WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Four Man Front: Mayhem n' A&M

Episode Date: October 3, 2025

Week 5 shatters all expectations, Texas A&M keeps climbing, Diego Pavia is Bugs Bunny. Lewis, Marc, Patrick, and Paden discuss (and dance on LSU's grave).

Week 5 unleashes college football mayhem across all conferences. We celebrate and more accordingly. Week 6 seems like it'll provide us some stability, but at this point, who knows? I'm Louis Thune, and this is the four-man front. The show about college football and nothing else. Welcome back to the show, folks. Lewis Thune, joined by my co-hosts, Mark Ayers. How are we doing today, Louis?

I am excellent, Patrick Hamilton. Hello, Lewis. How are you doing today? I feel like I just got asked that question, Peyton Hughes. Lewis, how are you feeling today? Gentlemen, I'm not even sure how I'm feeling. In the words of our president, I'm calling for a complete shutdown of college football until we can figure out what the hell is going on.

At this point, I don't even know who to trust. Except maybe Dr. Stephen Shin, he was the hand surgeon who repaired John Mateer's thumb this week. Mateer's already back to taking live reps and press. I mean, he did Kobe Bryant's hand surgery in 2008 when Kobe took the Lakers back to the finals. This dude is the best of the best. My Oklahoma Mersuners are going to have John Matere back for Red River. And that's about the only solace I have right now as a college football fan because what we just witnessed in week five was bananas.

I don't know where to start. Where do you guys want to start talking about week five? Well, we might as well get it out of the way. The elephant in the room. My beloved Florida State Seminels going down and double over time to the Virginia Cavalriers. The Caval Rears? The Caval Rears. The Caval Rears.

He doesn't even know. I can't even bring myself to say the name. Virginia isn't even relevant by any metric of the imagination. They haven't done anything even in basketball for years. Hey, really good lacrosse though. It was funny to see as Virginia started looking like they had more and more of a chance to win the game, especially in the second half. The Virginia student section on that hill just kept filling up because everybody was texting

their roommate, like, get down here, we can actually beat Florida State. So when they rushed the field at the very end, that was probably more students than have ever been to any Virginia sporting event ever. Like, I've never seen Charlottesville get so hyped up for something. They beat a top 10 team in college football, which is impressive in itself, but Florida State. Relatively few mistakes as a team this year. They haven't really shown weaknesses, especially not against teams like Alabama, purely dominant throughout every game they've played, and all it took was one little stumble there in Charlottesville and Virginia capitalized.

Yeah, I mean, you look at this game, a couple very uncharacteristic mistakes by the Florida State offense, notably two interceptions and one fumble, three total turn. Now, our defense did pick the ball off three times, but regardless, we gave them the ball. Virginia, by the way, has the number three offense in the country right now. Head coach Tony Elliott, former offensive coordinator at Clemson during the glory days, he knows how to run an offense. And this Virginia team has, from last year where they were pretty bad, they've had a complete line change through the transfer portal.

Sometimes it doesn't work. Look at last year's Florida State team. This year, it looks like it might have, because their offense was firing on all cylinders. They capitalized on every situation that we gave them and we put ourselves in a hole that we just couldn't dig ourselves back out of. I think one of the most notable things from that game was Jamari Taylor less than a minute to go. Virginia was down at this point because 21 unanswered points from FSU and all of a sudden he makes a second, third, fourth effort and it has like a 25, 30 yard touchdown rush going into the half. And then they sent it into halftime,

tie game and then Charlottesville started showing up. And once that happened, Virginia actually had a chance in that second half against a much better team down the stretch. Florida State was. Virginia was still able to pull it out, despite three picks from Chandler Morris, despite gaps a plenty in the Virginia defense. They pulled that game out. Florida State made an attempt to rally. The offense did do its part, 514 total yards, 258 passing 256 on the ground. They did their part. The defense did not show up, as you've seen them show up against teams like Alabama. maybe they weren't expecting Virginia to come out like they were, like you said. There were a couple inexcusable penalties.

A couple key mistakes in critical moments cost Florida State this game, but they'll have the chance to rebound this week against Miami. We'll see what happens. Yeah, that'll be a good game. We're going to get to that here in a second. What's crazy is we just spent time talking about this game that we didn't even preview last week because we thought it was set in stone. Like this Florida State team is going to show up in Charlottesville,

and absolutely curbstomp Virginia. and now Virginia's ranked and Florida State has to go beat Miami to prove that they're still the top dog in the ACC. Last week we talked about Oregon Penn State. That's a double overtime game. Alabama, Georgia, one score game, came down to the last possession. LSU Ole Miss, same there. Auburn A&M, same there. Indiana, Iowa, that was a one possession game. And then Arizona, Iowa State, that was the one game we were all absolutely certain was going to be very close. and it was not.

