The volume all of these college football reactions presented by JLab. I'm wearing my JLab earbudge right now. They're awesome. They have the best audio products in the game. They're ready to take care of you this football season. Okay, whether you're traveling to watch your favorite team play or just streaming the game at home. Find the Blue Box. That's how I first found it at an airport Logan Airport in Boston. Find the Blue Box at Walmart, Target Best
Buying more, or just visit JLab dot com. Their price points really good. All right, it's time for our Sunday collaboration. John Middlecoff, former NFL scout with the Philadelphia Eagles, has a three and Out podcast. All right, let's talk college football. The twelve team playoff has come out. Listen, Let's get the one thing out of the way. I think Bama is better than SMU, but Bama doesn't have an argument. I watched them get completely shelled against a Oklahoma team.
It was two and six in conference with like a minus seventy nine point differential in conference. Oklahoma was a bad team and they got I mean literally an overrun by them. So I don't have any problem again, that regular season has to mean something. Yes, Bama's beaten more good teams. If BAMA got in, I wouldn't lose any sleep if SMU did not. But I felt the same way both ways. I would have taken probably Abama, but SMU after a really hard fought loss, kind of felt
like the move. And I also think, listen, Bama's not consistent enough to be a national champion. SMU's not going to be a national champion. SMU may be a better story, It's better for the sport big picture. I don't think anybody on the heels of Alabama's you know, fifteen year dynasty is losing sleep because they don't get in.
I don't disagree. But if I was part of the SEC, here's what I would say. College football I mean, based on the numbers, has never been more popular. Yeah, like more people consistently have never watched more and the SEC ratings have been insane. So we are carrying the popularity of this sport as a conference and have carried the sport really for a long time now, and we only get three teams in. That's where you can just see them, even if it is justified as it is in this situation.
All these teams Ole Miss lost to Kentucky. If any of these SEC teams is ten and two, they are easily in over SMU. We all agree, yeah, but like we want guarantees. And this is where I think college football is gonna go. If, like, if I'm the big ten who like the SEC is carrying college football with the ratings, the ACC is simply not like I want to know, because getting into the playoffs is very financial viable for the conference, right right, That's the same thing
with the NCAA tournament. And now we only get we only get one difference, like the difference of us in the SEC and the ACC is one team. That seems crazy. I watch an unhealthy amount of college football. The gap between the change is Grand Canyon wide. So even if you could justify it records and everything, that's a big picture problem for me. If I'm Greg Sank, yeah, I got it. We need some assurances. And this is where, like the NFL, you know, what do tiebreakers go? Conference record?
It's impossible to do tiebreakers and everything in college football because the SEC goes my eight and four, what is that worth in the in the ACC? And I ten and two in the acc like by Big twelve. Arizona State's an incredible story. What would their record be if I put them playing LSU, Bama Ole Miss Arkansas?
You know.
So it's it's not apples d apples at all. And that's the hard part. I think we all agree on that, even if we go, yeah, SMU deserves it, but it's like it's a little out of whack. Now it's first year. I'm not going to complain that much. I don't feel that bad. And I think the committee wanted Alabama because I do think Alabama. The needle moves a little more when you got Alabama playing because whose SMU is playing? Penn State? Alabama? Penn State is just a better television product, isn't it.
Yeah. So here's the one that really cracked me up. So the regular season. The committee said, the regular season matters. We're not going to give Bama three losses, two of which are Mulligan's Vandy in Oklahoma. But yet in Oregon has the most impressive regular season and arguably the most impressive championship game performance. George is up there as well. They get the winner of the Tennessee Ohio State game, which is a team capable of winning the national championship,
then they could face Texas than Georgia. How did Penn State get an easier route? They lost at home to Ohio State and got hammered by Oregon. I think they have now they play another game. I think they have a much easier route than Oregon. I thought Oregon kind of got hosed.
Yeah to me, them copying the basketball bracket where you're forced to play team instead of the NFL bracket where you receive by the round. Yeah, me, you gotta change football wise, receps d Yes, because Oregon has the only undefeated team. Clearly, if you just watch.
The best and the second best conference.
And they get stuck with Ohio State Tennessee, that seems pretty outrageous. I thought so, because if they could pick the opponents, I think there's a decent chance that Ohio State would be the last opponent they would want to play. Yeah, maybe Notre Dame. Second Tennessee would be high up there too, like the SMU's the Clemsons. You gotta receid. Now, this is where I'm not going to freak out.
