WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Bleacher Boys: Paul and Matt Fired from Bleacher Boys after Poor Performances?

Episode Date: October 18, 2024

The boys talk MLB playoffs and let Matt rant about the Royals.  Then, they move into recapping an exciting Week 7 of College Football with several close calls. Finally, the results of last week’s coin challenge are in, and it doesn’t look good for some of the guys. Despite some discouraging results for some, they still make their picks for Week 8 of College Football.

Third and 20. Howard, a lot of time coming off. Howard's going to run for it. Time runs out, and that'll do it. Oh, my goodness. Welcome to the Big Ten Oregon. They storm the field at Otson. And the Ducks win this bout. 32, 31. You're listening to Bleacher Boys, where Paul, George, and Matthew break down the biggest stories in sports. From the cheap seats, I guess. On Radio Free Hillsdale, 101.1.7, FM. And welcome back to another episode of the Bleacher Boys. And we've got a fun week of college football to recap. Yeah, Paul, it was a great week in college football. It was also a great week in major league baseball.

So why don't we start there? Someone in this room really has something to get off their chest when it comes to that. But first off, we'll start off with something that's really devastating to many folks in this area. The Cleveland Guardians ended the roaring tigers. streak through the playoffs this past Saturday. And that's got to be a tough one. I know here in Hillsdale especially, it was really tough for many people that I know. Grand Slam off the best pitcher in the league by far.

And I mean, they loaded the bases with a bunch of singles with exit velocities of like 60 miles an hour or so in another day, another time there would have been five outs recorded in that inning before the home run even happened. Well, I think in a lot of ways, baseball, is emblematic of life as we get into the philosophy hour of bleach your boys on radio free hillsdale 101.7 fm but it just you know a couple things don't go your way and the the outcomes are two very different things and i know what happened for my brew crew do you have the best closer in the game give up a three run shot to you know someone who hadn't been batting super well as of late

and then yeah same thing for the tigers with the best starter in the game i mean unfortunately you play 162 games and it comes down to a couple plays. You know that as a Royals fan. Yeah. Well, I got a, I got a quick shout out, the guy who really kept these guardians in these games and had some huge home runs. I mean, Lane Thomas was the one who hit the Grand Slam and he also had a massive three-run home run in game one, which George and I got to see in person, which was quite incredible. It fired the crowd up. And I'm sure it did exactly the same thing when he put them on top against Terrick Scoobel and that's just a devastating series but I think as a Tigers fan you look to the future and you know it's bright and you know you'll be back there and just build on it get some pieces

in free agency have those young talent come up Jackson Joe Max Clark guys like that who hopefully you'll see in these next couple of years who will help you yeah and I think this is the best time probably in baseball history maybe that's an overstatement if I don't know my history as well but to be a small market team where you actually have a chance for sustained success In the past, you could kind of buy a World Series. The Yankees got a lot for a period there. And now they haven't won since 2009, 15 years ago. So it's not all about the big players.

The Moneyball, Seattle Mariners, or rather Oakland Athletics, I think, really changed the game there. Yeah, it was the Oakland Athletics. And, well, speaking of the Yankees, I think we should talk about their series against the Royals, which left many Royals fans mad at life after the Yankees. the series three games to one. Sample size of one. And, well, we in fact have one of those Royals fans who is mad at life. And Matthew, what do you have to say?

Yeah. I mean, first off, Bob Costas was on the microphone. And there were just some horrible calls throughout the entire series. I remember one play is coming in mind right now. I think it was John Carlos Stanton grounded into an inning, inning double play. and Bob Costas just sounded like his world was coming to an end. Do you want me to try to pull it up right now? Oh, yeah, pull it up.

I mean, it was just disgusting. I hated listening to it as a Royals fan. Well, we just want Bob Costas to be better and improve and appeal to everyone who try to. Yeah, sure. Okay, let's see if this works. Hit the short, Witt gets the force. Can they turn two? Yes, they can, and it's just the point we were making.

not John Carlos fault. Yeah, what about the excellent defense by Bobby Witt Jr. Bob Costas? Like, what are you talking about? And then later in the series, he was talking about how we were pulling a pitcher and putting in a replacement in the middle of a count. And you can't do that in baseball. And I mean, obviously Bob Costas just wasn't aware, I guess.