Iowa State looked spectacular all game. Yeah, I was State in Rocco Beckt. Finally, I said it last week, I said, I hadn't seen enough out of Rocco Beck to trust the offense. And now he comes out, scores every quarter of the game, and the defense did what it's done all year, only allows 14 points. They've been steady around that for the whole year.

It's just Iowa State can't put points on the board, and now they put up 39. Over in the Big Ten to Indiana, Iowa. I said the Iowa defense was good, and then I said they're not that good. but this is going to be Indiana's game, 20 to 15. Yeah, that shocked me. I mean, especially since Indiana destroyed Illinois the previous week,

this puts a little bit more respect on the Iowa Hawkeyes. I mean, this is a tie game going into half. We know Coach Signetti is the guy who loves, as I've said before, he loves to humiliate and take down good coaches. Now, they're not necessarily on good teams. He likes weak schedules, but he likes winning with weak schedules, convincingly. He did not do that this week. And that puts their game next week into the magnifying glass as they face off yet another very, very good defense and a very good offense, the Oregon Ducks.

This Oregon team, they come into Happy Valley. Now, I picked Oregon in this game, even though I think Penn State is going to be the better team long time. That was a great call. I picked Oregon in this game. This was 3-3 going into halftime. It was 173 in the fourth quarter. Penn State brings it back, sends it to double overtime, and then Drew Aller calls game for Oregon. again. Just a bonehead

interception. Terrible pass, and James Franklin drops to four and 21 against top 10 teams. I can't remember which team I called for this game. I believe I said the crowd at Penn State would be the difference and they'd come away with the dub. And I think I also

mentioned how I thought this would be the game that Drew Rowler could really... You totally did. I did. That's right. I said that Drew Rowler could really show himself and be the difference. Well, he was the difference, but it was a negative difference. He showed himself, but he showed himself what we all expected him to be. And that is

not clutch. Anti-clutch. I mean, actually, I think Peyton and I talked about this last week that, I mean, you called Penn State, but we both said Drew Adler is a huge liability. He genuinely is. 57 for 88. He is less than 700 yards. Only four touchdowns.

He's thrown an interception. And let me look at more. 250 yards, 29 for 39, three touchdowns. I think that anyone coming out of the Big 10 to be the heisman, give me Dante Moore. I trust a quarterback under Coach Lannning. That dude, that dude is crazy, but he's good crazy.

He's the good chaos you want in your program. He's like the opposite of Ed Orgeron, who has been rumored is trying to make a comeback to coaching in college football. I don't think any program's going to want that. Who would bring him on? Go Cho, you are the new head coach of the UCLA Bruins. Oklahoma State Cowboys

And your orders Doug Meecham has been fine Just stick with him All right And then to crown last week We had madness in the SEC I need to congratulate all of you We were all right about LSU

Why is this team number three I don't trust Brian Kelly I think he's out of his depth in the SEC LSU is a fake team And a paper tiger I will always go with the team team that runs the ball better. I'm going with Ole Miss. I do not like Brian Kelly. Yeah.

Absolute fraudsters. Brian Kelly is just not a good coach and he's destroying this LSU program. He always, he has a propensity to take talented teams and not reach the ceiling. It's almost impressive. You are going to get top offensive talent at Louisiana State University. It does not matter who you are as a coach. You are going to get NFL players consistently starting on your offense. The LSU offense can literally run without a coach. These are freaks running around on the field. Brian Kelly is looking like the second coming of less miles. Garrett Nussmeyer, he's a good enough passer of the football that if you just have four wide receivers run out and, you know, stick their hands up. One of them is going to catch the ball and Garrett Nussmeyer is

going to put in their hands. And he's the only reason why this was a five-point game because LSU had 57 yards rushing. They can't run the ball. It was impressive with how much bending the LSU defense did that it did not break. Trinidad Shambly threw for 314 yards. LSU defense was able to hold them to 24 points despite well over 400 total yards. That's good. That should win you the game at LSU. It should not be a question of your offense scoring more than 24 points.

