WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Four Man Front: Atlantic Coast Catastrophe

Episode Date: November 15, 2025

Three straight weeks of disaster in the ACC shakes the college football world. Texas Tech dominates BYU, and the SEC enters make-or-break week. Lewis, Marc, Patrick, and Paden are as confused as everyone else.

Texas Tech cruises past BYU. Virginia and Louisville stumble in conference play, leaving the ACC wide open. And Indiana leaves Happy Valley with a last second win and breaks Gus Johnson in the process. I'm Louis Thune, and this is the four-man front, the show about college football and nothing else. Welcome back to the show with you for yet another episode before week 12 kicks off. So whether you're listening live or otherwise, we appreciate you. You're listening to Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. I'm joined, of course, by three people who know things about things.

Three of the people of all time. Men who are in fact alive and at least somewhat cogent. nominally knowledgeable in the ways of college football. To my left, Mr. Mark Ayers. I asked mom for Mackin. She said, we have Macchin at home and turned on the ACC. Lewis, my conference is nuts. It is a tragedy.

We've talked about it the past two weeks. In the intro about how crazy the ACC looks and it just keeps getting crazier, I feel like the people are going to hear this and they're going to think, didn't we listen to this episode last week? No, ladies and gentlemen, you didn't. Unless you're a time traveler, in which case, hit us up. We'd love to know how this week turns out. Across the table, Patrick Hamilton.

Big Ten's looking good, excited for next week. I was super miffed that I will result. They should have won that game. Absolutely. Mark Grinowski. I mean, talk about efficiency. He put up two touchdowns this game. Wow.

Which increases his total touchdowns on the year from four to six, Payton Hughes to my right. Like, Iowa deserves to win that game if they score two touchdowns. This week, they did just enough to lose. Always the story of Iowa footings. Let's hop into segment one. Iowa, Oregon. Boys, it was some fun action there at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. It was a typical Iowa football game ended 1816 in Oregon's favor. You remember what I said last week about defense, special teams? I'm taking Iowa in this game, and I'm saying that it will come down to a big play that defines the game. I think that's going to come from the Iowa defense. We're special.

special teams. Little did I know that Iowa's punter would have trouble with the snap in the end zone, and Oregon would score a safety winning the game by, you guessed it, two points. This Oregon team is absolutely a contender. Whether or not they're in that top tier of really elite teams, I think has yet to be seen, but they're quite good. Don't let the low-scoring game fool you, because Iowa is incredibly good on defense. They have been all year.

this is how they win games. We actually projected that it would be a low-scoring game, and that if Iowa, as you said, Lewis, if Iowa was going to pull out with a win, it would be because of either a defensive or special teams play. This doesn't worry me at all, the fact that Oregon only scored 18 points because it is Iowa. Any other team, I'd say, yeah, this is something to look for,

but the fact that they were able to pull off a win at Iowa in a tough environment against this incredibly good defense, that actually gives me confidence that Oregon has, what it takes to succeed at the top stage. You're a pass-heavy offense. You go to Kinnick Stadium. You're playing against the elements, still come out with a win.

And this game they showed they were able to lean on their run game when they needed to. Noah Whittington, obviously, 118 yards. Oregon showed that they are not in that elite tier with A&M, with Indiana, with Ohio State. They are just not there. Putting up 18 points, you have to do

a little bit more than that. It doesn't matter what defense you're facing. You cannot be getting outplayed at quarterback by Mark Grannowski. Iowa ran this game. They played the game they wanted to play. Let's look at that first quarter. Punt. Punt. Safety. Interception. Punt. Sounds like an Iowa football game. Oregon didn't come in here playing their game. They played in Kinnick Stadium how Iowa wanted them to play. Oregon managed to come out with the win, but do not feel confident in this team. They've got to play USC and Washington in their remaining schedule. Those are two games that could break either way with the strengths we've seen from USC and from Washington.

I don't think anyone's going to be surprised to learn that this Oregon team wasn't as strong as the preseason expectation. With that, let's say something briefly about the Indiana game in Penn State, mostly because we just want to play this clip. So you think to the great voice cracks in football announcing history, obviously you have the Derek Johnson touchdown for the Kansas Chief, the all-time leading tackler in the history of the Chiefs. And then you have the Michigan punt that went awry, and they score on the last play of the game. We have another entry in the Voice Crack Hall of Fame. If you know college football, you know the name Gus Johnson, an absolutely electrifying play-by-play commentator, one of the best in the business, but this play

by Omar Cooper broke him. Let's set the stage. Indiana, down 2420 to Penn State with less than a minute left. It is third and goal as Fernando Mendoza drops back. Indiana needs the touchdown. Here's how it went. Courtesy of Fox. Mendoza. It's trouble. It's out. That's the world. A wrong complaint. Unbelievable. Give him the eyes and drove it out. Oh my goodness. No way! Oh my goodness.

