Will Cain Country - Will Texas Win The College Football Playoff?

Episode Date: December 29, 2023

Will Texas Win The College Football Playoff? Story 1: Will’s Top 5 Songs of 2023 Story 2: Will’s Top 5 TV shows and movies of 2023 Story 3: Will’s Top 2 sports moments of 2023, plus FOX Sports College Football Play-by-Play Announcer Tim Brando breaks down the College Football Playoff, from the abhorrent FSU exclusion to his picks for the semi-final games. Does Tim think the Washington Huskies will break Will’s heart? Tell Will what you thought about this podcast by emailing [e-mail] Follow Will on Twitter: @WillCain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One, the top five things to listen to, the top songs of 2023. Two, the top five things to watch, the best series and movies of 2023. Three, the college football playoff with the incumbent. comparable voice of basketball and football, Tim Brando. It's the Wilcane podcast on Fox News Podcast. What's up? And welcome to the final episode of 2023 of the Wilcane podcast. As always, I hope you will download rate and review this podcast wherever you get your

audio entertainment at Apple, Spotify, or at Fox News podcast. You can watch the WillCame podcast on Rumble or on YouTube. Follow me on X as we approach 2020. for big changes to come to the Will Cain podcast. Today, as we head into the college football semi-final, I thought I'd break down the matchups, Michigan versus Alabama, and of course, Washington versus Texas in the college football playoff with Tim Brando. But first, let's look back at a few of my obsessive.

A few of the things that I would share with you to listen to, to watch from 2023. Number one, the top five things to listen to, top songs of 2023. As is always the case, this is more about my obsessions than it is about a best of list published by every single podcast and every single website for 2023. I can't guarantee what I was obsessed with was published for the first. first time in 2023. They're just songs or movies or series that I became obsessed with in some way in this year. And so here are my five obsessions, my five biggest songs of 2023. Number five, Morgan Wallin, sand in my boots. This song was actually released in

2021. But I think I spent much of this year, the early part of 2023, playing this. song on repeat wearing it out like a sunburnt silverado or something about that line my sunburnt silverado that just got me i loved this song early in 2023 my co-host on fox and friends weekend pete heggseth shared this obsession i believe you need candy in life not everything needs to be fancy not everything needs to be folk or americana not everything needs to be a garage ban it's okay to have a little sugar. And mainstream pop country can be good. And let me tell you something. He's really good. Morgan Wallen. He has a lot of songs that I love, but none more than sand in my boots. Number four, staying with the sweet tooth. Luke Combs, growing up and getting old, I like Luke Combs.

I like his voice. I think I like the dude. When I've seen him on podcast with Joe Rogan, I think I would like this dude. And I just love most of his music. I love doing this. What would you do if you weren't doing this? I'd still be doing this.

That one was released in 2022. But growing up and getting old is from 2023. My most best of list for this year, you'll see Luke comes, but it's probably for a fast car. And that's good, too. But there's something about, I don't know, I know it's pop country, but it's soulful. And maybe it's not deep, but you feel it. I feel it down deep.

And I think I'm no longer probably in that vein of somewhere in the middle of growing up and getting old. I might just be getting old, but I don't care. I still think of myself somewhere in that vein. So he speaks to me, Luke Combs, at number four. At number three, I think she's somewhere between pop country and Americana. Lainey Wilson, watermelon moonshine. I like Heart Like a Truck as well, but I think the best song from Lainey Wilson is watermelon moonshine. And it's funny.

I think she's a little affected. I really do. The accent is impossible. If you ever see an interview with Lany Wilson, you're like, come on. I mean, I'm from Texas. I've bumped around the south. No one's accent is that strong. It feels affected, as does her fashion, bell-bottom country, but somehow she also pulls it off.

I mean, I follow her on Instagram. I mean, there's something about it, and I don't know, you know, she got in shape since Yellowstone or found other ways to shape up. but it just kind of all comes together in a way, in that voice, I really like Lainey Wilson. I particularly like watermelon moonshine. Number two, it's hard not to think this would be number one, but it's related to number one. Zach Bryan, El Dorado, or as he says it in the song, El Dorado. Zach Bryan to me is kind of like the Big Lobowski. People just say, why do you love the Big Lobowski so much?

Because it's layered. Every time I watch the Big Lobowski, there's another joke. There's another facial expression. There's another way a line is delivered that makes it funny in a way that I didn't experience the first time. And I probably watched it a hundred times. It's funny in a way I didn't see it the first dozen times I watched the Big Lobosky. Look, like everybody else, I like movies like Talladega Nights.

But Talladega Nights is the same joke every time you watch it. It's like, oh, here's this part. This is where he prays to baby Jesus. But I don't watch Talladega Nights over and over and find new things, new parts that didn't come out. It's not layered. It's blunt. Lobowski, it's layered. And Zach Bryan is layered.

His whole album that was released in 2023, at first when I heard, it, I was like, I don't think it really does it for me. It's a little too melancholy. It's a little too downbeat. But the more that I listened to it, the more it grew on me. And it's without a doubt the album that I listen to the most. He's the artist that I listen to the most. I love, I remember everything. Labrador hanging out the passenger door. Rock gut whiskey going to ease my mind. Those lines are incredible. And I love overtime and ticking and spotless all from this one album. There's not many songs on that album that I don't love. My son is taken to playing. He's never had a piano lesson, but somehow he just likes banging around on the keys of piano. And he plays

Jake's piano. So now I hear that song, which wasn't one of my favorites from the album, but I think of my son because he's over there banging out Jake's piano. And I'm driving in the car, thinking about my son and Long Island because of that song. But my favorite, the one I turn up the loudest and I sing along the loudest, is El Dorado. I don't know, man, just the way he's composed it, the way it comes together. I love it. And this is the best. Zach Bryan with this album, he's incredible.

