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Hello everybody, and welcome to the Friday Night Drive Week five preview podcasts. I'm Josh Walge here with Stecie Taming here on Wednesday Night and Steve. I think I say it every week. I can't believe we're this far along, especially considering I covered a game last Saturday in darn near ninety degree weather. It felt like week one. Kind of wish it was week one, But we're here in week five, and it is an exciting time of year as we kind of hit the stretch run so field right now.
Yeah, it's always interesting. I mean I always feel like we get here really really fast because after this week. Fundamentally, I mean it's not technically true, but we're gonna have a handful of teams, you know, probably you know, sixty so teams that have effectively clinched a playoff berth after this week, if they get they managed to get to five and zero, because as we've talked about a great length, I don't think we're gonna have five win teams missing
this year. So if you get to five, you're in. And we're already going to have a group of teams that have effectively punched their playoff tickets. And it really seems like you know, we started a couple of weeks ago.
Yeah, yeah, it really does. But yeah, you mentioned that there's gonna be some teams that that will be clinching their their well become playoff eligible. Let's put it that way. That's kind of the way I always put it, playoff eligible. But I think they're going to be in a playoffs five wins this week. You touched on that a little bit in your playoff projections that if people haven't seen already, they dropped this morning Wednesday morning. Looks like a lot
of relativity in the bracket this week. But then again, as always there's a situation. It's as I was looking at it that you know, one team joins the playoff field and then it kind of throws everybody else for a little bit of a loop as you look at it.
Yeah, I think what happened a little bit this week was we had some small schools that ended up losing games that I didn't think that they would lose. And then what that led to, and what it almost always does leads to happening, is if you look at the teams that are that are going to be potential for win qualifiers, they tend to be from the larger classifications.
There are some that break that mold, but for the most part, they're from the larger classifications, and that's there's there's reasons for that, and I could go into a dissertation of that for about ten minutes, but the history of it shows that the teams that accumulate the most points tend to be from classifications for through eight A, with a heavier concentration towards six and eight aay school.
So when those small schools started losing, that left more bids open for four win teams this week than the previous week. They were bigger schools, so those bigger stools start going into the field, they start pushing those schools on the bubbles of all the classes down a class. And what you saw this week I thought was most notable. In six A you saw somebody like Quincy sliding into the six A bracket from the seven. Bradley Bourbone was another one. They're another team that has been in the
seven A bracket forever. But based on the the you know, kind of the the formation of who the two fifty six were this week, some of those schools that you're used to seeing in certain classifications started to get pushed down. We already saw it the week before with like Morris sliding to four. You saw Wilmington going back down to two. They're still very precarious, they're both they're sitting on those bubbles. I believe Morris is the largest tour right now, Wilmington
is the second largest two. But that's what we're going to see. We see the same teams on the bubbles all the time, but when you see small schools not coming through with those wins, it leads to larger schools getting in as four win teams and pushing everybody down.
You mentioned or you talked about teams on a bubble, and you know, obviously again teams that are four and er are gonna have a chance to pretty much flock up a bit this week. But then you look at the two and two's and the one and three's out there that have some work to do. And there's some leagues that there are a whole heck of a lot of those type of teams you touched on in your in your story today. The Kishwaukee River Conference they have
six too and two teams I believe. Yeah, there's gonna be a whole lot of a lot of stuff going on in the last five weeks of the season in that league.
You know, like I said, when we get into the conference season, somebody has to take those losses. It's all well and good if you do well in the non conference, but when you get into that conference schedule, especially in eighteen conference, four wins and four losses, that's the way it's going to be dispensed on a weekly basis. So you need to find yourself on the side of that ledger, you know, the right side of that ledger, as often
as you can. But if you are in one of these conferences that is jumbled like the Kishwaukee River is. Every single week, you're probably gonna have a team on the other side of the field that's in very much the same situation that you are needing that win really really bad, and that loss can be potentially extremely damaging in terms of getting yourself into the playoffs. So that league, and there are several others that are sitting right now.
