December 31, 2025 • 53 mins
On this edition of the Best of the show: Dan Beyer and Aaron Torres discuss the end to a rough season for the USC Trojans as they lose their bowl game against TCU a week after announcing the yearly Notre Dame rivalry will discontinue.
On this edition of The Midway, Dan, Aaron and the crew give out New Year's resolutions for sports figures.
Dan and Aaron welcome former NFL lineman and FSR host Geoff Schwartz onto the show to discuss all of the headlines around college football as the bowl season wraps up and the playoff quarterfinals begin.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Fox Sports Radio had the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
He Happy New Year's Eve. You made it through twenty
twenty five. Congratulations. How much longer does Lincoln Riley have
That's a whole other question. Aaron Torres disaster at the
Alamobile and it just gets bad to worse for the
Trojans head coach.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Interesting month for him, to say the least, with the
Notre Dame stuff, which you know you and I were
filling in in this time slot last week, well right
around this time, and yeah, the Notre Dame stuff certainly
rubbed a lot of people in that community the wrong way.
And fast forward and now it's not much better. After
the the Alamo bo loss on Tuesday night.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
We're gonna get a chance to hear how things ended
last night for the USC Trojans in dramatic fashion in
San Antonio. And it's only fitting because it is New
Year's Eve. We got the Reliant Relyia Quest Bowl going on,
once known as the Outback Bowl. We've got the the
(01:09):
Cheese Its Bowl going on with Texas and Michigan about
to play.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
I believe it's the cheese at Citrus Bowl, which feels
a little counterintuitive to me, but hey, I who am
I to talk about food groups?
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Citrus Bowl is always a staple in Orlando, and then
it's not the granddaddy of them all, but it's one
of my personal favorites. We've got Sun Ball action, Arizona
State Duke from El Paso. It's what we've got on
this New Year's Eve. I love it. I told Aaron
(01:43):
before the show why I love the Sun Bowl so much.
It's a stadium that we don't get the Sea a
lot because we don't get to see UTEP, right, we
don't see UTEP football that often the Relia Quest Bowls
where the Buccaneers play in Tampa, So when the Buccaneers
are playing, we're seeing that every other week in the
National Football League. This stadium sells out. It's on CBS,
(02:05):
it's not on ESPN's variety of options of bowl game
channels to watch, and it's the top crew because it's
the only CBS Bowl game they have. So sign me
up for some Arizona State Duke on New Year's Eve
in the Sun Bowl because the Sun Bowl is where
it's at on December thirty.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
First, I will tell you really quick.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
I know that there is a lot of dirt being
thrown on Bowl Season's grave, and I get it. And
I know we're gonna talk about the Alamo Bowl in
a second. But the Sumbowl, I agree. I think it's
a really cool setting that we don't get see very often.
I'll also say this despite the result, because you're a
man that spends some time in San Antonio.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
Santoni is a really fun like I was watching.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
I was looking at yesterday the river walk and this
and that, no disrespect. I don't know if I would
want to live in San Antonio, but to go travel
there once every couple of years, it's always a fun trip.
So I was watching that Alamo Bowl with nostalgia because
of course, so I was there for the Final four
back in April of this year.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
So you should go there when there is in a
final four. Yeah, I bet.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
I bet you should go there in June during an
NBA finals for nine days. Yeah, for a while. I've
been there. I've been there. It's different than the Final four,
trust me, it's different. San Antonio, El Paso, Milan. Speaking
of Milan, the roads of Milan runs through Saint Louis
see Iliam Allen and Alyssa lu and Ambergen Glenn compete
at the twenty twenty six prevage in US Figure Skating
(03:28):
Championships January seventh through the eleventh b there as the
twenty twenty sixth US Olympic Figure Skating team is named
live tickets at US figure Skating dot org. So if
you missed it last night, maybe you were in bed
getting ready for tonight's New Year's Eve festivities, hoping to
get that rest so you can stay up late. This
is how the Alamo Bowl ended last night. In overtime
(03:48):
between USC and TCU.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
Sailes dumps.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
It left pain clicks one tackle at two at times forward.
Speaker 5 (03:58):
Silist texid to the to the five.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
Is it yet, pads, Let's.
Speaker 5 (04:03):
See Sis touchdown. Ken seals the deal here tonight and
the horn Frogs have filed the MAgric against USC one
four time.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Okay, now, it was a game that probably shouldn't have
come down to that play, but it did. TCU ends
up descending a kicking overtime. At the end of regulation
forces overtime, USC kicks a field goal. TCU facing a
third and long and on a screen pass. That's how
it ends up breaking down. Now, what the thing I
love about it is it's very representative of what we
(04:42):
are now thinking about USC and what we are thinking
of Lincoln Riley. Here's a school that has a lead
in a game in overtime and the opponent is in
a really, really tough spot. You miss a few tackles,
you don't do your assignment, and the next thing, you know,
a third and long as a touchdown reception in TCU
(05:03):
ends up winning the ballgame. And it seems like it
was a perfect metaphor Aaron Torres for how things have
gone for Lincoln Riley. I can't remember someone's name who
was so hot that was the can't miss coach that
had everything there for them. Have a reputation now that
(05:23):
has been spoiled so much without a big grand scandal,
sure without like some crazy thing happening behind the scenes
that we didn't know that came to light. This like
Lincoln Riley was not only thought to be possibly the
next king of college football, but whenever he wanted, he
(05:43):
would go on to the National Football League, bring his
offense there and end up winning a Super Bowl or
having success at the pro football level. I think that
was the path that we all thought was there for
Lincoln Riley. Now that path does not seem like that,
and I think we look at Lincoln Riley in a
completely different light than we did when he took over
(06:06):
at Oklahoma for Bob Stoops. It's just been a crazy
one to eighty in how I think Lincoln Riley is
perceived by so many.
Speaker 4 (06:13):
Yeah, it's really interesting.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
I remember being on air doing my College foot you know,
it's not a college football show, but my Saturday show
with Jason Martin during the year after Caleb Williams won
the Heisman Trophy. If you remember, they went seven to
five I think in the regular season, and that was
the big Well, Caleb Williams is going to be gone
next year? Does he try to leave for the NFL?
And I said, why would the NFL want him? Because
(06:36):
you know, and this is all in the moment, but
the offense completely fell apart in that second year. Couldn't
run the football, play calling wasn't good, defense was obviously atrocious,
and it was actually Caleb Williams who was largely carrying
them at various points in the season. And it just
it does feel like you know, and I think part
of it too, Dan, because there was a comment that
(06:56):
Lincoln Riley made after the game where he said, I
really believe a window here has opened. It's taken a
lot of effort by a lot of people, but I
believe the window is open. Now people are saying, dude,
you're going into year five, and so I bring it
up because it's everything that he did at Oklahoma. I
would also add him going eleven and one in year
one at USC, losing in the Pac twelve Championship game,
(07:19):
then losing a bowl game. I think going eleven and
one probably didn't help his cause either, because it just
further elevated this is the guy. He's unbelievable, He's this,
he's that, and it not only has not been that,
but like you said, it's just this weird thing of
it just feels like since about the middle of that
first year at USC, it's been one negative headline after another.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
I would even say that for the way that he
left Oklahoma. Oh yeah, then now all of a sudden,
all of Norman, all of the state of Oklahoma that's
not still water. It couldn't stand Lincoln Riley for that move.
And so the the golden golden boy, if you will,
(08:03):
the young offensive mind. The way that he left Oklahoma
was the first mark in that you talk about the
success that they had at USC up until their final
two games of that season, ending up in a great spot.
But then, okay, it takes a little bit of a turn.
Like we thought, honestly when Oklahoma, when he was leading Oklahoma,
(08:26):
that you would just go to Oklahoma as a quarterback
and you would win the Heisman Trophy. That's because it's
Baker Mayfield, it's Kyler Murray. That his offense was going
to allow you to do that. And the question was
again how long was he going to stay there? When
was he going to go to the NFL? And now
and to hear the comments of him in this war
of words, this is what really stood out to me
(08:48):
because it was brought up at the Alamobile again earlier
this week and he made comments about it and took
a shot at Notre Dame. And this story just for
whatever reason, is not dying. Yeah, and I don't know why,
but the telling factor to me, Aaron on why I
think the Lincoln Riley situation has just gone a complete
oneint eighty and for a person that who has thought
(09:10):
so highly and nothing major has happened to I just
can't believe that everybody has soured on him. Is that
it seems that everybody's signing with Notre Dame. And and
that may be a general sort of comment, but Notre
Dame is the easy school to hate right independent, they're
by themselves, and I feel that more of the ground
(09:31):
swallow support in this argument has not been for USC,
but it's been actually for Notre Dame, as both of
these sides have been exchanging their words. So that's the
That's the part to me where I'm saying, while people
are actually looking at Notre Dame and saying, yeah, Notre
Dame's in the writing, whoever wants to take the side
of Notre Dame right like, that's where we are. And
(09:51):
I think part of that is because of what has
become with Lincoln Riley's reputation.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
Well, and I know it doesn't pertain to him being
the how to NFL candidate, which is I know the
theme of the conversation at one point he was. But
what I will say is it does feel like remember
when remember when the move happened, and Oklahoma fans are
just bashing him. Oh he's you know, he's soft. He's
and you know he's afraid of going to the SEC
(10:19):
because we knew that Oklahoma was going to the SEC
at that point. Everything they said has kind of become true, right,
is that his team's play soft. That team Oklahoma got
softer the longer that he was the head coach. He
as a person, I don't know him personally, but him
as a character in the college sport or the football
(10:40):
landscape is kind of soft. But I think it's a metaphor.
You know, it's easy to forget this. Now, when he
left for USC, we did not know that USC was
going to the Big Ten. And the reason he went
to USC was because he thought it was going to
be an easier pathway to the college football playoff. And
so I only bring that up because he he goes
(11:00):
to the USC because he thinks it's an easier pathway
than they go to the Big Ten. Now he wants
to cancel Notre Dame. And to your point, I think
this is the crazy part. It's not only that Notre
Dame fans are on Notre Dame side. It's not only
that the general public that just wants to see the
game keep going. You and I had this discussion last
week we played the Petros Papadekas sound on The Dan
(11:22):
Patrick Show when Brady Quinn was filling in Petros a
USC as prominent a voice as there is in the media.
Keishawn Johnson, it's USC people that are not happy with
Lincoln Riley for the decision to cancel that game. And
I really felt like, and I forget if we talked
about it last week, but I really felt like that
(11:42):
was the line in the sand for Lincoln Riley at USC,
specifically of we've let you come in and change everything
the way that we do everything. But Keishawn Johnson said
it in that big rant that he did that went
crazy viral. Is you gotta start winning now or you're
not gonna be here. I don't care about this. That
the other thing you took away Notre Dame. You're afraid
(12:03):
to play quality competition. You better make the college football
playoffs soon or you're not gonna be here very long.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Lendell White's another I can see this. I Lendale Whites
on Twitter last night had the variety of tweets, most
of which I can't read, on the air on how
things ended up playing out, but even Mattleiner responded another USC,
So you have USC on USC crime with all.
Speaker 4 (12:30):
Of this, I will say this.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Sue Cravens, who played for USC and in the NFL
for a while, was going off last night too, in
a respectful way.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
Let me see here, he said, playoff or bust.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Done with the waiting, and then I saw one that
I wanted that I saw here.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
This is what he said. He said.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
This was from fourteen hours ago, so about you know,
you know whatever, ten pm Pacific, he said, Get more
players in the building, coaching and showing these guys what
it really means to be a trojan. Let practices be
open again and allow every single media camera on the
sideline create that Pete Carroll environment of competition. Pressure makes diamonds.
(13:05):
So basically every USC alum that's in the media is
calling themselft.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
I'll try to clean up this. Lendeale White tweet or
the tweets makes sense. A bleep team couldn't win a
Bleep Bowl. We lost a week bleep TCU, so that
means we're sorry as bleep.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
There's do you all ever practice tackling ever?
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Or is it always about offense that was a clean
one that I could read good. Yeah, so a lot
of a lot from Lendale White last night in frustration,
like a lot of the frustration that Aaron talks about
usc Alum's former players having about the Lincoln Riley era.
And the crazy thing is is I always thought that
Lincoln Riley was a and he maybe I don't know
him personally, but had this sort of I guess personality
(13:52):
early on, maybe at Oklahoma that I thought was something
that would warm up, and it just does not has happened,
hasn't happened at all. And then then he gets on
the defensive and that sounds even worse, like there are
some people who can maybe pass it off, but he
can't do it. The turnaround to me is just it's surprising,
Like I look at someone like Russell Wilson where nothing
(14:14):
bad has ever happened to him, and his play is
kind of gone down south, can't play at the level
that he once did of someone that we just looked
completely different at. But that's on field performance mostly driven
his personality and what he tries to portray I think
does lead into maybe some of the turn with it,
(14:37):
but nothing like what we've seen with where I thought
Lincoln Riley was at the top of the food chain
of coaches and now at the bottom, not well liked
in a tough spot at USC.
