Welcome to the solid Verbo I'll that for me.
I'm a man, I'm for I've heard so many players say, well, I want to be happy. You want to be happy for Dake Edith State.
Is that woo woom and down and tie? Welcome back to these solid Verba boys and girls. My name is Ty Hildebrand jointing me over there in locked down in New York City, the one and only Dan Rubinstein, Sir, how are you tie?
In these very strange times, It's kind of comforting. I mean, I'm not gonna lie. It is always comforting to hear your voice, but it is especially comforting to hear the enthusiasm in your voice. As at least I as a pretty full stream podcaster, and you as somebody who regularly wears I would say classified hazmat suits your secret day job.
Okay, let's just cut it off right there.
We are at least used to a little bit of isolation. Sure, Wait, but as as more and more people self isolate or self quarantine and are taking measures, and I hope everybody is using common sense and consideration during these again, very strange times, I'll say, welcome to the party.
Welcome to the party. One and all. Thank you for downloading the solid verbal. I am Ty Hildebrant. He is Dan Rubinstein. Both of our hands look like the dinosaur eggs from Jurassic Park one. At this point, I am assuming we are not alone in this journey. However, we're gonna talk as much college football as we can. Yeah, Over the next hour or so, we got some fun
games to catch up on. Talk about where things are headed over the I don't know, next couple months, assuming there is a season, I'm assuming it's going to happen.
I don't know why you would just assume that tie well, of course, of course, now as we are recording, it does feel like the world is falling apart.
Many schools have canceled spring athletics, March Madness is off. Countless sports entities in leagues are canceling or postponing. So there is clearly a lot of action out there. But at least for the next like forty five to sixty minutes. Yeah, at least for the next forty five to sixty minutes, let's assume it's going to happen.
I think that's reasonable enough. What is actually still happening? Golf and NASCAR NASCAR without the crowd. I mean, as of our recording, we're doing this Thursday at five pm Eastern. That's what seems to be still happening. And certainly there seems to be generally more of a distance between golfers, definitely with NASCAR drivers.
Correctly, I mean, it might just be podcasting in Netflix by the time we get done with the show.
Certainly, the least consequential victim of COVID nineteen coronavirus is the ability to generate content now without spring practice, now without recruiting it's right, So that is the least consequential and important victim of all of this, and that's where we stand today. Ty, I'm going to explain what we're doing here today. I don't know if you wanted to promote various avenues that we have where you can find us where we're now getting more and more active on
Instagram because it's March. It's March. We got nothing else to do, right, we have nothing else to do, so we're doing more and more on Instagram. So just solid Verbo right there on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, anywhere that generally we can possibly be found there.
We are the beaks of content hungry for ballers are open and pointed towards the heavens, and we're going to try and do our best to feed the hungry here as we progress through whatever remains of our college football springtime.
Correct. So do you remember the theme that we used for signing day and recruiting. Yeah, it was construction. We were building a house, and we were talking about how team were doing constructing their programs for the future, and
tried to say the word lifeblood as little as possible. Today, it's sort of we're using a similar analogy or metaphor whatever in that college football in general is I would argue, a layer of many different things, especially teams, and constructing a college football cake is something that became interesting to me as I took a shower the other day and
had cakes. The Distance the band Cakes hit song from nineteen ninety six, The Distance all of a sudden pop into my head, and I started thinking about the distance between certain programs and certain accomplishment points, fence posts, or sort of tears within the sport. And I broke it down cake tears because like a good birth day cake, which I would argue doesn't exist. But that's neither here nor there for the time being. They're multiple layers, sometimes
with different flavors, different colors, different thicknesses is different viscosities. Tie. Here's how I'm breaking down the five college football layers in terms of program and team and competitive health. I've got five s's. I've got sad sort of three and nine in blow subpar flirting with ball eligibility. You're four and eight's, your five and sevens, maybe your six and six every so often satisfactory, your ball team six and six, seven and five, maybe sparkling up an eight and four
every so often striving. That's a team that is contending for their division, maybe the conference. Late in the season, maybe they're in a weak division and they can end up in the conference championship game. Top fifteen ish program, and then you've got your supers, your super programs. They're basically in the playoff conversation annually. They're a mainstay of late November playoff talk. If this team wins, then this team has a shot. If this team doesn't make it,
then suddenly this opens up. That's those are my five s tiers. Does that sort of make sense? We've talked about the sport in some of those in that tier talk. So what we're gonna do if you can give me some eight bitcake?
Thank you?
Oh love a good eight bit mid nineties early two thousand's funky alternative rock band. We're going to figure out the distance between certain programs and their next level that they could be approaching, perhaps what it'll take if they can ever realistically get there. We ask for suggestions on Instagram via Instagram Stories. A lot of good teams were thrown out there that I think we're going to review. But I want to figure out if a reasonable distance exists? Y,
all right? And what it actually will take for teams to go the distance? God, I how to throw that in there for you just at the end it will stab call that into business now. Obviously the song is about I guess perseverance, which in a way we're talking about here. Sure, even though the main character characters are nowhere near winning the race, they keep going and going
long after the crowds have left. So, ty, what are some teams that I think would be under consideration for SAD with an I on becoming.
Subpar well first and foremost. Yeah, this would be a perfect segue to say, follow us on Instagram at Instagram dot com slash Solidverbal. You can also join in on the fun on Twitter, Twitter dot com slash soliverbal and yep, Facebook dot com slash Soliverbal as well. If you've got nothing to do over the next couple weeks and or months, which is likely at this point given the current state of affairs, join the party at soliverbal dot reddit dot
com our good friend Peter the subreddit. The conversation continues among verballers long after the final bell of the podcast.
Yeah, talk about all show topics, A lot of fun.
Takes a lot of fun chatter, and you could talk about this show which is cake themed, Dan, Now your first cake tier is the sad tier, right? These are teams that were what three and nine and below or worse?