Year one name.
You gotta figure it out. But you cannot keep this. How can Boise and ASU potentially get easier opponents than Oregon.
Well, I mean that's Penn State.
Now. I think they would say Oregon's gonna play the Rose Bowl, like that's where their game is gonna be. I think in the like their home game, so that you know it's kind of regionality. But playing Ohio State potentially, that's that's pretty different.
And Ohio State will fill half that stadium. I mean Penn State gets SMU and Boise State, I mean potentially, it's like Jesus, they the biggest game of the year at home. They lost to Ohio State, and I mean they they they got pushed around. I mean they could not stop Oregon. I just thought Penn State and I understand punishing. If you flip Penn State and Ohio State in the playoff, I'd be I think it's it's more
fair now Ohio State. Again, the Michigan loss was not only bad, not only at home, but it made you question the entire program. Like when when Penn State lost to Ohio State, you didn't question the program. You're like, well, Ohio State's better that that that Michigan. I mean, listen, if you want to ask yourself who who's getting punished. It's Ohio State. I think Tennessee is the sleeper national championship. Picking this thing.
I was. I thought Herbstree had a good point during the show when they released the bracket of you know, Ohio State, maybe would rather go on the road because a couple early three and outs, maybe you're down seven to than ten. Nothing that place will turn on your fast because that group's edgy. That group's already pissed off,
like in a weird way at ten and two. Hosting a playoff game is a major disappointment, you know, watching that game last night, I thought it was so insane that Clemson is now in the playoffs and Miami's just long gone, even though it all season. Miami it was like a top five or six team. And then Penn State. By takeaway with Penn State, Oregon's tough, and that's their skill group is better top to bottom. I think Penn State has their front seven full NFL guys. Yes, best
tight end in the country. They have a one to two running back combination. Quarterback a little all over the map, but he is extremely talented. And you saw a couple of passes. Yeah, whoa, that's a top ten pick, and then you saw a couple other passes, You're like, that's a sixth rounder. But you never really know what you're gonna get with them. But they have a lot of
talent on their team. Like to me, if the quarterback has a B plus a minus game, if they could play with most anyone in this in this tournament, I'm with you on Tennessee. Their defensive line is really good. Yes, And what's Ohio State's problem right now? Well, if they're offensive, they's had a guy Terry Achilles. They missing audit here. That could be a rough I'm telling you that place could start boosting. It's like ten nothing in the second cord.
The weather forecast for this weekend in Columbus is forty degrees. And what it's not playing to a finesse down the field team, So Will Howard, who's been hot and cold in big games. It's forty degrees. The pressure's on. You'll be favored and Tennessee d line and Ohio State online. If you're forced to run the ball against Tennessee that's got a seventeen thirteen field to it, that's not gonna be a high scoring game in my opinion.
One thing that's going to be you know, for the most part, in college you get a couple and you hammered this home when they went. When the West Coast team's got in the big ten. There aren't as many cold weather games as you think. In the NFL there are. Why they play all December through January. Yeah, college football usually ends home games the last week in November and then they go to warm weather bowls.
That's right.
So's that's where this changed because they don't. They're they're playing in two weeks, right, and it's Friday night, Saturday Night at South Bend and at Ohio State, which makes sense. I mean, two of the biggest brands. Those gonna get huge ratings. Plus the NFL plays Saturday, so it gets a little loss in the shuffle, you know, like Texas. Uh, the Texas game and the Penn State game are going up against like Raven Steelers, so you know, but those
two night games are gonna be by themselves. It could be really cold, yep. I mean it's so it's gonna have one thing with playoff football, even with the best teams, it's usually not thirty five to thirty scores, right, It's usually lower scoring. You can't you can't feel your hands. I mean, you could have a game in two weeks at Ohio State with it. Couldn't it be twenty seven degrees or Notre Dame. It could be freezing cold.
Okay, let's talk Clemson at Texas. I really like Texas in that spot, but I'm watching that game against Georgia. Georgia gets their quarterback knocked out and suddenly forced to run. In the second half. They found their run gig there was when they went to overtime and the Texas series they do they throw the ball out of the end zone, then they do a fade pattern and then they throw it out in the flat against you know, Georgia's linebackers
and corners or NFL guy. I mean, Georgia's got a first round safety, a first round corner, first round defensive end. It's like, you're not going to beat in the flat. You're not going to be Georgia. For the last eight years, I thought for an offensive coach, sark I hated the overtime Texas play calling. I thought it was awful.
