The volume. So I was looking today at a story on the internet that ticket sales stub hubs college football ticket sales are up forty two percent year to year. So one of the things I bang on, and I'm going to bring in my guest, Greg McElroy, the host of Always College Football, former BAMA quarterback twenty ten national champ. One of the things I bang on consistently in my audience is the sky has falling. I see it in politics. You know, if you if you elect Kamala Harris, we'll
go into anarchy, will be venezuela. It's like it's conspiracy theories. The world's ending. And I kept saying on the twelve team playoff and the NI on the transfer portal, college football will be different. It'll be magnificent. It'll still be lobsided, the big You'll still have the best rosters, but it'll look a little different. It'll end differently. It's going to be fine. So the audience, the consumer is telling you, Greg,
we're more excited for college football than ever. In the South, where you have your footprint, there was a lot of consternation about change because the SEC was king and you worry about the Texas money in the Michigan, Ohio State Notre Dame money. What is the sense about nil transfer portal twelve team playoff as of today in the South?
Well, it's still, actually, Willie wrote, really well received, Colin. I mean, the thing about the SEC is they still are going to have more access to talent just because of just your proximity. And while I've used this analogy a couple of times, the alumni network is not nearly as big as that of an Ohio State, where they have a million living alumni sixty thousand undergrad for the
last hundred years. However, many years it's been the level of intensity and passion that we have in the southeastern part of the United States for the sport and for the teams is unrivaled. So while you make a hundred, I make a hundred. You live in Los Angeles. I live in Birmingham, Alabama. I'm going to give twenty two dollars out of the one hundred to Alabama because that's the team I support, whereas you might give eleven. It's
just kind of the way things have worked. But for all intentsive purposes, it's kind of been viewed as a personal challenge to the teams in the Southeast to step up from an nile standpoint, compete with the big dogs, and even if they don't have the deepest pockets, they have access to the most players. And then the portal. When guys might leave for the big payday as a freshman, when they go in the portal after year one, they might be more likely to come back home at their
second stop. So a lot of programs have taken that route as well.
Yeah, so there's a lot of different things to talk about. I've said that we need to temper not only expectations but criticism of coaches when they go to schools. Look how long it took Dabo Sweeney or Jim Harbaugh. So when Harbaugh and Lincoln Riley are interesting comps, so we know they're both good coaches, nobody disputes that Jim had a longer resume. And obviously the transfer portal is a more vigorous. I mean, there were people transferring ten years ago,
but not to the level now. The machine it is right, And I said, but if you really look at Brian Kelly and Harbaugh, you know they doubled the wins very quickly, but it was sort of pseudo not can't compete with Alabama Georgia, but they won the games they should have won. And Brian Kelly gets to Annatty and gets blown out and Michigan, you know, would face Ohio State.
And it was fools gold.
It took both about seven years, eight years to stockpile talent where they could play at Georgia Bama and the games are good and you could on television You're like, oh, there's pros on both sides. You know, the Mantai Teo Notre Dame team in the National Championship, you know, it felt like it would have finished third in the PAC twelve.
But a lot of it's scheduling.
So I say, with Lincoln Riley, as bad as Notre Dame was in Michigan was, I don't think they were as bad as USC under Clay Hilton. Not only were they four and eight, but people inside the program believed they only had like twelve NFL maybe late round players.
That it was Lincoln Riley identified after two practices, there's maybe thirty guys we can keep, and so by being a play away from twelve wins in his first season was fairly remarkable through those of us closer to the program, and then the second year they had injuries, Jordan Addison was gone and frankly, they just know NFL players. It was Caleb and they kind of shut him down once they lost a couple of games. They had a defensive coordinator completely over Ski. So my takeaway is this idea
that USC was going to buy for national championships. They were way better year one than expectations. That's not really who they were. They were an early Notre Dameer Harbaugh team. You know, Harbaugh got from five to ten wins year one and won the national championship. Team USC couldn't beat any good teams. They were just beating the crappy teams on their schedule because of the wizardry of Caleb and
the coaching of Lincoln. So my take is, I think we're being too unrealistic, even with a transfer portal to Brian Kelly right now in Lincoln, in that it's still the sport still comes down to high school recruiting in chemistry and culture, and you can't do it in two years.
Your thoughts, the problem is you've had guys that have ruined it for everybody, the Josh Heipels of the world that in year one progress, year two, game changer. Right. We've seen it with urban Meyer his second year at Florida. I believe they won the national championship, and we've seen
it a handful of other times. Nick Saban at Alabama two thousand and seven, six and six, six, seven and six, twenty eight twelve know with the chance and the lead in the fourth quarter to go to the national title. So yeah, you're right. In normal circumstances, I think it takes four years to get a real evaluation on the
trajectory of your team. That's my personal opinion. I understand that big dollars are in play here, and also along with I think Temper's player and egos are involved, and the collective doesn't feel like they're getting what they have paid for, they're going to be quicker to pull the trigger. But at the same time, I completely agree with you and those that have said that Lincoln Riley is he's not he doesn't know what he's doing. He doesn't he's
he's way out of his so far. I saw an analyst and national analysts call on the other day say, oh, his his tenure at SC has been a quote disaster. Well to be a win away from the college football playoff in year one with the Heisman Trophy winner. Sign me up for that disaster most of the week. Most of the NFL.