Oh, my goodness. It's a touchdown. Oh, my gosh. He caught it. He caught it. After review, the ruling on the field is upheld. Touchdown. With all due respect to the voice of Gus Johnson, the audio cannot do this justice.

The Omar Cooper catch is one. in a million. If you have not seen it yet, Google it. Omar Cooper catch. The man climbs the ladder jumping three feet in the air, hauls in the ball. And as he's falling down, he looks to the ground and just decides that he's not going to touch it. He's six inches off the ground and he lifts his leg back up into the air so he can touch down with the other one. One foot in bounds is all you need in college football. And he got that. And the Indiana Hoosiers, who looked invincent. Barely edged their way out of Happy Valley, 27, 24. But the biggest game from this past weekend,

marquee matchup in the Big 12, college game day was there. Texas Tech, BYU. The undefeated leader of the Big 12, Texas Tech with one loss, the number seven and number eight teams in the country at the time. Now, last week, we said that this would have to be an ugly game for BYU to win. Well, it certainly was an ugly game. but it was only an ugly game for BYU, Peyton Hughes. Exactly.

We knew Texas Tech was good. I'm not sure we knew Texas Tech was this good. I said if Texas Tech wanted to win, they would have to shut Bear Bachmire down because Bear Bachmire can throw when he wants to throw and he can run when he needs to run. That's exactly what they did to Bear in this BYU offense. Bear Bachmire was 23 of 38 attempts

for less than 200 passing yards and 11 carries for 12 yards. He could do nothing on the ground. They had 67 total rushing yards. Texas Tech has the best rushing defense in college football. Texas Tech won 29 to 7. BYU had 11 plays past their own 50. The whole game.

Five of those came on BYU's singular touchdown drive, which was assisted by penalties. This BYU team has been scoring over 30 points per game and they got held to seven. This was an incredible performance by Texas Tech. Texas Tech at no point during this game looked like the worst team. This was an incredibly convincing win by Tech, and it really solidified in my mind the fact that Tech, if they wanted to, if they keep this up, this drive, they could easily contend with the best of him in college football.

I think when these two teams do inevitably rematch in the Big 12 championship, it will be a much closer game, and that's because this game was nowhere near as dominant as it appeared on the screen. BYU's defense played their hearts out, and the offense was just incapable of keeping them off the field. and that's because they couldn't run the ball. As we've observed, BYU ran the ball 27 times this game, which is tied for their lowest on the season with the Iowa State game, where they also played from behind the entire game. I think the complexion of this game changes if BYU's defense is able to get stops earlier on in the game, which frees BYU to run the ball.

To this point in the year, Bear Bokmire is able to pass the ball when he needs to, but when that's the only thing you can do and you're down two to three scores in the second half, that offense becomes one-dimensional, and Bear Bachmeyer just is not a good enough passer to only have that option. So when L.J. Martin and when Bear Bachmire get shut down early game running and the BYU defense is not able to get those stops early, the game changes entirely. And I think when they play again, you're going to see BYU adjust to this. It could be a close game, but I do agree that Texas Tech is definitely the better team in this matchup. What you have to notice as we're going into the latter end of the season,

the Big 12 championship, and the college football playoff, is how Texas Tech performed in the red zone, and it's not particularly good. Only converted on, I think, half of their trips into the 20. Baron Morton wasn't able to find receivers a lot of the time. They settled for a lot of field goals. That's not what you want to see out of a top five team in the country and the best team in the Big 12.

When you're facing an excellent team of Texas A&M's caliber, of Ohio State's caliber, of Indiana's caliber, Texas Tech is going to have to be able to score in the red zone. and granted, Baron Morton has a fractured leg right now. So he's doing all that he can, but you need him healthy and you have got to figure something out. Losing a lot of yards on sacks too, which once you get to the postseason in the college football playoff, if you get second, third, and long, that completely alters drives. That's one drive gone. That's one drive in a critical moment.

But boys, let's can week 11 there. Let's move on to week 12. So let's start off with the feature matchup. Kicking off at noon, college game day will be there. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish Travel to Western Pennsylvania to take on the Pitt Panthers. Now, the last time we saw Pitt in a high-profile matchup at home, they lost to the West Virginia Mountaineers in the backyard brawl. It was a rivalry game.

It was Rich Rodriguez. Pitt really just didn't have an answer. And they looked terrible to begin the season. Lo and behold, they put it together. and now they're sitting on the cusp of an ACC championship. The loser of this game is effectively eliminated from the college football playoff. Let's get to it. Mark, I'll start with you.

