ITG 130 - Mayo Bowl + CFP Reaction
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00:00 (upbeat music)
00:00:02 - We're on episode 130 here
00:00:08 of your new favorite WVU football podcast.
00:00:10 This is a bit of a breaking news,
00:00:12 instant reaction type pod.
00:00:14 I don't know if we're quite calling this a no huddle,
00:00:16 but obviously we've got some things to discuss here.
00:00:19 Namely, the Mountaineers have a bowl game,
00:00:21 a bowl opponent, a bowl destination,
00:00:23 and also the college football playoff.
00:00:26 Maybe it's last year in the four team format,
00:00:29 having its greatest controversy that it's seen
00:00:31 in nearly its decade of existence.
00:00:33 So Jed and I will get into that a little bit as well too.
00:00:36 I am Wesley Uler, got the best teammates in the business,
00:00:39 the signal caller Jed Drenning.
00:00:40 Again, this was kind of a, we're throwing this together,
00:00:43 we're recording this on a Sunday night.
00:00:45 Our guy Big O is down in North Carolina,
00:00:48 driving back from North Carolina,
00:00:49 was doing some family stuff.
00:00:50 So you just got Jed and I here for this one today.
00:00:53 As always, ITG brought to you in part by our friends
00:00:56 at BetOnline, where the game starts.
00:00:58 Jed, I also wanted to give a shout out here
00:01:00 right off the bat to Tim Johnston
00:01:03 and some new friends of the show here, Johnston Equipment.
00:01:07 Make sure you're checking them out at johnstonequipment.com.
00:01:09 Since 1954, Johnston's mission has been to develop
00:01:13 valued customer partnerships by providing precision,
00:01:16 cost-effective material handling,
00:01:18 equipment to move product in, out,
00:01:20 and throughout your warehouse,
00:01:21 service solutions and tools
00:01:23 to better manage your productivity,
00:01:25 racking, storage, and system solutions
00:01:27 to optimize storage of your goods,
00:01:29 your programs to enhance your ability
00:01:32 to protect both your assets and your people.
00:01:34 That's Johnston Equipment.
00:01:36 Make sure you're visiting their new location
00:01:37 outside of Weston on Route 33.
00:01:41 I mean, look at this, Jed.
00:01:42 It's growing, baby.
00:01:43 The brand's growing.
00:01:43 We got new friends here on the show.
00:01:46 - Tim's good people.
00:01:47 They've got a brand new spot out there,
00:01:49 sparkling new spot off the four lanes you touched on,
00:01:52 not far at all from I-79.
00:01:55 If you get off the exit, the Weston exit at exit 99
00:01:57 and head toward Buckhannon,
00:01:59 you're gonna see it right there on the right.
00:02:00 It's a great spot.
00:02:02 - Love it.
00:02:03 Well, welcome to Tim.
00:02:04 Welcome to Johnston Equipment.
00:02:05 And we're excited to have you guys in the fold here
00:02:07 for everybody's new favorite WVU football podcast.
00:02:10 Jed, speaking of our Mountaineers, eight and four season,
00:02:13 we've known for a few weeks we were going to go bowling.
00:02:16 It took some time today.
00:02:17 We were all kind of sitting around like,
00:02:19 "All right, ACC, can you get your bleep together here
00:02:21 "and we can figure this out
00:02:22 "and we can see what bowl game we're in."
00:02:24 Well, Jed, if for those watching on YouTube,
00:02:27 it's the Duke's Mayo Bowl.
00:02:31 And if you're watching here,
00:02:32 not only do I have a jar of Duke's mayonnaise
00:02:34 because I am a huge fan,
00:02:35 I also have their Duke's Southern sauce
00:02:37 because I am a huge Duke's fan.
00:02:40 So I don't know, maybe Duke's,
00:02:41 if somehow this falls into your viewership here,
00:02:45 maybe we should all be, well, Jed will be at the game.
00:02:48 Skyler will be at the game too
00:02:49 because that's in his home turf.
00:02:50 Maybe Owen and I should get some sponsorships here,
00:02:53 but I am a big Duke's guy.
00:02:55 I love this for a lot of different reasons.
00:02:57 The game is in Charlotte, North Carolina,
00:03:00 where the Panthers play.
00:03:01 Why am I putting these Duke's bottles away?
00:03:02 Let's put these, hold on, let's put these in the-
00:03:04 - Yeah, just leave them out there on display.
00:03:05 - Let's put these in the shot right there on display, baby.
00:03:08 December 27th, it's a Wednesday, 5.30,
00:03:12 Charlotte, North Carolina, where the Panthers play, right?
00:03:16 The site of that 2018 opening game against Tennessee
00:03:20 where Will Greer and the boys took the vols
00:03:22 behind the woodshed and a lot of fun was had there,
00:03:25 Labor Day weekend.
00:03:26 Jed, we had speculated a little bit.
00:03:30 Could we be going back to Memphis?
00:03:31 Could we be going back to some bowl
00:03:33 that's maybe out in Arizona
00:03:35 that doesn't start until 10.30 East Coast time?
00:03:38 I think all things considered,
00:03:40 this is pretty exciting for all the potential bowl matchups
00:03:44 and destinations that we thought we had
00:03:47 to potentially sink our teeth into.
00:03:49 I was excited when I saw this announcement today.
00:03:52 - Yeah, it was a broad array of possibilities
00:03:56 coming into the day, right?
00:03:57 You didn't know where the chips might fall
00:03:59 'cause there's so many moving pieces from the top down
00:04:01 that impact this.
00:04:02 In other words, let's look first at the Big 12.
00:04:05 Was Texas gonna make the playoff?
00:04:07 That was the first moving piece for the Big 12
00:04:10 and their bowl affiliations.
00:04:12 Second question, was Oklahoma gonna make
00:04:15 a New Year's Day bowl?
00:04:16 If so, that could impact the pecking order,
00:04:19 the remaining Big 12 bowls.
00:04:21 But sometimes the craziest things happen out of left field
00:04:24 and it's not a Big 12 affiliated bowl traditionally anyway,
00:04:28 as it turns out, because the way it played out,
00:04:32 the SEC with nine teams were bowl eligible,
00:04:35 the Big 12 with nine teams bowl eligible.
00:04:37 So a lot of the chatter that you heard today,
00:04:39 the horse trading that was going on
00:04:41 was to get us into a bowl that made great regional sense
00:04:46 against another regional brand in North Carolina.
00:04:49 So you touched on it Wes, 2018,
00:04:52 the last time we were down there,
00:04:53 I went down a couple of days early with my family,
00:04:55 took in the sights of Western Carolina,
00:04:57 got to visit the spot where they filmed "Last of the Mohicans,"
00:05:00 one of my favorite movies.
00:05:01 It was an awesome trip all around.
00:05:03 So by the time the game rolled around on Saturday,
00:05:05 I was ready to rock and roll and it was a great trip.
00:05:07 And you've seen the viral videos of the post game
00:05:10 of Country Roads, being signed by 50, 60,
00:05:14 maybe even 60 some odd thousand fans.
00:05:16 - I was one of those 60,000 fans.
00:05:18 - You were one of those 60,000.
00:05:19 My memory from that game was, is the rain delay,
00:05:22 because I remember at halftime, I had to leave the stadium
00:05:25 and there was something in my bag
00:05:27 from an equipment standpoint that I needed.
00:05:30 And I had a run in with security because at that point,
00:05:34 I was literally the only person in the stadium.
00:05:37 They're like, "What are you doing outside?
00:05:39 Get back in."
00:05:39 That's what I remember from that.
00:05:40 But I think it's a great opportunity.
00:05:43 The way the chips fell,
00:05:44 it makes perfect sense for West Virginia.
00:05:46 It's gonna make a lot of sense as well
00:05:48 for North Carolina, Mac Brown and his company, his crew.
00:05:52 So many storylines, whether you wanna go to Chad Scott,
00:05:55 a former Tar Heel running back,
00:05:57 Lonnie Galloway, a former West Virginia assistant
00:06:00 as the pass game coordinator down there for the Tar Heels.
00:06:04 But why not Duke's Mayo?
00:06:06 I mean, I liked the Mayo bath in the past,
00:06:08 that tradition for the coaches.
00:06:10 Now, Neil might not like it, right?
00:06:11 - I need Neil Brown just doused in a full cooler of Mayo.
00:06:16 Let's do it.
00:06:18 - Let's do it.
00:06:18 Absolutely, let's do it.
00:06:19 It's December 27th, just enough time after Christmas
00:06:23 to provide for some reasonable travel.
00:06:25 Great kick time.
00:06:26 It's not too late.
00:06:27 It's not too early.
00:06:28 So what's not to like about this,
00:06:30 but you and I were talking off the air, Wes,
00:06:33 the first consideration in any non-playoff bowl these days
00:06:37 is you always ask yourself,
00:06:38 "All right, what about some of the more premier players?
00:06:41 Are they gonna opt out?
00:06:43 Are they not gonna take part?"
00:06:44 Now, first thing I think in recent years
00:06:46 when I hear North Carolina, I think Drake May.
00:06:49 - Absolutely.
00:06:49 - One of the better quarterbacks in all of college football.
00:06:52 The question is, we've heard no news so far.
00:06:54 Maybe by the time this episode even drops,
00:06:56 there will be news.
00:06:57 I'd be surprised otherwise, to be honest with you.
00:07:00 But will Drake May play?
00:07:01 You kind of got to sort of wonder.
00:07:03 There's probably a third of a million chance he won't.
00:07:07 We'll get into that.
00:07:08 We have plenty of time to talk about that,
00:07:09 whichever way the chips may fall.
00:07:12 But North Carolina has been a very offensive driven,
00:07:15 as you might expect, great skill guys,
00:07:17 great quarterback, conducting things,
00:07:21 an offensive driven football team.
00:07:23 They're among the national leaders
00:07:25 in a lot of key categories.
00:07:26 They lead the AAC, a lot of key categories.
00:07:29 When you look at total offense, they lead the conference.
00:07:31 They lead the ACC in total offense.
00:07:32 They're number four in the country.
00:07:34 When you look at scoring offense,
00:07:36 they're number two in the ACC, 37 a game.
00:07:39 Passing offense, number one in the ACC, 307 a game,
00:07:42 number eight in all of FBS.