Speaker 4 (14:49):
Very very strange.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Okay, So I just thought of one in real time, okay,
and it didn't happen as quickly as Lincoln Riley.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
How about Northwestern's new offensive coordinator, Chip Kelly, Like.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
This, dude, Okay, whatever we think of Chip Kelly, let's
just go through for even post Oregon, he goes to
the Philadelphia Eagles back to back ten win seasons a
decade ago and by the way, a year ago national
championship with Ohio State. Now he's the offensive coordinator at Northwestern.
(15:23):
Like I just I was thinking a little bit about
that yesterday. Is like imagine telling someone the peak Oregon
years where they were scoring sixty without even trying that.
It was just like, oh, yeah, in ten years, this
guy will be the Northwestern head coach, like you would
It would have been inconceivable at that point. Again, I
know it's a longer period of time, but there aren't
(15:45):
to your point about Lincoln Rady, there aren't a lot
of good examples of we didn't even think he was
attainable at the college level to get him to leave Oklahoma.
But he'll be in the NFL at some point. It's
a matter of if not when. And now he's basically
saying year five is whin our window was opening at USC.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Year one in Philadelphia was amazing for chip Kelly. Then
it all went downhill and he ended up being Austin
in Philadelphia, was with the Niners for a year that
was just a completely forgettable year. And then to your point,
there was never a point where you got back up
to the to the high I thought that last year
with Ohio State there was a bit of a building
back up because the UCLA tenure was a pretty much
(16:22):
a failure. And then now with the Raiders job and
to your point now at Northwestern, Yeah, it's been an
interesting cycle.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
Chip Kelly is the Northwester like that just does not
sound like it should be the thing that it is.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
You know, no, not at all. I completely agree. Good nominee.
If you have any other nominees, let aeron know at
Aaron Underscore.
Speaker 4 (16:41):
Towards his life is completely falling apart professionally.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Tune on in at Dan Byron Foxes where you can
find me Sesame Street helped raise all of us. Now
it's our turn donate this holiday season at Sesame dot
org because the world needs Sesame and Sesame needs you.
We're gonna talk with Fox Sports Radios Jeff Schwartz, part
of Countdown to Kickoff presented by Bett MGM, that you
hear every Sunday morning here on Fox Sports Radio. He's
(17:06):
familiar with the USC program played at Oregon, but Southern
California native will get his thoughts on that, plus his
thoughts on the college football playoff quarterfinals that get going
tonight with the Cotton Bowl featuring Miami against Ohio State.
He is Aeron Torres. I'm Dan byer Isaac lowincroniz here,
as is Jason Stewart.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsportsradio dot
com and within the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Happy New Year's Eve twenty twenty six is just around
the corner, but for the final moments at twenty twenty five,
we appreciate you hanging out with us as we look
ahead to what sports teams need. We're gonna get to
controversial calls later on, just to let you know erin
Torres and I are in for Cavino and Rich today
here on Fox Sports Radio, so we're with you for
(17:53):
the next three hours. Getting his set for Ohio State
Miami tonight, the tripleheader of college football's quarterfinals coming up tomorrow,
and a week eighteen in the NFL that will wrap
up the regular season. Isaac glowin Cranz here, as is
Jason Stewart and Chris Purfett. The road to Milan runs
through Saint Louis, ce Elia Mallin and Alyssa lou and
Amber Glenn compete at the twenty twenty six priviagen US
(18:16):
Figure Skating Champion at chips It's January seventh through the
eleventh b there as the twenty twenty sixth US Olympic
Figure Skating team is named live tickets at Usfigure Skating
Dot Org. All eyes on the sun Bolt, which has
been a dandy so far. We got a good game
between Michigan and Texas and even Nebraska in Utah. Nebraska
(18:37):
looking for full time quarterback for next year, Dylan Riola
hurts now in the transfer Portal Utah. The Morgan Scaley
Era is now underway as Kyle Whittingham is watching his
new Michigan Wolverines against the Long Orangs instead of coaching
the Utes. That's what we get in Bowl games here
on New Year's eve erin Tarres.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
Two quick Bowl thoughts before we get to obviously our
New Year's resolutions. One, there's no way Nebraska loses today.
Did you see Matt Ruhle stalking the sidelines in a
backwards camo hat? Got My guy's wearing a backwards hat.
It's like, it feels like he broke up with Dylan Ryola,
(19:17):
and it says his first night back out on the town,
and he doesn't really know how to dress, but he's like,
you know, I'm gonna look cool for the kids. So
that was my first takeaway from this midday of Bowl
season two. It all ties back to Michigan, Kenny Dillingham
in Arizona State, Utah playing without Kyle Whittingham for the
first time in a million years, and of course Michigan
all playing at the same time.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
So I love this trio of games that we've got
in the Sun Bowl. My goodness, fifty two points, he's
heard Isaac say in the first half, Duke and Arizona
State Isaac came up with something earlier when he was
saying he almost said Arizona steak, and I'm thinking for
any steakhouse in Tempe. That's what I'm serving, Isaac. I
(19:56):
think you have just stumbled upon a culinary a colony,
a genius of a culinary dish.
Speaker 6 (20:03):
Hang on, I'm on the phone with my attorney. We're
setting up a conference call with the patent office to
uh to get that baby settled. But yeah, I mean
when you talk about steakhouse at the Sun Bowl, you've
got the cattle Barn in El Paso. I had several
meals there, But there you go.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
You got to be a restaurant, a mill have where
you can get an Arizona steak.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
And it's also great because it shows up first in
search search. So if you're just searching steak Arizona, that's
going to be the first the first search.
Speaker 6 (20:32):
Yeah, we got St. K Steakhouse in Scottsdale, the Pepper
Mill and the KEG Steakhouse and bar. So the race
is on steakhouses in Tempe.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Maybe in twenty twenty six, could be running one of
my resolutions, which leads us to.
Speaker 7 (20:48):
He's not getting the middle with you.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
It's time for Stuck in the Middle, the Midway.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Jason Stewart, founder, originally proprietor All Things Midway, the Midway.
Speaker 8 (21:04):
Last Midway of twenty twenty five, I will Midway for
us to give out New year resolution New Year's resolutions
to any sports figures and or teams. And I do
welcome snarkiness. That's what's welcomed in this particular midway. For example,
(21:26):
the New England Patriots a New Year's resolution to go
one day without having one of their player charged with
something very disturbing. How about just one day, let's start,
let's stardway the minimal dan Byer before we move on.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
Remember when that was a thing in college football where
it'd be like a team has like three or four
down years and then they'd have a couple guys get
arrested and to be like, oh, that team's back all
right now.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
Now you got a couple guys getting arrested, you're for
real again.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Anyway, it's been yesterday, and yesterday it was the double dip.
And I'm sorry I'm laughing because the incidents aren't not funny.
But like Stefan Diggs is in his deal when Trayvon
Diggs got released.
Speaker 4 (22:13):
Like that's tough. Back to back.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
You know what my resolution is for the former Pack
twelve schools that are now in the Big Ten or
the two that are in the ACC to start losing again.
I don't care as much about Utah and Colorado or
Arizona and Arizona State. I think they found a nice
(22:36):
spot in the Big twelve that doesn't throw things off.
But not only is USC messing up the Big Ten's
bull record with their loss last night, it has just
become a mess, Aaron, I want like I thought about
this in the Sun Bowl. I was thinking, I'm looking
at this and if you were to say to someone, yeah,
their basketball team's got a conference game against hal coming
(22:58):
up later on in a couple weeks, you would have.
Speaker 4 (23:00):
Said, oh, of course it's Arizona State.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
Ye.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
No, that would be Duke and I. I am so offended.
I'm not offended by the lack of success that say
it U c l A has in the in the
Big Ten, but it's just more of the cal Stanford
cherry on top.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
So weird.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
It's that that in the ACC that just completely ruins
it for me. So my resolution to cal to Stanford
to UCLA to Washington to USC. I wouldn't line if
Oregon stayed the Big Ten. But whatever to to to
make things so bad that you're like, maybe we have
to join this new pac twelve again. That is that
(23:39):
is a resolution than I have for those teams.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
Would they then kick out the Boise States and Fresno
States of the world?
Speaker 4 (23:44):
Not keep them? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Keep them, make it, yeah, you can make it a
bigger conference. You can find out that maybe it isn't
so bad because it's just it just it really really is.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
Not taken a hold, taken.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
A grasp, And I would hope that kind of like
your Yukon when they were in the American and then
all of a sudden, it's like back in the Big East. Look,
it's like you're back home again. That's the feeling I
think you would get if those schools ended up going
back to their conferences.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
I'll just say this really quick. Tuesday night was just
flipping channels. We had Louisville at cal and Notre Dame
at Stanford in acc play and Notre Dame at Stanford.
Speaker 4 (24:27):
This is basketball. It still felt like.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
Mid December, late December out of conference game from like
the nineties, you know, like the nineties, wou'd be like, oh,
Notre Dame's doing their West Coast swaying of UCLA and
Stanford and then to you know, Stanford's rank number eleven
in the country and Tiger Woods is sitting courtside.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
Still felt like still felt like that.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
By the way, Gary Danielson being honored at the road
at the Sun Bowl, I'm sad to see.
Speaker 4 (24:53):
Him go is a legend of the Sun Bowl.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
By the way, Quickside Tangent before I get to my
resolute during the Relyquest Bowl, I heard a reference to
living legend Diego Pavia.
Speaker 4 (25:07):
Feels like a little bit of a loose use of
living legend. Yeah.
Speaker 7 (25:12):
I know he was a Heisman finalist, but it feels
you gotta do something more than.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
Finished third of the Heisman Trophy to be a living legend,
do you not? Yeah? And I think you have to
be over sixty.
Speaker 9 (25:24):
Say for how long his career has gone in college football.
He's an elder statesman. Maybe that's the legend part.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
Yeah, joh, yeah, he is older than the standard college
I was just like, feels a little aggressive to go
living legend. Okay, so, speaking of aggressive, my New Year's
resolution is for all college football fans. And Chris Purfett
heard this rent on Christmas Day, but I'm gonna reuse
(25:50):
it for a New Year's resolution. I need every college
football fan to just take a deep freaking breath. Not
everything is an existential crisis. And this is more about
the college football playoff.
Speaker 7 (26:04):
Oh my god, it's the end of the world because
we got James Madison in Twulane and I couldn't bet
on it because the spread was twenty one points.
Speaker 4 (26:13):
And this is the worst.
Speaker 7 (26:15):
We have to change the playoff, go to sixteen, cancel this,
add that, put this. Why does college football have seven
existential crisis? Is a year that need to be addressed
in the moment or the whole sport.
Speaker 4 (26:31):
Is falling apart.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
Can we maybe try a twelve team playoff for like
three years before we decide that it's the worst thing ever.
Speaker 4 (26:37):
It's just unbelievable to me every year.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
The other part about it is the changes that are
made don't necessarily always address the correct issues or the
issues at hand.
Speaker 4 (26:52):
I mean, we can't.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
They're talking about expansion and how we're going to do it,
and now Notre Dame is getting an automatic bid if
they're in the top twelve, and I don't think like
they're band aids on real issues. Dan Lanning is going
off and saying, let's figure out this schedule thing. I
think that we focus Aaron, all of those little things,
(27:16):
those crisises, our band aids to bigger issues in college
football that we think are bigger issues. But maybe to
your point, they aren't as big as we think that
they are.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
No, I mean, and it's just I don't know.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
Tou Lane ended up with like fifty yards of total offense,
less than all Miss the game.
Speaker 4 (27:33):
They just couldn't converted the red zone.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
Sometimes you get bad games in the NBA playoffs, in
the NFL playoffs, we don't have to blow up everything
all the time when we don't get a result that
we like.
Speaker 4 (27:45):
Chris Purfetts your New Year's resolution or resolutions if you
want to, Iowa Salmon. Yeah, let's know.
Speaker 9 (27:51):
I say, I'll just do one, and it's for it's
for another league here, and it's for one that I
have a relationship with at this point, to the NBA.
At this point, I feel like the NBA right now
is in a place that can be good in that
I mean it's slowly waking up to this idea of parody.
Every every year or so, we've had to deal with, Oh,
(28:13):
is this team that just won the NBA Championship? Could
they be the next dynasty? Could the Oklahoma City Thunder
be the next dynasty? Could the Nuggets be the next dynasty?
Could the Bucks be the next dynasty? Settle down and
enjoy having a wide field of interesting teams right now,
Like I would ask that the NBA, You've got a
good thing going. You've got some new You've got some
(28:33):
new media partners that are treating it better than the
ones prior did. I think the Amazon broadcasts are fantastic
for how deep they get into it. You have a
wide field with the Pistons, the Knicks, the Celtics, and
it feels like, I know the Thunder are kind of
like cruising along, but this really does feel like a
year where you have a lot of interesting teams who
(28:56):
are never gonna talk about the raptors of Scottie Burn.
