of the teams playing round robin. They're as a part of that round robin. You didn't bring up Oregon State either. So, well, I know you talked about DJ, but that's my point. When you go through, and it all depends on how you want to look at the conferences. Is it only title contenders? Well, then it's not much of a conversation. And you could argue the Big Ten has two.

Maybe they have four. The SEC always feels like there's three teams that could come out, even though everybody likes to make the Bama joke all the time, then conveniently leaves out the other teams that have won conference championships, which I know you love that meme with the elephant

with all the different mascots. But whether it's Oregon, Oregon State, Utah, who's just a motherfucker all the time. I love that program. You know, SC and still UCLA is like flirting around there. And then Washington, it's like six teams that are all pretty good. So who's coming clean out of that? It just doesn't feel realistic. And then, you either. The other problem

that I know you've railed against, and it's human nature, it's that when you've been out of the mix, you don't get the benefit of the doubt. It's just the way it is. Utah is very... Have you seen how much the line has moved on Utah-Florida? It was 11-11

in the offseason. Cam Rising's not playing. Clearly, this is why the line has moved. It's down to four. It's moved to touchdown. Rising's that good. What's that? He's that good. I mean, but, you know. Right. He's that good, but he's not hurt. Like, I think there was speculation he was going to play. That's someone he's not going to play. And then I guess

their backup got hurt in a scrimmage the other day. So they might be down to their third quarterback playing at home. Well, Whittingham said, he goes, we'll let you know when the rules tell us we have to let you know so this is all my guy dusty my guy dusty's got a story i think it was pretty public information because i think they said it on the broadcast one of the games last year when cam rising was banged up usually your broadcasting crew like the coaches will be like hey we'll tell you they don't want to tell you in the meeting the day before.

Can you at least tell us an hour before the game so we can have our graphic built and stuff like that? He would not tell anybody on the broadcast crew. Sideline reporter, producer, analyst, no one. They didn't know who was playing quarterback until they trotted out under center. And I think that's what we're going to learn if Cam Risen's playing, which I don't think anybody thinks he is.

He just does not give out any info. He doesn't give a crap. He ain't telling anybody. No, it was another level. It was another level in just reading this stuff today, and then I watched some of the videos that are being tweeted out. Okay, before we let you go, Danny,

we're going to have you help us with this, because Kyle stepped out for a second. We're going to have a season-long FanDuel college football pick-em contest where it's me, Saruti, and Kyle. So we'll keep track of our individual records, but essentially go and do a FanDuel parlay that you can find on the website

on their sportsbook. So, Saruti, tell us all the formal stuff because you know it better than I do. No, you pretty much covered it. I mean, basically, I don't know. We got to figure out like a title for this thing, like maybe some sort of like frenemies pick contest because we are competing against each other, but we're also on the same team. Like you could parlay our three picks on FanDuel site and on the app.

I got it. I got the answer for each other. But like I do this with my buddies every we do this for the NFL and there's like five of us and we all pick a game. And for the NFL and there's like five of us and we all pick a game. And then the one person who's wrong and blows the parlay is always obviously the asshole. So so I mean, we'll see how it goes. So I guess like if I get my pick wrong, I'm going to be rooting against you guys. But we're all rooting for our pick so that the people can make some money. So here we go. So we'll give one pick every week. I have Kyle's not here. I

have Kyle. Hold on. Hold on. I have a title. I have a title. Oh, go ahead. We'll call it the Alliance Parlay in reference to the Pac-12, Big 12 and Big 10 forming an alliance where they would tell they will not poach any teams from each other. It didn't, I don't think, made it 12 months. They even

had a presser, whole fucking thing. So this is the Alliance Parlay from the Ryan Russillo Show podcast. Do you want to form an alliance with me? All based on a handshake. They even were proud of it. They're like, we don't need a contract. We got handshakes.

That was like, oh my god. I can't believe it. That's like a hooker saying she likes you. Alright. Oh, my God. I can't believe it. That's like a hooker saying she likes you. All right. Why don't we just do Kyle's pick first? I'll do Kyle's pick. I have no comment on this, but this is what he wants to do. He's got Hawaii.