Yeah, yeah, three.
And nine are below. So some that come to mind, Rutgers in Kansas I think are are like the gimmes.
You know.
Sure, Arkansas is interesting to me as well because I don't think they have sunk to quite the depth of a Rutgers or Kansas. But a last they did finish two and ten and didn't beat any Power Five teams in the twenty nineteen season.
Do you want to review all of Chad Morris's SEC victories. That's all of it. That's it. We covered it that it feels sad, that feels like it's it'll qualify as sad. Yeah, twenty eighteen and twenty nineteen. I don't think Arkansas is a sad program. I think the current status is sad but optimistic. But a chunk of what we've seen recently, which is four and eight to inten to in ten, has at least the most of the current Arkansas players.
The current generation of Arkansas players are used to college football sadness, so that qualifies for me.
So why don't we do this. Let's talk about what it would take for let's pick one of these teams, okay, to make it from the sad tier up to the subpar tier, which would be flirting with bull eligibility.
Yeah, you know, what do you think of all three of these teams, we can focus on one of them. I think we should focus on Arkans.
Let's focus on Arkansas because I know we have a lot of Hogs fans that listen to this show and on occasion. But yeah, I mean, like Rutgers, I'm not usually a proponent of going back to the future with an old coach. In this case, I think greg Ciano makes a lot of sense. He needs players across the board. He needs some sort of draw to keep New Jersey kids in New Jersey. It's not a bad state for talent from a college football perspective. He was able to
build that program up once. I think if anyone's going to do it, he's a good guy to put in charge. Baggage aside all the other Greg Ciano stuff aside, I think he's the right guy to maybe take a run at this, and kind of on the same lines, I think we saw the value last year in bringing in a big name head coach like Les Miles. Like this is a tough category, right because if you're three and nine and your Rutgers or Kansas, you pretty much need everything.
But from a high level, you just need a reason to believe, and maybe Seano can provide that. At Rutgers less Miles, I thought did a pretty good job of doing that at Kansas. The truth is they were more relevant in twenty nineteen. They beat two Power five teams, Boston College and Texas Tech. Neither one of those were world beaters, but still it's a start and not to mention competitive against teams like Texas, Iowa State, and West Virginia.
They still need a lot of help to get up to that next tier, and I don't think it's going to happen tomorrow or a year from tomorrow. But I do think there was some notable improvement on the Kansas front that it validates that move to less miles.
Yeah. I mean we saw results in year one from Kansas. We know that they're at least trending in the right direction. They made the change at offensive coordinator. I think in early October Brent Deerman, who became the new offensive coordinator, certainly helped spark the offense. They dropped nearly fifty against Texas. I think they finished something like aith in the country and offensive S and P, which feels like a huge deal.
They were more competitive certainly in the Big Twelve. An up and down year, I guess a changing year for the Big Twelve and Rutgers they're doing a little bit what it looks like Oregon State has succeeded in doing.
Because we didn't use that name and talking about sad teams, a program that had been in that sad space and made the leap to subpar in twenty nineteen, and that is hit the transfer market hard, go after coaches who know the area really really well, assistants, and certainly Rutgers and hiring from within the state of New Jersey and Greg Ciano leveraging his relationships within the state. And I know they have a Michigan and Ohio State transfer Brendan White,
the safety for Ohio State, Michael Dwumfoor from Michigan. So Rutgers, certainly, like any team that's trying to make this move, is trying to reassess the roster talent wise, re energize, get commitment and secure and thanks to the big tens ft TV contract, hopefully keep around assistants who make a difference both on the field.
That's actually a good segue to talk about Arkansas. So Sam Pittman comes over from Georgia where he was an assistant head coach. He released Chad Morris of his duties, or I should say steps in after Chad Morris was to take the mass duties.
What a brutal way to go. Have the guy replacing you do the action fire. It wasn't like someone came out of a bullpen and.
Tapped the starter on the shoulder, nothing like that stone cold Sam Pittman. But you're talking about keeping assistants, and I don't know how long Sam Pittman can keep his assistance. I do know, though, that he hired two notable ones in Kendall Briles to run his offense and former Missouri coach and defensive guru Berry Odom to run his defense. It is tough looking at this schedule to imagine a world in which Arkansas gets the six wins. Sure, very
tough SEC West. They also a play Notre Dame. They also play Tennessee from the other side of the conference, which I don't think is a pushover. So it's it's going to be slow going. But again, given where they're coming from, having finished two and ten didn't beat any Power five teams, we're close in the first half of the year, but the results were not there. I think at least an interesting framework here is in place for Arkansas.
I don't know how it looks to put their existing personnel grouping into whatever system Sam Pittman's going to set forth, but I do know that I see the names that I'm encouraged by them.
Okay, so as it stands today, in mid March, with Arkansas reluctantly crouched at the starting line. Thank you, Yeah, Maha. Their talent level is a lot higher thanks to the recruiting of the last couple of years than a team like Rutgers or Kansas, which has not been able to transfer any early enthusiasm for their new coaches to success on the recruiting trail. Arkansas also brought in Felipe Franks.
They've brought in an Xavier to Xavier Kelly from Clemson, a highly regarded and played a ton for the Tigers this year defensive linemen. So they're trying to re energize the roster, and certainly what Sam Pittman was able to do in hiring especially those coordinators tells me that one
people probably want to work for Sam Pittman. He's been around long enough in his reputation I suppose speaks for itself that somebody with the success of both Kendall Brile's and Barry otom wants to work with him and believes enough in Arkansas's potential long term that even if they succeed in leave, that Sam Pittman would be able to go out and find replacements that would keep any sort of success that they've built up going. I am pretty confident that Arkansas can get to at least becoming a
bowl team once again. When you look at the SEC West and the SEC in general, there's still a lot of with Alabama year over year losing what they lose, and I'm never going to cry for Alabama. But LSU with a lot of turnover this past year after becoming the best LSU and maybe SEC team on offense of all time, and the Mississippi schools hiring new coaches as well Texas A and M I certainly think is acending. But I think Arkansas is in a good place. I just it's very hard for me to see them as
anything less than subpar long term. With Sam Poman, I.