Speaker 4 (29:00):
Definitely not saying this as a Pistons fan.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Definitely not for the team at the top of the
Eastern Conference to the Lakers last night.
Speaker 4 (29:07):
With the ease, I will say this j Redgan's the shot.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
You didn't want to name networks, but I'm going to
name networks in a bad way. You named Amazon Prime.
I watched both games or not from beginning to end.
But last time on NBC you had Sixers Grizzlies overtime game,
Lakers Pistons was on afterwards. The presentation on NBC is better.
(29:30):
ESPN doesn't make it. It doesn't feel like it is
a big deal. It felt like a regular season game
that meant something last night when it really didn't, like
neither of them did, and it felt it is a
different presentation. There is a fresh feel to it. I'll
also say this, I'm not going to absolve TNT from
any of the from this as well.
Speaker 4 (29:52):
No, you're married now with ESPN overall time. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
So, I think that even the broadcast that we saw
on the Tuesdays and Thursday nights, maybe that it feels
like they rose to the occasion. But now with the
new way of the NBA, the broadcast on NBC at
a Christmas point on Amazon make the sport feel like
a bigger deal and a more enjoyable watch in the
regular I would.
Speaker 9 (30:14):
Just hope that we appreciate the basketball for being the
high level basketball and talk about this as the full
sport instead of hitting the same buttons over and over
going constantly back to the Lakers, who getting caught in
the meta narrative of who's going to be the next
dynasty and a disservice to the game itself at this point,
to enjoy the basketball that's in front of us in
this entire season, because sometimes the NBA gets caught up
(30:37):
in who's going to be the big trade, what's going
to happen to this coach?
Speaker 4 (30:42):
Yeah, I said this on Christmas.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
That was one of my Christmas wishes, my Christmas gifts,
I said, and all expenses pay trip to Cancun.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
For Adam Silver. Get out of the way.
Speaker 3 (30:53):
You have fun, young stars, let us enjoy them before
you screw this up by changing thing I say with
college football, changing this adding that like Wemby has a
universal one thousand percent approval rating, Kate Cunningham has a
one thousand percent approval rating.
Speaker 9 (31:11):
Whoever, the Knicks are still a feel good story, which
is amazing.
Speaker 4 (31:14):
It's the Knicks we're talking about. Don't screw this up.
Speaker 10 (31:16):
Adam Silver to the Isaac long Kron, this is kind
of the kind of along the lines of Aarons in
terms of the subject.
Speaker 6 (31:26):
But my new Year's resolution is for someone to come
forth and establish themselves as a leader who can help
save the insanity that has become college athletics, both from
a college football standpoint, college basketball, the college football playoff controversy, nil,
(31:52):
the transfer portal. They need some sort of college sports czar.
You really set college sports on a better track. And
I'll make my point by saying this. I'm gonna play
you guys a voice right now, and I'm gonna ask
you to identify the voice. Aaron might be able to
identify this person, but I doubt that hardly anyone in
(32:13):
our listening audience would be able to yet, go.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Ahead a question, Yeah, should we turn our chairs around
when we know it? Like should we hit the buzzer
when we know the voice? And then they're on our team?
Speaker 10 (32:23):
That's you ever.
Speaker 4 (32:24):
See the voice, Aaron, It's been a minute like this.
Speaker 10 (32:29):
Not a visual medium.
Speaker 6 (32:30):
That's the point. I just don't think anyone will recognize
the voice.
Speaker 10 (32:33):
But here it is. See for yourself.
Speaker 6 (32:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
Well, first of all, it puts into the notion student athlete,
the student in very very stark relief the actions taken today.
Speaker 10 (32:43):
Can anybody recognize that voice.
Speaker 4 (32:45):
Sounds like Mark Emmert unbelievable?
Speaker 10 (32:48):
Good for you, But that was my point.
Speaker 6 (32:50):
I don't think hardly anybody in our listening audience realized
that that was the president of the NCUBA during an
unbelievably transformative time. I'm from twenty ten to twenty twenty
three laying the groundwork for the insanity that we have now.
So clearly whatever happened during his reign led to the
(33:13):
insanity that we have now. I had to Google to
find out who the current NCBA president is, a guy
named Charlie Baker. The nc DOUBLEA or college sports in general,
I feel just needs a transformative leader to just bring
some common sense back to what I said is a
wild wild west of controversy. Not that I don't like
(33:34):
controversy being on the sports media, but that's what we
need in college sports.
Speaker 3 (33:38):
Can I just say, really quick, the sad part is
it will never happen so like cal Perry exactly. Well,
cal Perry had his huge rant this week, and somebody's
like he needs to be the college basketball commissioner. I said,
by default, the commissioner's job is to get everybody to
work together. It's never in the SEC's best interest to
work with the Big twelve. It's never in the Big
(33:59):
twelve's best interest to work with this place, Big Tech.
Speaker 4 (34:01):
Except so that's the issue that I keep here.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
Nick Saban should be the commissioner of college football. Why
so he can get in a room and Greg ZANKI,
you'll be like, screw the Big ten. It's like the
job will never And this, by the way, super random,
but it's what this Cody Campbell guy, the Big Texas
Tech booster, is basically saying, like, we all basically have
to work together to save college sports. We can't keep
working in our own silos and echo chambers here.
Speaker 4 (34:25):
I just don't know if it will at it.
Speaker 6 (34:26):
By the way, under the radar, enormous props to Fox
Sports Radio's Dan Byer for being able to identify the
voice of Mark Emmert. I mean, the CIA couldn't even
have done that, So kudos to Dan.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
I'm like the Reba of the voice version here on
Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 4 (34:46):
Jason Stewart's got another resolution.
Speaker 8 (34:48):
Yeah, I got a bonus one for you guys. This
is deeply personal and it also impacts Isaac Lohenkron as well.
I'm gonna ask Chris Purfet to kill the bed. That's
an industry jargon term. I don't expect the listener to
understand this. I'm taking the bet out back and shooting it.
New Year's New Year's resolution for the Los Angeles Chargers.
(35:08):
Fire the guy in charge of keeping your players healthy.
And it actually is one person. This guy went viral
when Harbrough brought him aboard.
Speaker 10 (35:19):
His name is Ben Herbert.
Speaker 8 (35:21):
No relation, no relation to Justin. Ben Herbert. Somebody on
TikTok put this together. So you're gonna, I think you're
gonna hear yackety sacks at some point because it has
become a clown show. And as you hear the yackety sacks,
you're gonna see on the TikTok a list of the
number of injuries that the Chargers of experience this year.
I want to say it's an NFL record. If it isn't,
(35:42):
I'm going to exaggerate on national radio and say it
was most injuries ever suffered by a team. And Ben
Herbert is in charge of keeping this team strong and conditioned.
And this was how he opened his opening press conference
in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 11 (35:59):
I have you training it this way, and this is
how I told it to the guys. My first goal
is to make you harder to break.
Speaker 4 (36:06):
Right.
Speaker 11 (36:06):
The most vulnerabil areas of the body, in my opinion,
in the game of football, the head, right and left shoulder,
right and left hip girdle, right and left hamstring, right
and left ankle. So through your training, you have to
be proactive at training those areas of the body. So
the network that I introduced today, the trap work, the
four part cuff sequence to address the four rotator cuff
muscles in their shoulder girdle, introduced them to some hip work,
(36:28):
introduced them to some ankle work. Right, These are things
that are paramount. If you want to make a football
player harder to break, your training has to be sound.
Speaker 4 (36:35):
In my opinion, it's.
Speaker 8 (36:36):
All okay, I got enough of that. Needless to say,
chargers are easy to break. They're not hard to break, Isaac.
Speaker 6 (36:45):
Honey, it ain't Ben Herbert's fault, you know, and I
know that the Charger litany of injuries long long predated
Ben Herbert, and as much and as good as Ben
Herbert's track record was at Michigan. You can't pint it
solely on him. It's complex, it goes a long way back,
(37:10):
and it affects everyone associated with the Chargers, not even
those under Ben Herbert's permit. Peg now, I got it now.
Speaker 8 (37:20):
Also like somebody on the Chargers payroll. By the way,
that sounds like a take from somebody.
Speaker 10 (37:25):
No, I'm not.
Speaker 4 (37:25):
But my new Year's resolution, I'm going to stick to it,
you know.
Speaker 10 (37:29):
And I know it happened long before he got the town.
Speaker 3 (37:31):
Can I say, also, didn't the guy before Ben Herbert
stabbed Tyrod Taylor accidentally?
Speaker 4 (37:37):
In Isaac's defense, could that was.
Speaker 10 (37:38):
A team doctor? It wasn't a strengthened conditioning coach.
Speaker 4 (37:41):
Core a player got stabbed in the lung.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
Yeah, I think Isaac's pig. I know it's Jay Stew's resolution,
but I I'm on team Isaac on this one.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
I think we should have a resolution for Sharon Moore
to get a head coaching job in twenty twenty six,
just so we can have him at a press conference
to answer all the questions.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
That no midway.
Speaker 4 (38:02):
I think that would be great.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
Can some program just take one for the team, right,
just so he can get a a pre season media
day press conference, and so we can ask all of
the questions that we're wondering about what went on.
Speaker 4 (38:15):
You know, what's crazy about your own more.
Speaker 3 (38:16):
In all seriousness, I believe as part of his release
from jail, I don't think he can leave the state
because my thought was my thought was, does Harbaugh just
give him like assistant director of player ops or something
just to kind of get his career started again. And
(38:37):
I was like, I actually don't think he can leave
the state, you know, unless it's like pre approved by a.
Speaker 4 (38:42):
Jug which Grace. Sure. That's so you're saying Western Michigan
or Central Michigan is waying. It's a lot that I
would that I would like the chips.
Speaker 3 (38:50):
Yeah, I was gonna say Central Michigan already has ties
to the Michigan program.
Speaker 4 (38:53):
I mean, Connor Stallions was saying out on the sidelines.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
So just just at your throw some sunglasses and you
can do that.
Speaker 8 (38:59):
Can I piggyback on your idea, Dan, So if a
program doesn't hire him, the nearest resolution for the creator
of the Connor Stallions documentary, just do the Sharon More documentary.
Get the girlfriend in here. I need all the details.
I need all the only fans models.
Speaker 4 (39:16):
Oh, that would be so good when it comes out.
Speaker 2 (39:18):
But the counter Stallions documentary made him seem like a hero,
and so that, you know, it was like he was
put up on this pedestal like he was this amazing,
like this just this huge, great fan and everybody wanted
to side with Michigan because they love Jim Harbaughs.
Speaker 4 (39:34):
He was playing chess. Everyone else is playing checkers. That's
what it was. That's what it was.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
Those problems run deep, as we are now starting to
see everything wipe away.
Speaker 4 (39:45):
Clear the windows any more resolutions. Uh, we're good.
Speaker 3 (39:50):
Yeah, he's not.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
Getting Fox Sports Radio had the best sports talk line
up in the nation. Catch all of our shows at
foxsports Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
A very happy New Year's Eve twenty twenty six. Just
around the corner, He's Aaron Torres, I'm Dan Beyer. Jeff
Schwartz is around our corner. But first, Aaron, have you
heard about trainer games? Add this to your binge list.
Ten athletes go head to head for a chance to
win an i fit trainer contract with two hundred and
fifty thousand dollars, streaming on Prime video. Starting January eighth,
(40:29):
He is the co host of Fox Sports Radio's Countdown
to Kickoff, presented by Bett MGM alongside Bill Krackenberger on
Brian Know every Sunday morning. Make sure you tune in
Sunday at ten o'clock Eastern time. Is they take you
all the Way to Kickoff on Fox Sports Radio on
the iHeartRadio app presented all by Bett mgm. Former NFL
i'man Jeff Schwartz joins the program. Happy New Year, Jeff,
(40:49):
how are you?
Speaker 12 (40:50):
I am making sweeping judgments about every conference and team
based off of exhibition bowl games.
Speaker 4 (40:56):
That's what I'm doing. All right, Great, We're gonna make sweeping.
Speaker 12 (40:58):
Judgments on anything, and we're gonna we're gonna do the
the the was it transverse of property? When you do
like the the sixth seed in the Big Ten beat
the three seed in the Big twelve, and that seed
beat beat Oregon, and this seed beat that and therefore
my team's winning.
Speaker 4 (41:14):
What about Notre Dame. They didn't play anything.
Speaker 12 (41:16):
They're not playing they're not playing correct.
Speaker 2 (41:19):
It's a it's a great it's a great day then
to be in the Big ten, except if you're USC
and Lincoln Riley. That's where Aaron and I started the show,
and just to if you if you didn't catch it, Jeff,
it's basically I can't remember and neither early can Aaron.