Listen, I've been one of his biggest critics. I will defend him. I don't think he trusts his quarterback at all. And I don't blame him because I don't think he's very good in that game when actually he wasn't playing that bad and Georgia was a little show shocked. Instead of being up seventeen to three, it's six to three. And then as the game went on, I thought, yours became much more to who he's kind of become this season. Is very very averaged. Yes, and he's just not an
explosive player. He's not a good playmaker.
Is a former scout, You're nailing it when I watch him. He's not an explosive player.
No, he's just he's not a playmaker. Like you watched one thing Bryce Young his comeback story. He's starting to make play. Yes, right, most decent quarterbacks can make throw a slant route or an out route from the pocket. But half the plays you're gonna have to scramble, you're gonna have to move, you're gonna have to throw in the run, you might have to break a tackle, and you watch quinn Ewers. He cannot do any of that. So as the game goes on, what does George do?
The guests are getting pressure on him, he starts getting sacked. He's not a very dynamic guy. Carson Beck like one thing, when the other guy, Gunner Stocked and what a credible name by the way, comes in. He is so mobile that he can just keep plays alive. They don't have that. Texas does have that with Archie Manning. Now. I don't know if Sark believes he's as good of a passer right now as Quinn yours. Clearly by not playing him,
you've already paid Quinn the nil. But I think they have no shot to win the National championship with him at quarterback. You remove him if every team just has the same quarterback, like whatever, every if you put all twelve teams equal quarterback, Texas has as good of a chance to win the National Championship as anybody. You watch Oregon last night, That little quarterback look like Tua did at Alabama. I mean, some of the throws he was making.
It's like this guy is playing quarterback in college better than all these guys.
Yeah, yeah, I think, And that's.
A huge advantage. Obviously. Oregon has really good skill guys, better than Georgia. You watch Bowers, I mean he's making they missed Bowers and mconkey but still Dylan Gabriel right now is playing the best at quarterback for all these teams, even though Georgia Texas like they have a bunch of talent, but their quarterback plays shitty.
Yeah, And it's it's really interesting. When I watched Georgia, they have an incredible defensive lineman Mikale Williams. They have a great safety. When I watched Georgia, I mean they're running backs last night. They're bringing in second, third, fourth, they are running that second half. It was violent. They are running over guys.
You know.
With Texas, I know they have a bunch of good players, and Kelvin Banks, who got hurt, is a really really good tackle. But it's funny. When I watched Michigan win the Natty last year, they had Will Johnson at corner, Mason Graham, Blake Korham, JJ McCarthy. They had about six players that even in a game against Ohio State, You're like, wow, those are great players. Georgia's national championship teams, it can be Pickens, Rock Bowers, Lad McConkey, it can be one
of you know, Jalen Carter, Jalen CarKey. Yeah, in Bama, Ohio State has four or five guys like that many receiver the Caleb Downs for Oil State, the kid they got from Bama. He'll be the number one pick next year. He's an insane generational talent. When I watched Texas, this is weird, John. They got a bunch of good players. But I watched that offense and I'm like, they have good backs, they have good receivers. I don't see a lot of wow. And I know it's a really good roster.
But if you look at National championship teams Michigan last year, Georgia teams, you know, when Clemson was winning, you'd have like a Mike Williams, you'd have a Trevor Lawrence, you'd have a linebacker that you're like, oh, okay, that's different. Even in the game against Bama, that players different. Atm the running back for Clemson. You know, Yeah, I look at Texas and I know this sounds crazy because their recruiting has been great, but I just don't see enough wow.
I see very good everywhere. But they couldn't score against Texas A and M. They can't move the ball against George in the first half. That's with Sark and an NFL quarterback and the best left tackle in the sport.
Yeah, they should be able to run the ball better. Number twenty six. I mean he should average like one hundred yards a game. I mean that's one element. I mean I think sometimes the depth this gets back to these top teams are not ten deep, Like they don't go you know, back to back. Their backup offensive line are not future pros. And that's where I think when you look at these former teams, Clemson in their heyday and the late teams beating Alabama, they were going too
deep with pros getting drafted. Yes, Saban's team forever the last of Kirby, like this version of Kirby's teams relative to the back that don't even have anything in common, right. I think Michigan's team last year would easily win the National Championship again.