Two NFL players, one of them, Caleb is a sophomore team had no talent.
And he did a great job with him. The one thing that does concern me and I've known Lincoln when I was a commit to Texas Tech. Lincoln picked me up at the airport. I've known him for twenty years, so it's a little bit close to home with me, and followed him to his years at East Carolina, followed him in his time at obviously Oklahoma. So I'm wanting what's best for him as a fan of his, and it's a fan of the sport. I think it's great when s he's relevant, So I acknowledge all that he's
done offensively, But I don't know. This is my observation from a distance. I don't know if they practice the way they need to practice to be as good along both lines of scrimmage to compete for championships. And that's the only question I have. And will he be too proud to adjust maybe the amount of full contact periods that they have, will they maybe do some things offensively in a drill setting that might give the defense a
slight advantage. Will they do things like that to help a track more defensive personnel and to create a tougher, more physical mindset, because I saw last year they were a little banged up in spring. This was spring of twenty three. They said, after like nine practices, Yeah, we're good. We're just gonna do, you know, walkthroughs or whatever. At Georgia They're like, I don't care if we have managers putting helmets on. We're practicing. So I think that's the
mindset that I'm just a little concerned about. But I think the I think the hey, the jury's out right now, and i'd be I'm actually really optimistic about SC this year more than most calling to be completely honest.
They get a schedule break no Oregon in Ohio State Michigan in a total rebuild. Same with Washington and LSU lost Jayden Daniels. That's the loss on their schedule. Everything else is winnable. Their only cold weather game is first week in November and Seattle, and I'm from there. You may get a sunny, sixty four degree day. I mean, seriously, you don't know what you're getting until Thanksgiving, so they got a scheduling break. Ohio State and Oregon are clearly
the best two teams. I think Penn State third in the Big Ten, and they get Penn State at home. By the way, they get Notre Dame at home, so they got a huge It's almost like the conference said, let's give them a break as Lincoln Riley builds up, So they got a huge scheduling break. So I don't think eight or nine are out of the question. But I don't think they're in the same class as Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon, Texas, Bama. I don't even know if they're in the same class as Missouri. I think Iowa
is better than people think. I think Utah is actually good. Oh miss is excellent.
I don't think.
I don't know, but I guess my pushback is, if you go back to the first year, folks, they were a play from twelve wins with two NFL players, and that was if you recall, the last two years have been by pack twelve historical standards, the conference was about as good as it's been. Our basketball school, Arizona won seven straight to end the season. Beat Oklahoma, like we're not the SEC. It was really good by Pack twelve standards we had like Oregon State was viable, no question.
Yeah, but I'm with you though.
I am curious, though, what does success look like in year three because I look at what was lost with Caleb Williams, and well, I think Caleb Williams was the ultimate neutralizer. Yeah, if there was a talent advantage on the other side, like Caleb could elevate and neutralize that talent. But oftentimes he played so much out of the system. And this is not a negative. I mean, he improvised so much and he just didn't really stay true to what made Lincoln Riley an eight figure a year head coach.
I think that's going to be okay with Miller Moss or you know, there's buzz about Mayava having really good and kind of having some momentum. I'm not buying it, but I still think with that weaponry, I think they have four game changers at wide receiver, all sophomores. But my dad, I really like SC's personnel offensively, and I think it will allow Lincoln's exo acumen to shine this year as opposed to just seeing Caleb run around and create magic. The last two seasons, it's.
It's like I have a source inside USC football.
No, there's no way. I'm shocked to hear that. Based on how much insider information you have, you.
Have literally touched on something that is the great unspoken with the program is that they played actually in more structure in Caleb's first year. By the second year injuries to the O line. Lincoln got very tentative once the National Championship playoff was out to get Caleb hurt, and frankly, he felt the almost owed it to Caleb. You know, he got a heisman.
He didn't want to.
Get him hurt.
They didn't trust the offensive line, and it became kind of an ad libby offense in the last three or four stars for Caleb, and there are people that have told me it'll go back to being Lincoln Riley's offense. It was the first year with Caleb and parts of the second it's sort of dovetailed. And it's not a criticism of Caleb. It's they didn't want to get him hurt, They didn't trust the old line. They didn't call stuff because they didn't want to put him in a bad spot.
And it really became. There was a backyard feel to a lot of what as he was doing, and Lincoln, Lincoln felt he lost the offense a little. So Miller Moss at the Holiday Bowl ran Lincoln's offense and looked fantastic. And so I think to your point, you're literally touching on some That's why you're so connected. You're really touching on something that in the program. There's a feeling that Miller's going to play.
The tempo.
It won't look like Oregon, Dan Lanning and bow Knicks where it's like, you know, you know, like they're dialing up where to go. It won't be quite that, because I do think they have really good young perimeter talent. But it'll be more it'll be Lincoln's team. I'll give you an example in the NFL when Aaron Rodgers was there with.
A young Matt Lafleur.
It was kind of Aaron's offense right completely if you watched them last year with Jordan Love. It was the first time I had said this on the air, that I watched the Packers and thought, oh, that's Matt Lafleur's offense.