Such a turnaround of of I guess how we view
someone that we've seen a one eighty from Lincoln Riley,
(41:40):
who was once the hottest name maybe in all of
coaching with college football and maybe eyes on the NFL,
to now being I don't know, just such it feels
like such a negative factor in college football. You won't
shut up about the Notre Dame rivalry. What are your
thoughts on Lincoln Riley and how things have gone during
his time not only with USC, but just through a
(42:02):
wildest coaching career.
Speaker 12 (42:04):
Look, man, you just have to feel, really, I don't
know what the word is, impressed, right than a an underdog,
like a little chippy underdog who just is, like, you know,
just battling every week, and there after four years of
a rebuild, they've arrived on the scene. You know, windows
You just you just have to like love college football
(42:27):
because this doesn't happen in any other sport where an
underdog like USC can can pick themselves up by their
bootstraps and work as hard as possible and get themselves
in a situation where maybe they cover a road game
next season. So let's hope that US can do that.
It won't be playing Notre Dame obviously at home next year.
I think I think everyone's just tired of it, Like
(42:47):
you're freaking USC man, come on, come on your USC now.
I I played in the era where you know, Pete
care was dominant USC. And as much as the talk
is about Reggie Bush, who's the best culture and Matt
lionerd and and Lendell White and uh and the wide
receivers they had, they won in their trenches.
Speaker 4 (43:08):
Right.
Speaker 12 (43:08):
All five offensive linemen got drafted nearly every year when
I played them, Their backup defensive lineman got drafted, right,
Like they had a backup linebacker, their fourth linebacker who
didn't start for them and was a fourth round draft pick.
Like that's what USC was. USC's not that anymore. They
get pushed around, and that's the problem. They get pushed around.
When they stopped getting pushed around, they'll start winning more football.
(43:31):
We know that he can coach quarterbacks, We know he
can coach wide receivers. We know all those things. The
problem is they get pushed around. They get that's the problem.
They get pushed around. And when they stop getting pushed around,
then they'll start winning bigger football games.
Speaker 3 (43:45):
So let me ask you this, Jeff, on that topic.
So I'll be honest. So I think two things can
be true. I think most people kind of understand the
basics of why USC decided to either opt out or
they could whatever the verbiage is with the Notre Dame thing.
Speaker 4 (44:00):
I've actually been.
Speaker 3 (44:01):
Surprised how vocal USC people are, Like Keishawn Johnson, Petros
Papadek is basically saying.
Speaker 4 (44:06):
We don't care what era it is.
Speaker 3 (44:08):
We don't care how many trips you have to make
across country to play as part of the Big Ten.
This is a rivalry that we want and we care about.
Have you been surprised how actually vocal the USC contingent
has been on the decision to end that rivalry.
Speaker 12 (44:24):
I don't think so, because you know, those guys grew
up with that rivalry and it meant some into them,
and and they grew up in an era where you know,
that game felt like I would imagine like the fact
that like national championship, right, like like we beat Notre Dame,
were as good as we think we are, and I
think that those guys are going to miss out on that.
Speaker 4 (44:47):
And it was good.
Speaker 12 (44:48):
It was always a good way to test yourself to
play Notre Dame. Look, let's be real, if USC was
being Notre Dame, they keep the rivalry going kind of
that simple, right, But but they're not not be Notre Dame.
And that's why the Rivoalay's gone. And you can make
all the excuses you want. You want to play wig zero,
which just makes no sense to anyone. No one wants
to play the game wing zero. You know, they want
(45:09):
to play the game early in the season because USC
is topically better early in the season. Like that's when
they played they beat Els. You were in the season,
Like they're better early in the season.
Speaker 4 (45:16):
I don't know why.
Speaker 12 (45:17):
I just can continue the way it is. You go
when you play there, you play there in October, you
play in Southern California, you play November. I just continue on. Yeah,
scheduling is hard man, Like that's one thing that that
Pete Carolsey back to that era that USC fans talk
about NonStop. They scheduled hard man. They went back east
all the time they played in Arkansas when Arkansas was good,
they played Virginia Tech in DC. I believe like they
(45:39):
always scheduled tough. They never shot away from anything. It
just feels like those players that played, and some of
those guys were earlier than that, USC never shot away
from those things. I feel like they feel like, you know,
being a big dog program as they are, you shouldn't
shy away from those type of games. And it very
much feels like they're shying away from those games now.
Speaker 4 (45:58):
They had a home and home with the Ohio State
when they now they're conference foes. But eight No.
Speaker 2 (46:03):
Nine, yeah, like it was, that's when they actually played schools.
He's aeron Torres. I'm Dan Byer. Jeff Schwortz joining us
here on Fox Sports Radio. I know we were laughing
at the bull records, but the SEC just lost again
with Vanderbilt. Could this be a sign to come when
it comes to the college football playoffs starting this over
these next couple of days, Jeff Well.
Speaker 4 (46:22):
I hope, so, yeah, right, everyone, Yeah, I hope.
Speaker 8 (46:26):
So.
Speaker 12 (46:28):
Look, I mean, look the bowl game thing, man like,
Iowa is the worst team to play in the bowl game.
Our army Navy. Like these teams, they have no opt outs.
All they do is run the football, right, That's just
what they do, and they live for these moments, right,
Like I like, I was never gonna think down about
playing the Relia Quest Bowl, right, And I'm not saying
that Vanderbilt, you know, think down about the game. But
(46:49):
you know, Diego Povey is coming back from Ohio. Wek
of Heisman ceremonies, and Vanderbelt wanted to be a playoff
team and all these things, and now you have to play. Now,
go play like the super fiscal IOWA team. Like, it's
just a it's a tough spot. We don't I think
we we we talk about a situation a lot in bowlgames,
we actually don't take it that seriously. Like I think
people sort of dismiss it. Oh lol, that team doesn't
(47:11):
really want to be there. But I've been on a
team that didn't want to be the but we lost
thirty eight to six in a bowl game.
Speaker 4 (47:15):
We did not want to be there.
Speaker 12 (47:16):
I know that feeling, And that's natural if you don't
if you're not in the bowl game you think you
should be in, or you lose a conference championship game
or you know, you're supposed to be a playoff team
and you're not. So I just don't know how we
judge it, right, because then these rosters leave and they
move on. And so look, the Big Ten is good.
They're good, They've been good all season. If you play
(47:36):
Iowa Van Dy in Week seven, you probably get a
different result, right, Like, it's a different type of game.
So it's great for the Big Ten. I think it
does continue tomorrow. I think sorry with tonight, I think
I think Ohio wins a close game. I think it's close,
and I think with the Miami a little bit of
credit there. They're not as bad as people want them
to be. I think I think Oregan winz tomorrow. And
I do think that Indiana I think they handle business
(47:57):
pretty well. Out to Alabama. It's a bad matchup for Obama.
Speaker 3 (48:00):
You know, you just brought up a point that I
brought up to Dan earlier today. Is you know, I
know we've said it's playoff or bust, and you know
in this era, I think it really struck me today,
and I'm curious for your perspective. If you are an
Ohio state those types of programs, can you actually have
a successful season if you don't make the playoff in
(48:21):
this era, and I'll give you an example. Right, So,
like Texas is playing right now, I don't think they
would say their season is a failure. I don't think
they would say their season is a success either. Is
there a world where, again, if you're in Ohio State,
if you're a Michigan under normal circumstances, that you can
even have it Notre Dame opting out of the Pop
Darts Bowl. Is there is there a world for programs
(48:41):
like that in this era where you can deem it
a successful season if you are not one of those,
at least for now twelve teams in the playoff, I
think that's.
Speaker 12 (48:50):
Only true for about seven or eight teams, right, So
you're looking at the Georgias, the Alabama's, the Texas, right
the Oregon, Ohio. I think Penn State is in that
at least they were, which James Franklin like, they were
obviously a favorite to being the postseasons here in Miami,
maybe Clemson, you know, Texas Tech, the way they're spending
and want to win, maybe they're in that group now.
(49:11):
But otherwise that's about it. Right, Like otherwise, you in
a given year. If you make the playoff, that's really great,
but you really shouldn't shouldn't strive for that to be
the only way you measure success. I do think though,
that the teams I mentioned Indiana, by the way, it
might be in that in the in that group. Now,
I think we have to look at the regular season
a little bit differently for those teams, and I view
(49:33):
it now more of an NFL type mindset, where the
regular season is all about prepping for the playoffs. Like
if you are a certain number of NFL teams, yes,
you want to win every game, but you want to
make sure you're playing your best football in December to
get ready to play in the playoffs. Right, you'd like
to knock go on the playoffs losing you know, seven
games in a row, four or five games in a row.
Seven obviously a lot, but you know three games with
(49:54):
the Rams right now, probably don't want to go into it.
They're gonna they're gonna rest everyone this weekend.
Speaker 4 (49:58):
Most likely.
Speaker 12 (49:58):
You don't want to go in the postseason losing your
last two games, just starters played, right, Like, that's not
a good feeling to head in the postseason. And I
think college football teams now the ones I mentioned, their
goal is just getting the finish line healthy and get
ready to play your playoffs. Like, for example, my Ducks,
I'll talk about them. I think when they lost January
first last year, their entire purpose this year was to
(50:21):
get back to tomorrow and play in a different type
of game than they played last January first. So all
they did all season was to prepare for this this weekend,
hopefully more so, you know, they win a game by
three or by six, or or you know they pull
the starters in the third quarter against JMU, it's all,
it's it's it's all to get to this point to
play tomorrow's game. Same with I think Ohio State feels
(50:42):
the same way. Indiana to some extent I imagine, feels
the same way. Georgia feels the same way, And so
I think it's we have to maybe view those teams
sort of in the NFL esque lens, where the first six, seven,
eight weeks like just win like win, and then just
sort of peak right now. I think Georgia Green example,
like their defense was not very good early to their standards,
(51:03):
it's really good now. Right right now is when you
want to be playing your best football. I think Oregon
last year learned that the hard way. They probably weren't
beating Ohio State with their best game anyways, but they
just weren't as ready to play on January first, and
they peaked way too early in the season.
Speaker 2 (51:16):
Last one for me, Jeff Schwartz joining US, I was
to think that Oregon got the raw end of the deal.
Speaker 4 (51:21):
They have Ohio State in their bracket and we.
Speaker 12 (51:23):
Would have to beat him anyways. At some point you
would have to beat him. I get it, you would
beat him anyways. I think it would have been different
if you played him secondly, but I don't think we
beat I think they were too good last year. They
were They were a fantastic team.
Speaker 2 (51:33):
Maybe or maybe Ohio State loses on the other side
of the bracket and you never have to you never
have to face that, you know. And the reason I
actually brought it up is because I'm curious about ole Miss,
because now, if this is a rematch game, ole Miss
hung with Georgia for the most part in their game
in Athens earlier this season, but if it falls apart,
(51:55):
I think we're all gonna say it's because of Lane Kiffin,
and I'm wondering how much is it to allow be
smart in Georgia a second chance at Old Miss? How
do you see that game playing out tomorrow night?
Speaker 12 (52:04):
So I do wish the committee tried to avoid rematches,
because you know the end up a committee does that,
like they they purposely try to schedule teams so they
don't have rematches early in the You can't you can't
stop it in what happens to you in the final four, right,
but you can avoid rematches in the round of sixty four,
in the round of thirty two. It does feel like
(52:26):
you could have set up a situation where Old Miss
and Georgia don't play again. But it is, it is
what it is. I think Georgia is gonna smoke them,
and I don't think I was going to do with
Lane Kiffin. I think they're just better than Old Miss.
And you know, this earlier game, Old Miss scored thirty
five points, I think it was in the first three
cores and Georgia just shut them down in the second half.
And they did that to a lot of teams this season.
They did Tennessee, they did to Old Miss, They did
it to Bama in the first Bama game. I think
(52:48):
Georgia is just much better. And again to my point
about preparing for this time of year, Old Miss is
happy to be here, right, Georgia wants to win a championship.
I mean, those are the kind of different mindsets, right,
And that matter is in my opinion when it comes
to how the game's gonna go tomorrow. And look, is
it ideal that half a Lay's staff is in the
(53:09):
Old Miss building right now? Probably not. That's something Old
Miss has to deal with. But I think they lose tomorrow,
and nothing to do with with Lane. I think they
lose with Lane. I think lose lose without Lane. So
I'm curious obviously to see how that goes. But I
think Georgia and Indiana are my favorite. Just like put
them together in a parlay, it pays minus one twenty
and just those teams are gonna.
Speaker 2 (53:28):
Win there it is and start twenty twenty six off
on a winning note if you listen to Jeff Schwartz.