Notre Dame, Pitt, who's winning and why? Well, Lewis, there might not be a hotter team in the country than the Pittsburgh Panthers. Let's take a look at their season so far. So two opening wins against Duquesne and Central Michigan, nothing much to look at there. Two losses to West Virginia and Louisville. Since then, win against Boston College. win against Florida State, win against Syracuse, win against NC State, 53 to 34. Pretty impressive. Win at Stanford, and now they play Notre Dame. They're doing it all with their backup quarterback, by the way. Eli Holstein, the Alabama transfer, has been injured almost the entire season. It's been Mason Heinzschel under center for Pittsburgh, and they've turned it on late season.

Heinzel has been the answer for this pit team that really struggled offensively at the beginning of the year, and they seem like they've really come into their own. own here leading into this Notre Dame game. And to finish the season, they play back to back to back, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, and Miami. If Pitt wins those games, they're in the playoff, without a shadow of a doubt, at least in my mind. Here's the thing, though, I'm very high on Notre Dame. I think they're one of the more complete teams in the country. I think they're going to go to Pittsburgh. They're going to play a tough game. Jeremiah Love, look for him to get a lot of touches this game. Look for Notre Dame to establish the run game early and often. They want yards on the ground so they can free up the pass over the top. I don't think Pittsburgh's going to have an answer

for the size and speed that Notre Dame is going to bring to this game. Give me the Fighting Irish. This will be one to watch for sure. I think Jeremiah Love and Judarian Price that one two combo. I mean, they are just so good. I'm going to have to go with the Fighting Irish here. Yeah, give me the Irish as well. Pitt, like Mark said, has been super hot. They've put up over 30 points in each of their last five games, but Notre Dame has only allowed more than 10 once in the last five games. We just watched Notre Dame absolutely murder Navy. Notre Dame has such a strong defensive line. That passing offense, I know we've talked about their rushing offense, but their passing

offense is real with C.J. Carr, 2,300 yards. Give me Notre Dame in a higher scoring game, but Notre Dame by two scores. I, too, will take Notre Dame, in my opinion, since those opening two losses, they have played like a top three team in college football. If you didn't see what Tom Brady said this week about C.J. Carr, he called him the best quarterback he's seen in college football this year. certainly the most NFL ready. Obviously, Coach's kid

knows the game inside and out. And like you said, Payton, we watched it happen on Saturday night in blizzard conditions in South Bend, completely destroyed the Navy midshipman. I was shaken by it. And beyond that, Jeremiah Love is the best running back in college football. I watched what he did to Navy.

He out-Navied Navy. This could get ugly against Pitt. I don't think anyone's stopping Notre Dame for a very long time. Let's get to the SEC now. Two massive matchups with playoff implications. this week, Texas, taking on Georgia in Athens and Oklahoma, going to Tuscaloosa to play Bama. This is two top five teams against the first two teams out of the college football playoff

right now. Let's start Texas, Georgia. Boys, you have to have it. So the question is, who's going to get it? I expect to see a lot of Heisman moments from this game from Gunner Stockton. I think this is going to be a very high-scoring game for Georgia. I think this is at least a two, three-score game, and Georgia's going to get the win here. This Texas, Defense. It's been unpredictable yet this year. We saw they were able to stop Diego Pavia until they weren't. We saw what they did to John Mateer, and then we saw what they didn't do to DJ Lagway. I think Gunner Stockton is probably the best quarterback they will face this year. And Georgia is Steve Sarkisian's kryptonite. He lost them twice last year, and this game is in Athens.

So we're breaking new ground here for Coach Sark and the Texas Longhorns. Everything is telling me this is Georgia's ball game, and for that reason, I'm picking Texas. Are you serious? I'm waiting for the punchline. No, see, this is the exact same indication I got from the Red River game. You all remember how confident we were in Oklahoma. And I said, it's for that reason something's telling me Sark will find a way to win this game. Same goes right here. The man's had a buy week to prepare.

He wants to beat Georgia more than anyone. The numbers say he can't. I say he can. Give me Texas. Georgia has one loss on the year. As we all know, that's the Alabama Crimson. The key for Alabama in that game was early on in the first half

putting together long extended drives where they were able to drive the ball down the field and finish it off with a score. First quarter, they had a 14 play touchdown. Second quarter 14 play touchdown. They were able to get a field goal off of a fumble that Georgia had. Eight play touchdown

to finish the half. In the second half, they didn't score anything. They had a missed field goal, turnover on downs, a punt, a punt, and then the end of the game. So what this tells me is, if Texas is going, to win this game, they're going to need to trust Arch Manning to consistently make good decisions over long, extended drives where they chew up minutes of the clock at the time. I do not see that happening. I don't think they look good enough. I don't think specifically Arch Manning has looked

good enough. That, combined with Georgia's ability to adapt to their opponents and to shut them down in the second half specifically, that's why I'm picking Georgia in this game. I think they're going to bulldoze them, they're going to be too good. As much as it pains me, I'm driving a stake right through my heart right now. Lewis, I agree. The Longhorns are going to win this game. For some reason, Steve Sarkesian finds a way to beat good

as C.C. teams, and I don't understand it. I want him to lose. I would love if Texas lost, but I just can't bring myself to call Texas to lose. Arch has the blueprint. We saw it with Joey Aguilar. Find the man you trust. In this case, that's probably going to be Tray Wingo out wide for Texas, and let her rip. Chris Brazel and Joey Aguilar torched this Georgia defense, and it took Gunner Stockton Black Magic to turn that game in favor of Georgia. If