He's a true artist, which leads me in number one. My number one song I've been most obsessed with throughout the year, early in the year and still today. It's Zach Bryan, Oklahoma Smoke Show. It did not come out in 2023. I know. But it was new to me in 2023. And because I'll start listening to Eldorado or whatever it may be, I'm like, oh, no, no, no, no, I got to go back and I hear, I got to hear Oklahoma Smoke Show again. And it is the best.

And maybe it's kind of like speaks to me geographically or culturally because I grew up dangerously close to Oklahoma, North Texas, maybe some cultural similarities begrudgingly. with Oklahoma, I don't know, but that song, it's almost perfect. I'm obsessed with Oklahoma Smok Show. Story number two, top five things to watch, the top series and movies of 2023. Now, I have spent entirely too much time streaming series of movies. It's going to be part of my resolutions moving forward to watch less. read more. But as a product of watching so much, I forget what I've seen.

It has a lessening impact. My tolerance has gotten up for streaming series and movies. So I got to cut back. So I appreciate what I do watch more, I think. But I have a hard time remembering, did I watch that this year? Did I watch it in 2022? Did I watch it at all? I will bet you what I'm about to share with you exclude some things that I absolutely loved or was

obsessed with at one point. Like, I'm not going to talk about love is blind. You know that I get obsessed. There's been a couple of seasons where I watched the reunion show and called a buddy and said, can you believe they're all against him? He did nothing wrong. But I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to put love is blind in this list.

And I'm going to cheat in some ways. Again, I'm not restricted to a strict timeline. It's more about what I was obsessed with this year. And I'm going to pack a couple into a couple categories because I think it also, So it's just the genres that I fall in down in the rabbit hole with, that I get obsessed. So at number five, I watched this movie early in 2023. It is not from this year. I'm not even sure it's from this decade.

It's called Mr. Jones. And it's about a journalist behind the lines in the Soviet Union. interacting with New York Times reporters in Moscow running propaganda for the Soviets. It's fascinating how so many mainstream journalists, for example, the New York Times, yes, we know they're lefty now, but they were open propagandists for communism, for the Soviet Union, lying about the health of the economy in the USSR. It's a story of a journalist that got out of Moscow and got to the Ukraine. And this is tied to current events with the start of the war in Ukraine.

I get obsessed with history. And then I want to watch documentaries. I want to read. I ultimately, I want not just historical, you know, literary books, narrative novelizations, but also fictionalization sometimes. This is not a fictionalization. It's a true story. And he sees the famine in Ukraine caused by the USSR's economic policies.

And because we were focused so much. on Ukraine, it just was a dive down into history and depth and understanding that part of the world. I loved Mr. Jones. And in that same genre, on that same category, of taking current events and me wanting to know more history, I got obsessed with Fowda. And I'm not going to tell you it's the best series ever. It's not. But it's about the Shinbet, Israeli Secret Services, behind enemy lines in the West Bank or in Gaza, fighting terrorists. And, of course, in the fall, when obsessively knowledge-based, I wouldn't know everything there was to know about Israel and the fight with Palestinians.

I binge to this series, Fowda. Similarly, on Netflix, all quiet on the Western Front, start heading down a war in Eastern Europe. You start heading down World War I, World War II, Rabbit Holes. And I loved All Quiet on the Western Front. And then finally, in the same vein as Israel, there's a movie called The Red Sea Diving Resort, which is about Israeli, again, I think it's been a while since I watched it, but Secret Services running a spy operation, rescue operation. It was really, really good. That's a category that I get obsessed with. history and history after a springboard of current events.

Number four, the banshees of insuring. This is a bit of an artsy movie, but it's Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleason and their buddies in Ireland. It actually is pretty closely tied to not the troubles of the 1980s or 90s, but the the fights against the, I believe, the unionists and the separatists, dating back to, I can't remember what year the movie is set, early 1900s, but it's more about a friendship and like a friendship falling apart. And I don't know. I just thought about that movie a lot throughout the year. It's kind of one of those movies just gets in and sticks with you. And it's kind of comedic at times. It's definitely dark at times. But it's a really good movie, the banshees of adventuring. Three, Last of Us, HBO, dystopian, series, zombies, it's always good.

Everybody, we're all obsessed with what happens when it falls apart. Not only what are we as society, but who are we as individuals? I thought The Last of Us was really entertaining. I kept up with every single episode they put up. I'm sure at times the politics weren't something I agreed with. And I know the main actor, the guy from Narcos, I'm sure he thinks I'm some far-right Nazi. I can set all that aside while I dive down escapism, entertainment. At number two, Succession, absolutely obsessed with Succession.

It's probably one of the best acted series that I've ever seen. Brian Cox was awesome, but all the actors in succession, it just highlights, you know, acting in communication, what we all do is so much between the lines. I recently watched Killers of the Flower Moon, and I liked it, and it's going to be a lot of your best of lists. And the only problem for it was I read the book, Killers of Flower Moon. And it's hard once you read the book to fully enjoy a movie. But Leonardo DiCaprio is an absolutely phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal actor. That's just a fact. I point out, look at the guy he's playing and how different it is from other guys he played.