00:07:45 And they run the football as well.
00:07:47 They're tied for top of the ACC in rushing offense.
00:07:49 So they're a handful offensively.
00:07:51 Now, defensively, not so much.
00:07:53 It's more about opportunity
00:07:55 than just slamming the door on people.
00:07:57 They're number 12 in the ACC in total defense,
00:08:00 11 in rush defense, dead last in the past.
00:08:04 So we'll talk about all these things
00:08:06 as we work down an actual preview episode
00:08:08 and we get closer to game time.
00:08:09 But in the meantime, I think all offense,
00:08:13 they struggled on defense, but they're opportunistic.
00:08:16 From a turnover margin standpoint,
00:08:17 that defense has put them in position to be plus seven,
00:08:20 which is good enough to be number three in the ACC.
00:08:23 So that's the role the defense has played.
00:08:25 But I think it's a great matchup.
00:08:27 It's a great opportunity for a West Virginia team
00:08:29 that's playing some of its better football down the stretch.
00:08:32 Now, when you look at North Carolina at large,
00:08:35 the narrative behind their season
00:08:37 has been an interesting one.
00:08:38 They crested this year.
00:08:40 They cracked the top 10.
00:08:41 They were number 10 in the country
00:08:42 associated press. - Six and O to start
00:08:43 the season, yeah. - Yeah, six and O.
00:08:44 That's exactly right.
00:08:46 It wasn't till after six and O
00:08:48 that the second season of struggle
00:08:50 started to set in for them.
00:08:51 They, of course, finished eight and four.
00:08:54 And the way they got there, they got upset by,
00:08:55 at six and O, they got upset by Virginia.
00:08:58 - Bad loss. - Then they got upset
00:08:59 by Georgia Tech. - Bad loss.
00:09:00 - Ultimately, they won a shootout against Duke,
00:09:02 which they nearly lost that one.
00:09:05 And then they got knocked off by Clemson
00:09:08 and Gibby and his crew at North Carolina State
00:09:10 kind of put it to 'em.
00:09:12 With North Carolina on the road at NC State
00:09:14 for the finale.
00:09:15 So they finished eight and four,
00:09:16 but an incredibly talented, dynamic,
00:09:18 explosive football team.
00:09:20 I think it makes for a great matchup.
00:09:22 And for me, it's about a six-hour drive.
00:09:25 It's reasonable for Morgantown.
00:09:27 It's reasonable, really, just about any point
00:09:29 in West Virginia, even the northern panhandle.
00:09:31 You're looking at eight and a half, nine,
00:09:32 depending on where you're at.
00:09:33 So I would fully expect West Virginia fans
00:09:36 to not only travel, we're kind of like the Steelers
00:09:38 in that sense, West.
00:09:39 What I would say is this.
00:09:40 Do we travel well?
00:09:41 Yes, of course we do.
00:09:43 But it's not just that we travel well.
00:09:44 We also come out of the Woodward Brook.
00:09:46 Exactly.
00:09:47 You have so many displaced West Virginians.
00:09:49 - All those fans in Orlando for the UCF game,
00:09:51 they weren't driving from Morgantown
00:09:53 or from West Virginia.
00:09:54 They lived there.
00:09:55 - There are people, we're the only state in the country
00:09:58 that since the 1940 census has gone down in population
00:10:02 instead of up.
00:10:03 And what that's done is it's forced a lot of people
00:10:06 to leave the state, but they left their heart here.
00:10:08 They left their passion for West Virginia sports here.
00:10:11 So they might live in Arizona or Orlando
00:10:13 or the Carolinas, wherever it might be.
00:10:15 And when we travel to within striking distance
00:10:18 of all these displaced Mountaineers,
00:10:20 they come out of the Woodward.
00:10:21 Yes, we travel well, we always have,
00:10:23 but they also come out of the Woodward.
00:10:25 And that is how you sell out a large venue
00:10:27 like we figured to do in Charlotte against North Carolina.
00:10:31 - And I'm glad you said that too, Jed,
00:10:33 because this game, like all bowl games,
00:10:35 like most bowl games,
00:10:36 has been called different things in the past, right?
00:10:39 When we were there in 2008 and Pat White's last game
00:10:42 to play North Carolina,
00:10:43 it was the Meineke Car Care Bowl, right?
00:10:45 It's been called different things in the past.
00:10:47 The two largest attended games ever
00:10:50 in the history of this bowl,
00:10:51 WVU North Carolina in 2008, that was number one.
00:10:55 WVU in Virginia in 2002, that was number two.
00:11:00 The two highest- - I wish I could forget that game.
00:11:01 - The two, yeah, you and me both.
00:11:03 The first one, pretty good.
00:11:04 The second one, eh.
00:11:05 The two highest ever attended games
00:11:07 in the history of this bowl game have both involved WVU.
00:11:11 And when they do the Dukes kickoff classic,
00:11:16 again, it was called something different in 2018
00:11:18 when WVU played in it.
00:11:19 I can't remember if it was the Goodyear kickoff,
00:11:21 or whatever it was.
00:11:22 - Was it Belk?
00:11:23 - Belk, that's exactly what it was.
00:11:25 Good memory, good memory.
00:11:26 It was the Belk kickoff classic.
00:11:28 That WVU Tennessee game
00:11:29 was the second highest attended kickoff classic
00:11:32 that they've ever had in the history there before.
00:11:35 The only higher one was like Georgia in Tennessee,
00:11:38 or Georgia in North Carolina,
00:11:40 or somebody had 3,000 more people there,
00:11:44 or something like that.
00:11:45 So when the Mountaineers play in Charlotte, we show up.
00:11:48 - We show up, we do, we turn out.
00:11:50 And even thinking back to that game against Virginia,
00:11:53 of course, that was Rich's first really solid team, okay,
00:11:58 that surprised a lot of folks.
00:11:59 And that was a Virginia team.
00:12:01 I don't think a lot of people recognize
00:12:03 just how good they were.
00:12:04 Wally Lundy was a freshman back,
00:12:06 Matt Shaw was the quarterback, Heath Miller.
00:12:08 I mean, I'm a Steeler fan too,
00:12:09 so every time he caught a pass to a Steeler career,
00:12:11 I still couldn't help but,
00:12:13 a little bit thinking of that game in Charlotte.
00:12:15 But that was a good Virginia team,
00:12:17 and it was Rich's first good team.
00:12:18 And that was a massive crowd,
00:12:19 as you just touched on for that one.
00:12:21 But yeah, we turn out in Charlotte.
00:12:23 Mountaineers, this just in,
00:12:25 Mountaineers love the Carolinas.
00:12:28 - That's why they don't want us in the ACC,
00:12:29 'cause we know we'd be taking over
00:12:31 all their rinky-dink half-filled stadiums.
00:12:35 Speaking of the ACC-- - Exactly,
00:12:36 I'm not sure we want the ACC.
00:12:37 - I was gonna say, speaking of the ACC,
00:12:38 we're gonna get there in a minute.
00:12:39 We're gonna break and talk a little college football playoff.
00:12:42 But yeah, I'm excited about this.
00:12:45 A lot of the other potential matchups
00:12:46 that were floated out there,
00:12:48 I think a lot of WVU fans were thinking this as well too,
00:12:50 weren't really putting a pep in your step,
00:12:54 but I think this one does.
00:12:55 An ACC opponent, another big brand.
00:12:58 The game in Charlotte in Drake May's hometown.
00:13:01 We'll see if that has any effect
00:13:02 on if he decides to play or not.
00:13:05 But the Mountaineers are Queen City-bound,
00:13:07 Wednesday, December 27th, 5.30 p.m. kickoff
00:13:12 against the North Carolina Tar Heels.
00:13:13 - There's two Queen Cities.
00:13:15 - There are, yeah.
00:13:16 Is it Cincinnati or Charlotte?
00:13:17 We need to have a war between Cincinnati and Charlotte
00:13:20 to decide who's actually the Queen City here.
00:13:23 As somebody who has spent,
00:13:24 as someone who's spent a decent amount of time
00:13:26 in both cities, I'm gonna ride with Charlotte, okay?
00:13:29 - And I'll say this, Wes.
00:13:31 - Better weather, more to do, nicer people.
00:13:33 - More to do.
00:13:34 Yeah, when you stop and consider all the possibilities
00:13:37 that seem to be on the table in the last day or two
00:13:41 from a projection standpoint,
00:13:43 facing Toledo in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis,
00:13:45 facing who knows who in the Independence Bowl
00:13:48 in Shreveport, facing who knows who in the guaranteed rate,
00:13:52 like you said, a late kickoff in Arizona.
00:13:54 This is a pretty optimal situation for West Virginia.
00:13:57 The horse trading that was involved behind the scenes,
00:14:00 I'm sure there'd be a fascinating 30 for 30 one day.
00:14:03 But I think at the end of the day,
00:14:04 we landed in a really solid spot.
00:14:07 - I think so too.
00:14:08 And speaking of a fascinating 30 for 30 one day,
00:14:11 maybe how the college football playoff committee
00:14:14 just killed the ACC.
00:14:16 Jed and I will talk.
00:14:19 We know our four playoff teams
00:14:21 and there's always some controversy with this,
00:14:24 but man, this year in the final year of four teams,
00:14:27 it has been ratcheted up to another level.
00:14:29 So Jed and I will get into that a little bit
00:14:31 on the other side as we look at the...
00:14:34 So that was our WVU news of the day, right?
00:14:37 Now we'll go national college football news of the day
00:14:40 when we return on the other side.
00:14:41 Jed Drenning, Wesley Uhler, you are in the gun.
00:14:43 - Nobody supports the blue and gold Mountaineers
00:14:45 like Toothman Ford.
00:14:46 With over 20 NIL deals and counting,
00:14:48 Toothman Ford continues to rally
00:14:50 behind our student athletes.
00:14:51 And it's time we rally and support the dealer
00:14:54 that supports the Mountaineers.
00:14:55 Not only does Toothman Ford offer the best prices
00:14:57 in the state on pre-owned,
00:14:59 their never over MSRP campaign on new Fords
00:15:01 guaranteed to save you thousands.
00:15:03 Drive with pride all season long,
00:15:05 knowing you're supporting the dealer
00:15:07 that fuels our Mountaineers.
00:15:08 Toothman Ford, where cars cost less.