Oh, especially if you look at the drives here. If you don't mind, I'm just going to read off the first half. Oh, please do. Ole Miss, punt. LSU, punt. Ole Miss punt LSU touchdown Ole Miss field goal LSU interception

Ole Miss punt LSU punt LSU punt OMS fumble LSU punt Ole Miss touchdown LSU punt and Ole Miss touchdown End of the half What in the world

That's horrible We said this would be a midoff And yes It was a midoff And now Ole Miss is the number four team in the country Somehow Good kudos to them for beating LSU

At the time number 14 in the country Ole Miss is not the fourth best team in the country, and to say that they are is a discredit to the sport. Alabama rolls into Athens and beats Georgia. I told you. Kirby Smart walks in with one of the most talented rosters in the country and can't beat Bama. It just doesn't happen. I told you.

Collected as he could be. Georgia runs the ball down Alabama's throat, but can't put it in the end zone. Death, taxes, and Bama beats Georgia. I'm pretty sure. Every time. Georgia has lost 10 of the last 11 matchups. We gave them the template to beat Alabama. You have to put pressure on Ty Simpson and stop the run game.

No pressure was put on Ty Simpson. You go back, you watch that game. They're rushing three most of the time, and it's a contain. And it's not a pressure. It's not a pressure scheme. And so Ty Simpson is just sitting back there with all the time in the world to go make those throws. And he's a good passer.

He has good receivers. He will throw the ball on you if you give a lot. the chance, Georgia gave him the chance, ended up losing. You would think after they got torched by Joey Aguilar and barely escaped Knoxville with a win, that Coach Smart would think you need to start pressuring the quarterback more and more, because if you let a great offensive play caller like Kalin DeBore, like Ryan Grubb, and you give him his quarterback, like Ty Simpson or like Joey Aguilar with Josh Heiple, it's only a matter of time before they're going to pick your defense apart. Something to note, we were

very skeptical of Alabama after that game with Florida State, especially the factor that they had so many penalties. We said this just doesn't look like a regular Alabama team. Against Georgia, they only had four penalties for 16 total yards. They were able to play the game well, and it seems like they played exactly how they wanted to. And they had no turnovers. I think that's one of the biggest things I want to point out is that Alabama just played good football. I mean, all around, like, you gave up 16 yards to penalties, but you know turnovers, 25 first downs. Sure, you didn't convert on your fourth down, but I mean, 36 minutes of possession time. That's just disciplined football right there. One thing I would like to say is,

in order for Alabama to really take the next step this season, they're going to have to get their rushing game back on track. Despite their good showing against Georgia, they only had 117 rushing yards, not the kind of production that an elite team would have, a type of production a good team would have. That's been a criticism since the FSU game. I saw good signs. against Georgia, but down the stretch, they will need to put another emphasis on the rush game. I would like to have gotten to Mississippi State, Tennessee, because that was a great game. Tennessee needed overtime. They sent it to overtime. They beat Mississippi State in overtime. I'm wondering if Mississippi State is actually for real after just one year of rebuild from Jeff Leby.

But we got to get to this week, week six. Now, the slate is not as stacked as it was last week. I'm seeing just about five matchups so we can say something about. Texas. Florida. Then we've got Vanderbilt at Bama. College game day is going to be there. The revenge game for Kalin DeBoer, Diego Pavia, wanting to once again best the entire state of Alabama and escape unharmed. No one has been able to catch him yet. He's like Bugs Bunny. Mississippi State, Texas A&M. I said earlier, Mississippi State might be for real. Texas A&M, as we're going to talk about in the second half, is probably for real. Looking great in all phases right now. Probably the biggest matchup of the week. I'm sorry. Vanderbilt, Bama, Miami, Florida State.

The battle for the state of Florida right now, because nobody else has a chance. One other game to mention would be Texas Tech, Houston. Yes, sir. Houston is surprisingly 4'0. They've looked pretty good. They've looked okay. Texas Tech looks far better than just about any team

of the Big 12 right now, despite not having their starting quarterback in Baron Morton. We'll see where that goes. We do not have a lot of time. So let's send it Vanderbilt, Bama. Who do you have in this game? Why? I'm going to pick Vanderbilt in this game to go to Tuscaloosa and beat the tide.

Diego Pavia is a guy with nothing to lose and everything to gain. And that goes for the whole team, right? Georgia was playing scared. They were playing like a top five team that didn't want to drop a game to a lesser opponent. Vanderbilt's not like that. They're a team that's hungry. They're a team that's 5 and 0, 1 in the SEC. Let me say in a wide open SEC, let me remind you.

And they are eager to prove that they're the top dogs and that they're for real. they did so with a statement win against South Carolina and I think they're going to do so again Diego Pavia will yet again be Kalen-deboer's kryptonite give me the Commodores. I agree with you Mark. The most dangerous team is a team that's got nothing to lose and knows how to win and Vanderbilt has that.