It's all in his eyes. You'll notice how he holds his mouth in this movie, but it's like how he holds his eyes. And this one, he doesn't move it. There's other ones where he doesn't move his eyes that are like kind of like direct and stiff. Where other movies, there's the departed. He's so tense. and almost frantic, and he's darting. His eyes are darting.

His face is darting. You know, he's a totally different character and Killers the Flower Moon than he is in Wolf of Wall Street. He's a phenomenal actor, and it's less about what he says and more about what's between the lines. And I think in succession, just those actors, it's incredible. And I love this genre. I like business. I like startup. I like striving.

You know, I liked air this year, which was about, uh, you know, I like to air this year, uh, which was about Nike signing Michael Jordan. That was really good. I watched a series. It was on Paramount called The Offer. I really liked it. It's Miles Teller. And it's the behind the scenes of how they made The Godfather.

And it's a series. You have to burn through a lot of episodes. But it's all about the making of the Godfather and them attempting to option the book and write the script with Francis Ford Coppola and getting the actors committed and how they got the studio to buy in on Al Pacino. And it's entertaining all behind the scenes of making The Godfather. One of the movies that's in the genre, the business movies, is on a lot of the list. It's called Blackberry.

And I watched that. It was great. It's about the rise and fall of the phone of Blackberry. It was really good. But of this genre, my favorite was Succession. And then number one for me this year. And I think it was this year. This is the fault of watching so many things.

but number one, House of Dragon, HBO. I love Game of Thrones. I don't know, it ties together a lot of this. Even though it's completely fiction, it's maps and geography, which I love. It's history, even though it's fake. There is family trees you got to understand, which I actually enjoy that process.

I don't, yeah, I get confused like you or anyone, but I want to go to the internet and start seeing who's related to who and what was the fight between this family. I mean, honestly, it's not even about dragons. for me i don't care about the dragons or anything it's all about the political machinations it's it's i don't know really good i get obsessed with various categories serial killer i watched the texas killing fields um those i get into history action i i don't know how many times i've watched the northmen uh about the vikings alex again or scars guard um there's a great movie called

Sisu out of Finland about World War II. It's fiction, but fighting the Nazis. I get into these various categories and I get obsessed with them. When I find content that fits it, then I love it. And it can be fiction or better yet, it's nonfiction. But number one for this year for me was House of Dragon. There's some others that I didn't watch. I've heard people talk about like the bear. I'm kind of intrigued by that or poker face. I had a friend tell me to watch the lawman Bass Reeves. So I might be checking those out in the near future. But those are my five things to watch from 2023. Story number three. My top two sports moments were number one, Texas Rangers World Series. Lifetime achievement, lifetime experience. One of the best moments, not just of this

year of the last 20 years for me when it comes to sports. And number two, Texas Longhorns in the college football playoff in the semifinal. And I feel relatively good about headed to a national championship. We'll be right back with more of the Will Kane podcast.

On July 18th, get excited. This is big! For the summer's biggest adventure. I think I just smurf my pants. That's a little too excited. Sorry. Smurfs.

Only theaters July 18th. Fox News Audio presents unsolved with James Patterson. Every crime tells the story, but some stories are left unfinished. Somebody knows. Real cases, real people. Listen and follow now at Fox Truecrime.com. But I thought I would break down, not just Texas and Washington, but Michigan and Alabama.

And the greater state of college football and what happened to Florida State with the incomparable voice of, he's been the voice of college football, the NFL, college basketball, the NBA. Fox's Tim Brando. Yeah. What are you doing? You're going through Dallas? Or Houston or Atlanta. Yeah, always. Okay.

I'm a 5 million minor on Delta. I'm a 3 million minor on American. I'm a million miles. United. You know, I've been doing it a long time. And there was a period there when I was in the studio doing the college football today at CBS all those years where I was kind of living your life. I was leaving, at least during the fall I was, because I was doing play-by-play and basketball and some other sports,

but I was primarily hosting the SEC on CBS on Saturday. So I would leave on Thursdays. I'd go over to Mickey Mantles and do my radio show on Sporting News Radio on Friday, which was every Friday morning between like 9 and noon in the morning. And I did it at Mickey Mantles in New York, right there on, you know, the west side. And I did it right in the window of Mickey Mantles looking at Central Parks South.

And it was fun. I could get great guests to come. They'd love to join me. I'd buy them lunch. You know, we had a good time. And then on Saturdays, I'd host college football all day. And then Spencer Tillman and I would run over to Ben Benson's after our games ended about 7.30 Eastern time, and we would just hold up there and watch games and eat steak

and libations until the Pat 12 games ended at about 2 a.m. Well, that's my life. It's just... Then we'd have a 4 a.m. pickup for a 6 a.m. white home on Sunday, you know? That's my life. It's just the news in the morning. It's a few cocktails with Pete Heggseth in the afternoon, steak over at Del Friscoes. We're talking to Tim Brando. The Fox, play-by-play announcer, the voice of much of our childhood, much of our lives, no matter the sport. Tim has been there. Tim's voice has helped carry you through most of your memories. I'm so glad to have you today on the program, Tim.