00:15:10 In Grafton and at toothmanford.com.
00:15:13 - For more West Virginia Mountaineer football content,
00:15:18 be sure to follow us on Twitter @InTheGunPodcast.
00:15:25 - For nearly 20 years,
00:15:26 Fortis has been the nation's leader
00:15:27 in providing guaranteed roof performance programs
00:15:30 for commercial buildings.
00:15:31 Fortis offers roof performance solutions
00:15:33 that feature extensive initial
00:15:35 and ongoing reconditioning for commercial buildings
00:15:37 as an alternative to traditional replacement
00:15:40 with long-term performance guarantees
00:15:41 that are backed by global leader, Lloyds of London.
00:15:44 Fortis offers a comprehensive range
00:15:46 of roof performance management programs
00:15:47 that provide financial security,
00:15:49 extend the life of our customers' roofs
00:15:51 and make a significant impact on ROI.
00:15:54 Fortis is currently improving performance
00:15:55 and increasing ROI for customers
00:15:57 at more than 4,800 locations
00:15:59 with more than 140 million square feet protected,
00:16:02 including many Fortune 500 companies
00:16:05 that have turned to Fortis to save money,
00:16:06 gain financial certainty
00:16:08 and extend the life of their existing roofs.
00:16:10 Fortis has helped customers save more than $520 million
00:16:14 in capital roof replacement costs
00:16:15 for an average ROI of over 250%.
00:16:19 To learn more, visit fortis.us.com.
00:16:22 Fortis, roof performance and financial certainty guaranteed.
00:16:26 (upbeat music)
00:16:29 - If you work the land,
00:16:30 you just gotta be a jack of all trades type.
00:16:33 There's just too much to do.
00:16:34 So if you gotta be a welder or a farmer or a ditch digger,
00:16:39 that's just who you are that day.
00:16:41 Then tomorrow, you can be somebody else.
00:16:44 (upbeat music)
00:16:51 Get your Coyote at the new location of Johnston Equipment
00:16:54 between Weston and Buckhannon.
00:16:55 - Back in the gun here and it is time.
00:16:57 We have discussed the Mountaineers and their bowl matchup.
00:17:01 Now to discuss the college football playoff.
00:17:04 Heck, even on an NFL Sunday,
00:17:06 I think Jed, the biggest story in sports in this country.
00:17:10 And you know what?
00:17:11 Speaking of NFL Sunday,
00:17:11 it is Sunday night as you and I record this.
00:17:14 I wanted to mention this in the first segment,
00:17:15 completely forgot, but it'll still work here.
00:17:18 I just got home literally,
00:17:19 I mean, Jed and I started recording this 10 minutes
00:17:22 after I got home from working the Steelers game
00:17:24 against the Cardinals, my day job responsibilities.
00:17:28 And how about our guy, Dante Stills, baby,
00:17:30 recovering a fumble there at Akershires Stadium.
00:17:33 I know Dante had some bad taste in his mouth
00:17:36 about the last time he was in that stadium.
00:17:40 And I was excited to see,
00:17:41 even though I work for the Steelers,
00:17:43 if any Steelers people are listening to this,
00:17:45 don't get me fired.
00:17:47 I was excited to see the WVU guy.
00:17:50 You know what?
00:17:51 I can say that too,
00:17:52 because they were all talking about James Conner
00:17:53 and how much they love seeing the Pitt guy
00:17:55 come back and have success.
00:17:56 So I can say that about Dante, damn it.
00:17:58 All right, 'cause he didn't run for 100 yards
00:17:59 on the Steelers on Sunday, like the Pitt guy did.
00:18:03 So yeah, big shout out to Dante.
00:18:04 I got to talk to Ron Wolfley before the game, of course.
00:18:08 WVU Hall of Famer, legend,
00:18:10 color commentator for the Cardinals.
00:18:12 So he was in there, I was talking to him before the game,
00:18:14 chatted with him for a minute about Coach Nealon
00:18:16 and him getting enshrined and how much that was deserved.
00:18:20 And then of course, you guys know,
00:18:21 I had to talk to him about Khyzier,
00:18:23 had to talk to him about Dante.
00:18:24 Khyzier leads the team in tackles.
00:18:26 He didn't play because he's injured, didn't go this week.
00:18:29 But Dante's been starting, been playing, started on Sunday,
00:18:33 had a good game,
00:18:34 recovered a fumble against the Steelers as well too.
00:18:36 Had a big tackle down near the goal line
00:18:38 to keep the Steelers out of the end zone.
00:18:41 So big shout out to our Mountaineers and the pros here
00:18:44 as we were rolling along as well.
00:18:46 A thank you to our friends at Fortis
00:18:48 for presenting this episode of ITG
00:18:50 for roof performance and financial security guaranteed.
00:18:54 Visit fortis.us.com.
00:18:57 Like I said, Jed, it is very rare
00:18:58 that the NFL gets usurped.
00:19:01 You like that?
00:19:02 That's a big word, huh?
00:19:03 That the NFL gets usurped on a Sunday as the biggest story,
00:19:07 biggest sports story in this country.
00:19:09 But I think today that happened because at noon,
00:19:13 just before the NFL day kicked off,
00:19:15 the college football playoff committee
00:19:17 announced their four teams
00:19:19 for this year's college football playoff.
00:19:21 Number one, Michigan, not a lot of surprise there.
00:19:24 Number two, Washington, not a lot of surprise there.
00:19:27 But then after that was when the debate started.
00:19:30 You had Texas, you had Bama, you had Georgia,
00:19:32 you had the undefeated ACC champion, Florida State.
00:19:36 How would it all shake out?
00:19:38 Would the SEC get snubbed?
00:19:39 Would the SEC get two teams?
00:19:42 It was, like I said, there's always debate with this
00:19:44 and it goes all the way back to the first year, right?
00:19:47 When TCU gets snubbed for Ohio State
00:19:49 and then Ohio State ends up going
00:19:51 and winning the national championship anyways.
00:19:53 This year though, in the final year of the four team format,
00:19:57 I think it was fitting because this is the greatest
00:19:59 the debate has ever raged.
00:20:01 Texas three, Bama four, Florida State just left out at five,
00:20:06 Georgia at six.
00:20:08 Jed, we've both got takes on this.
00:20:10 We wanna talk about Florida State.
00:20:11 We wanna talk about some of the other stuff.
00:20:13 I've got an interesting take for you
00:20:14 with the Michigan-Bama seeding as well
00:20:16 that I wanna run by you before we get out of here,
00:20:18 but just kind of your initial gut reaction
00:20:21 and thoughts to the four teams that made the playoff.
00:20:24 - Well, let's start with Michigan.
00:20:26 First of all, I think they're the victors in all this.
00:20:29 For all the conversations taking place,
00:20:31 none of them are about the Michigan storyline
00:20:34 or the last month and a half.
00:20:35 It's like it didn't happen now.
00:20:37 And in addition to that, Michigan,
00:20:39 for the better part of the last four games was,
00:20:41 talk about competition or not,
00:20:43 offensively with JJ and McCarthy,
00:20:46 with their starting quarterback,
00:20:48 they haven't exactly lighted things up.
00:20:50 When you look at the game of Penn State, 287 yards,
00:20:55 not dynamic offense on the road
00:20:57 against a really good Penn State defense.
00:20:59 Maryland, they struggled.
00:21:00 They didn't put up 300 yards against Maryland.
00:21:02 Ohio State, they did enough to get it done.
00:21:05 You saw them struggle against Iowa.
00:21:06 So that's four straight games
00:21:07 with their starting quarterback
00:21:10 that people are acting like it's a foregone conclusion.
00:21:12 Michigan's your one, don't even debate it,
00:21:14 don't even discuss it.
00:21:16 So I think they are the most fortunate.
00:21:18 - I would have voted Washington
00:21:19 as my number one team, honestly.
00:21:20 - That's what I'm saying.
00:21:21 I would entertain that argument.
00:21:22 And so you moved to number two and you have Washington.
00:21:26 - Real quick, you know the quad one wins?
00:21:28 Do you know that phrase?
00:21:29 Do you know what I'm talking about?
00:21:30 - Yeah, I know what you're talking about.
00:21:31 - It's like an advanced analytic thing, right?
00:21:33 Where quad one is the best analytics team,
00:21:35 quad two, quad three, quad four.
00:21:37 So like, what's your quad one record?
00:21:39 How do you do against the upper echelon teams?
00:21:40 How do you do against the second wave of teams?
00:21:42 How do you do against tier four teams?
00:21:44 Do you have any bad losses, right?
00:21:46 Michigan was three and O against quad one teams this season.
00:21:49 Ohio State, Penn State, and Iowa, I think.
00:21:53 Washington was seven and O.
00:21:56 They played more than double the amount of quad one teams
00:21:59 than Michigan did this season.
00:22:01 And they beat a much better team
00:22:03 in their conference championship game than Michigan did.
00:22:04 So yeah, I would add Washington won and Michigan too,
00:22:07 but I digress.
00:22:08 And played really well in doing it on a neutral side.
00:22:12 I mean, I was very impressed by Washington on Friday night.
00:22:15 - And have probably the best collegiate quarterback
00:22:17 in the game right now in Michael Penix Jr.
00:22:19 - And that's a nasty Oregon defense and they got it done.
00:22:23 But so now moving on to number three,
00:22:25 you have this conversation with Texas,
00:22:28 with Alabama, with Florida State.
00:22:30 First, Texas, I think you have to put them in.
00:22:35 They have easily the best win on anyone's resume.
00:22:39 Nobody has a better win than going on the road
00:22:41 and winning in Tuscaloosa by double digits
00:22:43 the way they did.
00:22:45 Now, some people will have you believe,
00:22:46 well, that's a different Alabama team.
00:22:48 The team that played against Texas
00:22:50 and against South Florida and almost lost,
00:22:52 that's a different Alabama team.
00:22:53 - Don't play the game.
00:22:54 - Well, again, I don't know that's a different Alabama team.
00:22:56 I hate the eyeball test to determine that.
00:22:59 I just know what you've actually done on the football field.
00:23:02 That's what I know.
00:23:03 - Can I, can I, right.
00:23:04 - I'm limited in that. - Thank you, thank you.