Arch Manning stops playing smart and starts playing with guts like he's been able to do at certain points in this year, he's shown that ability. He stops being the intellectual Manning-style quarterback and starts embracing full-on Johnny football. Texas can win this game. Alabama Oklahoma is the other game in the SEC. Oklahoma obviously beat Alabama last year in absolutely ugly performance for Kalyn DeBore humiliated there in Norman, but he gets Oklahoma at home this year.

And the Sooners, well, talk about inconsistent. The defense has been there for them. The offense has not. So the question, will Ben Arbuckle, the offensive coordinator there at Oklahoma, will John Mateer, will Xavier Robinson, find a way to win this game? Or is Alabama just too complete for this Oklahoma team to up and snake bite in Bryant-Denny Stadium? When Alabama played Oklahoma last year, they already

had two losses, one against Vanderbilt and one against Tennessee. Both of those losses came in close, down-to-the-wire games. The Oklahoma game, the wheels came off. It was ugly. That was a terrible game for the Crimson Tide. They scored three points. And I think that if Oklahoma wants to do the same thing again, that will be the key. If they're going to win, it's going to be on defense. They're going to have to stop Ty Simpson. They're going to have to follow the Florida State model of putting lots of pressure on him in order to slow down this Alabama offense, which so far has done just enough in every

game they've played to keep them afloat, win, need, be. I'm picking Alabama to win this game. I think Alabama beat themselves against Florida State. I think they're very lucky they didn't beat themselves against South Carolina. You said Oklahoma's going to have to put a lot of. lot of pressure on Ty Simpson in order to win this game. I'm actually not sure if that's the case because, as we've seen all year, outside the Florida State game, as they say, Ty Simpson says you reach, I teach. The coolest head under pressure of any quarterback in college football,

a true Alabama quarterback in that way. Now, I'm not saying he's going to be Joe Burrow, but the talent and the IQ is there for him to be a great quarterback in college football. And what have I said about this Oklahoma team? They lean way too heavy on sacks to get stops. The secondary is going to get torched. The only way Oklahoma wins this game is if it's an offensive war. They're going to have to outscore Alabama in order to win this game. They're going to have to break 30 points, which is the scariest thing to hear as an Oklahoma fan because we can't do that.

Right. So in other words, Oklahoma's not winning this game is what you're saying. The only way Oklahoma wins this game is if they line up and shove the ball down Alabama. The one team we've seen give Alabama trouble this year when Alabama wasn't beating themselves was Missouri, because Missouri controlled the ball and they ran it. And they beat themselves because Bo Perbula couldn't throw the ball to a man in a black jersey. I don't trust John Mateer in this game. I want John Matier to be throwing 15 passes. If that, I want Ben Arbuckle to keep leaning on the run and handing the ball off to Xavier Robinson and the deep Oklahoma

backfield, but barring some miracle on the ground or Tate Sandell kicking 20 field goals, this is Alabama's game. Give me Alabama. I am so confident Alabama's defense. They are going to destroy this Oklahoma offense, and Oklahoma's defense is not going to be able to stop Ty Simpson and company. This is going to be a blowout win. Alabama has beaten ranked teams, but they haven't beaten defensively strong teams. LSU has the best defense that Alabama has faced all season. And you know how many points Alabama scored? 20. Once Ty Simpson faced a legitimate defense, he couldn't put up the numbers that he's been showing all year. And he's only broken 30 points twice. 37 to Tennessee, 38 to Wisconsin. If Oklahoma can put up

25, 28 points, they have a real shot to win this game. Unfortunately, I don't think they can. Give me Alabama. As an Oklahoma fan, I'm not looking forward to watching this game. It's not going to turn out well for my sooners. And that's where we're going to have to leave off for the first half because we have the second week of the FMF poll to get to in the second half, not to mention the week 12 pickams, and there are plenty of them. You're listening to Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM, and this is the four-man front. Stick with us. We'll see in six. You're listening to Radio Free Hillsdale, 1.1.7 FM, and this is the second half of the four-man front. I'm Louis Thune, joined as always, by three dignified.

gentlemen by two dignified gentlemen and Patrick Hamilton. To my left, Mark Ayers. I love Indiana and I love Kurt Signetti. I need his name on my t-shirt immediately. Across the table, the aforementioned Patrick Hamilton.