Don't really understand the Felipe Franks move, not from Arkansas' standpoint, but from me. They need somebody, No, no, I understand it from their perspective. Okay, I don't know if I understand it from his.
But well, he'll be on a big stage to prove his worth for any sort of evaluation at the next level. If he succeeds at Arkansas, he continues his growth. It was just bad luck last year. He probably would have had a good year like Kyle Trask did at Florida. I just I suppose it's he wanted to stay in a very big conference and that was an immediate opening. And they've recruited receiver pretty well. They've got a number of talented young receivers, blue chip guys. So to me, it seems fine.
It's fine. It's fine for Arkansas. I'm curious to see what kind of offense Kendle Briles tries to form around him. But I think there is reason for optimism, as there always is whenever you go in a different direction with your h head football coach. And they got some names here. Now, if we assume much, just assume, because we are starved for good news right now, let's assume that Arkansas makes that jump into the subpar tier. Yeah, well, Dan, right now,
we've got four teams here in the subpar tier. It's a little thicker than that bottom tier.
If we By the way, do you do you have any confidence in Kansas or Rutgers or between the two. Not in the short term, Not in the short term. Okay, not in the short term. No, I don't have either right now because of the quarterbacks uncertainty with both schools, but I think that's what places Arkansas level above, even arguably in a more difficult division.
So the inner workings of our cake here are very competitive. And as one team moves up into the sub par tier, you know another has to move down, but also some in that subpar tier have to move up as well.
Yeah, this is a show about positivity today. We want progression. We want progression. So we're talking about teams that have been flirting with Bowl eligibility working up into the satisfactory tier, i e. They become a pretty consistent Bowl team. The ones that we have listed out are Ole Miss, Arizona Nebraska, and Texas Tech. So Ole Miss is the only of these teams working in a new coach, a new system,
new assistance. It's an overhaul of a program that actually showed a good amount of fight at times last season under Matt Luke, and now as they moved to Lane Kiffin, they've recruited somewhat well, certainly dealing with a lot of unfortunate off field attention. I am curious as to what quarterback looks like because John Reese Plumbley is not It doesn't seem like the prototype for a Lane Kiffin quarterback, but that has evolved over the course of his coaching career.
And defensively, I was impressed with the step up they took last year because they had grown nightmare of a defense. Yeah, and last year they showed a good amount of fight relative to where they were. Now it's another new defensive coordinator. They have the one year blip of Mike McIntyre, and so they're again making a change there. I'm intrigued, but I don't have huge reason for hope right now that a leap to SAT Factory is imminent for all.
Yeah, I don't.
I don't think.
I don't think I disagree there at all. At first off, I was surprised by the move to get rid of Matt Luke. I think I always assumed that they would do it when they named him coach, but it didn't feel like there was that level of aggression. However, to go out and get Lane Kiff. And I understand that there's an appeal there. I like John Reese Plumbley. I agree.
I don't know how he fits in, but I think they're going to have to try and find a way because he's an exciting player, and I just think overall, I like the personnel at Old Miss. I think it's a good situation for Lane Kiffin. So we'll see. But I agree with you, I don't think they're an obvious candidate to jump tiers. What about Arizona, Dan, If I'm going to be negative, yeah, I think the thing that I do like about Arizona is I like Grant Gunnell.
They get in the Oregon transfer Brendan schooler whose brother is actually really good for Arizona. On the other side of the ball, Colins Schooler. But the talent level, the upheoval at coach, They get rid of Marcel Yate's late in the season, the defensive coordinator, and now they hire Paul Rhodes to take over the Arizona defense, who he's been well traveled. Paul Rhodes came on the show, friend
of the show. Yeah, but the talent level and overall plan, this would have been a program that I just I would have liked to see the Wildcats do. What's so clearly happening in Tempe that there's enthusiasm that there is you know, they are turning a big win into something more. We saw Arizona beat Oregon two years ago and then just sort of get worse. Khalil Taate and the offense and everything just sort of snowballed downward, which I guess
is technically where snowballs go. And the enthusiasm just doesn't seem to be at Arizona there, the recruiting is down, the defense. I'm not all that confident in the talent level there. I just you have been.
And again, we talk pretty much every day. Yeah, usually we're pretty even keel, both of us. But you were viscerally angry when we talked about Arizona a couple weeks ago, like this is a program that should be better. I think I agree with you. I won't go too negative, but I do think it's highly unlikely that this jump up in tears happens anytime soon for Arizona, at at
least in years past. Yeah, you could count on the offense, but we're at a point now where the idea of a Kevin somewhat offense maybe better than the actual product. At least that's the way it's felt the last two seasons.
Yeah, I'm not I'm not there. Texas Tech, though it is interesting to me.
Is British comedy legend Alan Bowman going to be healthy this year.
I don't think we can make that assumption based on previous just playing bad luck. I don't like to think of college players as frail or injury prone. Sometimes there's just bad luck, and that kind of also helps to define what Texas Tech's twenty nineteen look like. I think they lose four games by either three or two points, and while yes, you can control a lot in close losses, they're not be getting blown out. Their pass defense needs
to get way better. They gave up a ton of huge plays to a Big twelve that didn't have a ton of amazing quarterbacks. This wasn't, you know, the twenty eight Big twelve. So I am somewhat confident if they're a little bit healthier that just dumb luck will go a little bit more their way. If you remember the end of the Kansas game, they're going to turn. I
hope it's this season. I don't know, but again, the Big twelve doesn't buy and large scare me a ton no, So a team that's just above average, I think Texas Tech can be a consistent Bowl team under Matt Wells. I think baseline, so yeah, I feel pretty good about the part of satisfactory trajectory for Red Raiders.
