WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Four Man Front - Ho Ho Ho: Kiffin’s Version

Episode Date: December 8, 2025

Rivalry Week claims the entire first half, but the Conference Championship slate can’t get any better. Crumbl takes Happy Valley’s cookie. Lane “The Grinch” Kiffin leaves Oxford and takes the Intentional Grounding with him. Lewis, Marc, Patrick, and Paden celebrate the most wonderful time of the football season.

We went home for Rivalry Week, and wow, rivalry week made us regret that decision. Texas spoils Texas A&M's perfect season. Georgia and Alabama will rematch for the SEC Championship. Crumble Cookie shoves the entire Penn State University system into a locker. Ohio State beats Michigan, breaking a four-year drought. Lane Kiffin leaves Ole Miss on CFP Eve, and 7 and 5 Duke will play for the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship. It's that weekend in college football.

I'm Louis Thune, and this is the four-man front, the show about college football and nothing else. Welcome back to the show. However you're listening, we appreciate you. It's been two weeks since we've been in the studio, and the world of college football has, only gotten crazier in that time. As an Oklahoma fan, I've never been happier, and here to help me digest it all are three fans of subpar football teams. To my left, Mark Ayers, avid Florida

State Seminoles fan. In retrospect, not a great year, even though it started on an amazing high note. Yeah, please don't play the clip of me at the beginning of the year. I don't know what clip you're talking about. This is the team. Tommy Cassiano's in this offense, they have what it takes. This defense, they have what it takes. And I'm going to say it right now, for everyone to hear. Florida State is going all the way. We're winning the ACC. We're beating Miami.

We're beating Clemson. We're beating Florida. We're going to go to the playoffs. Florida State is taking it all. You heard it here first, folks. I don't think I can take it anymore. Please put an end to this mystery loose. Across the table is Patrick Hamilton.

Michigan finishes 9 and 3 heading into bowl season, Patrick. Obviously not the outcome you were looking for against the Buckeyes. But all in all, considering the injuries and how young the team is, a great season there for the Wolverines. It was a tough loss. But I'm very proud of the season, considering that we have the youngest team in the Big Ten with all of our injuries. And in our recruiting class right now, we're looking pretty good. So I cannot wait for us to bounce back next year. It's going to be interesting to see how Bryce Underwood develops from year one to year two. To my right is Peyden Hughes an Oklahoma State fan. The Cowboys finish 1 and 11, the 20-25

recruiting class looks barren, but Peyton, you were in No Shirty One last week. I was, I got to watch Oklahoma State lose in person to Iowa State. Did we play horrible? Yes, but did we make them play horrible? Also yes, and I got to experience the best new tradition in college football section No Shirty One at Boone Pickin Stadium in Stillwater. It almost makes you wish Oklahoma State had a good student section before the team sucked back when they were rid of it. Whoa, whoa, the paddle people are a top 20 tradition. don't give me anything otherwise. In the Big 12.

Boomer. It's the only tradition in the Big 12. Finishing 10 and 2 on the year. An excruciating experience for me every single week was untold pain and suffering that somehow ended in Oklahoma winning 10 games. This team's probably going to the playoffs. I don't want to hear about untold suffering. Oh, look at me.

My 10 and 2 team is going to the playoffs. The Oklahoma offense is going to the playoffs averaging less than 20. points a game. And yet your point differential is better than Alabama's. We're going to talk about it. Okay, we need to jump into last week. Let's get into it. Rivalry Week was so crazy. We're going to donate the entire first half to talking about it. Utah came back to beat Kansas, 3121, saving their college football playoff hopes, which in light of the latest poll drop are now squandered. It took Jalen Daniels throwing three picks to the Uts, but Utah was able to rally. Ole Miss wins the Egg Bowl, 19, and then the Iowa Hawkeyes scored 40 points against their biggest rivals the Nebraska

Cornhuskers, no less, in Lincoln. Then we got to one of the great intrastate matchups in college football, as Georgia took on Georgia Tech in Atlanta. The offense looked terrible, especially against that Georgia Tech defense, a polar opposite of what we saw last year in the shootout, but Georgia was able to win 16 to 9 gentlemen, how did it happen? Lewis, you're absolutely right about rivalry week getting to the Georgia Bulldogs. They did not look like themselves this game. Gunner Stockton, 11 for 21, one touchdown, one interception, and 70 passing yards. A pretty abysmal performance. We sort of expected this. We expected that Georgia Tech would get in the heads of the Bulldogs.