Yeah, right, you know what I mean.
And your Knight's not a.
Knock on Aaron, but superstar quarterbacks are gonna blow off the coach. They're going to go on the huddle, roll the eyes sometimes for self preservation.
I'm gonna do what I'm gonna do.
You wouldn't do that with save It. No, But that.
Happens more than people think, and I think it happened at SC.
That's my point.
It's a completely fair assessment. But tell me this, if you're Caleb Williams, are you going to hand it off in an RPO? Probably not? Why would I We're better with the ball in my hands. I think I'll just kind of I'll take this thing over and we'll see where we go. What do you make of the Big Ten as a whole? Because I I think you, obviously with your alignment and do an amazing job covering the sport.
And I appreciate, frankly on your national platform, how you cover the sport because so many people are like, oh, yeah, we'll do college football because we have to. You do it because you love it, and I appreciate your coverage. But when you look at the Big Ten, I'm I think that they're solid. I think at the top they're super elite the High States, best team in the country,
fewest questions beyond them. I think Oregon. We've kind of put Oregon in kind of the chosen group of Hey, this group's right there, and they didn't like their wins last year were fine. Blowing out a Utah team was impressive, but it's not like, you know, we got way bent out of shape about Oh, they beat cal by thirty, like we kind of annoyed them, I think before we needed to, and then we found out against Washington that maybe there's still work to be done. I think they've
done that work. So I think they are now on the inside looking out at the rest of the college football world. But how do they stack up against the SEC? Like when you look at the Big ten, you size them up, cut them up eighteen deep versus the SEC sixteen. Who do you think is SUPERI well.
I think Oregon is something that we haven't seen out west since Pete Carroll and ed Orgeron. They've just done it differently. They've purchased big bodies, So I think Oregon stacks up in the train. I mean, they went out and they bought the best left tackle on the West Coast in the last several years two years ago he started. They've went, and Phil Knight has essentially said, before I die, I won a national championship, and I'll spend whatever it takes.
People talk about the Texas nil Oregon's is unlimited. They'll just buy whatever they have to. That's really how it's done. USC's is thirteen million. I have that on thirteen million. Depending on the ascension of the program, it could get to fifteen. But USC's fine. They're not Texas, they're not A and M. They're not Ohio State, they're not maybe not Georgia. They're not Oregon for sure. So I think Oregon has purchased. And this is not a criticism. This
is all legal now right right, it's they've gone. All their marketing is enhanced, even with Mario Crystaball they're recruiting to me is the best on the West coast, the best on the West coast. USC's is consistently second because of the name brand. But Oregon's been recruiting the West coast crystal Ball landing very well. If they want a receiver or a dB, they get them. If there's a top edge rusher, they just get them. If they own
the Northwest, mostly for the players they want. It's a very weak recruiting year in my opinion in the West coast this year, especially the Northwest. I think they match up fine. I think eye test Texas looks really big. When they faced Alabama last year the last couple of years, I looked at it and I thought, God, this is what Alabama looks like the last ten years against everybody else.
You're like, man, Texas passes the eye test. I think the I think Oregon's going to beat Ohio State in Eugene because I think Dan Lanning has done something that I didn't think a Southern guy was going to do with no head coaching experience. He's immediately I know what Oregon is. I really do they play their They're a
little Detroit Lions, relentless, they play hard. They got I think privately they would admit Kaylan de boorr Out coached him and Washington had a bizarre set of great offensive talent, almost no NFL bodies, and they matched up with Oregon. I mean, frankly, Pennis.
Beat ball h A. Dunze. Oregon wasn't getting beat because they were being fooled.
It's just it was just a bad matchup. I said it before Washington was gonna beat Texas, they were not gonna beat Michigan is and so I think it was I think I watched Oregon play Washington twice once live. I thought Oregon had more good players. I just thought Washington was a terrible matchup. So I think Oregon matches up with Ohio State, and I think if you match up with Ohio State, you match up with everybody. I
think Alabama's underrated. I think Kayland Boor is magnificent. I think he you know what he is, reminds me of he's really Chris Peterson.
Where have some Peterson vibes for sure.
Where you're like, they will never be out coached at Alabama. Ever, there are games with Nick Saban where I felt if you had a quarterback that was good off script, you could frustrate Nick. I didn't think he was out coached. I thought there were things Nick did better than other coaches. Klin de Boor it's almost magical. Like Washington's talent on the defensive side is they had an interior defensive lineman who I think the Rams got undrafted free free agent.
I mean Tully Nasan Noa. They just have any talent, so a lot of it was magical. And Chris Peterson gets the Huskies do a playoff, and you're like, how they don't have Alabama's players. So I think Oregon has purchased, recruited and developed players. I think Landing has a plan. I think they match up.
Throw another shrimp on the barbie. Get in on UFC three to zero five live from the Land down Under.
This is going to be fun.
At DraftKings Sportsbook, the official sports betting partner of the UFC, the middleweight title is on the line for the main event. You know, I go to UFC cards four or five live every year, especially in the summer and in the fall.
I buy them.