It's a bit surreal for me. We've interacted on social media, but we haven't yet spoken in person. And so it's probably going to just start with how much I appreciate your work. And now how much I appreciate getting to know you. Well, I'm a fan of yours and a fan of Fox News. and I go back. You know, he began as a sportscaster in Cincinnati. And his photographer became the executive producer of Raycom Sports. And I did a lot of ACC and SEC football. If you're, you're old enough, you probably remember those early Jefferson Pilot sports games that I did maybe

in the 90s, you know, before you went to school. And that was prior to the time that I went to CBS. It was right in the mid-90s, right between my stops at ESPN and CBS, about a three-year. period there when I did Hawks and Braves and the NBA and then I went over to CBS. But I'm a big, big fan of Fox News, have been really since its inception. And some of those guys I know pretty well. Hannity's had me on a show a few times. And I'm a huge fan of what you guys do in the mornings. And I watch you religiously when I'm home on the weekends.

As I'm getting ready for my football games, I'll be tuning in to Yoy and Hexeth. and the Saturday morning shows. Well, thanks. Yeah, I do. And I loved you when you did your show on ESPN radio. Well, thank you. Not the last radio show that they had that I found listenable. So there you have it.

Well, thank you, Tim. Just to finish off the compliments, I just think that your voice and your style is just, it's particularly perfect for college football. And as it turns out, you come by that accent, honest. You're coming to us live today. from Shreveport, Louisiana. So, Tim, why don't we do this? Let's talk about what is going to amount to one of the biggest sports weekends of my life.

And we'll interweave into this conversation some of these stories about sports broadcasting. I have a few questions for you as we go. And I'm going to also bury the lead because everyone knows what I'm talking about. I'm talking about Texas versus Washington this coming weekend. But we'll bury the lead because that's the one that's the most emotional. for me and anything afterwards will feel like anti-climax. So let's start with Michigan and Alabama. I look at this matchup, and I'm kind of conflicted two ways, Tim.

I don't buy into the full resurgence of Alabama, meaning everybody's saying it's a completely different team than the one that lost to Texas. I do think Jalen Milrow is better, but I did also see the game against Auburn. So I can't just pretend like they were dominating everyone by the end of the year. On the other hand, I also don't think I buy into Michigan's dominance as the number one seat in this college football playoff.

I just, I'm not, if I were playing Michigan, I'm not afraid of J.J. McCarthy. I'm not afraid of the passing game. And if I can handle the run, I think you can beat Michigan. I'm a little bit, I'm a little bit underwhelmed, and I'm not trying to insult any fan base, but I'm just a little bit underwhelmed by both of the hype around both of these programs. Yeah, and by the way, not to digress, okay,

but I have to begin with this, the filthy, and I do mean filthy residue of what happened to Florida State by this corrupt college football playoff committee is something that is still impacting the lead-up to this game. Okay, it really is, okay? And I know that there are probably some fans out there that go, wait a minute, Tim, stop pushing your agenda. No, no, if ever there were proof that the college football playoff

needed to go to 12 teams, and I think it eventually will go to 16 teams, frankly, when they do their new television deal. I think they're going to find out next year what they're missing out by not having those top four teams playing in the opening week on campus. They're going to need to do that for both really the inventory that television's going to want and for really for the ratings that will come from the top four teams getting an extra home game for those schools that always want what, more money. Okay, that's an insatiable appetite for a lot more money. happened to Florida State is beyond the pale, particularly given to your point about Alabama. This is not a vintage Alabama team, not at all. I mean, they're a winging a prayer from losing to Auburn and to Arkansas at home. Okay. Now, think about that. I watched Arkansas make a huge

comeback against them, and had they converted on a fourth down at midfield, I mean, that draft could have gone on and who knows what might have happened. I mean, and they were winning. And they were winless in the SEC at that time. So you're right about that. And I think that's one of the reasons why Florida State is so upset about this, and rightfully so. A narrative was utilized, okay, by many of my colleagues, of whom I'm sure disagree totally with what I'm saying to you now. But the reality is, yeah, Alabama, Michigan's a nice, sexy matchup because of Harbaugh, saving, what coaches would you better hate if you were either fan? end banks, right? Sabin if you're Michigan and Harbaugh, if you're anybody else but Michigan,

okay? But the better game would have been Florida State because of their story, you know, to win without a second string quarterback having to play and to win and their defense being so good. So you're right. I mean, Alabama would be as vulnerable an Alabama team as we've seen in the college football playoff. On the other side, ultimately, Michigan is a team that, that really didn't have to alter their game plans at all against any team they played in the Big Ten to win. J.J. McCarthy would throw and he had to throw, and then he would have Donovan Edwards or Corrin

get the job done on the ground behind a massive offensive front with an offense that was less than created, and they still managed to beat everyone they played. I mean, they beat Penn State in the second half, Will, never threw a pass. Never threw a pass in the entire half of the football game and beat what was a team that would wind up in a New Year 6 bowl, a top 12 team Penn State, which had a horrible defense all season long for James Franklin.