I'm, yeah, I'm convinced after listening to him, he doesn't know the rules of baseball. But regardless, our pitchers at the end of the day, they weren't great in the series. And when your pitching isn't great, you aren't going to win games. But it exacerbates the problem when you aren't getting calls and the umpire zones are inconsistent at best. According to Ump scorecards on Twitter,

the Yankees got two runs across four games from balls and strikes alone just in favored calls, essentially. Additionally, you know, game one of the series, six to five Yankees, this final score. Jazz Chisholm was, by all rights, caught stealing at second. After review, they called him safe, even though there was some clear daylight in between his foot in the bag. Yeah, there were some really questionable calls,

and it really makes you wonder, you know, why is the league office in New York? And were there Yankees fans in the replay building, reviewing the call and calling it the Yankees way? Well, I think that's always been a question in pro sports is this weird tension where it is a bit of, business. So on one hand, keeping the integrity of the game may be one of the most important things you can do by making sure each team has a fair shot. That's probably how you keep the

lead going. On the other hand, though, you have to imagine whether intentional or not, the ideal world series for them is probably New York versus L.A., the Yankees versus the Dodgers. And you wonder, I'm not going to say whether that's true or not, but it sometimes makes you wonder, just the incentives that they face. Yeah, I mean, you just got done saying that it's a good time in baseball to be a small market team. And you're not wrong, but it certainly does help when you can just buy players like Judge and Soto and just all of those guys that even, you know, even when they aren't hitting well,

they have people around them that can carry the boats. And, yeah, I mean, it's like all of the teams. So after the Royals lost, I was like, okay, I want to root for the tigers, I think. I can get behind the tigers. they're doing pretty well. Then they lost the Guardians and I was like, oh, dang, well, you know, maybe the Padres will still go for it. They're pretty fun. And then they lost. And now you have the three teams with the highest payroll in baseball in the league championship series plus the Guardians. So, yeah, I mean, if you're a Guardians fan, I'm sorry. I'm not optimistic about

the calls that you will or will not get in your upcoming series. It's for, frustrating. None of the teams that I wanted made it. And the teams that did make it, I don't think. That seems to be a trend. Every team you pick seems to. I remember last night, or last night you were rooting for Aiden Hutchinson in the game. Oh. That one hits a little close to home. So definitely thoughts and prayers with Aidan Hutchinson after that grew some leg injury. But as he mentioned, the other series in major league baseball. The Mets go and upset the Phillies in a series nobody had expected the result. Many people didn't even foresee the Mets making the playoffs, and here they are. They're now in the NLCS after defeating the Phillies. Some electric games for the Mets, I mean, this team just seems to

rebound and just take the lead whenever you least expect it and just have these insane rallies. And that game two against the Phillies, which the Phillies was the only game they won, but that was one of the most exciting games, I believe I've watched in this postseason. Yeah, what a scrappy underdog team with a $310 million payroll. Yeah, and most of those players, I don't think you're even on the team are playing. I mean, besides maybe Lindor is the biggest guy on there. And then Scherzer and Verlander are on different teams, and they're still paying their salaries. It was a dig at Moneyball.

I'm still kind of upset. And then finally, as Carton mentioned, the Dodgers escaped the Padres after five very contentious games. A lot of beef between the players on both teams and as well as the fans. I mean, it's always exciting when those teams tee off against each other. And I don't think this was an exception. Some really fun games to watch and some controversies as whether or not Mani Machado actually threw a ball at Dave Roberts. I don't know if you guys saw that. I did see a little bit of it.

I didn't see enough to make an informed decision. Well, based on Machado's sterling reputation, I would expect nothing less of it. There's arguments on both sides of the ball. It didn't seem that hard. It was in his direction, but I wasn't really there. But anyways, we do have championship series set up, as we've been alluding to, the Guardians versus the Yankees and the Dodgers versus the Mets. Yeah, that was another gripe that I had.

Watching this Royal Series versus the Yankees in the playoffs was the least fun I've had watching baseball in a long, long time. And obviously it didn't help that the Royals weren't doing very well. But like all of the camera angles, like the broadcast stuff that makes a smooth watching experience just wasn't there on TBS. And yeah, you pair that with subpar commentary. And I just, I, it was, it was hard to watch. I will say watching your team in the playoffs can be a very stressful experience leading up

until that ninth inning when they finally get the victory. I know that because I was a Rangers fan, anxiously cheering on my team as they ultimately won the World Series, and it was one of the greatest feelings being able to run through the whole shouting and triumph. But leading up to that, I think I chewed out my entire fingernails on both hands and maybe shredded through a couple pairs of clothes, just biting down on stuff in sheer nervousness. But anyways. That man's got a set of chompers, I will say.