He's taking the plus 17 and a half against Vanderbilt. Sure. All right. Danny, you seem to like that. I don't know. I don't love it. My guy, Bart Simmons, who I used to work with, is the GM at Vanderbilt right now. Vandy's coming off pretty strong here.

I think Clark Lee, I think they get it done. They blew him out last year, too, in Hawaii. But Timmy Chang, year two, we'll see. We'll see. Fair. Okay. I'll give mine here, and then you can guys close it out. Because, Ron, you're going to do the Notre Dame game, right?

So I'll take the USC game. Yeah. This seems like a lame pick, but I'm just going to take the over. 66 and a half. Danny's shaking his head again, so maybe this is the over two at the start here. But I don't know. What do I think? The offense with Caelan Williams is going to get worse.

And what do we got? Oh, he's got the over. We're on the same page, so I got to give a different one now. Well, it seems like a loser pick because, I don't know, I feel like everybody's on the over in this game. Everyone's saying, oh, San Jose State, they can score a little bit, not a terrible passing attack. And I kind of feel like USC is going to want to show out in week one.

So, I don't know. It's a lot of points, 66.5. Feels like everybody's on it, but I'm going to go chalk here and take the over. I have that as well. Do you want me to give a different one from that game? Yeah, why not? We'll use that one together, but give us another one. Because I'm with you. I mean, Brent Brennan's

squad out there, they led the Mountain West in passing last year. I'm not sold on USC's defense all of a sudden fixing all their issues last year. Especially I do think you'll see I think you'll see Lincoln Riley. I think it'll be a huge stack game for Caleb Williams.

Then he's going to want to get him on the bench. You're going to want all your guys on the bench in the second half. Some garbage time touchdowns all over it. If their first team defense is better, do they have depth all of a sudden? I don't think so. I think the points are there. Can I do a first half bet? That's my question. Yeah. Sure. Of course.

Lay 17 and a half. USC first half bet? That's my question. Yeah. Because I love the first half. I love... So, late 17 and a half, USC, first half, late 17 and a half. I think they get in, get out. I think they're clean. I think Caleb Williams... It's like a preseason NFL game.

I think that's the way Lincoln Riley's probably going to treat it. You say to your starters, hey, if you guys take care of business, we'll get you rested quick. You guys can have the night off.

I think they come out firing out the gate. I think they're blowing them out at halftime, and then it's kind of all bets are off the table in the second half. How many college kids want the night off? That's a good point. I'm just saying. I'd be like, hey, let's fuck up a little bit then

so we can play. Yeah, I think they want their stats. That's why I like the first half. You get your stats, and then you go kick it on the bench. Start playing on your night. I got to pick Notre Dame. All right. As of now, I'm just going to call this

the Tommy Reese under. It's around 49. a half to 50 and a half, depending on where you're looking. I think it's a 50 now on FanDuel. Give me the Tommy Reese gone under Notre Dame Navy. In Ireland, international travel, bad food. Jet lag. I love it. Dublin lag. i love it lag i love it there's also there i so oh you really want to you want

to really bring it with this i love it if you want to take advantage of the system because i'm sure the books haven't adjusted for this yeah i know right hey i figured something out before they did the new clock rules man the new clock rules, man. The new clock rules. Remember? No moving it after first down. So I think you could see some more. I do think Bill Connolly gave it 5% less like scoring. So I don't know. I haven't done the math on this game. What total would have been. But to your point, I do think Sam Hartman, you know, new system. I think they're going to be figuring things out. Navy post, you know, Ken Niyamata Lolo, he's gone. There's a new offensive coordinator. He still ran at 76% of the time when he was at Kennesaw State, where he came previous. So they're still going to run the football a lot. So I think it'll be a lower scoring game too.

Next time you come on, do you want us to tell you what 5% of 50 is? I have a calculator. I can figure it out. All right. We'll table that. All right. So that is the Alliance Parlay Week Zero. Check it out on FanDuel.

You can play along. They also released odds on who will have the best individual record over the course of the season, which is something entirely different. You can't bet that. I think you can's better for your buddies if you want to. But that will be on FanDuel all season long, and we'll keep track. We'll see how the parlay does.

