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00:00As one college football season comes to a close, another not all that far away.
00:06College football is always a blend of the historic tradition, the present of
00:10what we are seeing, and always an eye on the future. So let's talk 2025 in CFP.
00:18Still more than 200 days away from week zero. Over in Dublin, Ireland, and
00:24Farmageddon between Iowa State and Kansas State. I am already fired up, and
00:29those national championship odds are already out. Ohio State, who won a title
00:35this season, booked as the preseason favorite entering next year at 5-1.
00:40Let's start there. I don't actually think that's correct. Ohio State will
00:45always reload. They do not rebuild. But a lot of the guys that were the staples of
00:50a team that won a national championship this year all came back for one more run.
00:56And all those guys are going to go to the NFL. Ohio State's probably gonna have
01:01double-digit guys drafted in 2025. So Zeno, how do you examine the top of the
01:07odds board to win a national championship entering next season?
01:10I mean, again, it's really tough to figure out when you look at it. I mean, the idea
01:18that you're getting Georgia at 7-1 and Alabama at 18-1 almost, you know,
01:21seems far into the concept of what we've seen anything over the last decade.
01:25But again, you know, you have to believe when you look at the SEC from a
01:32quarterback standpoint, is it fair to say Texas has the best one in the conference
01:36at this point? Feels that way. I mean, you know, with all the expectations for
01:40Arch Manning, it's like, I don't doubt the fact that he would live up to it.
01:45Oregon is in an interesting spot here because who's going to be playing
01:50quarterback for them again? You know, like, where are they going? I mean, I know
01:53they grabbed what's-his-face from UCLA, Dante Jones, right? Dante Moore, thank you.
01:59Yeah, it was five letters, Jones, Moore, same difference.
02:03Exactly. So, you know, is he gonna live up to the hype that he had when he came
02:10into UCLA a couple of years ago? Don't know the answer to that. So there's a lot
02:13of, you know, fluctuating things that are going on here and, you know, transfer
02:16portal and everything else continuing to shake things up. You know, I would
02:20probably look at some other long shots within the ACC or even the Big 12 at
02:26this point in time to look and make a little noise similar to what Arizona
02:29State did this year and be able to make a run. I mean, you know, from a betting
02:32perspective, that's the one thing that opens the aperture up when it comes to
02:37looking at futures because now you got 12 teams with a chance to get in and 12
02:42teams with a chance to. So some of these longer odds teams, I mean, does Carson
02:45Beck reload at Miami? Does that make them equally as good this year? I don't
02:49know the answer to that yet, but it's one of those things where is it worth a
02:53look when you're starting to get some longer odds here. Garrett Nussmeier back
02:55at LSU at 20-1. Doesn't feel like it's all that crazy that LSU could rise
02:59from the ashes a little bit, be a lot more competitive this year if you trust
03:03Brian Kelly. So I think with a 12-team playoff, it certainly gives you a bigger
03:07reason to start looking at odds differently. Yeah, it's a good point that
03:11you bring up because used to be you want to thread the needle like, oh, one
03:13loss. What about when Alabama has these three tough road games in the SEC? Now
03:17they can afford to lose two of those and still get in. So it keeps your tickets
03:20open for longer, which is fantastic. But I do want to focus on the Heisman
03:24Trophy odds for next year because I got to be, I look at this and say to myself,
03:28usually, you know, the stars right off the bat. And when I see Garrett
03:32Nussmeier at an 8-1 price as the favorite right now, Garrett Nussmeier, I
03:38said, what are we playing jokes here? We just watched Drew Allen was like, hey,
03:41maybe it could be a top five quarterback turn into a pumpkin right in front of
03:44our eyes. Like, yeah, he's top five for the Heisman race. Give me some rays of
03:48sunshine with this Heisman race here, Mark. Where are we going with this crew?
03:52I mean, look, I think Nico in Tennessee has the probably highest ceiling and
04:00the highest potential as a dual threat quarterback. I know. I get it. But
04:05another year, right? Another year in the system. Um, you know, another year
04:10to sort of grow and elevate. I think that when I look at the skill set of
04:16other guys who have won it, um, over the years, it's usually dual threat guys
04:21that are, you know, literally rushing to the top of the list, um, to end up
04:26being the Heisman guy who does it. So I would look in those directions first
04:30guys who can run and throw, uh, as guys that I would look at. I mean, this
04:34Kate Club Nick sort of scratched the itch a little bit. Maybe I think
04:38Clemson probably maybe under the radar a little bit after what looked like a
04:42disappointing despite getting into the college football playoff. Um, you know,
04:46they may be by far and away the best team in the A. C. C. And if you're
04:50winning games, you're going undefeated. You're gonna get a lot of extra
04:52attention and club that could be the guy to do that as well. So, uh, look,
04:56but if Arch Manning as Texas inside the top five for a better part of the year
05:00and they don't lose more than one game, uh, the numbers, his numbers gonna back
05:04that up and he should have a very explosive year.
05:07It was interesting to see these odds open up on Monday evening and see
05:11Garrett Nussmeier in front of Arch Manning because of all that Arch has
05:17heading his way in Austin, the aura and the performances and the glimpses that
05:22we saw this season to kind of back up what we can expect for the Longhorns. If
05:27you're asking me to pick somebody right now who I would bet on to either win a
05:32Heisman trophy or contend for a national championship, I do believe
05:35Texas is probably the most appealing, not just Arch Manning, but all they
05:39return on the defensive side of the football as well. Colin Simmons, Michael
05:44Taft, all back for that Texas defense that was elite this year. Carson Beck
05:49entered 2024 at Georgia as the Heisman trophy favorite. He will enter 2025 at
05:56Miami, still with one of the 10 best prices at 20 to 1. I'm not sold just
06:03yet. Julian saying he's probably going to be the new quarterback for Ohio
06:07State at 18 to 1 price. Lenora Sellers of South Carolina, Jeremiah Smith, the
06:13wide receiver, a 12 to 1 numbers. You know, I like what you said about Kate
06:18Klubnick, by the way, when you really peer into the numbers for Clemson this
06:21year, it was an atrocious defense, one of the worst we had seen under Dabo
06:26Sweeney in Clemson, South Carolina that held the Tigers back. And it was a
06:31stagnant offense the previous three seasons that in year number two with
06:34Garrett Riley calling the plays was on the up and up in Kate Klubnick, a big
06:40reason why I like the way that you assess some of those value pieces and
06:45prices entering 2025. Man, can't come soon enough. Already excited.
06:51Rare compliment from Ben Stevens to me. That was that was that you know, warm my
06:54heart. Rare compliment. Very highly of what
07:00no better compliment.
07:01Very highly of your work.
07:02I know you do. You see, can't even say it with a straight face. Can't even say it
07:07with a straight face.
07:10Donnie, you didn't even notice what he did. Once again, I would say
07:14slightly offensive conference championship Sunday, and the NFL was in
07:19on it.