Of course, you can listen to them every Sunday morning
alongside Brian Noan Bill Krackenberger on Countdown to Kickoff, presented
by Bett MGM, each Sunday morning at ten o'clock Eastern Time,
seven Pacific, as they take you all the way to kickoff. Jeff,
we appreciate the time. Happy New Year, Talk to you
in twenty twenty six. Take care, guys, how good New Year.
Fox Sports Radio had the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
He Happy New Year's Eve. You made it through twenty
twenty five. Congratulations. How much longer does Lincoln Riley have
That's a whole other question. Aaron Torres disaster at the
Alamobile and it just gets bad to worse for the
Trojans head coach.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Interesting month for him, to say the least, with the
Notre Dame stuff, which you know you and I were
filling in in this time slot last week, well right
around this time, and yeah, the Notre Dame stuff certainly
rubbed a lot of people in that community the wrong way.
And fast forward and now it's not much better. After
the the Alamo bo loss on Tuesday night.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
We're gonna get a chance to hear how things ended
last night for the USC Trojans in dramatic fashion in
San Antonio. And it's only fitting because it is New
Year's Eve. We got the Reliant Relyia Quest Bowl going on,
once known as the Outback Bowl. We've got the the
(01:09):
Cheese Its Bowl going on with Texas and Michigan about
to play.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
I believe it's the cheese at Citrus Bowl, which feels
a little counterintuitive to me, but hey, I who am
I to talk about food groups?
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Citrus Bowl is always a staple in Orlando, and then
it's not the granddaddy of them all, but it's one
of my personal favorites. We've got Sun Ball action, Arizona
State Duke from El Paso. It's what we've got on
this New Year's Eve. I love it. I told Aaron
(01:43):
before the show why I love the Sun Bowl so much.
It's a stadium that we don't get the Sea a
lot because we don't get to see UTEP, right, we
don't see UTEP football that often the Relia Quest Bowls
where the Buccaneers play in Tampa, So when the Buccaneers
are playing, we're seeing that every other week in the
National Football League. This stadium sells out. It's on CBS,
(02:05):
it's not on ESPN's variety of options of bowl game
channels to watch, and it's the top crew because it's
the only CBS Bowl game they have. So sign me
up for some Arizona State Duke on New Year's Eve
in the Sun Bowl because the Sun Bowl is where
it's at on December thirty.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
First, I will tell you really quick.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
I know that there is a lot of dirt being
thrown on Bowl Season's grave, and I get it. And
I know we're gonna talk about the Alamo Bowl in
a second. But the Sumbowl, I agree. I think it's
a really cool setting that we don't get see very often.
I'll also say this despite the result, because you're a
man that spends some time in San Antonio.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
Santoni is a really fun like I was watching.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
I was looking at yesterday the river walk and this
and that, no disrespect. I don't know if I would
want to live in San Antonio, but to go travel
there once every couple of years, it's always a fun trip.
So I was watching that Alamo Bowl with nostalgia because
of course, so I was there for the Final four
back in April of this year.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
So you should go there when there is in a
final four. Yeah, I bet.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
I bet you should go there in June during an
NBA finals for nine days. Yeah, for a while. I've
been there. I've been there. It's different than the Final four,
trust me, it's different. San Antonio, El Paso, Milan. Speaking
of Milan, the roads of Milan runs through Saint Louis
see Iliam Allen and Alyssa lu and Ambergen Glenn compete
at the twenty twenty six prevage in US Figure Skating
(03:28):
Championships January seventh through the eleventh b there as the
twenty twenty sixth US Olympic Figure Skating team is named
live tickets at US figure Skating dot org. So if
you missed it last night, maybe you were in bed
getting ready for tonight's New Year's Eve festivities, hoping to
get that rest so you can stay up late. This
is how the Alamo Bowl ended last night. In overtime
(03:48):
between USC and TCU.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
Sailes dumps.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
It left pain clicks one tackle at two at times forward.
Speaker 5 (03:58):
Silist texid to the to the five.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
Is it yet, pads, Let's.
Speaker 5 (04:03):
See Sis touchdown. Ken seals the deal here tonight and
the horn Frogs have filed the MAgric against USC one
four time.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Okay, now, it was a game that probably shouldn't have
come down to that play, but it did. TCU ends
up descending a kicking overtime. At the end of regulation
forces overtime, USC kicks a field goal. TCU facing a
third and long and on a screen pass. That's how
it ends up breaking down. Now, what the thing I
love about it is it's very representative of what we
(04:42):
are now thinking about USC and what we are thinking
of Lincoln Riley. Here's a school that has a lead
in a game in overtime and the opponent is in
a really, really tough spot. You miss a few tackles,
you don't do your assignment, and the next thing, you know,
a third and long as a touchdown reception in TCU
(05:03):
ends up winning the ballgame. And it seems like it
was a perfect metaphor Aaron Torres for how things have
gone for Lincoln Riley. I can't remember someone's name who
was so hot that was the can't miss coach that
had everything there for them. Have a reputation now that
(05:23):
has been spoiled so much without a big grand scandal,
sure without like some crazy thing happening behind the scenes
that we didn't know that came to light. This like
Lincoln Riley was not only thought to be possibly the
next king of college football, but whenever he wanted, he
(05:43):
would go on to the National Football League, bring his
offense there and end up winning a Super Bowl or
having success at the pro football level. I think that
was the path that we all thought was there for
Lincoln Riley. Now that path does not seem like that,
and I think we look at Lincoln Riley in a
completely different light than we did when he took over
(06:06):
at Oklahoma for Bob Stoops. It's just been a crazy
one to eighty in how I think Lincoln Riley is
perceived by so many.
Speaker 4 (06:13):
Yeah, it's really interesting.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
I remember being on air doing my College foot you know,
it's not a college football show, but my Saturday show
with Jason Martin during the year after Caleb Williams won
the Heisman Trophy. If you remember, they went seven to
five I think in the regular season, and that was
the big Well, Caleb Williams is going to be gone
next year? Does he try to leave for the NFL?
And I said, why would the NFL want him? Because
(06:36):
you know, and this is all in the moment, but
the offense completely fell apart in that second year. Couldn't
run the football, play calling wasn't good, defense was obviously atrocious,
and it was actually Caleb Williams who was largely carrying
them at various points in the season. And it just
it does feel like you know, and I think part
of it too, Dan, because there was a comment that
(06:56):
Lincoln Riley made after the game where he said, I
really believe a window here has opened. It's taken a
lot of effort by a lot of people, but I
believe the window is open. Now people are saying, dude,
you're going into year five, and so I bring it
up because it's everything that he did at Oklahoma. I
would also add him going eleven and one in year
one at USC, losing in the Pac twelve Championship game,
(07:19):
then losing a bowl game. I think going eleven and
one probably didn't help his cause either, because it just
further elevated this is the guy. He's unbelievable, He's this,
he's that, and it not only has not been that,
but like you said, it's just this weird thing of
it just feels like since about the middle of that
first year at USC, it's been one negative headline after another.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
I would even say that for the way that he
left Oklahoma. Oh yeah, then now all of a sudden,
all of Norman, all of the state of Oklahoma that's
not still water. It couldn't stand Lincoln Riley for that move.
And so the the golden golden boy, if you will,
(08:03):
the young offensive mind. The way that he left Oklahoma
was the first mark in that you talk about the
success that they had at USC up until their final
two games of that season, ending up in a great spot.
But then, okay, it takes a little bit of a turn.
Like we thought, honestly when Oklahoma, when he was leading Oklahoma,
(08:26):
that you would just go to Oklahoma as a quarterback
and you would win the Heisman Trophy. That's because it's
Baker Mayfield, it's Kyler Murray. That his offense was going
to allow you to do that. And the question was
again how long was he going to stay there? When
was he going to go to the NFL? And now
and to hear the comments of him in this war
of words, this is what really stood out to me
(08:48):
because it was brought up at the Alamobile again earlier
this week and he made comments about it and took
a shot at Notre Dame. And this story just for
whatever reason, is not dying. Yeah, and I don't know why,
but the telling factor to me, Aaron on why I
think the Lincoln Riley situation has just gone a complete
oneint eighty and for a person that who has thought
(09:10):
so highly and nothing major has happened to I just
can't believe that everybody has soured on him. Is that
it seems that everybody's signing with Notre Dame. And and
that may be a general sort of comment, but Notre
Dame is the easy school to hate right independent, they're
by themselves, and I feel that more of the ground
(09:31):
swallow support in this argument has not been for USC,
but it's been actually for Notre Dame, as both of
these sides have been exchanging their words. So that's the
That's the part to me where I'm saying, while people
are actually looking at Notre Dame and saying, yeah, Notre
Dame's in the writing, whoever wants to take the side
of Notre Dame right like, that's where we are. And
(09:51):
I think part of that is because of what has
become with Lincoln Riley's reputation.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
Well, and I know it doesn't pertain to him being
the how to NFL candidate, which is I know the
theme of the conversation at one point he was. But
what I will say is it does feel like remember
when remember when the move happened, and Oklahoma fans are
just bashing him. Oh he's you know, he's soft. He's
and you know he's afraid of going to the SEC
(10:19):
because we knew that Oklahoma was going to the SEC
at that point. Everything they said has kind of become true, right,
is that his team's play soft. That team Oklahoma got
softer the longer that he was the head coach. He
as a person, I don't know him personally, but him
as a character in the college sport or the football
(10:40):
landscape is kind of soft. But I think it's a metaphor.
You know, it's easy to forget this. Now, when he
left for USC, we did not know that USC was
going to the Big Ten. And the reason he went
to USC was because he thought it was going to
be an easier pathway to the college football playoff. And
so I only bring that up because he he goes
(11:00):
to the USC because he thinks it's an easier pathway
than they go to the Big Ten. Now he wants
to cancel Notre Dame. And to your point, I think
this is the crazy part. It's not only that Notre
Dame fans are on Notre Dame side. It's not only
that the general public that just wants to see the
game keep going. You and I had this discussion last
week we played the Petros Papadekas sound on The Dan
(11:22):
Patrick Show when Brady Quinn was filling in Petros a
USC as prominent a voice as there is in the media.
Keishawn Johnson, it's USC people that are not happy with
Lincoln Riley for the decision to cancel that game. And
I really felt like, and I forget if we talked
about it last week, but I really felt like that
(11:42):
was the line in the sand for Lincoln Riley at USC,
specifically of we've let you come in and change everything
the way that we do everything. But Keishawn Johnson said
it in that big rant that he did that went
crazy viral. Is you gotta start winning now or you're
not gonna be here. I don't care about this. That
the other thing you took away Notre Dame. You're afraid
(12:03):
to play quality competition. You better make the college football
playoffs soon or you're not gonna be here very long.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Lendell White's another I can see this. I Lendale Whites
on Twitter last night had the variety of tweets, most
of which I can't read, on the air on how
things ended up playing out, but even Mattleiner responded another USC,
So you have USC on USC crime with all.
Speaker 4 (12:30):
Of this, I will say this.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Sue Cravens, who played for USC and in the NFL
for a while, was going off last night too, in
a respectful way.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
Let me see here, he said, playoff or bust.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Done with the waiting, and then I saw one that
I wanted that I saw here.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
This is what he said. He said.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
This was from fourteen hours ago, so about you know,
you know whatever, ten pm Pacific, he said, Get more
players in the building, coaching and showing these guys what
it really means to be a trojan. Let practices be
open again and allow every single media camera on the
sideline create that Pete Carroll environment of competition. Pressure makes diamonds.
(13:05):
So basically every USC alum that's in the media is
calling themselft.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
I'll try to clean up this. Lendeale White tweet or
the tweets makes sense. A bleep team couldn't win a
Bleep Bowl. We lost a week bleep TCU, so that
means we're sorry as bleep.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
There's do you all ever practice tackling ever?
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Or is it always about offense that was a clean
one that I could read good. Yeah, so a lot
of a lot from Lendale White last night in frustration,
like a lot of the frustration that Aaron talks about
usc Alum's former players having about the Lincoln Riley era.
And the crazy thing is is I always thought that
Lincoln Riley was a and he maybe I don't know
him personally, but had this sort of I guess personality
(13:52):
early on, maybe at Oklahoma that I thought was something
that would warm up, and it just does not has happened,
hasn't happened at all. And then then he gets on
the defensive and that sounds even worse, like there are
some people who can maybe pass it off, but he
can't do it. The turnaround to me is just it's surprising,
Like I look at someone like Russell Wilson where nothing
(14:14):
bad has ever happened to him, and his play is
kind of gone down south, can't play at the level
that he once did of someone that we just looked
completely different at. But that's on field performance mostly driven
his personality and what he tries to portray I think
does lead into maybe some of the turn with it,
(14:37):
but nothing like what we've seen with where I thought
Lincoln Riley was at the top of the food chain
of coaches and now at the bottom, not well liked
in a tough spot at USC.