Hopefully better than the actual alliance. Hey, man, let's do this again. A couple times during the season, it's always great to catch up. Where can people find Danny Connell's fire content? Let's go. Twitter, at Danny Connell, 6 to 9, Dusty and Danny in the morning

on SiriusXM, channel 84, cover 3 podcast with my guys at CBS Sports and on CBS Sports HQ. Thanks, man. Good to see you again. You got it. We're supported by NFL Sunday Ticket

on YouTube and YouTube TV. Whether you're a displaced fan or your favorite team is right downtown, NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube and YouTube TV whether you're a displaced fan or your favorite team is right downtown NFL Sunday Ticket is a must-have and now that it's on YouTube and YouTube TV it's easier than ever to keep up with your favorite team's games on Sunday afternoons okay I want to see what Mahomes resume is going to look like here. So every single season is a chance for him to climb the unclimbable. I'm reading this book right now about two different explorers battling to be the first to say they were at the North Pole. A couple of people said it. Who won? Well, that's resume stuff, real legacy stuff. And as absurd as that summit is of what Brady has done, in a weird way, it's a little bit like LeBron

where it felt like as great as he was, he was just chasing this ghost the entire time and chasing something that was unobtainable to so many different basketball fans of ever surpassing Jordan. And I'm so glad at least for Mahomes because that's how special he is. That's really, we could be looking at the single most talented player to ever play the position, but every season for him is a chance to try to reach

what Brady has, which may still be completely unobtainable. The other part of this, and I'm on it, I can't wait to see how quickly we talk ourselves into some bad, maybe at best mediocre NFC teams that have decent records. It happened a bit with the Vikings last year. They won all those close games. They had the ridiculous comeback against the Colts. But I think that there's going to be even more of a surge. There's going to be this middling tier of NFC teams that are all probably going to be a lot worse than what the record actually says because the bottom third of the league right now with quarterbacks feel like it got really bad overnight and the disparity between the two conferences, which we've talked about a lot. So that's the thing I'm looking for.

As some NFL teams will tell you, September's just extended preseason as you figure out who you are and maybe we'll be completely tricked into believing we actually think we know something about some of these teams. Thanks to NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube and YouTube TV for sponsoring this segment. It's truly the best place to keep up with all your fantasy players out of market Sunday afternoon games. And right now you can get $50 off your subscription when you sign up at youtube.com forward slash Russillo. R-U-S-S-I-L-L-O. That's youtube.com slash Russillo. Terms and blackout restrictions apply. Offer ends 9-19.

They say money can't buy happiness. Look at the fucking smile on my face. Ear to ear, baby. You want details? Bye. I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet. What's up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork.

I have every toy you could possibly imagine. And best of all, kids, I am liquid. So, now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required. It's Life Advice. LifeAdviceRR at gmail.com is the email address. We have a ton to get to. We will not get to all of them today.

Pretty standard stuff. Steve, Kyle, what's up? How we doing? You know what's funny? Barcelona, right? Yeah, that's right. By the time this pod is out, I'll be back in LA.

But yeah, my last night in Barcelona was taping a college football preview and doing life advice, which is fine. Yeah. I was in the cab coming back from mallorca like just in the back going like who fucking transferred where again so anyway um i appreciate the europe there only because i'll admit kevin hart in the beginning didn't really

get it and it was like is this guy going to blow up the answer is yes remember he was like doing some ads and then I saw some of his stand up I was like okay starting to get it and then I'll admit the personal bias he was the coolest fucking guy

at the celebrity basketball game in Houston like he was so normal and I don't know you can kind of tell that when he's off, meaning like turn the button off and just hanging, he seemed great. And so in a recent, I think it's a Capital One ad, where he's at a silent yoga retreat and he just answers his phone and says, you're while everybody's stretching and doing yoga. I didn't think I'd normally laugh as hard as I did the first time I saw it.

I was like, it was perfectly timed. The delivery was great. So as soon as you said that, it reminded me of that. So a little shout out to Kevin Hart, who apparently did he really tear his abdomen in a 40-yard dash? That would be a weird publicity stunt. But yeah, that sounds sad. I mean, he definitely likes to push it.