So you're right. It lacks so much and is yet overhyped because of the brands, because of Michigan, Big Ten, SEC, St. Sabin, all that. Okay, you're right. I mean, that's an absolute fact about this matchup and one we cannot escape. And I think I'd come to this opinion honest, meaning I've got a team, I've got a bias, and I've got an investment in this analysis. And I will tell you of the four teams, of the three teams in this playoff that as a Texas fan

that I least want to face, I'm facing them in the semifinal. It's Washington. I would have rather faced Michigan or Alabama than Washington. And we'll get to that game in just a moment. But I just want to say, I agree with you on Florida State. And I've gone back and forth on this. Not back and forth. I've actually beat this drum for years, this idea of the first.

for best. Well, best is a subjective word. And best is always going to be the eye test of subjectivity, which is way open to the influence of narrative, the word you used a moment ago. And the narrative is that you just can't leave out the SEC. You just can't. All the other stuff, backup quarterback. No, if Jalen Milrow had gotten hurt, Alabama would still be in. So it's not about the quarterback. It's at best allows you to make this. You said corrupt. I don't I don't know. I don't know if it's corrupt or if it is simply just it's so biased towards certain brands. And my brand is probably one of those. The brand of Texas benefits from this bias. But it's so biased against these brands that it just doesn't, it's not real. It's not

meritorious. I don't need to tell you this because you're a huge Texas fan. All you have to do is Google Tim Brando and you'll see a lot of negative columns written about me based on what I've said in the past about Texas being a right. Oh, I know. Oh, I know, Tim. I mean, it comes up all the time. You've hit my radar, Tim. I have no, I have no ax to grind with Texas at all. I think Sark has done a hell of a job. I did have the game where he had a 21-0 lead, almost blew it. Yours got hurt, and Houston almost beat them, you know, earlier this year. But they rebounded from that and they found a way to win. You know, what Texas did, you know, Brooks got hurt. You found another way. You know, they had another stinker against TCU in the second half, but you find a way to win.

And so they'd earn the right to be there, but you're right, they're playing a tough team. The toughest team I think to match up with of these four is Washington. I want to go back for just a second to the corrupt word because some people have called me out on saying, hey, that's too harsh a word to use. No, it's not. And let me tell you why it's not. For six straight weeks, Boo Corrigan, the chairman of the college football playoff, Committee, who, by the way, is from an athletic family that's been in Intercollegiate Athletics

forever. His brother, Tim, was a broadcast associate at ESPN with me in the 80s. All right, his father was the commissioner of the ACC, an athletic director at Notre Dame, Gene Corrigan, one of the most revered names in college football and college athletic history. And Boo's an athletic director at NC State, and he had to know that these questions were coming. But But like every other college football playoff spokesperson, they had to sit in there and take questions from Maurice Davis and Kirk Herb Street and these guys and just lie, absolutely lie about the circumstances and all the contentious conversation that happened among those on the committee. Most of those people on the committee are really good people, okay, people I know and respect. But because they will not allow either cameras in for transparency sake, or at least tell us what the conversation was like, it's corrupt. Okay?

The deal was this. And I've talked to multiple people that have told me that I'm correct with this analogy. And had Georgia beaten Alabama, it would have been Georgia, Michigan, Washington, Florida State. But because Alabama, absolutely. Really quick, on that hypothetical, I've worked. wondered if they would have put Texas in over Florida State. I've wondered what they would do if that had been the debate. Texas got in for one reason. Alabama beat Georgia. And they could not take Alabama without also taking Texas because of the quote criteria head to head is right

there with, oh, that last one that they put in there. And that's why they put this nebulous, okay, They were so politically motivated the wording in it, in case of player injury, we can do. That's code for saying, in case we're in a pickle, we'll pick whoever the hell we want. Okay, that's what it is. And whoever the hell they wanted was Alabama, if they could get them. And Alabama beat Georgia, and they got them. But you can't take them without also taking Texas. They were a one-loss champion of a power conference, and all by,

the way, they're headed into the SEC. That also gives them additional credibility. Could not turn down Texas if Alabama won. Texas would have it on just real quick, Tim, to be clear, you have it on good authority that had Georgia one, Florida State would be in and Texas would be out. Yeah. I mean, I can't, I'm not going to name people, but yeah, I know that. But that's all they had to say, Will. You know, that's all they had to say. Just say, here's the situation, fellas. We'd never been in this circumstance before when Georgia lost that game and lost their number. Remember, they started that particular championship Saturday is the number one team. They were number one. All right. And part of why we can call this thing correct is where you see what happened with Florida State. They were four. If they were going to drop Florida State all the way down to where they were to be out, if Alabama won. Florida State should have been dropped to seventh three weeks earlier. when they lost their quarterback, but they didn't. They held them there.

They were in the four. They only dropped them when they had to drop them, which was at the very end, so they could squeeze Alabama into the position of four, but you couldn't do that without putting Texas in ahead of them. So that was the deal. And frankly, I wouldn't have had a problem. And I wouldn't be calling them corrupt if they would just honestly tell us what the scenarios were. Hey, we're handstrong, we've only got four.

this is what we're going to have to do based on what happened in those conference championship. And we'll, you know, the names change, but the scenarios remain the same. They'll never tell you the truth. And to me, that's caused to call it corrupt. Well, I will tell you, as a Texas fan, had they taken Florida State over Texas, I would have had no problem with that decision. I would have had no problem with that decision. I would have had a problem as a fan if they had taken Alabama over Texas.

That would have been a big problem for me if they had chosen Florida State and Alabama. So it just shows how badly they wanted, to your analysis, how badly they wanted Alabama. Before we go back to the games, so there's word out recently that the Florida State, Board of Trustees is meeting. That obviously means a lot of people think they're on the way out of the ACC. And then you've got people making guesses. But by the way, these guesses are worthwhile because it goes from guesswork to reality in a heartbeat.