Speaker 4 (14:49):
Very very strange.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Okay, So I just thought of one in real time, okay,
and it didn't happen as quickly as Lincoln Riley.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
How about Northwestern's new offensive coordinator, Chip Kelly, Like.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
This, dude, Okay, whatever we think of Chip Kelly, let's
just go through for even post Oregon, he goes to
the Philadelphia Eagles back to back ten win seasons a
decade ago and by the way, a year ago national
championship with Ohio State. Now he's the offensive coordinator at Northwestern.
(15:23):
Like I just I was thinking a little bit about
that yesterday. Is like imagine telling someone the peak Oregon
years where they were scoring sixty without even trying that.
It was just like, oh, yeah, in ten years, this
guy will be the Northwestern head coach, like you would
It would have been inconceivable at that point. Again, I
know it's a longer period of time, but there aren't
(15:45):
to your point about Lincoln Rady, there aren't a lot
of good examples of we didn't even think he was
attainable at the college level to get him to leave Oklahoma.
But he'll be in the NFL at some point. It's
a matter of if not when. And now he's basically
saying year five is whin our window was opening at USC.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Year one in Philadelphia was amazing for chip Kelly. Then
it all went downhill and he ended up being Austin
in Philadelphia, was with the Niners for a year that
was just a completely forgettable year. And then to your point,
there was never a point where you got back up
to the to the high I thought that last year
with Ohio State there was a bit of a building
back up because the UCLA tenure was a pretty much
(16:22):
a failure. And then now with the Raiders job and
to your point now at Northwestern, Yeah, it's been an
interesting cycle.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
Chip Kelly is the Northwester like that just does not
sound like it should be the thing that it is.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
You know, no, not at all. I completely agree. Good nominee.
If you have any other nominees, let aeron know at
Aaron Underscore.
Speaker 4 (16:41):
Towards his life is completely falling apart professionally.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Tune on in at Dan Byron Foxes where you can
find me Sesame Street helped raise all of us. Now
it's our turn donate this holiday season at Sesame dot
org because the world needs Sesame and Sesame needs you.
We're gonna talk with Fox Sports Radios Jeff Schwartz, part
of Countdown to Kickoff presented by Bett MGM, that you
hear every Sunday morning here on Fox Sports Radio. He's
(17:06):
familiar with the USC program played at Oregon, but Southern
California native will get his thoughts on that, plus his
thoughts on the college football playoff quarterfinals that get going
tonight with the Cotton Bowl featuring Miami against Ohio State.
He is Aeron Torres. I'm Dan byer Isaac lowincroniz here,
as is Jason Stewart.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsportsradio dot
com and within the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Happy New Year's Eve twenty twenty six is just around
the corner, but for the final moments at twenty twenty five,
we appreciate you hanging out with us as we look
ahead to what sports teams need. We're gonna get to
controversial calls later on, just to let you know erin
Torres and I are in for Cavino and Rich today
here on Fox Sports Radio, so we're with you for
(17:53):
the next three hours. Getting his set for Ohio State
Miami tonight, the tripleheader of college football's quarterfinals coming up tomorrow,
and a week eighteen in the NFL that will wrap
up the regular season. Isaac glowin Cranz here, as is
Jason Stewart and Chris Purfett. The road to Milan runs
through Saint Louis, ce Elia Mallin and Alyssa lou and
Amber Glenn compete at the twenty twenty six priviagen US
(18:16):
Figure Skating Champion at chips It's January seventh through the
eleventh b there as the twenty twenty sixth US Olympic
Figure Skating team is named live tickets at Usfigure Skating
Dot Org. All eyes on the sun Bolt, which has
been a dandy so far. We got a good game
between Michigan and Texas and even Nebraska in Utah. Nebraska
(18:37):
looking for full time quarterback for next year, Dylan Riola
hurts now in the transfer Portal Utah. The Morgan Scaley
Era is now underway as Kyle Whittingham is watching his
new Michigan Wolverines against the Long Orangs instead of coaching
the Utes. That's what we get in Bowl games here
on New Year's eve erin Tarres.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
Two quick Bowl thoughts before we get to obviously our
New Year's resolutions. One, there's no way Nebraska loses today.
Did you see Matt Ruhle stalking the sidelines in a
backwards camo hat? Got My guy's wearing a backwards hat.
It's like, it feels like he broke up with Dylan Ryola,
(19:17):
and it says his first night back out on the town,
and he doesn't really know how to dress, but he's like,
you know, I'm gonna look cool for the kids. So
that was my first takeaway from this midday of Bowl
season two. It all ties back to Michigan, Kenny Dillingham
in Arizona State, Utah playing without Kyle Whittingham for the
first time in a million years, and of course Michigan
all playing at the same time.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
So I love this trio of games that we've got
in the Sun Bowl. My goodness, fifty two points, he's
heard Isaac say in the first half, Duke and Arizona
State Isaac came up with something earlier when he was
saying he almost said Arizona steak, and I'm thinking for
any steakhouse in Tempe. That's what I'm serving, Isaac. I
(19:56):
think you have just stumbled upon a culinary a colony,
a genius of a culinary dish.
Speaker 6 (20:03):
Hang on, I'm on the phone with my attorney. We're
setting up a conference call with the patent office to
uh to get that baby settled. But yeah, I mean
when you talk about steakhouse at the Sun Bowl, you've
got the cattle Barn in El Paso. I had several
meals there, But there you go.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
You got to be a restaurant, a mill have where
you can get an Arizona steak.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
And it's also great because it shows up first in
search search. So if you're just searching steak Arizona, that's
going to be the first the first search.
Speaker 6 (20:32):
Yeah, we got St. K Steakhouse in Scottsdale, the Pepper
Mill and the KEG Steakhouse and bar. So the race
is on steakhouses in Tempe.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Maybe in twenty twenty six, could be running one of
my resolutions, which leads us to.
Speaker 7 (20:48):
He's not getting the middle with you.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
It's time for Stuck in the Middle, the Midway.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Jason Stewart, founder, originally proprietor All Things Midway, the Midway.
Speaker 8 (21:04):
Last Midway of twenty twenty five, I will Midway for
us to give out New year resolution New Year's resolutions
to any sports figures and or teams. And I do
welcome snarkiness. That's what's welcomed in this particular midway. For example,
(21:26):
the New England Patriots a New Year's resolution to go
one day without having one of their player charged with
something very disturbing. How about just one day, let's start,
let's stardway the minimal dan Byer before we move on.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
Remember when that was a thing in college football where
it'd be like a team has like three or four
down years and then they'd have a couple guys get
arrested and to be like, oh, that team's back all
right now.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
Now you got a couple guys getting arrested, you're for
real again.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Anyway, it's been yesterday, and yesterday it was the double dip.
And I'm sorry I'm laughing because the incidents aren't not funny.
But like Stefan Diggs is in his deal when Trayvon
Diggs got released.
Speaker 4 (22:13):
Like that's tough. Back to back.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
You know what my resolution is for the former Pack
twelve schools that are now in the Big Ten or
the two that are in the ACC to start losing again.
I don't care as much about Utah and Colorado or
Arizona and Arizona State. I think they found a nice
(22:36):
spot in the Big twelve that doesn't throw things off.
But not only is USC messing up the Big Ten's
bull record with their loss last night, it has just
become a mess, Aaron, I want like I thought about
this in the Sun Bowl. I was thinking, I'm looking
at this and if you were to say to someone, yeah,
their basketball team's got a conference game against hal coming
(22:58):
up later on in a couple weeks, you would have.
Speaker 4 (23:00):
Said, oh, of course it's Arizona State.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
Ye.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
No, that would be Duke and I. I am so offended.
I'm not offended by the lack of success that say
it U c l A has in the in the
Big Ten, but it's just more of the cal Stanford
cherry on top.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
So weird.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
It's that that in the ACC that just completely ruins
it for me. So my resolution to cal to Stanford
to UCLA to Washington to USC. I wouldn't line if
Oregon stayed the Big Ten. But whatever to to to
make things so bad that you're like, maybe we have
to join this new pac twelve again. That is that
(23:39):
is a resolution than I have for those teams.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
Would they then kick out the Boise States and Fresno
States of the world?
Speaker 4 (23:44):
Not keep them? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Keep them, make it, yeah, you can make it a
bigger conference. You can find out that maybe it isn't
so bad because it's just it just it really really is.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
Not taken a hold, taken.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
A grasp, And I would hope that kind of like
your Yukon when they were in the American and then
all of a sudden, it's like back in the Big East. Look,
it's like you're back home again. That's the feeling I
think you would get if those schools ended up going
back to their conferences.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
I'll just say this really quick. Tuesday night was just
flipping channels. We had Louisville at cal and Notre Dame
at Stanford in acc play and Notre Dame at Stanford.
Speaker 4 (24:27):
This is basketball. It still felt like.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
Mid December, late December out of conference game from like
the nineties, you know, like the nineties, wou'd be like, oh,
Notre Dame's doing their West Coast swaying of UCLA and
Stanford and then to you know, Stanford's rank number eleven
in the country and Tiger Woods is sitting courtside.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
Still felt like still felt like that.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
By the way, Gary Danielson being honored at the road
at the Sun Bowl, I'm sad to see.
Speaker 4 (24:53):
Him go is a legend of the Sun Bowl.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
By the way, Quickside Tangent before I get to my
resolute during the Relyquest Bowl, I heard a reference to
living legend Diego Pavia.
Speaker 4 (25:07):
Feels like a little bit of a loose use of
living legend. Yeah.
Speaker 7 (25:12):
I know he was a Heisman finalist, but it feels
you gotta do something more than.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
Finished third of the Heisman Trophy to be a living legend,
do you not? Yeah? And I think you have to
be over sixty.
Speaker 9 (25:24):
Say for how long his career has gone in college football.
He's an elder statesman. Maybe that's the legend part.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
Yeah, joh, yeah, he is older than the standard college
I was just like, feels a little aggressive to go
living legend. Okay, so, speaking of aggressive, my New Year's
resolution is for all college football fans. And Chris Purfett
heard this rent on Christmas Day, but I'm gonna reuse
(25:50):
it for a New Year's resolution. I need every college
football fan to just take a deep freaking breath. Not
everything is an existential crisis. And this is more about
the college football playoff.
Speaker 7 (26:04):
Oh my god, it's the end of the world because
we got James Madison in Twulane and I couldn't bet
on it because the spread was twenty one points.
Speaker 4 (26:13):
And this is the worst.
Speaker 7 (26:15):
We have to change the playoff, go to sixteen, cancel this,
add that, put this. Why does college football have seven
existential crisis? Is a year that need to be addressed
in the moment or the whole sport.
Speaker 4 (26:31):
Is falling apart.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
Can we maybe try a twelve team playoff for like
three years before we decide that it's the worst thing ever.
Speaker 4 (26:37):
It's just unbelievable to me every year.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
The other part about it is the changes that are
made don't necessarily always address the correct issues or the
issues at hand.
Speaker 4 (26:52):
I mean, we can't.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
They're talking about expansion and how we're going to do it,
and now Notre Dame is getting an automatic bid if
they're in the top twelve, and I don't think like
they're band aids on real issues. Dan Lanning is going
off and saying, let's figure out this schedule thing. I
think that we focus Aaron, all of those little things,
(27:16):
those crisises, our band aids to bigger issues in college
football that we think are bigger issues. But maybe to
your point, they aren't as big as we think that
they are.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
No, I mean, and it's just I don't know.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
Tou Lane ended up with like fifty yards of total offense,
less than all Miss the game.
Speaker 4 (27:33):
They just couldn't converted the red zone.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
Sometimes you get bad games in the NBA playoffs, in
the NFL playoffs, we don't have to blow up everything
all the time when we don't get a result that
we like.
Speaker 4 (27:45):
Chris Purfetts your New Year's resolution or resolutions if you
want to, Iowa Salmon. Yeah, let's know.
Speaker 9 (27:51):
I say, I'll just do one, and it's for it's
for another league here, and it's for one that I
have a relationship with at this point, to the NBA.
At this point, I feel like the NBA right now
is in a place that can be good in that
I mean it's slowly waking up to this idea of parody.
Every every year or so, we've had to deal with, Oh,
(28:13):
is this team that just won the NBA Championship? Could
they be the next dynasty? Could the Oklahoma City Thunder
be the next dynasty? Could the Nuggets be the next dynasty?
Could the Bucks be the next dynasty? Settle down and
enjoy having a wide field of interesting teams right now,
Like I would ask that the NBA, You've got a
good thing going. You've got some new You've got some
(28:33):
new media partners that are treating it better than the
ones prior did. I think the Amazon broadcasts are fantastic
for how deep they get into it. You have a
wide field with the Pistons, the Knicks, the Celtics, and
it feels like, I know the Thunder are kind of
like cruising along, but this really does feel like a
year where you have a lot of interesting teams who
(28:56):
are never gonna talk about the raptors of Scottie Burn.