There are one hundred and twenty schools in the state right now that have two wins and numbers a little higher than it usually is. But some of them are heavily concentrated in one conference. But there are some with six,
there are some with five, couple with four. You know, so those teams are all probably running into each other over the course of the rest of the season, and as we go along, those teams become three loss teams and maybe four loss teams, and they, I mean, that's just what that's just ultimately what's gonna end up happening. So I think there's gonna be a lot of chaos on that last night. I think what's gonna be weird is we usually have, you know, twenty or so games
where it's four and four against four and four. I think there's gonna be more than that this year, just because of that's the way the math is leaning.
What's your thoughts on chaos week nine Friday Night.
Oh, I think it's gonna be really high. I think it's I think it's gonna be real, real high. I think we're gonna have one of those situations because I think we're slowly getting people adjusted to the concept of we need four win teams in this playoff. But I think that I think that number is gonna end up being pretty high. So there's gonna be a lot of teams that have four wins after Week nine. They're gonna be like, do we have a chance or do we
not have a chance? And I think that's gonna be a very interesting thing to watch because Week nine always presents a lot of chaos, if you will. But I think this year we're gonna be in a situation where it's gonna be like, there's gonna be instead of there being like five to ten teams that are gonna be like, hey, can we get in? That list might grow to as much as twenty where it's like do we have a chance here? Do we have enough points? A point might
save you one way or another. I think that I think it's going to be really wild.
Mixed for a lot of anxious moments for coaches and players and whatnot. But you know, for fans, and I count myself as a fan even though I'm a I'm a writer. It's it's it's a lot of fun. I'm looking looking forward to the last few weeks in the season, you know, before we as we kind of look into week five and kind of reflect on the first four weeks. I want to bring in Michael duel Jack who covers the c cl E SDC for me U for us. Michael, how you doing tonight?
Okay, guys, how are you doing a little after Dark podcast?
Huh, little little little after Dark podcast? Exactly exactly, So thanks for joining us. See I touched Michael covers the CCL for us and Michael and your notebook. We this week you talked about some teams in that league that are four and also so far and maybe not you know, sort of the normal kind of cast, the characters that you would associate with. I mean, I know one of them at a really great run last year in the playoffs.
But but some of those other teams, you know, different, different group there.
Yeah, it's an interesting bunch. It's not your you know, your usual guys who are in it. Uh, for those of you who haven't you know, read the notebook. Obviously, I'm talking about Saint Lawrence, Ben and the Paul prep are the undefeated teams in the c C l C like we all kind of expected, right, but you know, for you know, when we're talking about Saint Lawrence, I feel like all these different stories are kind of interesting.
Where for Saint Lawrence, you know, they started, they made it to the four A title game, lost to Rochester and they lost a bunch of guys they lost, you know, and we got four returning defensive players, they got two returning offensive players, and you know, they started the season four no and you know, obviously you know they beat they beat Saint byder uh to pick up a fairly
good win, you know, a good rankable win. But listen, when you got so many new guys on the roster, it would be pretty easy for you to just say, well, you know, it's not gonna happen. It's easy to have a blimp in that kind of stuff. And Set Lawrence has kind of had a chip on their shoulder this year. And they're trying to prove that, you know that they're trying to build a program here I am neson is to continuously succeed. So they're off to a four and
oh start. Obviously, they were ranked number one in the AP four A POL so they've got tough fitting at that point. For de Paul Prepp, this is the first time ever the program has been four and o as the Paul prep I try to look back at the Gordon Tech records, but they only went back until nineteen eight ninety eight, so I can't go all the way back to the Gordon Tech days pre that to see when the last time they were four and oh. But for that program too, I mean, it's just a big
accomplishment for them to get to four and oh. A lot of good things are happening, a lot of good experience, they've got tough tests. They last five teams that they play are all ranked starting with Loyola. This stuff coming Friday, so it'll be tough sledding for a team that's trying to make it to the playoffs. And you know, for Bennett, you know, reaching four and oh for the first time
since twenty nineteen, they've been in four and five. For the past three days, they've been knocking on that door. They're trying to get trying to get through, and they got Mount Carmel this Friday, so that should be, Ah, that'll be an interesting test. But you know, for these programs, you know, it's it's fun just to kind of see these guys, you know, start off at four and oh. I got the same message every time talking to those coaches though, like they're not looking ahead or righty, they're
not looking at playoff earts or anything like that. They know they need to get that fifth win and they know it won't come easy in that c c L E SEC schedule.