You can tell. And he pushed it. Can I, as the idiot here, could I what what am I missing on your because we are in Spotify or we're in Sweden for those like Spotify meetings or whatever. And somebody was like, oh, what up, New York in the house? Somebody was just like, you're and I was I'm like, what what's going on right now? Is that like a thing? I mean, I just grew up and that's like how we address each other in the hallways of high school and middle school. I assumed it was the East Coast thing. I mean, I mean, I heard New York City probably that could be the origin.

That would make a lot of sense to me. But I was just back for a while. Yeah. Stefan, thank you. Another Poughkeepsie guy. Yes. All right. I didn't know.

I mean, I had heard of it before, but I didn't know if it was just like having a moment, if it was a comeback, like what I missed. But yeah, dudes were excited. So we just spent a couple of weeks in Poughkekeepsie and you know main street year what up so uh i had no idea this is actually now blowing my mind i think it's way weirder than at a spotify meeting a whole geographical area just addressed the other people that way i didn't i didn't think it was around i thought it was kind of out thought it was played that's why i thought the kevin hartline was so funny but maybe it's back maybe it's back a big way i mean i hate summer's over people i hate summer's over people seriously your summer might be over some of us are still

fucking milking it because you know what happens when it's summer's really over you know what i mean like some was done like the football people are like oh august 2nd summer's over fuck you that's right fuck you summer's over summer's over when we individually decide it's over all right agreed let's get to a couple emails we're gonna come out hot on this one buddy falls for celeb and only fan dms all right let's find the holes in this one no stats just want to get right to it love it core group buddy that admitted something to us a week ago. We have not stopped laughing since so much. So we started a new group chat to comment on him in semi secret.

So side core thread. I love that as well. What's a big deal then? Right. What's going on is my buddy. Let's call him. Kevin has been DMing a semi famous female athlete on only fans. The spin is he thinks they are falling in love.

I will put the woman's name at the end if you're curious. Please do not read it. I will not read it. But I can't wait to read it. He made the announcement at guys' night, and we were all floored. We couldn't believe it, and the jokes didn't stop. I was the first to ask for proof, and he handed me his phone where I read through the DMs. They've been speaking, all caps, every day for a month.

At the start, it seemed like she was flirting with him so that he'd buy content. From what I gather, her page is free, but you have to pay to unlock each picture. On her page, the pictures are about $25, and they're far from racy. However, the ones in the DM were more soft core. He paid upwards of $75 to unlock the one she sent directly to his DM. He purchased several of them totaling $500. It's his money and I can't tell him what to do with it. You could tell him not to do that. But I was a bit shocked as my buddy seems to have a good head on his shoulders. As I scrolled the more recent DMS, I noticed there were no pictures, just conversation. She spoke about some, I'm going to leave this even more vague than he leaves it.

They talked about something, whatever. There you go. That's about as vague as I can make it. Um, from what I know about her, the story all adds up. They talk about life issues going on, even the sport that she plays it seems really harmless and he hasn't spent money that i know of on any content for over the two weeks so just he got in deep with the 500 and they're doing just chatting covering all the headlines it's a retainer he put the retainer down yeah yeah right it's like this poor bastard gave me 500 bucks be like yeah i'll talk about hawaii breakfast was hard today yeah all right what do you do to stretch my buddy believes uh this is real because he doesn't know wait my buddy believes this is real because she doesn't know what he looks like as his only

a fan his as his only fans account i don't know know. You have to put your own fucking avatar up, or you can decide on Twitter to do the same thing with only fans as a purveyor and not a content maker. Is that what we're led to believe here? Yeah, I think if you've got to put your credit card in there, you probably need some sort of profile, right? Right, some sort of profile. Van would know the answer to this question.

Yeah, Van, the curator. Fucking the approval rating for that guy right now after last week. My God. The number of texts that I got from people on just like, holy shit, Van. Holy shit, Van. So don't worry. We'll have him back even more. All right.