00:23:05 And you know what bothers me so much about that, Jet,
00:23:07 is if Texas, instead of going to Alabama
00:23:10 and beating them in Alabama by double digits,
00:23:12 not on a last second field goal, by double digits,
00:23:16 if Texas would have played UTEP instead, right,
00:23:21 and would have gone, and would have played UTEP,
00:23:24 like everyone would be laughing,
00:23:26 oh my gosh, they only played one good team all year
00:23:28 and it was Oklahoma and they lost.
00:23:30 You know what I mean?
00:23:31 Like that drive, do you want teams to play big
00:23:34 out of conference games or not?
00:23:35 Do you want to see WVU in Penn State?
00:23:38 Do you want to see Texas in Alabama?
00:23:40 Do you want to see Notre Dame in Ohio State?
00:23:42 If you want to see those big non-conference games
00:23:44 early in the season, like I'm pretty sure we all do,
00:23:47 do you want to see LSU in Florida State?
00:23:49 Yeah, duh, of course you do.
00:23:51 Then those games matter, because if they don't,
00:23:53 just play UTEP, just play Sam Houston State,
00:23:56 just play Rice, 'cause it doesn't matter.
00:23:59 Like that drives me, oh, it's two months ago,
00:24:01 that's a completely different Alabama team.
00:24:03 Which is also ironically the same reason
00:24:07 I don't think you can indict Alabama too harshly,
00:24:11 because they chose to play the game
00:24:14 and instead of playing Kent State.
00:24:16 I mean, if they played a Mack school,
00:24:17 we wouldn't be having this conversation at all.
00:24:19 - Alabama has the best loss,
00:24:22 so we just said Texas has the best win,
00:24:24 Alabama has the best loss.
00:24:25 - That matters for something, okay?
00:24:27 But now let's go back to how Florida State
00:24:30 slid out of the previous week's poll,
00:24:33 which I do think that's part of the issue.
00:24:35 Part of the issue is the committee sets themselves up
00:24:37 for this kind of criticism,
00:24:39 because to feed the beast to the worldwide leader ESPN,
00:24:42 you have to have, you don't just release the poll
00:24:45 as it might stand the week of the Final Four.
00:24:48 No, no, no, no, that's not good enough.
00:24:49 You have to have a weekly TV show starting Halloween week.
00:24:53 And that way you can show the transparency
00:24:55 of where teams stand now, where teams stand next week,
00:24:58 the week after, that creates the issue.
00:25:00 That's why people had an issue in 2014,
00:25:03 when TCU went out sitting at number three
00:25:06 and blew the doors off a bad Kansas team, 56 to three,
00:25:11 and do what you're supposed to do against a bad Kansas team,
00:25:13 and then fell three spots or fell two spots.
00:25:16 That's the issue, that level of transparency
00:25:18 to feed the beast that is the worldwide leader,
00:25:20 to give them content, to have that show
00:25:22 for that weekly release of the weekly rankings,
00:25:27 that's part of the issue.
00:25:28 In other words, I do sometimes wonder
00:25:31 if the only poll that came out was this one,
00:25:34 you would still have some answering to do,
00:25:36 but maybe not to the extent that you do.
00:25:37 Like for instance, how can you even account
00:25:40 for Georgia dropping four spots from last week's poll?
00:25:44 That doesn't make sense.
00:25:45 So they wrote it into their bylaws
00:25:47 to give themselves to out,
00:25:50 saying based on coaching availability,
00:25:52 based on premier player availability,
00:25:54 that can impact things.
00:25:55 Well, the question I have,
00:25:57 if in fact that's the case, how do you, again,
00:26:01 if what happens on the field matters,
00:26:04 who's the second best player on Texas's offense?
00:26:09 If Quinn Ewers is the best,
00:26:10 and they found a way to win a couple of games without him,
00:26:13 on paper, you might think it'd be an Xavier Worthy,
00:26:17 or there's a couple of candidates,
00:26:18 but the way it played out on the field,
00:26:21 their second best player is Jonathan Brooks.
00:26:24 Jonathan Brooks is gone.
00:26:26 He's gone.
00:26:27 He's not playing again this season.
00:26:28 That didn't impact the committee's valuation
00:26:30 of Texas at number three.
00:26:33 He's their feature back.
00:26:34 He's their 1,100-yard rusher who's not coming back.
00:26:37 Why didn't that impact things, or did it?
00:26:40 I don't know the answer to that.
00:26:41 But the truth of the matter is this.
00:26:42 If you're Florida State,
00:26:44 and you not only go on beating at a Power Five conference,
00:26:47 say what you want or what you don't want about the ACC,
00:26:50 you also went on the road against two SEC teams
00:26:55 and beat both of them, including LSU.
00:26:58 You throttled them by three touchdowns on the road.
00:27:02 So you didn't just go on beating in the ACC.
00:27:04 Neutral site, yes, neutral site.
00:27:06 You throttled LSU at a neutral site by three touchdowns.
00:27:10 So you have two SEC wins.
00:27:12 Say what you want about the ACC
00:27:14 and their quality or lack thereof depth,
00:27:16 but Florida State took care of business
00:27:19 as presented to them on their schedule.
00:27:21 And I am so tired of having those who defend
00:27:25 the current system say,
00:27:27 "Well, the regular season matters more than any other sport."
00:27:29 Explain that to Florida State.
00:27:32 If the regular season matters more than any other sport,
00:27:35 explain that to Florida State.
00:27:37 It's not created equally.
00:27:39 Some teams are allowed to lose.
00:27:40 Some teams are not.
00:27:42 - Correct.
00:27:43 - Stop with the nonsense
00:27:44 of the most meaningful regular season.
00:27:45 If it's the most meaningful regular season,
00:27:48 then why do we play 60 games in November
00:27:50 and 55 of them don't matter per squat?
00:27:52 Five of them might.
00:27:54 Stop with the most meaningful regular season.
00:27:56 At least next year.
00:27:58 I mean, that's the only caveat,
00:28:00 is the committee now gets to ride off into the sunset
00:28:03 and not be held to account
00:28:04 because this will never again happen
00:28:06 starting next year with a 12-team playoff.
00:28:07 - And I think that's part of the reason why they were like,
00:28:09 "Eh, we can get away with this. Let's do it."
00:28:11 - I completely agree with you.
00:28:13 I do agree with that.
00:28:14 If you're looking at another 14-team proposition next year,
00:28:16 different animal.
00:28:17 So I've had people,
00:28:18 I don't think people understand what a 12-team means.
00:28:22 I really don't.
00:28:22 And I hear them criticize it.
00:28:24 They're saying,
00:28:25 I've had people actually suggest that,
00:28:26 "Well, now teams are gonna rest their players in November."
00:28:30 'Cause they, "Wait, don't you understand?
00:28:31 You are intensely battling for a higher seed to play at home
00:28:35 and not have to go on the road.
00:28:37 You're intensely battling for a top four seed
00:28:40 to get a bye week."
00:28:41 In other words, we will see more meaningful football
00:28:44 in the month of November than we have ever seen
00:28:47 because it's a 12-team playoff where seeding matters.
00:28:50 So in other words, it's not just,
00:28:52 it doesn't just matter if you go or don't go.
00:28:54 Now you have something else that matters
00:28:56 and something else that you're playing for.
00:28:58 - And think about it. - In the past.
00:28:59 - Jed, just think about Saturday.
00:29:00 Like Oklahoma State,
00:29:01 yeah, they're playing to win a Big 12 championship,
00:29:04 but they know if they win,
00:29:05 they have no chance to go to the playoff.
00:29:07 Kansas State last year.
00:29:10 Yeah, they're playing TCU for a Big 12 championship,
00:29:12 but they know they have no chance of going to the playoff.
00:29:14 Well, guess what?
00:29:15 You win that and all of a sudden,
00:29:16 you are going to the playoff.
00:29:17 - You're the higher seed.
00:29:19 You're going to the playoffs and you're a higher seed.
00:29:21 You're enhancing your seat.
00:29:22 Like you might look at the Ohio State-Michigan game
00:29:25 and say, "Well, 12 teams renders that useless."
00:29:28 I'm like, "Are you kidding me?
00:29:29 The winner of that is going to get a first-round bye.
00:29:33 That's worth its weight in gold."
00:29:35 I mean, you are battling every week
00:29:37 throughout the month of November.
00:29:39 If you play the Citadel on November 15th,
00:29:42 now that might hurt you because you might lose.
00:29:45 In other words, the way it's going to be structured
00:29:47 in a 12-team playoff, the top four teams get byes.
00:29:49 They have to be a conference champ.
00:29:51 So no Notre Dame in the top four.
00:29:53 And then five through eight in round one
00:29:56 will host nine through 12.
00:29:58 So let's say you're number seven.
00:30:00 And one of the things you're doing is you're playing,
00:30:02 oh, I don't know, some Mac team on November 15th.
00:30:06 Well, the team that's number eight
00:30:07 is playing a competitive team and wins by two touchdowns.
00:30:10 You can't, against a Mac team, hold at number seven.
00:30:12 You might lose your home field seat now.
00:30:15 Games will matter in November more than they ever have.
00:30:18 Please understand that.
00:30:20 Please understand that you're fighting
00:30:21 for far more than just getting into the playoff.
00:30:23 You're also fighting for your standing
00:30:25 if you get in the playoff.
00:30:27 So I don't understand people's argument
00:30:29 against resting players.
00:30:31 Are you saying, who's going to rest players?
00:30:33 It's not going to, in other words, take the NFL West.
00:30:36 The NFL's structured in such a way that teams do sometimes,
00:30:39 and this is the worst part of it,
00:30:40 rest player because it's a mathematical equation.
00:30:43 You recognize, hey, even if we win next week,
00:30:45 we're still the three seed.
00:30:47 But when there is a committee deciding the seeds,
00:30:50 you don't know that.
00:30:51 You can't take that risk.
00:30:53 You can't do what the NFL does and rest your players,
00:30:56 saying, well, we're going to be the three seed no matter what
00:30:58 when there is a committee deciding who the seeds are.
00:31:01 - It's week 18, and we know we're going to Miami
00:31:03 for the first round of the playoffs next week.
00:31:05 - Absolutely.
00:31:06 So all that's going to matter,
00:31:08 but this is a terrible thing that happened to Florida State.
