August 7, 2020 • 54 mins
Mike Blewitt is joined by Joe Lisi for this episode of Football Full Circle! The guys discuss the recent schedule changes to the college football season. They also take a look at some of the players who have decided to opt-out of the 2020 season. How will the SEC schedule look this year? Will Notre Dame be successful in the ACC? Mike and Joe breakdown some of the primetime matchups in college football this year.
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Weight loss starts with the mind, and nobody knows this
better than Martha Cameron, who lost twenty pounds on Noon Weight. Yeah.
I lost twenty pounds and kept it off. So Martha,
why did Noonwaight work so well for you? Well, Noon
was just a really positive weight loss experience for me,
and compared to other weight loss programs. They gave me
the freedom and flexibility to keep eating what I loved
and that made all the difference in the world because
(00:21):
it made me actually enjoy the process. You know what
I mean? Oh, we know, Martha. Learn how Noon's psychological
approach can alp you lose weight at noon dot com
what girls in the forest, our imagination and our family bonds.
The forest is closer than you think. Find a forest
near you and discover the fourth dot org brought to
(00:41):
you by the United States For Service and the AD Council.
Look for your children's eyes and you will discover the
true magic of a forest. Find a forest near you
and start exploring it. Discover the forest dot Org brought
to you by the United States Forest Service and the
Act count So Sports grid dot com betting insights and
(01:03):
entertainment at your fingertips as our team covers the most
important topics in sports wagering, real time odds, predictive betting models,
expert picks, and more want the edge than get on
the grid sports grid dot Com. Hey everybody, welcome to
Football Full Circle of the College edition. Myself with Joe
(01:24):
Leazi will take you around the world of college football
and all the updates that are necessary from this week.
Uh well, there's no real odds changes yet. I think
we're going to get to a point finally soon Joe.
Where as we get to the news this hour and
things starts getting settled as far as scheduling is concerned,
(01:44):
we can see some more odds potentially start to be released,
but we've been in a holding pattern on that for
a long time. We have Mike, but we have some
light at the end of the tunnel. We have more
clarity about which conferences will play conference only games, which
will play none out of conference games, the A, C, C,
and SEC, respectively. So we're starting two inch closer to
(02:06):
the start of the college football season, and as a
college football fan and analyst, that's what we look for. Yeah,
I agreed, and I think on this show we've tried
to be as pragmatic as possible. We will discuss the
secs finally confirmed plans, as well as the A C
C s. I'm surprised they're not identical, to be honest,
but we'll get into that in subsequent segments. What I
(02:27):
wanted to spend a few minutes on this segment is
something that has to be noted for any college football fan.
We've seen a couple of dozen players opt out in
the NFL, with potentially more to come, and now we
see the first at least high profile opt out in
college football, as evidence by this tweet here by Adam Schefter.
(02:47):
Virginia Tech cornerback Caleb Farley, a projected first round pick,
is the first college player to opt out of the
coming season. A source tells ESPN. Farley will spend the
year training from the NFL draft. He's seen NFL players
opt out, is uncomfortable with playing this year, so thoughts, well,
we expected it, right and when they when they did
the survey for the college football season, they surveyed around
(03:09):
seventy five athletes. About eighty seven to nine percent said
that they would move forward with the college football season,
you know, and take those risks. But ten percent said no,
and now we see the residual effects of that, Caleb
Farley opting out. I have no problem with it. Obviously,
his health is his number one concern. He wants to
train for the NFL Draft. He'll be a legitimate first
(03:32):
round selection. It's part of it. It's part of the
risk reward type of situation. If Virginia Tech, in my opinion,
then the elite team out of the coastal uh and
would have a great chance to knock off possibly Clemson
this year, as a legitimate top ten, top twenty five
team this year. But without him playing, what can you say?
(03:52):
I mean, it's just part of what we're seeing in
the landscape of college football. And do others follow I
still think though that Mike of the athletes will return
to campus for their respective teams this season. Yeah. Look,
we have walk ons, we have scholarship players. You called
it a hundred players per team, even though it's uh
and we're just doing round math. Even though you and
(04:14):
I both know there's a bigger schools there's even more
walk on than that. You can have as many as
a hundred and ten hundred and fifteen players all said
and done, so you're talking ten of that hundred, that's
ten players out times a hundred and thirty teams. You know,
starts to add up, that's thirteen hundred guys that could
conceivably opt out. For doing simple math like that, Do
(04:36):
I think the number will be that high? Probably not.
I think it probably comes in under. But as you
start to do the multiplication on it, it can still
be several hundred players that opt out because they don't
feel comfortable. Now, I will say that there's a difference
here in college football as opposed to the pros, where
everybody's getting paid and everybody's going after money. In college,
(04:56):
this is the subset of player that I would expect
to opt out. I'm a first round draft pick. I
don't know what's going to happen. I don't want to
put myself at risk. Are we gonna win the national championship?
Probably not. I'm a first round pick. In fact, according
to Pro Football Focus, Caleb Farley was the number one
cornerback in the NFL draft. So give me your thoughts
(05:19):
about him as a player. Now. He's a physical, blue
collar kid. He can play man to man coverage. He's
physical and run support and really stepped up for the Hokeys.
I think when you look at the risk reward, he's
saying to himself, if I get hurt this year without
fall camp, let's say, starting on time, I run the
risk of losing millions of dollars. And that's really what
(05:40):
it comes down to, on top of the COVID situation.
So I think it's built type of situations melded together
the fact that we have a pandemic crisis taking place
across the United States and the world right now. And
then I want to say, the lack of preparation from
just the n C Double A and the conferences as
a whole. We still talked about it at the start
(06:01):
of the show. They're not all on the same page.
So obviously Virginia Tech might have a different process and
procedure than maybe Clemson does. And maybe he saw that
and wanted to opt out because in his best interest,
he needs to get to the NFL and needs to
be a first round selection. So again I don't have
a problem with it. He's a definite first round selection
(06:22):
and one of the best players on that defense, and
hopefully we wish him well and see and where he
gets drafted in in late May, and I think he
made a good point about it. Not just not it's
not just isolating the COVID situation and how it could
impact him. It is the stop and start nature of this.
There has been far less practice. We don't know exactly
(06:45):
how many practices they'll be able to get in full
padded practices and everything else regarding conditioning in Major League Baseball.
We're at one weekend and we lost Corey Kluber, Clayton Kershaw,
and Justin Verlander, two of them for long term per
perhaps the entire season. Kershaw is still a question mark.
Was that due to the stop start nature of the season.
(07:06):
Will never know, but it's something that people are going
to consider, people like Caleb Farley will consider. Will there
be other high profile opt outs. I'm sure there will be,
and we'll keep you informed here on Football Full Circle.
Thank you to the radio audience for listening in on
this segment, and we will continue to to push through
to the other topics. We're gonna talk SEC next and
(07:28):
exactly what they've decided to do with their schedule. Will
talk a CEC after that. But as it stands right now,
Caleb Farley really the first high profile player to opt
out you yeah, and again you you brought up great
points by I think you know when you look at
the situation, just full circle football, full circle, you have
(07:49):
to say that his health is his number one concern
heading to one. Uh, you know, for for the sake
of being entertained by college football. If we want the
best players out there playing, it won't happen in Caleb
Barley's case. Again, we'll keep it locked, keep it locked here,
We'll keep the updated. So we'll come back. We'll talk NTC.
What have they decided to do with their schedule for
(08:09):
the season. It's Mike and Joe Football Full Circle will
be right back after this. Sports grid dot Com Betting
Insights and entertainment at your fingertips seven as our team
covers the most important topics in sports wagering, real time odds,
predictive betting models, expert picks, and more want the edge
than get on the grid. Sports grid dot Com. Adoption
(08:33):
of teams from foster care is a topic not enough
people know about, and we're here to change that. I'm
April Dinuity, host of the new podcast Navigating Adoption, presented
by adopt us Kids. Each episode brings you compelling, real
life adoption stories told by the families that lived them,
with commentary from experts. Visit adopt us Kids dot org,
slash podcast, or subscribe to Navigating Adoption, presented by adopt
(08:55):
us Kids, brought to you by the U. S Department
of Health, that Human Services Administration for Children and Families,
and the ACT Council. I'm John Gonzalez, the host of
Sports Illustrated Weekly. Sports Illustrated has delivered the best storytelling
in sports for seventy years, first in the pages of
the magazine, then on SI dot com, and now that
(09:16):
tradition continues on a new podcast. Each week, we'll dive
deep into the best stories from around the sports world.
We'll ask the questions that we're all wondering and push
for the answers we all want. Everything from investigating the
Super Bowl's impact on l A to examining white booing
is as big a part of the fan experience as cheering.
Sports Illustrated Weekly is here to bring you the entertaining
(09:39):
tales you can't get anywhere else, the kinds of stories
that make you smile and laugh, clap and cry, marvel,
think and fall in love with sports all over again.
Sports Illustrated Weekly is available every Wednesday on the I
Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Subscribe Now, what grows in the forest trees. Sure no
(10:06):
one else grows in the forest. Our imagination, our sense
of wonder, and our family bonds grow too, because when
we disconnect from this and connect with this, we reconnect
with each other. The forest is closer than you think.