They would rattle them up a little bit. They would play a close game that went down to the wire, and that's exactly what we saw. By far Stockton's worst game of the year, 70 yards in the air, 42 on the ground. He had a case for the Heisman trophy until this week. It's in the biggest moments you want to have your Heisman moment. Stockton kind of fumbled, and it was the Georgia running game and really the Georgia defense, who finally came to life in the latter half of this season, which saved them here against Haynes King's yellow jackets. It's definitely all about this Georgia defense. I mean, we've talked about Haynes King being absolutely elite doing everything that

Georgia Tech needs him to do to win these big games. Haines King has been electric all season long, held to nine points, this Georgia Tech team. Haines King had 39 yards rushing. He was the leading rusher for Georgia Tech. The rest of the team had 31 combined. And with that performance, which was better than the rest of his team, he could not score in the red zone. I just remember watching this game after Thanksgiving, and you look, every time they get down the field, every time they're in Georgia's territory, they could not convert. Georgia Tech not being able to run the ball, really hurt them in the time of possession game, kept Georgia. is offense in control of the game, even as their defense was controlling the game.

Nine points for the Yellow Jackets. Some other results from Friday, Indiana destroys Purdue 56 to 3, punching their ticket to the Big Ten championship game. Arizona beating Arizona State 23 to 7, proving once and for all that Jeff Sins is a terrible quarterback. And then the biggest result from Friday, Texas A&M falls in Austin to the rival Texas Longhorns. 17, Arch Manning looked fantastic, Peyton. Arch Manning, Lewis, you texted me over the break while this game was going down.

You texted Arch Manning is tearing apart this zone defense. He is reading it so well, A&M can do nothing. And that's exactly what you saw. Arch Manning was marching down this field. This is the Texas team that honestly we thought we would see at the beginning of the year, and it's not happening until the end of the season. But the rest of the season cannot be forgotten. You've looked great.

You've looked bad. It's unfortunate that just now you're coming into your own. Again, this Texas defense, proving that they are a top-tier defense. What Texas A&M could not stop more than anything was Arch Manning, getting the ball, staying in the pocket, when the pocket starts to collapse, running up the middle, and rushing for seven, eight yards. Like a good Manning, refusing to bail on pass plays, stepping up into pressure, delivering throws, and when it's not there, tucking the ball. Arch Manning loves pressure. He was having trouble completing the ball earlier on in the game. And then as the moments mounted, and it got into clutch time, and as Texas running game took

more and more time off the clock, Arch Manning hicked apart the Texas A&M defense. It was a beautiful sight to see. Manning did look great, but let's talk about the guy on the opposite sideline, Marcel Reed. Now, Marcel was a Heisman contender. He led this team to some great fourth quarter magic last week against South Carolina to keep their playoff dreams alive. This week, he did not look very good. He had overall QBR of 65.1 compared to Manning's 91.4, and he threw critically two

interceptions late in the fourth quarter, one of which was on the Texas three-yard line that really sealed the game for the Longhorns and doomed the Aggies. He had no touchdowns. He was 20 for 32, not a phenomenal stat line. A lot of this loss, I think, can be attributed to his below-average performance. Well, and remember, they've advertised to us this entire season, Marcel Reed and Casey Concepcion. They only connected five times, not a single touchdown, just like you pointed out. Yeah, I don't understand what Colin Klein was doing there above Texas Memorial Stadium. The run was working for him throughout the game. Russia's averaging five yards a carry. Marcel Reed and the Scramble game, 12 attempts,

71 yards. If it's working, don't stop. This game was never out of reach until the fourth quarter. But in deep into Texas territory, Colin Klein insisted on throwing the pass and it just wasn't working. If Marcel Reed isn't up to the challenge in that moment, you know he can run the ball. You know Ruben Owens can run the ball. I will attribute this loss to an excellent game from Texas and some subpar play calling on the Texas A&M side. All right, two Saturdays games. Ohio State, 27, Michigan, nine. Obviously, the Wolverines short-handed, but Ohio State ran away with this one in the second half.

This game was a complete domination in the trenches for Ohio State. I think what the last dozen games that have been decided have all came down to who can win the running game. And that is exactly what Ohio State did. Michigan could not get to Julian San. Zero sacks. Julian San was kept clean on over 92% of his dropbacks. He had four pressures. On one of those pressures, he threw an interception. Julian San is a very good quarterback, but he's a young quarterback. He hasn't faced a lot of pressure, and he's been able to really develop behind this very, very good offensive line. When Michigan was able to get pressure, Julian Sane made a mistake, but then we could not capitalize.

That was the thing is that our defense couldn't get off the field. Possession time was 40 minutes almost on the dot for Ohio State to Michigan's just under 20. Ohio State went 10 for 17 on third downs, and then fourth downs was two for three. All year long, we've seen this aggressive, dominant Michigan running game, carry them to most of their wins and give Bryce Underwood a chance to utilize his passing ability. Ohio State completely shut down that rush game. Michigan did have 100 total rushing yards. 58 of those yards came on two runs.