I feel like I'm a very dignified person. And to the right, Payton Hughes. Week two of the four-man front pole. Yeah, before we get to that, we're going to need to knock out these week 12 pick them. Six games with playoff implications. Let's get to one. Virginia,

visits Duke, two teams with one loss in the ACC. Both, you could say, in control of their own destiny at this point. Who's got it? Duke is one of those teams that is always scary to play against, especially at Duke. But I think Virginia's got it. I think this is their bounceback game. Give me the Cavaliers. Virginia, has Duke lost four games?

Yes. Have they lost by four scores to now unranked Illinois? Yes. Have they lost to Group of Five, Tulane? Yes. Have they lost to Georgia Tech? Yes. Have they lost to Yukon?

Yes. But this is the ACC where anyone can win. Give me Duke because it's chaos. Yeah, no, it's Virginia in this game. Chandler Morris, he's not great, but he's not bad enough to lose to Duke. Certainly better than Luke Altmire. All right, we've got Iowa visiting USC. If USC wins out, they will take Oregon's spot as potentially the third bid from the Big Ten

to make the college football playoff. Iowa, USC. This is this week's iteration of unstoppable force versus immovable object. And this really might be the most accurate one because Iowa is probably the best defense in the country. And USC is one of the better offenses. But I think Iowa, hungry off of that very close Oregon loss, is coming out for revenge. And I think they're coming out to stand on business in the Big Ten. Give me the Hawkeyes.

I want to see some chaos. That's hilarious because I was also going to pick Iowa. Mark and I seem to be on the same page here. Yeah, give me Iowa. USC is going to lose this one. And then they're going to lose two weeks from now against Oregon. They're going to be a four-loss team by the end of the year. This is an absolute nightmare matchup for Iowa.

As much as I hate Lincoln Riley, Lincoln Riley's offense is kind of tailor-made to beat a defense like Iowa, so I will take USC here. NC State visits Miami. Obviously Miami has to keep winning. And NC State, this is an offense that can score at an insane pace. But the Miami defense is the only thing that's keeping them above water right now. Man, anytime Miami has to win a game, absolutely has to. sirens start going off of my head because Carson Beck does not have that clutch

gene in him and CJ Bailey might for NC State but give me the wolf pack to beat Miami at Miami because of course Miami would lose this game I really don't have another explanation for it except I think the wheels are going to come off for the hurricanes and I think NC State's going to capitalize I'm going to have to go with Miami Florida here I think that Carson Beck despite having a horrendous second half to the season throwing more interceptions than he has touchdowns. It's just been brutal to see. I think Miami's going to bounce back. I think we're going to see a late season resurgence, and I think that Miami is going to win out. Yeah, I'll take Miami here. I think Carson Beck's going to do just enough. The

defense's going to give him some turnovers and good field position. Give me Miami. I will also take Miami that NC State defense is an absolute dumpster fire right now. And Carson Beck, as poor as he's looked after a great start to the season, that's a defense that won't be giving him any trouble. And I think he's done beating himself, at least for the time being. Give me Miami. All right. Michigan visits the losingest program in history, the Northwestern Wildcats. Yeah, I'm going to have to go with Michigan here. This goes beyond just my affiliation with the school. Jordan Marshall has picked up where Justice Haynes has left off. Yeah, let's not overthink it. Northwestern's on a two-game losing streak. They don't have a good win at all against a Power 4 team. They beat Purdue, Penn State, and

UCLA, all of which are not great teams. Penn State's had a Surgeons lately, but four weeks ago, Penn State was on its last leg. Northwestern's not that great. This is a 5 and 14 that could very well be 2 and 7. Give me Michigan by at least two scores. I'm going to agree with both of you here. I don't think this one's too complicated. Northwesterns had a lot of turnover problems. Recently, they have a minus 5 margin compared to Michigan's plus 8 margin. Michigan is good at taking turnovers and capitalizing on them. They're a talented team. They are down Justice Haynes, but I think Bryce Underwood has just enough of that winning mojo in him to make up for it.

I think Michigan should roll pretty easily past Northwestern, giving the Wolverines. All it takes to beat Michigan is stopping the run, but no one's able to do it because Michigan's running game is that good. Give me Michigan. All right, TCU, heads to pro vote, take on BYU. Another game that could potentially get interesting.

BYU controls their own fate in the Big 12 right now. But TCU is a strong offensive team led by their quarterback Josh Hoover, who you should definitely not Google if you've never heard the name Josh Hoover. Coming into a BYU team that took a rough loss in Lubbock this past week, can TCU get it done? In this situation, you're going to hope that TCU is going to bring the fury and said they're only bringing the furry.