Anyway, we've got some fun playoff baseball, and even if your team is out of it, as many of the people in Michigan and Matthew Carton himself can attest, it still can be quite exciting, as you do have big names like Aaron Judge, Shohay Otani, Muki Betts, Jose Ramirez, and others. So don't just give up on it quite yet. Yeah, I won't give up on it just yet, but it might help me to move on to some college football because we had a couple duzies this week. So let's talk Oregon, Ohio State.

The Ducks, they won. They proved most of us wrong, except for the coin, if you guys will remember. And they beat Ohio State 32-31. Yeah. Last play of the game, I mean, this is the classic Kansas State quarterback moment. You got Will Howard running around like a chicken with a TED cutoff. And didn't really know what to do with the football there. Kind of sad to see if you're an Ohio State fan, but it was,

entertaining for me. Yeah, and I think no matter what way you pick that game, the coin did the best job representing it because in a lot of ways that was a coin flip, we thought whoever would have the ball last would be the team that won that game. And Ohio State would have had a chance for a long field goal if Will Howard could get down. But tough if you're in Columbus, I know. I have some friends in Columbus and they weren't very happy. Well, two notes on this game for me. watching this game in the presence of a couple of Ohio State fans, they were quick to jump on Ryan Day's case as he is always the cause of their defeats. And they said, well, I always said that, oh, Oregon hasn't won a big game yet.

And I'd like to see them do it. And then the Ohio State fan replied that, well, they've never had to face Ryan Day. Ryan Day always finds a way to lose the big games. And then another thing is, that was just terrible clock management on that play before the Will Howard run. Like, they just let the clock drain probably eight seconds, and that ended up screwing them in the end. So that was multiple problems there on that one. Another game at the same time that was going wild, unexpected result, at least down the stretch. In the end, the Tennessee volunteers did beat the Florida Gators, but I don't think I even foresaw that game being that close, and I'm the Florida fan.

Yeah, I think if you're a Tennessee fan, the best way that you can cope with that win is you hope that it was a trap game that you ended. up winning and that you're going to be ready for when Alabama comes to town, which will be this Saturday. But it doesn't give a lot of confidence. And neither did Alabama this week. Yeah, no, not at all. I will say with the Florida game, Graham Mertz has torn his ACL in that game. So now the Florida Gators are solely in the hands of freshman quarterback DJ Lagway.

He had a rough start, but in the end, he did tie that game with quite an impressive, deep throw to his open wide receiver after a little pocket scramble. there. So I was quite happy with that. And I think I speak for Florida fans when I say, I think the future is bright if that kid continues to develop and look as good as he does. Yeah, and kind of like George is saying, if you need an overtime touchdown to beat a Florida Gators team that is looking good, but isn't quite there yet, and you're supposed to be a national contender, it's not a good look. You know, not at all. And I will say they didn't even have to score a touchdown in over time as Florida had missed that field goal in their first possession as they possessed the ball first. And all

Tennessee had to do was kick a field goal. But at that point, it seemed like Florida's defense had just given up as there was no stopping Tennessee from scoring, whether by field goal or touchdown. But as George mentioned, their opponent this Saturday, Alabama, did not show off any better in their matchup against the South Carolina Gamecocks. That one was a 27-25 game back and fourth, except for most of that first half when Alabama was solely in control, but late in that second quarter, in fact, the Gamecocks somehow pulled out a bunch of points and made it close at half. Yeah, this brings up some interesting questions because Alabama is kind of, they're winning, they're winning games, but they've been kind of struggling, and so is Georgia? So is there sort of a

power vacuum in the SEC? And is Texas going to be the team to fill it? Well, it's really weird if you look at the SEC. I think at this point, more than any other point that I can remember, you have a lot of good, not great teams. When I say not great, maybe not top four teams. Let's go down the list. You have Texas A&M, which besides a loss to Notre Dame at the beginning of the season has played well. Texas, obviously, number one team in the nation. You have LSU, Georgia, Bama, Tennessee, that have all lost one game, kind of intermixed in there with, you know, teams they probably should have beat but not complete upsets unless you're talking about Bama with Vanderbilt.