On 22 other carries, they could not get a dynamic run game going, which kept Bryce Underwood contained. He only had 63 yards through the air. This was really a phenomenal defensive showing from Ohio State. This Michigan win really cemented the idea in me that Ohio State is deserving of that number one spot. They really probably are the most dominant, the most physical. the most powerful team. This is the team to beat in college football right now, and that game proved it.

Yeah, Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith, two massive plays early on in the game to get Ohio State the lead. And then you talked about how dominant that Ohio State run game was. I don't think the stats do it justice. The line of scrimmage was moving three yards forward before Bo Jackson hit the tackles. Ohio State's offensive line completely dominated the Michigan D and linebacker core. It was an ugly showing, and that's why you see such a lopsided time of possession, two to one in Ohio State's favor.

There's no necessary like, oh, this was a great Bo Jackson run. It was all because this dude could literally moonwalk his way and get a first down behind this offensive line. Some more of Saturday's results. Miami dog walks Pittsburgh 387, Houston escaping BYU, 3124, Texas Tech all over West Virginia, 49 to zero. BYU did not look good in the first half, but an excellent showing in. in the second half, 41-21 against UCF, Oregon, beating Washington 26-14.

They have secured their spot in the college football playoff as they will not play in the Big Ten championship. Oklahoma in yet another trademark ugly game beats LSU 17-13. Vanderbilt proves they are the best team in the state of Tennessee, trouncing the Tennessee volunteers in Knoxville, 45-24. Virginia heads to the ACC championship 27-7. over Virginia Tech. Notre Dame over Stanford, 4920. They will likely make the college football playoff with that showing. And then the Iron Bowl, 2720. Alabama over Auburn in the most heated rivalry in college sports.

And Auburn blew it. Auburn blew this game. Alabama up 17-0. Auburn storms all the way back. Feels like they have control in the fourth quarter in a tie game. Ty Simpson and the Alabama offense put up a score, and Auburn fumbles the game away. It sounds crazy that Auburn blew this game to anyone who grew up outside the state of Alabama. Because every year, the best show in football is the Iron Bowl.

It's just objectively true. If you want to see an absolutely bananas game that makes no logical sense whatsoever, watch the Iron Bowl. Better than the game? Oh, yeah. The best rivalry. Absolutely. The best rivalry in basketball. That's not true.

It is. It just is. I'm sorry. The game might be the biggest rivalry. It might be the most historic rivalry, but the best one. And I'm saying this as a Florida state fan with two phenomenal rivalries against Miami and Florida. The best rivalry is Alabama Auburn. Agreed.

Okay. Now, you're right, Lewis. Auburn drove back all the way from 17 to zero, looking like they had a shot to win it, and they really did. I want to draw attention. I want to draw attention to the second to last Alabama Drive. the drive that put them up 27 to 20 over Auburn. The drive before, Auburn had scored, touchdown, six plays, 2020. Here goes Alabama, third and four, Alabama 31.

Auburn pass interference. Fourth and one at the 50, Ty Simpson, two-yard run. And this is the worst one. It's third and seven at the Auburn 28. Auburn just needs to hold them here, and they probably are forced to kick a field goal. Ty Simpson, pass incomplete, deep left to Isaiah Horton, broken up by Crawford. But it's a penalty in the worst moment of the game. game in the moment where Auburn looked like they had Alabama shut down, where they were either

going to force a long fourth down conversion or a field goal. They get a miraculous roughing the pass or penalty. And I mean, absolutely miraculous. It, go watch it. The Auburn defensive tackle is going in for the tackle as Ty Simpson is in the throwing motion. The defensive tackle gets pushed into his legs by the offensive lineman. He then does not bring him all the way to the ground. He wraps his, he wraps his leg and then kind of lets go. He doesn't drive into him. He doesn't push him into the ground. He doesn't rip up the legs. He doesn't alligator roll. Ty Simpson falls over onto his butt and throws an incomplete pass. And they call it a roughing the passer penalty. Alabama was kept alive by two terrible, terrible, roughing the passer

penalties. Is it cope? Yeah, maybe. Is it also objectively some of the worst calls I've ever seen? Yes. So do with that what you will. Auburn played a great game. Alabama did play a great game. Like I said earlier, Ty Simpson kept the drive alive when it needed to happen. Fourth and one, he gets a two-yard scramble. He did his part. Alabama's defense did its part against Auburn. And in the critical moment when Auburn is driving down the field to tie it up, their best receiver, Cam Coleman fumbles the ball. And now he will be transferring. That'll be his last play as in Auburn. And now he will be transferring. I mean, it's just, it's classic Iron Bull. It's, it's cinema. It's football. We love it. A lot of people hated, but that's what it is. If you remember just three