Find a forest near you and start exploring. I Discover
(10:27):
the Forest dot org. Brought to you by the United
States Forest Service and the AD Council. Back on the Grid,
(10:51):
Football full Circle along with your leasy Find him on
Twitter at go for the two. He's a host of
College Football Today right here on the Grid. I'm at
Mike blewett Um. Feel free to follow me on Twitter
at Mike blewett and uh follow us all on Twitter
at sports Grade, on Instagram at sports Gride TV. So
big news, slightly surprising news, Joe and that the SEC
(11:15):
has decided to adopt a conference only schedule and they
will not get started until September. This comes on the
heels of the A s C, which we will actually
discuss in the next segment. But the SEC adopts the
conference only schedule with a late start, so it eliminates
(11:35):
a lot of games that we're looking forward to, but
they will keep in place the two seven team divisions
heading towards an SEC title game on December nineteenth, obviously
later that normal due to the late start, but league
teams will play two more opponents from their opposite division. Normally,
(11:56):
the SEC schedule would include six inner division teams, so
you play your entire division and then one against a
permanent team from the division, once against a rotating team
from the opposite division. So you just add two more
from the opposite division, and there we go. You have
your ten games. So what's your biggest surprise of all
of this? When the news broke late Thursday afternoon, Mike
(12:17):
of the SEC canceling all out of conference games, I
almost fell off my chair. I had to do with
double take, because out of all the conferences in terms
of the Power five, the conference that I thought would
least give in to that type of scenario would have
been the SEC teams like l s U, Alabama, Georgia, Auburn.
I mean, the list goes on and on, Florida. I mean,
(12:39):
the top twenty five teams that are in that conference alone,
and the mare quee matchups that we were ready to
watch in terms of Labor Day weekend that are no
longer going to take place. I couldn't believe it. And
then coupled with the fact that now we're going to
kick off the schedule September twenty six, which is about
three weeks later than originally planned. Something must have happened
(13:03):
within the SEC in terms of leadership when they sat
down with their respective teams and coaches and got in
an opinion that said, this is the best scenario for
our conference and our players to make sure that we
finished the season, not just started. I mean that obviously.
If we're just talking about in terms of coronavirus, Texas
(13:24):
A and m Tennessee, Florida are in states that are
going through significant outbreaks right now. So it's not to
say that Louisiana, Alabama and the others aren't experiencing their
own problems, nor is it saying that states all around
the country haven't experienced this stuff. But in terms of
the SEC footprint, those states in particular um are on
(13:47):
the on the heat, not so to speak. So you
mentioned Labor Day weekend, they were scheduled we had three
games in Atlanta while we had two SEC teams that
we're going to play high profile games in neutral site games.
One was going to be on Sunday, September six, when
Mississippi was going to play Baylor at NRG Stadium in Houston.
(14:09):
That's out. Georgia was set to play Virginia on Labor
Day in Atlanta. That's out because the a c C
had bumped back their season. Now a day later, the
SEC comes in with, you know what, forget all the
nonconflict nonconference games were done. I assume Joe, they feel
that they're competitive enough. Again, I have to pause here
(14:31):
and say, we have to discuss all of this as
if this season is going to go mostly according to plan.
We understand there could be cancelations, there could be stuff
like what's happened with Major League Baseball. We have to
have this conversation as if things will happen. I don't
consider it to be a fruitless conversation because we're trying
to prepare for the season as if it's going to happen.
(14:53):
So I'm off my soapbox. I'll just say, um, the
Georgia Virginia game is probably one that people are getting
excited to watch. But once the a SEC put things
in motion, and now the SEC thing puts things in motion,
I assume that they feel that their conference is powerful,
powerful enough top to bottom that even playing an abbreviated schedule,
(15:15):
perhaps even a game less than some of these other
teams that will be considered at the top of the rankings,
isn't a problem for them. The league's strength is good
enough for them to get somebody or two teams in
the playoff without a doubt. The SEC is the elite
you know conference out out of all the Power five,
even though you can make the argument that the Big
ten is catching up rather quickly in the last couple
(15:35):
of years. But to your point, in terms of some
of the regions that are that are struggling right now,
Texas and Florida, you look at a Big twelve, they're
not having the same type of sentiment teams like TCU,
Teams like Texas Tech and Texas they're moving ahead. They've
actually said that they wanted to have fifty percent capacity
in the stadium for for long run games. So you're
(15:57):
not seeing that same type of sentiment up roust the
Power five. I think when you look at some of
the games that we're gonna lose out on. It's not
just the Labor Day Week games, because you could throw
in Auburn and North Carolina into the mix, and then
Alabama was scheduled to play USC they were supposed to
or had talks so would rather be y U step
in or Notre Dame? So throw that out the window.
(16:19):
But the September twelve games really hinge on terms of
a national landscape and enthusiasm and TV broadcast. You're gonna
lose out on Texas traveling to Baton Rouge to face
l s U. That matchup took place on September twelve.
That's gone. And Oklahoma Tennessee in Norman was a huge
game for the volunteers and Jeremy Pruitt forget that along
(16:43):
with Ohio State Oregon that was supposed to take place
in Eugene and the a C C U SEC rivalry
games were thought maybe the door was open when the
a SEC announced their plan, but those games had to
be in state by a SEC rule, so it had
made them effectively all home games, although Georgia Georgia Tech
that could have been played on Georgia's campus Florida, Florida
(17:05):
State could have been played on Florida's Florida could have
been played on either campus, and uh, you know, Kentucky, Louisville,
South Carolina, Clemson. Those four rivalry games would have been
open to being played via the a SECS by laws
and still with the SEC being added in. But perhaps
they assumed that not all of the fourteen teams could
(17:26):
scramble to find a worthy opponent opponent, so they just
eliminated that because if you know, if A and M
isn't able to play anybody in state because they didn't
have room, it just would have gotten difficult. The landscape
got a lot harder for the top teams in the country.
And I'm just gonna talk about the SEC right now.
In terms of Alabama. Traditionally, you look at last year
(17:49):
in terms of strength of schedule, Alabama had one of
the weakest in terms of the SEC dead last five
percent winning percentage. Now Alabama is gonna face Florida. They
have never faced Florida in the regular season almost every
other ten years or decade. Now they're gonna face Florida.
They're gonna face Georgia at home in Tuscaloosa, those are
(18:10):
two critical battles for Alabama this year that wouldn't have
taken place with the scenario in terms of COVID. So
we're gonna see that. We're gonna see Florida, Texas, A
and M. We're gonna see Ole Miss in Tennessee. So
we have a schedule that really is gonna be entertaining
and and this is gonna be a different but unique
(18:31):
college football season, and I really can't wait to see
how it plays out. We mentioned a few of the
games that were lost. You said Tennessee, Ogloma, LSU, Texas,
Mississippi State was going to play NC State, Baylor, Ole Miss.
I mentioned Arkansas was playing Notre Dame Vandy, Kansas State.
That's gone A and M, Colorado, Alabama USC as a
result of a previous decision by the Pac twelve. And
(18:52):
then Georgia Virginia and Auburn North Carolina that we've mentioned
as well. So those are I mean that's late alone.
That's a lot of good games that go by the wayside. Obviously, Uh,
it's still good news that they're moving forward with this
ten game schedule. It doesn't seem like there will be
any adjustments this conferences are starting to settle in to
what they feel comfortable with, Joe, they really are and
(19:14):
it should play out in the month of December, Mike
for the college football Playoff, which teams are gonna be
really prepared at the end of the year, not just
on the field, but from the COVID aspect. And maybe
that's why the SEC has for more time. Yeah, I
think that's possible. A conference only model eliminates games against
Group of five and FCS teams. Those buy games. SEC
(19:37):
teams pay steep prices, sometimes as much as one and
a half million dollars a game to their traveling competitors.
In fact, SEC teams in paid out more than forty
five million dollars in buy games, according to end the
School and see a reports obtained by s It's obtained
by Sports Illustrated. I should note that the author of
(19:57):
this article is Ross Dellinger. Uh really good college football writers.
So that's really it. As far as the SEC is concerned.
We will continue and track to see as all the
games are released we will get a sense of how
we can pin down what the odds might look like.
Who has a better schedule, weaker schedule. I think they
(20:17):
need a little bit more time in order to get
all of that stuff settled. But I think we're days away,
possibly Joe, from having that, so we'll come back. We'll
talk about the a c c S decision to go
to Conference plus one after this. On the Grid, it's
Mike and Joe will be right back. Sports grid dot
Com betting insights and entertainment at your fingertips as our
(20:38):
team covers the most important topics in sports wagering, real
time odds, predictive betting models, expert picks, and more. Want
the edge than get on the grid. Sports grid dot Com.
The NFL Podcast Network is your home for all things football.
Do you love hearing analysis around the league with a
(20:58):
touch of mirth, Or maybe you enjoy breaking down x
and os in the college scouting scene. Did you breathe, sleep,
and eat fantasy football? Perhaps you love the funny headlines
that emerge each week. What if you want in depth
news coverage with reporters, or what if you want to
know exactly how each team got its name? While you're
(21:20):
in luck, because the NFL Podcast Network has a show
for everybody. Our best network has the NFL's best talent,
bringing you right into the action each week. There's always
room to add more football into your podcast rotation, and
our vast group of shows will surely keep you up
to date with everything you need to know surrounding the
National Football League. Listen on the I Heart Radio app,
(21:42):
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Look for
your children's eyes to see the true magic of a forest.
It's a storybook world for them. You look and see
a tree, They see the wrinkled face of a wizard
with times outstretched to the sky. They see treasure and pebbles.
(22:03):
They see a windy path that could lead to adventure,
and they see you. They're fearless. Guide. Is this fascinating world?
Find a forest near you and start exploring and discovered
the forest dot Org brought to you by the United
States Forest Service and the ad Council. This is Logan Ryan,
Captain New York Giants and hosts of the NFL Player Podcasts.