TCU is going to take a loss this week. Excellent Josh Hoover pun there, Patrick Hamilton. TCU gave up a game last week against Iowa State. They should have won. They should be seven and two going into this matchup. They're not. They've shown that they don't have that nitty-gritty ability to win close games. BYU has shown that ability all season long.

this is going to be a close game just because BYU knows how to play close games and they don't do too much else. So it'll be close, but BYU is going to walk away with it. Bear Bockmeyers is going to come back and have an absolutely elite matchup. Give me BYU. You don't think Josh Hoover has that dog in him. He definitely has that dog in him. Just not in the way that's going to result in a TCU win.

Correct. I really think that this week is going to show that Texas Tech's win over BYU is not a result of BYU being bad, but a result of Texas Tech's really being that good. I think BYU should roll this game. TCU's passing defense has really struggled, so watch for Chase Roberts and Parker Kingston to have big games this weekend. Give me BYU in the bounceback game. They're still definitely in this big 12 race,

and I think they're going to prove it this weekend. The thing they say about bears, if Brown lie down, if black fight back, if white, good night. Well, Bear Bachmire is 100% white. And let me tell you, he runs like 260 pounds of an old white fullback from the 1980s. TCU isn't ready for it. Give me BYU. One last game we do need to get to.

In the AAC, the Navy midshipmen are still in first place in the AAC with Memphis recent loss. They're going up against the number two team in the AAC, the USF Bulls. And they get them at home in Annapolis. USF Navy. Go. Navy is a team that really just has what it takes. They're a dangerous team. But unfortunately, it's not going to matter because Alex Golash is.

one of the best head coaches in college football, and USF is the better, more dangerous team. Give me the South Florida Bulls. Navy's about to fall off that top of the AAC chart. South Florida's got what it takes. Absolutely. I agree, Mark. Yeah, Byron Brown's a great quarterback. Blake Horvath isn't playing for Navy. He's still out on injury. I don't trust this Navy passing offense. They could do nothing against Notre Dame last week. Granted, a great defense, but you're going to need passing as well as that strong rushing attack. If you want to beat this rate USF Bulls team. Give me the Bulls. Yeah, if Blake Horvath isn't back,

Navy doesn't stand a chance, and they're secondary up against USF and a good enough passer in Byron Brown, they're going to get torched, so give me USF. All right, gentlemen, it's time to get to week two of the FMF poll. As a refresher, we rank teams 1 through 25

on dominance, strength of schedule, and consistency. Dominance and consistency, each accounted for 40% of their final ranking, while strength of schedule accounted for the last 20%. In the case of ties in their composite scoring, we use coin flip. And we can flip teams if we wish to account for head-to-head matchups. Ladies and gentlemen, the Indiana Hoosiers struggled in Happy Valley. And for that, they were

dropped from their number one spot in the FMF poll. If you remember last week, they were tied with Ohio State. There was a dramatic coin flip to determine who would be number one. Well, Ohio State is the definitive number one team in the FMF poll with a composite score of 99.2 out of 100, closely following them, A&M and Indiana, separated by one point. Alabama rounds out the top four at number four, but we're not in the top four era of the college football playoff. We're in the top 12 era. The top 12 is completed with number five, Texas Tech, number six, Georgia, number seven, Notre Dame,

Jumping, Oregon, and BYU. Number eight, Ole Miss. Number nine, Oregon, number 10, BYU. If the college football playoff were to begin today, these would be your teams, plus the ACC and group of five champions. At number 11, the Oklahoma Sooners, and number 12, the Utah Uts. Number 13 are the Vanderbilt Commodores over Texas at number 14. Based on head-to-head last week, we flipped Texas over Vandy.

Do we do it again? I vote yes. Yes. Texas now moves up to number 13, which gives us another interesting question. with Oklahoma at number 11 and Texas at number 13, does Texas jump Oklahoma with the head-to-head win? Not yet, in my opinion. The reason I'm flipping Texas and Vanderbilt is because when they're so close in the

poll and when they're down below that number 10 mark, it doesn't really matter as much. But flipping Oklahoma and Texas here would substantially jump Texas above where I think they are. My opinion of them will probably greatly shift this week, but it hasn't shifted quite yet. If they can prove themselves against Georgia, then I will. obviously greatly bump them up. But for now, they've been too inconsistent. They've been too iffy for me to justify moving them up above Oklahoma. I think that's a pretty good reasoning. Keep them there. All right. Texas will stay at number 13, Vanderbilt at number 14. And number 15 is

Georgia Tech, followed by USC at 16, Miami at 17, and Michigan at 18. Then we run into the headliners from the ACC last week. At number 19 is Louisville and number 20. is Virginia. 21, the Pittsburgh Panthers. 22, the Cincinnati Bearcats. At number 23, entering the poll, surprisingly are the Tennessee volunteers, after being out last week,

they've jumped back in. At number 24, the Iowa Hawkeyes, despite being six and three, they've received a fair amount of love. And rounding out the top 25, the James Madison Dukes, Also receiving points in this week's poll, but not enough to break the top 25. In order would be number 26, the North Texas mean green.