weeks ago, Oklahoma, Alabama in Tuscaloosa, a game where Alabama ruled in just about every statistical category by a factor of two and still lost. Auburn repaid them. Okay, Alabama got back what they lost to Oklahoma. Auburn had the ball for 25 minutes and still outgained Alabama 411 to 280. They went 8 of 19 on third downs. They sacked Ty Simpson three times. Now, that's another thing I've been saying. The Alabama offensive line can't keep Ty Simpson clean. It is a wonder that he's so cool under pressure. But 18 penalties between the two teams. Obviously that controversial roughing the passer where the defensive lineman was full on thrown into Ty Simpson. Please go watch it. Please. And it wasn't even like forceful unnecessary contact. Like it wasn't even that bad. But I can't

believe that we've gotten this far into Alabama Auburn discussion. And we haven't talked about Ashton Daniels. That kid is amazing. Watching him, I was just blown away. Sure, he was 18 and 39, but he's throwing the ball away because every single down, he's getting pressured by five Alabama defensive linemen. And not just that,

but Ashton Daniels was working through his progressions, and he was feeling the blitzes, and he was looking off safeties and finding holes in the zone like your quarterback is supposed to, like Jackson Arnold wasn't doing throughout this year, and I lost track of how many drops came from that Auburn receiving corps.

And I can't say if that's nervous, or simply that Ashton Daniel's spirals aren't as tight as the receivers would have liked them to have been. But I watched two first downs and a full-on touchdown fall through the hands in one of those drops, by the way. You remember late third quarter, Auburn is sitting there on the Alabama 30 in scoring range, and Daniels pass goes through the wide receiver's hands off his helmet up into the air and is intercepted. That's his one turnover on the day. Ashton Daniels couldn't have done anymore. No, Ashton, you're absolutely right.

he was probably the reason that Auburn was in the game. He rushed for 108 yards. This presents a great dilemma for Alex Golish because you have three starting quarterbacks in your quarterback room. You have Ashton Daniels who came out looking stellar against Alabama. The reason Auburn was so competitive in that game. You have Deuce Knight who started their last game against Mercer, 239 in the air, two touchdowns, 162 on the ground, and four.

One of the most highly touted freshman quarterbacks from this. class, and then you have Jackson Arnold, not an elite quarterback, a good quarterback. He could start for just about any program that's not on that top shelf, and he could elevate them. In reality, you're only keeping one of these quarterbacks. Is it Deuce Knight or is it Ashton Daniels? I will give my opinion. I think you keep Daniels here. Deuce Knight looks promising, and obviously I don't have the inside footage. I don't see how he does and the training grounds. But To play like that against Alabama in the biggest game of your career to date, especially when you didn't even play the previous week,

it shows a lot for Ashton Daniels. He played very well. It was magic. It was magic. And Auburn is clearly less talented than Alabama. They clearly were in an inferior position most of the game. It was his drive that kept it alive. I say you stick with Daniels.

It was his immediate in-game IQ in those stressful moments. This kid can just do it all. I don't get it. It must suck to be the. Coburn Tigers right now to reflect on this season and realize you were literally right there. One score loss at Oklahoma. One score loss at Texas A&M. Ten point loss to Georgia because of the touchdown that wasn't where Jackson Arnold had the ball taken

from him as he was falling over the goal line. One score loss in overtime against Missouri. You lose 10-3 to Kentucky. You lose a one-score game in overtime to Vanderbilt. and you lose a one-score game on a Cam Coleman fumble to Alabama. And you know none of this is to take away from what Alabama was able to accomplish. Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubbs showed some real guts laid in that game. 2020 ball game, four minutes left in enemy territory.

This is Jordan Hare. This is the jungle. He goes for it all on fourth and two from the six-yard line. When anyone smart would have lined up and kicked the field goal with Connor Talti, he goes for the jugular and ties. Simpson completes a brilliant pass to Isaiah Horton, tight ball right between two defenders, beautiful pass, Alabama goes up, but that doesn't change the fact that Ashton Daniels got no help from that Auburn offense, and they shot themselves in the foot again and again and

again. The story of the Auburn Tigers this year is that they absolutely blew it. This is a good team. But it is a loser culture down there in Auburn, and you hope Alex Golish is going to be able to flip that. I absolutely think he can. I think if there's one coach who can, it is Golish. And I am very pleased to hear that he is keeping Auburn's defensive coordinator, DJ Durkan, who was the acting head coach at the time for the Alabama game. What he's done with the talent they have against very good offenses is nothing short of astounding. I think that Durkan defense, combined with golesh offense. Watch out next year for Auburn.