Yeah, no, Benn, it's the program that's a lot of success really. You know, I've covered several o their playoff games over the years, but it seems like when they went to that Mega conference, they've just just just to grind. They they've struggled to put together the requisite wins to get to the playoffs. But so, I mean, at this point, looking pretty good for them. So good starts for those teams. Michael. Another story that you that you report on today, you know,
unfortunate Delasal suspending the rest of their football season. What did you learn there and what kind of effects does that have for the rest of the league over the last you know what five weeks of the season.
Yeah, it was a tough situation. I talked to you know, phili SLA head coach Harold Lackman. He's in his first year as their head coach, and I mean he just put it bluntly like they just don't have enough guys to play. You know, it just comes to a level where you just can't keep putting guys out, playing them both ways and not really giving them any rest or. You know, they started the year with twenty three players
on their varsity roster. Injuries got in the way. After Friday's lost in Marmion, they ended up with seventeen guys, and they just came to the decision as a school on Monday that listen, like it's it's in the best interest for everybody if they just you know, suspend the rest of the season. They're gonna play freshman football. Apparently those levels are pretty good, so they'll continue with that
for all the underclassmen coming back. They'll play, they'll do some you know lifting, they're gonna kind of work on, you know, kind of getting at the level that they want to get to and kind of prepare. It's a pre off season pretty much as coach Blackman talked about.
But yeah, it's tough news for you know, tough news for that program obviously, just you hate to see when a program doesn't have enough players, and it seems like it was kind of the right move for the program to just kind of be like, you know, be smart and put the kids interests ahead of everything else. And you just can't have guys playing both ways all the time and that getting rest or risking injury or anything like that. But for the rest of the teams, they
have five more game. They were supposed to have five more games. Friday's game was already a forfeit between Fenwick. They have Nazareth, Julie Kathlick, and I forget the other two off the top of my head right now, but those will obviously be forfeit wins for those teams as well.
So a lot of those teams already picked up a wins and obviously a tough situation, but phil a Cell coach Harold Blackman said that he was pretty confident that they would be able to field the team next year, just the way with things kind of went that they knew this was going to be a low year for them, and once those injuries kind of started to stack, copices became too much to deal with.
You mentioned the names Joey at Catholic and Nazareth, and then those are two teams are going to be, you know, meeting up this Friday, and you'll be there for that one. Obviously, the rematch of last year's class by the state championship game. Nazareth a lot of guys back from that team that were big parts of that team. Joey at Katholic. I'm gonna be honest, you probably know a lot more about
them than I do. I do know that they've been I don't want to say living dangerously or winning winning wild at the end, but they've had some you know, kind of close finishes the last couple of weeks. You know, what do you think about that matchup?
You can say that they've been they have been living dangerous, ye and they won by one point in overtime against Marist on Friday with the mixed mixed extra point. There should be a fun matchup. I don't you know, it's funny because Nazareth is obviously pretty much bringing at a majority of its team from last year's state title game. A lot of linemen are back for Juliet Katholick, but a lot of the skilled players and a lot of the guys that you know, we saw a little bit
last year when the h J Grisby got a little hurt. Obviously, we saw some depth in that in Arab Dards, we saw some of those guys kind of step into that scenario. But it should be a fun matchup. It's honestly the best CCL E SEC matchup of the week. You've got obviously the two highly ranked teams in their respective classes. Obviously, then I feel like a lot of a couple of teams that want maybe want to prove something obviously just
to get a crossover win over here. Nas obviously was off to a good three and one start, very different from the last couple of years. But I think, you know, it feels like they want to pick up a you know, kind of a statement win to start the year where you know, obviously they fell to Mount Carmel by a couple of scores, and I feel like this could be a good test for them just to kind of show you know where they are at this point, and you know how talented they can get to this point and
pick up a pretty marquee win. And you know, for Julia Kathock being able to be Mariss, I think you can't really have you know, you can't really you know, be like, well we just be Maris, we can be Nasreth. Obviously, they're gonna head into that matchup, you know, prepared for a tough battle, and they probably want another marquee when to kind of add to their resume. So it should
be a really fun matchup. But I think it'll test some you know, some some interesting skills obviously with the strong line that Julia Katholck has and some skill players against mass obviously size and their skill players. So that should be a really fun matchup in the Breage Park on Friday.