(22:24):
We're trying some different an active NFL player hosting a
podcast which is for NFL players and legends as much
as it for the fans. This is my first podcast
and I'm pretty excited about it. We're gonna talk football,
but also about lots of other issues that affect us all.
We'll be talking with other players and legends, so it's
gonna be real and an honest look at life in
the NFL. Listen to the NFL Players Podcast on the
(22:45):
I Heart Radio, wapp or wherever you get your podcasts.
You're watching sports one Back on the Grid, Mike and
(23:15):
Joe talking about the a c c s decision to
move forward with their football season. Now, as we're going
over these conferences and decisions made, it has to be
noted that in the case of the SEC they've noted
September is the plan to move forward doesn't mean it's
definitely going to happen. Uh. They've got a lot of
issues with students that may or may not be coming
(23:37):
back to campus. I've heard of anecdotal issues where students
are just deciding to defer for a year. If you're
a freshman, you defer, you enter some sort of service program,
and you can come back. I think a lot of
students will consider doing that if they can't be on
campus and experience college the way that they intended. So
(23:57):
imagine the difficulty of link university issues and how football
or any other sports can play into it, So the
a c C confirms that Notre Dame will play a
ten game conference schedule and be eligible for the league
title game. In addition to that, the a c C
also and that, and that was a couple of days ago.
(24:19):
Then they also announced that they are moving to a
eleven game schedule across the board, playing a ten game
conference schedule plus one. That plus one game show has
to be an in state game, so doesn't mean it
has to be an in state rival. But you take
my alma mater, Boston College, they would probably play a
(24:42):
team that's local. It could be a Yukon or U
mass in order to fill in that game. Based on
all of these other things, it's like you said in
the last segment, they're not gonna have an SEC team
or a Pack twelve team or a Big ten team
travel The Big twelve hasn't shut it down yet, but
with the other four saying their conference only except for
the a CEC, that would be the only other option.
(25:02):
But do we really think that Big twelve teams and
a SEC teams are gonna get together when it's gonna
be all a CEC home games. That seems unlikely. It does,
but I like the model that the a c C
put forth, and and I credited the way they moved forward.
They put out the schedule on Wednesday night of this week,
and they got fans excited. They gave us matchups that
(25:24):
were not traditionally gonna see. I mean, you look at
the Clemson Tigers overall, their schedule got a lot harder
from the start of the year. I mean, they're gonna
face Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech, possibly two of the best
defensive fronts that came out of the coast. So now
Clemson faces them. So those are the type of matchups
that we're gonna see. Notre Dame played Florida State a
(25:46):
couple of years ago, they're gonna play them again. So
and I think that they did the right decision as
well with the out of conference games, giving the local
FCS schools the potential to earn our paycheck from the
a c C. Because these schools are losing or hemorrhaging
money right now. Mike, you look at just you know,
Virginia Tech within the conference. If they don't play football
(26:08):
in Virginia Tech, postes could lose seventy million dollars to
that school or university so you know, money does drive
the bus, as it always does. But I like the
model set forth by the a c C this year.
So each the season will commence over a span of
several days from September seven to September twelve. Each conference
(26:28):
school have two by weekends in a season that, if played,
would be stretched out over thirteen weeks. Uh that we
talked about the Chick fil A games going by the
wayside that impact a Florida State, West Virginia, Georgia, Virginia,
and North Carolina Auburn Notre Dame, that Navy BC at Kansas,
Florida State at Boise State are affected as well, along
(26:50):
with a handful of other games. So the a SEC
confirms that for the kicker who Notre Dames playing the
ten game conference schedule, they'd be eligible to play in
the league championship game. They're going with one conference, no divisions,
whereas the SEC keeps the divisions in place. The a
SEC decides to go to one division show this is
(27:10):
what COVID has brought about. I think it's great though
that Notre Dame has joined the conference. They're taking the
Big twelve type of model where you take the top
two teams, and whichever top two teams in the standings
they go to the conference championship games. So again, I
like the fact that they mixed it up. I like
that we have some intriguing matchups and this is gonna
(27:30):
be a very competitive a c C schedule. In terms
of the football season, Clemson head and shoulders above the rest,
but it's gonna be a lot horner in terms of
their road getting back to the a c C championship game. Yeah.
So the the championship team will be played in Charlotte
either the weekend of December twelve or nineteen. I'm not
(27:51):
sure why it's shifting. It had been scheduled for December five.
The Navy possibly maybe did that weekend of the twelve, right,
I guess, I guess that's right. Yeah, the Fighting Irish
would be also eligible to claim the ACC's Orange Bowl
birth if it's not in the college football. That's a
monumental development. For this reason, Notre Dame has never played
(28:14):
in a conference championship game before Joe, since it began
playing the sport way back in here's time for your
tribute question. What year? What year did they start playing
a conference? A conference scheme When didn't Notre Dame start
playing football, that's the question. It never played in a
conference game, So they started playing eighteen forty six. I
(28:34):
have no idea eighteen eighty seven, close enough. It's post
Civil War, not pre Civil war. Uh. They've been a
football independent for each one of those one hundred and
thirty three seasons. And as you stated, they released the schedule,
So we have a bunch of games on the late
now that we can take a look at. Uh. They
did it in a crazy graphic oriented way, so I'll
(28:58):
try to, uh try to keep them as much as possible. Now,
all the dates are to be announced. They're still arranging this.
But let's take Clemson you mentioned before. Their home games
are BC Miami Pit, Syracuse, Virginia road games, Florida State,
Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest. So you
(29:18):
throw a Notre Dame road game on there, that makes
your schedule a little trickier than it was. Do we
think Clemson is better than Notre Dame this year? Absolutely,
but they're not undefeated. Their damned close to it, Clemson,
but they're not undefeated in conference play and playing Notre
Dame on the road is a little kicker. Yeah, that is.
I mean that game was scheduled prior. But the game
that stands out for me, Mike, the game that stands
(29:41):
out for me when you just I mentioned Virginia Tech
and Pittsburgh those two games, and now you add Dieri
King in Miami an elite quarterback as well. I mean
when you go back prior to you know, in the
mid two thousand's, Clemson and Miami played some stellar games.
Go to that matchup in the in the Orange Bowl.
Would see J. A. Spiller and Jacobe Ford back in
(30:02):
in two thousand and nine. I mean, there's been some
fantastic finishes. So I mean again, Clemson head and shoulders
above the rest within the conference forty nine and four
straight up since two thousand and fourteen. But you now
throw in some of these coastal matchups gonna be a
lot harder for the Clemson Tigers to get back there.
You mentioned de Eric King. Here's their schedules. They play
(30:25):
at home, Florida State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, pitt Virginia.
There on the road at Clemson, Louisville, n C State,
Virginia Tech, Wake Forest. Look a lot of these schedules
are going to look similar this year because they're playing
mostly a conference schedule, But you do duck a few
teams obviously, and George in Miami schedule doesn't really feel
(30:47):
like they ducked anybody, right. They have Florida State and
Clemson on their Louisville Virginia Tech obviously lost their big
player in Caleb Farley, but they and Sam how You're
in love with Sam how So they got to face
a tough quarterback there. And its defense. We keep Pitts
defense comes up over and over on the show, whether
it's you or Rich Jermanello, the other host of College
Football Today, Uh Pitt has a really tough defense to
(31:09):
contend against. So whether these games are scheduled prior or not,
Miami has a full slate of games here against teams
that are not soft opponents within the conference, not at all.
And Miami's weakness, Mike, on top of not having fall camp,
has been the offensive line. We've talked about a fifty
one sacks allowed as a unit. That unit develops in
(31:29):
spring camp, it develops all all summer long in terms
of strength and conditioning, and then in fall camp. Now
throw in a new quarterback in Diera King. I mean,
he's one of the most athletic in college football. But
playing within a suspect offensive line would have cohesiveness. That's
gonna be a problem. And you mentioned pitt Virginia Tech
(31:50):
possibly again, they have about eight storters coming back. Takeaway
Caleb Farley from that defense. This is a legitimate defensive
front for Justin Flente and the Hope eas And you
look at some of the other quarterbacks, Hendon Hooker from
Virginia Tech. You have Kenny Pickett from Pittsburgh that is
a senior quarterback. So these are the type of teams
that are standing in the way of potential roadblocks for
(32:13):
Clemson in Miami, and it's gonna be intriguing. The a
c C did it right. They had TV ratings in
mind as well when they developed this schedule. So Notre Dame,
let's talk about them in the context of this specifically.
Obviously it's the biggest change to all of this. They
gave Notre Dame a bailout. They're already playing six opponents anyway,
so some would say, oh, they didn't really extend themselves
(32:35):
that much, but I think it makes sense that it's A.
It's a working business relationship. I don't have any faith
that Notre Dame is going to be a permanent a
CC member in football anytime soon. I'm sure they got
some of the TV revenue shared with them for this arrangement.
But in terms of how all of the teams line up,
Clemson's at the top, is Notre Dame next? Yeah, Notre
(32:59):
Dame in Virginia Tech on the two top in my opinion,
and I know Pittsburgh's defensive front is there. But the
struggle for Pittsburgh was offensive consistency. So they went average
five and a half yorks to carry. Two years ago
they dipped to three and a half yards per carry.
Kenny Pickett hasn't developed, but Ian Book, in my opinion
now was the second best quarterback behind Trevor Lawrence. That
(33:20):
offense is explosive, the defense has playmakers, and Brian Kelly
has lost the Clemson over the last couple of meetings,
so he's chomping at that bit for that November six matchup.