The easily even Washington last year that lost in the Natty. I mean you were looking at Roma Dunze, Michael Pennix, their receiving corps, up and down, the receiver they had, they had a right tackle and an interior offensive lineman. You were like, you could just tell this is like eight really good players.
Team was real. And I think is that a little bit. Why you know, at first I thought Belichick was just interviewing with North Carolina to just you know, it's like the guy who's trying to impress the girl and brings a girl another girl of the party to get people to notice them. You just want to show NFL teams like hey, I'm talking to people. And then you start reading like what if he realizes it actually might be
a little easier in college because the parody is there. Yeah, and it's not like I'm not a huge disadvantage most of the time. And you watch in college football, like, like you said, Tennessee is a good value, you could say Notre Dame. If the quarterback just said all these teams, would it shock you, like infery Oregon is the best team. But then you look at the bracket. How hard it's gonna be? Like I don't take Boise and ASU seriously.
I expect both of them to get knocked out. But I would say, if all the the SEC and the big tent like Indiana, there'll be one and done. But I think, you know, Georgia could win.
Any game, could lose anything. Same.
Texas could easily be like I could see them look like shit Yeah, who knows. I mean, I think it's all on the table, which makes this tournament pretty intriguing. Maybe the transfer portal in the NIL spreading out makes the twelve team brack even that much more intriguing because back in the day, you put a Pete Carroll USC a Nick Saban their heyday, they would kick the shit out all these teams.
Yeah, wouldn't even be fun.
Yeah.
No, I think that's the benefit of the transfer portal is that nobody has depth, even the top teams. Just you lose a left tackle at Ohio State, then you move a guard to left tackle. Then your interior alignment gets hurt, you get weak, you get you have a unit that has a liability very quickly in college football.
Now do you think I haven't heard your take on the Belichick North Carolina? Well, do you think that's more just trying to prove or do you think there's some real substance behind that.
I think he wants to get his son the job, his son's at Washington. I think he wants to get his son a head coaching job. And I think Bill is so big on the East Coast. People out west don't care, but people out east do I don't think he would have to have an incredibly young collegiate staff, which I'm not sure he has the patience for. I just don't know if he has the patience. You know, Bill was always the grinder. It was always sacrificed for
the team. Shit, kids aren't sacrificing now, they'll bounce in a second. Now do I think schematically I mean, Charlie Weiss was schematically excellent. He just couldn't recruit. He just didn't want to get out there. Bill's not gonna you know, Bill will do some private jet stuff, but Bill's not going to be on the road. He views himself as he should, as a different level. I don't Andy Reid again as a funnier guy, a more social guy. I don't think he'd want to be on the road recruiting.
Did you see Albert Berr's report about how many homes Deon Sanders has been in the last eighteen months?
Huh?
Zero? Because in this day and age, they used to have rules, Like when I worked at Fresno State, only like six or seven of your guys were eligible to go recruit and go into someone's home. Now there are no rules. Anyone you could hire a recruiting staff, you know, former players that just go recruit you. You don't have
to go into homes anymore. And it makes sense like when I saw the technically had like an early recruiting signing day a couple of days ago, right, and some of these kids were saying, like, you know this guy just recruited me. No, you got paid the most money. It's the game has completely changed. And maybe Bill who views it much more from a strategic business mindset of like, hey, if you give me ten plus million in nil funds,
I feel I have a pretty good idea. I can bring a couple of my guys from the NFL to figure out how to allocate this pie. I'll pick the players. And maybe he've used it much more cause it is it has much more of an NFL feel now. The difference is like when I sign you to a three year deal, you're under contract, right. You know in college, these guys, as someone texts me around college, he's like, if you've noticed some of these random teams and I didn't.
Did a kid just won't play the last couple of weeks. You know, on a team that's like gonna be six and six, they'll just be sick. Yeah, well they're transferring. Yeah, and they'll just go to the coach on Wednesday or Thursday of like week eleven when the team's not going anywhere, and like, coach, I just don't feel great. I'm out. And that's happening all over the Yeah before, I mean,
that guy would just keep playing. I said this before about like Kyle McCord transferring in the history of the sport, Kyle McCord just would have been Ohio State's quarterback again. And what if he just would have taken the next step and all of a sudden, Ohio State was twelve and zero in the number one seed. But instead they kick him out. Everyone's so quick to move. We're in the NFL. Sometimes you just have to keep a guy
because you drafted him high and get he improves. Yeah, and now in college, you know, coaches and players are just so quick to like point the finger at the other guy and bounce or basically cut him. And it reflects when you watch these teams, because listen, the games are still fun, but you can feel that these teams aren't as good, the high end teams as they Oh no, no, I mean I don't even think like Is this the best Oregon team in the last fifteen years.