You know, what are some of the other matchups that you're looking at. I know you touched on some of the unbeatens like de Paul Preppen Bennett. They're respectfully playing Loyal on Mount Carnial this week, so those will be tough tests. And then another one that I saw, I mean, you know, Providence sitting two and two plays Saint Francis, you know, big one for them. You know what, what else are you looking at this week?
I think that's pretty much the matchup that I'm looking at this week. It's one of those crossover weeks where you got you got the Blue playing the Purple and then you got the White playing the reds. So some you know, some maybe mismatches here and there, but listen, you know that that is very ripe for a lot of blood debate, David and Goliath moments and you know, upsets in that side of stuff. And that's obviously what makes high school football interesting. And I am curious to
see how Bennett competes against Mount Carmel. Talking with coach Patrick Knew, he said that he was curious to see, you know, when they're at their best, how they are against Mount Carmel, who he considers one of the best teams in the Midwest. And for the ball Prep against Loyola, that'll be a really interesting matchup as well, just to kind of see how the Paul Prep matches with Loyola and how Loyola kind of tries to build off their brother Rice. But but yeah, Saint Francis in Providence should
be really interesting Providence in at two and two. Right now, Saint France is coming off that scene rita loss, I would I wouldn't say it's obviously not a must win game for either of these teams, but I do feel like it's a it's a good win for if either of these teams win these games. I feel like it's a boost win, you know what I mean, where you're just kind of like, okay, like I'm starting to get confidence in you and I'm starting to see things for you.
And obviously, you know, if Saint Francis falls down to three and two, not you know, people are going to be chumping ship or any human calf. But you know, it is it is a tougher situation for Providence to jump out of two and three and then jumping back into Division play the next week. So you know, it's
not a best win game. But I do think that both of those programs are going to be looking for bounce back wins just to kind of you know, pick up another mark you win and try to you know, scratch another win as they try to get the five here.
I think the interesting thing about Providence's situation is this end, this starts a significant road gauntlet for them with Saint Francis. It's followed up with a road trip to Marist, and then they've got a Saturday afternoon date in Loyola. So I'm actually kind of the opinion that this is kind of a must win for them, just looking at that schedule, and you have to consider that they close the season with Joliet Catholic, So absolutely no joke on the back
half of this Providence schedule. So for them to be sitting at two and two, they got to find they got to find, you know, at least at least one out of those those four games that I just mentioned, and probably two. So it's just as as good to try to get one here then to put it in the hands of oh, I've got to go up to will Met and beat Loyola, or I've got to go
up to Marist and beat Marist. So I mean, I think they I think ultimately if they finish four and five, they're obviously going to have a treasure trovel playoff points. But I think this is pretty close to him must win for Providence.
Yeah, I think we'll learn a lot about them too, right, I think we'll see, you know, obviously We've seen the highlights of Gavin Hagen. He's obviously one of the top players in the state. But I do want to see more, you know, from the offense and the defense, honestly, just to kind of get a good grasp it because we're
you know, we're almost halfway through. Obviously we'll be passed a halfway point and Providence is definitely a school and I'm kind of curious just to kind of see, you know, who are we at this point, and you know, how far Canadas team really goal day warming, you know, have a deep postseason run like they have in the last couple of years.
Michael, thanks again for joining us.
Uh.
Michael Jorge back covers the CEC l E SEC for Friday Night Drive again and check out his notebook. It's on Friday Night Drive dot Com today and he'll be at the Nazareth and enjoyed Catholic game Friday. Michael, thanks a lot for joining us.