How about a dark horse team here, Louisville. They've bounced back,
rebuilt a little quicker than we might have anticipated. Florida
State dealing with yet another new head coach. Any other
(33:44):
dark horses out there. I'd love to for you to
say my alma mater, but I don't have any expectations there.
The first year coach now meet Cal cutting him in Louisville.
Are loaded offensively, Javian Hawkins to to at Well, Dez Fitzpatrick.
I mean this is a nine potential nine when football team.
I mean prior, this was prior with the old schedule.
(34:04):
With the new schedule, got a little bit more difficult
than need defense, needs consistency, but I'll still say it there.
I like Virginia Tech. I like Hendon Hooker thirteen touchdown passes,
two interceptions. Both interceptions came against Virginia in the last
regular season game. Their defenses loaded. Trade Turner was a
big play wide receiver. I like Justin Flente and what
(34:26):
he has in terms of a foundation with Virginia Tech
and Black Blacksburg. Virginia Tech road games are Duke, Louisville,
North Carolina, Pitt in Wake Forest, UM Louisville's road games, RBC,
Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, Pitt and Virginia. So all the schedules,
like I said, are looked pretty much the same. We'll
(34:50):
start to see how these lineup as the dates come
out as a line up a little bit better for
other teams, and we'll start to take a look at
some of these individual matchups of these lines that are
on the board now on a big dual sports book.
Joe and I'll talk about it right after this on
Football Full Circle. Get on the Grid Sports grid dot
Com Betting insights and entertainment at your fingertips as our
team covers the most important topics in sports wagering, real
(35:13):
time odds, predictive betting models, expert picks, and more. Want
the edge than Get on the Grid sports grid dot Com.
(35:51):
Back on the Grid, Mike and Joe talking about college
football right now, and a little bit of bad news
regarding the COVID situation Rutgers COVID nineteen outbreak. This is,
according to John Taylor from College Football uh Talk on
NBC Sports outbreak reportedly tied to party attended by several
football players. So I think this is going to be
(36:12):
an issue for a while. Joe. I think much in
the way that baseball players, I think culturally are used
to going out because they're going from city to city
there on the road so long. College players, they're young.
We're talking about nine twenty year olds. In many instances,
they're gonna go out there. They don't feel like they're
going to be in a harm's way from the virus.
(36:34):
And by and large, a lot of the cases are
asymptomatic or mild. But it's the after effects. It's not
about them being sick, them being hospitalized, them being on ventilators. Necessarily,
it is about what happens to the logistics of the program.
And Rutgers had to shut it down because a bunch
of players attested positive. And what's interesting, Mike, is the
(36:57):
fact that it's a new head coach slash old head
coach and Greg Ciano. Now, so you know, when a
new head coach comes in, it takes a while. They
have to have team meetings, he has to establish the foundation.
And unfortunately, without fall spring camp excuse me, taking place,
I'm sure that that factored into the coaching staff being
(37:19):
able to at least inform their players about what they
expect what they need to do from a book precaution standpoint,
that one on one coaching that takes place throughout the year,
and and unfortunately Rutgers is that Uh, the wrong side
of the spectrum in Michigan State as well, another new
head coach in terms of Melt Tucker and the same
(37:39):
type of situation within the Big Twelve. And that's the
type of situation that we have to monitor because we
see teams like Oklahoma with a veteran coaching staff in
Lincoln Riley last week again no positive tests. So that's
the type of situation that we have to monitor as
the month of August comes around. Week by week, Clemson
(38:00):
had a ton of cases. Ut Oklahoma, they've been drying
able to drive those cases down. Judith Parish Chiley, the
state health commissioner for New Jersey state in which you live, Joe.
She said, here there's been an outbreak of Rutgers football players,
with fifteen of them currently testing positive. She said, while
grouping together list of indoor and outdoor gatherings. These examples.
(38:22):
I was here today account for one new cases of
COVID etcetera, etcetera. Uh So, uh, that's the reality. I think.
You know what's funny is I think funny strange is
that a lot of people out there, like gosh, I
just don't know anybody that's gotten this virus. It's it's
terrible what's happening on TV. Some people are less convinced,
(38:42):
but I have a similar anecdotal story a friend of mine,
back before New York was even even really in shutdown mode.
It was right around that time, he had gone to
a party not dissimilar to what these UH players have done.
This guy's a lot younger than me as a friend
UH younger brother of a friend, and he and his
(39:03):
fiance went to this party. A week later, most of
the party had symptoms. His ended up being where he
felt like he had the flu for a bunch of days.
Fiance feels like she had she lost her taste, sense
of taste, and smell. So they're young people. They bounced back.
They're having a good summer. But again it's just indicative
of not how sick they can get, which could be severe.
(39:28):
And obviously getting coaches and older people involved with the
program involved makes it a little bit riskier, But it's
just about having to do with Oklahoma and Clemson did
and drive these cases down aggressively. Quarantine wear, masks v
sanitary those are the types of things that every all
on programs, plus they're going to have to get used
(39:49):
to they're gonna have to do it and they're gonna
have to be consistent in terms of their approach. And
that's the mindset of football players, right They're strong, they're big,
they're physical, But we're talking about virus that you can't see,
you can't really really dictate, or you can't understand where
it affects you or how it's going to affect you.
(40:10):
You need to take proper precaution. And and when you
look at both of those programs, like we mentioned Rutgers
of Michigan State, unfortunately they've been under five programs now
Michigan State seven and six over the last couple of years.
But they're going in the opposite directions as some of
the other teams that we mentioned, like Clemson, like Alabama,
(40:31):
like the top tier programs Oklahoma. Where's the mindset? I
think mindset has a lot to play in this type
of situation as well. You know, when new kids come
into school or a program, they don't know what to expect.
And we understand that in Oklahoma, Clemson, l s U, Alabama,
there's a culture there and it takes a while for
(40:51):
the coach to instill that culture in In the mindset
of the team, So it's a feeling out process. Each
team has to deal with it. But it's gonna be
a situation, a team by team scenario that plays out
week to week in college football, and we have to
monitory Shadow is not Shanno is not somebody that's unaccustomed
(41:15):
to discipline and unaccustomed to winning cultures. So I'm sure
they'll all get on the same page very shortly. So
one thing I wanted to do to have a little
bit more fun. There has been more lines released on
the Vandals Sports Book in terms of college football games. Now, uh,
they still have some editing to do. Uh, full disclosure,
there's some games on their listed with an improper date.
(41:37):
And look, this is all happening very quickly. Within the
last couple of days as we're filming this, A C,
C and SEC teams have changed their schedules completely. So
you're gonna go on the Vandal Sports Book. Just give
them a day or so. They'll adjust some of the
dates of these games. And there's still more dates to
be released, but let's go with some of the ones
(41:57):
that are still on the schedule. We don't have odds
for some of those early Big twelve games that are
still on Missouri State at Oklahoma Southern miss at Kansas.
Time is to be determined on that, but we assume
right now, Joe, that those are the first games that
are going to happen. The Big Twelve has not pushed
back their start. They haven't said conference only, so we
(42:17):
can assume those to be the first two. We don't
have odds on those yet. Is that fair to say that?
Is that that's fair? And expect Oklahoma to be about
a thirty to thirty five point favorite in that matchup
with Spencer Rattler taking over at the helm for Lincoln
Riley's offense. And I think that when you look at
Oklahoma's decision to play that game August twenty nine, it
was due in part to their September twelfth game that
(42:40):
just got canceled with Tennessee to give them an extra
game in terms of preparation and then have a bye
week before that matchup. So now their schedule changes a bit.
So I think when you look at Kansas and less
miles again, they need to start fast. He's an offense
and a defensive line that's in transition. They need to
build an identity before they get into conference place. So
(43:03):
there's a reason why both of those teams are starting
the season on August twenty nine. But again, I don't
blame them for it. The earlier that you could kick
it off and get your team in terms of the consistency, Mike, right,
the creatures a habit. The earlier that you could kick
off your season and establish that gives your team an
opportunity to at least have a successful season. Yeah, so
(43:26):
that's the funky thing, right. There was a moment I
felt like, probably three or four weeks ago when you
and I talked, where we were trying to make sure
that these seasons all kicked off as soon as possible
so that we can get done with them quicker more quickly.
But the way things have evolved, it's becoming pretty obvious
(43:47):
that for the most part, it's going to be difficult
to kick off on time because of the things we're
seeing with Rutgers, with Michigan State. So some of these
conferences have taken pause and said, you know what, let's
not do it on August twenty nine. Let's do it
on September twelve. Let's talk about that first game Clemson Louisville.
We still have listed right now, September twelve, just assuming
(44:07):
that that's now that's going to happen, not being to
not be an adjusted game. Clemson twenty one and a
half point favorites on the road at Louisville, and this
could be a tough opening start for Clemson because again,
game one, you want to work out the kinks, you
want to build a quarterback to wide receiver relationship. Clemson's
(44:28):
leading wide receiver, Justin Ross is not there. He's hurt
for the year. So where's Clemson's mindset? Last year they
opened up and demolished Georgia Tech, which was a one
dimensional offense with Jeff Collins at the helm, and went
from a triple option attack to a more balanced attack.
Now they're playing one of the most lethal offenses within
the conference with their quarterback Mikael Cunningham. And Mikael Cunningham
(44:51):
is a dual threat quarterback. He rushed for over four
hundred yards average four yards per carry. Like I said before,
two big play wide receivers to two at well Dez Fitzpatrick,
and throw in fifteen hundred yard rusher j Beyond Hawkins.
This is a tough animal Week one for Clemson twenty
one and a half is a huge number. But keep
(45:12):
in mind, Mike, you look at Clemson's margin of victory
within the a c C last year ten and oh
they won by thirty six point seven points per game.