They have shown that the season, they're a really solid SEC team. But I really liked what I saw from Alabama. I really like to see the discipline. I really like the offensive professional. I'm going to pick Alabama. Yeah, I'm going to agree with your pick with Alabama here. I'm going to disagree with Mark's conception of the game. I don't think Vanderbilt has nothing to lose here. They're 5-0. They have a chance to come out of the 6-0 with a win over Alabama. Last year, it was stunning. It shocked the world when Diego Pavia pulled out the win.

This year, he has that in his head. He's mental on this. He has to come back and do again what he did last year. I just don't think that's going to happen. Kailin DeBore is going to be ready for this. wants to beat Vanderbilt, they're not going to get shunned again. If they go two losses down, the Alabama team, I mean, what is their path to the playoff? I'm not so certain. They need this win with the rest of their schedule in mind. So give me Alabama. There's a lot of things a man can do after having played 46 seasons of college football like Diego Pavia. When you're a senior citizen, you tend to do well. We've got a Florida state fan in this room. I'm sure he remembers Chris Winky. We've got an Oklahoma state fan in this room. I'm sure he remembers brand

in Whedon. Glory days. Senior citizens do very well in college football when the rules are so lax that they're allowed to play. Gimmie Vanderbilt in this game purely because Diego Pavia at this point has played against 90% of all humans to ever play college football. It's ridiculous,

but I also love it because the man is just pure entertainment. All right. Florida State, Miami, Thomas Castellanos, Carson Beck, it's Mario Cristobal and a defense that is somehow actually stopping teams versus is Mike Norvell. We've already talked about last week. Florida State just let it slip away from them.

Doubtless, they're going to want to prove to the home crowd that they're still worth it. Does Miami have a chance in this game? Oh, they absolutely do. Yeah, this is a game that I expect to come down to the wire. I expect it to be something of a shootout. Contigent on whether or not Florida State can actually put pressure on Carson Beck. Miami has a very good offensive line. Mario Cristobal, a former lineman himself knows how to build a good line. Carson Beck has protection. A pass rush is something that Florida State has struggled with a little bit this season. We don't have a single pass pressure graded above 70 on the PFF scale right now. We will need to pressure Beck to win this game. I've made a couple of picks in weeks past and in this week based on not necessarily who I have a gut

feeling will win, but who I would like to see when. I really do think that Florida State will win this game. And I'm not saying that purely based, obviously I'm a little biased, but I truly do think that this team has what it takes on offense and has what it takes on defense to stunt Miami. I have not seen enough from Miami on offense to really prove to me that they have the elite offense we think they do. They have a really good defense. We know that for a fact. Cassianos will have to deal with Ruben Bain Jr., who I've mentioned in previous weeks. But I think they will be able to handle it. I think that Gus Mazzan's play calling is going to outmatch Miami's defensive calling, and I think Florida State is going to be able to win this game.

I have said in previous episodes that I really like Miami Swagger, but I haven't seen that out of them in their last two games. And from some of the games that I've watched, Carson Beck has struggled. And I know he struggled a lot in Georgia. And I still believe in this Florida State team. I think that there's certain things like three turnovers that kind of got to them. I think Florida State's going to bounce back.

I'm going to have to agree with Mark. I think Florida State's got this one. I could be wrong, though. I think this is really a coin flip. But give me Florida State in this game. I guess I'll be the first dissenter here. I'm going to take Miami. It's pretty safe.

I think Carson Beck is an experienced quarterback, like Mark said, with a strong offensive line. I think Miami is going to be able to run the ball pretty well. I wasn't impressed with Florida State's defense up against a really good offense. I think Miami has been able to score when they want to. They still only allowed seven points against Florida. Not an elite offense there, but that's a power four team in the SEC. their defense is strong. Give me Miami. Going to go with Florida State here. Carson Beck is not good under pressure.

Has a tendency to see ghosts. He's been hurt one too many times dropping back in the pocket. When he feels that pressure, he panics. If he feels that pressure. I think he's going to feel that pressure. Make no mistake, if you blitz enough people, you're going to get to the man at a certain point. And once you start getting to Carson Beck, Timmer falls apart. So, give me Florida State in this game. We've got Texas, Florida, we've got Mississippi State, Texas, A&M. We really only have time for one of these. I don't even want to talk about Texas, Florida.

None of these teams have showed me that they're worthy of being spoken about. Mississippi State, Texas, A&M, real quick, who is it? I have A&M in this game. I have seen, after watching some film, their defense is legit. I really, really like what I'm seeing from the Aggies this year. Give me the Aggies. Yeah, I picked against the Aggies in previous weeks. I agree with Mark.