I want to talk about Nebraska.
Let's do it.
I could see Nebraska starting seven and oh this year.
Oh my god, I'm recording that. I am, I am. I could see them starting out of that.
Look at their schedule, their first seven tier. I could see them going seven and oh and finishing seven and five because the last five weeks of the season are brutal. I don't think Nebraska is far off from consistent Bowl eligibility, and I don't think they need any major changes, which is which is good news.
They just need to be a little bit more cu well. Using Nebraska can beat Cincinnati. I said they could be seven and oh, Oh my gosh, I'm qualifying. I they're beating the Jacks. They have San Diego State. They could go seven and oh to start the year. Oh man, they could start the year oh and not on three. They have Central Michigan and improve Central Michigan.
Just work with me here, Dan, there's a global pandemic.
I think positively as likely as h and four.
Oh my god. Okay, okay, I think Nebraska's in a pretty good place. They need to be more consistent. I do think that Scott Frost has done a good job on the personnel front as well. Was a good recruiting class, fourth in the Big Ten. They focused a lot on what they need on defense, especially in the secondary. We said for a long time the Big Ten West can be had. Minnesota rose up a little bit last year,
a lot of bit last year and had a wonderful season. Yeah, I would expect that they would be pretty good again. But it seems like if you're gonna be on any side of the Big Ten, the West is where you want to be. If you're in a position like Nebraska finds itself currently where you just need to sort of get up into that next tier, you need to try and do so with the path of least resistance. It's certainly the easier side of the Big Ten.
Yeah, but when you look at the actual Nebraska roster and you look at the actual improvement or lack thereof of the defense and how beat up and even when he wasn't crazy beat up, Adrian Martinez and his twenty nineteen season were. And there's something I guess a little bit encouraging about Luke McCaffrey, But that seems to be more about his running ability than his throwing ability. They're
very thin at offensive skill made even thinner. JD. Spielman has taken a leave of absence for the time being, so it's unclear what his future is going to be if everything returns to normal in the college football world and just the world in general. I really hope twenty eighteen wasn't a matter of Scott Frost getting the best
of Adrian Martinez and also surrounding him. I think it was divine a zigbow in the backfield, one thousand yard rusher, and then Stanley Morgan, a thousand yard receiver, inheriting enough offensive skill talent to make it seem like there's patchwork potential in Lincoln. The defense is what has me pretty troubled now. They got trounced against good teams last year. They had a hard time against the run, they really did. They got drownced. And this is year three. This is
Scott Frost's team. Yeah, and all of that hope and potential going into last year, and I know the injury at quarterback everything like that, but I really like Wandale Robinson. That's a proven factor for them on offense. But I just I didn't see a lot to make me think. And I you know, you have their schedule in front of you. I guess I do too. Now it's not horrible, No, but they finish the back half is after Rutgers on the road, they stay on the road, and it's Ohio State,
Penn stayed at home, and then Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota. With Iowa and Wisconsin both on the road in consecutive weeks, tough.
Back half of the schedule is pretty tough, That's what I'm saying.
I don't have any confidence right now with how the team is currently built and coached, and I just that Nebraska is going to be anything more than slightly better. And I don't know if that makes me think that they're fully satisfactory.
All right, Dan, I thought we were thinking positively here, but trusting too. I guess that's not what we're here for. Fair enough, I have, so we're gonna we're gonna think positively.
I think there's a good distance. We're moving distance. Okay, thank you gotta prep me before you do that. No, you're just on your toes. I like it.
So if Nebraska moves up, that means someone else got to move up. In the next tier and satisfactory again is pretty consistent bowl team. You go from satisfactory to striving, which is a division or conference contender team that's sort of top fifteen.
Ish, right, Yeah, absolutely.
Starting to get up into that rare.
Eight and four, nine and three somewhere in there. Yeah, maybe ten wins with the ball. Yeah.
The first item on our list here, the first team on our list is Florida State. Florida State will no doubt be a hot talking point as we enter the fall again, assuming there's a season. Yeah, but of course made the coach and change going to Mike Norvell. The Lillie Taggart thing did not work, fired unceremoniously before the end of the season. Confirmed they were wildly inefficient on offense,
They had quarterback issues, they were undisciplined. Honestly, I have no idea what the offense is going to look like. If James Blackman's a starter anyway, I have no idea what the offense looks like. We know they got to get better along the line, we know they have to recruit better. It's just sort of like a full rebuild at Florida State. They're not starting from quite the same depths as a team like Arkansas obviously much much better starting point there, a much easier conference than the ACC
as well. But what is your level of confidence that they can take that jump up? Let me say in the next, well one year, so this year, this fall, Yeah, they do it this fall. Can they get up to top fifteen ish in one year?
I don't think so. No, And that's a combination of what the roster looks like right now. Me still having not a lot of confidence in quarterback and offensive line. I have confidence in Mike Norvel and his staff getting Florida State to competence just as a football program, which a lot of the time they just weren't under Willie Taggart and that staff that previous regime. So I'm confident that they can get back to that point, that competence point, which we I think played a game around that on
the twos cruise. I like the staff. I like you know, they keep Odell Haggins and Ron Duggins on staff, which I think is pretty wise for continuity's sake. They've been there forever. But no, there's nothing to me that says this is a big jump year. I think this is a big year zero year for interesting.
I think I agree with you. Curious to see again what the offense looks like under Mike Norville. West Virginia another team here. Now it's can we really count West Virginia in the satisfactory category right now?
I think based on the totality of their last two or three years, they look to be subpar for a lot of the season last year. But I don't think when I when I think about the health of West Virginia, I don't look at them as like an Ole miss or Arizona. Even with as bad as you know, year one under Nill Brown was I really like Neil Brown.