00:31:12 It's a horrible, wretched, terrible thing.
00:31:15 I understand that you protected yourself
00:31:17 by writing into your guidelines.
00:31:19 Well, yeah, you can count a team out
00:31:21 because they have a coach down, they have a player out,
00:31:23 whatever the situation might be.
00:31:26 The most tragic thing might've been the tweet
00:31:27 by Jordan Travis.
00:31:29 The tweet by Jordan Travis that I shared with Pro Chef.
00:31:31 - I know that hit you right in the feels.
00:31:33 - Saying, I wish I would've broken my leg
00:31:36 earlier in the season
00:31:37 so the rest of the world could see how good this team is
00:31:40 without me, just like I see it.
00:31:42 That is tragic.
00:31:44 When you have a college football player saying,
00:31:46 I wish I broke the bone earlier in the season.
00:31:49 That's, and I understand what he's saying.
00:31:52 He believes in his team in a way that the committee
00:31:54 very obviously doesn't.
00:31:55 That's sad.
00:31:58 - So it is.
00:31:59 Listen, I do feel bad for Florida State.
00:32:03 I do.
00:32:04 You go 13 and 0, and you're the first, you know,
00:32:06 power conference champion to get left out.
00:32:09 I feel bad for Florida State in that regard.
00:32:12 I feel bad for Florida State.
00:32:13 I mean, it is the hypocrisy of the thing, right?
00:32:16 Like if going undefeated doesn't matter,
00:32:18 then why was Cincinnati in in 2021
00:32:21 when you knew they were gonna be massive underdogs
00:32:23 in the first round, right?
00:32:24 Because they went undefeated and they won the ACC,
00:32:26 I mean, or the AAC, pardon me.
00:32:29 If, you know, the language of, which is again,
00:32:32 in the college football committee's bylaws
00:32:35 or mission statement or whatever the hell of,
00:32:37 you know, if significant injury or absences occur,
00:32:39 that'll be taken into consideration.
00:32:41 Why didn't it matter in 2015 when Ohio State
00:32:43 was down to their third string quarterback?
00:32:45 And I know we can all say, well, Ohio State went on
00:32:48 to win the national championship.
00:32:49 They did.
00:32:49 None of you knew who Cardell Jones was at that time.
00:32:52 All right?
00:32:52 So spare me that.
00:32:54 Neither did, the committee hadn't seen Cardell Jones
00:32:56 in practice and didn't know what he was gonna look like
00:32:59 out there against Alabama and against Oregon
00:33:00 in those two games.
00:33:02 So that's what bothers me more about it
00:33:06 is the hypocrisy from, okay, well, going undefeated
00:33:09 mattered for Cincinnati two years ago,
00:33:11 who weren't even in a power conference
00:33:13 and losing the quarterback didn't matter
00:33:15 to Ohio State in 2015, like it does now to Florida State.
00:33:20 That's why I feel for Florida State.
00:33:22 They won all their games.
00:33:23 And what you're saying is essentially
00:33:25 is the results don't matter.
00:33:27 I feel for them in that regard.
00:33:29 Can I give you the other side of it though, Jed?
00:33:32 The ACC voting against expanding the playoff?
00:33:35 Well, listen, I do not feel bad for the ACC at all.
00:33:38 In fact, I hope this is the beginning of the end of the ACC
00:33:41 and Florida State and the others use this
00:33:42 as a catalyst to get out because yes, because that,
00:33:45 and because the ACC snubbed their nose up at WVU
00:33:48 for multiple decades now.
00:33:49 Oh, but your academics aren't good enough
00:33:52 to get into the ACC.
00:33:53 We can't have West Virginia in the ACC
00:33:56 when it makes all the sense in the world,
00:33:58 when we'd fill your stadiums,
00:33:59 when we'd have your best rivalries
00:34:00 outside of the hardwood, right?
00:34:02 Other than tobacco, road and basketball.
00:34:04 But you wanna talk academics at the ACC
00:34:07 when North Carolina had the most embarrassing
00:34:09 cheating scandal in the history of college sports
00:34:11 when it comes to academics.
00:34:13 I digress with all of that.
00:34:15 The one part of this that I don't feel bad in
00:34:16 is that it's always been made up.
00:34:18 It's always been the committee in a room
00:34:20 deciding who were the four best teams.
00:34:22 And be honest with me here, Jed, okay?
00:34:25 Be honest with me.
00:34:27 If Florida State's playing Texas this weekend,
00:34:29 who you picking?
00:34:30 If Florida State's playing Alabama this weekend,
00:34:34 who you picking?
00:34:34 - I'm playing Texas, but here's the thing.
00:34:37 Last week, I knew the rivalry nature of the Iron Bowl
00:34:41 would make it more interesting than it should,
00:34:44 but I never in my wildest dreams would have thought
00:34:46 it took a fourth and goal miracle
00:34:47 from the 31st to Alabama. - Sure, no doubt.
00:34:49 - I'm not, you see, the trouble I have
00:34:51 with the whole committee process,
00:34:53 I'm not so arrogant as to believe
00:34:55 I always know the best teams.
00:34:57 I don't know nearly enough to be able to always tell you
00:35:00 who the best teams are.
00:35:02 I've often, I've missed on way too many things in life.
00:35:05 Hey, that team's better than that team,
00:35:06 then that team gets smoked by four touchdowns.
00:35:08 I hate level of arrogance. - It should matter.
00:35:09 So what it comes back to is the games should matter.
00:35:12 - Yes, the opportunities, the access should matter, okay?
00:35:16 The access should matter.
00:35:17 That's why I get back to limiting it to four teams.
00:35:21 You are setting the committee up for failure
00:35:23 because nobody is possibly smart enough
00:35:27 to always know who the four best teams are.
00:35:30 I don't care if you use eyeball tests,
00:35:31 I don't care what buzz phrase or buzzword you come up with,
00:35:34 that's pure, unmitigated nonsense.
00:35:37 - Completely. - And to ask,
00:35:38 and that's the theoretical question that's always asked.
00:35:41 Like, well, hey, who would you pick if Georgia
00:35:43 was playing such and such this week?
00:35:44 Why pick Georgia?
00:35:45 What does that have to do with anything?
00:35:47 Does that mean Georgia's absolutely gonna win
00:35:49 and I'm certain of it and I'm never wrong?
00:35:50 Of course I'm not. - I don't think
00:35:52 it has anything to do with anything
00:35:53 except for in this conversation
00:35:55 'cause that's how the college football playoff operates.
00:35:56 There is no way to automate,
00:35:58 until next year, there's no automatic way to qualify.
00:36:00 - You're always gonna have a committee
00:36:01 playing some role in this.
00:36:03 That's the necessary evil that I accept.
00:36:06 What I'm striving to do is marginalize,
00:36:09 to the greatest extent possible, the role they play.
00:36:12 In other words, you don't wanna jump to a 60-14 playoff
00:36:15 like Mike Leach might ultimately in his dreams want
00:36:17 before he passed away.
00:36:18 But look, I'll entertain the argument
00:36:21 of an expanded playoff, but see,
00:36:22 you want some sweet spot between four,
00:36:25 which is absurd, and too many.
00:36:28 Okay, so is it eight, is it 12, is it 16?
00:36:30 I'll entertain any of those conversations
00:36:33 because I don't like the sport being treated
00:36:36 like Olympic figure skating this time every year
00:36:39 and a group full of judges telling me
00:36:41 who the best teams are.
00:36:41 Will you play the games to decide?
00:36:43 Apparently you don't 'cause some teams
00:36:45 are allowed to lose those games and other teams aren't.
00:36:47 Quit saying that.
00:36:49 Quit telling me the games matter.
00:36:51 Stop it, stop it, stop it.
00:36:53 Why are some teams allowed to lose and other teams aren't?
00:36:57 Quit acting like this is played out on the field
00:37:00 when it so very obviously is not.
00:37:02 All I'm asking, expand it a little more, just enough
00:37:07 to mitigate the human errors that the committee
00:37:10 will very obviously always make because they're human.
00:37:12 I don't know enough, they don't know enough,
00:37:14 nobody knows enough.
00:37:15 And just because Ohio State was able
00:37:18 to win the whole thing in 2014,
00:37:20 I always thought, well, that's kind of a weak argument too.
00:37:23 I mean, I'm sure there's some teams
00:37:24 who didn't make the 2014 playoffs,
00:37:26 who also, if things went their way,
00:37:28 could have won the whole thing.
00:37:30 That's not the point.
00:37:31 Baylor and TCU.
00:37:31 None of this is the point.
00:37:33 So if you get the 12 teams, I mean, yeah, I don't know.
00:37:36 What Baylor and TCU, those are two very different teams
00:37:39 in 2014, if they get hot, if they catch the breaks,
00:37:42 I don't know the answer.
00:37:43 I'm sure there's some people sitting out there right now
00:37:44 thinking there's no way they could have done it.
00:37:46 I'm glad you know that because I don't.
00:37:47 I'm not smart enough to know that.
00:37:50 The committee's not smart enough to know that.
00:37:52 And stop telling me, well, they didn't pass the eyeball test.
00:37:55 Are you telling me if Alabama plays such and such,
00:37:57 then this would, I have no idea what would happen.
00:38:00 No idea what would happen.
00:38:01 I didn't think Auburn had much of a chance against Alabama.
00:38:05 And look at it like this.
00:38:06 Just name whatever upset you want to name
00:38:09 in the last five years, 10 years,
00:38:11 history of college football.
00:38:12 If you saw all those upsets coming,
00:38:15 you're a much wiser person than me
00:38:16 because I did not.
00:38:18 I can't predict every game
00:38:20 and I can't tell you the best team
00:38:22 out of every list of group of teams.
00:38:23 I can't do it.
00:38:24 Nobody can.
00:38:26 Now they might be able to think,
00:38:27 are you seriously gonna tell me
00:38:28 that this team has any chance to be better than that?
00:38:30 No, I'm not.
00:38:32 That team might have 10 times more players.
00:38:34 - That's what everybody said about TCU
00:38:35 and Michigan last year.
00:38:36 And we all saw how that turned out.
00:38:37 - Absolutely.
00:38:38 I mean, TCU shouldn't even be allowed in
00:38:40 and they beat Michigan,
00:38:42 despite all the other things that were playing out.