They legitimately could be a dark horse. DJ Durkin, eyes a little too close together. Looks like John Malkovich, but he knows how to run a defense. That might be the silver lining of that loss to Alabama, but we are going to touch on coaches and coordinators across the country. In the second half, we will also talk about championship weekend as we prepare to Crown Conference champions and send folks to the college football playoff. It's going to be a hectic second half.

You're listening to Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM, and this is the four-man front. Stick with us. We'll see you in six. You're listening to Radio Free Hillsdale, 101.7 FM, and this is the four-man front, the show about college football and nothing else. I'm Louis Thune, and boy, do we have a second half to get into here for 22 more minutes, surrounded by three men who know the game well and are as excited as I am about this upcoming week of college football and everything that it will hold to my right, Payton Hughes.

Payden, it's conference championship weekend. What's your hottest take? George is finally going to beat Bama. Kirby has struggled with Bama in the past. He found away with Stetson Bennett. Kalin DeBore. Snake bit him this year, but it very much could happen. And I will agree with you there. Across the table is Patrick. Hamilton, Patrick, I get the SEC isn't your specialty, so I'll ask you about the Big Ten. Is it Ohio State or is it Indiana? I think Indiana is coming into this with more of a chip on their shoulder than Ohio State is.

And lastly, to my left, Mark Ayers, the man of the Atlantic Coast. Duke, they're seven and five. They've lost a two lane. They've lost to Yukon. They've lost to Virginia, Georgia Tech, and Illinois. And they very well could be the ACC champion, Mark. Will Virginia save us from absolute chaos in the college football playoff? I think they probably will, but I kind of don't want them to.

I'm at the point right now where I'd love to see JMU in over Miami or Duke or Virginia or any one of those teams. Duke is an offense that can score. They can win this game. And that's not even the biggest story heading into championship week. We've got an all-out duel between three teams trying to be the group of five. bid. We've got Alabama and Georgia rematching. We've got number one versus number two for the second time this year. It's all going down. All right, gentlemen, let's talk about the upcoming

championship schedule. We'll kick it off in the Big 12 with a highly anticipated rematch, the BYU Coogs and the Texas Tech Red Raiders there in Arlington game is sold out and rightfully so. Texas Tech with one of the most dominant seasons in Big 12 history, BYU with a freshman quarterback after losing their starter just weeks before the season started 11 and 1 with their only loss to Texas Tech and looking to avenge it. Let's talk keys to the game. Payton, what do you got for us? Texas Tech just has to do what they did last game. Contain Bear Bock Meyer. Make sure he can't pass. For BYU, it's getting L.J. Martin going. This is a key point of the last game. He was not present. He is their leading rusher.

He is the best rusher on their team by far. If you can get him the ball, and you can really be able to set this running offense, I think you're going to open up the rest of that past game and then part of the run game for Bear Bachmire. And maybe, just maybe, that'll be enough to get something going, make this a one-score game, or maybe even a BYU win. The BYU motivation factor is going to be there

because Kalani Sataki was going to leave Provo in a matter of days for Happy Valley after a gargantuan author from Penn State football. And then for those of you who don't know the story, the CEO of Crumble Cookie, Jason McGowan, a BYU booster, outbid the entire state of Pennsylvania to keep Kalani Sataki there in Provo and Penn State has crashed and burned. In its national signing day, they have six commits and no head coach. It is a disaster up there in Happy Valley, and BYU has never been riding higher.

Now, my advice to Kalani Sataki last time heading into this Texas Tech game was that you need to make it ugly. I hope Kalani Sataki has studied up on his Urban Meyer footage, because if he wants to win this game, he's going to have to run Bear Bachmire like he's Tim Tebow. For all the BYU fans who travel to love it, Kalani Sataki is going to have to bore them to death. But if he can manage to do that, and he can win the field position game, and he can win the time of possession game, Texas Tech is falling at home to BYU.

Kalani. that ugly dude come on don't make bear bachmire resort to scrambling give him a head start and two steps for his o line i'm saying that's once again going to be the key your defense is going to do all it can they're going to give up 21 28 points it is all a matter of your run game it's l j martin it's bear bachmire it's ball control you just keep it short and sweet you win that field position game so that if it does fail and you're forced to punt. You're giving Texas Tech the full field to go. If BYU can do that, I believe they have more than a chance at winning this game. All right, I'll need a final answer from you all. Texas Tech, BYU. I'm taking Tech. I'm also going to take Texas Tech in this game.