But then that next tier, you still have Missouri, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Oklahoma. Those teams are all good. And then you still have Kentucky and South Carolina, which have either pulled up upsets or have come close to pulling up upsets. So within the top 10 teams in the SEC, it seems like any team can compete in any given week. For me, it's been fun to watch. I'm sure if you're used to seeing Georgia and Bama dominate and you're a fan of those squads, it's a little less entertaining.

For sure. I mean, as you guys said, it seems like the SEC is kind of wide open with the exception of there being the Texas team, as you said, Matthew. That could change, though, this week. It very much could as Texas's big test is this Saturday against the Georgia Bulldogs. But, I mean, Texas has not had a close game this year at all. I believe their closest game is against, yeah, the Michigan Wolverine. and everyone who watched that game did not see that as a close football game.

So it will be interesting to see them face their first real test of an SEC Blue Blood School in Georgia. And it's just been chaos this year. We've mentioned it before the 12-team playoff. It's the first year we have it. And it's just utter chaos. You have teams losing left and right that you don't expect them to lose. Massive upsets. And just this week, Tennessee and Alabama, coming off of upsets,

do not have inspiring performances despite pulling out wins in close games. Yeah, this is, I mean, this is when you separate the wheat from the chaff. This is when you figure out which teams are good and which teams are bad, which teams are going to show up in the big moments and which teams are going to kind of fade away.

So it should be interesting to watch over these next couple weeks. Yeah, definitely an exciting future for the SEC conference. We'll stick with the SEC and we'll talk about LSU beating Ole Miss in overtime. This game was back and forth. as most of these games seem to be LSU gets the win in overtime beating an Old Miss team

that had recently lost to Kentucky I thought they would be bouncing back but LSU came in more ready and that home field advantage was definitely an advantage in this game Yeah, Death Valley yeah, Georgia's saying it last week it's just really hard to play in

I figured Old Miss would come out and prove that they were the better team but I was wrong Yeah, LSU just kind of took it to them It was a close one for sure. Ole Miss put up a good fight, but yeah, Death Valley, I think, played a huge role in giving the Tigers the win. And I think it was Paul who was saying, oh, you know, if you're in the SEC,

you don't storm the field. That's like Big Ten behavior or Colorado, Big 12 behavior. Well, look who stormed the field when they beat Ole Miss, an Old Miss team that, you know, had already had a loss. They weren't a powerhouse, but LSU. So I'm going to give Paul. to cede my time to him if he wants to apologize to all the big 10 and big 12 fans around. I didn't really foresee that. I would expect as an LSU fan, you expect to beat your SEC rivals

and games like that, especially when you're at home and you're also a top 15 team in the nation, facing a top 10 team in the nation. That's the sort of success they expect out of Brian Kelly, as many people were calling for his head after his loss to USC at the first week of the year. and I mean, I personally don't agree with it. I would kind of be disappointed if my team's fans, the Florida Gators, stormed the swamp after beating Tennessee. And, I mean, I think we did that last, we might have done that last year. But besides the point, I think that if you were a,

consider yourself a top football program, then getting big wins like that, I don't know. Definitely, I will come out and say that I was wrong on this. I guess SEC schools do like to celebrate in wild fashion after big wins. Yeah, I think I'll jump in here. I think this was an unjustified field storming. I think LSU and Ole Miss are pretty evenly matched this year. And to storm the field like you were some big underdog,

even though it was a close game, entertaining finish, you know, whatever. I don't agree with it. Well, if you're an American, you should be excited this week as you continue listening to Bleacher Boys on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. Why should you be excited as American, George? If you're an American, I found this little note in this. studio and I'm not making this up so hopefully it wasn't a note that was used in a previous show but for the first time since 1960 army and navy are both ranked in the top 25 as someone who wants

to see America thrive you know I would rather that army navy air force are like one two three in the apie pole I think that's where our best talent should be but you know top 25 it's always a little concerning when you see eastern kentucky come into town and pound the US army like that doesn't give me a lot of faith in the ability to protect ourselves, but this isn't a politics podcast, but just a very interesting note from offenses that we're not used to seen. Yeah, George, this might be the best the U.S. militaries look since Operation Desert Storm. I don't know if we can say that. Oh, no. That's a great joke, but I don't know. We'll have to look into that further. We'll get our research interns on that. But anyways, as George mentioned,

Army and Navy are ranked for the first time since 1960. If you didn't catch that the first time, that's 1960. The Cold War was still going on and they had big problems to deal with, but they were still pretty good at football and they're good at football this year. They're both undefeated and hopefully they stay ranked for that Army Navy showdown at the end of the year. That'll definitely bring some more eyes in, even though it's already a big draw at the end of the year. Meanwhile, skies are falling in Boise, Idaho. So Ashton, Gene T only had one touchdown this previous game.