We both do, and statistically they did get better as the season war on. So at a minimum, yeah, they were fighting in every game, the games were closer. Austin Kendall though not the answer at quarterback.
Yeah, I mean he was. Austin Kendall was there. He was hurt all year essentially too.
I don't I don't feel very confident about West Virginia taking this jump.
I'm a little more confident. They got a little bit out of youth. Sam James was nice at receiver at times. The defense, I think it's gonna take a bit. They're replacing a chunk. I'm I don't feel great about it, but I don't. Again, this is echoing what I said earlier about the Big twelve. There's not a lot that scares me right now. The weird thing was that their
offense was as bad as it was. They finished the year what beating Kansas State and TCU and being right there against At least the defense was decent against Oklahoma State to finish out the year. So I at least not that you know, finishing out the year with you know, supposed momentum is anything that important, but they prevented big plays on defense. There's something at least to build on there.
For West Virginia. I think they're going to improve, and maybe they'll improve to only solidly satisfactory if they're sort of in that satisfactory subpar gray area. So I think there will be They will be solid lea a Bowl team, and they just won't be as hopefully disgusting on offense at times.
Col.
Yeah, Col's interesting. They need Chase Garber's to not get hurt. They need yep a week a week Pac twelve to jump up to that level. I don't think it's probable. I don't think they can get Evan Weaver back for another year. That would help. But Justin Willcox is pretty good as a defensive mind. They've been pretty good defensively under him, so I've been really good defensively.
Yeah, I again, I I'm not confident they can get quite that high. But I always feel like I'm a little higher on col at the start of a year than you.
Ty. I have breaking news. Yes, we have no idea what the PAC twelve North is gonna lie in the fall. If you run through the division. Washington has a new coach and QB is TBD. They should have a good defense. Washington State has a new coach, QB TBD. We don't know what they're gonna look like. We know Nick Rolovich's system, but we don't know Washington State is going to look like Oregon new quarterback, new offensive coordinator, new offensive line. We have no idea what that offense is going to
look like. Oregon State new quarterback certainly seems to be moving in the right direction. It's Tristan Jebia presumably taking over, but again, we have no idea. They've done really well in the transfer market. Stanford Davis Mills kJ Costello is gone. They took a huge step back last year. We have no idea. You look at Cal. They make a change at offensive coordinator with Bo Baldwin leaving. They bring in Bill Muskraveh has been in the NFL forever and played
at Oregon. I don't think they have dudes on offense, but everybody they did have who was good enough when Chase Garber's was healthy, is back, and right now that sort of solid ground feels promising. I don't know about fully striving to win the no, but with how good they've been on defense, and yes they lose their safeties in Evan Weaver, I think Cal's in a really nice position.
I like Kel.
I think they're starting. I don't want to talk about reluctantly crouched at their starting line is a good spot. Reluctantly crouched at the starting line.
Thank you again. You gotta warn me so I'm I'm ready.
You're just you're good at You're a pro.
I also think Tennessee's in a pretty good spot to jump tiers.
Have you looked at Tennessee schedule?
That was gonna be my next That was amazing. That was gonna be my next comment. They do have Oklahoma, Florida, Alabama, and Georgia this year, Okay, which is difficult, Dan.
Yeah, no, it definitely is. But in terms of what it could be, they always have Alabama in the Cross Division. But who else do they have from the West? Yeah, it ain't bad, Dan there what are their SEC road games? And this is not a Tennessee preview, but this is just an evaluation of cake tears in Tennessee. Okay to s road games? Are South Carolina a down team, We'll see if they can bounce back, Arkansas a down team.
We'll see if they can bounce back. Georgia. Yeah, it's gonna be tough, but we don't know what to expect from Jamie Newman, I guess at quarterback and Vanderbilt. No, Tennessee's schedule is awesome. Now Charlotte's bowl team and they made moves in twenty nineteen. The Paladins of Furman always dangerous, tie, but otherwise to get Florida missoo with a new coach, Alabama, Kentucky, Troy all at home, the experience they returned Juwan Jennings
obviously gone at receiver, but getting Tray Smith back. On the offensive line, they lose a chunk, but they've recruited well on defense. I'm not going to fully dive into the Tennessee pool of hype. I am just saying the pen in which we are baking this cake tie is sturdy.
Yeah. I feel pretty good about Tennessee. Okay, I feel pretty good about their situation. They played hard last year.
I feel great about this situation.
Yeah. I think it's there. I think it's there. I want to talk about k State though. So K State was an interesting story last year, not only because they beat Oklahoma right that was obviously a big deal, but got the new football coach. It was meaningful for us because Chris Climbing came down from North Dakota State. Remember we went to go see a game up at North Dakota State in the frigid temperatures of Fargo, North Dakota
at the end of the twenty eighteen calendar year. So when Chris Climbing came down to work with an athletic director that he had known from North Dakota State, it was interesting to us. Chris Climbs had a ton of success as a Chris climb had a ton of success at North Dakota State. Could he build a similar program at K State?
Ky State kind of packed it in after they beat Oklahoma, kind of packed it in.
They were scrappy and fundamentally pretty good. Kind of packed it in after Oklahoma. I think it goes without saying that they need a lot more explosion on offense, but top fifteen ish consistently that feels like a bridge too far for me, at least for now. I like Chris Kleiman is still working in his guys and still working
with guys from the previous regime. They finished eighth in Big twelve recruiting, but they signed a bunch of three stars, and I think the plan, as I understand it, is to try and mold those three stars into higher level performers. It's not quite the same situation as North Dakota State, where he sort of got the best of the best talent from the upper planes, kids that maybe were like tweeeners and could have gone and played D one or could have gone and played FBS, but decided to go
SCS instead. Like he was able to successfully recruit those kids, and over time he built up a really successful program that had a lot more talent than most of the other teams they played. That's not gonna be the situation here. If it's gonna thrive in Manhattan, Kansas, it's gonna thrive because you can turn a number of those three stars into four star talents on the college football field.