And one of the guests I saw was Florida State and Clemson to the Big Ten with Virginia and UNC to the SEC. Are we about to see a little more realignment? Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, if this court case is won by Florida State at the time of our taping, that's going to probably have taken place between now and the time you air this. So we'll know more by the time you begin streaming this pond.

but the mere fact that they're challenging this in court, the grant of rights is being challenged in court. No other school has ever done this. In every conference, there's been in a position of grant of rights with the exception of the SEC for a long, long time. Now, the interesting aspect of this is, of course, the SEC is quick to point out, well, we don't need Florida State. Why would we want them? We have a presence in Florida with a bigger university and one that has storied a background as does Florida State with Florida, even though they're struggling some now, there's obviously truth to that statement. But the Big Ten, while it took Nebraska as a non-AAU academic school now, it was an AAU school when they brought them into the Big Ten. That'll be another interesting

aspect of what the Big Ten decides if Florida State becomes eligible. No one can talk to them now because they are, that would be tampering until a court says that it's unconstitutional what they're trying to do to Florida State and any other school of the ACC. And that's probably great news for schools like Virginia, North Carolina, Clemson. You know, they've quietly seen this unrest with Board of Trustees at Florida State going all the way back to the summer. Okay, this isn't something new that Florida State just began talking about when they were left out of the CFP.

This goes all the way back to the summer, but it'll be very interesting to see how the court reacts to this because if Florida State by chance wins, okay, and they find a way by settling to some extent, all right, might even be just a settlement with regard to what they're going to do with the amount of money that the grant of rights would have them pay until the end of their TV contract, which isn't until 2036. it could open a Pandora's box for all those schools to seek a place elsewhere. And that brings the Big 12 back into the fray because even though the Big Ten and the SEC are the schools that are making 25 to 30 million more annually than Florida State is making over this period of time, the Big 12 doesn't bring in that kind of revenue. But I will tell you, Brett Your Mark, the new Big 12 commissioner, did a hell of a job. Even though he lost Texas in Oklahoma, he just negotiated a television deal. that, A, put the Pact 12 out of business, and B, with all the four teams that he brought

in, they're making more money annually now than they did with OU and Texas Rindley. So it is a better situation. So are you saying if we lose the ACC, if we lose the ACC, are you saying that it will be to the benefit of the Big 12? They'll be one of the vultures that scoop things up in a way. I think whatever the Big Ten is not interested in, yes. I think the Big 12 would scoop up, and I think we'd do a hell of a job with. The Big 12, you know, they, you got to give your mark a lot of credit, okay?

He had some legalese in his background. He's a heck of a promoter. And he didn't stand pat. When everything was breaking down last year with the television contractual renewals taking place, the Pac-12 thought, it will just fall in our lap. It'll take care of itself. The Big 12 said, no, no, we're losing. you in Texas. We're going to go get the best teams left in the American, and they did.

And then on top of that, they decided we'll do even better than that. We'll move forward and take Utah and take the Arizona schools out of the Pact 12. And that's going to make that league, I think, more palatable, very successful. And what I guess I'm trying to say to you is if this court case goes the way Florida State wants to go, we're probably within a handful of years of having three big-time pamphrates and whatever's left over. Yeah, I think it would be what the Big 12 positioned itself to do from the moment they lost OU in Texas was to say to themselves, okay, we know who we are. We're not the SEC. We're not the Big Ten. But you know what? We can be number three. We can be the biggest thing besides those two leagues. And our schools

will be just fine. And I think they're going to be. It makes me sad for my friends that are fans of the ponies. SMU gets in the ACC and it falls apart right away. I doubt the Big 12 will open it. I doubt they'll be one of the first programs picked by the Big 12. And you know, how bad, how bad did the ponies want to get in? They told Cal and Stanford, hey, don't worry about that. We'll pay your way in.

Yeah, right, right. I mean, it's incredible. These high-brow academicians in Berkeley and Ballow Alton, we're like, oh, we don't want to do that. We're not going to, we're not going to just forfeit all that. The SMU, All Barrens, and they come in and say, hey, we got you taking care of. We'll forfeit our money for two years so you can get yours.

How about that? SMU's been paying for greatness since 1981. Whatever it was. I'm a real soft. I remember it well. I have a real soft spot my heart. I'm being serious for SMU. Don't go anywhere.

More of the Will Kane podcast right after this. This is Jason Chaffetz from the Jason in the House podcast. Join me every Monday to dive deeper into the latest. political headlines and chat with remarkable guests. Listen and follow now at foxnewspodcast.com or wherever you download podcasts. I'm Benjamin Hall, Fox News correspondent and New York Times bestselling author. Join me for my brand new podcast, searching for heroes. Make sure you subscribe to this series wherever you download podcasts and leave a rating and review.

Let's go back to the games. Let's put a button on Michigan versus Alabama. I never know with you guys who do play by play. Can you make a pick? What is your prediction? Yeah, I'm going to go with Alabama. I mean, there's part of me that really wants Michigan to win because, you know, the Harbaugh hatred and what those players have gone through all year long.