That's, you know, compared to his previous performances, that's pretty lackluster. How many yards did he have? Only 217. Okay. And doesn't that actually take him below average for this year? I have no idea. I think looking at some of his games, I think it's above average because he's usually in the 190, 180, that type of area.

But with only one touchdown, I mean, we got to start asking. the question is, is Ashton washed? Is he done? Yeah, Ashton, I know, yeah, you're a big watcher of our show. Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry to have to have to break it to you like this, but I mean, we're going to need to see more production from you, honestly. Yeah, but all jokes aside, this guy is incredible. And I think that's a performance that's not as discouraging as some of the performances we've seen from other Heisman candidates, especially front runners, such as Jalen Milrow and guys like that. I mean, they're escaping close games and, you know, we're getting on Gentie for having one touchdown because we're so used to him having three or six touchdowns in a game. And, I mean, what a great guy, great player. Hopefully he continues to succeed out there.

I think we're all rooting for him in here to get that Heisman for the first time as a running back in a long time. Yeah, and especially you had Shadur Sanders. It's hard to even look like I'm reading this right, but it says he has nine carries for negative 50 yards, which means that Ashton Genty had 267 yards more than him, actually. Pretty crazy. Well, I'm pretty sure it's Travis Hunter, who's the other Heisman front.

Yeah, but if you look at Travis Hunter, he only had three receptions for 26 yards, and that's a guy that you're expected to consistently put up over 100 yards, especially in a big game against Kansas State. probably good news for Colorado they had looks like three other wide receivers step up but even still if you're looking to win that Heisman I think Gentie is firmly in first place at this point because of the last two weeks yeah I think Travis Hunter went out with a shoulder injury or something like that ooh that's that's a big problem for his Heisman chances yeah um I don't know how serious it

is but I think yeah I don't think he played a lot in that in that Kansas state game I mean that's kind of crazy stuff that we have such an electric Heisman race and the top candidates are not even quarterbacks. In other news, Vandy won again this week and they are now the top vote getter in others receiving votes for the AP Top 25 poll. If they made the poll, it would be their first time since 2013 making the poll, but we don't really associate Vanderbilt football with top 25 program in the nation. That upset of Alabama really has put them in this conversation now. which is quite exciting to see. Are you even a real SEC football team anymore

if you finish behind Vanderbilt in the SEC standings? Well, that's something that they might have to discuss putting into their bylaws as like a relegation sort of clause if you finish below Vanderbilt. They should do it for every conference. So what would you have? You'd have Kansas. You'd have Vanderbilt.

I'm trying to think who's the Big Ten. I would say in years past, it might have been. Northwestern. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Northwestern. Though Pat Fitzgerald did do a good job turning that program around. There you go. There's your relegation standard compiled by the Bleacher Boys. Yeah, NCAA were open for calls.

Well, I think we have to be contacted by the individual conferences because they would determine that. I guess you would get demoted down to like the AAC if you're in the ACC. Oh, yeah. And then you would go to the little 10 and the little 12. Missouri Valley Conference You got to start dropping divisions At what point are we saying that they go like

Juko? Do they go down to high school or do they just get like No, no There were a couple years in there Where I'm pretty sure my high school team Could have beat Kansas football I don't think you can really Be eligible for high school football

At a certain point No, I still have a year of eligibility COVID year Okay, well you heard it here first George still has his Wisconsin and uh... W IAA yeah eligibility

so I might make a return run been in the weight room me and carton have been running in Oklahoma drills and oh that's why you've been in several casts this semester okay okay getting back to the football this one's not on our list

but I kind of wanted to talk about it Utah coming into the Big 12 this year saying they were going to run the whole thing run the table and meanwhile they're not even beaten teams that came over with them Cam Rising just hasn't looked great all year. And the Utah team, even aside from Cam Rising, this doesn't have it.