I wish BYU could play it close or even win, but this is Tech by two scores. I'm actually going to take BYU here. I would love to see it. I took Tech the first time around, but Kalani Sataki has injected incidentally momentum into Provo. They're motivated. It's all a matter of are they going to be able to stop Texas Tech from jumping out on them in the first half? In the group of five, obviously five championship games. Two of interest. James Madison taken on Troy. That game should be pretty healthily in Madison's hands. And then you have the feature matchup in the group of five between two ranked teams, North Texas and Tulane. John Summerall leading Tulane will become the coach of Florida at the end of the season. And Eric Morris, leading North Texas, will become the coach

of Oklahoma State at the end of the season. And presumably Drew Mestamaker, the North Texas quarterback, the White Wizard himself, zero-star recruit who started zero games of high school football. We'll be going with him to Stillwater. The winner's in. These are the two highest ranked teams in the group of five. It's North Texas. It's Tulane. Boys, let's pick this one. Who is it? I like North Texas better. I have loved North Texas. Texas all season. Much better offense. Much better. Tulane hasn't proven too much to me. They have a win over Duke.

That's about it. North Texas has, I think, the top offense in college football right now, and I got to represent my future head coach at Oklahoma State to give me North Texas. At a certain point, experience plays a factor. Tulane's been here before and as much as Navy should be playing in this game instead of Tulane, by the

way, the AAC championship game is decided by ranking, and despite having much better wins and losses than Tulane, Navy is out. of it and I'm irate. Tulane's going to win this game. Gravity holds. What goes up must come down and sadly North Texas applies. Then we have the ACC Championship game. It will obviously turn heads because should Virginia lose, we will see two group of five teams in the playoff as the top five ranked

conference champions will get in and that will either be James Madison or assuming Madison loses UNLV. But the game, it's Virginia, it's Duke, it's being played in Charlotte, North Carolina. And two years past the Mike Elko era, Duke will have their chance at the ACC championship. Will they win? I would love chaos, like I said earlier, but I'm going to tell you, I really think Virginia has this one. It'd be really fun to see two group of five teams in the college football playoffs. But from what I've seen from Virginia, I think that they're going to be the team coming out on top. We can't forget that this game was just played three weeks ago and Virginia won by three scores. Virginia's probably felt, you know, a little hated on. They won this game

already, and now everyone's talking about Duke may be winning. They've been here before. They know how to win. They're the better team. They have a better record. They have better wins. There's no reason we should be talking about Duke potentially winning this game. Virginia's going to win this game and probably by a couple scores. That is absolutely correct, Peyton. Virginia feels disrespected with good reason after a 10 and two season in the ACC.

I will trust the original North Texas product. Chandler Morris and the Cavaliers punched their ticket to the college football playoff. And then the two big games, the SEC, the Big Ten, Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State, Indiana. Let's talk SEC first. This game was played already in the year. Alabama beat Georgia 24, 21, in Athens, no less, as was predicted by Mark Ayers. Listen, every year Kirby Smart walks in with one of the most talented rosters in the country and can't beat Bama, it just doesn't happen. Superman has Kryptonite.

Kirby Smart has the Crimson Tide. Lewis, I just don't think he can do it. He has one postseason win against Alabama. He can't beat them. He cannot do it. Despite the fact that really he should win this game, he's already played them. He knows how they play.

He knows the formula to beat Alabama. I don't think he's going to do it. I think Bama's going to get away with yet another one. Give me the crimson tide. being a product of Alabama coaching. He has, like Mark said, unable to be Alabama. I will have to go with Alabama in this game. Maybe a little bit of bias from my Big 12 self. Maybe what I just want to happen in imagination. But I'm going to call it anyways. I'm going to call Georgia by two, maybe two and a half scores here. Alabama not looking great. Georgia front seven getting to Ty Simpson, not allowing him

to execute his fantastic passing game. They're going to kill any running game that might even think about existing from Alabama. And then what's going to happen is BYU. going to play a close one. I don't think it's going to happen, but, you know, I'm going to call right here. They are. They're going to play close game, three points, 27, 24, Texas Tech, and the committee's going to move BYU up ahead of Alabama, who looked horrible against Georgia. So give me Georgia. Payton, I will agree with you here. Gentlemen, close your eyes, look into those crystal balls with me. Let's remember one Arizona State Sam Levitt. And what happened earlier on in the year? Sam Levitt has struggled with injuries this year.