And again, the rush to judgment by so many in the media. You know, I mean, the NCAA basically, and this is another reason, Will, and I don't mean to get away from your original question, but I've got to go there. We got to get the NCAA the hell out of college football altogether, okay? They're a neo-colonial outfit that's operated outside antitrust laws forever, and, frankly, have done nothing but kicked the can to the curb on NIL and transfer. And this is why we're in the position we're in because of mismanagement by the NCAA. I think the NCAA serves a great purpose with the non-revenue purchasing sports, with all other divisions of football and women's basketball and men's basketball, but they have no business in big-time college football. They don't have the staff.

they don't have the infrastructure, they need to get the hell out. They allowed media, the media to back channel what was going on at Michigan because they wouldn't have the guts to do it themselves. You wonder where all these stories came from that came out, whether you were reading ESPN.com or Yahoo, they were all backchanneled through leaks coming from the NCAA. That's how this happened. They couldn't, they finally got the notice of allegations to Michigan this week. this week. They finally got a notice of allegation. But what I'm trying to say to you is these Michigan kids have been through a lot. And part of me would like to see them win the game just because. And when the NCAA hates somebody as much as they hate Harbaugh, I find a way to, I don't know, maybe it's me going back to the old days of Billy the Kid or Bonnie and Clyde or whatever. There's just something about that kind of individual that's hated by what I think is a body that's gotten away with a lot.

It's lined its pockets for years on the sweat of these kids for so long, then I'd like to see Michigan, you know, stick it up there, you know what. But Alabama, Alabama is just too good, and here's the issue. It's not, they're too good at one spot, quarterback with Milrow. He's athletic. He can put a lot of pressure on your edges. On third and long, you may do a great job of defending, and they've got good secondary people at Michigan. but once they go man to man, he can tuck it and run.

And McCarthy can do the same thing for Michigan, but he does not have the explosive players on the edge to turn to. He's been physically, Michigan's been physically pounding people in the Big Ten. That's how they've won. If you look at Alabama, they haven't been physically pounding people. They had to have some big plays.

And they've gotten most of their big plays for Milro once their offensive coordinator, changed the offense after week three and decided to use Milro, run the offense totally through him, get him out of the pocket, put pressure on the perimeter of the defense. And I don't think Michigan seen anyone quite like him. And for that reason, in a close one, I think Alabama will win the game. It'll be because of the Millrow factor. But I'm with you, the winner of the Washington, Texas game is going to win the national challenge. Oh, wow. That's a huge statement. I think I'm there, and that takes me to the game that I'm most interested in.

The nation cares probably most about Alabama versus Michigan. I care about Washington versus Texas. Here's my thoughts on that. You just brought up my insecurities. If Texas had played Michigan, I would be extremely confident because what Michigan does well, Texas takes away. You can't run the ball on Texas. So good luck, Michigan.

They've already seen Alabama. It's hard to beat a team twice, but I actually, you think it's turning out that Sark's a pretty good coach and a really good program builder. And you give Sark a month, you know, to prepare for whatever's coming down the road. I'd be nervous if I was the other team. But Texas's weakness has been past defense. You brought up some programs that weren't very good in the air. TCU and Houston were not good passing offenses.

And they threw all over Texas. And now we're going up against the number one throwing team in the country with a Heisman trophy finalist and Michael Pinnock. and I am, I'm nervous. I actually think, Tim, and maybe I've burnt orange colored glasses on, I acknowledge my bias. I do think Texas is the more well-rounded team. Because of that, I would probably pick them to win. But it could just be that this is a 42 to 38 game, Washington.

Have you looked at the Alamo Bowl from last year? Yes. But I think Sark can learn. I think he has learned. Right. And I actually think that game has. helps Texas? It does, to some extent. I think you're right. Because it was within the calendar year and most of the team, most of the team on both sides have returned. Okay. So

you automatically think rematch almost within a calendar year that might be an advantage for Texas. To your point, more well-rounded for long-term success, yes. I agree. Texas is there. And they made a believer out of me this year. I mean, they did. And frankly, I was probably a little hard on them because the we're back thing I just got really tired of, that we're back, we're back, you know, I saw it many times over, we're back, that Georgia went in the Sugar Bowl and we're back. That bothered me a little bit. But here's the deal with Washington, and this is why I think your fears are worthwhile

and understandable. Washington defensively will give up yards. If you look at the total yards, give it up on the season. It's not that much different, really. In fact, I think it's more than Texas. Where Washington is really better is defending the red zone. And this is going to be a game of possessions and points per possession. A little bit of like a basketball game.

We'll give you the twos. As long as we make our threes, we're going to win the game. It's a football version of that. If Texas has explosives, and you know they will, I mean, I'm a big fan of Xavier Worthy. I'm a big fan of the run game and what Jonathan could do. And even the backup running backs have explosive capability. Oh, yeah. Jayden Blue.

No doubt about it. Cedric Baxter. Yeah. All have explosive capability. And the yours factor, I think this is a money game for him. It's one of the reasons why your backup quarterback had to just roll the dice and say, I've got to get out of here. I'm sorry.

But Malik Murphy had to say, that the portal is the portal and the calendar is the calendar and I got to go. So that's why that happened. And now Archmanning, we know, is going to be the next guy. When will he be the next guy? Is it next year or down the road? I think a lot of it will depend on how Quinn plays and what happens to Texas the rest of the way. But in a one-game scenario, and that's what we're looking at here,

we're not talking about the most well-rounded team, the team that's got the most upside for the longest period of time. Uh, Kaelin DeBoer has just the right mix of what you need to beat Texas. That is a, you know, a team that's top 20 and points allowed in the red zone. So if you get those big plays,

we'll don't, don't get caught behind from, from a safety at the three. Get it into the end zone. Okay. Don't miss the pylon. Don't let the turf monster stop you inside the 10. Because they are unbelievable.