It's interesting to see some teams changing conferences from the Pack 12 and rising to the occasion. I mean, Oregon comes to mind immediately. And then other teams changing conferences and just absolutely faltering. I mean, we've seen USC really struggle and fall three straight weeks now, I believe. Or if not three, three out of the last four, as well as Utah. I mean, granted, their quarterback has been injured, but at a certain point, Cam Rising is not going to be there. And you can't just say, oh, the reason we weren't good this year is because Cam Rising was injured. Okay, didn't they grant him a seventh year, though?

So he's currently in his seventh year. Yeah, didn't they grant him another year, though? I thought he had an appeal for that. I saw his story that the Utah Ute's head coach came out and said that Cam Rising has a possibility, has a possibility for an eighth year. Okay. So maybe he will be there forever. You know, don't make blanket statements. Well, I guess he'll just be the excuse for why Utah can't get good.

Yeah. Meanwhile, on the flip side of that coin, Arizona State, who everybody picked to finish last in the Big 12 is just five and one. Who'd they lose to? I don't remember. Research Department is coming back and Texas Tech on the 21st of September. Yeah, and that's just how the Big 12 is. I mean, you get teams in there and everybody beats up on everybody and it's just any given week, any given results can happen. Speaking of which, though, Texas Tech.

is five and one. I think it was because they lost an early game to Washington State. Yeah, Washington State that people forgot. But this is kind of the part of the polls where you forget these sneaky teams that there is a loss earlier in the season that was so bad that you just completely write them off. And then they're five in one when you look at them. Yeah, it's kind of crazy how sometimes these teams sneak up. Like Wisconsin beating Rutgers. Yeah, there you go. That's a huge win for Wisconsin. and I mean, the teams that really come to mind for me is like in Indiana, which we're going to pick their game later, but they're number 16 in the nation. And I don't think anyone's really seen that, them as like a top 16 team in the nation, four spots away from being a playoff team. Yeah, usually when they make the sweet 16, it's for something else.

Exactly. Anyways, I think it's time for us to get to our signature part of the show where we pick seven games for the upcoming week of college football. I will update us on our records from the previous week. So Carton and I both had a plus 500 week with four and three records, and George ended up with a powerful six and one. Did you mention that a coin beat you, a literal coin? Carton has closed the gap on 500 and is now 20 and 22 on the year. Congrats.

For those keeping track at home. Getting there. And we will not be having the coin this week. and Cart and I will have to try to live with ourselves after losing to O'Coyne and college football picks. I think we'll do just fine doing that. So the first game we're going to pick this week is Nebraska at number 16 Indiana. Matt, start us off.

Yeah, previously I've been all in on Nebraska. Then they lost a ranked matchup at home to Illinois. So now I'm all out on Nebraska until they prove that they can win in big time games in prime time, I don't think that I can reasonably pick them to beat number 16 Indiana. I'm going to go with Indiana on this one. Yeah, despite my better judgment, I'm going to go with Carton here. And I just think that Indiana has proved it's the solidly better team. Nebraska is the flashy one that'll probably get more of the attention this game,

but I think Indiana gets it done another week. But be aware, I think once you get on the radar of college football, more eyes are upon you. and Indiana has been able to sneak into the top 25, really with no one paying attention. Yeah, as I mentioned earlier in the show, there are four spots out of the 12-team playoff if it were to happen today. And I think there's good reason for that. However, this is going to be their biggest game thus far into the season. They are the favorite in this game at home, and I think they take it like everyone else.

But it'll be interesting to see how they handle the pressure of facing a, media sensation like Nebraska. Next, we have number eight LSU going to Fayetteville to face the Arkansas Razorbacks. LSU has looked pretty good this year. They beat a pretty good Ole Miss team. Arkansas, on the other hand, beat Tennessee at home a couple weeks ago. So Arkansas could very well play spoiler here. But I think I'm going to have to lean with LSU.

I don't think Arkansas can do it twice in a row. Yeah, the thing about Arkansas is they are coming on. of a bye week. Ultimately, though, I think the talent gap is often what is the difference in games, and I'm going to go with LSU. All right. It's time for me to sound like a broken record again, and I'm going to go with LSU as well. I think they're going to play it close, and everyone's going to think that LSU is on upset watch, and then just as they think that it's about to happen, LSU is going to win the game. Arkansas devastated again. Book it. And next up, we have number 17K State going to face the West Virginia.