Number 27, the USF Bulls. Number 28, the Missouri Tigers. Number 29, the Memphis Tigers. And then tied at 30, Houston and TCU. Ladies and gentlemen, the week 12 FMF poll. All right, gentlemen, we've got a little bit of time left before we need to. to get to the intentional grounding, so let's touch briefly on the ACC playoff picture. Currently, Georgia Tech sits atop the ACC with a 5-1 conference record.

Behind them, also at 5-1 are the Virginia Cavaliers, the Pittsburgh Panthers, and the SMU Mustangs. And at 4-1, despite being 5 and 4 overall, the Duke Blue Devils. And sitting within striking distance are the Louisville Cardinals, and the Miami Hurricanes. So Mark, as our resident ACC expert, I need to ask you, based on the current outlook with three weeks of college football left to be played, who is making the ACC championship game? Unless Pittsburgh proves something to me against Notre Dame this weekend,

I think they're going to be done on the year. I don't think they're going to win out the rest of their games. I think Louisville, Miami, Virginia, and Georgia Tech all will, in which case, you'll have an 11 and 1 Georgia Tech team facing off against a 10 and 2 Virginia team in the ACC championship game. And two 10 and 2 teams in Louisville and Miami sitting there? That's right. Okay.

Two 10 and 2 teams with Louisville and Miami. This poses an interesting question. Because let's say in a hypothetical, Virginia then beats Georgia Tech in the ACC championship game, you're now sitting with four two-loss ACC teams, one of which is the ACC champion, so he gets a bid. You then have Georgia Tech at 11 and 2. In my hypothetical, they've just beat Georgia.

I think they're in. So, in short, Lewis, unless something drastic happens, I think the runner-up and the champion will both get in, unless the runner-up has more than two losses. If that happens, it's not a question. Assuming the runner-up does not get in, they do have more than two losses. You then have a pool of ACC teams,

consider Louisville, consider Miami, who have two losses. They've won out. They're still floating around in that kind of iffy spot in the rankings. If the SEC produces several three-loss teams, if the Big Ten produces several three lost teams. And especially, most importantly, if the group of five teams start taking more losses in these final weeks,

there is a very real chance that the ACC gets at least two teams in. It will be two teams for sure. Three is kind of a stretch. They could possibly get three. I don't think it's going to happen, but there is a path. There's a chance they don't even get one team in. Let's look at North Texas. North Texas has one loss right now.

If North Texas wins out and wins that, the American, they're going to be one of those top five conference champions. Then you have the James Madison Dukes. If they went out, they've been dominant. They have the one loss to Louisville. That would be the argument for the ACC. But James Madison has been stellar the rest of the year. So in the event that, I don't know, Georgia Tech loses to Pitt. Georgia Tech loses to Georgia. Now you're a three-loss team going into the ACC championship. Miami drops one to Pitt as well. I don't know, maybe Miami drops one somewhere else. If you have three-loss ACC champions compared to one lost group of five champions, I see a world in which both group of five teams get in before the

ACC champion. Am I insane? I would love to see it happen that way. Yeah, that'd be great in terms of like college football culture as a whole. I really do not see that happening. What your situation is requiring, your situation calls for basically an even spread of let's say like 10 and 2 SEC teams. I don't think that's going to happen. I think you're going to see several teams, Oklahoma, Texas, are going to drop down to 9 and 3. Agreed. They're going to drop down to 8 and 4.000. I'm going to drop down to 8 and four. In terms of the group of five teams, I think that they're probably going to have enough self-imposed carnage to take care of it itself. But even if they don't, even if they manage to all finish perfectly the rest of the season, you would need all of those ACC teams I just listed

to all lose collectively at least one, but really more like two games, especially Georgia Tech. You need Georgia Tech to lose two games at minimum in order for your situation to work. I don't see that happen. There's one way it happens. and that is the Duke Blue Devils went out. Because if they beat Virginia, they leapfrog Virginia into the ACC championship game. And if they win that ACC championship game, you now have a four-loss conference champion

who will not break the top 25. Payton, I don't hate this possibility. I don't think it'll happen that way. With the carnage I foresee coming out of the SEC and the Big Ten, I don't hate the idea that two ACC teams could get in. I think it's going to be either an 11-1-10. or a 12 and 1 Georgia Tech and a 10 and 2 Miami. The committee is going to value that Notre Dame win for Miami.