So I think this is a really important detail here. That's why I'm trying to be as clear as possible because this is a really good sentence. really important detail here that's why i'm trying to be as clear as possible because this is a really good sentence my buddy believes this is real because she doesn't know doesn't know what he looks like is his only fans account doesn't have a profile pic he thinks that makes this interaction more authentic no fucking way this guy's this guy's why would anyone remotely famous who's getting people to pay for her content be like you know what i'm really gonna hit it off there that's he's a great conversationalist her content be like, you know what? I'm really going to hit it off there. He's a great conversationalist, even though I have no fucking idea what he looks like.

That doesn't happen to any civilians. I really like that user 47329. That guy's got something going on. Balls deep 614 is really funny. Balls deep is always my default app i just think like i always love when at balls deep 614 is like i think you were a little out of line there like was i balls deep was i tell me more yeah what other thoughts do you have on the day all right um they've brought up meeting recently which is why he wanted to tell us and ask

for advice I was the only one to think to ask the Justice League that is life advice for answers my question is is this real this is a verified account and the pictures are undoubtedly her however I can't imagine someone that famous spending all her time talking to a faceless avatar via only fans

I could not agree more is this only financial my buddy buddy swears that he's not saying any more outside of the 500 that he's out of at the moment. From what I know of her profession, he says, it's not like she's making a ton of money. And I would agree because I looked ahead and looked at the name, which I'm not going to share uh so there's some more questions should he meet her uh sure she's hot why not but they haven't talked off the app and when i asked my buddy he said she doesn't want him to have her number yet but she wants to meet appreciate the advice congrats to kyle on the nuptials uh there's no way there's no fucking way there's no way a famous person who is being pursued by

other people that have pictures and are also famous okay if she's famous and single guess what i mean you are battling a really tough battle most guys don't come back to the castle after this kind of move and the fact that you are just an anonymous guy and she doesn't even know what you look like and she wants to meet you this is bullshit you're getting played your friends getting entirely she's looking at this guy being like he already spent 500 this fucking idiot will pay again i'll just keep playing it the entire time that's the only possible answer except for that little sliver of what i believe is less than 1% that he's so fucking smooth in the DMs. Of course, there's another version of this where that could be fake or somebody could be

maybe managing her profile and that's who he's talking to. I mean, that's a possibility as well. But I don't know how any woman that's attractive that's also famous would be like, I'm down to meet up and sincerely meet it with somebody she's never seen what they look like. I used to watch the Catfish show pretty religiously. It was like the one MTV show I could still hang with. And basically the point is, is like, you travel enough, you're in a hotel, you're like, all right, let's see what happened to this poor fucker. Right. And next thing you know, it's like three hours later and you've watched six of them in a row. So I started to get really into it. We even had a Neve on the show on the radio show. Didn't go that great, to be honest with you.

Not one of the best interviews we've ever had. But anyway, I love the show. I thought it was really good. But there'd be some girl who looked like fucking, I don't know, Eric Mangini from Minnesota. And she thought she was dating an Abercrombie model, you know? And then guess who she's not dating? The fucking guy from the Abercrombie model. you know, and then guess who she's not dating the fucking guy from the Abercrombie model. You know what I mean? So it's amazing what we'll be willing to believe if we want it to be

true. But in this case, uh, it's just that man, GD line killed Kyle. I don't really have much more to add to this other than I think she already knows this guy was dumb enough to pay for the photos couldn't be good for him spend our money however you want but um except for crack that's where we draw the line uh i i just can't i cannot fathom any scenario here where she actually would be willing to meet up with somebody she's never even seen a picture of. She doesn't need to do that. She doesn't need to go that route because she has other options. So I think your buddy's a sucker. Yeah, I agree. I mean, it's your money. Use it when you need it. But I think this is not going to come to fruition. This will probably, like you said, the catfish shows is the way they keep these relationships going is they make a plan. The

plan falls through, right? That usually happens three or four times before they even hit up catfish like it's usually like i went to denver and he wasn't there and then we were supposed to have a video it's always denver good call kyle it was like denver half the time and then you know the video call oh but his phone broke and he could only he was only on his you know whatever my car broke down is there any way you can western union me 84 dollars right okay no problem and then it's like you know and you're broke down is there any way you can western union me 84 dollars right okay no problem and then it's like you know and you're sitting there's like how long you've been talking to this person two years have you ever facetimed no he said the camera on his phone is broken right so i think i think this falls through at least once or twice before

