All right.

Welcome to the show.

Others receiving votes.

Uh, I'm your host, Pat 40 joined by my Sports Illustrated colleagues, Brian Fisher and Kevin Sweeney.

Catch us on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, on SI.

com.

Thanks for watching and listening.

Um, gentlemen, we, we've hit our, we've hit November, and I'm not sure how much more we can take, frankly, of the, the Just absurd chaos of this season.

But I'm willing to try.

I think you guys probably are too, to uh see if we can continue to push the limits of this whole season.

See if we can find anybody who can play well two weeks in a row.

Seems to be incredibly elusive in this sport.

You have a big win, you're almost doomed.

You might as well just start preparing your defeat speech for next week.

And speaking of prepared speeches, we had one of those in Los Angeles, where I was for Ohio State and USC.

Uh, uh, let's start with that game, in fact.

This one, holy cow.

I mean, we went in, Brian, I think you, you had already fired Lincoln Riley last week.

Ohio State was ranked #2 in the country, but was the big unknown how they would play with a freshman quarterback who had never started in college before.

The freshman quarterback played pretty well.

Everyone else on Ohio State pretty well stunk.

USC gets the big win.

Lincoln Riley goes weirdo after the game, uh, actually gets into it with Maurice Claret coming off the field.

I'll get to that in a second.

And then at the end of his press conference, pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket and reads, A strange prepared statement, basically on, on his existential situation there.

Um, it was, it was very meaningful game for both programs.

What exactly it means, I think still to be determined, but Uh, Brian, I'll start with you .

Your, your thoughts on watching USC hand Ohio State its worst loss in four years, and then Lincoln Riley kind of defend himself, and at the same time, almost give a middle finger to the fans.

Yeah, it was just a bizarre set of circumstances there, there at the Coliseum, and, uh, you know, to, to, uh, to my earlier point, I, I don't think, uh, necessarily my, my column from last week when, uh, when they, uh, dropped it there on the road against Wisconsin is, is really changes anything.

And, and it seems like that statement from Lincoln Riley, um, you know, it, it was kind of like a prepared statement just in case he lost, but he wanted to read it anyway, and, uh, man, he, he's been there in Los Angeles for 5 years.

He , he should know in the acting community, you gotta remember your lines.

You cannot pull out the piece of paper.

And you cannot recite something that's, uh, you know, kind of gonna be a little bit defiant from the fan base, but I, I think that almost even reconfirmed, even in this moment of glory, uh, for, for the program, for Lincoln Riley and his tenure there in LA, um, like this, he's still not the guy, you know, in terms of like really grasping what you have to do as the USC head coach, and I, I think that kind of reconfirmed .

As for, as for the game itself, I mean, where was this USC, um, you know, like, I mean, to, to, to look like that and To have those big plays, you know, Mark Bowman doing the, the hurdle for, for a big 60 yard game, to have the freshman coming out.

Like, I mean, to have the defense play well, um, really for, for the, the second week in a row.

I mean, this was kind of the USC we expected this season.

And, um, you know, it's only shown up in one of these big games.

Did not show up in Wisconsin, did not show up in certainly in the second half against Oregon, um, where they're all on their heels and they never could get back in the game.

And I think that's, that's the problem with USC at this point under Lincoln Riley is they are so tantalizing.

You can see the, the potential breakthrough there for the Trojans.

You can see the talent, you can see it all coming together, uh, but very rarely does it, and, and it did certainly against Ohio State.

And, you know, I think for the Buckeyes themselves, I mean, yes, there's gonna be a lot of attention on Luke Fahey, and I, I didn't think he played awful, you know, I, I, I don't think he was like, he's the primary reason that they lost this game.

This was maybe the worst coached game for Ohio State that I've seen since probably 2024 Michigan, uh, when they just completely, uh, You know, let it, let it go, uh, there and, and then lost explicably on their way to the national title game.

Like this was a poorly coached effort for Ohio State and, and, uh, UFC took advantage of it.

Like they, they let their playmakers make plays, and, uh, as a result, both teams are still in the playoff hunt, but it's a very tenuous, um, you know, position there in the playoff hunt, uh, given, given the other events, uh, across the country and given how where, where they're positioned, I think in the Big 10, um, it would, which is fascinating this season .

Yeah, I thought Ohio State coached and manage this game, like they were playing Maryland in, like, an old Big 10 East game, uh, like, that was the vibe I got, I was like, OK, our quarterback's hurt, we're gonna be ultra vanilla, we're gonna run the ball, we're gonna get out of here alive, and then they, like, walked on the field and I was like, Oh, well, yeah, USC has some players now, and, like, we knew, we knew that coming in and I, I, I just, I never felt like the urgency from Ohio State was where it needed to be.

Um, again, I wanna give their offense some grace in that, number one, do you have a backup quarterback on the road, his first career start, a young quarterback, uh, it was pouring rain, I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm curious, your perspective on a path from being there, but, like, the TV shots looked like it was absolutely wrecking, uh, that is not good conditions to Uh, to put a quarterback in, uh, especially a young, a young one, but I mean, the inability for Ohio State to finish drives, uh, the lack of urgency that Ohio State played with in the second half , uh, again, I, I, I, I think the latter of those things, the urgency question, is really an illustration of where Ryan Day and Arthur Smith's trust level is in Luke Fahey right now .

Like, the fact that they didn't let it rip at all when they're down 2 scores in the 4th quarter, and they're and they're and they're content to let Bo Jackson take 6 yards of carry for a 6-minute drive, like, Oh boy, right?

Because if Ohio State has any aspirations of doing anything this season of of note in Ohio State land, which is win multiple playoff games, advance in the playoffs.

They're going to have to trust Luke Fahey to let it rip at some point, and if they didn't let him here.

What does that mean for the season?

So, I mean , a very alarming performance overall by Ohio State.

I think all the concerns you had coming in about what their offense could look like with with Fahey at the helm came to light, you know, like, their run game is good, it's not that good, uh, they can only get Jeremiah Smith the ball so many ways, can they finish drives?

I mean, look, I, I, I don't think, if, if Ohio State looks like this the rest of the year, this will not be their last loss in the regular season, let's put it that way.

And then we're talking about 9 and 3 or 8 and 4 Ohio State in the playoff conversation, or where does that stand?

How do they, how do they get evaluated if there's a chance Sa comes back for the playoffs?

All those things are fascinating , but to me, this loss said more about Ohio State than the win said about USC, but at some point he had to go take the win, and Lincoln desperately had to go get it, and he did, and I think he deserves credit for that.

In spite of how strange the uh the the the post postgame scene was from him, by, by all accounts.

It was strange.

It was very strange, and yeah, a couple of things, but it, it rained pretty much the whole game, but it really wasn't a hard rain.

It looked like it in like the stadium lights and stuff.

It was a soft rain.

Now, it's constant rain, so it's a problem, right?

And I think we saw at least a couple of occasions where the ball was a little slippery, but it was not like they were playing in an actual downpour, per se.

They were just playing in a persistent.

Rain, whatever that, there, there were many things that bothered Ohio State Saturday night, uh, rain probably among them.

But getting back to, to the Riley situation, so, I mean, the one, I love the Coliseum.

It's one of my favorite stadiums, the history, uh, it's beautiful, beautiful grass.

You're looking at LA from the press box.

I mean, it's, it's fantastic.

I love going to games there.

But one problem with it, it's ancient, and there is one way in and one way out.

So both teams have to go up the same tunnel.

And if you add a field storm into the equation, you suddenly have a whole lot of chaos, and a lot of people in the way.

And the Egress, I guess, uh, was a disaster.

Everybody's mad, nobody can get through.

Security doesn't seem to know what they're doing, and it ends up in this pile up there, and I think Lincoln Riley feeling like the king of LA feeling pretty chesty in that moment, it's like, I'm not waiting, and seemed to get mad at some Ohio State people, and ends up having words with Maurice Claret.

I was standing by him on the sidelines, oh, that's Maurice Clorette, that's kind of interesting.

Uh, and then they, they end up having words and Riley reaches out and like shoves him aside, pushes him aside.

To walk past, and then has words with Quinn Temple, who's kind of the, the ops guy at, at Ohio State.

He's the associate athletic director.

It was just like, why are you angry in this moment?

I don't understand.

Secondly, then you go in and you do your press conference, and here, here's what Riley had to say.

This program's built on , and then he fumbled his own line.

Not to talk about knowing your lines, he, he couldn't even read it right.

This program's built on internal joy, not external applause.

That's what he meant to say, he got it wrong the first time, he got it right the second time.

This wins for all the staff members, the players, the leaders, admin, all the people within the walls.

I said before this game that I'm the right person for this job, and as long as all those people know that, that's all I care about.

I appreciate being part of this university and all it does.

I appreciate our kids and our staff, and I'm going to continue to fight on because that's what being a Trojan is all about.

Uh, yeah, Brian, to your point, I, I, I don't know whether he thought he's gonna win or lose, but this was certainly written before the game, and it sounds like something you would deliver if you're trying to convince people to give, keep, help you, have you keep your job.

But it's also the, the, the fact that he did not mention the fans at all, and all he cares about are the people inside the building.

Kind of a weird look.

I think in that moment, that may be what you feel, and I think there's a lot of coaches that think that.

But saying that publicly to the paying customers.

Not a great look, not a great look.

So, that kind of, like everybody that's covering the game, like I went to Ohio State.

I figured I'm just riding Ohio State.

And I get up to the press box, and I'm listening to the end of the USC press conference, and all of a sudden he comes out with that, and I'm like, What?

What the hell is that?

I gotta write about that.

And all the USC people that went to USC press conference all come up with this bewildered look on their face like, well, now we gotta, we're not gonna write about his great win, we're gonna write about Lincoln Riley being weird in victory, and it's like just totally changed the, the tenor of the whole thing.

But fine, whatever, uh, they win the game, and, and, yeah, I mean, what you guys' point, like, God, those freshmen are good.

Unbelievable.

Trent Moseley, Mark Bowman, Luke Wiffle on defense, and they've got others, they've got more.

I mean, that is a really talented freshman class, and there's gotta be part of you.

If you want Langan Riley gone, but you're sitting there saying, if he leaves, do, do we lose all these guys?

And maybe is it worth the calculus?

70 million plus you lose that freshman class.

Oh, that's a lot.

Well, a lot of those guys are on multi-year contracts, so it's not like they, it's, it's easy for them to depart.

And it does seem like Lincoln Riley, he understands, like he under he's, he's listening to a lot of the external talk that, that's that, that statement and that the way he really approached the entire game, you know, it was like, I understand that my job is on the line here.

I understand the talk externally.

Uh, to do the building, you know, and, uh, that, that , that to me was what's what smacked me in the face is like, he understands the pressure that he's under, and, and it showed up, showed up throughout this week.

Yeah, yeah, I did.

Uh, on the other side, the Ohio State, the Ohio State defense was the biggest disappointment of the game.

That's a good unit or had been.

And the one thing they, they, they had excelled at is not giving up big plays.

And all of a sudden, they give up a 69 yard touchdown on the second play, and they give up the 70 yarder to Bowman, there's a 44 yard punt return, and there's a 3rd and 19 draw for 21, like, that was a give up down that ended up extending a field goal drive.

The, uh, so that, like, that was a, a raging disappointment for them.

Uh, Ryan Day, I do think in games, there are times when he gets into his own head, thinks too much, and it just doesn't work, and that's where you see, I think, some of what we saw, uh, and the, the talk beforehand was, oh, they're gonna let it rip with Fa he throws a great deep ball.

They then twice they took shots, they took 1st down shots from near midfield, which is kind of your stereotypical shot play.

And that's really it.

They tried one deep ball to Jeremiah Smith later on in the 3rd quarter that he underthrew.

And, and that was it.

There was not a lot of downfield there.

Now, my question for you guys.

You're on the playoff committee.

You're meeting this week.

Your first rankings come out Tuesday.

Is Ohio State 6-2, or is Ohio State 0-1?

Because the team that you are evaluating is the team without Julian's saying.

Kevin, what do you think?

I think you're 6 and 2, but I think if I was Ryan Day right now, I would be starting to politic, yeah, you know, the outlook for, for saying it, it looks a little better now.

It doesn't have to, it doesn't actually have to be, but we, we've seen this with the basketball tournament , uh, we've obviously seen this, uh, and we will continue to see this in football, I'm sure, like, You, you, you have to try to angle in a way where they can't use your injuries against you.

And so, unless there is literally 0% chance that Julian San plays again this season , you gotta put on a brave face, and you gotta pretend like he is, because if this is close, I don't know how you look at, again, we need more data points, but the early data point on Ohio State as an offense is without Julian San, they're not very good, and If that's, if, if, if, if they're in debate in the 1011, 12 range.

Yeah, I, I don't know how you put them in, if this is what it continues to look like, unless you think there's a chance that Julian's back.

And I think you look at, at, at really the entire playoff picture, this probably rules them out for a home game, you know, like, uh, can, can you really give Ohio State at the, at the best case scenario, they went out there 10 and 2, whatever, uh, maybe they make it to Indianapolis in terms of some of those tiebreakers, uh, to, to make it to the Big 10 title game.

Can, can you give them a home game, knowing that they look like this on the road?

You know, even going back to the Indiana game, it's not like they did a whole lot in that second half after the same injury, um, you know, in terms of Fa he actually, uh, throwing the ball and, you know, he, he looked like he was a wide-eyed, uh, you know, true freshman at at that point.

Uh, you know, it was a little bit better, you know, against USC, but Um, you know, and, and that to me is, is really where the evaluation is gonna come from .

It's gonna be against Oregon.

It's gonna be against Northwestern with this defense.

You know, can you contain Chip Kelly and everything that he's throwing at, uh, teams on a weekly basis, you know, is, is it, um, you know, kind of down the stretch?

I mean, even this Michigan defense, you know, look at that Ohio State effort against USC.

Do you expect them to put up just a ton of points against a very good Michigan defense?

Now, the other, other side of the equation with, with the Michigan offense versus the Ohio State defense, we'll, we'll set that aside, but like, uh, you know, these are all very winnable games, certainly for Ohio State down the stretch.

They can look like that and they can prove themselves to be a playoff team.

Uh, you know, I, I think it's gonna be tough in terms of being tended to and ultimately hosting a, uh, one of, one of those first round games, uh, you know, against a decent opponent.

But man, I, I, I just, it is very tenuous at best.

And I do think if, you know, to, to your, to your ultimate question, Pat, like for, for the committee, this is going to be the most fascinating question going into Tuesday.

Are they in kind of top 10?

You know, contention, or are they on that cut line?

And, you know, kind of very tenuous at best.

And yes, you would love to say that they would, um, you know, completely understand and, and, and look at the entire picture, and they're gonna have that on their screens, right?

They're gonna have that, uh, that loss to Texas.

They're gonna have, um, all the offensive numbers that were put up before the same injury on their screens and saying, all right.

And, and, and they're gonna have to weigh that.

And, and I just, I, I, I think because of recency bias, they're gonna look at this Ohio State team and they're probably gonna dock them a spot or two, compared to what they probably should be in terms of their resume.

And I think that's gonna be the interesting thing to follow on as we move forward throughout throughout November.

Is, is that going to be much more of an issue for the committee to kind of discern who is Ohio State and, and what are they moving forward?

Yeah, I mean, that's it.

It is, it, do you look at Ohio State as a 6 and 2 team, or do you look at Ohio State as an 0-1 team?

Do you, you know, what, what factors count in there?

Uh, it's tough, it's really tough.

This, again, being on the College Football playoff selection Committee is a largely thankless, very difficult task.

Uh, as you said, they, yeah, they can still make the Big 10 championship game.

As of right now, UCLA sitting there 5-0.

Say that again, UCLA sitting there 5-0.

Indiana 5-1, Ohio State 4-1.

Ohio State would win a tiebreaker with Indiana if they both end up 8-1, but that seems like 4 miles down the road .

And then you got a bunch of 2 loss teams behind them.

So, I mean, it's not crazy to think that USC could make the Big 10 title game at this point.

It's not, no, I mean , USC is 4 and 2, and then you got 2 loss, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Oregon, Northwestern, and Wisconsin.

Let's hit it real quick on the rest of the Big 10.

And this is, this is this league this year, right?

Wisconsin beats down.

USC and everybody thinks, oh, Luke Fickle, he's fine, he's got it figured out, he's doing a great job.

Let's put Wisconsin in the top 25.

0, they lose 30 to 0 to Iowa.

Northwestern becomes the toast of the conference.

Everybody's talking them up.

They jump out to a big lead on Oregon.

Guess what?

Oregon, who everyone has completely buried.

Comes back and wins the game.

Kudos to the Ducks for that, because I, I was ready to bury them some more when they were down like 3 scores in that game or 2.

and then, All right, we've got to talk about the show in Bloomington.

Let's give it up for him.

The, you know, the longtime kind of joke hashtag on Twitter, #college kickers.

Kind of making fun of them, kind of feeling sorry for them.

They've been bad, they miss extra points, they missed short field goals, they're no good.

The difference between college kicker and NFL kicker is vast.

Well, we got some college kicking that happened, epic, epic college kicking that happened in Minnesota and Indiana.

And then the, the Indiana season has just become its own.

Preposterous soap opera, which we can get into.

But, uh, to recap how regulation ended here.

Minnesota drives in the last minute, into the edge of field goal range.

Kurt Cignetti watches the clock just melt, tick away, doesn't do anything to stop it, thinking, you know, we, we might need some time to go back the other way.

Minnesota sends out Luke Drewicki.

Transfer from New Mexico.

Puts the puts the holder kneels down at midfield.

They're gonna try a 60 yard field goal ostensibly for the win.

And he crushes this thing.

I mean, it's good, it's, it would have been good from 65, it's down the middle, one of the most impressive kicks I've seen.

Indiana is toast, correct, right?

No, no, no.

Grant Wilson, backup quarterback, seventh year guy, started at Fordham in 2020.

In replacing injured slash very ineffective Josh Hoover, goes back and does what you gotta do at Indiana in times of crisis, just throw it deep to Charlie Becker.

He'll make the play, and he does.

Becker, with one of his classic kind of twisting back shoulder, sideline catches, 33 yards.

They try one more pass, it takes a while.

There's 2 seconds on the clock.

Signetti, no hesitation, field goal, field goal, sends out the field goal team, doesn't send out his regular kicker, sends out his backup kicker, Patty McAteer.

Puts the the the uh holder kneels down there, midfield.

Same thing, other direction.

And Patty McAteer has to make a sixty-yarder to extend the game and potentially extend their playoff hopes, and he drills it.

Never seen anything like it.

Unbelievable.

The, the, the level of clutchness from guys that we've all kind of, uh, poked fun at over the years.

Uh, Brian, what were your thoughts watching all that unfold?

I, I still reckon with like, is, is Indiana good or they lucky?

And last year they were both, you know, I mean, the inches in Penn State to the Iowa game, you know, like they, they, they caught their breaks, but they were a really good football team.

And now this year, I don't know, like I, I mean, the, the, the thing that's weird to me too was the whole ci at the end of the, of the game, like you would have thought, all right, use your timeouts, get some more time on the clock.

I, I don't know if he was maybe afraid of like maybe PJ would have gone for it, you know, on, on that 3rd or 4th down and would have tried to like, you know, keep going at it instead of kicking the long field goal, um, you know, potentially maybe, maybe that was the kind of the thinking, uh, that he would take another.

Uh, you know, shot, uh, that kind of down the field to get a little bit closer for a field goal, but I, I, I just never understood that.

And then, you know what, it magically, he just kind of pulls it out of the hat, and, um, you know, I, I'm gonna be very curious to see what he has to say.

It's gonna be an off week for them.

So, like, you know, is Josh Hoover gonna get healthy?

Uh, is, is this Grant Wilson show moving forward, um, like that, that.

Plays a lot into how you evaluate Indiana moving forward.

Can, can they get that passing game to go along?

Cause I think this is it, this is a good football team.

They, they, we know they play clean football, right?

You know, they're, they're not gonna turn it over for the most part, you know, they're, they're gonna take care of the football, they're gonna do what they need to do in terms of 3rd downs and making sure that they're, they're, they're moving the chains.

But at the same time, they've gone to overtime against Minnesota.

They've gone to overtime against Michigan, and part of that is Cignetti, you know, kind of understanding what the task at hand is, you know, he, he doesn't want them to, to beat themselves, but like, you know, at the same time, like, is this really a national title contender?

I, I, I just don't know yet.

I, I really don't.

They, they have great pieces, you know, they have two awesome wide receivers.

I think the run game, you know, can, can be even be better than it is, given the personnel that they have.

Uh, the defense is starting to play a little bit better, uh, than they have at the.

Beginning of the season.

Like they, it took them a while, but they're, they're kind of getting on the same page they were with, with Brian Haynes.

So like, overall, you think, all right, in the Big 10, especially, like, I have them penciled in to win the Big 10 at this point because they're gonna make it to Indianapolis, um, you know, depending on what happens with, with UCLA and Ohio State down the stretch.

You know what, that, that, that, that's a playoff team if, if you're making it to Indianapolis.

But, In terms of the actual threat from this Indiana team, you, you can see some flaws, um, you know, in this group, and this kind of looks like 2 years ago, uh, with the Hoosiers then versus last year and in the Nationals had to run.

I mean, I, I, I thought Sid got bailed out by, by good old Patty McAteer because I, I, I don't know how you allow, like, like, the thing that doesn't seem to be discussed enough is, like, By Sig not calling a timeout, he empowered PJ to kick that field goal, right?

If you call timeout and there's like 1 minute left, there's a ton of risk in kicking the 60 yard field goal, because if you miss, you're handing them great field position, it's one completion to Becker and you lose the game, right?

By letting it run down, you put, you, you, you allowed PJ with no real risk to trot out a 60 yard field goal.

kick kicker, and the guy drilled it.

And, and then good old Patty McAteer, which I, I don't, I don't know how much you, you guys have read this guy's, uh, Indiana Hoosiers bio.

He's from a town in Northern Ireland of 600 people.

Uh, he first kicked an American football in April of 2024, uh, and then two months later, was on a plane to Ohio with a kicking coach named Tag Leader, uh.

I mean, and, and then, what, 3 months later, he was suiting up for Troy as the kickoff specialist, and then 2 years later, he's kicking, kicking a field goal for the for the tie to save Indiana's season at home, I mean, like, beyond storybook stuff, uh, that that this guy just pulled out of, I, I believe I saw him say that he had never kicked a 60 yarder before, like, in any, any, any, any contest, so, I mean, this is, it's everything you could have dreamed of, but yeah, I mean, Coach Cignetti is uh is is in God's good graces with the way that things seem to break, break for him, and he creates that luck with the way that he leads his team and manages the game, but, man, I, I think they, they dodged one in a serious way yesterday, uh, and.

Like, I think the offense is close to unfixable at this point, like, the quarterback play feels, like it feels really dark right now offensively.

I, I have a hard time believing that in a couple weeks, they're just gonna be like, zipping RPOs, like it's 2025.

I, I just.

It doesn't, it doesn't, it feels like if they're going to find their way to a deep playoff run, it's going to be, man, they won some 10-7, like, they won some 13 7, they won some 1714, they're they they're they're gonna have to be uh a souped up Iowa to to get this thing done.

A souped up Iowa, good God.

Um, yeah, like they, I said on Twitter after the game that they're, they're 1 play away from being undefeated, and they're like 4 plays away from being 4 and 4.

They, they, they, they are just paper thin margins in either direction.

And they have gotten lucky, and I do think Sid got bailed out.

I, I, I think he wanted them to kick the 60 yard field goal.

I do, cause I think I thought there's no way they're gonna make it, and we'll have field position.

But still, that just to, to give yourself so little margin for error, you know, to run the clock down like that was astonishing.

But I also feel like this is one of those teams, that's maybe a little like Florida State 2014, or basketball terms, you know, a team that wins the championship and it's not the same team, but they're just kinda They're getting by on grit and wi, and maybe a little good fortune, and all of a sudden, they show back up at the Final Four the next year, you know, and you're not even sure how they got there.

But that, that's kind of what this Indiana team reminds me of.

The quarterback situation is serious, like, I don't know the extent of Hoover's injury.

Uh, his confidence certainly does not seem good.

They can't run consistently enough to just be a ground and pound team.

They have elite wide receivers.

My one problem with their passing game, they seem to want to throw downfield all the time.

And I think with quarterbacks who are that inaccurate, you gotta, you gotta shorten it up and give them some higher percentage throws.

So, we'll see.

I think they will probably go under the hood and tinker a little bit.

During this off week, especially if Grant Wilson's gonna be the guy.

But, yeah, kicker from Ireland, seventh-year quarterback who started at Fordham, that's how they're sitting there in the middle of the playoff race.

Unbelievable stuff, again, from, from Indiana.

Um, Speaking of the playoff race , I'm gonna get this, and then I'm gonna ask you guys what, outside of Ohio State, like, what, what's the biggest question you've got for the committee?

But let's start, let's, let's hit the, what, what would you would assume is the 12th seed in the playoff situation.

Boise State kind of looked like they were gonna be that team.

And they're roaring up 28 to 3 on Texas State, doing, you know, you're like, OK, they're taking care of business.

Yeah, that's a playoff team.

That's the, that's your G6 team.

All of a sudden, Texas State, Texas State scores 36 straight points.

And they go up 2 scores, and like, what, what on earth is happening on the blue turf?

And then Boise pulls it back together with its backup quarterback.

Uh, and, and comes back and pulls the thing out, 46 to 45.

Brian, who the heck is the the best G6 team?

Well, if you, uh, you know, log on to SI.

com and check out my latest bowl projections, you'll, you'll see that it's UTSA, you know, I , I think, uh, you know, right now the Roadrunners are probably the favorite in the American, given their schedule, given how difficult it is to play there at the Alamo Dome, you know, I think they've, uh, you know, even in that, uh, their, their lone loss earlier in the year against Texas, like, I mean, that was, you know, a bit of a dogfight, you know, early in the season.

And, uh, they were certainly overmatched talent wise, but, uh, Jeff Trailer getting the maximum out of his team.

And I think if they were, uh, certainly to make it to the American title game or even win win the American, I think they might even get the the edge over uh Boise at this point.

Just because, you know, like, like we were saying with Indiana and Ohio State, like now they are probably gonna have a backup quarterback.

I mean, Maddox Matson.

Um, you know, you saw him at the end of the game, uh, he had a wrap, he, he injured his knee, was down on the surf for a long time, I had, had a giant wrap of ice on it.

He was on crutches at, at the, at the end of the game.

So like, all right, now your veteran senior quarterback is, is out.

What is this Boise State?

I, I do give credit to the backup.

Like he came in and he was flinging passes.

Now, a lot of that was necessitated by the, by the score, but he was throwing the ball around and uh I, I don't think Colorado State will, will put up much of a fight, but like, you're gonna have to play Oregon State and that explosive offense, yes, they.

Ended up the Beavers ended up losing to Fresno State this year to kind of take some sting out of that matchup.

You're gonna have some sort of flex game at the end of the year, uh, in terms of playing another Pac-12 team that you've already faced.

So you're, you're gonna end up facing the team twice, and you're gonna face another team in, in the championship game.

Uh, so like you, you talk about uh like, The, the slate there for Boise State is gonna be tough sledding.

And maybe they can come through that.

Maybe Madis Maxson comes back.

We'll see what his, his ultimate injury status is, but, um, you know, this, this did not look like the, the clear favorite in the group of six.

And like if you're, if you're James Madison this week, man, you are really kicking yourself.

Not only did you take that 2nd loss, but like everything kind of opened up for the, for the Dukes to kind of get back into the.

And maybe, uh, make it back to back playoff appearances, but, um, that's kind of out the window.

And I think, you know, right now, it's , it's gonna be kind of whoever wins the American, um, you know, has, has really got some nice wind in their sails.

Memphiss looking better.

They, they, uh, blew out Army this past week.

I think UTSA is the favorite out of that league.

North Texas, you know, we saw them, uh, go up against Indiana.

They're a little bit pesky for, for, Maybe a half, 3 quarters.

So like, um, you know, I think, uh, if, if you're, you know, Tim Pernetti, the American commissioner, you're feeling really good about your chances at this point.

Given the events of, of what we saw, uh, not only in this Texas State game for Boise State, but kind of the rest of the group of 6 kind of saying, all right, you guys take this because, uh, nobody's really kind of standing up and saying, uh, we're, we're gonna grab that playoff, uh, by the, by the teeth.

Yeah, I mean, JMU and Oregon State, two of the bigger losers of the week, because the opportunity was right in front of them and uh they failed to take it , JMU especially, I mean, the mistakes were just disastrous to watch in the midweek game.

Uh, I'm glad you mentioned North Texas, Brian, that that was a good football team.

Yep.

Like, that is, and I think, I think back to that Indiana game in the opening opening night, and they very much were like, how can we control the clock, how can we kind of bleed this thing down, and they managed to, like, move the football, and they have completely changed an identity to now, like, Taven Jackson's, like, slinging the rock, they're they're scoring 40+ a night.

Um, that is a dynamic, dynamic offense, sort of in the mold of the old school North Texas teams.

I mean, that, that is a program when they have been good, they have always scored a lot of points.

Um, to me, like, they're the team that passes the eye test for me the most, in the American, but, I mean, it feels very wide open in that league right now and Yeah, I mean, with the exception of Boise, I think you can say that a lot of the big spenders in the group of 6 have not quite met expectations, right?

And that's a big, big part of it, right?

South Florida, coming into the air, spent a lot of money, they're just OK , um, you know, Memphis is OK, Memphis is good, they're not great, uh, they're, they're a big spender in that league, um, you know, obviously, Tulane under Will Hall, I mean, they, they, they needed some.

Serious be lucky to to to make a bowl game at this point.

Yeah, I mean, they, they, they barely beat Charlotte, that was very concerning, um, but that is a team that's spending a lot of money, um, you know, I think Washington State, I think people, you know, that that's a program you expect to be one of the better G6 teams, they're not very good.

JMU stubbed its toe, UNLV has stubbed its toe a few times, so, uh, yeah, it's, it's, it is wide open for a team like the UTSA or a team like North Texas to kind of come out of nowhere and steal that last playoff spot.

Uh, but I do not think this is a year where we can .

Uh, aspire to a competitive, uh, G6 playoff game.

maybe, maybe the magic happens, but I don't view there being a a particularly powerful G6 squad this year, particularly compared to last year's group, which I thought had a couple of strong contenders that just weren't good enough.

Lobos, don't forget the Lobos.

New Mexico 7 and 1.

That's true.

They really struggled the last couple of weeks.

Yeah, they really haven't beaten anybody.

Their offense is not that good.

They have, yeah, they haven't scored more than 21 points in a long time.

But you know, they were probably living on turnovers, but they're still living.

How about an Indiana, how about an Indiana, New Mexico playoff game, first to 10.

Bring it on.

That would be fantastic and is not out of the question, but it, it does speak to the playoff seeding right this year.

Like you, you almost do want that number 5 seed because you're gonna get a, a very overmatched group of 16.

It's gonna be a home game.

You don't have to worry about the long layover.

Uh, layoff in terms of, you know, spending a month off.

Um, you're gonna be sharp, you know, you can probably be well rested, you can rotate a lot of bodies in one of those games, like, that is going to be the path, especially given, um, you know what, whoever is in that 4 seed is gonna be disadvantaged in terms of geography, in terms of some of the bowls, um, in terms of the quarterfinals.

Like this is a big, big year if you can end up late, you know, getting into that number 5 seed.

Yeah, yeah, that, that's one of the interesting quirks of, of the playoffs is the 5 seed is not a bad way to go.

But keep an eye circle on it, we'll, we'll watch the lobos, but also November 14th, North Texas at UTSA.

Uh, that game could have significance for sure.

Uh, all right, so the committee is meeting like Sunday, Monday, they, they spit out the rankings on Tuesday.

Outside of Ohio State, your biggest question, what are you most curious about what they're gonna do, Kevin?

Um, I, I'm most curious about, and this is probably, uh, cheating the question, but I'm most curious about the risers in the Big 12 in the ACC, right?

The teams that I think, talent-wise, most would agree they're a step below, like the, you know, strong Big Big 10 SEC teams, but, like, what will they do with Wake Forest, with Utah, um, you know, I, I think Texas Tech would qualify, they haven't looked great, um.

And, and then obviously trickling down it like.

Where's Houston, and is that a win that people value, right?

Like, The committee, this is the, this is the opportunity early for the committee to tip their cards a little bit, because some of those teams might not lose again, like, Wake might not lose again, and if you start Wake as a playoff team and they win all their games, it should be hard to take them out.

So, to me, Wake is probably the most interesting team, but I think that that storyline translate translates to a couple of the teams in the Big 12 as well, and will tell us whether those leagues have a chance at multiple bids or will it require some kind of conference championship game chaos.

You know, I, I think the question is, you know, that kind of, you know, quartet of, of ACC Big 12 teams versus the one loss or or two loss SEC teams.

How do they stack up?

Because I think there's gonna be quite a bit of debate, uh, this, this upcoming month, really, uh, in terms of, all right, where, where does strength of schedule really come into play?

You know what, that was a big talking point amongst the commissioners.

You heard it a lot from, you know, people externally, especially in the SEC with the move to non-conference games.

All right, so is a 9 and 3 team really going to be, you know what, is, is that a better team than say an 11 and 1 in Wake Forest?

That's, that's what we're gonna get a get a glimpse of in terms of the selection committee and how they kind of view that eye test, uh, because, you know what, where's, where's Kentucky?

Where's Alabama?

Where's Tennessee, uh, which is gonna be a key, key team, I think, in, in these, uh, rankings, because, you know what, when you look at, at the slate and you look at that resume from a lot of these teams, and they will be doing that at the end of the year.

You know what, there, there's gonna be a lot more top 25 wins than anything Utah can put on the table, than anything Wake Forest can put on the table.

But at the same time, man, Utah looks really good right now.

Like they went into Cincinnati this past weekend, that, that was, that was a bludgeoning.

That was over by halftime, you know, certainly by halftime, um, you know, they kind of like coasted in the second half, like scored in every possession offensively.

They're playing well.

Offensively.

We know special teams has come to play as well.

Uh, so like they, they are a complete team, but have they been tested to the level that Kentucky has, at an Alabama, that, uh, you know, some of these other Ole Miss is, is a great example.

Like, I, I, I'm, I'm very gonna be very curious to see how the committee treats Ole Miss in particular because I think if anybody might have a case out there at 9 and 3, it might be Ole Miss, uh, cause they will have that.

That went over LSU.

I think the resume down the stretch could, could ultimately help them.

Where, where, where are the Tigers too, uh, going into this massive game against Alabama.

So, like those, that pecking order in the SEC in particular, I think that, that to me is gonna give me a good read in terms of ultimately what the committee's eye test is in that league, and then whether the resume will kind of come in and allow them to kind of filter out by the end of the month.

Yeah, I don't know about you guys, but I, I got my first talking point email from the SEC about our non-conference record.

Uh, it's time, it's lobbying time, it's campaigning time.

And the fact is they did have the best non-conference, but it was such a small sample that it's, you know, a, that's the tricky part of this, is how much can you translate.

You know, like 4 good wins in September, early September to teams in November.

But that's, that's what the committee's tasked to do.

Uh, as for Wake Forest, I mean, I'm in love with what they're doing.

They lost a competitive game to Miami.

Uh, I, I wanted to say a quick thing about Miami too in a minute here, but they, they go to Louisville, they beat Louisville, Louisville's talented.

And then they beat Stanford by 54, they beat North Carolina State on the road by 24, they beat Cal on the road by 34, and they beat Virginia by 44.

They're not just winning, they're crushing teams.

You know, they're not, those are not great teams, but they're crushing them.

I think that's gotta count for something.

They're gonna play Merrimack.

Yeah, no one crushes these teams.

Like, like, Miami's not crushing these teams.

No, that's all, so that's my other question.

Like, I think we all agree Miami's number one.

Good God, their defense is scary as hell.

It's, they can't stop people.

They nearly gave it up to Florida State.

They nearly gave it up to North Carolina.

Is that really the best we've got?

I think it is.

Which is part and parcel of why this season's been so fun and interesting.

But my goodness, it, it's, it's something out there, man.

I, I, again, I do not envy the committee, and yes, the, the figuring out how to order the multi-loss SEC teams.

As opposed to the Utah, BYU, Wake Forest, Notre Dame.

Uh, group with 0 or 1 loss is, is gonna be really interesting and the, the debate's gonna be loud.

And I mean, like, where's, where's UCLA too in this?

Like, you know, in terms of their resume, it's kind of propped up by 1 win over Oregon against a backup quarterback.

Like, and that's it for the Bruins resume.

Like this is, this is Indiana of 2 years ago, right?

That's, that's the, that's the conversation we're gonna be having about the Bruins is, all right, are they really a good team?

Yes, they're undefeated, but like, are, are, are they playoff caliber in terms of hosting a playoff game, maybe getting one of those.

Top 4 teams like that to me is gonna be the interesting question for, uh, you know, the Bruins and the committee.

Like it wouldn't surprise me at all if this ends up being one of those teams that's like, you know, like the 5 or 6 gap in, in, you know, place gap in terms of where they're at in the AP poll versus where they're at in the committee.

This might be the one team where everybody's like, what?

What?

So I'm, I'm gonna be curious what Tony Pettitti in the Big 10 office have to say after that.

Can I, can I predict an 89 game between UCLA and Wake Forest, at the, uh, yeah, I mean, that's gotta be like the Friday night game of the playoff weekend, right?

That, that one's getting sub-licensed, that's for sure.

Yes, played in front of tens of thousands of people and and the TV audience of about 850,000.

Yeah, sure, great playoff game.

Can't wait for the like the, the 16 versus 17 games.

So those will be, those will be ratings killers for sure.

Uh, I'm, I'm still sticking up for, for UCLA.

You, you're in the Big 10 and you win all your games.

That, that team should be a top 4 at, at this moment.

Can they stay there?

I don't know.

I know nothing.

None of us know anything, which is part of the joy of this season, part of the fun of it.

Um, another season is starting today.

We're taping this Sunday morning.

Basketball is being played in Rome.

Uh, we've got a Pope Leo multi-team event going on.

We've got, uh, Notre Dame and Villanova playing each other, women and men.

Uh, Kevin, you have written voluminously previewing the season.

So, a couple of questions for you here.

Let's start with the, with the mess.

How many unresolved eligibility cases are there and how much can this still affect the season?

Uh, it's going to affect the season for sure.

Uh, there's something like 40 or 50 different lawsuits, but most of the key players are consolidated into, like, 3 or 4.

there's a big one in Kentucky, a big one in Indiana, a big one in California, a big one in Texas.

Um, there, I, I have a tracker on SI.

com if you wanna look for it, um, 5 for 5 tracker, there's probably It's somewhere in the order of 50 or 60 high major players, like key guys, potential starters, potential stars in some cases, um, and their eligibility could ebb and flow by the, by the week, so we shall see.

It seems like the Indiana guys are at least clear until the New Year, uh, the appeals process is going slow with that one.

Um, but we have, we have essentially created a large cat and mouse game where, uh, if you are currently eligible, your lawyer is fighting to slow the process down, and if you're current, and the NCAA is trying to speed it up, and if you're currently ineligible, uh, you're fighting to speed it up and the NCAA is like, yeah, we got all the time in the world.

So, yeah, it's been a, it's been a fun few months.

We, we always wondered, you know, how, how the, uh, Bettiaco situation was gonna affect Alabama's seed.

Multiply that by like 15 or 20, you know, like that, that's gonna be the, the case for the committee.

You know, luckily they have all those extra spots, so it won't be a problem in terms of teams getting in that we're out of the bubble, but in terms of where they're actually seeded, you know what, this, this could end up, uh, having a, a potentially big impact there come March.

Yeah, it is a 76 team field now.

Oh boy, hooray.

Uh, speaking of what the eligibility cases though, I'm, I'm sidetracking for a second.

Tommy Castellanos, we're talking about him early in the season.

They start Tommy C and Lubbock and he comes through, came through.

So that's the ultimate emergency quarterback, the ultimate ultimate quarterback, ultimate.

Throw him in there, he's just gonna freelance you to a big victory.

All right, uh, Kevin, who's number 1 and who's your final 4 at this point?

Yeah, I've got, I've got Florida number #1, um, a lot of familiar faces for folks, I mean, Thomas Hauck, Alex Condon, uh, Ruben Chali, the front court that won the national championship 2 years ago, they're still all there, which is remarkable in this era.

Uh, and then they brought, they then, we'll we'll see about their guards, they brought back Denzel Aberdeen, who was at Kentucky, he's a lawsuit guy, uh, one of the many, uh, but he should help their guard play.

They're, like the safe choice.

There there's almost no world where Florida isn't elite, it's, can somebody catch.

And the three teams I would highlight to catch them would be the rest of my Final Four, Duke, which has unfathomable amounts of talent, like, they're, they, they, they're in, like, 2015 Kentucky land of, like, I don't know if they'll be as good as that, but, like, you look at their bench, like, oh yeah, there's, like, 3 NBA players coming off the bench for Duke this year, great.

Uh, and then I would say UConn and Illinois would be the other two that are, are.

Most intriguing, Illinois, their offense should be phenomenal, uh, especially once David Mirkovich is healthy, uh, and UConn's got the best coach in the sport right now, for my money and Dan Hurley.

Uh, they've got Braylo Mullins back, they've got Demery, their point guard back, uh, and they added some size in the portal that should help.

So, those, those four look strong, um, that's a boring Final Four if it is, cause we've seen a lot of those teams recently, but they're all, uh, they all look like powers this year.

Yeah, well, it won't work out that way.

I mean, no, no disrespect to your picks, but that's just, that, that stuff doesn't happen.

But, uh, it's just, it, I love college basketball, but it is so.

Perplexing the way it just gets swallowed the, the start of the season by, by football, and there's not really a good way to fix it.

I try to pay attention, but, you know, they're having multi-team events in Vegas and in New York, and wherever, and I'm not paying attention because I'm trying to watch football, and all of a sudden, You know, it's, it's Thanksgiving, and you're hoping, wait, let's, let's watch Maui.

That's always good.

Oh wait, no, Maui stinks now, uh, you know, so it's, it's just a bit disconcerting as, as I will try to play catch up in, uh, early December.

But Kevin, Kevin Sweeney, uh, bookmark him on SI.

com, he will, he will be on top of all of it.

Uh, all right, guys, uh, let's, let's close with our, our standards here.

We will hand out the Heisman, the weekly Heisman, and then we will fire some people.

Who wants to go first on the Heisman front?

I mean, I was gonna give it to Tommy C.

I mean, that was an I mean, an unbelievable rushing performance by him.

Uh , he was flying around, saved Texas Tech's season against a really good Arizona team and a very good Arizona defense.

Uh, that was impressive.

He, but Tommy Castellano will not be getting any Heisman votes, but for one week, let's pat him on the back, the emergency quarterback strikes again.

There you go.

I'm gonna, I'm gonna go off the radar here.

Uh, how about Tate Reynolds there for Clemson.

And I would not expect to be saying this of, of a quarterback that went 18 of 32 for 189 yards, but when it came up big, uh, 70, I think it was 79 yard run there to kind of close the game, and, uh, you know, his, his legs, uh, was the reason why Clemson was able to beat Florida State, uh, had, had 85 yards on the ground, uh , you know, plus another touchdown.

So I, I, I will give it to him for keeping Clemson out of the national spotlight for another week, uh, you know, given that all that has happened.

There was, you know, planes flying over that, that game and at Duke and, uh, talk about Mike Norrell's job status throughout, like Dabo was puffing his chest, you know, uh, in terms of that win.

So, uh, you know, at least he, he was able to back it up, uh, in terms of, uh, getting a win there.

Not, not a whole, whole lot of other, uh, candidates there, but I'll, I'll give it to Tate there for, uh, for at least, uh, pushing out that discourse about Clemson and the job status about Daba Sweaty another week.

Yeah, uh, yeah, Dabo went off on the, the plane.

Fire, fire Novell.

They left the R out of Norvell.

That was just bad luck.

I mean, if you're gonna fire somebody by an airplane, at least get the name right.

And yeah, that, that, that was red meat for Dabo, you know, Dabo, what's wrong with our society?

He loves, he loves a good, what's wrong with our society rant.

And that gave him one.

So, we can't fire Mike Norvell, boy, I, I sure could if I were a Florida State fan or trustee .

Uh, I would want to.

But uh we'll see about that.

It's still very expensive to do so.

Uh, I'm my Heisman.

I'm going a little bit deep track as well.

I'm going to, uh, by the way, hey, Clemson threw a touchdown pass.

Hadn't done that in a long time Multiple touchdown passes, multiple touchdown passes.

They had 2 for the season, and they threw 2 more, so good for them.

I'm going with the quarterback Max Cutforth, the guy that came off the bench for Boise and saved their season.

When they're down and and Maddox Madsen gets hurt, this, he had not played this year, not recorded any stats, at least this year.

Came in last year when Maddison was hurt, did pretty well, uh, that, but he comes in cold, has not played, 8 of 13 for 131 and 3 touchdowns to lead the comeback.

So, Max cut forth from Nampa, Idaho, right there by Boise.

Uh, you get the Heisman for this week from me.

All right, who are we firing?

Uh, let's see, Brian, who do you got, who do you got?

How about the, uh, defensive coordinators in that, uh, Oklahoma State, Iowa State game?

That was a complete throwback to like a decade ago in the Big 12 where nobody played any defense.

It seemed like every, I mean, there was, they, they showed a graphic on the broadcast.

There were like 5 touchdowns of like more than 60 yards, and then literally they took the graphic down and another one of those plays ended up happening on just like a little straight, little, you know, kind of.

Run, you know, off to the side and he ends up taking it to the house, uh, you know, right, right along the edge of the sidelines.

Like, that was a good old fashioned shootout.

So like, and look, you know, Skyler Cassidy, the, the Oklahoma State coordinator, like, I mean, he, he, he's a really good coordinator.

He's done a lot of job, good jobs in terms of turning around North Texas last year, Oklahoma State this year, but like that was whatever you were throwing out there in terms of the calls, man, nothing.

Worked.

And, and it was just a, almost a comedy of errors, like nobody was in the right place, took plays were, were, were, were being pulled off with ease.

Like it was, it was a crazy, crazy game.

Like, you know, when it, when it's bad, uh, when, when you can score the game winner, uh, you know, with under a minute left and then end up losing the game.

So like that's, that was, uh, you know, a defense optional, uh, shootout.

It was, it was fun to watch, kept getting my attention even in that primetime window with Ohio State, USC and Miami was, you know, threatening to lose, you know, you kind of thought the #1, #2 teams, but man, it was, it was a track meet, uh, there in Ames.

And, uh, once again, Oklahoma State team with playoff hopes, uh, they went to there to, when, when they went there to Ames to die.

So I just, uh, hope, hopefully everybody, uh, you know, they're, they're, that, uh, celebrated and rushed the field for Iowa State, uh, was properly hydrated after, uh, you know, a big Halloween victory for them.

I mean, I just, I, I can't believe how good Aidean Flora is.

I mean, that was an unbelievable performance, he's had a couple of them this year.

He is the best player in college football that no one talks about, so, uh, just checking it out there.

Maybe, maybe some poor, poor coordinating on the Oklahoma State side, but he's a hard one to stop.

My, my firing.

I mean, Brett Venable seems totally lost, like, I mean, for, if your offense is gonna be broken, that's fine, like, we'll fix it in the offseason.

But we're giving up 42 points now at home.

Like, that that is a team with a lot of quit factor right now, at 4 and 4, and with the schedule ahead, with at Florida, Ole Miss, A&M at Missouri, like, is Oklahoma playing in a bowl game this year?

And if they're not, what type of pressure is Brent Venables under entering next year?

Pretty significant, so, that was a really bad performance, and I think wholesale changes are going to have to come uh this offseason.

It's not going to be as simple as, oh, well, we're getting rid of John Mattia and that's that.

Great job giving him that contract extension, Oklahoma in the offseason.

Uh, that it still boggles my mind.

But yeah, they get punked in South Carolina, I like the, the revival there is crazy, but The look for Oklahoma State is so bad, or Oklahoma is so bad, it is really ugly.

Also ugly, Lincoln, Nebraska, Matt Rhule, he's had many fireable offenses without getting fired, but this one.

I mean, the ability to just blow games is.

Off the freaking charts at uh at Nebraska right now.

This is what happened against Washington.

They're at home.

It's a slog, as you might expect.

It is 7 to 3, late fourth quarter, Nebraska leading.

Washington goes on a long march.

Credit to Demon Williams.

Guy who's had a rough season, leads them down 81 yards, they score to take a 10-7 lead, but Have no fear, there's 1 minute and a half left.

Anthony Calandria, who you've just signed, you've announced, you're telling the world, we've, we've signed him for next year already, a quarterback.

Look out world, here we come with Andrea Anthony Calandria.

He immediately throws a pick 6.

And all of a sudden, the game is over.

You're down 10 with 1 minute 15 left, and you have found another way to lose a 1-score game.

Just the, the, the absolute epitome of everything that's happened under Matt Rhule .

They're, they've lost 3 straight by a total of 13 points, 3 to Indiana, 3 to Oregon, 7 to Washington.

That program is going nowhere.

So I'm, I'm firing Matt Rhule.

Uh, all right, that's it.

You guys can fire us if you want, but we'll probably still be back next week.

Thank you for listening.

Thank you for watching.

Enjoy some basketball and enjoy some football before we see you again.

Talk to you later.