Give me the Aggies here. Yeah, I'll bite my wight my wets. words on previous weeks as well. Give me the Aggies. I will also take the Aggies. This game's at home. Kyle Field's a great environment, but we'll have a little more to say about that. In the second half, we'll be discussing Texas

A&M. We think, or at least we have reason to believe right now. They're for real. We'll talk about the conference chaos, how it's opening doors and shutting doors, and we'll be all over it. In the second half, you're listening to Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. and this is the four-man front. Stay 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.

Back with you for the second half. I'm Lewis Thune here to talk about college football and nothing else. Joined as always by my co-host. To my left, Mark Ayers. Super excited about this section, Lewis. Across the table is Patrick Hamilton. Let's get it. And to my right, Baden Hughes. A&M might be real. Gentlemen, that's exactly what we're going to jump into, as we alluded to in the first half and promised the people we would get into in the second half.

The gentlemen of College Station, Texas, the Texas A&M Aggies, and all of their male cheerleaders, are somehow looking very, very scary this year. They've broken the top 10 ranked currently number six in the nation with wins over Notre Dame and Auburn. They've long been the laughing stock of Texas football. Never quite good enough. Always losing to Texas. Always not quite as good as Texas Tech. Always finishing eight and four. But I'm starting to think it's going to be different this year. Guys, is Texas A&M real? I really think they might be. My enthusiasm is tempered by that Auburn win. They had scored 42, 44, and 41 points in each of their last three matchups, including notably 41 against a good Notre Dame team. And then they'd scored 42, 44, and 41 points in each of their last three matchups, including notably 41 against a good Notre Dame team. And then they'd scored 16 against Auburn. Now we know Auburn's defense is not something to laugh at, but 16 points in a game against an unranked team raises some eyebrows. We'll see this week against Mississippi State, but should they win that game? I feel pretty confident for the rest of

the year, because let's look at their schedule. After Mississippi State, they have Florida at home, then they travel to Arkansas, they travel to LSU, they travel to Missouri, then they get South Carolina at home, Sanford at home, and travel to Texas. Really, the only loss I see is probably Missouri. They have a quite easy schedule on their hands. I thought they were going to be contenders for an SEC championship. I think Texas A&M is going to get exponentially better. They might actually be competing for an SEC championship this year. I'm being very much justified in that analysis, but 16 points against Auburn is slightly scary, especially for how well the offense was looking,

207 yards through the air, 207 on the ground, only managed to put up 16 points. If it weren't for that defense coming through in the clutch, holding Auburn to half the points they allowed to San Antonio, half the points they allowed to Utah State, this Texas A&M team would have dropped a game there in college station at Kyle Field

in front of all their male cheerleaders. Payton, I know you're tuned in to Texas football as a big 12 fan. Do you believe in Texas A&M? I didn't. I think I do. But like Mark, I think it's sort of tempered. I wouldn't put them at number six in the country just yet. I think we're a little too high on that defense.

Yes, you allowed 10 points to Auburn, but you just allowed 40 a couple weeks prior to Notre Dame. It seems like they're not too trustworthy just yet. if they can keep up with how they looked against Auburn, 100%. They deserve to be where they're at. And I think they probably can do the same against Mississippi State. But I'm not there yet. Marcel Reed has looked really strong.

And honestly, if he keeps up this performance and they walk out of the SEC as a one-loss team going into hopefully the SEC championship at that point, he's totally in the conversation for a Heisman. But I'm just not there yet. I want a little bit more explosiveness out of this offense. That's normally stereotypical of Texas' office. offenses, high flying, put some points on the board, have a 75-yard rush for a touchdown, and I haven't seen too much of that out of this A&M team.

They've shown they can beat good teams. Yes. Texas A&M's Achilles heel has always been great teams. They've never been able to beat great teams, but they can beat good teams. They got Notre Dame. They got Auburn. And good teams, as Mark alluded to, is all they've got left. They've got Mississippi State.

They've got LSU. They've got Missouri. They've got Texas. Missouri might be great by that point. And then they've got average to below. average teams, Florida, Arkansas, South Carolina, they get their layup against Samford. They could legitimately run the table in the SEC. The way they're playing right now, it might not be crazy to say this team goes undefeated. No, it's really not, especially with the

way LSU and Texas have been playing recently. We'll see Texas in their game against Florida this week, but LSU looks bad. They look very, very mid, and Texas A&M looks at least above mid. They've shown that they can win close games against good teams with that Notre Dame win, and Marcel Reed has been able to be clutch when it matters most. That's the type of stuff that I like to see. That's the type of stuff that makes me believe they really could do it. You have to go win in Columbia, Missouri. Now, as I've spoken about at length, Columbia, Missouri is a snake pit.