he probably wakes up a little bit it sounds like it's probably not if this person's only fans isn't like jumping i think some of those people have probably like a full-time message writer you know what i mean just to just to deal with the volume of whatever's coming in there but it sounds like this is probably a you know person who's given thoughtful responses but yeah she's she's she sees you as a as a you know uh turquoise platinum member of her thing you've spent 500 she wants to keep you on the hook a little bit and if it you know if if it's that you actually like her as a person now, as well as paying for her, sounds like not super revealing photos, maybe you'll do that again, especially if you feel

like you almost had it. So I think your buddy's probably going to have this thing fall through and see what happens from there but i'm pretty sure you can you could place a bet this is plus 1000 uh it's off the board actually meet up yeah this is off the board they would meet up so i don't think this is this is or i guess the odds it would be it would be they'd give you massive odds so maybe it wouldn't be off the board because they'd be like anybody would bet on this but go ahead no i wonder if this is like more likely that this guy spent so much money that he unlocks some sort of tier of a meetup. You know, like your buddy is actually spent way more than five hundred dollars.

And all of a sudden he has like a potential free Zoom call with this girl. And that's that's I don't know. I just thrown things out there that might seem likely. But yeah, it's everything you guys said. Like he's clearly or at least it seems like she just trying to milk every single dollar out of this guy. And if that's stringing him along, that's the thing too. You must have no shame if that's the situation. I would feel so shitty about stringing some guy along

to get an extra couple bucks to fake a meetup. Man, that would really weigh on me. I don't know that I could do that to hundreds of people. That's a tough life, man. Tough business. Maybe they'll meet up at the mall, at the food court, by the police kiosk or something, just to make sure it's all good. I don't know that i could do that to hundreds of people that's that's a tough life man tough business maybe they'll meet up at the mall like at the food court right by the police kiosk or something just to make sure it's all good i don't know i don't think this is gonna happen though i think this is she's probably got like two or three of these guys who are like you know

in it in it and everyone else 500 bucks there's no way like 500 bucks is not enough to have a move i'm sorry like that's it's not even close It's not even close. Either he's lying or she's just kind of a bad person. Unless he's Cyrano. He's just so good in the DMs. He's just unbelievable. But your buddy, the guy has seen the DMs. He's seen them.

Yeah, that would have been mentioned. He's like, oh, my calves get tight too. Want to meet up? Yes. But not right now. Right, exactly. Can I have your number? No, but hey, there's a really,

the highest probability outcome is that he's going to get a follow-up from her at some point. It's going to be like, hey, I have these new pics or whatever, and then he's going to know. He's going to know this was all part of the scam. The name makes it so much better. It makes it so much better, too. It's an unbelievable name. But I cannot betray the emailer.

I can't. But God, it makes the story a hundred times better. I think that's all we have on it. Is it who we all think? I think it's who we all maybe think it is. No, I don't know. No. 500 bucks? She's not meeting with somebody with that fucking picture.

Because then the problem was I immediately thought of a joke of like three females in sports that maybe would meet up for 500 bucks for the non-avatar and I was like you know what why would we not make that joke there's dudes that would meet up for like 200 bucks okay

little tamer but it's a great one who gets the master bedroom in an Airbnb when traveling 510 200 game is small man Zerdunis Ilgalskas haven't had one of those But it's a great one. Who gets the master bedroom in an Airbnb when traveling? 510, 200. Game is small man Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Haven't had one of those ever. Congrats to the originality. Who gets the master bedroom in a short-term rental Airbnb when traveling with a group of couples?

I travel regularly with a group of couples. I'm also in a couple. I was going to say, if you're traveling with the couples all the time, you're never getting it if you're not in a couple. Solo guy. Solo guy. Experience. Yeah. Rolls in, puts his bag down. He's like, alright. There's a sauna in here.