The card is stacked full of as it says here blokes and Sheila's speaking a stack. If you're new to DraftKings, sign up, go to the app. It's real simple. Put in the code Colin coli in New customers, bet five bucks and get one hundred fifty dollars in bonus bets instantly. UFC is so much fun to watch, just incredible intensity. Puts five ten bucks on the line, all right, The code is Colin New Customers, one hundred and fifty bucks.
You get it instantly betting just five okay UFC three oh five middleweight title on the line only on DraftKings.
The crown is yours.
Gambling problem call one eight hundred gambler In New York call eight seven seven eight open wire, text hope and y four six seven three six nine. In Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling called eight eight eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or visit CCPG dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf of Boothill Casino in Resorting, Kansas. Twenty one and over age varies by jurisdiction VOYD and Ontario. Bonus betts expire one hundred and sixty eight hours after issuance.
Deposit and eligibility restrictions apply. See eligibility terms and Responsible gaming Resources at DKNG dot co slash MMA.
I am not as confident with Ohio State because I just have felt for three years. And I'll ask you, Greg, it's not that Michigan beat him as how they beat him. They just don't rushed them. They took over all the second half. Ohio State has never been prettier, but they've never been more finesse. I'll ask you what are they beyond talented.
What are they?
I think it's a look. They have been a sports car where winning the Big Ten the last couple of years has required a big diesel via goal, a duley if you will, Like I don't want to say gmc or ford and like tick people off, I would say Ford. It's Michigan, So that feels fair, right, let's just go with that. They have an F one fifty or an F two to fifty that was one in the Big
Ten the last couple of years. Just the reality. So I don't think that they're finesse though, Like I don't know if that's entirely and I understand the characterization and the way Ohio state standards. They're finesse compared to the Urban Meyer version twenty fifteen Ohio state versions, that's finesse. But that was a group that was so outrageously talented. I remember watching that game in twenty fifteen against Bama on New Year's Day. The first iteration of the college
football Playoffs was Zeke Elliott and Cardial Jones. Like, these guys are freaks. Now not only can they fly, but these guys will pound you. They're so crazy physical, And I think that the Big Ten has long been a league that was won with physicality, and then Ohio State found, hey, we can win with physical but we also have some high octane machines on the outside that we need to feed. So I think they've kind of gotten away from themselves
a bit. And that's why the hire of chip Kelly was so massive, because if you look twenty three consecutive Beers, the team that has outrushed the other in the game between Michigan and Ohio State wins the game. You ain't gonna out rush chip Kelly's that's who he is, that's what he believes in. And while people will look at the Oregon Nears and think, oh, they were finesse, No, they weren't. Just because they used tempo doesn't mean they were finesse. Look at the UCLA years. Oh, because they
wear the like blue, they're finesse. No, no, No, Ucla was far from finesse. Ucla ran it down LSU's throat, yep in the Rose Bowl a couple of years ago. He has gone out and prioritized running back. They go out and got quinch On Judkins. They already had Trevon Henderson. The offensive line is a question mark. But what Chip Kelly can do is they're gonna play hard and they're gonna get by a little bit running the football with
smoking mirrors. So I think they're traditional run sets that they've used the last couple Ye you're not going to beat Michigan with that because Michigan's got better D lineman than you have O linemen. I don't know why. They just do and they've had that for years and they're probably going to have it again this year based on
what they bring back up front defensively. But if you have one side of the offensive line blocking one play, the left side of the offensive line blocking another play, two completely different plays, you're reading a guy right in the middle. You can't block him, so you might as well read him, and you got a pass play off of it. Now you're cooking them with gas. So I
think chip Kelly being hired by Ryan Day. Ryan Day acknowledged that his run game was a blind spot, and that's a really hard thing for coaches to do too. I mean, hey, I've won a lot of games. I've lost five games in my career as a head coach, Like, yeah, I got to acknowledge though, that that's a little bit of a blind spot for me. I need Chip Kelly to come in. I'll handle the pass concepts, he handles the run concepts, and now we're going to make this
thing work together perfectly. So I really like Ohio State this year, but your one hundred percent right. I mean, Michigan had their number. Is a terrible matchup, much like you just talked about with Oregon and Washington. Terrible matchup for Ohio State, and I wasn't all to see Michigan went three straight against him.
Yeah, so I'm predicting Oregon beats Ohio State and Eugene, but Ohio State gets further in the playoff and plays for the national championship. I don't know who they'll play. I think Alabama is the most underrated team, you know. I think Texas and Sark's history. Let's talk Texas.
I love Sark.
There's things he does very well. He really knows. He understands because he lived in LA. He understands under Pete Carroll, branding, recruiting. He can really sell Texas. I mean he watched the master in Pete Carroll take over college football. Like he gets branding, he gets recruiting, he gets you know all gas, no breaks. He really gets that. That's really It's like a marketing mentor. His teams can be a little light on the details. Sometimes I think they play with more
passion than smarts. I think sometimes I'm pulling my hair out watching his team play.
But I like him.