Speaker 4 (29:00):
Definitely not saying this as a Pistons fan.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Definitely not for the team at the top of the
Eastern Conference to the Lakers last night.
Speaker 4 (29:07):
With the ease, I will say this j Redgan's the shot.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
You didn't want to name networks, but I'm going to
name networks in a bad way. You named Amazon Prime.
I watched both games or not from beginning to end.
But last time on NBC you had Sixers Grizzlies overtime game,
Lakers Pistons was on afterwards. The presentation on NBC is better.
(29:30):
ESPN doesn't make it. It doesn't feel like it is
a big deal. It felt like a regular season game
that meant something last night when it really didn't, like
neither of them did, and it felt it is a
different presentation. There is a fresh feel to it. I'll
also say this, I'm not going to absolve TNT from
any of the from this as well.
Speaker 4 (29:52):
No, you're married now with ESPN overall time. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
So, I think that even the broadcast that we saw
on the Tuesdays and Thursday nights, maybe that it feels
like they rose to the occasion. But now with the
new way of the NBA, the broadcast on NBC at
a Christmas point on Amazon make the sport feel like
a bigger deal and a more enjoyable watch in the
regular I would.
Speaker 9 (30:14):
Just hope that we appreciate the basketball for being the
high level basketball and talk about this as the full
sport instead of hitting the same buttons over and over
going constantly back to the Lakers, who getting caught in
the meta narrative of who's going to be the next
dynasty and a disservice to the game itself at this point,
to enjoy the basketball that's in front of us in
this entire season, because sometimes the NBA gets caught up
(30:37):
in who's going to be the big trade, what's going
to happen to this coach?
Speaker 4 (30:42):
Yeah, I said this on Christmas.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
That was one of my Christmas wishes, my Christmas gifts,
I said, and all expenses pay trip to Cancun.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
For Adam Silver. Get out of the way.
Speaker 3 (30:53):
You have fun, young stars, let us enjoy them before
you screw this up by changing thing I say with
college football, changing this adding that like Wemby has a
universal one thousand percent approval rating, Kate Cunningham has a
one thousand percent approval rating.
Speaker 9 (31:11):
Whoever, the Knicks are still a feel good story, which
is amazing.
Speaker 4 (31:14):
It's the Knicks we're talking about. Don't screw this up.
Speaker 10 (31:16):
Adam Silver to the Isaac long Kron, this is kind
of the kind of along the lines of Aarons in
terms of the subject.
Speaker 6 (31:26):
But my new Year's resolution is for someone to come
forth and establish themselves as a leader who can help
save the insanity that has become college athletics, both from
a college football standpoint, college basketball, the college football playoff controversy, nil,
(31:52):
the transfer portal. They need some sort of college sports czar.
You really set college sports on a better track. And
I'll make my point by saying this. I'm gonna play
you guys a voice right now, and I'm gonna ask
you to identify the voice. Aaron might be able to
identify this person, but I doubt that hardly anyone in
(32:13):
our listening audience would be able to yet, go.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Ahead a question, Yeah, should we turn our chairs around
when we know it? Like should we hit the buzzer
when we know the voice? And then they're on our team?
Speaker 10 (32:23):
That's you ever.
Speaker 4 (32:24):
See the voice, Aaron, It's been a minute like this.
Speaker 10 (32:29):
Not a visual medium.
Speaker 6 (32:30):
That's the point. I just don't think anyone will recognize
the voice.
Speaker 10 (32:33):
But here it is. See for yourself.
Speaker 6 (32:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
Well, first of all, it puts into the notion student athlete,
the student in very very stark relief the actions taken today.
Speaker 10 (32:43):
Can anybody recognize that voice.
Speaker 4 (32:45):
Sounds like Mark Emmert unbelievable?
Speaker 10 (32:48):
Good for you, But that was my point.
Speaker 6 (32:50):
I don't think hardly anybody in our listening audience realized
that that was the president of the NCUBA during an
unbelievably transformative time. I'm from twenty ten to twenty twenty
three laying the groundwork for the insanity that we have now.
So clearly whatever happened during his reign led to the
(33:13):
insanity that we have now. I had to Google to
find out who the current NCBA president is, a guy
named Charlie Baker. The nc DOUBLEA or college sports in general,
I feel just needs a transformative leader to just bring
some common sense back to what I said is a
wild wild west of controversy. Not that I don't like
(33:34):
controversy being on the sports media, but that's what we
need in college sports.
Speaker 3 (33:38):
Can I just say, really quick, the sad part is
it will never happen so like cal Perry exactly. Well,
cal Perry had his huge rant this week, and somebody's
like he needs to be the college basketball commissioner. I said,
by default, the commissioner's job is to get everybody to
work together. It's never in the SEC's best interest to
work with the Big twelve. It's never in the Big
(33:59):
twelve's best interest to work with this place, Big Tech.
Speaker 4 (34:01):
Except so that's the issue that I keep here.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
Nick Saban should be the commissioner of college football. Why
so he can get in a room and Greg ZANKI,
you'll be like, screw the Big ten. It's like the
job will never And this, by the way, super random,
but it's what this Cody Campbell guy, the Big Texas
Tech booster, is basically saying, like, we all basically have
to work together to save college sports. We can't keep
working in our own silos and echo chambers here.
Speaker 4 (34:25):
I just don't know if it will at it.
Speaker 6 (34:26):
By the way, under the radar, enormous props to Fox
Sports Radio's Dan Byer for being able to identify the
voice of Mark Emmert. I mean, the CIA couldn't even
have done that, So kudos to Dan.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
I'm like the Reba of the voice version here on
Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 4 (34:46):
Jason Stewart's got another resolution.
Speaker 8 (34:48):
Yeah, I got a bonus one for you guys. This
is deeply personal and it also impacts Isaac Lohenkron as well.
I'm gonna ask Chris Purfet to kill the bed. That's
an industry jargon term. I don't expect the listener to
understand this. I'm taking the bet out back and shooting it.
New Year's New Year's resolution for the Los Angeles Chargers.
(35:08):
Fire the guy in charge of keeping your players healthy.
And it actually is one person. This guy went viral
when Harbrough brought him aboard.
Speaker 10 (35:19):
His name is Ben Herbert.
Speaker 8 (35:21):
No relation, no relation to Justin. Ben Herbert. Somebody on
TikTok put this together. So you're gonna, I think you're
gonna hear yackety sacks at some point because it has
become a clown show. And as you hear the yackety sacks,
you're gonna see on the TikTok a list of the
number of injuries that the Chargers of experience this year.
I want to say it's an NFL record. If it isn't,
(35:42):
I'm going to exaggerate on national radio and say it
was most injuries ever suffered by a team. And Ben
Herbert is in charge of keeping this team strong and conditioned.
And this was how he opened his opening press conference
in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 11 (35:59):
I have you training it this way, and this is
how I told it to the guys. My first goal
is to make you harder to break.
Speaker 4 (36:06):
Right.
Speaker 11 (36:06):
The most vulnerabil areas of the body, in my opinion,
in the game of football, the head, right and left shoulder,
right and left hip girdle, right and left hamstring, right
and left ankle. So through your training, you have to
be proactive at training those areas of the body. So
the network that I introduced today, the trap work, the
four part cuff sequence to address the four rotator cuff
muscles in their shoulder girdle, introduced them to some hip work,
(36:28):
introduced them to some ankle work. Right, These are things
that are paramount. If you want to make a football
player harder to break, your training has to be sound.
Speaker 4 (36:35):
In my opinion, it's.
Speaker 8 (36:36):
All okay, I got enough of that. Needless to say,
chargers are easy to break. They're not hard to break, Isaac.
Speaker 6 (36:45):
Honey, it ain't Ben Herbert's fault, you know, and I
know that the Charger litany of injuries long long predated
Ben Herbert, and as much and as good as Ben
Herbert's track record was at Michigan. You can't pint it
solely on him. It's complex, it goes a long way back,
(37:10):
and it affects everyone associated with the Chargers, not even
those under Ben Herbert's permit. Peg now, I got it now.
Speaker 8 (37:20):
Also like somebody on the Chargers payroll. By the way,
that sounds like a take from somebody.
Speaker 10 (37:25):
No, I'm not.
Speaker 4 (37:25):
But my new Year's resolution, I'm going to stick to it,
you know.
Speaker 10 (37:29):
And I know it happened long before he got the town.
Speaker 3 (37:31):
Can I say, also, didn't the guy before Ben Herbert
stabbed Tyrod Taylor accidentally?
Speaker 4 (37:37):
In Isaac's defense, could that was.
Speaker 10 (37:38):
A team doctor? It wasn't a strengthened conditioning coach.
Speaker 4 (37:41):
Core a player got stabbed in the lung.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
Yeah, I think Isaac's pig. I know it's Jay Stew's resolution,
but I I'm on team Isaac on this one.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
I think we should have a resolution for Sharon Moore
to get a head coaching job in twenty twenty six,
just so we can have him at a press conference
to answer all the questions.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
That no midway.
Speaker 4 (38:02):
I think that would be great.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
Can some program just take one for the team, right,
just so he can get a a pre season media
day press conference, and so we can ask all of
the questions that we're wondering about what went on.
Speaker 4 (38:15):
You know, what's crazy about your own more.
Speaker 3 (38:16):
In all seriousness, I believe as part of his release
from jail, I don't think he can leave the state
because my thought was my thought was, does Harbaugh just
give him like assistant director of player ops or something
just to kind of get his career started again. And
(38:37):
I was like, I actually don't think he can leave
the state, you know, unless it's like pre approved by a.
Speaker 4 (38:42):
Jug which Grace. Sure. That's so you're saying Western Michigan
or Central Michigan is waying. It's a lot that I
would that I would like the chips.
Speaker 3 (38:50):
Yeah, I was gonna say Central Michigan already has ties
to the Michigan program.
Speaker 4 (38:53):
I mean, Connor Stallions was saying out on the sidelines.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
So just just at your throw some sunglasses and you
can do that.
Speaker 8 (38:59):
Can I piggyback on your idea, Dan, So if a
program doesn't hire him, the nearest resolution for the creator
of the Connor Stallions documentary, just do the Sharon More documentary.
Get the girlfriend in here. I need all the details.
I need all the only fans models.
Speaker 4 (39:16):
Oh, that would be so good when it comes out.
Speaker 2 (39:18):
But the counter Stallions documentary made him seem like a hero,
and so that, you know, it was like he was
put up on this pedestal like he was this amazing,
like this just this huge, great fan and everybody wanted
to side with Michigan because they love Jim Harbaughs.
Speaker 4 (39:34):
He was playing chess. Everyone else is playing checkers. That's
what it was. That's what it was.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
Those problems run deep, as we are now starting to
see everything wipe away.
Speaker 4 (39:45):
Clear the windows any more resolutions. Uh, we're good.
Speaker 3 (39:50):
Yeah, he's not.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
Getting Fox Sports Radio had the best sports talk line
up in the nation. Catch all of our shows at
foxsports Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
A very happy New Year's Eve twenty twenty six. Just
around the corner, He's Aaron Torres, I'm Dan Beyer. Jeff
Schwartz is around our corner. But first, Aaron, have you
heard about trainer games? Add this to your binge list.
Ten athletes go head to head for a chance to
win an i fit trainer contract with two hundred and
fifty thousand dollars, streaming on Prime video. Starting January eighth,
(40:29):
He is the co host of Fox Sports Radio's Countdown
to Kickoff, presented by Bett MGM alongside Bill Krackenberger on
Brian Know every Sunday morning. Make sure you tune in
Sunday at ten o'clock Eastern time. Is they take you
all the Way to Kickoff on Fox Sports Radio on
the iHeartRadio app presented all by Bett mgm. Former NFL
i'man Jeff Schwartz joins the program. Happy New Year, Jeff,
(40:49):
how are you?
Speaker 12 (40:50):
I am making sweeping judgments about every conference and team
based off of exhibition bowl games.
Speaker 4 (40:56):
That's what I'm doing. All right, Great, We're gonna make sweeping.
Speaker 12 (40:58):
Judgments on anything, and we're gonna we're gonna do the
the the was it transverse of property? When you do
like the the sixth seed in the Big Ten beat
the three seed in the Big twelve, and that seed
beat beat Oregon, and this seed beat that and therefore
my team's winning.
Speaker 4 (41:14):
What about Notre Dame. They didn't play anything.
Speaker 12 (41:16):
They're not playing they're not playing correct.
Speaker 2 (41:19):
It's a it's a great it's a great day then
to be in the Big ten, except if you're USC
and Lincoln Riley. That's where Aaron and I started the show,
and just to if you if you didn't catch it, Jeff,
it's basically I can't remember and neither early can Aaron.