Alright, I'm going to take this room. There's always one couple who, bold and underlined, no matter what, always runs in and takes the master. Runs in. What is this, real world? The last trip was a friend trip up to the lake and I had taken all the steps to organize the house, pay for the house up front and share all the check-in information

with the group of eight. It's admittedly not that much work to do the organizing, but when I arrived to the house later on the first day after the offending couple, I discovered that they had taken the master. All caps again. I feel like if you were organizing the organizing party, you should get the master without question, i feel like if you were organizing the organizing party you should get the master without question but wanted to hear the counsel of three thoughts if there's any way to communicate that that i think the organizing party should get the master if any couple is one of my best friends and i consider his wife one of my best friends as well i tend to abide by this rule but apparently it's not as clear as i thought it would be thanks and keep up the good work uh

they're dump trucking you and you're letting it happen every fucking time this is a selfish couple uh fuck them um you're totally right about organizing it i mean if you really wanted to get into it you could cycle through and say hey you had the master last time but the fact that they're so selfish that they think they deserve the master and they're probably getting all the check-in information from you and then making sure they get there first like it's some little fucking victory and they're sitting there over pillow talk being like it worked again but they're so narcissistic that they can't understand that at some point like hey it's kind of shitty that we keep doing this so they're never going to stop unless you make it uncomfortable for them or you should make sure the next time you organize it

tell them check-ins a lot later and then show up before they do. Okay. You know, one year we had a lottery. It was actually kind of fun. Everybody put their bags down in the living room, had a lottery, you know, lot on the line because that last pick room usually is dog shit. There's also a hierarchy of just kind of dudes in general. Like I've referenced this a couple of times. We had the Colorado house that a bunch of us rented out together. I think it's in general like i've referenced this a couple times we had the colorado house that a bunch of us rented out together i think it's the last time i've done this but it was a ton of drama it was one couple who's now married that was like the genesis of this

entire weekend and then she had a friend where another one of my friends had already been doing background work for like months so the rest of it showed up she was gorgeous and we were like what's the story there and they were like dude he already worked it as soon as he found out she was going and they were in the house yeah they we might not even see him they may have another so then she was off and then there was two other girls and one of them actually this is crazy but we didn't find out until years later. There was like 12 to 14 guys. It was sort of this amoeba of dudes with only four girls, and eventually two were totally taken.

One we thought was taken because a guy said he hooked up with her the first night and then just sort of friend-hoarded her for the next four days, and everybody just kind of backed off. They for the next four days and everybody just kind of backed off you're like i should pick that guy it was kind of weird though and then we found out years later she's like no she didn't really like that guy but he wouldn't leave her alone they never hooked up we're like okay so that was a room that got wasted or maybe that guy didn't even like her it was like i'm just gonna lie to everybody else say i hooked up hopefully these guys will back off and then i get a room give me some and then there was like one other room with like a

drape that was like the fourth option and then there was another dude who got a master suite and he was by himself and i was like what the fuck is this guy's deal and he wasn't even close to a core guy and then somebody told me later because it got even weirder in the middle of like 20 people in this house a bunch of us made different parts of the meal made a big dinner was actually a great weekend but like he got up and did a toast to the other guy about some business thing that was supposed to happen which by the way definitely never happened but the point was that was also like this guy finding his wife and then potentially getting into this massive massive development deal with somebody else meanwhile the rest of us are pretty much drunk at the dining room table.

And out of nowhere, a guy gets up and gives this elaborate business toast to like one other dude while 18 people have no fucking idea what's happening. So anyway, blood was shed for the last girl in the last room. We'll just leave it at that. So coming full circle here, uh, I agree with you, but you need to be tougher. You need to be tougher about this because they will keep doing this until you make it uncomfortable. Yeah, I think, yeah, you could say it's selfish. Also, I look at it sort of like, you know, sort of like shotgun. And I know these people are in a different stage of their lives.