00:38:44 So look, the level of arrogance it takes
00:38:47 to sit there and say,
00:38:48 well, Alabama is clearly,
00:38:49 and we know for a fact that Alabama team
00:38:52 that won on a fourth and goal from the 31,
00:38:55 no way in the world they could possibly lose
00:38:57 to any of these teams you're talking about,
00:38:59 even though they should have lost to Auburn,
00:39:00 who got beat by three touchdowns a week before
00:39:02 by New Mexico State.
00:39:03 How do you think you know all these things?
00:39:05 How do you possibly think you know that much?
00:39:08 Nobody does.
00:39:10 And I'll tell you,
00:39:11 Mike Leach is the voice of God on this topic.
00:39:14 When you listen to his rants,
00:39:16 he is so spot on.
00:39:18 Now, again, he can take it to the extreme
00:39:20 with the 60-14 playoff,
00:39:21 but I'm not even saying that.
00:39:22 Just confine what he has to say about the committee
00:39:24 and the absurd nature of thinking that a committee
00:39:27 knows best to pick the four teams
00:39:29 that should be allowed to participate.
00:39:31 That's absurd.
00:39:32 And if you are a true champion,
00:39:34 if you're good enough,
00:39:35 then guess what?
00:39:36 You can let eight more teams in,
00:39:38 you can earn a bye,
00:39:39 you can win a home field game,
00:39:41 whatever the case might be.
00:39:42 If you're the best team,
00:39:43 you should have zero problem with this.
00:39:45 And the other part of it I don't understand,
00:39:47 look, 16s versus ones in the NCAA tournament
00:39:51 are usually blowouts.
00:39:52 And I'm not trying to turn this into basketball.
00:39:54 We're fundamentally different as a sport than they are.
00:39:57 But what I'm saying is,
00:39:58 even if you have, for instance,
00:40:00 Iowa-Michigan was a 23-point spread.
00:40:04 Michigan was favored by 23,
00:40:06 and they covered.
00:40:07 And guess what?
00:40:08 I watched the whole game.
00:40:09 And I'd rather watch a hundred more games
00:40:11 just like that one,
00:40:12 than listen to 10 more minutes of talking heads
00:40:15 talk about what game should or shouldn't be played.
00:40:17 I want to watch football games.
00:40:20 I want to see on a football field,
00:40:22 between the lines,
00:40:23 who is the better team.
00:40:25 And if you are remotely enough to get in the conversation,
00:40:27 then step on a field
00:40:29 and let's settle it the way it should be settled,
00:40:31 not in a committee debate.
00:40:33 I don't understand that for the life of me.
00:40:35 Because I'll sit through 10 blowouts
00:40:37 to see that one upset.
00:40:38 I'm fine with that.
00:40:40 As long as I know the possibility
00:40:41 that an upset can't happen.
00:40:43 And the last time I checked,
00:40:44 this still is college football,
00:40:45 which means an upset can happen.
00:40:47 I don't, and don't complain,
00:40:48 well, you're going to see a bunch of blowouts
00:40:49 in the first round.
00:40:50 Fine, go watch Gunsmoke.
00:40:52 You don't have to watch it.
00:40:53 What do you care?
00:40:54 Why are you complaining about this?
00:40:55 You talk to me as if you're entertained more
00:40:59 by ESPN's updates on what a committee might say,
00:41:02 than an actual football game.
00:41:04 What is wrong with you?
00:41:05 We are a nation that loves drama.
00:41:07 - I mean, I'm not saying take this to way too many teams.
00:41:11 I'm not smart enough to know how many teams,
00:41:13 too many teams is.
00:41:14 But I do think I'm smart enough to know
00:41:16 that four isn't enough.
00:41:18 - Completely. - That's what I'm saying.
00:41:20 And I'll entertain the conversation
00:41:21 at any point beyond that,
00:41:23 because what we've done,
00:41:24 and Rick Neuheisel,
00:41:24 who's way smarter than I could ever dream of being,
00:41:27 he makes the point that what you've done
00:41:29 with this four team playoff has created,
00:41:32 for the first time in the history of the sport,
00:41:33 super teams.
00:41:35 Because all the premium recruits,
00:41:37 all the four and five star blue chippers,
00:41:39 they're the most coveted,
00:41:41 are being funneled to the same six or seven schools,
00:41:44 because they're the only ones
00:41:45 with consistently realistic access to the big prize,
00:41:48 to the playoff.
00:41:50 So they all end up at the same six or seven schools.
00:41:53 And unless something changes,
00:41:54 they're gonna continue to all end up.
00:41:56 They'll leave their home state,
00:41:57 travel across the country.
00:41:58 CJ Stroud started at Ohio State
00:42:02 before he's in the NFL starting now,
00:42:03 California kid.
00:42:05 Bryce Young started at Alabama,
00:42:05 California kid.
00:42:06 Why?
00:42:07 Because they want to go to the playoffs.
00:42:09 And as long as there's only five or six teams
00:42:11 with a consistently realistic possibility to do that,
00:42:14 all those top tier kids
00:42:15 are only gonna go to those five or six schools.
00:42:17 So open it up to 12 playoff slots instead of four,
00:42:21 and you open it up to instead of five or six teams,
00:42:24 it's some years a couple dozen.
00:42:25 It's sometimes 25 or 30,
00:42:27 whatever it might be.
00:42:28 Now it broadens the field of teams
00:42:31 that those top players are going to.
00:42:33 Parity is not a bad thing.
00:42:36 I mean, these people talk about the NFL
00:42:38 like it's radioactive.
00:42:39 The single most dominant marketing and TV force
00:42:43 in the history of our nation.
00:42:44 And they talk about it like they're idiots.
00:42:46 Oh, they got it all wrong.
00:42:48 They don't have a committee.
00:42:49 They actually have a playoff structure.
00:42:50 No, you need to do it more like us.
00:42:52 Have a committee,
00:42:53 be very arbitrary and capricious.
00:42:55 People don't understand how the teams are picked.
00:42:57 No, no, we got it way better than they did.
00:42:59 This is moronic.
00:43:01 I'm glad it's finally being expanded to the point
00:43:03 that it has a hope or a chance to be addressed.
00:43:07 And never again, will we, or should we,
00:43:09 see something as calamitous
00:43:11 as what we saw play out with Florida State.
00:43:13 Every challenge before them, they conquered it.
00:43:17 Coaches always say, look, I don't make the schedule.
00:43:21 I try and win the games that are on the schedule.
00:43:23 You try and go one and O each week.
00:43:25 You try and win your league.
00:43:26 You try and go and beat and see what happens next.
00:43:28 And today, for the first time in history,
00:43:31 doing all those things in a Power Five conference,
00:43:33 no matter what you want to say about the ACC,
00:43:37 that team was left out for the first time in history.
00:43:40 And again, I don't entirely blame the committee
00:43:43 because what is the right answer?
00:43:44 With only four teams, there is no right answer.
00:43:48 You have to have more than four because more than four,
00:43:52 I mean, Georgia is going to be left out, right?
00:43:54 Are you telling me Georgia couldn't win the whole thing?
00:43:56 Of course they could.
00:43:58 I mean, even as weak as their schedule
00:43:59 might've been this year,
00:44:01 and I don't think they proved nearly as much
00:44:02 in the regular season this year
00:44:03 as they have the last couple of years,
00:44:05 but even Georgia, of course they could.
00:44:07 So don't take, well, 60 teams could win it.
00:44:10 Let them all, no, that's not what I'm saying.
00:44:12 I'm just saying four isn't nearly enough.
00:44:14 Let's find the sweet spot, eight, 12, 16,
00:44:18 somewhere in that reasonable range.
00:44:19 I think reasonable people can agree
00:44:21 that it needs to be four and it shouldn't be too many.
00:44:24 So this is a major step toward that.
00:44:27 And the crime that was committed against Florida State,
00:44:30 I hope to never see it again.
00:44:31 And people are saying, well, this time next year,
00:44:32 we're going to be arguing about
00:44:33 which nine and three teams should get in.
00:44:35 Yes, and we'll be doing it with a smile on our faces
00:44:38 because that won't be nearly as egregious
00:44:40 as this conversation we're having right now
00:44:42 where you let a committee,
00:44:44 a room full of committee members arbitrarily decide,
00:44:48 like Olympic figure skating,
00:44:50 which teams do and don't have a chance to compete.
00:44:52 I would much rather every day of the week
00:44:54 and twice on Sunday argue which nine and three team gets in.
00:44:58 I would much, much, much rather do that
00:45:01 than pretend that these things are all created equal,
00:45:03 they're all treated equal,
00:45:05 when in fact some teams are allowed to lose and some aren't.
00:45:08 - Mic drop moment from the Signal Caller, Jed Drenning.
00:45:13 The only thing I'll add is this,
00:45:14 I'm with everything you just said there.
00:45:17 Next year, for the first time in the history of this sport
00:45:22 that we love so much in college football,
00:45:24 will you actually know the requirements
00:45:26 to get yourself into the dance, right?
00:45:28 You win your conference, you're going to the playoff.
00:45:30 I mean, Jed, I think that's part of the reason
00:45:33 why the committee got away with this for a decade.
00:45:35 That's the way, college football, it's always been made up.
00:45:39 It's always been made up.
00:45:41 Go back and look at some of the teams
00:45:43 that claim national championships.
00:45:45 Go back and look at Pitt,
00:45:46 who claims a national championship,
00:45:49 co-national champions with USC,
00:45:51 and the same year they lost to USC by 35 points.
00:45:54 Go back and look at 1941,
00:45:56 where Alabama finished third in the SEC,
00:45:59 ranked 21st in the country,
00:46:01 and they still claimed a national championship.
00:46:03 I mean, those examples are littered
00:46:05 throughout the history of the sport.
00:46:07 - It took us 130 years, Wes, as a sport,
00:46:10 to have a real national championship game,
00:46:12 to decide that one playing two at the end of the year
00:46:15 is a good idea, right?
00:46:17 It took 130 years to decide that.
00:46:19 - During the BC, one of the first years in the BCS,
00:46:22 remember there were the three undefeated teams?
00:46:23 I'm drawing a blank who it was now,
00:46:24 but Auburn was the third one who was left out.
00:46:27 - 2004.
00:46:29 That was early in BCS.