Yep, he have me go on guys, you too, Hey, football fans, listen up.
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Uh, Steve, As I look outside of the lead that Michael was discussing, the that maybe stands out. As I was looking at some of the top Week five games, it seems like it's in the Foxfy Conference. It's sad matchup. You're always like a right, when does Prairie Ridge play Kerry Grove? Well, it's this week? What do you think about that matchup?
Yeah, And it really feels like this year, more so than maybe some other years, is those two have really kind of separated themselves from the rest of the pack. Usually maybe you've got another team kind of nipping at their heels or maybe kind of in there. It really feels like Carry Carry Grove and Prairie Ridge are clearly the class of this of this conference this year. So you know, it was already it was already interesting coming
to the season. This carry Grove, you know, maintain what they were able to do last year, you know, and finishing off and winning another six A title. Will Prairie Ridge keep the same standard that they did with a coaching change in the offseason. It really kind of looks like they have. I mean, both of these two teams are trying to position themselves as well as they possibly can. Carrie Griven the six A bracket Prairie Ridge and the five A bracket. You know, it's a pivotal game in
regards to that. But it really looks like this is ultimately probably going to decide this conference of the conference title here in week five. I mean, that's a little early to be saying, Okay, I think we've probably won the conference championship tonight, but it sure kind of looks like that on paper.
So a league that will definitely not be decided in Week five that's been darn impressive through the first four weeks has been the Mid Suburban West. I mean, my goodness, they have four undefeated teams a fifteen Palatine is three and one, and the one game that sit out to you and stands out to me from Week five is Hoffman Estate's playing at Frem Frem. They got the quarterback that's going to Northwestern. But they've really been at They've been an eye opening team the first four weeks of
this season. You know, what do you think about that matchup and what do you think about that league? I mean, it's been as impressive as any league the first four weeks of the season.
Well, I mean you usually look at that league in the past, it's Barrington and then it's everybody else. And maybe maybe Palatine slips into the conversation a little bit there. You know, being four and oh a pretty big surprise. Schomberg being four and oh an even bigger surprise. Hoffman Estates is a team that is not being talked about at all right now. But this is a program that has been pretty successful. They've they've made a couple of
round advancement in the playoffs. They're just kind of looking at that radar and just flying right underneath it. And it wouldn't surprise me a lot if they came out and won that game on Friday night and moved to five and oh, that would not surprise me. I do think that's gonna be a very good game. I think we're gonna be talking about this league and the construct of Oh, all three of those games are good this week.
I mean, I think that's gonna happen a lot. I mean, we're just just gonna have a lot of teams in there that I mean, at the end of the year, you know, maybe Barrington runs the table. Maybe they don't. I don't know, but I think that's more in question than it's been in a while. I think I feel like maybe maybe there's an opportunity or maybe two opportunities for Barrington to get picked off in league play. And in the past you really been able to say.
That, yeah, that's the league that I mean, a lot of good teams and my good they just score crazy points every week, let's be honest. I mean, those are games that when I look to read this the game story, you know, at eleven thirty twelve at night, I'm not surprised when it's fifty to forty nine. I'm not surprised when the quarterback throws a five hundred yards. That's just the way they play footballup there.
Yeah, it really is. And it's and the funny thing is about it, too, is that they usually have some pretty good defensive players too. It's not like they're just laying down on defense. They've got some defensive players. It's just they've got such exceptional offensive offensive players that you know that they're gonna put up points like that, and it's it's very interesting to see how that that develops on a year.
To your basis, another matchup to the West with another team that's been I'm gonna say a bit of a surprise so far. Kaitlin is off to a four to noh start. But now they play Morris and Sycamore back to back in Interstate eight, and Morris and Sycamore, that's that's what the bread is butter in that league. You know, Morris as a loss already, but I'm you know, it's just one loss as to Peoria, I believe, but they've been putting up some huge points. You know, what do
you make out of that matchup? I think we'll warn a lot more about Caitlin, But even if they weren't able to get a win, I still feel pretty good about them so far.