So Clemson should be favorite. But it's a very difficult
week one matchup. Yeah, so bumping up to the next one,
Week three, which is now listen as Week three, it's
(45:33):
gonna end up being Week one and a half or
week two. Uh. We got Minnesota, Iowa, Alabama, Georgia listed
here on the nineteenth, So that would be Alabama currently
a seven point under favorite on the road against Georgia.
What do you think? Yeah, I would lay the wood
here with with Alabama. Now that's not to take away
(45:55):
from my Georgia Bulldogs. Those those people that know me
know that I backed George in a big way. But
Jamie Newman, making the road start in Tuscaloosa without the
preparation is going to be the making what if it's
in Athens? If it's in Athens? Now see the reason
I pause because we have to say if, because there's
(46:17):
some things that aren't potentially going to change. So we're
taking a look as it as scheduled currently Alabama would
be at Georgia. Now things can change. Since they've reduced
to ten games, they move some things around. It's possibly
see some games get eliminated, some added. But if Alabama
remains at Georgia on the nineteens, what do you think,
(46:38):
sorry with no fans were less than let's say I'm
taking out with Bam and Mac Jones. I really am
in that type of atmosphere. Let's let's look at the
wide receiver position. Jalen Wattle is there, DeVonta Smith not
j Harris, those players have played there before. You still
have a raw offensive line that loses three starters with
(46:59):
George Jamie Newman transfers in George Pickens only a sophomore?
Is a Mere White is only a sophomore? Give me
Alabama and that type of scenario about we got one
more here in the SEC Ole miss at Auburn that
same day, nine and a half point favorites are Auburn
hosting Mississippi with Lincoln like Auburn. Auburn, prior to this
(47:22):
whole COVID situation, was my pick to win the SEC West.
I'm not backing down now. I love what uh Gus
miles On has done in terms of the progression of
his quarterback boat. Next they add Chad Morris, the former
SMU and Arkansas coaches offensive play caller. That should bring
more balanced And when you just look at the defensive
(47:43):
line for ole Miss, they stepped up last year under
Mike McIntyre Chris Partridge a new defensive scheme. I liked
the physicality of Auburn in that matchup. Last game for
this segment, Stanford playing USC that same day would potentially
be September nineteenth. We're gonna act as if that happens.
Right now, USC is a nine point favorite at home. Yeah,
(48:07):
I would lay the wood with us C. I'm not
sold on the consistency of Stanford. They got away from
their identity. Give me Keaton Slovis and armand st Brown
to dominate that matchup. How about one more? If I
dip into the next week, I want to see this
game is still happening Clemson? Uh Now, it says Clemson.
With the new sec A CEC football schedule, it says
(48:29):
Clemson is hosting Virginia. Ray have it listed here as
a Virginia home game A thirty and a half point underdog.
Do you think Clemson's gonna put up almost a five
touchdown win against Virginia. They did in the in the
in the a SEC Championship game, and that was with
Bryce Perkins at the helm. You have a new quarterback
(48:50):
that comes over. Uh in terms of Keaton Thompson for
Mississippi State transferred into Virginia, so again with him at
the helm, it doesn't matter to me is the superior team.
Although Charles Snowden an elite talent from the linebacker fur
of Virginia. Keep an eye out for him and he's
definitely a first round talent. Yeah, I think they could
have used the game at home fans or no fans,
(49:11):
but not looking good for them. We're gonna come back
close out this hour of football Full Circle with Joe
and myself will be right back on the grid after this.
Sports grid dot Com betting insights and entertainment at your
fingertips as our team covers the most important topics in
sports wagering, real time odds, predictive betting models, expert picks,
(49:33):
and more want the edge than get on the grid.
Sports grid dot Com closing out this hour of Football
Full Circle and Ross Dellinger again from sports Illustree. I've
been using him a lot lately for some good information.
(49:55):
The n c A is allowing schools to begin camp
according to their previously schedule old season openers, So that
means it's a seven week preseason for the SEC unless
the conference are schools determined differently. The n c A
is not expected to, so the normal twenty hour rule
week kicks in once the season, once classes start, so
(50:17):
you start to do the math. They're getting a seven
week preseason out of this. They seemingly get to prepare
longer than everybody else, and my wrong, or is everybody's
gonna be seven weeks? It seems like the SEC is
getting a longer preseason here. It does. I wonder if
Nick Saban had any input on that type of decision
(50:37):
by the SEC, because without spring camp, you know it
as well as anybody, Mike, These younger players need to
get to develop because they're gonna be instrumental if the
COVID situation plays out, and I'm sure that's in the
background of Kirby smart Edo geron Nick Saban. If players
go down, you need to know who you can turn
(51:00):
to without even thinking about it, and that's I'm sure
what Nick Saban and those SEC coaches are thinking about
in terms of the extra weeks of preparation. Yeah so.
Greg Sanky also said that the SEC's mid season bye
week is going to be spread to all schools over
a three week stretch. He didn't elaborate beyond that. He
said there will be a December twelve shared off week,
(51:21):
so that title game is the nineteen. It looks like
nobody will play on the twelfth in order to ensure
that they have some sort of break, assuming if and
when bowl games happen. You and I both love the
bowl games. Even though there's tons of them out there
that you know, there's not a lot of attendance. Are
these bowl games but interesting show to watch? I would
say that in general, I don't know what the story
(51:45):
is going to be with the bowl games. Do do
they get rid of them? Do they still have it
in place? What do you think? I would like to
pose a scenario for the bowl games? I say this,
let's have the College Football playoff, Let's take the bowl
game type of scenario, and let's have like an n
T type of tournament for the group of five and
the other remaining Power five teams. I think that would
(52:06):
be fantastic. It's not bad, but you know those guys
are gonna want to start prepping for the draft even
at some of those schools. So uh, We'll continue to
try to get more information as we go along. I
think Vandals Sports Book has got a lot to work
on in terms of getting these new games some odds,
and we'll be excited when they do. It might even
be assumed as next week when Joe appears so on
(52:29):
behalf of our producer Brian Rotkowski, Joe Leasy at Go
for the Two on Twitter, and co host of College
Football Today Mike Lewett. We'll see on Football full circle
next time. Get on the Grid sports grid dot Com
Betting insights and entertainment at your fingertips seven as our
team covers the most important topics in sports wagering, real
(52:49):
time odds, predictive betting models, expert picks, and more want
the edge than Get on the Grid sports grid dot Com.
Adoption of teens from foster care is a topic not
enough people know about, and we're here to change that.
I'm April Dinuity, host of the new podcast Navigating Adoption,
presented by adopt us Kids. Each episode brings you compelling,
(53:13):
real life adoption stories told by the families that lived
them with commentary from experts. Visit adopt us Kids dot org,
slash podcast, or subscribe to Navigating Adoption, presented by adopt
Us Kids, brought to you by the U. S Department
of Health, the Human Services Administration for Children and Families,
and the ACT Council. Don't miss out on the top
stories from the best insiders around the NFL. I'm your
(53:35):
host Rhet Lewis and on the NFL Inside Report podcast,
I'll go around the league or in depth analysis and
storytelling with the multitude of exclusive NFL insiders getting unmatched access,
game recaps, the biggest news and in depth storytelling that
take you beyond the headlines multiple times per week. Paul
on the NFL Inside Report podcast. Listen to NFL Inside
(53:56):
Report on the I Heart Radio app, on Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm John Gonzalez, the
host of s i s new podcast, Sports Illustrated Weekly.
Sports Illustrated has delivered some of the best storytelling in
sports for seventy years and now that continues. On our show.
(54:17):
Each week, we'll dive deep into the best stories from
around the sports world. Sports Illustrated Weekly is available every
Wednesday on the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or
wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe now
Weight loss starts with the mind, and nobody knows this
better than Martha Cameron, who lost twenty pounds on Noon Weight. Yeah.
I lost twenty pounds and kept it off. So Martha,
why did Noonwaight work so well for you? Well, Noon
was just a really positive weight loss experience for me,
and compared to other weight loss programs. They gave me
the freedom and flexibility to keep eating what I loved
and that made all the difference in the world because
(00:21):
it made me actually enjoy the process. You know what
I mean? Oh, we know, Martha. Learn how Noon's psychological
approach can alp you lose weight at noon dot com
what girls in the forest, our imagination and our family bonds.
The forest is closer than you think. Find a forest
near you and discover the fourth dot org brought to
(00:41):
you by the United States For Service and the AD Council.
Look for your children's eyes and you will discover the
true magic of a forest. Find a forest near you
and start exploring it. Discover the forest dot Org brought
to you by the United States Forest Service and the
Act count So Sports grid dot com betting insights and
(01:03):
entertainment at your fingertips as our team covers the most
important topics in sports wagering, real time odds, predictive betting models,
expert picks, and more want the edge than get on
the grid sports grid dot Com. Hey everybody, welcome to
Football Full Circle of the College edition. Myself with Joe
(01:24):
Leazi will take you around the world of college football
and all the updates that are necessary from this week.
Uh well, there's no real odds changes yet. I think
we're going to get to a point finally soon Joe.
Where as we get to the news this hour and
things starts getting settled as far as scheduling is concerned,
(01:44):
we can see some more odds potentially start to be released,
but we've been in a holding pattern on that for
a long time. We have Mike, but we have some
light at the end of the tunnel. We have more
clarity about which conferences will play conference only games, which
will play none out of conference games, the A, C, C,
and SEC, respectively. So we're starting two inch closer to
(02:06):
the start of the college football season, and as a
college football fan and analyst, that's what we look for. Yeah,
I agreed, and I think on this show we've tried
to be as pragmatic as possible. We will discuss the
secs finally confirmed plans, as well as the A C
C s. I'm surprised they're not identical, to be honest,
but we'll get into that in subsequent segments. What I
(02:27):
wanted to spend a few minutes on this segment is
something that has to be noted for any college football fan.