They got two of the best books. look-ins at defensive end in terms of rushing the passer of any in college football. They are absolute sack machines. They're rush-ins. Nothing more. You can run on them and get some big plays in the ground game against Washington. But they will get negative plays on you on early downs when you get in the red zone. I saw it happen all season long.

I had them twice. Had your horns once. I had them twice. And that's a problem for Texas, potentially. If they don't get those big plays that score touchdowns, big plays that get you in the red zone won't be enough. And if you have to settle for threes, say three or four times, that could be the difference in the game. Because ultimately, Michael Pinnock's going to make big plays in the passing game. And he's got the three best receivers on one team in college football.

And I don't care what the LSU people tell me about neighbors and the other guys that Jaden Daniels had. And they were great. but they didn't have three as good as the three Washington has. And O'Donzee, I mean, a 50-50 ball to O'Donzee is an 80-20 ball in his favor. He's got to get it. I mean, and McMillan is also an outstanding receiver in big play circumstance. Yeah, you're making me really nervous. Your analysis is so good.

It's so good. Wait, here's a counterpoint. Okay, it's not a counterpoint. It's a counter question. Yeah. I think you're absolutely right about that Redstone defense because this is going to be, to me, this is a game of, it's, I don't know how many stops. We're going to call it three stops in a game.

Who gets three stops? Right. You know, two in one half, one in another. And if one of the team gets four instead of three, they win the game. But you've got Devonre Swett in the middle. That's my question. He can stall in their run game. So that's where I'm going.

How good is Washington's offensive line? because to me, in order to get that stop, Texas is going to, they're going to stop the run. I'm actually not that worried about that. They may get, you know, 50, 60 yards in the game. They may do something like that. But it's not going to be the difference maker is can we get to pinnics in the game for those negative plays, either for a turnover for a negative play. And, you know, Anthony Hill, the freshman for Texas, he's going to get, he's, he's,

if they turn him loose, he can play, right? You know, Baron Sorrel and Ethan Burke are pretty good defensive ends. not world beaters yet. So I don't know. So the question is how good is Washington's offensive line? Their offensive line is outstanding and past blocking. It's just average and run blocking. And that's a byproduct of the offense they run. Okay. The other thing you've got to contend with is Pennix. He's not Mill Road, but he is elusive. Right. And he's a guy that can throw the ball. I mean, with, you're the term, he can really spin it. He can really spin it. He can throw it without maybe, you know, the best footwork.

He can throw it off the wrong foot, you know, that kind of thing he's capable of doing. But if you can force them and just stone them in terms of their run game in between the tackles and make sure that they are a one-dimensional team, over time that can help Texas. I think Pete Quikovsky, who once, by the way, was the defensive guy, I first met him when he was the D.C. at Washington. Now he works for Sark on the defensive side. and I think that what he does with his linebackers is going to be really interesting to see

because that's where you can get additional pressure to make life difficult. How many times do you drop seven or drop eight? How many times do you decide, you know what, I'm going to bring a safety or I'm going to bring a linebacker, that rover. I think it was a cheetah. I think they may call him the cheetah

at Texas. They have different names for the roving linebackers that move around. I may be wrong there. I'm just working off memory here. But the bottom line is, I think you're going to have to pressure him from time to time at important moments in the game strategically to keep him from making those big plays.

And get them off center, get them behind the chain somehow. They're going to need those negative plays on first down to get Washington behind the chain. because if they do, then I don't think Washington can run the ball effectively enough to stay on time with what they want to do offensively. All right. So that is your answer to the problems that I just mentioned to you that they might have. The kid that I was thinking of, one of those two defensive ends is trailing brace,

and I'm telling you, the guy is just a heat-seeking missile, and they're going to have to deal with him, double him, make sure the tight-ins chip him to keep him from making plays, especially in the reds. I do like Texas's tackles. It's going to have a tough time. Oh, yeah. They got good offensive tackles.

It sounds like you're taking Washington, Tim. Is that fair? In a narrow one. Yeah. I'm taking Washington. I want to say this to you. If you beat them, you win it all. I think you beat Alabama if you have to play them.

I think you beat Michigan if you have to play. Do you hear that? Horns fans? Did you hear that? Let's put that out on social media. Tim Brando takes Texas over everybody but Washington. So if they beat Washington in a national championship game, game, he takes the horns.

Please get that out because I could see the response on social media as soon as this is dropped. Rando did it again. Tim, it's been a lot of fun. I really appreciate talking with you today. Your game analysis, man, it's really good. It's in-depth stuff. And I really appreciate talking to you, Dave.

Thank you, Tim. Well, thank you. It's always a pleasure, Will. And as I said, I'm always here for you. And I sort of dig your politics as well. So anytime. Thanks, Tim. There you go.

I hope you enjoyed that conversation with Tim Brando. Tune in, I will be this week into the college football playoff, and let's all say together now, hook them horns. I'll see you next time. Listen to ad-free with a Fox News podcast plus subscription on Apple Podcast, and Amazon Prime members. You can listen to this show, ad-free, on the Amazon music app. I'm Janice Dean.

Join me every Sunday as I focus on stories of hope and people who are truly rays of sunshine in their community and across the world. Listen and follow now at foxnewspodcast.com.