Such a turnaround of of I guess how we view
someone that we've seen a one eighty from Lincoln Riley,
(41:40):
who was once the hottest name maybe in all of
coaching with college football and maybe eyes on the NFL,
to now being I don't know, just such it feels
like such a negative factor in college football. You won't
shut up about the Notre Dame rivalry. What are your
thoughts on Lincoln Riley and how things have gone during
his time not only with USC, but just through a
(42:02):
wildest coaching career.
Speaker 12 (42:04):
Look, man, you just have to feel, really, I don't
know what the word is, impressed, right than a an underdog,
like a little chippy underdog who just is, like, you know,
just battling every week, and there after four years of
a rebuild, they've arrived on the scene. You know, windows
You just you just have to like love college football
(42:27):
because this doesn't happen in any other sport where an
underdog like USC can can pick themselves up by their
bootstraps and work as hard as possible and get themselves
in a situation where maybe they cover a road game
next season. So let's hope that US can do that.
It won't be playing Notre Dame obviously at home next year.
I think I think everyone's just tired of it, Like
(42:47):
you're freaking USC man, come on, come on your USC now.
I I played in the era where you know, Pete
care was dominant USC. And as much as the talk
is about Reggie Bush, who's the best culture and Matt
lionerd and and Lendell White and uh and the wide
receivers they had, they won in their trenches.
Speaker 4 (43:08):
Right.
Speaker 12 (43:08):
All five offensive linemen got drafted nearly every year when
I played them, Their backup defensive lineman got drafted, right,
Like they had a backup linebacker, their fourth linebacker who
didn't start for them and was a fourth round draft pick.
Like that's what USC was. USC's not that anymore. They
get pushed around, and that's the problem. They get pushed around.
When they stopped getting pushed around, they'll start winning more football.
(43:31):
We know that he can coach quarterbacks, We know he
can coach wide receivers. We know all those things. The
problem is they get pushed around. They get that's the problem.
They get pushed around. And when they stop getting pushed around,
then they'll start winning bigger football games.
Speaker 3 (43:45):
So let me ask you this, Jeff, on that topic.
So I'll be honest. So I think two things can
be true. I think most people kind of understand the
basics of why USC decided to either opt out or
they could whatever the verbiage is with the Notre Dame thing.
Speaker 4 (44:00):
I've actually been.
Speaker 3 (44:01):
Surprised how vocal USC people are, Like Keishawn Johnson, Petros
Papadek is basically saying.
Speaker 4 (44:06):
We don't care what era it is.
Speaker 3 (44:08):
We don't care how many trips you have to make
across country to play as part of the Big Ten.
This is a rivalry that we want and we care about.
Have you been surprised how actually vocal the USC contingent
has been on the decision to end that rivalry.
Speaker 12 (44:24):
I don't think so, because you know, those guys grew
up with that rivalry and it meant some into them,
and and they grew up in an era where you know,
that game felt like I would imagine like the fact
that like national championship, right, like like we beat Notre Dame,
were as good as we think we are, and I
think that those guys are going to miss out on that.
Speaker 4 (44:47):
And it was good.
Speaker 12 (44:48):
It was always a good way to test yourself to
play Notre Dame. Look, let's be real, if USC was
being Notre Dame, they keep the rivalry going kind of
that simple, right, But but they're not not be Notre Dame.
And that's why the Rivoalay's gone. And you can make
all the excuses you want. You want to play wig zero,
which just makes no sense to anyone. No one wants
to play the game wing zero. You know, they want
(45:09):
to play the game early in the season because USC
is topically better early in the season. Like that's when
they played they beat Els. You were in the season,
Like they're better early in the season.
Speaker 4 (45:16):
I don't know why.
Speaker 12 (45:17):
I just can continue the way it is. You go
when you play there, you play there in October, you
play in Southern California, you play November. I just continue on. Yeah,
scheduling is hard man, Like that's one thing that that
Pete Carolsey back to that era that USC fans talk
about NonStop. They scheduled hard man. They went back east
all the time they played in Arkansas when Arkansas was good,
they played Virginia Tech in DC. I believe like they
(45:39):
always scheduled tough. They never shot away from anything. It
just feels like those players that played, and some of
those guys were earlier than that, USC never shot away
from those things. I feel like they feel like, you know,
being a big dog program as they are, you shouldn't
shy away from those type of games. And it very
much feels like they're shying away from those games now.
Speaker 4 (45:58):
They had a home and home with the Ohio State
when they now they're conference foes. But eight No.
Speaker 2 (46:03):
Nine, yeah, like it was, that's when they actually played schools.
He's aeron Torres. I'm Dan Byer. Jeff Schwortz joining us
here on Fox Sports Radio. I know we were laughing
at the bull records, but the SEC just lost again
with Vanderbilt. Could this be a sign to come when
it comes to the college football playoffs starting this over
these next couple of days, Jeff Well.
Speaker 4 (46:22):
I hope, so, yeah, right, everyone, Yeah, I hope.
Speaker 8 (46:26):
So.
Speaker 12 (46:28):
Look, I mean, look the bowl game thing, man like,
Iowa is the worst team to play in the bowl game.
Our army Navy. Like these teams, they have no opt outs.
All they do is run the football, right, That's just
what they do, and they live for these moments, right,
Like I like, I was never gonna think down about
playing the Relia Quest Bowl, right, And I'm not saying
that Vanderbilt, you know, think down about the game. But
(46:49):
you know, Diego Povey is coming back from Ohio. Wek
of Heisman ceremonies, and Vanderbelt wanted to be a playoff
team and all these things, and now you have to play. Now,
go play like the super fiscal IOWA team. Like, it's
just a it's a tough spot. We don't I think
we we we talk about a situation a lot in bowlgames,
we actually don't take it that seriously. Like I think
people sort of dismiss it. Oh lol, that team doesn't
(47:11):
really want to be there. But I've been on a
team that didn't want to be the but we lost
thirty eight to six in a bowl game.
Speaker 4 (47:15):
We did not want to be there.
Speaker 12 (47:16):
I know that feeling, And that's natural if you don't
if you're not in the bowl game you think you
should be in, or you lose a conference championship game
or you know, you're supposed to be a playoff team
and you're not. So I just don't know how we
judge it, right, because then these rosters leave and they
move on. And so look, the Big Ten is good.
They're good, They've been good all season. If you play
(47:36):
Iowa Van Dy in Week seven, you probably get a
different result, right, Like, it's a different type of game.
So it's great for the Big Ten. I think it
does continue tomorrow. I think sorry with tonight, I think
I think Ohio wins a close game. I think it's close,
and I think with the Miami a little bit of
credit there. They're not as bad as people want them
to be. I think I think Oregan winz tomorrow. And
I do think that Indiana I think they handle business
(47:57):
pretty well. Out to Alabama. It's a bad matchup for Obama.
Speaker 3 (48:00):
You know, you just brought up a point that I
brought up to Dan earlier today. Is you know, I
know we've said it's playoff or bust, and you know
in this era, I think it really struck me today,
and I'm curious for your perspective. If you are an
Ohio state those types of programs, can you actually have
a successful season if you don't make the playoff in
(48:21):
this era, and I'll give you an example. Right, So,
like Texas is playing right now, I don't think they
would say their season is a failure. I don't think
they would say their season is a success either. Is
there a world where, again, if you're in Ohio State,
if you're a Michigan under normal circumstances, that you can
even have it Notre Dame opting out of the Pop
Darts Bowl. Is there is there a world for programs
(48:41):
like that in this era where you can deem it
a successful season if you are not one of those,
at least for now twelve teams in the playoff, I
think that's.
Speaker 12 (48:50):
Only true for about seven or eight teams, right, So
you're looking at the Georgias, the Alabama's, the Texas, right
the Oregon, Ohio. I think Penn State is in that
at least they were, which James Franklin like, they were
obviously a favorite to being the postseasons here in Miami,
maybe Clemson, you know, Texas Tech, the way they're spending
and want to win, maybe they're in that group now.
(49:11):
But otherwise that's about it. Right, Like otherwise, you in
a given year. If you make the playoff, that's really great,
but you really shouldn't shouldn't strive for that to be
the only way you measure success. I do think though,
that the teams I mentioned Indiana, by the way, it
might be in that in the in that group. Now,
I think we have to look at the regular season
a little bit differently for those teams, and I view
(49:33):
it now more of an NFL type mindset, where the
regular season is all about prepping for the playoffs. Like
if you are a certain number of NFL teams, yes,
you want to win every game, but you want to
make sure you're playing your best football in December to
get ready to play in the playoffs. Right, you'd like
to knock go on the playoffs losing you know, seven
games in a row, four or five games in a row.
Seven obviously a lot, but you know three games with
(49:54):
the Rams right now, probably don't want to go into it.
They're gonna they're gonna rest everyone this weekend.
Speaker 4 (49:58):
Most likely.
Speaker 12 (49:58):
You don't want to go in the postseason losing your
last two games, just starters played, right, Like, that's not
a good feeling to head in the postseason. And I
think college football teams now the ones I mentioned, their
goal is just getting the finish line healthy and get
ready to play your playoffs. Like, for example, my Ducks,
I'll talk about them. I think when they lost January
first last year, their entire purpose this year was to
(50:21):
get back to tomorrow and play in a different type
of game than they played last January first. So all
they did all season was to prepare for this this weekend,
hopefully more so, you know, they win a game by
three or by six, or or you know they pull
the starters in the third quarter against JMU, it's all,
it's it's it's all to get to this point to
play tomorrow's game. Same with I think Ohio State feels
(50:42):
the same way. Indiana to some extent I imagine, feels
the same way. Georgia feels the same way, And so
I think it's we have to maybe view those teams
sort of in the NFL esque lens, where the first six, seven,
eight weeks like just win like win, and then just
sort of peak right now. I think Georgia Green example,
like their defense was not very good early to their standards,
(51:03):
it's really good now. Right right now is when you
want to be playing your best football. I think Oregon
last year learned that the hard way. They probably weren't
beating Ohio State with their best game anyways, but they
just weren't as ready to play on January first, and
they peaked way too early in the season.
Speaker 2 (51:16):
Last one for me, Jeff Schwartz joining US, I was
to think that Oregon got the raw end of the deal.
Speaker 4 (51:21):
They have Ohio State in their bracket and we.
Speaker 12 (51:23):
Would have to beat him anyways. At some point you
would have to beat him. I get it, you would
beat him anyways. I think it would have been different
if you played him secondly, but I don't think we
beat I think they were too good last year. They
were They were a fantastic team.
Speaker 2 (51:33):
Maybe or maybe Ohio State loses on the other side
of the bracket and you never have to you never
have to face that, you know. And the reason I
actually brought it up is because I'm curious about ole Miss,
because now, if this is a rematch game, ole Miss
hung with Georgia for the most part in their game
in Athens earlier this season, but if it falls apart,
(51:55):
I think we're all gonna say it's because of Lane Kiffin,
and I'm wondering how much is it to allow be
smart in Georgia a second chance at Old Miss? How
do you see that game playing out tomorrow night?
Speaker 12 (52:04):
So I do wish the committee tried to avoid rematches,
because you know the end up a committee does that,
like they they purposely try to schedule teams so they
don't have rematches early in the You can't you can't
stop it in what happens to you in the final four, right,
but you can avoid rematches in the round of sixty four,
in the round of thirty two. It does feel like
(52:26):
you could have set up a situation where Old Miss
and Georgia don't play again. But it is, it is
what it is. I think Georgia is gonna smoke them,
and I don't think I was going to do with
Lane Kiffin. I think they're just better than Old Miss.
And you know, this earlier game, Old Miss scored thirty
five points, I think it was in the first three
cores and Georgia just shut them down in the second half.
And they did that to a lot of teams this season.
They did Tennessee, they did to Old Miss, They did
it to Bama in the first Bama game. I think
(52:48):
Georgia is just much better. And again to my point
about preparing for this time of year, Old Miss is
happy to be here, right, Georgia wants to win a championship.
I mean, those are the kind of different mindsets, right,
And that matter is in my opinion when it comes
to how the game's gonna go tomorrow. And look, is
it ideal that half a Lay's staff is in the
(53:09):
Old Miss building right now? Probably not. That's something Old
Miss has to deal with. But I think they lose tomorrow,
and nothing to do with with Lane. I think they
lose with Lane. I think lose lose without Lane. So
I'm curious obviously to see how that goes. But I
think Georgia and Indiana are my favorite. Just like put
them together in a parlay, it pays minus one twenty
and just those teams are gonna.
Speaker 2 (53:28):
Win there it is and start twenty twenty six off
on a winning note if you listen to Jeff Schwartz.
Of course, you can listen to them every Sunday morning
alongside Brian Noan Bill Krackenberger on Countdown to Kickoff, presented
by Bett MGM, each Sunday morning at ten o'clock Eastern Time,
seven Pacific, as they take you all the way to kickoff. Jeff,
we appreciate the time. Happy New Year, Talk to you
in twenty twenty six. Take care, guys, how good New Year.
Host
Doug Gottlieb
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