If a team comes into Columbia, they could get snake pit. Missouri can ruin playoff chances for bubble teams like Oklahoma. South Carolina, Alabama. There is no going out of there with your head held up high. Even if you win in Columbia, you're going to be sweating as you step out onto the bus. They are going to make you earn everything. And then to end the year,

you've obviously got to go win in Austin. That's a rivalry game. Anything can happen in the rivalry game. I don't think Arch Manning wants to lose to Texas A&M. Even if they do lose a game, maybe even too, as we're about to get into, the absolute chaos we have seen across college football's conferences

in the past couple weeks could clear the way for them to make a conference championship. I do love that in the SEC. I mean, normally that's more characteristic of the Big 12. Anyone can beat anyone, anyone, anyone plays everyone. But seeing that again in the SEC,

it doesn't feel like there's a dominant force like Alabama or Georgia have been the last couple decades that's just running the show. I mean, both of those teams already have a loss now. It is carnage, and it's going to continue to be carnage in the SEC. All of these teams have glaring weaknesses, except for maybe Texas A&M, but they've got to prove it.

This is the year they could prove it. But until they do, we're going to assume that they drop a game here or there. Yeah, right now, my pick for the SEC champion is Oklahoma. I think they're the most well-rounded team. I think they're the team that has shown the most. And especially if John Mateer's back, yeah, absolutely they're my pick. Mark, I love to hear it. The fact that we went from Is Texas A&M for real to Oklahoma will win the SEC

brings me joy as an Oklahoma fan, even though I don't necessarily think it's true. But I think at this point anything could happen because conference chaos is in full swing. So I'm going to ask you guys to take us through in your conference of choice. There's probably one or two teams that have their shot. Looking down their schedule, it's probably 60, 70% chance that they're playing in the conference championship. but the doors open for just about everyone else. Take us through your conference.

Tell us about the mayhem. It is wide open over here in the ACC. My beginning of the year pick, Florida State, is now 0-1 in conference. Let me take you through the current undefeated conference teams that would be Georgia Tech, Virginia, Duke, Louisville, Cal, and Virginia Tech. Somehow, Miami has yet to play an ACC game.

They get their opener against Florida State. here are my picks for who's going to win the ACC and why. I picked Florida State to win this game against Miami. I stand by that. I think that with a win against Miami, they'll be able to clear out the rest of their schedule. But that's not going to be enough because Georgia Tech has a cupcake schedule. They do not play Virginia, who is currently undefeated.

Virginia does not play Miami. They play Louisville, Washington State, North Carolina, Cal, Wake Forest, Duke, and Virginia Tech. They could easily lose. one of those games. By the way, you might be thinking Virginia has lost a conference game to NC State. No, they haven't. That game against NC State was scheduled out of conference somehow. So in the current ACC standings, Virginia is undefeated, and they could easily went out. That could be big. So let's assume Florida State beats Miami. Miami and Florida State both now have one loss. If Virginia and Georgia Tech run the table from here on out, a Florida

state team, probably in the top 10, by that point, who's beaten Miami, will not make the ACC championship game. When was the last time the ACC championship didn't have Florida State or Clemson in it? It's been over a decade. If that were to happen, does the ACC get four teams in the college football playoff? They could. With the way Florida State and Miami have played, if they make it out 10 and 2, their college football playoff team. They're. And they could easily make it out 11 and 1 each. If Virginia and Georgia Tech continue playing the way they've played, they don't drop any unexpected games. Even if they do, they've still got some tiebreakers.

My goodness. So Virginia does not play Miami. They do not. Their hardest remaining game is probably Louisville. We could legitimately see Virginia and Georgia Tech and the ACC championship game both undefeated in the ACC, Virginia would have the loss to NC State. supposing Virginia wins that game. One lost Virginia ACC championship in. Georgia Tech.

One lost ACC runner up. Probably in. Florida State. Have they run the table? Did they beat Miami? They're probably top 10 by this point. In Miami with their good wins. And what I believe is going to be very close game against Florida State.

Probably in. The ACC could legitimately see four teams in the college football playoff, which is phenomenal. but not what this segment is about. I think the point I'd like to drill into your heads is that the ACC championship game is wide open and Florida State does not have a path. Neither does Miami unless they both went out. All right, that is way more insane than the SEC.