I like his story. He had some personal issues, He's overcome them. Impossible not to root for him. I like him, I really do. I root for people who have been bullied, or of struggle, or of you know, people who just fall off the edge and climb back. So I love that story. Hey, Nick Saban made a career out of hiring guys whose careers looked over. He was a life preserver for Lane, Kiffin and Sark and I think that's an incredibly redeemable part of Nick Saban. But you tell me,
and I love Texas, but I don't trust Texas. There's a big diff I fell in love with girls when I was younger. Didn't trust them, but I loved them. You know, there's no right like and.
That's my perception.
I trusted Harball teams, I trusted Saban teams. I trust Georgia teams. Got it Texas is there's in a big spot. I'm just like, eh, eh, how do you view them?
It's perfectly fair. Uh, here's my frustration with Texas. You see what they should be, and you see what they could be and what they sometimes are. Allah the Alabama game last year, the Texas Tech game at the end of the season. Yeah, the Oklahoma State game in the Big Twelve title, it's like, you see what they're capable of, and it's like, my god, there's no one. This is the most complete team in the sport. Like they're they're
winning it. Like Michigan doesn't want to see them, Bama doesn't want to see them, Florida State didn't want to see them. Nobody wants see Texas except for Washington because
they're going to throw it over their head. Yeah, but for whatever reason, you don't still get that performance every week, and you don't really get that performance every quarter like when I saw and you look, if you watched the best teams in the sport for a number of years, whether it was the Urban Meyer led Ohio State teams, whether it was the Nick Saban led Alabama teams, the Pete Carroll led USC teams, something miraculous had to happen
for them to lose games. Yeah, I mean it was like miracle, right, Like Sanchez has to go to Corvallis on a Thursday. It's ring sideways, you know, and it's like the team has no business losing Oregon State, but because of the circumstance, they lost Urban Meyer at Florida, Like Jevins Dated the game of his life, scored twenty one and beat him twenty one twenty on the last second field goal or whatever it was. Nick Saban, I mean, Johnny Manziel had to have the most ridiculous thing ever.
Cam Newton had to have the most ridiculous thing ever kick sixes. Like weird stuff had to happen for those teams to lose. You look at Texas, They'll play to
the level of the competition. And I can't understand why Oklahoma last year you have three turnovers in the first quarter, biggest game of the year at that point, after beating Texas or beating Bama three four weeks earlier, you have you know, you block a punt to get back in at your you know, you end up almost winning the game, and then you give up drive at the end quarterback draw really to set the drive up and then they go right down the field score. Then you look at
TCU five and seventeen, you win by three. You look at the offensive performance against s Iowa State and you're like, what was that? You know, there's just some perform Kansas State, they're in overtime and can't State's got the ball inside the five for four consecutive players can't score. I mean that to me is strange. The year before that, if you want to go back a year before the lose to Texas Tech on the road, you have, I mean,
just circumstantial losses that just really don't make sense. So I understand the thought process because they are navigating to a league now where the TCUs of the world don't exist anymore. There's no disrespect to Texas Christion at all. They're a good program. They're going to do great things. They're going to be back in the playoff hunt again at some point because of the league that they play in. But if you took TCU and put them in the SEC, I don't think it fared very well.
Yeah, it's the reality.
We saw that on the national Championship stage a couple of years ago. So they're going to have to play on a consistent basis with more regularity. And that's I think the next step in the evolution to building Texas foundation that Sark wants to build is that doesn't matter who you're playing against, where it's at, what's the score, this is the expectation, this is the standard, and we got a played to that standard every week.
Yeah, it's I think what's happening in the Big Ten in the SEC is Texas and Oklahoma are both going to discover that you can end up going and facing Missouri and you think, oh, LSU in two weeks, We've got you know, we got better personnel. And you look up and you trail Georgia went to Missouri?
Was it last year? The year before?
And you're like, Missouri is kicking their ass. You don't get that in the Big Ten. Now, Purdue once rushed Ohio State. I think that was an urban team. It was like, what is happening?
I think he had one twenty seventeen. Yeah, the end, it was like what was that?
Well?
Yeah, but that happens a lot in the SEC where you're like, you think it's the game before the game and you're you're in Columbia and you're like, we're getting pushed around, and and so I don't think Texas and Oklahoma you can talk about it, you have to live it for a year. That doesn't exist in the Big Ten. Whereas Ohio State has significantly better personnel than a good program like Wisconsin, like almost every position. So it was like you may have had a Penn State rhody in Michigan.
They kind of match up the differen And so the difference is whereas Texas Oklahoma are going to go into the SEC and go, all right, we gotta we gotta take.
A deep breath here.
This is a little more consistently difficult than we thought. I think the inverse is true. I think Ohio State's gonna go oh shit at Seattle at Eugene. I think the Pac twelve teams going are more creative. I think they're much better at home. People have no idea how good tough it is to play in Seattle in November. Everybody's talking about the cold weather in Purdue. Go to Seattle when it's raining November eighteenth. So I think the
Ohio States, I mean, buck guys don't go to Eugene. No, it's fifty eight thousand, it's the loudest stadium I've ever been in my life except Gainesville. So I think the Ohio, the Big Ten is thinking all these soft teams Washington, Oregon plan crappy weather Ohio. UCLA's irrelevant now that Chips left USC. Lincoln's very clear. You don't face a lot of Lincoln Riley offenses, by the way in the Big Ten. So I think the SEC is going to be shocking
to Texas, Oklahoma. I think the PAC twelve schools, creativity, Jedfish Lanning, Lincoln Riley, You're going to find out they're not. Iowe perdue that they both of those programs, Oregon and USC are buying good players. They have real collectives. So that's my take. Your thoughts on that, my take on that.