Yeah, I feel kind of good about both of these two teams. Like you said, Morris does have a loss, but oh yeah, they scored fifty points in that game too. I mean, so it's like even in a loss, they're they're still doing a lot of good things. And they played a really good team in Peoria. I mean, that's that's being really clear that they that's a good football team. So, you know, looking at this conference, I think there's gonna be a lot of a lot of rock fights here.
But I think this is one where we're gonna find out. I think we're gonna find out a lot more about Kanelan than we I think we know more about Morris right now. We know what to expect and and Morris is kind of like, hey, they're kind of the king of this group until proven otherwise in my mind. So I mean, Caitlin might take a good shot at him, but for me and until someone knocks them off the top of that mountain, it's still Morris's league until someone proves otherwise.
So yeah, obviously a lot of leagues are starting conference play, well, if they haven't already, they're starting this week. And oneed that you and I are pretty familiar with the Southwest Prairie Conference. Plainfield norths is at Oswego this Friday. As we goes off to a great start, you know if eight Days a little bit more wide open than maybe people thought. I don't know, maybe maybe it's not. They've kind of established themselves as a team to kind of
look out for. But Plainfield North those are always good games when they play each other, and sometimes they are rock fights. It might be this week because they both like to play good defense. I don't know what's your thoughts in that league in general.
In that match, I think that it's kind of an interesting thing that I think we're going to have to take a couple of weeks to figure out, because, you know, with the addition of Bowling Brook in that conference, I don't think this is as strong a Bowling Berk team as maybe would have gotten a couple of years ago if they would have came into the league. But I still think they're interesting in some ways, and I don't know how they really blend with a lot of these teams.
I mean a few years ago when it was a different Bowlingberg team, and I think a better bowling Berg team, to be completely honest with you, they worked over Minooka at a non conference game, so I don't know how they transition into this league. I'm still kind of I mean, and you can speak to this maybe better than I can. I'm still kind of confused on what I'm gonna get from Yorkville on a night to night basis Oswego East.
I think it's a solid football team, but I think maybe the rigors of this conference might be a little too much for them to get to the five win platzau. You know, Monooka is off to a really good start. They're four and zero. The competition level hasn't been really good so far, so I don't really know how good they are. You know, they had to squeak out a win, you know, against a team that I don't really know is that strong either, So it's hard to tell exactly
where they're at in the grand scheme of things. I really like Osuego a lot. I like where their defense is at, but Plainfield North is tricky. You try to count them out. You might look at their stats and say, well, they don't have a standout offensive guy or whatever. They're
starting to piece some things together there. I mean, it's that their quarterback is starting to play a little bit better, They're getting a little bit of work on the ground game, and they're always going to be good defensively, and I know that's that's the crux of what Anthony and Bordino believes over there. He's like, I'm gonna put my guys on defense and we'll figure it out on offense. And while that sounds a little wild, sometimes it's worked for
this program. I mean they they're perfectly content to try to beat you ten to six. I mean they're all right with that, and they play that way, so they're comfortable in that. So it should make for an interesting kind of field combat between them and Oswego because Oswego likes to lean on their defense too. I think they're a little bit more capable on the offensive side of
the ball. The point good North is right now, but when you have two good defenses going together, maybe it just one or two plays and it turns the tide.
So and I mean interesting game and playing for North is battle. I mean they stepped down. They played lockpart in your first two weeks of the season. They played good teams. I mean in that league though, I mean we talked about teams that have a lot of two and twos. They got four two and two's in that league that it can be scratching. And Klawn to get to that four or five wins. You know, the second half of the year should be it should be very
interesting in that lead to watch the second half. Uh, you know, before you get out of here, I want to maybe touch on any you know, kind of smaller school games that stand out. I know Piatone and col City is a good one. Uh. You know, what are you looking at this week?