Virginia mountaineers. I'm going to pick Case State. And either way, if I'm wrong, I'm happy because Case State lost. And if I am right and K State wins, then that's another correct pick for me. So far, I think I'm going to go 3-0. Yeah, I probably would have gone with West Virginia last week, but after a really poor showing against Iowa State losing by 12, it did take a later game comeback for, or not comeback, but, you know, for Iowa State to surge ahead, scoring a few more in the fourth quarter,

you know what? I just talked myself out of it. Let's go West Virginia on this game. Well, I don't know what George is doing over there, but I'm going to stick with my gut here. I'm going to go with K State. They do have the tendency to drop surprise games against teams that they should beat, as evidenced by their loss to BYU, but I think they take it to West Virginia and win on the road. and next we have number 24 Michigan facing number 22 Illinois and Matt Yeah, I'm going to I'm going to have to apologize to Dave in Jonesville I've got to pick Michigan in this one I know Illinois looks good I know they're the higher ranked team but I think Michigan even though they've played it

close with some teams that maybe they shouldn't have I think Michigan has it and I think they're better than Illinois this year well Matt's embracing the villain role right here, not doing what the fans want and what they request. So, Dave, I hope you've still listened to the show despite Matt's denial of your request. But George, go ahead. So this one's for Dave. I have good luck. Carton has bad luck. I'm hoping it'll cancel. I'm going to go Michigan too. I don't know where my luck stands. Clearly not well this week or not good enough this week as I lost to a coin. But for whatever that's worth, I'm going to go with number 22, Illinois. They're the underdog at home against a Michigan team, but I have yet to see that

Michigan team pass the ball very well. And I just think that Michigan hasn't been the team that most people thought they would be this year. And I think Illinois is going to show it again this Saturday. Next, we've got number six Miami. going to face the Louisville Cardinals on the road. Yeah, and this one, Miami has looked shaky at best this year, but they have won it when it counts. And I think that continues. I think Louisville has a lot of upset potential here,

but I think Miami takes it down to the wire, but I think they grind it out. Well, I think Virginia Tech fans would argue that the refs won it when it really counted. They might. It's better to be lucky than good. There you go. Hey, that's what Mr. Coyne says.

so. So I'm going to go with Miami as well. I just think coming off of, I think they're coming off of a buy week too. So they'll have extra time to prepare. Otherwise, that West Coast trip out to California would mean a little more. But yeah, I think they're going to be well arrested and ready to suit up. And really, the top four teams are pretty wide open, I would say, aside from Texas. And that could even open up. So I think if Miami gets a big win here, there are opportunities to jump up into the top four are somewhat substantial. Well, I think Louisville is going to be. be the first team to do it and they're going to be the first team to take down the Miami Hurricanes. And both of those losses are to top 25 teams. The first one was to number 12 Notre Dame and that

was a touchdown game. Notre Dame was in control of most of that game, but Louisville did play it close. And then they lost to number 21 SMU also by a touchdown. I think that they really want to show themselves as a good team. I think they go out there and they really bring it to the Miami Hurricanes and try to exploit the weaknesses that have been shown in Miami's game. Louisville takes it and puts themselves back in the rankings. I'm going to continue the upset train with this next game. I have got Tennessee taking down Alabama at home. I think Tennessee, I think they're just better than Alabama. I mean, Alabama just hasn't really shown it this year. And I think a lot of their ranking is due to reputation,

just being, you know, Alabama and the brand that they represent. But I think Tennessee is just honestly straight up the better team. I think that's wrong. Tennessee is not beating Georgia. Bama beat Georgia. I think there is still a little separation between Bama, Georgia. I guess you have to include Texas in there and the rest of the SEC and until they show differently.

It seems like every year we try to formulate this narrative that, oh, is this Missouri's year to break in? Is this Ole Misses year to break in? and LSU had it one year with Joe Burrow and those guys in recent memory, but you got to go with Bama until they proved me differently. I know they lost to Vanderbilt. Don't get me wrong, but in a big matchup, they only lose the small matchups.

Well, no matter what, one of these two teams is going to have two losses on their record, and it's going to severely hinder their playoff chances. Both teams have not looked well these past couple of weeks, both falling two weeks ago to unranked opponents, and both eking out victories over unranked opponents again in last week's games. I think I have to agree with George. Alabama just has more talent. Behind the center for the Alabama Crimson Tide is a massive advantage over the Tennessee volunteers.