I thought the SEC was getting crazy. Four ACC teams potentially in the college football playoff in any number of matchups in the conference championship. Can anyone compete with that? I don't know how anyone would compete with that. But you're Big 12. You've got probably Texas Tech in there for sure. For sure. And then it's a rat race between BYU and who else? BYU, there's just no way. They have the toughest schedule in the Big 12.

They play Iowa State, TCU, Arizona, Texas Tech, and Utah. They have such a difficult schedule. They would need to win. They need to only drop one of those remaining games. And that's just, it's not going to happen. So I'm going to have them out. They're going to take fifth. maybe six in the Big 12, unfortunately, just because they're such a tough schedule. I'm looking at Texas Tech, like you said, that should be a given. Then Utah and then Iowa State. Iowa State, they're their 5-0 somehow. It reminds me somewhat of a TCU team in 2022.

They just find a way to win. I don't really understand how it works. Houston is still undefeated at this point, but they just had a one-score game in overtime with 0-5 Oregon State. so I'm not that excited for them. As much as this should be more wide open, it's really not. It's Texas Tech, Utah, and Iowa State. And if those don't hit, it would have to be BYU

somehow making it through their schedule. I'm surprised TCU isn't in that conversation. Their schedule, what? They've got Iowa State and BYU left? And they have CENSI. Iowa State, CENCII, Houston, BYU, and Baylor. Baylor, you can't forget Baylor. That's true. That's true. Baylor has the leading passing passer in college football. So that, you can't forget about Baylor, but TCU just has too many,

too many tough games left. They already dropped one to Arizona State. They couldn't afford to drop another game. And they would have to beat Iowa State, BYU, Houston, and Censie. This just sounds like carnage. I was hoping the Big 12 could get multiple teams in. The way you're phrasing it to me right now, it sounds like it's just Texas Tech who's getting into the college football playoff, probably undefeated conference champions. Well, there's too many good teams playing each other. And we'll mean that's the story of the Big 12 always. But it's the same this year.

It's Texas Tech running the board and then roughly three to four teams who are each within each other's distance. So maybe one of those gets in. I think we'll see two Big 12 teams. I don't think we'll see any chance for more. All right. What about in the Big Ten, Patrick? Yeah, the Big Ten's interesting because.

it kind of all depends on next week, not this weekend, but the following weekend, because we look at Oregon. They're playing Indiana. Oregon does not see Michigan nor Ohio State. Ohio State and Penn State have a game coming up November 1st. Now, Michigan is the one that they could be, they're undefeated in the conference, are going to be playing USC, Washington, Michigan State, Purdue, Northwestern, Maryland. But I think Michigan has the chance to drop one game in conference play, which would then put them in consideration for the Big Ten Championship. So I see us realistically getting four, maybe five teams in the playoffs. Yeah, I'm actually going to push back on that a little bit. I absolutely could drop Penn State with two losses. But to number one and

number three in the nation? They have yet to beat a powerful opponent. And they've looked pretty terrible. With the amount of teams that could potentially go 10 and 2, you could realistically see Penn State drop, especially if there's noted aim, if there's an SEC team in there, if the ACC is looking as good as we estimate that will. The ACC puts in four or maybe there's a one-lossed teams in the ACC. A third big 12 team that ends up going 11 and 1 doesn't make the championship. Does that edge out, a Penn State team that doesn't have a good win? Yeah, and I think they lose to Indiana also.

But yeah, I mean, like we said, you know, there's a couple big 12 teams in there. The ACC could potentially produce four one-loss quality teams. But Lewis, what do you think about the SEC? Here's what I will say. I'll try and be quick about this. If you can go six and two in the SEC this year, you've probably got a spot in the championship game. At this point, the team that most likely has its tickets punched already is Ole Miss.

Their 3 and O'N. Conference, their remaining conference games are Georgia, Oklahoma, and then South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi State. It can drop two of those games, but if it wins the rest, in. The clearest path right now, Even with one loss in conference is probably Georgia behind Ole Miss. They've got Kentucky, Auburn, Florida, Mississippi State, and then their remaining ranked SEC opponents, Ole Miss, Texas.

What's Missouri looking like? Missouri does not have the easiest path, but they are 1-0 in conference right now. So their remaining ranked matchups are Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma. If it drops a game to Texas A&M, I think Texas A&M is going 6 and 2 in conference. So if they drop that,

they'll lose that tiebreaker. And then they've also got Alabama next week. I don't think they win that game that's in Tuscaloosa. Oklahoma, right now, I don't see them in the conference championship game with their remaining ranked matchups. They've got a gauntlet to run through. So they play Texas at the Cotton Bowl and then they go to South Carolina. They get Ole Miss at home and then they go to Knoxville, pack on up, get a bye week,

and head to Tuscaloosa, so that's Tennessee, Alabama, back-to-back weeks, and then they get Missouri LSU at home to finish out the year. That looks like 9-3 to me. If it's the right 9-3, they could have a shot at the college football playoff. If not, I definitely don't see them in the conference championship, let alone the college football playoff.