Yeah, Kansas State seems like a situational success story when certain powers are down. It's really good that Kansas State can be good, and they took advantage. They were at their best. I think what twenty eleven and twenty twelve junior and senior years of Colin Kline. You look at that twenty twelve team, I think they scored fifty points like seven times, which seems a crazy long time ago. So I think the twenty twelve Big Twelve was a little bit better at the top. But twenty eleven was
kind of a mess for the conference. That was the last season if you remember of A and M and mis Zoo in the Big Twelve. So just a lot of changes in upheople there, and Kansas State was just a good team and took it advantage. I'm not a big believer in Skyler Thompson. I think he can be fine, but the year one offense, there's a lot of questions
at receiver. I don't see a lot of pop from this Kansas State team, and I think they need that pop in the conference still, even with the dynamic of Baylor winning with defense and you know, just a lot of changes. You know, West Virginia takes just a giant slide down on offense. TCU looks completely lost on offense. You know, you don't know what you're gonna get from
Texas week to week. Kansas State, I guess they have an opportunity to make a move, but I'm not a big believer in their current talent level on offense to give me any sort of pop. Although their quarterback coach is Colin Klein, so maybe there's some of that DNA or something. But right now, I think Kansas State is sort of in that what do we say, it's satisfactory
to striving. I think they're status tithing. I think they're just in that purgatory right now, and I don't see the pop to really get them there unless there is there are unforeseen disasters around them in the conference.
All right, two more tiers here, Yes, striving to super So this is again top fifteen ish conference contender, ish to playoff mainstay, or at least in the conversation.
Yeah. Yeah, it's late November and we're talking about different levers and pulleys to get them in their machinations. Whatever.
We've got Michigan and Auburn in here, but I've got Oregon boulded because I want to hear what your thoughts are on the Oregon Ducks where they're at now as they enter the twenty twenty seas and Mario Crystal Balls had some time in Eugene to kind of implement his system. Of course, they lose Justin Herbert, Yeah, which is going to leave a mark. They're starting a rare quarterback. But what is the status of that Oregon program and how likely do you feel a jump is anytime soon?
Well, we're going to see them against Ohio State in Week two, so we'll have a decent enough sense of what I assume. Tyler Schuck will be the starting quarterback. He's been there a couple of years. Everybody's getting used to the new Joe moorehead offense, so that feels like the quarterbacks are sort of on an even playing field.
But he seems to be the answer. I'm concerned about the offensive line, but not crazy concern because they've recruited well there and given Mario Christo Ball's own background there, I think they should be good upfront, just not incredible, which is where they were this past season. They're going to be led by their defense. They return essentially everybody
important on defense, and their schedule is pretty incredible. I know they start with two incredible programs, North Dakota State and Ohio State, but both in autsin and then you look at their road slate with in the conference cal Arizona Wazoo, and it is never easy to go to Wazoo, even with the first year coach in Oregon State, and it's a very strange ending. All they have to do is be above average and creative on offense, and I still am not in love with the skill level on
offense though we'll see what Tyler shuck. Because the defense is going to be incredible tie the event is going to be amazing. So in terms of their distance to super.
Which by the way, which by the way, is not something over the last ten years we've gotten used to saying about Oregon.
No the twenty twelve, twenty thirteen that was a really nice stretch for Oregon's defense, but I don't think on the level of what it can be given where they've recruited, bringing in two five star linebackers this year, I'm going to say they have closed the distance. They have closed the distance, and it's thank you both because of how they've recruited and because of I mean, who's the threat in the pack twelve right now? Who is keeping them
from that conversation? They have Ohio State and North Dakota State, and surely it's true, but I don't with that schedule. With what I think people should be encouraged by Joe Moorehead and what he was able to do as a coordinator at Penn State, I think they've really closed that gap Michigan and Auburn. Auburn I'm I feel pretty good about because we talked about the changes in the SEC West and they've been a top tenish recruiting program these
past few years. I don't know how great I feel about bo Nicks, but I think similar to Oregon, I like Chad Morris as a coordinator, I and the continuity on defense feels right. They were basically the team to figure out LSU's offense in twenty nineteen Michigan. I think they're just firmly entrenched as striving. Okay, and that's I think largely because of quarterback.
Right now, if Oregon goes up to that super tier, mm hmm. Let's go negative for a second here, and let's say one of them, one of these six teams has to be relegated LSU, Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Clemson or Oklahoma. So a common thread among four of these teams that they lose their starting quarterback LSU, Alabama, Georgia, and Oklahoma going to be starting over a quarterback in some sense. Alabama they also lost Scott Cochran strength coach
talked about that a couple of weeks ago. M HM, Ohio State and Clemson to me are the two intriguing ones here because I don't I don't know how to answer the question. We have mused for a while that if something like Brent ve Venables were to leave at some point, that maybe that would be the catalysts to take them down a peg. Recruits been so strong, so strong, that it's hard to believe it would just trail off. But that's at least something you can identify that would
have a real impact. But the one that I actually have a harder time trying to figure out is Ohio State, because if it was going to happen, it would have happened last year amid the coaching change from Erbi Meyer to Ryan Day. But now alas here we are. Ohio State was very, very good last year, is the answer.
Injuries is the answer. Justin Field's going pro after next year? Like, how do you even come up with a situation in which Ohio State would not be part of the conversation in the foreseeable future.
I don't have a good answer. I think Ohio State, of all these teams, is probably best positioned. There are a couple of reasons why I could see them losing out on playoffs or going down to simply a ten win team every year. And they got a taste of the NFL coaching with Chip Kelly, and I think what Philly and San Francisco. Sometimes, when you win a ton on a certain level, you want to see what you can prove on the next I'm not going to say Ryan Day's an NFL guy, but he's from New Hampshire.