You know, it's surprising that we when we look at, you know, the four and o's that are left in the state, there's only eight games statewide that are pitting a four and oh against a four and oh. That's a pretty low number. I mean, there are some interesting games. We've already talked about a couple of them in that
four and oh four and oh group. You know, I think there's some other ones that are kind of floating around out there, maybe not so much small school, but just like trying to kind of maybe get a better grasp on like where these teams really fit. You know, I look at like a Naperville Central Lincoln Way West game. That's a game that it like has never really happened before. Because we've got this new conference alignment. I think both
of those two teams are pretty good football teams. I think Naperville Central's ahead of them, but how far ahead of them all day? I mean, I don't know. Maybe maybe I'm totally wrong. Maybe Lincoln Way West will get them. And I think that that Southwest Valley is creating a lot of matchups that you would have thought maybe these two teams met before, but they haven't. I mean, it's it's creating a lot of these new interesting games. I mean,
Lockport is playing Naperville North. I'm gonna be honest with you, on paper, that looks like a total toss up. So I mean, but it's creating a lot of these interesting matchups with these teams that used to be in to Do Page Valley and the teams that used to be in the Southwest Suburban. Then maybe maybe ten years ago they met in a non conference game, but they've never really played each other before. It's creating a lot of permutations that I think are really interesting.
Yeah, that's definitely a lead. I'm kind of keeping an eye on as the season wears on, just to see, like you said, how these teams kind of match up because they've never really seen them on the football field together. And they got good programs, but they've just coming from different directions, so it should be fun to watch, you know, before we get out of here week five, if you want to put a bow on it, you know, what does week five mean? And what are you going to be looking for on Friday night?
Well, I mean, obviously the teams that are gonna, you know, get themselves to five wins. The expectation is once you get to five wins through five weeks, you've got your sets set on a higher goal. So while that's impressive, that's not where my focus is going to be this week. We talked about it a little bit earlier. For me, it's all about that to win group. It's all about those teams in there, which side of the ledger you on.
If you fall on the wrong side of that ledger this week, take a loss, drop the two and three. You know, to get to five, you've got to finish three, and you've got to finish at least three and one. And you know, some of these teams that might drop the two and three this week three and one will be real difficult with what they have of their remaining schedules. So for me, it's the fight to stay above that
five hundred line. If you can, if you can stay above it, you put yourself in really good shape the rest of the way. Basically, just got to play five hundred ball the rest of the way to get to five. But if you fall below it, boy, it gets real tricky for you. I mean. And then just kind of keeping an eye on those one in three teams that are that you expect better from, like are is it is it gonna be a disaster? And are they gonna drop the one and four? I mean, that's really what
it comes down to. So I think those are what those are what I'm gonna be looking at real with a lot of interest this week. The top teams are gonna take care of themselves when they've gotten when they've got to four and other through you know, they get that five and zero, that's an accomplishment. I'm not gonna dispute that. But for me, in terms of constructing what I think the playoff field is going to look like, the interest level is definitely with the two and two's.
Yeah, that's the thing is that the must win games might not be the Week nine games. They might be the Week five or Week six games. Week nine, you might be paying playing a team that you know that you're either gonna beat Handley or lose Handy two. But there might be that game that is a toss up in week five or week six that you got to get and there's a lot of good ones like that out there.
Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more on that sentiment. That's definitely a situation that I'm noticing. When I'm looking at I'm like going, well, you know, I hate to call a week five game a must win, but when you start looking at what's after week five, you can get a handle on games that I feel like are probably a must win. I mean, it's not technically a must win because there's the only the only teams right now that are in muscle waring situation are zero and fours.
I mean that to be completely honest. But if you're a one in three with you know, three games on the back half of your schedule, they are going to be challenging, then Week five might neil must win for you. I mean, that's that's the reality of the situation.
Thanks everybody again for joining the Friday Night Drive Week five preview podcasts. Again for everyone, make sure to look out for Week five previous They're gonna be on Friday Night Drive dot Com on Thursday and Wednesday and Thursday, and then Steve will be back on Friday Night with Matt Rudofald rat Roodowald from nine thirty to eleven as a break everything down, and then we'll be back here next week. So again for Steve Susci, I'm Josh Welgy. You have a good week everyone.
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