Either Virginia or Duke is going to make that ACC championship game. Georgia Tech's going to win it. And quite controversially, the committee is going to put in Miami who didn't play in the ACC championship over the formerly two loss Virginia team that did. I generally don't think teams should be punished for losing the conference championship. I think if Virginia deserved to make it into the playoff at the end of the regular season, they should get in no matter how the game turns out, but I don't think that's how it's going to go. We'll ax this here and get to the intentional grounding, gentlemen, you know the rule. Something needs to be said before week 12 kicks off, and you're the one who has to say it.

Fair or foul, get the ball out of your hand. Davosweeney's going to be fired at the end of the year. Yeah, that's a big one. I said it. Our childhoods will be over when Davosweeney is fired. I remember the days when Bama fans were speculating about the end of Nick Sabin's days, praying and hoping that Dabo Sweeney would be next up. Oh, how the times change, because he is now considered something of a relic of the past. Am I wrong in saying that?

He can't adapt his recruiting style to match the needs of the hour as opposed to somebody like let's say Kurt Signetti, who seems to be V-Man of the hour. Why? Because he knows how to both recruit and use the transfer portal. He can do it all. He can't. He can build good culture. He can recruit well, but I don't think he can adapt. And he's had a couple misses on the recruiting trail. Think about DJ Uiungulay, perhaps the most obvious of his recent blunders. He's had a mediocre season this year. There's a very real chance he may not win

another game this year, and he'll end with four wins on the season. This would be catastrophic for Clemson as a program. It would be. It would be catastrophic for whoever hires Davos Sweeney because I don't think he can compete in the NIL era for all the reasons you just listed. Mark, that is an intentional grounding of all intentional groundings. Well done. Payton, Patrick. Michigan is going to finish off the regular season as a two-loss team. We have Ohio State at home.

Justice Haynes. We'll be returning for that game right now. That's the projected timeline. This is huge. This is a potential. This is a rumor. I hope it's true. If not, I have full trust in Jordan Marshall.

Ohio State has yet to be truly true. challenged and they will be challenged at the end of the year in the big house. Michigan is going to win. That's my intentional grounding. Jeremiah Love is the best running back in college foot, but Justice Haynes behind that Michigan offensive line is the best running game in college football far in a way. If he's back for Ohio State, legitimately anything can happen. And all the games that he's missed, he's still leading the league in 40 and 50 yard plus running plays. And he's been out for almost a third of the season. I watched what he did to a a flawless Oklahoma defense at that point that hasn't given up big rushing yards since then,

with the exception of the second half against Texas. Don't hate it at all. And if Bryce Underwood can kick it into gear and have himself a moment against Ohio State, Michigan could win that game. All right, Payton, what you got? I'm going to go back to coaching struggles, just like Mark said with Davos-Sweeney. Lincoln Riley is going to be out at the end of the year after finishing the season with three straight losses to Iowa, Oregon, and UCLA.

USC going seven in five, Lincoln Riley is going to be out gone. Just like we said he needs to be on that pyre, he needs to be done. Get him out of college football and get him out of the media spotlight. I would love nothing more than to see that happen, but I don't think it will. I just don't think the matchup is there. Matchups make fights, and at this point, there's not a really great matchup to take down Lincoln Riley's USC team. In the Big Ten right now, there's not a past defense good enough that Lincoln, Riley's going to play. It's going to expose him for the fraud that he is. We got to see it plenty

at Oklahoma. We haven't seen it a whole lot yet at USC. They still have confidence in the man. Haynes King deserves to win the Heisman trophy. He's not going to. He is the most outstanding player in college football. He's had the single greatest effect on any team this year. Remove him from Georgia Tech and they are at the bottom of the ACC. He showed it against NC State. The best dual threat quarterback in college football since Jaden Daniels, which doesn't sound like a long time, but considering all the quarterbacks we've seen start since then in the NIL era, trust me, it's a whole lot longer than it seems to have been. Haines King is an absolute miracle for this Georgia Tech team. I think he'll will them to victory against Georgia. And if that happens, he'll get invited to

New York. But there's no way a player for Georgia Tech wins the Heisman trophy. It's got to be the undefeated. It's got to be Julian Sayan or Fernando Mendoza or Gunner Stockton. Haines King deserves it, just like Ashton Jeanty deserved it last year. But Haines King doesn't sell tickets now, does he? On that somber note, we're going to wrap up this week's edition of the four-man front. Week 12 has an absolutely amazing slate of games. Probably the greatest week we have seen to this point in the year, and we are expecting it to live up to every expectation we have. I'll be glued to the couch. watching, waiting, and whenever the ball is run, you will hear me yell. Not in anger, but enjoy. Say it with me.

Run the ball. You're listening to Radio Free Hillsdale, 101.7 FM. This has been The Four Man Front. For Mark Ayers, Patrick Hamilton and Peyton Hughes, I'm Lewis Thune. We'll see you next week. Happy football. Thank you.