He didn't grow up in a college football hotbed. Maybe he wants more of the NFL, and maybe they screw up a transition to a new head coach in a couple of years or something like that. Maybe it's they just revert to the excellent but have one weird weak Urban Meyer level Purdue Iowa whatever, and that keeps them out. But that's still like an eleven and one t So I don't have a good answer for Ohio State Oklahoma,
it's their defense. And maybe Lincoln Riley it seems his name seems to come up, which doesn't always feel like an accident. Coaches who are just like I have no interest in the NFL, their names come up less. Georgia is hard to see, but I understand Florida's emergence in the SEC could make things complicated for Georgia getting back to the SEC title game consistently. And they've kind of messed up at quarterback, and we'll see what Jamie Newman
does for them. But I like the Todd munkin Higher Alabama. There's no flaw immediate flaw to me, especially with a little bit more continuity with songs. Staying LSU is interesting. They've been in this conversation for a number of years.
They only really made the move in twenty nineteen, and so it's a matter of these other schools have done it more often recently, whereas LSU maybe they're just a bright shooting star in twenty nineteen and then they go back to being a ten and twoish team moving forward, because I don't know how much confidence there is right now at quarterback and that they can continue what they started under Joe Burrow and Joe Brady. So to me,
the interesting one though, might be Clemson. Okay, reluctantly crouched. I just loved the beginning of that song, the starting line. Do you have a picture in your head? You mentioned Brent Venables leaving. I think they've reached the point where, even if Venables were to leave, that they've reached Alabama like status of they'll have their pick of basically any defensive coordinator who wants to coach exclusively three deep blue chip talent against a weak conference.
Right right right.
I don't know what it is unless it's what happened in Syracuse a couple of years ago or three years ago now, where it's just quarterback injury and it's weird situation where they'd take an early game lightly. You have the North Carolina game. This past year. We've seen the near loss and I think it was an overtime game against NC State or the pit game, But that's one game. I don't see them falling to a nine to three ten and two program anytime soon because of the talent level.
But it is it is strange where if Florida State gets good, if Louisville gets pretty good and they beat Clemson, that could be it for Clemson's chances to get to the conference championship game. So you have like a weird at eleven in one, yeah, I mean it's been out of the playoff, yeah, So I think.
It's more likely that if there is any kind of slide, it comes from the inside as opposed to the outside. It's going to take a while till Florida State or Louisville or any of those teams can catch up to Clemson. You know, even if they beat them with a stroke of good luck on some given Saturday, like, they're still not going to consistently be on that level. I think it's more likely. And I remember I was on Larry Williams show YEP noted Clemson writer Larry Williams, and he's
been on our show as well. Yeah, and this is a question that I've discussed with him, like what would it take to essentially slide back a teer? And his answer was it's it's probably not a talent thing, and it's probably not an injury thing because there's so much talent. If anything, it would be coaching, It would be coaches leaving a mass to go elsewhere, upsetting the chemistry that Dablosweeney has built as an organization as a program. But
it does not seem likely anytime soon. And you know, I hate to even talk about it in these hypotheticals because I'm trying to keep it positive today, as you know, right of course. But I guess if it's going to happen, it would be some sort of turnover among the coaching staff, and I guess a lack of chemistry, a breakdown in culture of some sort.
There are, depending on your view, there are three and a half to four and a half teams in the ACC who have been pretty down during this incredible run from Clemson, Louisville, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Miami, North Carolina. So I think that adds up to like four point one dangerous teams at different times depending on the day
in the quarterback. That that's intriguing to me. Not that they're going to be able to beat Clemson, all things being equal, but if Clemson has a weird scheduling quirk with short week on the road at Syracuse, at North Carolina, whatever, against a decent quarterback, we've seen that takedown clearly superior teams. I think it is all circumstance. I really really with you. I think it's circumstance within the conference more than it is internal.
Yeah, I mean I understand it. I just.
I don't know everybody finds a Michael Cunningham.
All right, Well those are our tiers. Our cake, our college football cake has been so baked here now on the show, we've gone from sad to subpart A satisfactory, just driving to super and back down to striving. Hypothetically, Dan, can we get back to the saccer and suite, the saccer and sweet?
Yeah? Actually, before we actually talk about Cake, do you like Cake? The band?
They're Okay?
Have you thought about them recently?
I thought about them because I saw the Google doc Okay, and you know, going the distance, and.
Have you about them in the last three to five years?
Not for any prolonged period of time. I remember hearing the Distance on my satellite radio, okay, maybe like a year or two ago, and I was like, all right, I remember this song, but no, I don't pay too much attention to Cake.
They had the opening song and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, another ass Sarah Marshall, and I saw them in the theaters and that song was great over some sort of Dolby sound system. I think it's my favorite Cake song. Love You Matt, love You Madly. That is probably my favorite Cake song. I like the trumpet, I like the singer's voice. I like at least let Me Go is another good one.
Short skirt, long jacket. They do enough for me where if I listen back to Cake, I think that's different enough that I respect the success they carved out for themselves themselves.
I want to get to I want to I want to talk about actual Cake though real quick. Here, just to close out the show again, Solid verbal at gmail dot com. If you have anything you'd like to get off your chest, have anything you'd like to get off your chest, you can always feel free to drop us long and we read all the emails. We had a rather spirited discussion, did we not. We did super secret g chat this week putting this show together. We had
a rather spirited conversation about cakes. You, Dan Rubinstein, think that a lasagna is a cake. I said, a lasagna is a savory cake. You said, it's a cake, a savory cake. Yeah, you still said it's a cake. Yeah, it's a it's a cake cousin. It's the savory cousin that lives in the big city. Lives in the big city.