I think it's one hundred percent accurate. And we've all said and I had got into an argument with a buddy of mine who I respect greatly, and I asked him, Hey, what kind of style of football will win out in the Big Ten and the RPO and the high volume offense to that potentially, you know, find its way to immediate success in the Big Ten. Or is it going to be a line of scrimmage league where hey, you're not running it on us, Like, no matter what, I
don't get you. Look at all the Big Ten teams and I don't care if you're Northwestern or if you're Michigan State, Like the whole identity of Big Ten football is like, you're not running it between the tackles. Like we're going to have three hundred and thirty pounds, six foot one dudes that grew up on farms that have been doing farmers walks with four hundred pound dumbbells for twenty years since childhood, and just on a for fun, they go bail hey, like you're not moving these defensive tackles.
So they got to get a little creative in the run game from time to time. But that's been the identity. The Pac twelve played the game on the perimeter, right. It doesn't mean they can't go to toe to toe. I mean they can't. They can, but it was a perimeter game. And that's why Utah I think found great success in the Pac twelve in the last few years because they could play the perimeter game. But they really were rooted with brass knuckles, you know what I mean,
Like their core was brass force their tight ends to block. Yes, So here's the thing that I'm curious about. I don't care how bad SC's defense has been. If Iowa has to score thirty to win, can they do it? And and Iowa is a team that they're in the ap top twenty five, like they're a team that I have great respect for. But in the event in which hey, it's a race to twenty eight, you ready to go?
I I really don't know how many teams, the Minnesota's of the world, the Iowa's of the world, the Illinois of the world, how many of those teams are going to be comfortable getting into shootouts because I know SC will be perfectly fine. Hey, you want to play to fifty, We'll go first one there. Yeah, I think Washington will be perfectly fine. And that's as well. And the event in which the defense is a bad day, the offensive step ahead. Are you comfortable getting the forty two to win?
Because I don't know how many teams at the Big ten are The other thing is SC comfortable whinn are you game thirteen to ten because you go play a team like Nebraska or a team like Iowa and creepy weather. If a game that you run into and I don't know, will Lincoln get frustrated, Will Lincoln get impatient like he did at Oklahoma? And the reason why Iowa State became a thing under Matt Campbell is because he could frustrate Lincoln Riley because it can never manufacture a big plays.
They would just play three stageties at the top. You're not throwing a deep. You'd to take a bunch of checkdowns. And I bet if you have to snap the ball seventeen times on an offensive drive, you're gonna get greedy, you're gonna get impatient, and you're gonna throw us one. So that was kind of the the mo So I just think it's gonna be fascinating to see how that all works. But I think the Big Ten is probably collectively sleeping on how physical the Pac twelve is. Not
that that's their bread and butter. It's not, and they won't be as physical as the teams that they face in the Big Ten, but I think that there they can go toe to toe more than people are probably assuming at the moment. Hey, what's up, everybody?
John Middlecoff here for the Three and Out podcasts. The NFL season is right around the corner, and if you want some of the best football content out there. I got you covered training camp, through the preseason, throughout the entire season. Subscribe and follow the Three and Out podcast with me John Middlecop on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
So I want to address something people. I always think it's funny because I have defended Jim Harbaugh, who I think was viewed as my pesky rival years ago because a clunky interview I did, but that was not the truth. Behind the scenes, I had reached out to him and his family so and Jim's been great that The reason I have defended Michigan and Connor Stallions is this, if in society we decided suddenly that bank robberies were legal, I would have a hard time buying into throwing somebody
in jail for jaywalking. That the number one thing you're you were never allowed to do in college football. It was the death penalty was by high school players, by any player, But you buying a high school player is a death penalty that's now not only legal, it's encouraged. It's the model. So I'm not a crooked mustache on a sideline pass with a fuzzy iPhone. It just it seems ticky tacky. Now is it appropriate? No, it's not appropriate.
Is there a level two violation? Absolutely?
But when I read that, of the multitude of level two violations, one of them was verifying an Instagram account by a Michigan assistant, I'm like, time out, so you can get into a bidding war for a sophomore linebacker from ann arbor that. So my take has been it's all nonsense, is that the culture in the world changed and jaywalking doesn't matter to me anymore.
Let you let.
Bank robberies now are legal, and we see this stuff in tech politics. The world changes. So ten years ago, I would have been much more punitive on Michigan, like, hey, you can't do that, because you couldn't do anything. Now, I'm like, guys, it's bidding wars for high schoolers. I don't even care anymore. I really don't care whatever you do, you do. So that's my take. Throw it back at.
Me and why I'm wrong.