We've seen a couple of dozen players opt out in
the NFL, with potentially more to come, and now we
see the first at least high profile opt out in
college football, as evidence by this tweet here by Adam Schefter.
(02:47):
Virginia Tech cornerback Caleb Farley, a projected first round pick,
is the first college player to opt out of the
coming season. A source tells ESPN. Farley will spend the
year training from the NFL draft. He's seen NFL players
opt out, is uncomfortable with playing this year, so thoughts, well,
we expected it, right and when they when they did
the survey for the college football season, they surveyed around
(03:09):
seventy five athletes. About eighty seven to nine percent said
that they would move forward with the college football season,
you know, and take those risks. But ten percent said no,
and now we see the residual effects of that, Caleb
Farley opting out. I have no problem with it. Obviously,
his health is his number one concern. He wants to
train for the NFL Draft. He'll be a legitimate first
(03:32):
round selection. It's part of it. It's part of the
risk reward type of situation. If Virginia Tech, in my opinion,
then the elite team out of the coastal uh and
would have a great chance to knock off possibly Clemson
this year, as a legitimate top ten, top twenty five
team this year. But without him playing, what can you say?
(03:52):
I mean, it's just part of what we're seeing in
the landscape of college football. And do others follow I
still think though that Mike of the athletes will return
to campus for their respective teams this season. Yeah. Look,
we have walk ons, we have scholarship players. You called
it a hundred players per team, even though it's uh
and we're just doing round math. Even though you and
(04:14):
I both know there's a bigger schools there's even more
walk on than that. You can have as many as
a hundred and ten hundred and fifteen players all said
and done, so you're talking ten of that hundred, that's
ten players out times a hundred and thirty teams. You know,
starts to add up, that's thirteen hundred guys that could
conceivably opt out. For doing simple math like that, Do
(04:36):
I think the number will be that high? Probably not.
I think it probably comes in under. But as you
start to do the multiplication on it, it can still
be several hundred players that opt out because they don't
feel comfortable. Now, I will say that there's a difference
here in college football as opposed to the pros, where
everybody's getting paid and everybody's going after money. In college,
(04:56):
this is the subset of player that I would expect
to opt out. I'm a first round draft pick. I
don't know what's going to happen. I don't want to
put myself at risk. Are we gonna win the national championship?
Probably not. I'm a first round pick. In fact, according
to Pro Football Focus, Caleb Farley was the number one
cornerback in the NFL draft. So give me your thoughts
(05:19):
about him as a player. Now. He's a physical, blue
collar kid. He can play man to man coverage. He's
physical and run support and really stepped up for the Hokeys.
I think when you look at the risk reward, he's
saying to himself, if I get hurt this year without
fall camp, let's say, starting on time, I run the
risk of losing millions of dollars. And that's really what
(05:40):
it comes down to, on top of the COVID situation.
So I think it's built type of situations melded together
the fact that we have a pandemic crisis taking place
across the United States and the world right now. And
then I want to say, the lack of preparation from
just the n C Double A and the conferences as
a whole. We still talked about it at the start
(06:01):
of the show. They're not all on the same page.
So obviously Virginia Tech might have a different process and
procedure than maybe Clemson does. And maybe he saw that
and wanted to opt out because in his best interest,
he needs to get to the NFL and needs to
be a first round selection. So again I don't have
a problem with it. He's a definite first round selection
(06:22):
and one of the best players on that defense, and
hopefully we wish him well and see and where he
gets drafted in in late May, and I think he
made a good point about it. Not just not it's
not just isolating the COVID situation and how it could
impact him. It is the stop and start nature of this.
There has been far less practice. We don't know exactly
(06:45):
how many practices they'll be able to get in full
padded practices and everything else regarding conditioning in Major League Baseball.
We're at one weekend and we lost Corey Kluber, Clayton Kershaw,
and Justin Verlander, two of them for long term per
perhaps the entire season. Kershaw is still a question mark.
Was that due to the stop start nature of the season.
(07:06):
Will never know, but it's something that people are going
to consider, people like Caleb Farley will consider. Will there
be other high profile opt outs. I'm sure there will be,
and we'll keep you informed here on Football Full Circle.
Thank you to the radio audience for listening in on
this segment, and we will continue to to push through
to the other topics. We're gonna talk SEC next and
(07:28):
exactly what they've decided to do with their schedule. Will
talk a CEC after that. But as it stands right now,
Caleb Farley really the first high profile player to opt
out you yeah, and again you you brought up great
points by I think you know when you look at
the situation, just full circle football, full circle, you have
(07:49):
to say that his health is his number one concern
heading to one. Uh, you know, for for the sake
of being entertained by college football. If we want the
best players out there playing, it won't happen in Caleb
Barley's case. Again, we'll keep it locked, keep it locked here,
We'll keep the updated. So we'll come back. We'll talk NTC.
What have they decided to do with their schedule for
(08:09):
the season. It's Mike and Joe Football Full Circle will
be right back after this. Sports grid dot Com Betting
Insights and entertainment at your fingertips seven as our team
covers the most important topics in sports wagering, real time odds,
predictive betting models, expert picks, and more want the edge
than get on the grid. Sports grid dot Com. Adoption
(08:33):
of teams from foster care is a topic not enough
people know about, and we're here to change that. I'm
April Dinuity, host of the new podcast Navigating Adoption, presented
by adopt us Kids. Each episode brings you compelling, real
life adoption stories told by the families that lived them,
with commentary from experts. Visit adopt us Kids dot org,
slash podcast, or subscribe to Navigating Adoption, presented by adopt
(08:55):
us Kids, brought to you by the U. S Department
of Health, that Human Services Administration for Children and Families,
and the ACT Council. I'm John Gonzalez, the host of
Sports Illustrated Weekly. Sports Illustrated has delivered the best storytelling
in sports for seventy years, first in the pages of
the magazine, then on SI dot com, and now that
(09:16):
tradition continues on a new podcast. Each week, we'll dive
deep into the best stories from around the sports world.
We'll ask the questions that we're all wondering and push
for the answers we all want. Everything from investigating the
Super Bowl's impact on l A to examining white booing
is as big a part of the fan experience as cheering.
Sports Illustrated Weekly is here to bring you the entertaining
(09:39):
tales you can't get anywhere else, the kinds of stories
that make you smile and laugh, clap and cry, marvel,
think and fall in love with sports all over again.
Sports Illustrated Weekly is available every Wednesday on the I
Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Subscribe Now, what grows in the forest trees. Sure no
(10:06):
one else grows in the forest. Our imagination, our sense
of wonder, and our family bonds grow too, because when
we disconnect from this and connect with this, we reconnect
with each other. The forest is closer than you think.
Find a forest near you and start exploring. I Discover
(10:27):
the Forest dot org. Brought to you by the United
States Forest Service and the AD Council. Back on the Grid,
(10:51):
Football full Circle along with your leasy Find him on
Twitter at go for the two. He's a host of
College Football Today right here on the Grid. I'm at
Mike blewett Um. Feel free to follow me on Twitter
at Mike blewett and uh follow us all on Twitter
at sports Grade, on Instagram at sports Gride TV. So
big news, slightly surprising news, Joe and that the SEC
(11:15):
has decided to adopt a conference only schedule and they
will not get started until September. This comes on the
heels of the A s C, which we will actually
discuss in the next segment. But the SEC adopts the
conference only schedule with a late start, so it eliminates
(11:35):
a lot of games that we're looking forward to, but
they will keep in place the two seven team divisions
heading towards an SEC title game on December nineteenth, obviously
later that normal due to the late start, but league
teams will play two more opponents from their opposite division. Normally,
(11:56):
the SEC schedule would include six inner division teams, so
you play your entire division and then one against a
permanent team from the division, once against a rotating team
from the opposite division. So you just add two more
from the opposite division, and there we go. You have
your ten games. So what's your biggest surprise of all
of this? When the news broke late Thursday afternoon, Mike
(12:17):
of the SEC canceling all out of conference games, I
almost fell off my chair. I had to do with
double take, because out of all the conferences in terms
of the Power five, the conference that I thought would
least give in to that type of scenario would have
been the SEC teams like l s U, Alabama, Georgia, Auburn.
I mean, the list goes on and on, Florida. I mean,
(12:39):
the top twenty five teams that are in that conference alone,
and the mare quee matchups that we were ready to
watch in terms of Labor Day weekend that are no
longer going to take place. I couldn't believe it. And
then coupled with the fact that now we're going to
kick off the schedule September twenty six, which is about
three weeks later than originally planned. Something must have happened
(13:03):
within the SEC in terms of leadership when they sat
down with their respective teams and coaches and got in
an opinion that said, this is the best scenario for
our conference and our players to make sure that we
finished the season, not just started. I mean that obviously.
If we're just talking about in terms of coronavirus, Texas
(13:24):
A and m Tennessee, Florida are in states that are
going through significant outbreaks right now. So it's not to
say that Louisiana, Alabama and the others aren't experiencing their
own problems, nor is it saying that states all around
the country haven't experienced this stuff. But in terms of
the SEC footprint, those states in particular um are on
(13:47):
the on the heat, not so to speak. So you
mentioned Labor Day weekend, they were scheduled we had three
games in Atlanta while we had two SEC teams that
we're going to play high profile games in neutral site games.