Nico I'moleva. He's talented, but he's not the same dynamic player that Alabama has in Milro. Alabama also has Ryan Williams, and that's just an X factor on the outside to create space and make things open up more for Jaden Milro and his legs. I think Alabama takes this game even in the road environment at Neeland Stadium. And finally, we have the biggest game of the week. We have another top five matchup between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Texas Longhorns in Austin, Texas. And this will be the first true test for the Texas Longhorns coming out of the Big 12 into the SEC.

This will be their first true SEC opponent played Oklahoma, but Oklahoma is with them in the Big 12. So it'll be, yeah, it'll be a test for sure. We're going to see just how good Texas is against a Georgia team that I wouldn't say it's struggling, but it's definitely not as good as they have been in the past. I think it's hard to pick against Texas in this one just because of all the talent that they have. I'm going to go with Texas, I think. I think Georgia is going to make it close, and it's going to be a really good game, but I've got Texas.

So for my pick, Who let the dogs out? Who let the dogs out? Leave it to George to have the flash and flare every time. Absolutely. Yeah, we're going to let the dogs out, and the dogs are going to win this game. Pretty substantially.

They're going to blow away. Everyone's expectations. It's going to be huge. I really like that Beck guy, Carson Beck. He's due for one. I don't think Texas, I don't think the SEC is just going to take it. The fact that Texas comes into their conference.

it's like people from Texas, you know, those big old belts, 10 gallon cowboy hats, acting like they own the place. I know it because I room with Paul. And every day he walks into the room like he owns the place. Without the 10 gallon hat. No, you have the hat on. I don't have one of those. He has a big 10 gallon hat. You have to believe me.

Just imagine it. But Georgia isn't going to take it. They're Southern boys. They have pride. They have pride in their football team. And they're taking it to Texas. Horns down, baby. All right, I am going to disagree with George on that one.

And I am from Texas, granted. Did I hurt your feelings? But I, no, not at all. You sound a little hurt. I just think Texas is... The better state. The better team. And I believe that they have the better quarterbacks, plural.

I mean, Quinn U.S. back from injury, led the team to win against Oklahoma, their rival. and most people think, oh, Red River rivalry, it's going to be a close game. Oklahoma's not as good, but they always fight hard, and it's always close. And Texas this year is just a different animal. They're super talented. The closest game they've had has been three scores. I don't really foresee them losing to Georgia. It'll be a good game, but, I mean, the beauty of being.

Texas this year, the blessing that is Texas is you have two amazing quarterbacks so that if one struggles you can put the other one in. I think, you know, Jalen hurts to a Tagavailoa in the national championship game except Arch Manning has

shown that he can play football in this year. And I just think that Texas takes it and you know, solidifies their spot as the number one team in the nation as well as the SEC. Okay, Paul, I'm going to be honest. I think that analysis is a little silly. We don't think of who Patrick Mahomes' backup is. We don't think of who Aaron Rogers' backup is.

Having two quarterbacks is no good. That's like my fantasy team. I have like eight great running backs, but I can't put up points because I don't have wide receivers. Well, it's, you don't think that way because they're not going to spend a ton of money on getting two quarterbacks. The thing about college football is that they could spend a lot of NIL deal money on getting Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning because Arch Manning is going to be there for two or three more years. Probably just one. He'll go into the NFL next year. I believe that his family said that they want him to get his degree.

Really? We'll see. You really think that you have the chance to be the number one overall pick when you graduate. You really think you say no to Archie Manning? To a communications degree from Texas University, please, Paul. He's going to make millions in the NFL. Anyways, they're still going to have a good quarterback for many years, and they also have multiple talented players on the outside.

Isaiah Bond is their wide receiver. He's a transfer from Alabama, and he's been bawling out this year. He's been a go-to target for both of those quarterbacks, and their defense is top-notch as well, shutting down a Michigan team. Granted, that doesn't have a pass game, but they just, you know, absolutely neutered that run when they played in the bigger.

Anyways. You think they're going to neuter the dogs next week? Take him to the vet, baby. You know, that may just happen. And it's also a home game for them. Darrell Royal Stadium can get up for big games, and this is the biggest one yet. I think that is all that we have for you today.

So thank you for listening to Bleacher Boys on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM.