July 17, 2025 • 40 mins
Jason Fitz thinks college football doesn't need the fans that have been complaining about all of the changes to the game while Buck Reising vehemently disagrees, the hype surrounding Arch Manning, and much more!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
SEC media days are upon us.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
College football is right around the corner, which means more
and more yelling is being done about what's wrong with
the sport. And it just brings me back to the
same conclusion that we've had for several months. If you
think that college football is dying, you're probably just not
the audience for it right now. So Buck and Fitz
takeover for two pros and a cup of Joe. I'm
(00:24):
Jason Fitz fine solo.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Right now.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
We're still working on Buck rising. He is feverishly sitting
there waiting to be able to chime in, and I'm
able to get all my like, this is kind of amazing.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
I'm not gonna lie like.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Buck just gets to sit there and get really frustrated
because he can't get his takes off, and I get
all mine off, and nobody ever gets to question it.
So it's a beautiful, beautiful thing. But we will keep
efforting Bucks. He at least, I mean, he's sitting in
the studio, he's not eating any donuts. I feel like,
at the very least we got to let him get
the opportunity to talk.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
We'll see if that can happen.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
In the meantime, sec media days are going on, and
my timeline is aslutely exploded and follow me by the
way at Jason fitz Fits easy to find me everywhere.
Timeline explodes constantly with college football dying, this is the
death of the sport.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
This is the worst. I can't believe this.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
And you know a lot of that actually comes from
people that cover the sport, and this just maybe it's
confusing to me because I feel like in modern society
you can't be stuck in what you think anymore. Like
you just have to be willing to You have to
be able to move around and see how the tide
(01:31):
is changing and then just accept your new reality. I
talk a lot about my music passing me. Guys give
me some grief for that, rightfully so. But one thing
that is funny to me is I remember sitting with
buddies on a tour bus when we were having a
conversation about CDs and everything was on compact desk, and
I remember so distinctly one of the guys that I
(01:53):
was in a band with at the time was like, Man,
I'm telling you, in ten years, nobody's ever going to
buy these things. Everything's going to be MP three's We laughed,
like we literally laughed at that, Like no, no, no,
people still on a physical product.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Think about that. Like there was a.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Period where you go back to the eighties, everybody thought
that records were going to be the thing forever because
they sound better than CDs. And then it was like, well,
no CDs or the new technology, and everybody's going to
go that way. Now we live in a society where
I mean, I remember sitting in the studio while we
were working on a particular track and everybody was yelling
(02:28):
about drum sounds, and finally it was like, who cares,
It's going to be played on an iPhone? Right, Like
this is the world we live in now. The music
business was so afraid of figuring streaming out that it
didn't figure streaming out. So by the time it tried
to figure streaming out, now nobody's making the money they
should in the whole financial for it is collapsing because
(02:50):
they were late to figure out how it worked. And
guess what through all of it. The number of times
people have asked me about whether or not you know
AI is going to take over music, and my answer
to that is, like the number of people that actually
care about sonic quality is small. The number of people
that are sitting there saying, well, I mean, those aren't
(03:11):
real strings on that record, so I'm not going to
listen to.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
It, Like that doesn't exist. This is the same exact
thing that's happening in sports right now.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
All these people that are looking around and saying, well,
college football is dying. No, it's not dying. It's changing,
it's evolving. Is there going to be a salary cap?
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Maybe?
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Are they going to figure out profit sharing? Yeah, they're
working on that now. And if your answer is that
you hate the change, just remember that the courts have
already decided you don't have a leg to stand on.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
So at some point you either you have two choices.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Quit watching the sport, quit consuming anything around the sport,
Quit consuming the podcast, quit consuming the shows, quit consuming
the social media. Don't go out and buy the magazines,
don't watch the games. That's your option number one or
option number two is sit down, shut up, and get
behind it. Like the yelling and screaming about what the
(04:03):
future of the sport looks like, like, it's clear what
this future of the sport looks like.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube. You
can't suddenly change all of this and get back to
where we were.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
If you want a game where suddenly we're back to
spots where guys aren't getting paid and there isn't nil
and there isn't profit sharing if you want, if you
want that society to exist, then you've already been left behind.
So you have two choices at that point. You can
either decide to move with the sport you love, or you.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Can just stop.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Now the number of times we all sit there and
say we're gonna stop, it's never real.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
You don't actually stop. You think you're gonna stop.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
But if you are a lifelong diehard Tennessee fan and
you sit there and say that's it, I'm out. I'm
never watching college football again. Sure you aren't. And when
the balls are in the playoffs, you're not gonna turn
it on. When the balls play Alabama, you're not going
to turn that on in October. Really, see, what college
(05:08):
football knows is that the diehards are diehards. The diehards
can't turn that portion of themselves off. Diehards don't turn
that set portion.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Of themselves off.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
College football is the second most popular sport in America
and you have these doomsday proclamations coming from.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Especially from a lot of people that cover the sport,
and that to.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Me is a the most ignorant possible stance and be
the most hurtful stance. If you cover college football for
a living and you're spending every ounce of energy that
you have telling everybody why the sport is dying, well, hey,
you're telling everybody to stop watching the thing that you cover,
which seems counterintuitive, but be you're not at that point
(05:55):
covering the sport. You're covering what you want. Look, I'm
not sure what the landscape's going to look like. I
think that there's going to become a salary cap situation.
I think that that's probably pretty reasonable. I think you're
gonna find a unionization of players, and there's going to
be a collective bargaining agreement, just like there is with
(06:16):
the NFL. I think college football ends up looking almost
exactly like the NFL. And I think as a result
of that, there's going to be a bunch of schools
left behind that are going to decide it's no longer
financially feasible to have a college football team.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
They're going to not play in the same circles as everybody,
and that's okay.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
It is okay if Middle Tennessee State University chooses not
to compete with Ohio State. To me, it's okay. If
University of Connecticut I'm sitting half an hour from chooses
not to try and compete with Boston College. The trickier
one becomes Boston College. Does Boston College decide that they
(06:54):
want to compete?
Speaker 1 (06:55):
I don't know. I don't know, but.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Schools are going to have the opportunity to decide which
sphere they want to live in.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
And that's what I think right now.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
When you've got the Big ten in the SEC arguing,
and the Big ten is not going to agree to
this playoff format unless the SEC agrees to scheduling conformity
and all of these different things that are happening, what
we're seeing is a power struggle.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
And we're seeing a power.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Struggle because right now there is no sheriff. Since there's
not really any sheriff, you got, you know, two different
gangs that are just basically saying, I will do whatever
I want and everybody will have to conform to me.
But in the meantime, all of us covering it, all
of us sitting around, all of us watching the sport.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
All right, so what now what?
Speaker 2 (07:36):
That's the very famous to a tongue of Alowa's dad,
and I interviewed to when he was in college, and
one thing he talked about was his dad raised him
on the concept of so what now what?
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Right, So it doesn't matter how you got here? What
are you gonna do? Now? Apply that to college football?
So what now what? Okay, so the game's changed, So
what now? What are you going to root for? I
think we've got this.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
I think there's been a modern my tag team part
are running out from the tunnels.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
This is straight WWE from the eighties.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Buck Rising? Do we have Buck Rising? I can't hear
dah oh No.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Now I hear him. No, damn it, I'm here.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Somebody acknowledge that I'm here other than on FaceTime Fitcy.
I swear to God, I didn't sleep in this morning.
You are a pro. The people in LA have been
just through hell this morning trying to get this thing
figured out. God bless Ret Brian here in Nashville for
making it happen.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
I am so so sorry.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Are you giving an sp speech? Are you giving a
thank you speech like anybody else you want to.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Thank there, Shane Gellison is not here to me. Yeah,
I mean honestly, that that round of applause, that that
small uh, that small golf clap smattering that you hear
in the background, that's for everybody else except for me
this morning, because I've been the thing holding the rest
of us back. But well done by the entire crew
to make sure that we could finally get me in
(09:00):
the air.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
How we living.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Well, Look, we've missed you over the course of the
last hour, but I gotta admit, like, I mean really,
because it didn't sound like you missed a big I mean,
I was able to just just fire off take after
take after take with no accountability.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
No fact, no accountability. That's all right, I'm here. The
parents have returned from the trip away, and there's no
more house parties for the kids.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Shut it down, Shut it all down, and I will
echo your sentiments. By the way, while producing this show
live on air, our team has been working behind the
scenes the entire.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Time to try and get you on air.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Really miracle, incredible work by them and wildly good. I'm
in the middle of ranting about college football and the
people that say that it's dying, because I would argue
that it's simply changing, and if you don't change with
the times, then the sport will leave you behind. I
think this is you're sitting in SEC country. You've seen this,
but SEC media days, to me, just brings out all
(09:58):
of the people that are sitting here screaming about what the.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Future of college football looks like. And I'm just sort
of buck.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
At the spot where I'm like, Okay, it's going to
be just fine. It's going to be It might not
be the college football that you know, somebody that grew
up on it for the last fifty years watched, but
at the end of the day, you're not going to
stop being a Tennessee Volunteers fan because of everything that's
happening right now. And even if you are, I think
the college football world is willing to let the old
(10:25):
men on the lawn all sort of go by the
wayside if it means that they can continue to grow
the sport fair.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
But those old men and women, you know, shaking a
fist at the proverbial sky here, they're the ones who
are trying to do what's in the best interest of
the sport FITSI and really in the best interest of
college football fans writ large. Because the changes are not
being done for college football fans, they will go along
with it. They will continue to watch the games on
(10:53):
Saturdays as long as it's like when we got into
the NFL NFLPA collusion case, and people's just people's eyes
roll in the back of their heads and.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
They say, they don't care.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
Just get me to Sunday, get me to my football.
Leave all this administrative and bureaucratic stuff out of my life.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
I don't care.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
I just want games. But in college football, those purists,
and that's why you see them coming out of the
woodwork at this time of year where media days are
ongoing across all the power conferences. Certainly, and in particular,
nobody more strident in their opinion is defender of all
things good and glorious college football than the SEC down
here in my part of the world.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
I respect the fact.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
That they are still trying to fight what they consider
to be the good fight. Because the people making the
changes to college football are not doing it in the
best interest of the consumer. They are taking advantage of
the consumer, understanding that the consumer is going to be there.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
On Saturday, no matter what.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Growing the game is more about monetizing the game in
ways that I don't think like they're going to leagues
cry poor or conferences cry poor about all this stuff,
how they're going out of their way to find ways
to generate new revenue when in reality they are making
money hand over fist to support themselves enough. They're just
using the fact that players are getting paid and the
(12:14):
revenue sharing that is soon going to be upon all
of us in the world of collegiate athletics to justify
trying to squeeze more blood out of that stone. So
while I do acknowledge what you say is true and
the rest of the world will adapt at some point,
even if there's some bitching on the front end, right,
people are going to people are trying in college football
(12:35):
more than any other sport, it feels, to make sure
that the integrity of the sport and the connection that
it has to one of the most purest I mean
one of the most pure fan bases anywhere in any
level of sport is maintained and not just cast to
the side as they try and make maximize billion dollar
television deals and the rest in super conferences that I'm
(12:56):
sure are on down the line and are probably going
to be hated by the people that love college football
the most when they finally get here.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
He's Buck Rising, I'm Jason Fitz. We're gonna keep this
conversation going. I'm gonna tell you why college football has
a lot in common with load management. We'll do it next,
Bucking Fits taking over Two Pros and a Cup of
Joe on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Welcome to the show, Buck Yeah.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
Be sure to catch live editions of Two Pros and
a Cup of Joe with Brady Quinn, LeVar Errington, and
Jonas Knox weekdays at six am Eastern three am Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Hey it's me Rob Parker.
Speaker 5 (13:32):
Check out my weekly MLB podcast, Inside the Parker for
twenty two minutes of pipe in hot baseball talk, featuring
the biggest names of newsmakers in the sport. Whether you
believe in analytics for the i caast, We've got all
the bases covered. New episodes drop every Thursday, So do
yourself a favor and listen to Inside the Parker with
(13:55):
Rob Parker on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get
your podcast.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
What if I told you.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
The college football and load management have something in common.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
And it's actually not a bad thing. It's fucking fits.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Taking over to pros and a cup of Joe on
Fox Sports Radio, he's Buck Rising.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
I'm Jason Fitz hanging out with you this morning. Hear
me out all right.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
To be clear, Buck's living in the middle of the
SEC country, There's no doubt about it.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
He's down in Nashville, Tennessee.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
I have covered college football every year of my professional career.
In fact, I just told Buck this, this will be
the first fall I think as it stands right now,
that I don't have to do any I don't get
to I should say never say have to.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
I don't get to do.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Any Yahoo Saturday college football shows. So for the first time,
like back when I got to ESPN, I did Saturday
night shows, but we had to be there every day
to watch the game together. So we got on campus
every day at eleven am Eastern and we were there until,
you know, one in the morning. This will be the
first year that I get Saturday where I can just
after the fellas, I can just go put my feet
(15:03):
up in a local bar and watch as much college
football as I want to, which I'm excited about. I
freaking love this sport. I love covering the sport book.
So I say this with some level of understanding that
people might not like it. But to me, college football
and load management have something in common. Load management in
the NBA is polarizing. People just sit there and say
(15:23):
it's terrible, it's terrible, it's terrible, it's terrible, And I
would argue it doesn't really matter, like every time they're
like a.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
Little Johnny didn't get to see Lebron play. Okay, So
the NBA.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Is going to always make the decision to protect their
TV product in the playoffs, and they're going to protect
their products overall when it matters the most, even if
it hurts the hearts of you know, whatever, twenty kids
that might have been. Like how many families are actually
going out to a late that bought plane tickets and
flew to LA and win to Lakers. You know, it's
(15:54):
no different than when a concert cancels last second, Like
there are families that flew out there and everything, and
that's just sort of ancillary damage. So to me, the
side effect of load management is that a few people
are impacted by it, But for the most part, when
we reach the NBA Finals.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Nobody's talking about it anymore.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
To me, all of the people right now yelling and
screaming about the changes in college football are kind of
those people in the arena for load management.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
They're replaceable.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Their fandom is replaceable as long as college football continues
to make TV money, which it's going to as long
as ESPN, Fox, tnt CW, all of these networks, the
streaming networks are going to continue bidding on the product
as long as college football continues to be the second
most popular sport in America, and there's no proof that
(16:41):
it's dying off of that at all. Schools don't need
to the sport doesn't need to sit there and worry
about the fish shaking. Oh my god, this is bad
because those people can be left behind in the sport
will be just fine.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
They are load management people. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Yeah, look at me coming in hoarlier than that today.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Well.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Also, it took him five minutes to five minutes to
throw it over to me. I think he kind of
liked having the first hour and a half to himself, don't.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
You, guys.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
I mean, I feel like I'm at a rupting here.
I'm so sorry to butt in on your your mourning
full of college football hot takers.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Say anything. I mean, you say something, I throw it
to some of you. I hate that opinion by you.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
I hate it so much because, FITZI just because it
hasn't happened yet, the denigration of college football fandom hasn't
happened yet, doesn't mean that it should be taken for
granted and that there shouldn't be protections in place to
make sure that that integrity of the sport and its
relationship to the diehards is maintained. That's the thing that
(17:43):
makes it more special than any of these other sports. Fitzy,
I thought you spoke so well about just being able
to relish and take in the opportunity to watch college
football and to be a college football fan, and how
much you love this sport and how much even covering it.
You find a lot of people in all industry, and
this is you know, this is a one percent or problem, right,
(18:04):
but you find a lot of people in our industry
who start to lose love of sports in general based
on it becoming a job. Right, It's like anything else,
even though it's the most fun thing in the world
for everybody else. If you start to let it seep
in that this is work and not still play, even
though you're getting a paycheck as a result of covering
(18:24):
things and working in or around sport, it can start
to denigrate it.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
And you, you are.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
The rare enough thing where your zest for these things,
your passion for these things, has not yet depreciated, even
though you work in it and you cover it and
it's exhausting and it's full time and it's seven days
a week and all these different things.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
But fits I can't.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
I can't sit there and let you grandstand and tell
those people that they don't matter when they're the biggest
differentiation to me between the NFL and college football.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
I'm an NFL report.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
I cover the Tennessee Titans, and I don't like college
football more just because I cover a crappy football team
and their product is usually terrible to watch, or at
least it has been in these last three years since
things started to fall apart here locally in Tennessee prior
to them having the number one overall pick in cam Ward.
This time around, college football passion, the electricity that comes
(19:21):
from the crowd how much different it is from college
to the pros, how much more tribal it is from
college to the pros. That's the differentiating factor. I don't
want this to be worn down as we start to
move in a more profitable direction for college football and
an expansion mode for college football.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
I don't want that water down.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
I don't want those people to think that they don't matter,
because to me, they very much do.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
They are not replaceable. You're wrong on that. Here's the thing, though,
who's getting replaced?
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Like Alabama fans are still going to be there because
Alabama's going to be one of.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
The programs that thrives and survives.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Texas fans are still going to be their miss, Michigan fans,
Ohio State fans, Penn State.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
Tailing the board just won nine games and is being
talked about as on thet as being on the hot seat.
He may have the most talented roster in the SEC
and the best conference in college football. You don't think
those people are gonna stick stick around through the hard
times or you think those people are.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Yeah, they are because their passion is not gonna go anywhere.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Who's really gonna get lost?
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Like if we turn around and we do a super
conference and all of a sudden there's a salary cap.
Who's gonna get left behind in this process? It's not
gonna be Alabama, Tennessee. It's not gonna be the prominence.
Wisconsin's gonna be fine. It's it's not gonna be Big
ten or SEC schools.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
It's gonna be New Mexico State. And you know who
doesn't matter? New Mexico State.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
I'm sorry, Like, as I've said a million times, living
in Connecticut, like Connecticut football, Sorry, guys, doesn't matter to
most people, right UNLV.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
I grew up in Vegas. I grew up a massive
UNLV fan. You U NLV.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
If UNLV football shut down tomorrow, how many people would
actually be that hurt about it?
Speaker 1 (21:03):
What the thirty thirty.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Thousand they I think they've just set a team record
of thirty thousand season ticket sales. So like, okay, if
you've got to lose those thirty thousand to figure out
a way to make sure that we get the best
version of the forty or fifty schools that can actually hang,
then fine. Everybody else is just hanging Chad, that's old
voting vote for you like hanging Chad. That's what everybody
(21:25):
else is hanging to everybody else is just they're just slop.
Let's just let them go. They go where they go,
like if you can't. If the rest of the schools
want to play in their own sandbox, they can find
a way to do it. But at the end of
the day, how many people sit here and cry about
whether or not University Wisconsin Whitewater gets what they need
for Division III football?
Speaker 1 (21:45):
The answer is none.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
I'm not sure that Oregon State really matters to most
of the world more than University of Wisconsin Whitewater.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
I understand what you're saying, and that's probably the direction
that we're heading. And these things may be inevitable, but
that doesn't mean that I have to like them. It
doesn't mean that everybody else who is I mean, some
of it is FITZI. I'll say grandstanding, because the people
who are fighting for the traditions or as much of
(22:16):
the traditions in college football to continue to hold serve
into the next generation of it are not the people
who are consuming UNLV or Wisconsin Whitewater or any of
these other smaller programs that you name. My curiosity then
would move towards well, how does that impact people's ability
if you go to one of these smaller schools and
(22:37):
you get relegated to a different version of football and
wherever that football ends up being broadcast or televised, whatever
the case may be, does that impact guys who are
playing at those universities their opportunity to get recognition, to
be on national television because they're playing cupcake type of
games against the Alabama, Tennessee, Ohio states of the world.
(23:00):
Does that impact their ability to get recognized by pro
scouts and as it relates to getting to the next
level of football. There are ripple effects here, and maybe
they're not as important as the people who are I
mean wailing and gnashing over them, because I will tell
you there is nothing more unpopular down here in the
Southeast than all of the changes that have happened to
(23:22):
college football. And yet it's still going to be infinitely
more popular here than even the NFL. America's most popular sport.
Does not matter in the state of Tennessee. Hell, you
can't even get that they're called the Tennessee Titans here.
Two thirds of the state doesn't want anything to do
with them. East Tennessee is pissed off because they don't
think the Titans should use the name Tennessee because it's
(23:43):
the Tennessee Valls right, and Memphis West Tennessee. It's Grizzlies,
it's cowboys. That's all they care about. So for the
people down here that are fighting the hardest for it,
they are the ones who you're talking about who are
going to be the least affected by it. But they
actually have a platform to be able to try and
evoke change or at least make themselves known on behalf
(24:04):
of those who don't want to be relegated FITSI and
I and they may not have a choice, and it
may not matter, and it may all be fine and
dandy as we move into the future evolutions of what
college football and college athletics are going to continue to
change into. But I just I nothing, nothing bothers me more.
I think it's the thing that you I think it's
the thing that's pissed me off the most that you've
(24:24):
ever said into a microphone, the idea that these people
are just outright replaceable and in your words.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Slop now they are.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
I mean, how many people are gonna lose your right
They're gonna be kids that are impacted.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Well, what if I like the slop football like I
mean I like, you get to watch it. You get
to watch it like Liberty can continue to have on
Apple TV.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
You're gonna make it harder on me to find these
games instead of having maction as a part of the
ESPN thing on a Tuesday night.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Yes, if Miami of Ohio no longer has a Division
I football team and you got to hunt hunt it
down on Thursday nights, oh well, if you want to
hunt it down, you can hunt it down. And yes,
they're gonna be kids that lose scholarships. For every kid
that loses a scholarship and loses an opportunity, we got
to ask ourselves, what about at some point, what do
we care about?
Speaker 1 (25:10):
Right right? If we end up with the super.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
Conference that's sixty teams instead of having the current whatever
one hundred and.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Thirty two teams.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
If we end up with sixty teams in a superconference,
those kids on those sixty teams have a much better
shot of being properly you know, properly paid for what
they're doing. They have the opportunity to have proper earning.
And everybody's sitting here saying, well, we're worried about the kids.
That's just the most disingenuous from ninety percent of the people.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
That is such a BS argument.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
If somebody's sitting in Alabama's like, well, I'm worried about
I'm worried about the kids.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
No, you're not.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
You're worried about whether Alabama or Auburn is going to
win a national title. That's all you care about. And
the Alabama's and the Auburns will eventually conform to all
of this and figure out how to thrive in all
of this. The people that are like we just we
pretend care so much as a society, I don't think
the majority of the world would even notice if again,
(26:05):
to go to a local area. For you, if MTSU
Middle Tennessee State University no longer had football, I don't
think ninety eight percent of college football fans would even.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
Know what happened. And so at some point, you know,
it's a doggy dog world, like you're either you're either
playing amongst.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
The elite or you're not. And if you're not playing
amongst the elite, like just like nobody sits here and
worries about whether Wisconsin Whitewater kid gets a scholarship. The
answer is that most of them don't, like they don't
get Division three scholarships. Why are we suddenly that's the line.
We just don't want the rest of Division one to
be impacted? Or are we going to pretend that we
really care about the rest of the athletes that are
(26:44):
impacted by this? We don't. We don't we care about
whether or not our top thirty or forty teams are
all top thirty or forty teams.
Speaker 3 (26:51):
Well, and you may be true, or you may be
right about the vast majority of people. You are right
about the vast majority of people. I will acknowledge that,
even though it bothers make But like as speaking for
somebody who I mean, I think I genuinely do care.
And maybe I'm not seeking out every MTSU game, or
every Western Kentucky game, or every I mean hell, Indiana football,
(27:13):
my alma mater. They were in the College Football Playoff
FITZI this year. I couldn't I couldn't name three Indiana
football players.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
And Curtis Rhurt got drafted this year. You know what
I'm saying?
Speaker 3 (27:23):
Like they have never mattered in my life, in my
entire life. We used to go to those games, We
used to tailgate those games. Rather not go to those
games and do exactly what you're talking about, go home
and watch the SEC or Notre Dame play, because that's
where the real college football is. But my biggest point
of protest, and I'm sure I'm in the minority of
(27:44):
like people who are actually pissed about this, is that
college football is not supposed to be for the elite.
It's not supposed to be just for the elite. College
football is supposed to be a more inclusive environment. It
gives us great stories about players who work their way
up through programs, especially now with the ability to transfer
(28:04):
and have success at a lower level and then create
your next phase of your career. Cam Ward going from
Incarnate Word to Washington State to Miami and all the
different difficulties that formed him into one of the most
unconventional number one overall picks I've ever seen. I don't
know how many of those stories we're willing to just
(28:24):
cast aside if we make the pool even smaller and
make college football more for the elites. Because the thing
that college football fans would all protest against, and no
matter what level of college football that you're talking about.
No matter what part of the country that you go
to where they are actually passionate about college football is
they would push back on the idea of it being
considered for the elite in any stretch of the world.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Especially the SEC is elite. The SEC is.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
The best conference in college football. And if you attach
elite to the SEC, their fan base is gonna recoil
just because of how they naturally view that term and
that word.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
It's not supposed to be exclusive. It's supposed to be
more inclusive. Yeah, but where's the line?
Speaker 2 (29:06):
He's Buck Rising, I'm Jason fitz By the way, We're
in for two pros and a cup of Joe.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Where's where's the line?
Speaker 2 (29:11):
Like, because I hear what you're saying, But do you
really believe like as much as a let's say, mid level,
mid level team in the SEC might might listen to this,
and and that fan base says, oh my god, like Auburn,
Auburn's gonna look at it and say college football is
for everybody.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
Yeah, I called that. You just called them.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
Well from the performance on the field, Auburn's Auburn's gonna
sit here and be like golf game.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
You know, like this, this makes no sense.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
How many Auburn fans are genuinely worried about whether the
University of main football team gets to thrive?
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Like this is this is what we do in society
all the time.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
The number of times it's like, well, you know, we
got to go after the rich.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Make sure that the rich pay their fair share? Okay, cool?
Who defines what riches?
Speaker 2 (29:59):
Like that's just a standard and follow up question to me, Like,
because certainly somebody that is able to have a house
seems rich to somebody that's homeless, And somebody that's able
to have a go on a vacation seems rich to
somebody that can barely afford a house. Somebody like me
that grew up on government cheese in one box of
mac and cheese to split for the family today, Like
(30:20):
everybody was rich compared to me growing up, So like,
what's rich? I would ask college football the same thing.
Where's the line in relevance? Because I do not believe
that you know that Texas is worried about North Texas.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
I don't believe that.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
Again, I'll use New Mexico state as a good Utah state, Like,
how many SEC fans are sitting here saying we've got
to do what's fair for college football because I want
to make sure that the fans of Utah State are
not left behind. Like that doesn't that doesn't exist. Everybody.
Everybody claims they're worried about this bort as a whole,
they're worried about their own team.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
You are, again, I don't disagree with the vast majority
of what you're arguing just because you're you're just because
that is the feeling that most people actually have, like
the genuine feeling that most people actually have.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
My point is it doesn't make it right. Like I
get you.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
You can be correct about these things and self interest
winning out over everything else, because that's basically what you're
advocating for here, and by the way, what is probably
going to bear itself out. But my whole contention is
that doesn't make it right. And I know that's not
gonna be a popular argument. And I know I'm gonna,
you know, I'm gonna. I'm gonna fight this fight with
as I sink into the sea shaking a fist above
(31:42):
and I'll lose every time, but damn it, I'm not
gonna go out quietly that way. And I don't think
the college football fans in every part of the country
where they love these things and they appreciate these things,
and they genuinely do want those opportunities for these players supported.
Because there are people out there fits the vast majority
of the country and the vast majority of the consumers
are going to be self interested that way. But for
(32:04):
those people that are out here fighting a good fight,
I don't want them just cast aside and saying you
don't matter here anymore.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
It's wrong.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
You're right, Okay, you're right about that. Yeah, what I want.
What I want are those people that we're talking about
to stop yelling about the changes in the sport and
start instead putting that same energy into solving how they
can be competitive in the current landscape.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Sure, that's the you know the it's a great example.
Speaker 3 (32:32):
Not to cut you off here, but for example, the
EA College Football game is out. I don't know if
you're a video game player, but I can't the three
guys that work on my local show, I can't get
them off the damn video game to do anything productive.
Delaware has just moved into FBS. That's their first season
in FBS.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
Football.
Speaker 3 (32:50):
And they've had pro prospects, right. I mean, they've had
Joe Flacco go on and be a Super Bowl MVP.
They've had other players come out of Delaware and then
been a high level FCS program. They move to a
FPS and they realize, Yeah, we're going to be up
against it here. We need every opportunity to try and
recoup or or gain resources as we try to find
ways to be more competitive in this landscape EA college football.
(33:12):
If you play with a certain university or a certain
program in dynasty mode, that program stands to make money
based on the amount of people that in the game
plays that program. Delaware is giving away sweet nights at
actual football games for people who go out of their
way to play with the Delaware Blue Hens and win
the national championship.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
That's the kind of creativity.
Speaker 3 (33:33):
And maybe you know, it ends up being ten grand,
twenty grand, a drop in the bucket for most of
those programs. For a place like Delaware, it makes a difference.
And I think you are going to see that creativity
born of the less than ideal circumstances that the current
college athletics landscape is getting ready to create. If it
hasn't already created it. Sorry to interrupt you.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
No, you're a thousand percent right, By the way, I
haven't played the new one last year. I still I
just wonder if they've figured out Ohio State telling you
it doesn't matter who you played, as you could not.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Beat Ohio State in the last game.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
That being said, you're right, I think there's smart ways
to do it. And there's a group of fans that
we haven't talked about right now that I think could
be stuck. And this is the hardest part of college
football in the future where the sports had We'll tell
you about it next. He's Buck Rising, I'm Jason Fitz.
We're hanging out for two pros and a cup of
Joe on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 4 (34:21):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
I got people mad at me, Buck, Buck Rising, Jason
Fitz bucking fits talking over two prosoe, I'm just being honest,
So Insino Jupiter.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
Scottie d says government cheese. That's rich bro.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
So what happens to the NDSU and the Missouri Valley
Conference teams.
Speaker 1 (34:49):
Are they stopping do better? Again?
Speaker 2 (34:52):
The answer here is the majority of the audience just
doesn't care. I mean that I don't understand why that.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Oh, it's such a hard thing.
Speaker 3 (35:02):
It's such a hard thing for people to come to
terms with, though, Fitzie, Like, nobody wants to hear that
they don't matter no matter who you are, what you do,
and how small or how big your profile is, and
whatever your line of work is. Nobody, nobody wants to
be told that the rest of the world doesn't care
about them, even if they know it's true.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
At the end of the day, nobody watching me that
I was.
Speaker 2 (35:22):
With game Day and traveled with game Day to go
to North Kota State South Kota.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
I went to that Rivalryhaim. It was awesome.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
Like schools can continue to play however they want to.
If you're a Missouri Valley Conference team and you want
to keep playing, then you start your own conference, You
start your own group of people. Just again, I keep
using Wisconsin Whitewater Lancelot pulled the head coach of Kansas.
I've known for twenty years. He's a good friend. He
was the head coach of Wisconsin Whitewater. I am the
one person in the world that has a Wisconsin Whitewater jersey.
(35:51):
I have a Wisconsin Whitewater jersey. The coach gave me
all the way back when he was coming out to
shows that I was playing out in that area, Like, look,
nobody's sitting here.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
What's gonna happen in Wisconsin Whitewater.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
They're a Division three team, right, So the teams that
are left sort of on the side.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
At some point, you're just left on the side.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
Like, I hate to break it to you, but most
Missouri Valley Conference champion teams aren't competing for a championship anyway.
So if you love your favorite team again, I'll use
the UNLV reference.
Speaker 1 (36:21):
If you love UNLV, keep watching UNLV. They just might
not be playing in the same.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
Level of college football anymore as the teams that are
making a ton of money. I don't think those are
the hard The Missouri Valley Conference ones are the easy ones.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
They're gonna get left off to the side.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
Okay, that's just the world, Like I mean, that's just
the world that we live in. My bigger question is
what happens to the middle road, the middle class teams
in some of the big conferences, Like you mentioned that
Indiana is your alma mater, Like what happens to Indiana football,
what happens to Purdue football, what happens.
Speaker 1 (36:55):
To sort of?
Speaker 2 (36:56):
I mean, I think Vandy probably monetarily can figure it out.
But like you look around and if we end up
with this, you know, salary cap system and collective bargaining
and all of these things. I think the tougher thing
isn't what happens to the Missouri Missouri Valley Conference because
I think frankly ninety eight percent of fans don't really
care about the Missouri Valley Conference teams and what happens
(37:16):
to them, or Maction and what happens to I do
think it gets trickier when you're talking about what happens
to some of these big schools in big conferences that
can be competitive but not necessarily as competitive as they
want to be in a new scale.
Speaker 1 (37:30):
Where they have to have a much higher salary.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
But that's what you're advocating for, So I mean, they're
going to have to choose what to do.
Speaker 3 (37:40):
Sure, and I think that's that's where you're going that
FITZI is where you're going to quantifiably find out, Okay,
who's who's alumni base, who's fan base, who's nil collective donors?
Speaker 1 (37:51):
Who actually cares about supporting athletics?
Speaker 3 (37:53):
This way, because the onus is going to be based
on the current structure and the revenue sharing and things
like that, you are going to put more onus on
people to actually care versus just offering the opinion of no,
I care about this thing. Let me tell you how much,
and then you're going to ask them. All right, all right,
go ahead and cash this check that your mouth is writing.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
Here.
Speaker 3 (38:15):
Let's let's see physical, hard hard cash on the level
of interest that you are willing to say that you
have in this program. Perdue, for example, is one that
you used. Indiana has ponied up the money. It's crazy.
It's crazy to me to see a world in which
Indiana Football is spending about twenty million dollars a year
on their roster, but Georgia is spending forty, right Like
(38:35):
that's that's the kind of thing that the revshare model
is going to try and tamp down.
Speaker 1 (38:40):
And even if we don't get to things like a CBA.
Speaker 3 (38:43):
The way that Dianna know was advocating for big twelve
media days, which I thought, you know, frankly, I wasn't
a big fan of hearing that specifically from him, because
he's then arguing against the best interest of players being
able to maximize their value without a CAP. I think
that you will see those kind of universities trickle down.
(39:04):
The separation will happen quickly, and it'll move in a
direction where the Big ten and the SEC probably take
the reins on all of this. They've had the rains
the entire time. Greg Sankee specifically, the commissioner of the SEC.
I'm sure he's viewed as a villain in the vast
majority of other places in the country. Here in the Southeast, obviously,
he's about as close to a god amongst football man
(39:25):
as you could find here because he's making sure to
be proactive on these things. So they will prioritize making
sure that they have the teams, the programs who are
the most invested in the long term viability of whatever
the television construct, whatever the Super Conference plan is, and
the rest of them will be given a choice basically,
(39:46):
spend more money or get left behind. And that's as
cold cut as you can get with it. But that's
I mean you brought up Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt football is starting
to get into a place, or at least last year
gave us a glimpse of what it might look like
if they act actually invest in the program. And they
also had a super polarizing figure come in that was
actually good at college football in Diego Pavia, who's not
(40:10):
scared to start fires, and coaching Clark Lee, who's a
nice balance.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
Of who he is.
Speaker 3 (40:15):
But Vanderbilt has been kind of on the fringe of
this conversation of how long you're going to grift off
the SEC's revenue sharing model, how long are you going
to take this money without actually putting it back into
your football program. Vandy has at least started to move
in that direction. Some other institutions that are thought of
in the same light as Vanderbilt, they'll be pushed to
the same task, and whether or not they meet the challenge,
we'll see
SEC media days are upon us.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
College football is right around the corner, which means more
and more yelling is being done about what's wrong with
the sport. And it just brings me back to the
same conclusion that we've had for several months. If you
think that college football is dying, you're probably just not
the audience for it right now. So Buck and Fitz
takeover for two pros and a cup of Joe. I'm
(00:24):
Jason Fitz fine solo.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Right now.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
We're still working on Buck rising. He is feverishly sitting
there waiting to be able to chime in, and I'm
able to get all my like, this is kind of amazing.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
I'm not gonna lie like.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Buck just gets to sit there and get really frustrated
because he can't get his takes off, and I get
all mine off, and nobody ever gets to question it.
So it's a beautiful, beautiful thing. But we will keep
efforting Bucks. He at least, I mean, he's sitting in
the studio, he's not eating any donuts. I feel like,
at the very least we got to let him get
the opportunity to talk.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
We'll see if that can happen.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
In the meantime, sec media days are going on, and
my timeline is aslutely exploded and follow me by the
way at Jason fitz Fits easy to find me everywhere.
Timeline explodes constantly with college football dying, this is the
death of the sport.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
This is the worst. I can't believe this.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
And you know a lot of that actually comes from
people that cover the sport, and this just maybe it's
confusing to me because I feel like in modern society
you can't be stuck in what you think anymore. Like
you just have to be willing to You have to
be able to move around and see how the tide
(01:31):
is changing and then just accept your new reality. I
talk a lot about my music passing me. Guys give
me some grief for that, rightfully so. But one thing
that is funny to me is I remember sitting with
buddies on a tour bus when we were having a
conversation about CDs and everything was on compact desk, and
I remember so distinctly one of the guys that I
(01:53):
was in a band with at the time was like, Man,
I'm telling you, in ten years, nobody's ever going to
buy these things. Everything's going to be MP three's We laughed,
like we literally laughed at that, Like no, no, no,
people still on a physical product.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Think about that. Like there was a.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Period where you go back to the eighties, everybody thought
that records were going to be the thing forever because
they sound better than CDs. And then it was like, well,
no CDs or the new technology, and everybody's going to
go that way. Now we live in a society where
I mean, I remember sitting in the studio while we
were working on a particular track and everybody was yelling
(02:28):
about drum sounds, and finally it was like, who cares,
It's going to be played on an iPhone? Right, Like
this is the world we live in now. The music
business was so afraid of figuring streaming out that it
didn't figure streaming out. So by the time it tried
to figure streaming out, now nobody's making the money they
should in the whole financial for it is collapsing because
(02:50):
they were late to figure out how it worked. And
guess what through all of it. The number of times
people have asked me about whether or not you know
AI is going to take over music, and my answer
to that is, like the number of people that actually
care about sonic quality is small. The number of people
that are sitting there saying, well, I mean, those aren't
(03:11):
real strings on that record, so I'm not going to
listen to.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
It, Like that doesn't exist. This is the same exact
thing that's happening in sports right now.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
All these people that are looking around and saying, well,
college football is dying. No, it's not dying. It's changing,
it's evolving. Is there going to be a salary cap?
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Maybe?
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Are they going to figure out profit sharing? Yeah, they're
working on that now. And if your answer is that
you hate the change, just remember that the courts have
already decided you don't have a leg to stand on.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
So at some point you either you have two choices.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Quit watching the sport, quit consuming anything around the sport,
Quit consuming the podcast, quit consuming the shows, quit consuming
the social media. Don't go out and buy the magazines,
don't watch the games. That's your option number one or
option number two is sit down, shut up, and get
behind it. Like the yelling and screaming about what the
(04:03):
future of the sport looks like, like, it's clear what
this future of the sport looks like.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube. You
can't suddenly change all of this and get back to
where we were.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
If you want a game where suddenly we're back to
spots where guys aren't getting paid and there isn't nil
and there isn't profit sharing if you want, if you
want that society to exist, then you've already been left behind.
So you have two choices at that point. You can
either decide to move with the sport you love, or you.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Can just stop.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Now the number of times we all sit there and
say we're gonna stop, it's never real.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
You don't actually stop. You think you're gonna stop.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
But if you are a lifelong diehard Tennessee fan and
you sit there and say that's it, I'm out. I'm
never watching college football again. Sure you aren't. And when
the balls are in the playoffs, you're not gonna turn
it on. When the balls play Alabama, you're not going
to turn that on in October. Really, see, what college
(05:08):
football knows is that the diehards are diehards. The diehards
can't turn that portion of themselves off. Diehards don't turn
that set portion.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Of themselves off.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
College football is the second most popular sport in America
and you have these doomsday proclamations coming from.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Especially from a lot of people that cover the sport,
and that to.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Me is a the most ignorant possible stance and be
the most hurtful stance. If you cover college football for
a living and you're spending every ounce of energy that
you have telling everybody why the sport is dying, well, hey,
you're telling everybody to stop watching the thing that you cover,
which seems counterintuitive, but be you're not at that point
(05:55):
covering the sport. You're covering what you want. Look, I'm
not sure what the landscape's going to look like. I
think that there's going to become a salary cap situation.
I think that that's probably pretty reasonable. I think you're
gonna find a unionization of players, and there's going to
be a collective bargaining agreement, just like there is with
(06:16):
the NFL. I think college football ends up looking almost
exactly like the NFL. And I think as a result
of that, there's going to be a bunch of schools
left behind that are going to decide it's no longer
financially feasible to have a college football team.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
They're going to not play in the same circles as everybody,
and that's okay.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
It is okay if Middle Tennessee State University chooses not
to compete with Ohio State. To me, it's okay. If
University of Connecticut I'm sitting half an hour from chooses
not to try and compete with Boston College. The trickier
one becomes Boston College. Does Boston College decide that they
(06:54):
want to compete?
Speaker 1 (06:55):
I don't know. I don't know, but.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Schools are going to have the opportunity to decide which
sphere they want to live in.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
And that's what I think right now.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
When you've got the Big ten in the SEC arguing,
and the Big ten is not going to agree to
this playoff format unless the SEC agrees to scheduling conformity
and all of these different things that are happening, what
we're seeing is a power struggle.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
And we're seeing a power.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Struggle because right now there is no sheriff. Since there's
not really any sheriff, you got, you know, two different
gangs that are just basically saying, I will do whatever
I want and everybody will have to conform to me.
But in the meantime, all of us covering it, all
of us sitting around, all of us watching the sport.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
All right, so what now what?
Speaker 2 (07:36):
That's the very famous to a tongue of Alowa's dad,
and I interviewed to when he was in college, and
one thing he talked about was his dad raised him
on the concept of so what now what?
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Right, So it doesn't matter how you got here? What
are you gonna do? Now? Apply that to college football?
So what now what? Okay, so the game's changed, So
what now? What are you going to root for? I
think we've got this.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
I think there's been a modern my tag team part
are running out from the tunnels.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
This is straight WWE from the eighties.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Buck Rising? Do we have Buck Rising? I can't hear
dah oh No.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Now I hear him. No, damn it, I'm here.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Somebody acknowledge that I'm here other than on FaceTime Fitcy.
I swear to God, I didn't sleep in this morning.
You are a pro. The people in LA have been
just through hell this morning trying to get this thing
figured out. God bless Ret Brian here in Nashville for
making it happen.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
I am so so sorry.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Are you giving an sp speech? Are you giving a
thank you speech like anybody else you want to.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Thank there, Shane Gellison is not here to me. Yeah,
I mean honestly, that that round of applause, that that
small uh, that small golf clap smattering that you hear
in the background, that's for everybody else except for me
this morning, because I've been the thing holding the rest
of us back. But well done by the entire crew
to make sure that we could finally get me in
(09:00):
the air.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
How we living.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Well, Look, we've missed you over the course of the
last hour, but I gotta admit, like, I mean really,
because it didn't sound like you missed a big I mean,
I was able to just just fire off take after
take after take with no accountability.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
No fact, no accountability. That's all right, I'm here. The
parents have returned from the trip away, and there's no
more house parties for the kids.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Shut it down, Shut it all down, and I will
echo your sentiments. By the way, while producing this show
live on air, our team has been working behind the
scenes the entire.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Time to try and get you on air.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Really miracle, incredible work by them and wildly good. I'm
in the middle of ranting about college football and the
people that say that it's dying, because I would argue
that it's simply changing, and if you don't change with
the times, then the sport will leave you behind. I
think this is you're sitting in SEC country. You've seen this,
but SEC media days, to me, just brings out all
(09:58):
of the people that are sitting here screaming about what the.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Future of college football looks like. And I'm just sort
of buck.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
At the spot where I'm like, Okay, it's going to
be just fine. It's going to be It might not
be the college football that you know, somebody that grew
up on it for the last fifty years watched, but
at the end of the day, you're not going to
stop being a Tennessee Volunteers fan because of everything that's
happening right now. And even if you are, I think
the college football world is willing to let the old
(10:25):
men on the lawn all sort of go by the
wayside if it means that they can continue to grow
the sport fair.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
But those old men and women, you know, shaking a
fist at the proverbial sky here, they're the ones who
are trying to do what's in the best interest of
the sport FITSI and really in the best interest of
college football fans writ large. Because the changes are not
being done for college football fans, they will go along
with it. They will continue to watch the games on
(10:53):
Saturdays as long as it's like when we got into
the NFL NFLPA collusion case, and people's just people's eyes
roll in the back of their heads and.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
They say, they don't care.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
Just get me to Sunday, get me to my football.
Leave all this administrative and bureaucratic stuff out of my life.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
I don't care.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
I just want games. But in college football, those purists,
and that's why you see them coming out of the
woodwork at this time of year where media days are
ongoing across all the power conferences. Certainly, and in particular,
nobody more strident in their opinion is defender of all
things good and glorious college football than the SEC down
here in my part of the world.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
I respect the fact.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
That they are still trying to fight what they consider
to be the good fight. Because the people making the
changes to college football are not doing it in the
best interest of the consumer. They are taking advantage of
the consumer, understanding that the consumer is going to be there.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
On Saturday, no matter what.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Growing the game is more about monetizing the game in
ways that I don't think like they're going to leagues
cry poor or conferences cry poor about all this stuff,
how they're going out of their way to find ways
to generate new revenue when in reality they are making
money hand over fist to support themselves enough. They're just
using the fact that players are getting paid and the
(12:14):
revenue sharing that is soon going to be upon all
of us in the world of collegiate athletics to justify
trying to squeeze more blood out of that stone. So
while I do acknowledge what you say is true and
the rest of the world will adapt at some point,
even if there's some bitching on the front end, right,
people are going to people are trying in college football
(12:35):
more than any other sport, it feels, to make sure
that the integrity of the sport and the connection that
it has to one of the most purest I mean
one of the most pure fan bases anywhere in any
level of sport is maintained and not just cast to
the side as they try and make maximize billion dollar
television deals and the rest in super conferences that I'm
(12:56):
sure are on down the line and are probably going
to be hated by the people that love college football
the most when they finally get here.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
He's Buck Rising, I'm Jason Fitz. We're gonna keep this
conversation going. I'm gonna tell you why college football has
a lot in common with load management. We'll do it next,
Bucking Fits taking over Two Pros and a Cup of
Joe on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Welcome to the show, Buck Yeah.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
Be sure to catch live editions of Two Pros and
a Cup of Joe with Brady Quinn, LeVar Errington, and
Jonas Knox weekdays at six am Eastern three am Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Hey it's me Rob Parker.
Speaker 5 (13:32):
Check out my weekly MLB podcast, Inside the Parker for
twenty two minutes of pipe in hot baseball talk, featuring
the biggest names of newsmakers in the sport. Whether you
believe in analytics for the i caast, We've got all
the bases covered. New episodes drop every Thursday, So do
yourself a favor and listen to Inside the Parker with
(13:55):
Rob Parker on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get
your podcast.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
What if I told you.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
The college football and load management have something in common.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
And it's actually not a bad thing. It's fucking fits.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Taking over to pros and a cup of Joe on
Fox Sports Radio, he's Buck Rising.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
I'm Jason Fitz hanging out with you this morning. Hear
me out all right.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
To be clear, Buck's living in the middle of the
SEC country, There's no doubt about it.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
He's down in Nashville, Tennessee.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
I have covered college football every year of my professional career.
In fact, I just told Buck this, this will be
the first fall I think as it stands right now,
that I don't have to do any I don't get
to I should say never say have to.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
I don't get to do.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Any Yahoo Saturday college football shows. So for the first time,
like back when I got to ESPN, I did Saturday
night shows, but we had to be there every day
to watch the game together. So we got on campus
every day at eleven am Eastern and we were there until,
you know, one in the morning. This will be the
first year that I get Saturday where I can just
after the fellas, I can just go put my feet
(15:03):
up in a local bar and watch as much college
football as I want to, which I'm excited about. I
freaking love this sport. I love covering the sport book.
So I say this with some level of understanding that
people might not like it. But to me, college football
and load management have something in common. Load management in
the NBA is polarizing. People just sit there and say
(15:23):
it's terrible, it's terrible, it's terrible, it's terrible, And I
would argue it doesn't really matter, like every time they're
like a.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
Little Johnny didn't get to see Lebron play. Okay, So
the NBA.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Is going to always make the decision to protect their
TV product in the playoffs, and they're going to protect
their products overall when it matters the most, even if
it hurts the hearts of you know, whatever, twenty kids
that might have been. Like how many families are actually
going out to a late that bought plane tickets and
flew to LA and win to Lakers. You know, it's
(15:54):
no different than when a concert cancels last second, Like
there are families that flew out there and everything, and
that's just sort of ancillary damage. So to me, the
side effect of load management is that a few people
are impacted by it, But for the most part, when
we reach the NBA Finals.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Nobody's talking about it anymore.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
To me, all of the people right now yelling and
screaming about the changes in college football are kind of
those people in the arena for load management.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
They're replaceable.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Their fandom is replaceable as long as college football continues
to make TV money, which it's going to as long
as ESPN, Fox, tnt CW, all of these networks, the
streaming networks are going to continue bidding on the product
as long as college football continues to be the second
most popular sport in America, and there's no proof that
(16:41):
it's dying off of that at all. Schools don't need
to the sport doesn't need to sit there and worry
about the fish shaking. Oh my god, this is bad
because those people can be left behind in the sport
will be just fine.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
They are load management people. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Yeah, look at me coming in hoarlier than that today.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Well.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Also, it took him five minutes to five minutes to
throw it over to me. I think he kind of
liked having the first hour and a half to himself, don't.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
You, guys.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
I mean, I feel like I'm at a rupting here.
I'm so sorry to butt in on your your mourning
full of college football hot takers.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Say anything. I mean, you say something, I throw it
to some of you. I hate that opinion by you.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
I hate it so much because, FITZI just because it
hasn't happened yet, the denigration of college football fandom hasn't
happened yet, doesn't mean that it should be taken for
granted and that there shouldn't be protections in place to
make sure that that integrity of the sport and its
relationship to the diehards is maintained. That's the thing that
(17:43):
makes it more special than any of these other sports. Fitzy,
I thought you spoke so well about just being able
to relish and take in the opportunity to watch college
football and to be a college football fan, and how
much you love this sport and how much even covering it.
You find a lot of people in all industry, and
this is you know, this is a one percent or problem, right,
(18:04):
but you find a lot of people in our industry
who start to lose love of sports in general based
on it becoming a job. Right, It's like anything else,
even though it's the most fun thing in the world
for everybody else. If you start to let it seep
in that this is work and not still play, even
though you're getting a paycheck as a result of covering
(18:24):
things and working in or around sport, it can start
to denigrate it.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
And you, you are.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
The rare enough thing where your zest for these things,
your passion for these things, has not yet depreciated, even
though you work in it and you cover it and
it's exhausting and it's full time and it's seven days
a week and all these different things.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
But fits I can't.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
I can't sit there and let you grandstand and tell
those people that they don't matter when they're the biggest
differentiation to me between the NFL and college football.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
I'm an NFL report.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
I cover the Tennessee Titans, and I don't like college
football more just because I cover a crappy football team
and their product is usually terrible to watch, or at
least it has been in these last three years since
things started to fall apart here locally in Tennessee prior
to them having the number one overall pick in cam Ward.
This time around, college football passion, the electricity that comes
(19:21):
from the crowd how much different it is from college
to the pros, how much more tribal it is from
college to the pros. That's the differentiating factor. I don't
want this to be worn down as we start to
move in a more profitable direction for college football and
an expansion mode for college football.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
I don't want that water down.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
I don't want those people to think that they don't matter,
because to me, they very much do.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
They are not replaceable. You're wrong on that. Here's the thing, though,
who's getting replaced?
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Like Alabama fans are still going to be there because
Alabama's going to be one of.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
The programs that thrives and survives.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Texas fans are still going to be their miss, Michigan fans,
Ohio State fans, Penn State.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
Tailing the board just won nine games and is being
talked about as on thet as being on the hot seat.
He may have the most talented roster in the SEC
and the best conference in college football. You don't think
those people are gonna stick stick around through the hard
times or you think those people are.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Yeah, they are because their passion is not gonna go anywhere.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Who's really gonna get lost?
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Like if we turn around and we do a super
conference and all of a sudden there's a salary cap.
Who's gonna get left behind in this process? It's not
gonna be Alabama, Tennessee. It's not gonna be the prominence.
Wisconsin's gonna be fine. It's it's not gonna be Big
ten or SEC schools.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
It's gonna be New Mexico State. And you know who
doesn't matter? New Mexico State.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
I'm sorry, Like, as I've said a million times, living
in Connecticut, like Connecticut football, Sorry, guys, doesn't matter to
most people, right UNLV.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
I grew up in Vegas. I grew up a massive
UNLV fan. You U NLV.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
If UNLV football shut down tomorrow, how many people would
actually be that hurt about it?
Speaker 1 (21:03):
What the thirty thirty.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Thousand they I think they've just set a team record
of thirty thousand season ticket sales. So like, okay, if
you've got to lose those thirty thousand to figure out
a way to make sure that we get the best
version of the forty or fifty schools that can actually hang,
then fine. Everybody else is just hanging Chad, that's old
voting vote for you like hanging Chad. That's what everybody
(21:25):
else is hanging to everybody else is just they're just slop.
Let's just let them go. They go where they go,
like if you can't. If the rest of the schools
want to play in their own sandbox, they can find
a way to do it. But at the end of
the day, how many people sit here and cry about
whether or not University Wisconsin Whitewater gets what they need
for Division III football?
Speaker 1 (21:45):
The answer is none.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
I'm not sure that Oregon State really matters to most
of the world more than University of Wisconsin Whitewater.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
I understand what you're saying, and that's probably the direction
that we're heading. And these things may be inevitable, but
that doesn't mean that I have to like them. It
doesn't mean that everybody else who is I mean, some
of it is FITZI. I'll say grandstanding, because the people
who are fighting for the traditions or as much of
(22:16):
the traditions in college football to continue to hold serve
into the next generation of it are not the people
who are consuming UNLV or Wisconsin Whitewater or any of
these other smaller programs that you name. My curiosity then
would move towards well, how does that impact people's ability
if you go to one of these smaller schools and
(22:37):
you get relegated to a different version of football and
wherever that football ends up being broadcast or televised, whatever
the case may be, does that impact guys who are
playing at those universities their opportunity to get recognition, to
be on national television because they're playing cupcake type of
games against the Alabama, Tennessee, Ohio states of the world.
(23:00):
Does that impact their ability to get recognized by pro
scouts and as it relates to getting to the next
level of football. There are ripple effects here, and maybe
they're not as important as the people who are I
mean wailing and gnashing over them, because I will tell
you there is nothing more unpopular down here in the
Southeast than all of the changes that have happened to
(23:22):
college football. And yet it's still going to be infinitely
more popular here than even the NFL. America's most popular sport.
Does not matter in the state of Tennessee. Hell, you
can't even get that they're called the Tennessee Titans here.
Two thirds of the state doesn't want anything to do
with them. East Tennessee is pissed off because they don't
think the Titans should use the name Tennessee because it's
(23:43):
the Tennessee Valls right, and Memphis West Tennessee. It's Grizzlies,
it's cowboys. That's all they care about. So for the
people down here that are fighting the hardest for it,
they are the ones who you're talking about who are
going to be the least affected by it. But they
actually have a platform to be able to try and
evoke change or at least make themselves known on behalf
(24:04):
of those who don't want to be relegated FITSI and
I and they may not have a choice, and it
may not matter, and it may all be fine and
dandy as we move into the future evolutions of what
college football and college athletics are going to continue to
change into. But I just I nothing, nothing bothers me more.
I think it's the thing that you I think it's
the thing that's pissed me off the most that you've
(24:24):
ever said into a microphone, the idea that these people
are just outright replaceable and in your words.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Slop now they are.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
I mean, how many people are gonna lose your right
They're gonna be kids that are impacted.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Well, what if I like the slop football like I
mean I like, you get to watch it. You get
to watch it like Liberty can continue to have on
Apple TV.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
You're gonna make it harder on me to find these
games instead of having maction as a part of the
ESPN thing on a Tuesday night.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Yes, if Miami of Ohio no longer has a Division
I football team and you got to hunt hunt it
down on Thursday nights, oh well, if you want to
hunt it down, you can hunt it down. And yes,
they're gonna be kids that lose scholarships. For every kid
that loses a scholarship and loses an opportunity, we got
to ask ourselves, what about at some point, what do
we care about?
Speaker 1 (25:10):
Right right? If we end up with the super.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
Conference that's sixty teams instead of having the current whatever
one hundred and.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Thirty two teams.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
If we end up with sixty teams in a superconference,
those kids on those sixty teams have a much better
shot of being properly you know, properly paid for what
they're doing. They have the opportunity to have proper earning.
And everybody's sitting here saying, well, we're worried about the kids.
That's just the most disingenuous from ninety percent of the people.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
That is such a BS argument.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
If somebody's sitting in Alabama's like, well, I'm worried about
I'm worried about the kids.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
No, you're not.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
You're worried about whether Alabama or Auburn is going to
win a national title. That's all you care about. And
the Alabama's and the Auburns will eventually conform to all
of this and figure out how to thrive in all
of this. The people that are like we just we
pretend care so much as a society, I don't think
the majority of the world would even notice if again,
(26:05):
to go to a local area. For you, if MTSU
Middle Tennessee State University no longer had football, I don't
think ninety eight percent of college football fans would even.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
Know what happened. And so at some point, you know,
it's a doggy dog world, like you're either you're either
playing amongst.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
The elite or you're not. And if you're not playing
amongst the elite, like just like nobody sits here and
worries about whether Wisconsin Whitewater kid gets a scholarship. The
answer is that most of them don't, like they don't
get Division three scholarships. Why are we suddenly that's the line.
We just don't want the rest of Division one to
be impacted? Or are we going to pretend that we
really care about the rest of the athletes that are
(26:44):
impacted by this? We don't. We don't we care about
whether or not our top thirty or forty teams are
all top thirty or forty teams.
Speaker 3 (26:51):
Well, and you may be true, or you may be
right about the vast majority of people. You are right
about the vast majority of people. I will acknowledge that,
even though it bothers make But like as speaking for
somebody who I mean, I think I genuinely do care.
And maybe I'm not seeking out every MTSU game, or
every Western Kentucky game, or every I mean hell, Indiana football,
(27:13):
my alma mater. They were in the College Football Playoff
FITZI this year. I couldn't I couldn't name three Indiana
football players.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
And Curtis Rhurt got drafted this year. You know what
I'm saying?
Speaker 3 (27:23):
Like they have never mattered in my life, in my
entire life. We used to go to those games, We
used to tailgate those games. Rather not go to those
games and do exactly what you're talking about, go home
and watch the SEC or Notre Dame play, because that's
where the real college football is. But my biggest point
of protest, and I'm sure I'm in the minority of
(27:44):
like people who are actually pissed about this, is that
college football is not supposed to be for the elite.
It's not supposed to be just for the elite. College
football is supposed to be a more inclusive environment. It
gives us great stories about players who work their way
up through programs, especially now with the ability to transfer
(28:04):
and have success at a lower level and then create
your next phase of your career. Cam Ward going from
Incarnate Word to Washington State to Miami and all the
different difficulties that formed him into one of the most
unconventional number one overall picks I've ever seen. I don't
know how many of those stories we're willing to just
(28:24):
cast aside if we make the pool even smaller and
make college football more for the elites. Because the thing
that college football fans would all protest against, and no
matter what level of college football that you're talking about.
No matter what part of the country that you go
to where they are actually passionate about college football is
they would push back on the idea of it being
considered for the elite in any stretch of the world.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Especially the SEC is elite. The SEC is.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
The best conference in college football. And if you attach
elite to the SEC, their fan base is gonna recoil
just because of how they naturally view that term and
that word.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
It's not supposed to be exclusive. It's supposed to be
more inclusive. Yeah, but where's the line?
Speaker 2 (29:06):
He's Buck Rising, I'm Jason fitz By the way, We're
in for two pros and a cup of Joe.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Where's where's the line?
Speaker 2 (29:11):
Like, because I hear what you're saying, But do you
really believe like as much as a let's say, mid level,
mid level team in the SEC might might listen to this,
and and that fan base says, oh my god, like Auburn,
Auburn's gonna look at it and say college football is
for everybody.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
Yeah, I called that. You just called them.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
Well from the performance on the field, Auburn's Auburn's gonna
sit here and be like golf game.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
You know, like this, this makes no sense.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
How many Auburn fans are genuinely worried about whether the
University of main football team gets to thrive?
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Like this is this is what we do in society
all the time.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
The number of times it's like, well, you know, we
got to go after the rich.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Make sure that the rich pay their fair share? Okay, cool?
Who defines what riches?
Speaker 2 (29:59):
Like that's just a standard and follow up question to me, Like,
because certainly somebody that is able to have a house
seems rich to somebody that's homeless, And somebody that's able
to have a go on a vacation seems rich to
somebody that can barely afford a house. Somebody like me
that grew up on government cheese in one box of
mac and cheese to split for the family today, Like
(30:20):
everybody was rich compared to me growing up, So like,
what's rich? I would ask college football the same thing.
Where's the line in relevance? Because I do not believe
that you know that Texas is worried about North Texas.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
I don't believe that.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
Again, I'll use New Mexico state as a good Utah state, Like,
how many SEC fans are sitting here saying we've got
to do what's fair for college football because I want
to make sure that the fans of Utah State are
not left behind. Like that doesn't that doesn't exist. Everybody.
Everybody claims they're worried about this bort as a whole,
they're worried about their own team.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
You are, again, I don't disagree with the vast majority
of what you're arguing just because you're you're just because
that is the feeling that most people actually have, like
the genuine feeling that most people actually have.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
My point is it doesn't make it right. Like I
get you.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
You can be correct about these things and self interest
winning out over everything else, because that's basically what you're
advocating for here, and by the way, what is probably
going to bear itself out. But my whole contention is
that doesn't make it right. And I know that's not
gonna be a popular argument. And I know I'm gonna,
you know, I'm gonna. I'm gonna fight this fight with
as I sink into the sea shaking a fist above
(31:42):
and I'll lose every time, but damn it, I'm not
gonna go out quietly that way. And I don't think
the college football fans in every part of the country
where they love these things and they appreciate these things,
and they genuinely do want those opportunities for these players supported.
Because there are people out there fits the vast majority
of the country and the vast majority of the consumers
are going to be self interested that way. But for
(32:04):
those people that are out here fighting a good fight,
I don't want them just cast aside and saying you
don't matter here anymore.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
It's wrong.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
You're right, Okay, you're right about that. Yeah, what I want.
What I want are those people that we're talking about
to stop yelling about the changes in the sport and
start instead putting that same energy into solving how they
can be competitive in the current landscape.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Sure, that's the you know the it's a great example.
Speaker 3 (32:32):
Not to cut you off here, but for example, the
EA College Football game is out. I don't know if
you're a video game player, but I can't the three
guys that work on my local show, I can't get
them off the damn video game to do anything productive.
Delaware has just moved into FBS. That's their first season
in FBS.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
Football.
Speaker 3 (32:50):
And they've had pro prospects, right. I mean, they've had
Joe Flacco go on and be a Super Bowl MVP.
They've had other players come out of Delaware and then
been a high level FCS program. They move to a
FPS and they realize, Yeah, we're going to be up
against it here. We need every opportunity to try and
recoup or or gain resources as we try to find
ways to be more competitive in this landscape EA college football.
(33:12):
If you play with a certain university or a certain
program in dynasty mode, that program stands to make money
based on the amount of people that in the game
plays that program. Delaware is giving away sweet nights at
actual football games for people who go out of their
way to play with the Delaware Blue Hens and win
the national championship.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
That's the kind of creativity.
Speaker 3 (33:33):
And maybe you know, it ends up being ten grand,
twenty grand, a drop in the bucket for most of
those programs. For a place like Delaware, it makes a difference.
And I think you are going to see that creativity
born of the less than ideal circumstances that the current
college athletics landscape is getting ready to create. If it
hasn't already created it. Sorry to interrupt you.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
No, you're a thousand percent right, By the way, I
haven't played the new one last year. I still I
just wonder if they've figured out Ohio State telling you
it doesn't matter who you played, as you could not.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Beat Ohio State in the last game.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
That being said, you're right, I think there's smart ways
to do it. And there's a group of fans that
we haven't talked about right now that I think could
be stuck. And this is the hardest part of college
football in the future where the sports had We'll tell
you about it next. He's Buck Rising, I'm Jason Fitz.
We're hanging out for two pros and a cup of
Joe on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 4 (34:21):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
I got people mad at me, Buck, Buck Rising, Jason
Fitz bucking fits talking over two prosoe, I'm just being honest,
So Insino Jupiter.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
Scottie d says government cheese. That's rich bro.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
So what happens to the NDSU and the Missouri Valley
Conference teams.
Speaker 1 (34:49):
Are they stopping do better? Again?
Speaker 2 (34:52):
The answer here is the majority of the audience just
doesn't care. I mean that I don't understand why that.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Oh, it's such a hard thing.
Speaker 3 (35:02):
It's such a hard thing for people to come to
terms with, though, Fitzie, Like, nobody wants to hear that
they don't matter no matter who you are, what you do,
and how small or how big your profile is, and
whatever your line of work is. Nobody, nobody wants to
be told that the rest of the world doesn't care
about them, even if they know it's true.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
At the end of the day, nobody watching me that
I was.
Speaker 2 (35:22):
With game Day and traveled with game Day to go
to North Kota State South Kota.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
I went to that Rivalryhaim. It was awesome.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
Like schools can continue to play however they want to.
If you're a Missouri Valley Conference team and you want
to keep playing, then you start your own conference, You
start your own group of people. Just again, I keep
using Wisconsin Whitewater Lancelot pulled the head coach of Kansas.
I've known for twenty years. He's a good friend. He
was the head coach of Wisconsin Whitewater. I am the
one person in the world that has a Wisconsin Whitewater jersey.
(35:51):
I have a Wisconsin Whitewater jersey. The coach gave me
all the way back when he was coming out to
shows that I was playing out in that area, Like, look,
nobody's sitting here.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
What's gonna happen in Wisconsin Whitewater.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
They're a Division three team, right, So the teams that
are left sort of on the side.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
At some point, you're just left on the side.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
Like, I hate to break it to you, but most
Missouri Valley Conference champion teams aren't competing for a championship anyway.
So if you love your favorite team again, I'll use
the UNLV reference.
Speaker 1 (36:21):
If you love UNLV, keep watching UNLV. They just might
not be playing in the same.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
Level of college football anymore as the teams that are
making a ton of money. I don't think those are
the hard The Missouri Valley Conference ones are the easy ones.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
They're gonna get left off to the side.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
Okay, that's just the world, Like I mean, that's just
the world that we live in. My bigger question is
what happens to the middle road, the middle class teams
in some of the big conferences, Like you mentioned that
Indiana is your alma mater, Like what happens to Indiana football,
what happens to Purdue football, what happens.
Speaker 1 (36:55):
To sort of?
Speaker 2 (36:56):
I mean, I think Vandy probably monetarily can figure it out.
But like you look around and if we end up
with this, you know, salary cap system and collective bargaining
and all of these things. I think the tougher thing
isn't what happens to the Missouri Missouri Valley Conference because
I think frankly ninety eight percent of fans don't really
care about the Missouri Valley Conference teams and what happens
(37:16):
to them, or Maction and what happens to I do
think it gets trickier when you're talking about what happens
to some of these big schools in big conferences that
can be competitive but not necessarily as competitive as they
want to be in a new scale.
Speaker 1 (37:30):
Where they have to have a much higher salary.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
But that's what you're advocating for, So I mean, they're
going to have to choose what to do.
Speaker 3 (37:40):
Sure, and I think that's that's where you're going that
FITZI is where you're going to quantifiably find out, Okay,
who's who's alumni base, who's fan base, who's nil collective donors?
Speaker 1 (37:51):
Who actually cares about supporting athletics?
Speaker 3 (37:53):
This way, because the onus is going to be based
on the current structure and the revenue sharing and things
like that, you are going to put more onus on
people to actually care versus just offering the opinion of no,
I care about this thing. Let me tell you how much,
and then you're going to ask them. All right, all right,
go ahead and cash this check that your mouth is writing.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
Here.
Speaker 3 (38:15):
Let's let's see physical, hard hard cash on the level
of interest that you are willing to say that you
have in this program. Perdue, for example, is one that
you used. Indiana has ponied up the money. It's crazy.
It's crazy to me to see a world in which
Indiana Football is spending about twenty million dollars a year
on their roster, but Georgia is spending forty, right Like
(38:35):
that's that's the kind of thing that the revshare model
is going to try and tamp down.
Speaker 1 (38:40):
And even if we don't get to things like a CBA.
Speaker 3 (38:43):
The way that Dianna know was advocating for big twelve
media days, which I thought, you know, frankly, I wasn't
a big fan of hearing that specifically from him, because
he's then arguing against the best interest of players being
able to maximize their value without a CAP. I think
that you will see those kind of universities trickle down.
(39:04):
The separation will happen quickly, and it'll move in a
direction where the Big ten and the SEC probably take
the reins on all of this. They've had the rains
the entire time. Greg Sankee specifically, the commissioner of the SEC.
I'm sure he's viewed as a villain in the vast
majority of other places in the country. Here in the Southeast, obviously,
he's about as close to a god amongst football man
(39:25):
as you could find here because he's making sure to
be proactive on these things. So they will prioritize making
sure that they have the teams, the programs who are
the most invested in the long term viability of whatever
the television construct, whatever the Super Conference plan is, and
the rest of them will be given a choice basically,
(39:46):
spend more money or get left behind. And that's as
cold cut as you can get with it. But that's
I mean you brought up Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt football is starting
to get into a place, or at least last year
gave us a glimpse of what it might look like
if they act actually invest in the program. And they
also had a super polarizing figure come in that was
actually good at college football in Diego Pavia, who's not
(40:10):
scared to start fires, and coaching Clark Lee, who's a
nice balance.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
Of who he is.
Speaker 3 (40:15):
But Vanderbilt has been kind of on the fringe of
this conversation of how long you're going to grift off
the SEC's revenue sharing model, how long are you going
to take this money without actually putting it back into
your football program. Vandy has at least started to move
in that direction. Some other institutions that are thought of
in the same light as Vanderbilt, they'll be pushed to
the same task, and whether or not they meet the challenge,
we'll see
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