I don't think so.
I don't think so.
No. I mean the other thing is players in college are leaving now, and it's not that they're not productive. USC just lost the kid Sam Green. He was playing a ton. I think he was a red and shirt freshman or a freshman. He was playing a ton. Somebody offered him more money. Bottom line, somebody played USC and went, you know, it could be a Penn State the kids from that part of the country. So kids aren't even
disgruntled they're leaving. You're getting cherry picks. Penn State could go, hey, we're losing, like all of our we're losing four really good guys up front. That's Sam Green kid we lost out to USC. Let's just go buy him. So a guy doesn't even have to be disgruntled. It's it's can you imagine in the NFL if you didn't have contracts and you're like, let's just make a bid on you know, a great left tackle.
You know one thing, I was talking to a buddy that said that the top end of this draft is not very good. It's not And I said, isn't that a back to back a couple of years now where it's just it doesn't feel loaded with guys. Are we concerned, like do we have any theories? And I started thinking, I wonder if guys now bouncing left and right, you don't develop as you used to just being in a
program for three or four years, consistent practice, consistent training. Well, now guys are just mercenaries on the move.
The other thing is more guys are playing baseball. Moms don't want their kids to play football. Now, it doesn't matter in the South or Texas, from maybe Pennsylvania, but there is lower high school football turnout and a lot of these great athletes are looking at these baseball contracts and going you guys get ten year baseball contracts. So I think it's the mom You know, moms are like, hey,
I don't want my son playing football. And I'm not picking on moms that that's just been discussed, right, Like that's been What is.
The O line D line doing that? You know, are six foot six, three hundred pound guys playing baseball? Well, I still think they just don't exist. I still think there's a lot of good football players. And again, for sure, I think high school football turnout has decreased. And by the way, the NFL smartly ten years ago. I talked about this on my show Targeted Moms and their Ants. About ten years ago, the NFL was around that CTE stuff. Those remember when that was getting the big payoffs for CTE.
The NFL pivoted and said, hey, we have to make sure that both parents are into football. And by the way it has worked, it is remarkable the number of women who love football. It's half the league's fans. It's like fifty to fifty last time I looked. So this has been a point, a real distinction. The NFL has tried to own the household, you know, not just dad and dad loves No, that's not what it is anymore.
They want everybody. And I think that's part of it. And the other thing is to your point, I think players aren't as developed. I think, listen, it's like anything else. If you're bouncing around for money and not management, you're never going to be quite as good. I don't care if it's an AI or tech or football. If you had four bosses in six years, I mean one of the real look at you at our company. You just keep developing, getting bigger and bigger part of it is
the salespeople know John. It takes a year or two for the salespeople to get aligned and we know you and then we can build your YouTube page. Everything takes growth. You know, My first couple of years at iHeartRadio weren't as good as the last four. Every it's it's it's a hierarchy you have to build. It's a staff you have to build. So to your point, when some of these players are bouncing around a lot of times, they get the money and they get a worse coach, they get a worst position coach.
It's Brady's point that he hammers non stop, like going through some challenges in college is a healthy thing, Like you learn a lot about yourself and improve because in the NFL it's really hard. Yeah, so it's easy to get in the tank. Ye look at Bryce Young, who I would have bet against falling off a cliff. He was mentally prepared for the challenges. Why he had spent three years next to Nick Yep, you know, and who knows you know back at you know in this modern
day to uh you know Jalen. I know Jalen transferred at the end to Oklahoma, but he was there for a couple of years. Essentially, it's the backup going back and forth that had to benefit all those guys.
Yep, no question about it, all right. John Middelkoff, former NFL Scout three and Out podcast on a act weekend. Good stuff, Thanks buddy.
Talk to you soon, Colin.
The volume all of these college football reactions presented by JLab. I'm wearing my JLab Earbudge right now. They're awesome. They have the best audio products in the game. They're ready to take care of you this football season. Okay, whether you're traveling to watch your favorite team play or just streaming the game at home. Find the Blue Box. That's how I first found it at an airport Logan Airport in Boston. Find the Blue Box at Walmart, Target, Best,
Buying More, or just visit JLab dot com. Their price points really good.