I don't entirely disagree with you. I think that when you look at look at the world of coaching through a lens of morality. Here probably let's just be honest, like it's it's one of those. If you're not cheating, you not, you're not trying. If you can't beat them, join them. It's like that, it's daw it's eat or be eaten. And I'm not condoning what went down at Michigan. I will never do that. But here's my thought. And I come from the Nick Saban school of personal accountability. Right, Okay,
this is my own personal opinion. If you steal my signs, that's on me. That that's my own personal opinion. Now, I played college in the NFL. Every single time I was sitting on the sideline, not as a starter. I'm trying to steal signs every single time NFL go and look twenty thirteen Cincinnati Bengals against New York Jets. I had gotten cut by the Jets earlier in the year. Gino Smith was playing quarterback, pac Man Jones is playing left corner. I'm staying on the sideline. I know Martin
Morningwig and the entire West coast offen signals. Geno signals under to the wide receiver. I tell Batman under under pac Man jumps it takes it to the house. All is fair. If Marty morning Wagon they know that I was with them in camp and I was now on the Bengals, and you are going to just keep it as is. You're going to keep the same signal if I were, if I were Marty morning Egg, this signal the under signal, that would have been a stop and go.
That would have been an under and go because pac Man would have jumped it and they would have been out the gate for a touchdown. I thin if we won that game, like forty nine to seven or something along the lines of that, it was a lot too a little. So I think back at my career and if you wouldn't change your signals and that gave me access to them, I would be able to create a
competitive advantage. No, a bridge too far is using recording devices that to me is completely uncalled for and unnecessary. But the gamesmanship of stealing signals on game day, that's life. And we're trying to get other information about guys that might have played there in the past or whatever. And if you can get information, say hey, guy transfers from Michigan to Ohio State, you think the Ohio State coaches aren't asking the player that transferred in from Michigan about
Michigan schemes. Of course, they are. It's not illegal, but it probably wouldn't be very smart for the Michigan coaches in that scenario to use the same signals that they used when that player was on their team. So I think that while it looks really bad in the court of public opinion, and while people think it had an impact on the integrity of the game, it's hard to disagree with that. But also things could have been done by the opposing team to not allow Connor Stallion's information
to become relevant on game day. So that's my whole thought process on it. But I think you're I think your reasoning for feeling the way you feel is perfectly fine, But my reasoning is coming from a player's perspective. We're kind of saying the same thing, it's just coming from at a slightly different angle.
Yeah, Ohio State felt two years before it was announced it was happening, And my take is, okay, if you're not switching stuff up, especially for Michigan.
It's one thing.
If you keep some of your signals, but the Michigan game is you prepare for that differently, and if you knew two years out they were doing it, I don't want to see I don't want to hear that you know they stole our signs if you don't have to your initial point separate signs for the Michigan game. I mean, Urban Meyer talks about they were they scouted Michigan. Every week you win that game. John Cooper won eleven games a year. He couldn't beat Michigan, right, harpball was above
four years ago he was winning eleven a year. He couldn't beat Ohio State. So to me, it's like, if you knew about it two years ago and you were investigating it, then you had to have been changing your signals or you have bad coaches. So I think we both get to the same spot is that it's not perfect. It's kind of there. But it's murkier than people are saying, is what I'm saying. It's it's murkier everybody's stealing signs. I love your Marty morning Went stuff because I've had
role players. The backup quarterback's job in the NFL is it, That's it.
That's why I have an NFL pension. So I was good at that. Hey, I couldn't throw it, but I'm gonna figure out your signals. I'm gonna know your protection adjustments, like we're gonna figure this thing out. It might be quarter four before I get it, but I'm gonna try. I can promise I'm gonna try.
Okay, I'm gonna let's do. Let's do most overrated underrated teams and close it out this way. I think Michigan's the most overrated in the in the top twenty five. They lost not only depth, they lost like leaders. They lost like locker room leaders, you know, fift year seniors. They also lost the best quarterback Harballs had who I watched him before he got hurt. Meniscus Tear had a
terrific debut. It's very difficult to lose not only quality starters, but veteran quality starters like who who were clubhouse leaders. I think Michigan will not be a top twenty team. Overrated, I think underrated.
I I don't know.
I think Brian Kelly's gonna figure it out. Jas so good, He's so good, and I look at all those teams above him, and I'm like, yeah, they're not going to beat Georgia, maybe Alabama, Ohio State, but people have them eleventh, twelve, thirteenth, I'm like, nah, they're better than Utah, and I love Utah.
They're better than Utah, though.
Utah returns a guy that's I think has been starting quarterback for them for eleven years, Cam Rising. So a little underrated, Lsu, a little overrated, a lot overrated Michigan, what say you?
Yeah, I'm good with the Michigan on the same page there. My problem with Michigan is I've just heard a lot of buzz and it's hard a little bit with that place too. All Right, is this real or is it not. I've heard a lot of positive buzz about their offense and Alex Orgy and how much he's progressed. And I've seen him run. I know he's a superstar with the ball in his hands, but I've also only seen him
throw one pass. I've heard that he's got a monster arm, and I tried to watch him in preseason or in pregame warm ups every time I've called a Michigan game, And when I was on the field, I stood right behind him and watched him throw it. I thought Tundle threw it pretty good too, by the way, for Michigan, so I thought, hey, when JJ leaves, they'll probably going to be all right. A quarterback regardless. But I just I look at the rest of the top ten. Ohio State,
They're going to be there, no doubt. So if you're going to quantify it as quote overrated, Ohio State's gonna be there. George is going to be there there safe bet. I think Texas and Oregon are going to be there. I think BAM is going to be there. So the top five feel very very safe. People have been saying Notre Dame look at their schedule, Like Notre Dame, they could go nine to three and not be a team ranked in the top twenty five.