Well, think about it. So cake, I mean you cook them in the oven. That does not mean it is a cake. It has layer doey layers, right, filling between the layers. Okay, it is topped with something different and that gives it a unique texture, frosting and cheese. But it's not a dessert, Dan, I said, it's a savor cake, just like a chicken pot pie is not a dessert.
There's a separate species of items cooked like cakes that are just dinner items and do not fall under the cake specification.
I'm just saying, and it's not the same species. But you look up the phylum, you look up the genus, okay, and it's Cacus italianis.
So this is like both hawks and ducks are birds, even though they're very different.
Totally Okay, yeah, this is it's a cousin. It's a distant cousin. But in terms of construction and how you eat it and what it looks like coming out of the oven, I think there is the general blueprint is there for each being distant cousins? I think alasagna is a savory cake.
This is the Italian food version of asking if a hot dog is a sandwich, or if cereal is soup? Cereal is soup? Right, exactly right.
I'm gonna I'm gonna stand by it. Lasagna is savory cake.
No disagree?
Hard Are you a cake person?
I like cake?
Do you? I'm not gonna go cake versus pie. They're two different foods pie. Are you? I know you're a pumpkin pie person. Are you generally excited? I don't work in an office the way you do. And again, your spans many continents, sure, known and on. Are you excited when it's somebody's birthday? Like there's cake in the breakroom? Ummm? And when you go in there have a slice? Are you happy that you did it? I'm never happy that I did it?
I'm never happy that I did it, because you always get that two pm sugar crash, right or three pm sugar crash where that's when you regret it and it's a bit of a struggle to make it through to the end of the day.
Well, it's just like, yeah, that slice was exactly like every other slice I've had in this situation.
Give me, I'm a place of music. Give me your top five cakes to close out the show. Oh, thank you, a little music for you. Go ahead.
So I was thinking about it, and I thought, I'm not a cake person, and then I realized I'm just not a birthday cake person. My number five like a good upside down cake, orange pineapple. I'm big on citrus. I love citrus. Number four a pound cake. Most of my pound cake experience is limited to entemens, but damn does entimates make a pound cake. Number three? Any lava cake will do. Okay, something that I am taking a spoon to that's hot and I'm breaking it open, and something runneth over.
Okay.
I love a good lava cake. Number two. Any kind of coffee cake. There's a crumble factor, there's a really nice flavor factor, and coffee cake is just doesn't have to be coffee flavor, but cinnamon factor. Love that my number one cake is probably and this goes back to my love of citrus. I think a lemon cake I don't want. I don't want. I don't want frosting on any of these. Lemon cake can have a little bit of icing. In a bunt situation. My number one cake
might be lemon I love. I love the lemon flavor type. Some that you left out, well, no, no, I didn't leave out those are my favorite. You can't correct me.
Some that you left out, Dan, I'm correct.
Tell me your favorites.
I have a list, it's no particular order.
I do like.
Red velvet cakes very good.
Is this your number five?
I don't know. I didn't do the rankings like you did. I don't have strong opinions on cake other than did say that Lazani is not cake.
When you thought about this, did you know or did you look up what red velvet is? No? No, I know what this is. Okay, I just make it. I didn't know the difference between chocolate and red velvet, and it's very subtle. But I learned that there's it's cocoa and cocoa powder, cocoa butter, and there's like a vinegar.
Factor, red velvet up for consideration. A really good carrot cake to be can be very very good, Okay, can be a contender, terram Asu.
Not bad, creamy, very creamy. Yeah, you like that puff factor.
Cheesecake deserves at least a mention.
Here, may I I'm going to take a little step into this conversation. I think a cheesecake is a pie. I'm going it's called a cake, Dan, if you are going to step on my savory cakes called a cake. I know it's called a cake, but people listen to podcasts, not on iPods, sometimes the name is not It sort of misrepresents what it is. I think cheesecake is a poe.
This is where you're going to say chicken pot pie or shepherd's pie.
No. Continue, But that's just I'm just throwing it out there. I'm just saying I'm taking exception with that categorization.
Next, the last one I have written down here is I've had very few good ones. Okay, but a banana cake could be very good. So like a banana cream banana cream or sort of like almost like a banana nut bread cake. I've had something like that.
Is it Is it like loaf form it? Sometimes?
Yes, it can be formed kind of like.
But it's a different sheep. See banana bread to me seems like cake. Yeah, because it's just a loaf cake, right right, Okay, just some items, sure your consideration. So is there is there one that you would I would probably put carrot cake in here. So if it was a birthday meal, you'd be most excited for your meal.
To conclude, I think the ceiling is higher interesting with carrot cake, but it's got to be good. There's a lot of bad carrot cakes out there that was unexpected, but carrot cake. I just I don't know a lot of carrot cake lovers think it's you and Mindy Kaling. Okay, I don't know why I know that. Now I really want coffeecake right now, all right.
My mind is, go at your coffeecake if you can get out, Okay, I will.
Okay, that does it for the show. Hope everyone out there is uh staying safe, enjoying their time listening to this show. Concluding in a very awkward fashion here as we talk about our favorite types of cake after doing a cake themed college football show, as always soliverble at gmail dot com. That is the email. You can finder website all of our old stuff out at solid verbal dot com. You can also go on out to the
subreddit solid verbal dot reddit dot com. Join the conversation long after the bell, and do follow us on social media Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, all the usual hot spots. Uh, Dan and I are excited about the next few months in soliverbal In Soliverbleville, You've got some exciting things that are on the horizon, so do stay tuned for that. Again, I would I would just say everyone stay safe out there. Thank you so much for downloading the show, and thank
you for embarking on this journey with us. Yeah, wash, wash your hands, wash your hands for that guy, Well then you think you need to over there, my good friend Dan Rubinstein, for myself, Ty hilden Brand, thank you so much for downloading the show. Will catch you on next game. In the meantime, stay solid, hey,