One was going to be on Sunday, September six, when
Mississippi was going to play Baylor at NRG Stadium in Houston.
(14:09):
That's out. Georgia was set to play Virginia on Labor
Day in Atlanta. That's out because the a c C
had bumped back their season. Now a day later, the
SEC comes in with, you know what, forget all the
nonconflict nonconference games were done. I assume Joe, they feel
that they're competitive enough. Again, I have to pause here
(14:31):
and say, we have to discuss all of this as
if this season is going to go mostly according to plan.
We understand there could be cancelations, there could be stuff
like what's happened with Major League Baseball. We have to
have this conversation as if things will happen. I don't
consider it to be a fruitless conversation because we're trying
to prepare for the season as if it's going to happen.
(14:53):
So I'm off my soapbox. I'll just say, um, the
Georgia Virginia game is probably one that people are getting
excited to watch. But once the a SEC put things
in motion, and now the SEC thing puts things in motion,
I assume that they feel that their conference is powerful,
powerful enough top to bottom that even playing an abbreviated schedule,
(15:15):
perhaps even a game less than some of these other
teams that will be considered at the top of the rankings,
isn't a problem for them. The league's strength is good
enough for them to get somebody or two teams in
the playoff without a doubt. The SEC is the elite
you know conference out out of all the Power five,
even though you can make the argument that the Big
ten is catching up rather quickly in the last couple
(15:35):
of years. But to your point, in terms of some
of the regions that are that are struggling right now,
Texas and Florida, you look at a Big twelve, they're
not having the same type of sentiment teams like TCU,
Teams like Texas Tech and Texas they're moving ahead. They've
actually said that they wanted to have fifty percent capacity
in the stadium for for long run games. So you're
(15:57):
not seeing that same type of sentiment up roust the
Power five. I think when you look at some of
the games that we're gonna lose out on. It's not
just the Labor Day Week games, because you could throw
in Auburn and North Carolina into the mix, and then
Alabama was scheduled to play USC they were supposed to
or had talks so would rather be y U step
in or Notre Dame? So throw that out the window.
(16:19):
But the September twelve games really hinge on terms of
a national landscape and enthusiasm and TV broadcast. You're gonna
lose out on Texas traveling to Baton Rouge to face
l s U. That matchup took place on September twelve.
That's gone. And Oklahoma Tennessee in Norman was a huge
game for the volunteers and Jeremy Pruitt forget that along
(16:43):
with Ohio State Oregon that was supposed to take place
in Eugene and the a C C U SEC rivalry
games were thought maybe the door was open when the
a SEC announced their plan, but those games had to
be in state by a SEC rule, so it had
made them effectively all home games, although Georgia Georgia Tech
that could have been played on Georgia's campus Florida, Florida
(17:05):
State could have been played on Florida's Florida could have
been played on either campus, and uh, you know, Kentucky, Louisville,
South Carolina, Clemson. Those four rivalry games would have been
open to being played via the a SECS by laws
and still with the SEC being added in. But perhaps
they assumed that not all of the fourteen teams could
(17:26):
scramble to find a worthy opponent opponent, so they just
eliminated that because if you know, if A and M
isn't able to play anybody in state because they didn't
have room, it just would have gotten difficult. The landscape
got a lot harder for the top teams in the country.
And I'm just gonna talk about the SEC right now.
In terms of Alabama. Traditionally, you look at last year
(17:49):
in terms of strength of schedule, Alabama had one of
the weakest in terms of the SEC dead last five
percent winning percentage. Now Alabama is gonna face Florida. They
have never faced Florida in the regular season almost every
other ten years or decade. Now they're gonna face Florida.
They're gonna face Georgia at home in Tuscaloosa, those are
(18:10):
two critical battles for Alabama this year that wouldn't have
taken place with the scenario in terms of COVID. So
we're gonna see that. We're gonna see Florida, Texas, A
and M. We're gonna see Ole Miss in Tennessee. So
we have a schedule that really is gonna be entertaining
and and this is gonna be a different but unique
(18:31):
college football season, and I really can't wait to see
how it plays out. We mentioned a few of the
games that were lost. You said Tennessee, Ogloma, LSU, Texas,
Mississippi State was going to play NC State, Baylor, Ole Miss.
I mentioned Arkansas was playing Notre Dame Vandy, Kansas State.
That's gone A and M, Colorado, Alabama USC as a
result of a previous decision by the Pac twelve. And
(18:52):
then Georgia Virginia and Auburn North Carolina that we've mentioned
as well. So those are I mean that's late alone.
That's a lot of good games that go by the wayside. Obviously, Uh,
it's still good news that they're moving forward with this
ten game schedule. It doesn't seem like there will be
any adjustments this conferences are starting to settle in to
what they feel comfortable with, Joe, they really are and
(19:14):
it should play out in the month of December, Mike
for the college football Playoff, which teams are gonna be
really prepared at the end of the year, not just
on the field, but from the COVID aspect. And maybe
that's why the SEC has for more time. Yeah, I
think that's possible. A conference only model eliminates games against
Group of five and FCS teams. Those buy games. SEC
(19:37):
teams pay steep prices, sometimes as much as one and
a half million dollars a game to their traveling competitors.
In fact, SEC teams in paid out more than forty
five million dollars in buy games, according to end the
School and see a reports obtained by s It's obtained
by Sports Illustrated. I should note that the author of
(19:57):
this article is Ross Dellinger. Uh really good college football writers.
So that's really it. As far as the SEC is concerned.
We will continue and track to see as all the
games are released we will get a sense of how
we can pin down what the odds might look like.
Who has a better schedule, weaker schedule. I think they
(20:17):
need a little bit more time in order to get
all of that stuff settled. But I think we're days away,
possibly Joe, from having that, so we'll come back. We'll
talk about the a c c S decision to go
to Conference plus one after this. On the Grid, it's
Mike and Joe will be right back. Sports grid dot
Com betting insights and entertainment at your fingertips as our
(20:38):
team covers the most important topics in sports wagering, real
time odds, predictive betting models, expert picks, and more. Want
the edge than get on the grid. Sports grid dot Com.
The NFL Podcast Network is your home for all things football.
Do you love hearing analysis around the league with a
(20:58):
touch of mirth, Or maybe you enjoy breaking down x
and os in the college scouting scene. Did you breathe, sleep,
and eat fantasy football? Perhaps you love the funny headlines
that emerge each week. What if you want in depth
news coverage with reporters, or what if you want to
know exactly how each team got its name? While you're
(21:20):
in luck, because the NFL Podcast Network has a show
for everybody. Our best network has the NFL's best talent,
bringing you right into the action each week. There's always
room to add more football into your podcast rotation, and
our vast group of shows will surely keep you up
to date with everything you need to know surrounding the
National Football League. Listen on the I Heart Radio app,
(21:42):
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Look for
your children's eyes to see the true magic of a forest.
It's a storybook world for them. You look and see
a tree, They see the wrinkled face of a wizard
with times outstretched to the sky. They see treasure and pebbles.
(22:03):
They see a windy path that could lead to adventure,
and they see you. They're fearless. Guide. Is this fascinating world?
Find a forest near you and start exploring and discovered
the forest dot Org brought to you by the United
States Forest Service and the ad Council. This is Logan Ryan,
Captain New York Giants and hosts of the NFL Player Podcasts.
(22:24):
We're trying some different an active NFL player hosting a
podcast which is for NFL players and legends as much
as it for the fans. This is my first podcast
and I'm pretty excited about it. We're gonna talk football,
but also about lots of other issues that affect us all.
We'll be talking with other players and legends, so it's
gonna be real and an honest look at life in
the NFL. Listen to the NFL Players Podcast on the
(22:45):
I Heart Radio, wapp or wherever you get your podcasts.
You're watching sports one Back on the Grid, Mike and
(23:15):
Joe talking about the a c c s decision to
move forward with their football season. Now, as we're going
over these conferences and decisions made, it has to be
noted that in the case of the SEC they've noted
September is the plan to move forward doesn't mean it's
definitely going to happen. Uh. They've got a lot of
issues with students that may or may not be coming
(23:37):
back to campus. I've heard of anecdotal issues where students
are just deciding to defer for a year. If you're
a freshman, you defer, you enter some sort of service program,
and you can come back. I think a lot of
students will consider doing that if they can't be on
campus and experience college the way that they intended. So
(23:57):
imagine the difficulty of link university issues and how football
or any other sports can play into it, So the
a c C confirms that Notre Dame will play a
ten game conference schedule and be eligible for the league
title game. In addition to that, the a c C
also and that, and that was a couple of days ago.
(24:19):
Then they also announced that they are moving to a
eleven game schedule across the board, playing a ten game
conference schedule plus one. That plus one game show has
to be an in state game, so doesn't mean it
has to be an in state rival. But you take
my alma mater, Boston College, they would probably play a
(24:42):
team that's local. It could be a Yukon or U
mass in order to fill in that game. Based on
all of these other things, it's like you said in
the last segment, they're not gonna have an SEC team
or a Pack twelve team or a Big ten team
travel The Big twelve hasn't shut it down yet, but
with the other four saying their conference only except for
the a CEC, that would be the only other option.
(25:02):
But do we really think that Big twelve teams and
a SEC teams are gonna get together when it's gonna
be all a CEC home games. That seems unlikely. It does,
but I like the model that the a c C
put forth, and and I credited the way they moved forward.