This Houston defense is formidable. I think Sam Levitt might go down again in this game. Houston, Arizona State, an eight-point win for Houston. One that I was right about, Sam Levitt did go down with an injury in this game, and that was the difference for this Houston team. Gentlemen, the Alabama offensive line has gone to sleep, and the Georgia dog's defense has awakened. Not only will Georgia win this.

game. But the ruthless onslaught from their defensive line will claim Ty Simpson and the Alabama quarterback will go down with an injury not to return in the ball game and with their starting quarterback the bright spot on their offense out of the picture. BYU jumps Alabama and the Crimson Tide will miss out on the playoff. Once again, it is written Lewis Thune the doctor has spoken. All right. Let it happen. Big Ten, let's close this out and get to the lightning fast FMF poll before we talk a little bit about the coaching carousel, Indiana, Ohio State,

two unbeaten teams. Not the first time we've seen a one-two matchup yet this year. We saw it with Ohio State in week one. Now we get it in week 15. Who you got? In the game of the year, this is probably the hardest one to call, and it just pains me to say it, but I got to go with Ohio State.

I do. I would love everything in me wants to pick Kurt Signetti in Indiana. And I really do believe they can win, but I don't think they will. I think Ohio State is too strong, too powerful, too good on offense with Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith. They have too many weapons. They're too physical. I'm sorry. Give me the Buckeyes. I want to pick Ohio State because I do think that they're the most dominant team in football right now. But then when I look at the TV and Kurt Signetti's looking back at me with a very stone cold killer face in the Indiana Hoosiers is going to win this game. Smith and Tate are only good if the ball can get into their hands. That's why I think Indiana is going to apply maximum pressure to Julian San and they're going to win this game. I think you're assuming Indiana has the capacity to get to Julian San. I think so. Ohio State offensive line is too good, Patrick.

The team looks invincible, like we've said. Yeah, it's Ohio State in this game. Ohio State's invincible. They've been here before. They're going for back-to-back championships. Ryan Day knows how to coach this type of situation. Give me the buck, guys. All right, gentlemen, real quick,

I'll run through the four-man front pole for this week so we can get to Lane Kiffin. A quick refresher on how this works. We rate the teams 25 to 1 on the criteria of dominance, consistency and strength of schedule, dominance and consistency are weighed on a 0.4 scale, strength of schedule on a 0.2 scale. Our four individual polls are averaged out, and then we get a composite score out of 100. Number one, with a composite score of 100, and leading the field

by 5.6 points, the Ohio State Buckeyes. Number two is Indiana. Number three is Georgia. Number four is Texas Tech. Number five is Texas A&M. Number six is Ole Miss. Number seven is Oregon. Number 8 is Oklahoma. Number 9 is Notre Dame. Number 10 is Alabama. You'll notice we flip Notre Dame and Alabama back to where they should be, unlike the committee. Number 11 is BYU. 12 is Miami. 13 is Texas. 14 is Vanderbilt. 15 is Utah. 16 is USC. 17 is Virginia. 18 is Arizona. 19 is Michigan. That stretch might sound familiar. It's the exact same as the committee. Number 20, the Houston Coogs, number 21, Iowa at 8 and 4, number 22, the North Texas mean green, number 23, the James Madison Dukes, number 24, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, and number 25, the two-lane

green wave. Also, receiving points in this week's poll, but not enough to break the top 25, and number 26, the Navy midshipment, and number 27, the Tennessee Volunteers. All right, boys, the coaching carousel is in full swing. Alex Golesh to Auburn, John Summerall, to Florida. On Friday, November 28, Lane Kiffin beats Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl, improving Ole Miss to 11 and 1, their first 11-win season in program history.

Friday night, controversy. As Lane Kiffin has asked Point Blake by a reporter, if he is in fact a ho, if he is promiscuous, and will leave the beloved Oxford for a greater program. And then the next day, after the Iron Bowl ends, Lane Kiffin said, yes, I am a ho. He took his offensive staff with him, and he flew down to the bayou on Sunday morning.

The man commits to the LSU Tigers, retaining Blake Baker there at LSU, presumably will secure plenty of transfers once the college football playoff unfolds. Gentlemen, we sat here two weeks ago, it was Kiffin, should I stay or should I go? Am I a ho? Is it Florida? Is it Ole Miss? And boys, I hate to say I told you so. I can say it would honestly surprise me if Lane Kiffin went to Gainesville with as much of a meamer and a troll and a social media addict that he is. I think the most likely scenario is that he pulls a Lincoln Riley to an even greater degree than Lincoln Riley. I think there's a chance, Lane Kiffin, let's everyone think he's going to Florida and then goes to LSU. And it was LSU all along, gentlemen. What a saga.