00:46:31 - Yeah, like 19 years ago, Auburn goes undefeated,
00:46:33 and they don't even get into the national championship game,
00:46:35 so this is not a new issue.
00:46:38 - When Major Harris was a sophomore,
00:46:40 when we were on 11-0 in 1988, who did we play?
00:46:43 - You mean in the national championship game?
00:46:46 - Who did we play in the national championship?
00:46:49 - Notre Dame, the Fiesta Bowl, the Hats right there.
00:46:51 - What were they ranked?
00:46:53 - One.
00:46:55 - What were we?
00:46:56 - Three.
00:46:57 - Three, Miami was two,
00:46:59 because the sport at large hadn't decided,
00:47:02 hey, it's a good idea to have one actually play versus two
00:47:05 and call it a championship.
00:47:06 Even then, you had to lock into the bowl structure,
00:47:09 letting you land in the appropriate game
00:47:11 to have a chance to beat the top team.
00:47:14 We could have had a split national title
00:47:16 had we beaten Notre Dame.
00:47:17 That could have happened,
00:47:18 but it wasn't until the BCS in the late '90s
00:47:22 that that first portion of the problem was addressed.
00:47:24 What I'm saying is that speaks to
00:47:26 how slow college football is to react.
00:47:29 It took 130 years from Rutgers-Princeton in 1869
00:47:33 to the late '90s with Tennessee, Florida State,
00:47:35 the first BCS national championship.
00:47:37 That's 130 years.
00:47:39 So the fact that it's moving at least slightly faster
00:47:43 to mitigate the damage, do the right thing,
00:47:45 expanded to the point where everybody does have a chance.
00:47:48 Like I've said before,
00:47:50 to me, the fundamental problem with college football
00:47:52 is if I give you six chances to pick next year's Final Four,
00:47:56 I like your odds.
00:47:58 You got a pretty good shot at being able to pick them
00:48:00 if I give you six chances, right?
00:48:01 And look, you might very well land in a spot
00:48:04 with a 12-team playoff
00:48:06 where the same four teams end up as the Final Four.
00:48:08 Fine, at least they had to earn their way
00:48:12 against more meaningful teams
00:48:13 and more meaningful games to get there.
00:48:16 I'm perfectly fine with that.
00:48:17 - And at least you know if you win your conference,
00:48:21 you're getting invited to the dance.
00:48:23 - If you're standing among those Final Four,
00:48:27 you truly, on the field, with most things being equal,
00:48:31 had to win your way to get there.
00:48:33 It wasn't figure skating-style voting that got you there.
00:48:37 It was football games that got you there.
00:48:39 You had to win your way there.
00:48:41 So if you advanced to the championship
00:48:43 with a 12-team format,
00:48:45 you had to earn your way to that championship.
00:48:47 You didn't get voted to that championship.
00:48:49 Voting is always gonna contribute.
00:48:51 Voting is gonna have to play a role.
00:48:52 We're not the NFL.
00:48:53 We don't have one football czar
00:48:55 and one structured system
00:48:57 to allow so many teams to win their division.
00:48:59 And I don't want that.
00:49:00 I'm not even gonna say we need that.
00:49:02 What I'm saying is you want a system
00:49:03 that encourages competitive
00:49:06 and marquee non-conference games like Texas-Alabama.
00:49:09 You don't wanna punish it.
00:49:10 You wanna encourage it.
00:49:11 But in addition to that,
00:49:12 you also want a system that grants reasonable access
00:49:15 to good football teams,
00:49:17 and not just box everybody else out
00:49:19 because you don't have the right brand on your helmet.
00:49:21 That's the issue.
00:49:22 When I go back to 2014,
00:49:24 I can make an argument for or against TCU-Baylor.
00:49:27 Fine, fair enough.
00:49:28 But at the end of the day,
00:49:29 the brand landed in the top four.
00:49:31 It was Ohio State.
00:49:32 And at the end of the day right now,
00:49:34 yes, as some people might look at Florida State
00:49:36 as a blue blood,
00:49:37 but in the pecking order of blue bloods, come on.
00:49:39 It's not top-tier blue blood.
00:49:41 Alabama is top-tier blue blood.
00:49:43 So the SEC rules the day.
00:49:45 And I'm not on any level suggesting
00:49:47 that Alabama isn't one of the top handful of teams
00:49:50 in the country.
00:49:51 I think Nick Saban maybe has just earned his name
00:49:54 way into the national coach of the year consideration.
00:49:56 When you look at how atrocious their line was
00:49:59 for two-thirds of the season,
00:50:00 the improvement that they've showed,
00:50:01 the improvement that Jalen Milrode has showed
00:50:04 as a quarterback,
00:50:05 all the shortcomings by Alabama standards
00:50:07 that they've had to overcome
00:50:08 and still battle their way,
00:50:09 not just to the SEC West,
00:50:11 but to the SEC in Georgia,
00:50:12 that's impressive.
00:50:14 I'm not taking,
00:50:15 this isn't about attacking Alabama.
00:50:17 This is about saying what happened to Florida State
00:50:19 is a crime.
00:50:20 And it was gonna happen to somebody
00:50:22 because four teams is not enough
00:50:24 and it's absurd and it's ridiculous.
00:50:25 And I hate that it took even as many years as it did.
00:50:27 - I was gonna say, of course it happens.
00:50:29 Of course it happens in the last year.
00:50:31 - And I hate even more,
00:50:33 I hate even more that there are still people
00:50:34 beating their chests and defending
00:50:37 that this is the way to go.
00:50:38 Oh, well, 12 is too many.
00:50:40 You know what?
00:50:41 Then Wes and I will sit here
00:50:42 and enjoy the blowout,
00:50:43 waiting on the upset to happen.
00:50:45 - My favorite thing.
00:50:47 - Whatever you want to do, go do it.
00:50:48 - My favorite thing.
00:50:49 - Don't watch football.
00:50:50 - I saw reasonable,
00:50:51 like legitimate college football
00:50:52 and media minds that were saying
00:50:55 Washington should have been left out.
00:50:57 And I'm just like,
00:50:58 what are we doing here?
00:51:00 What are we doing here?
00:51:03 Yeah, the team that beats seven quad one teams,
00:51:06 the team that actually,
00:51:07 you ready for this?
00:51:08 The Pac-12 was the best conference
00:51:10 in college football this season.
00:51:11 - Yes, this year was.
00:51:12 - The team that won that
00:51:14 and has the likely Heisman trophy winner.
00:51:16 Yeah, they should be left out.
00:51:17 Get the bleep out of it.
00:51:18 - And you know what?
00:51:19 - It should be Georgia and Alabama every single year.
00:51:21 - Maybe we've reached a point
00:51:23 where you just have all teams report
00:51:25 to a combine in August
00:51:27 and we put the positions through skill drills
00:51:30 and say, well, there's your four best teams.
00:51:31 There you have it.
00:51:32 Do you see those quarterbacks throwing?
00:51:33 I mean, that's the eyeball test.
00:51:35 Come on, did you see those defense?
00:51:36 You can't block them.
00:51:37 That's the eyeball test.
00:51:38 - We'll do it in Annapolis.
00:51:39 - Before you even play a game.
00:51:40 Let's just do that.
00:51:42 Let's just hand somebody the Heisman
00:51:43 'cause they're the best player.
00:51:44 Let's just hand four teams the playoffs
00:51:46 'cause they tested best at the combine
00:51:48 and they have the most NFL talent
00:51:50 and the most draft picks.
00:51:50 And hey, we don't even need to play the games.
00:51:52 And if you do play the games,
00:51:53 some are gonna matter, some aren't,
00:51:54 but we're gonna pretend they all matter.
00:51:56 When in fact, wink, wink, they don't.
00:51:57 This is nonsensical.
00:51:59 It's absurd.
00:52:00 It's corrupt.
00:52:01 It's all these things and more.
00:52:03 And I'm glad that you are finally taking
00:52:06 a major step toward doing what you can
00:52:08 within reason to address it.
00:52:10 And that is saying, hey,
00:52:11 people will always have to play a role.
00:52:13 This isn't the NFL.
00:52:14 We don't want it to be the NFL,
00:52:15 but they need to play a little less of a role
00:52:17 than they are right now
00:52:19 with their hands on the power levers
00:52:21 to determine the top four.
00:52:23 Are you kidding me?
00:52:24 No one is smart enough to do that.
00:52:26 And if you wanna pick the top 12
00:52:27 and have 13 complain,
00:52:29 that's a complaint I can live with.
00:52:31 That's a complaint I can live with,
00:52:32 but I can't complain with an unbeaten Florida State
00:52:34 at number five being left to sit home and watch this.
00:52:37 I can't do that.
00:52:39 I mean, I can entertain the possibility
00:52:41 of whoever's sitting there at 13,
00:52:43 and I'm sure it'll be a very good football team,
00:52:45 but it won't be an unbeaten football team.
00:52:47 Whoever's sitting there at 13
00:52:48 will not have the argument that Florida State has.
00:52:50 - Correct.
00:52:51 - And if they are unbeaten,
00:52:52 they'll be unbeaten at a G5 conference.
00:52:55 - There's 68 teams now, I think,
00:52:58 that get into the NCAA March Madness,
00:53:00 and they still debate,
00:53:01 oh, the 68th team, were they better than the set?
00:53:04 Like, so that's always gonna be there,
00:53:06 but you're, 'cause so people can miss me.
00:53:08 Well, now all we're gonna do
00:53:09 is argue about nine and three teams, okay.
00:53:11 - Exactly.
00:53:12 I'm not a curmudgeon who's like,
00:53:13 "Well, I don't want arguments to be any part of this."
00:53:15 No, I get that that's a part of it.
00:53:17 - If there were 100 teams in March Madness,
00:53:19 we would still debate the 101st and the 102nd teams.
00:53:22 That's just the nature of sports and debate
00:53:26 and what we do in this country.
00:53:28 - And what I've always said, Wes,
00:53:29 I'm not against the debate.
00:53:31 Look, I think that, you know,
00:53:34 a high-spirited debate about which I'm fine with that.
00:53:37 - That's what this is all about.
00:53:38 - But here's what I am against.
00:53:39 - We're a country who loves drama.
00:53:40 - I'm against people liking the debate
00:53:41 more than they like a couple more football games.