They're going on couples trips and stuff. But shotgun, it's kind of like first come, first serve. And I understand that it's not always fair. And the other guys who don't get shotgun and aren't thinking about walking out the door and as soon as you see the car screaming shotgun, they're not game planning five minutes before you guys go to the next place. There's some people that it's really important to them that they do that and that's what they do and their life's a little bit more miserable for it and

everyone else sort of gets in line i think uh you know if it's not a clear thing like oh we're going we're renting this house for the bachelor party the bachelor gets the big room or this guy paid more than everyone else i could see the policy i mean it's also like uno right everybody's got different rules for uno and and maybe it's the guy who books it even though he doesn't pay any more money he spent the 30 minutes and he's he's got the credit card down in case somebody goes through a fucking wall or something during the weekend but like maybe that guy should get it if you're if you're rotating who books it but if that's not the case and you just play regular uno and there's no you know special rules i think that um i think that you know just be fucking quicker with the shotgun you

you also said in your specific cases last time, you showed up a day later. I mean, come on. You're going to be like, everyone's going to be looking at that open door and be like, I got to wait till John gets here because, you know, he did book this thing. So I think. Especially when this. All right. I mean, he got there.

He said later in the day, not a day later. I thought he said a day later. Maybe I read it wrong, but it is later in the day. But again, these people don't care. The fact that you've done this multiple times and they do it every single time, they don't give a shit about your feelings. They don't give a shit that you're the guy. And you're right.

It's not a ton of work, but you sound like a really easygoing guy. Some people would describe the same series of events as daunting. Be like, I had to do this. Then I had to wire the deposit. I had to make sure that I figured this out. I had to get it back from the guy later on on venmo like other people would look at that and act like their fucking month was ruined and clearly you realize it's not really that hard just sort of an extra pain in the ass a couple extra things added to the day like oh i gotta make sure that

i do that but there should be some value in that and it doesn't it means you shouldn't get the worst room like if it sounds like you're worried about hurting feelings which is why this is happening to you by by the way. And because of that, though, maybe that's why the other people think they're just calling shotgun, because nobody's ever said anything that it's not shotgun, and they've just been playing shotgun since they were 12 years old. I don't know.

They couldn't be oblivious. Maybe. I would say you either have this gene or you don't. It's like the person who splits the bill. It's the same kind of who orders more food but wants to split the bill evenly. They're always trying to game the system. We've talked about these people so many times in various stories. This is a game the system type person.

And I'm like this emailer. I'm sort of conflict averse. My friends don't do this, luckily. But if I was in this situation, I would be really uncomfortable being like, like hey dude like i booked the room like i should get you know i should get the the master suite doesn't feel good to say it's just a shitty exactly but you shouldn't you shouldn't have to be in that situation so i think what you can do are all of your friends shitty like can one of them bring up the fact that maybe there should be a lottery system it doesn't have to be you um could your wife maybe propose this idea so you're not the bad guy like i he just doesn't want to he doesn't want to own up and be the bad guy here

and i get that because i would be the same way but make somebody else if you're doing all the work make somebody else be the bad guy then because you do you do deserve at least to rotate who has the master no because you just said something that made me think of like all these little things in life where the offending party's doing something but then the person that calls them out is then thought to be the bigger asshole like if you were to ever say hey i think we should mix it up you guys get the master every time and then the master couple is going to be in the second bedroom one night being like can you believe how big of a deal they made out of that you know what i mean being oblivious to their own thing where they think they're winning all the time what we should be rooting for here is not

necessarily the emailers win but the other couples couples L is really what we should be doing. And you're right. It is a gene. It's a gene. Like there was something recently, a few guys got together. A guy that wasn't there was asking me how it went. And then he brought up something. He was like, did so-and-so pay for anything? And I was like, never went for the wall at once. This is guys that have known each other a really long time and he knew to ask the question and he wanted to get my answer so bad. He already knew the answer and I loved giving him the answer too. I was like, yeah, didn't, never saw him go for his wallet the entire time.

And he just started laughing because it was like, that person doesn't really ever change. And, you know, I'm at a point in my life too, where I wasn't going to say, Hey, you know, you need to do this, but it was just, it was a little bit of a reminder, but this is different. Like you're still traveling with these people a lot. So a lottery thing seriously is funny because you can be like, Hey, we're going to make it this thing and it's going to be funny. And, and we're just going to do it this way. Whoa. You know what I mean? And they'll end up probably fucking winning it again. All right. Uh, thanks to Kyle. Thanks to Steve as always. And we'll be back to three days a week here fairly soon. Enjoy week zero. so

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