By the way end the year on the road in LA. And Also, I don't know how good Riley Leonard is. I have no idea what he is.
I know that Mike denbrock th row c though, did a pretty good job with Jayden Daniels, whose skill set was similar to Riley Leonards when he arrived from Arizona State, So I think the development portion of bringing him along. Ryley Lembage has been naturally kind of an inaccurate passer on the downfield throws that's.
Got to grow his whole career, his whole crazy wild Yeah.
Still optimistic though that it's in there because I've seen the underneath throws. If you can throw the underneath stuff, you can throw the intermediates, you can throw the deeps. It's just changing an arm, angled changing the shoulders, changing the trajectory. All that. I think den Brock will do a pretty good job with them. I really do, because I think it's a comparable player to what they brought in with Jayden Daniels, and that obviously worked out very well.
I can't take him out of the top twenty five though. Their schedules too manageable. I mean, the toughest games book in the season sc and A and M. And people say, well, Florida State. I think Florida State going to South Bend is a pretty good spot. People say maybe Louisville, Well,
you don't think Notre Dames had that one circled. They got blown out by Louisville last year at their place, so I think I think Notre Dame's appropriately ranked ole Miss. If people are not on their bandwagon, it's because they aren't familiar with what Lane Kiffin's done. From talent acquisition standpoint. They're not overrated, they're appropriately rated. You're just not comfortable with seeing them ranked that high. Then you look at
Penn State, They're going to be rock solid. I am worried a little about their offense, but their defense will keep them minute. Especially with their schedule they have, They're gonna be fine. Their schedule's very manageable. In the Pac twelve or in the Big ten. I think Missouri, I think, is the other that I would say maybe slightly over our skis there. So Missouri and Michigan the two that I'm just not so sure about. Missouri I think it's eleven,
Michigan at nine as far as underrated. Now you're gonna say I'm crazy. I know this. I'm comfortable with this. I've been singing the praises all off season. I did this last year for a team and ended up working out. I love Miami this year, I love Miami the year they coming at number nineteen. Now, a lot of people are going to sit there and say, well, it's Miami. We do this every year. You know the same people that are saying Matt right now are the same people
that said, well, why are we building up Texas? Like Texas hasn't done anything since two thousand and nine. Why are you continuing to say that they're going to be good this year because they were on paper. Texas going into last year was great. Now it's about allowing it to come to fruition. Miami on paper is great now, it's just about can they take the next step as
a program and not beat themselves. This was one of the best teams in America in the first half of the season last year, and they turned the ball over against Georgia Tech, give up the big play on the fumble and the couple touchdown. You know, then they end up that has a huge ripple effect throughout the rest of the season. Tyler Van Dyke can't shake the turnover woes and he gets benched. Then they give Florida State all they want, and then their starter who replaced Van
Dyke gets hurt. Van Dyke's back in the lineup. I mean, it was just it was a disastrous season last year. They've upgraded a quarterback with cam Ward. He doesn't turn it over. They couldn't score in the red zone with any regularity last year. Well, what helps in the red zone quarterback run game. Cam Ward can run it. They went and got the best running back available in the portal in Damian Martinez and that was kind of a revolving door of players last year with three or four
different guys. We're all solid. None have rushed for twelve hundred yards in the season like Damian Martinez did last year. The offensive line was a strength last year. It's strength again to get their top two wide outs back. Defensively, they have the best edge defender in the ACC who's only going into his sophomore year in ruben Bain. They added three more five stars and a couple guys in
the portal like they are stocked. The one question mark is the secondary, and by all accounts, that group is playing well above what they anticipated at this point of the season. So I think Miami people are gonna be I think people are going to look at them and say, well, we're just here. We are again. We always pump up the blue blotz. I think Miami's extremely capable with the personnel they have, and I'd be surprised if they're not in the mix in the ACC and ultimately in the mix of the playoff.
Greg McElroy, what a pleasure to see you rushed it. You are as thorough and as entertaining and fair, and that's that's the thing college football can be regional and tribal. Despite the fact that you live in the South and cover uh, you know the sec I've always thought in a sport that is often way too regional, you are the king of common sense and I just love.
You, really are.
You know your that means a lot.
No, you know your stuff.
You really bring a lot of credibility in my opinion to what you do because I have to cover everything. I'm a mile wide, you're a mile deep, and your knowledge is just supreme. You're really great, and I just I think I hope the audience enjoyed this as much as I did.
Buddy.
Well, it's always so great to visit with you, and I told you already in the interview. Thank you for all you do for college football. It really means a lot. I don't say that in your tongue in cheek either, Like you could cover the NFL three hours a day, and the fact that you carve out a little slice for college football almost every day, it means a lot. And you do so much for us in the fall, so we appre hit the coverage you give us.
Good seeing you man, Good to see you, buddy the volume. Thanks so much for listening. If you've enjoyed the podcast, take a moment, rate and review