00:53:43 - Exactly.
00:53:44 - I want more competitive football games
00:53:46 with good teams and less debate.
00:53:48 That's what I wanna do.
00:53:49 I wanna take some of the debate
00:53:51 and trade it off for watching,
00:53:52 actually watching with my eyes
00:53:54 a couple more football games,
00:53:56 competitive or not competitive,
00:53:58 with teams that made their way in
00:54:00 with a body of work that deserved to get there.
00:54:02 And one day an upset's gonna happen
00:54:04 in some of those games and make the sport even greater.
00:54:07 I want more of that and a little less debate.
00:54:10 I'm glad the debate will always be here.
00:54:11 I'm fine with that.
00:54:13 I do think that kind of fans the flames of interest.
00:54:15 I'm perfect with that.
00:54:16 But what I don't want is debate replacing football.
00:54:20 That's what I don't want.
00:54:21 And right now that's where we're at.
00:54:22 - You're absolutely right.
00:54:25 That's where we're at for, for what?
00:54:32 At least a couple more months here until this,
00:54:34 until this new playoff system kicks in.
00:54:35 - What you end up with is Florida State against Georgia
00:54:38 in a bowl game in which half the teams
00:54:42 will probably opt out.
00:54:43 Half the players on both teams
00:54:44 will probably opt out of that game.
00:54:46 That's what you're now left with.
00:54:47 - That's, and that's what stinks about it
00:54:49 because you know, in the BCS era
00:54:51 that would have been a massive orange bowl.
00:54:52 Florida State, Georgia, five and six.
00:54:54 And now, like you said, I mean, it's,
00:54:56 you're gonna have a bunch of people who opt out.
00:54:58 It's, you know, it's, it's bastardized
00:55:02 the entire system in a way.
00:55:04 And I'm with you.
00:55:05 I do think it's gonna get better once we expand.
00:55:07 We're not there yet.
00:55:09 And that's just the nature of the beast.
00:55:11 The thing that I'll say in closing here too,
00:55:13 too, 'cause listen, I know we have some people
00:55:15 that are listening to this, or if I listen to this
00:55:16 and have said, listen, I get what you guys are saying
00:55:19 in the, in the, in the just BS that is this system
00:55:23 and how Florida State should have been in
00:55:25 and all these things.
00:55:26 But you know, it's, it's still Alabama.
00:55:28 It's still Georgia.
00:55:28 They're the better teams.
00:55:29 They've got better, better players,
00:55:30 more guys in the NFL draft, all this.
00:55:33 At the, at the game today, before the Steelers game started,
00:55:36 and again, this is gonna drop on Monday,
00:55:37 Sunday as we're recording this.
00:55:38 So before the Steelers Cardinals game,
00:55:40 I'm sitting, we're having this debate, you know,
00:55:43 in the press box and all this stuff,
00:55:44 right after the announcement is made at noon.
00:55:47 I got one, I got one guy who's a, who's a big SEC guy.
00:55:50 Okay.
00:55:51 I got another guy who's a Michigan State grad.
00:55:53 All right.
00:55:54 And the SEC guy saying, I don't care,
00:55:56 Alabama and Georgia both should have been in.
00:55:58 I don't care what it means to anybody else.
00:56:00 I don't care how fair, unfair.
00:56:01 Alabama and Georgia should both be in almost--
00:56:03 if they have no losses or one loss, they should be in.
00:56:06 Look at the amount of guys they put in the NFL.
00:56:08 Look at their programs.
00:56:09 They're just always the best.
00:56:11 And the Michigan State guy said, in 2016, Michigan State
00:56:16 played Ohio State, defending national champion, right,
00:56:18 in Columbus.
00:56:20 And the winner is going on to the college football
00:56:26 playoff.
00:56:27 And he said, that Michigan State team
00:56:29 had like six guys who went to the NFL, who played in the NFL.
00:56:32 That Ohio State team had 15 guys who played in the NFL.
00:56:36 And guess what?
00:56:36 We beat them in Columbus.
00:56:37 Because that's college sports.
00:56:39 That's what happens.
00:56:40 I don't care how much better Ohio State's roster was.
00:56:42 I don't care how many more--
00:56:43 that they had two or three times as many NFL guys as we did.
00:56:46 We beat them in Columbus on a last second field goal.
00:56:49 Because that's college sports.
00:56:50 Because you play the games.
00:56:53 And I'm with you.
00:56:55 I think we have grown to--
00:56:57 listen, people in this country love drama, OK?
00:56:59 It's why keeping up with the Kardashians is huge.
00:57:02 It's why the college football playoff is huge.
00:57:03 It doesn't matter if it's your sports drama.
00:57:05 It doesn't matter if it's your Taylor Swift drama.
00:57:07 It doesn't matter if it's a combination of those two
00:57:09 things coming together in the sports and Swifty world.
00:57:12 We love drama in this country.
00:57:14 It just depends on where you go to get it, OK?
00:57:17 It might be a cooking show.
00:57:18 It might be Shark Tank.
00:57:20 It might be reality TV.
00:57:21 It might be sports.
00:57:23 We all love drama.
00:57:25 And I think we have fallen in love with these debates
00:57:27 more than we have, like you said,
00:57:28 the actual on-field results.
00:57:31 The one thing that I like about the 12-team playoff--
00:57:33 there's a lot that I dislike still about the 12-team
00:57:35 playoff.
00:57:36 And that's a different conversation
00:57:37 for a different day.
00:57:38 But the one that I do like is that now there's
00:57:40 at least certain things you can do to know you're getting
00:57:42 into the playoff.
00:57:43 And we're taking a lot of this off the board.
00:57:46 This was fun.
00:57:47 I enjoyed this episode, Jed.
00:57:48 Oh, I did too.
00:57:49 And there are things I dislike about the 12-team.
00:57:53 And they probably go the other way.
00:57:54 In other words--
00:57:56 Hold on.
00:57:57 I don't know if you want to open up this can of worms right now.
00:57:59 We're going to be here for another 40 minutes.
00:58:01 We'll shut it down.
00:58:02 But all I'm going to say is this.
00:58:03 I think that if you're a top 14, you should have a playoff.
00:58:06 You should have a home-field game.
00:58:08 It's still too geared toward the bowl system, which--
00:58:11 that's a whole different conversation.
00:58:13 And the whole different conversation--
00:58:13 I think you land in the bowl system with your Final Four.
00:58:15 But getting there should involve on-site games.
00:58:18 I completely agree with that.
00:58:20 Just real quick, the thing that I hate about it
00:58:22 is nobody cares about the bowl games
00:58:25 other than the semifinals now.
00:58:27 And now that's going to grow.
00:58:28 I mean, like you and I were just talking about, Georgia, Florida,
00:58:30 a decade ago would have been a great Orange Bowl
00:58:32 that everybody would have been tuned into.
00:58:34 You've heard my resolution for that.
00:58:35 I did a whole episode on this.
00:58:36 I know.
00:58:36 Yeah, put them at the beginning of the season.
00:58:38 I know.
00:58:38 I know.
00:58:39 You're right.
00:58:39 Nobody opts out.
00:58:40 They mean everything.
00:58:41 Absolutely.
00:58:42 Unless-- if you're listening to this podcast,
00:58:44 you're probably a pretty big college football fan.
00:58:45 You're probably a pretty big WVU fan.
00:58:47 You care about the Dukes-Mayo Bowl.
00:58:49 But nobody else cares about the Dukes-Mayo Bowl anymore.
00:58:52 Nobody else cares about the New Year's Six games
00:58:54 unless your team's playing in it.
00:58:56 They just don't.
00:58:57 That's what I hate about the new era of college football.
00:59:00 The one thing I will love, though--
00:59:01 Let's just imagine.
00:59:02 --is we're going to finally crown legitimate national champions.
00:59:06 September 1, imagine if we were playing--
00:59:07 I know, Georgia and Florida State.
00:59:08 I know.
00:59:09 Listen, I know.
00:59:09 You're right.
00:59:10 You can go back--
00:59:11 Imagine if West Virginia was playing North Carolina
00:59:12 in Charlotte like we did Tennessee.
00:59:15 Listen, people can go back and they can find the episode
00:59:17 where Jed breaks it all down for us, how to fix bowl season.
00:59:20 It's out there on your favorite WVU football podcast.
00:59:23 The one thing we ask of you, as always, Jed,
00:59:26 is to be in here and tell in here
00:59:28 about your new favorite WVU football podcast.
00:59:31 This was fun, talking a little Mayo Bowl,
00:59:32 talking a little college football playoff.
00:59:34 Hope you all enjoyed this.
00:59:35 Final thank you to our guy JR and our friends
00:59:37 at Toothman Ford.
00:59:38 We all know cars cost less than grafting.
00:59:40 Get your butts to grafting and support
00:59:42 Toothman, who's doing so much for our student athletes
00:59:45 and for NIL.
00:59:46 On our next episode, we have a pretty cool Toothman
00:59:49 floating an idea out there with Kirk Herbstreit and Pat
00:59:51 McAfee that we'll get into.
00:59:53 We've got to talk to Big O about that state championship
00:59:57 game between Greenbrier West and between Williamstown,
01:00:00 unfortunately.
01:00:02 And we will dive deep more into the WVU season
01:00:07 that was as we do some recap stuff here for you guys soon,
01:00:10 as always.
01:00:11 So regular season might be over.
01:00:12 Bowl game might be a couple of weeks away.
01:00:14 But we still got plenty of content coming your way here
01:00:17 on ITG.
01:00:19 For Jed Drenning, The Signal Caller, I'm Wesley Uhler.
01:00:22 A thank you to our guy Skyler for putting this
01:00:24 all together.
01:00:24 As always, take care, everybody.
01:00:26 We'll talk to you soon.
01:00:27 You've been in the gun.
01:00:28 Oh, wait.
01:00:29 Hold on.
01:00:30 Mayo, if you're watching on YouTube, one more time.
01:00:32 Let me get the Dukes Mayo in there, baby.
01:00:34 Oh, the best in the business.
01:00:36 Dukes, DM us.
01:00:37 Call us.
01:00:38 All right, let's have some fun.
01:00:39 Let's do it.
01:00:40 You've been in the gun.
01:00:43 [DOOR CLOSES]
01:00:46 [BLANK_AUDIO]