I was not shocked at all by this decision. This guy said, so I want Max NIL. So LSU offers him, what, $25 million NIL guaranteed? And Ole Miss says, we'll match that. Doesn't matter. And then all of a sudden I see that juice. Lane Kiffin's dog is not actually his. And it was just a PR prop for his image at Ole Miss.

Oh my goodness. Lane Kiffin, you are both the worst of Brian Kelly and the worst of Lincoln Riley. And you know what I say? I wish you the absolute worst. The man Nick Sabin called a narcissistic SOB, the dog he brought to every game wasn't even his dog. It lived in the kennels. That sounds like an LSU football coach. This does sound like an LSU football coach.

The story goes, Sabin not only fired Lane Kiffin, but he fired the man who convinced him to hire Lane Kiffin. Yes, Nick Sabin said everyone involved, you're out of here. Like I said, gentlemen, I wish him the absolute worst. LSU's top prospect, that wide receiver, just flipped his commitment and signed to Old Miss. I love to see that. Hold on. Did I just hear a love to see from Patrick Hamilton? Let's play the clip.

What you absolutely love to see. Pause, no more love to see from any of you. If I hear any of you say love to see, I will end you all. You all do say love to see a lot. It's true. That is what you love to see. You just said it, Patrick! We need a love-to-see button.

No more love-to-see. Do not say love to see. I'm sure Kiffin's not trying to find the words to say he's sorry. As Cuevo might have told the good people of Oxford, you can't make a wife out of a hoe. It was never forever with Lane Kiffin. Nothing is sacred for the man. And he deserves everything he's going to get down there in the bayou.

You think the immediate Ole Miss, was combative for asking him if he's a hoe. Did you watch the Brian Kelly press conferences for those two and a half years? He practically had to fight members of the LSU media. They would straight call him out to his face in the most disrespectful terms possible. The people of the Bayou operate on a different level. And Kiffin's going to experience it in full, and no program's going to want to touch him once it fizzles out at LSU.

and let me tell you this, the Magnolia Bowl next year, LSU Ole Miss, will be the most entertaining game of football in our lifetimes, possibly. I mean, at least to this point, no doubt it'll keep getting better as college football does. Mark, I mean, in one fell swoop, Lane Kiffin has made himself persona non grata in Mississippi. They are never going to forget this or live it down. A head coach of a playoff team, number six. six in the country, sells his inheritance to go to seven and five LSU who haven't yet paid off Ed Orgeron's barry out.

In the same conference. In the same conference. And one of Ole Miss's biggest rivals for no more money. Nope. I mean, just because he thought he might have a better chance at a championship than Ole Miss, an absolute betrayal of the worst caliber, it's a slap in the face to Old Miss. I doubt he'll be allowed to step foot in the borders. For those of you not from that area, there are no pro teams. There are no other sports. It is college football, and that's it. These people

live and breathe this. Lane Kiffin will absolutely need armed security the next time he plays Old Miss. But hey, but hey, let's put this right. I mean, coaching at LSU is basically like staying in one of the circles of hell from Dante. You get what you deserve. He is getting exactly what he deserves. Where is Ed Orgeron? Where is Brian Kelly? Where is Les Miles? Where are these historic LSU coaches? What have they done?

I think Ed O'Donrod is having a great time right now. Oh, Ed Orgeron is laughing his butt off right now. This was not a decision over money. This was not a decision over I can win a national championship here at LSU. This was simply because LSU has way more media attention than Ole Miss. And Lane Kiffin being the media attention hogging, just like, I want to be the front page of everything, went there because he cannot stand getting no media attention at Ole Miss. This was simply out of pure selfish reasons. I don't think he cares about his players. And I don't think he cares about a national championship. I think that he just wants

to have a better media presence. And that's all it came down to. I will say one thing to look for is the fact that the transfer portal window opens up before the playoffs are over. So if any Ole Miss players, if any of them wanted to transfer to LSU, they'll have the opportunity to do so. And in fact, we'll have to decide if they want to do so before the playoffs are over. If you told me mid-season when we were dancing on Brian Kelly's grave that there would be another coach in Baton Rouge

who we'd have even more I were for. I would have called you crazy. We hate Brian Kelly and somehow Lane Kiffin was able to do him one better. If that ain't LSU football, then I don't know what is. And that's where we're going to leave it this week.

On next week's show, we'll look at the conference championships in hindsight. And we will preview everything about the college football playoff in what will be the final episode of the four-man front. Until then, we will sign off

enjoy conference championship week. May chaos rain and may Lane Kiffin's reign be appropriately short in Baton Rouge. You're listening to Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM for Patrick Hamilton, Payton, Payton Hughes, and Mark Ayers. I'm Lewis Thune.

And this has been the Four Man Front. Happy football. Thank you.