As good as this team is, a terrible draw as far as scheduling goes. The two teams that I don't believe have a shot at all right now are going to be Tennessee and Bama. It's just too many tough games left to play. That's where I'm going to have to leave it because we're going to have to get to the intentional grounding and once again be quick about it. Gentlemen, get the ball out of your hand, fair or foul, something that needs to be said before this next week of college football is played. What is it? The ACC will have multiple teams in the playoff this year and Clemson will not be one of them.

That's it. That's all I have. I don't know who it's going to be. I don't know whether Florida State's one of them. I don't know if Miami's one of them. There will be multiple teams. I'm guessing three. Clemson is not one of them. We all know this, but it's worth repeating

considering that they've been our candidate for so many years. But imagine telling someone that last year. Oh, yeah. ACC's going to have multiple bids. Clemson's not going to be one of them. SMU's not going to be one of them. No. Some revival is taking place. Payton, go ahead.

I want to get this off my chest. I just saw it before the show started, and it has me excited because this is fun. There is a solid. chance. Nebraska could finish 10 and 2 and not have a ranked win. They do not play a good team. Good, like Maryland is their top competition outside of Penn State remaining. They've got Iowa. Maryland is better than Iowa. They're going to drop one game. They've already

dropped to Michigan. So 10 and 2 for Nebraska still not winning a ranked matchup. Do you have any idea what I'm going to have to hear about at Thanksgiving. If Nebraska's like 9 and 2 at that point, unbelievable. Like, it could happen. Continuing on this train of Big 10, I think Michigan is going to finish the year off 11 and 1. And we're beating Ohio State because we're in Ann Arbor, electric. Justice Haynes is going to be the greatest thing since sliced bread, as he has shown already. And he's going to continue to be dominant.

I think that he is going to be a potential Heisman candidate. And I think that University of Michigan is going to come out of nowhere. If you went out 11 and 1, you will be in the Big 10 championship. Ohio State will not be. And you probably play Oregon and you just guaranteed yourself in the college football playoff. Yeah, I think that Michigan is going to be in the college football playoff. Guys, I only see two SEC teams in the playoff this year.

No way. I'm not sure which two they're going to be. but it looks like 9 and 3 across the board from every major contender. I know some of them aren't going to go 9 and 3, some of them are going to go 10 and 2 and playing the conference championship, and then someone's going to be 11 and 2, and someone's going to be 10 and 3,

and they're going to get their bids. With the way the rest of the college football world is shaping up, there's going to be a lot of 10 and 2s across the SEC, definitely across the Big 10. I could see some in the Big 12. I don't think a 9 and 3 SEC team is going to have a solid case to get in over at 10-2 Notre Dame, 10-2 Penn State, 10-2 Georgia Tech.

I think you're wrong there. Just from the fact that there are, what, 10 SEC teams ranked right now, that 9-3 is going to go very far. You're going to have a lot of good wins at 9-3, but especially if it's Georgia Tech, if they went 10-2. So we've all pretty much got Georgia Tech

making their way into the college football playoff. If it's Notre Dame, you know how much we? We love Notre Dame, how much the college football playoff committee loves Notre Dame, how big a brand Notre Dame is. A 10 and 2 Notre Dame team gets into the playoff. They are Notre Dame. SEC fan bases are going to be very angry.

They're going to be very angry. It just means more. Because it just means more. But the carnage that's going to unfold this year is going to claim many a bid for the college football playoff. I think it's two SEC teams. As much as I would love it. it to be four or five. I do think the SEC will have five, six of the best teams in the country,

certainly the top 15 teams in the country. They're not going to get to show it. A lot of them are going to get passed over for the college football playoff, and rightly so, because they're not going to look as good. That's just how it's going to be. I pick Penn State to win it all at the beginning of the year. I still think they will. I think they probably beat an SEC team in the national championship game. It's going to be a dark horse run, but Big Ten is going to claim another title. And I'm going to be sad. Thanks for tuning in, folks. We'll see you back here next week to talk about college football and nothing else. For Mark Ayers, Patrick Hamilton, and Peyton Hughes, I'm Lewis Thune. You're listening to Radio Free Hillsdale 101.1.1.7 FM, and this has been

the four-man front. Happy football.