They put out the schedule on Wednesday night of this week,
and they got fans excited. They gave us matchups that
(25:24):
were not traditionally gonna see. I mean, you look at
the Clemson Tigers overall, their schedule got a lot harder
from the start of the year. I mean, they're gonna
face Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech, possibly two of the best
defensive fronts that came out of the coast. So now
Clemson faces them. So those are the type of matchups
that we're gonna see. Notre Dame played Florida State a
(25:46):
couple of years ago, they're gonna play them again. So
and I think that they did the right decision as
well with the out of conference games, giving the local
FCS schools the potential to earn our paycheck from the
a c C. Because these schools are losing or hemorrhaging
money right now. Mike, you look at just you know,
Virginia Tech within the conference. If they don't play football
(26:08):
in Virginia Tech, postes could lose seventy million dollars to
that school or university so you know, money does drive
the bus, as it always does. But I like the
model set forth by the a c C this year.
So each the season will commence over a span of
several days from September seven to September twelve. Each conference
(26:28):
school have two by weekends in a season that, if played,
would be stretched out over thirteen weeks. Uh that we
talked about the Chick fil A games going by the
wayside that impact a Florida State, West Virginia, Georgia, Virginia,
and North Carolina Auburn Notre Dame, that Navy BC at Kansas,
Florida State at Boise State are affected as well, along
(26:50):
with a handful of other games. So the a SEC
confirms that for the kicker who Notre Dames playing the
ten game conference schedule, they'd be eligible to play in
the league championship game. They're going with one conference, no divisions,
whereas the SEC keeps the divisions in place. The a
SEC decides to go to one division show this is
(27:10):
what COVID has brought about. I think it's great though
that Notre Dame has joined the conference. They're taking the
Big twelve type of model where you take the top
two teams, and whichever top two teams in the standings
they go to the conference championship games. So again, I
like the fact that they mixed it up. I like
that we have some intriguing matchups and this is gonna
(27:30):
be a very competitive a c C schedule. In terms
of the football season, Clemson head and shoulders above the rest,
but it's gonna be a lot horner in terms of
their road getting back to the a c C championship game. Yeah.
So the the championship team will be played in Charlotte
either the weekend of December twelve or nineteen. I'm not
(27:51):
sure why it's shifting. It had been scheduled for December five.
The Navy possibly maybe did that weekend of the twelve, right,
I guess, I guess that's right. Yeah, the Fighting Irish
would be also eligible to claim the ACC's Orange Bowl
birth if it's not in the college football. That's a
monumental development. For this reason, Notre Dame has never played
(28:14):
in a conference championship game before Joe, since it began
playing the sport way back in here's time for your
tribute question. What year? What year did they start playing
a conference? A conference scheme When didn't Notre Dame start
playing football, that's the question. It never played in a
conference game, So they started playing eighteen forty six. I
(28:34):
have no idea eighteen eighty seven, close enough. It's post
Civil War, not pre Civil war. Uh. They've been a
football independent for each one of those one hundred and
thirty three seasons. And as you stated, they released the schedule,
So we have a bunch of games on the late
now that we can take a look at. Uh. They
did it in a crazy graphic oriented way, so I'll
(28:58):
try to, uh try to keep them as much as possible. Now,
all the dates are to be announced. They're still arranging this.
But let's take Clemson you mentioned before. Their home games
are BC Miami Pit, Syracuse, Virginia road games, Florida State,
Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest. So you
(29:18):
throw a Notre Dame road game on there, that makes
your schedule a little trickier than it was. Do we
think Clemson is better than Notre Dame this year? Absolutely,
but they're not undefeated. Their damned close to it, Clemson,
but they're not undefeated in conference play and playing Notre
Dame on the road is a little kicker. Yeah, that is.
I mean that game was scheduled prior. But the game
that stands out for me, Mike, the game that stands
(29:41):
out for me when you just I mentioned Virginia Tech
and Pittsburgh those two games, and now you add Dieri
King in Miami an elite quarterback as well. I mean
when you go back prior to you know, in the
mid two thousand's, Clemson and Miami played some stellar games.
Go to that matchup in the in the Orange Bowl.
Would see J. A. Spiller and Jacobe Ford back in
(30:02):
in two thousand and nine. I mean, there's been some
fantastic finishes. So I mean again, Clemson head and shoulders
above the rest within the conference forty nine and four
straight up since two thousand and fourteen. But you now
throw in some of these coastal matchups gonna be a
lot harder for the Clemson Tigers to get back there.
You mentioned de Eric King. Here's their schedules. They play
(30:25):
at home, Florida State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, pitt Virginia.
There on the road at Clemson, Louisville, n C State,
Virginia Tech, Wake Forest. Look a lot of these schedules
are going to look similar this year because they're playing
mostly a conference schedule, But you do duck a few
teams obviously, and George in Miami schedule doesn't really feel
(30:47):
like they ducked anybody, right. They have Florida State and
Clemson on their Louisville Virginia Tech obviously lost their big
player in Caleb Farley, but they and Sam how You're
in love with Sam how So they got to face
a tough quarterback there. And its defense. We keep Pitts
defense comes up over and over on the show, whether
it's you or Rich Jermanello, the other host of College
Football Today, Uh Pitt has a really tough defense to
(31:09):
contend against. So whether these games are scheduled prior or not,
Miami has a full slate of games here against teams
that are not soft opponents within the conference, not at all.
And Miami's weakness, Mike, on top of not having fall camp,
has been the offensive line. We've talked about a fifty
one sacks allowed as a unit. That unit develops in
(31:29):
spring camp, it develops all all summer long in terms
of strength and conditioning, and then in fall camp. Now
throw in a new quarterback in Diera King. I mean,
he's one of the most athletic in college football. But
playing within a suspect offensive line would have cohesiveness. That's
gonna be a problem. And you mentioned pitt Virginia Tech
(31:50):
possibly again, they have about eight storters coming back. Takeaway
Caleb Farley from that defense. This is a legitimate defensive
front for Justin Flente and the Hope eas And you
look at some of the other quarterbacks, Hendon Hooker from
Virginia Tech. You have Kenny Pickett from Pittsburgh that is
a senior quarterback. So these are the type of teams
that are standing in the way of potential roadblocks for
(32:13):
Clemson in Miami, and it's gonna be intriguing. The a
c C did it right. They had TV ratings in
mind as well when they developed this schedule. So Notre Dame,
let's talk about them in the context of this specifically.
Obviously it's the biggest change to all of this. They
gave Notre Dame a bailout. They're already playing six opponents anyway,
so some would say, oh, they didn't really extend themselves
(32:35):
that much, but I think it makes sense that it's A.
It's a working business relationship. I don't have any faith
that Notre Dame is going to be a permanent a
CC member in football anytime soon. I'm sure they got
some of the TV revenue shared with them for this arrangement.
But in terms of how all of the teams line up,
Clemson's at the top, is Notre Dame next? Yeah, Notre
(32:59):
Dame in Virginia Tech on the two top in my opinion,
and I know Pittsburgh's defensive front is there. But the
struggle for Pittsburgh was offensive consistency. So they went average
five and a half yorks to carry. Two years ago
they dipped to three and a half yards per carry.
Kenny Pickett hasn't developed, but Ian Book, in my opinion
now was the second best quarterback behind Trevor Lawrence. That
(33:20):
offense is explosive, the defense has playmakers, and Brian Kelly
has lost the Clemson over the last couple of meetings,
so he's chomping at that bit for that November six matchup.
How about a dark horse team here, Louisville. They've bounced back,
rebuilt a little quicker than we might have anticipated. Florida
State dealing with yet another new head coach. Any other
(33:44):
dark horses out there. I'd love to for you to
say my alma mater, but I don't have any expectations there.
The first year coach now meet Cal cutting him in Louisville.
Are loaded offensively, Javian Hawkins to to at Well, Dez Fitzpatrick.
I mean this is a nine potential nine when football team.
I mean prior, this was prior with the old schedule.
(34:04):
With the new schedule, got a little bit more difficult
than need defense, needs consistency, but I'll still say it there.
I like Virginia Tech. I like Hendon Hooker thirteen touchdown passes,
two interceptions. Both interceptions came against Virginia in the last
regular season game. Their defenses loaded. Trade Turner was a
big play wide receiver. I like Justin Flente and what
(34:26):
he has in terms of a foundation with Virginia Tech
and Black Blacksburg. Virginia Tech road games are Duke, Louisville,
North Carolina, Pitt in Wake Forest, UM Louisville's road games, RBC,
Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, Pitt and Virginia. So all the schedules,
like I said, are looked pretty much the same. We'll
(34:50):
start to see how these lineup as the dates come
out as a line up a little bit better for
other teams, and we'll start to take a look at
some of these individual matchups of these lines that are
on the board now on a big dual sports book.
Joe and I'll talk about it right after this on
Football Full Circle. Get on the Grid Sports grid dot
Com Betting insights and entertainment at your fingertips as our
team covers the most important topics in sports wagering, real
(35:13):
time odds, predictive betting models, expert picks, and more. Want
the edge than Get on the Grid sports grid dot Com.
(35:51):
Back on the Grid, Mike and Joe talking about college
football right now, and a little bit of bad news
regarding the COVID situation Rutgers COVID nineteen outbreak. This is,
according to John Taylor from College Football uh Talk on
NBC Sports outbreak reportedly tied to party attended by several
football players. So I think this is going to be
(36:12):
an issue for a while. Joe. I think much in
the way that baseball players, I think culturally are used
to going out because they're going from city to city
there on the road so long. College players, they're young.
We're talking about nine twenty year olds. In many instances,
they're gonna go out there. They don't feel like they're
going to be in a harm's way from the virus.
(36:34):
And by and large, a lot of the cases are
asymptomatic or mild. But it's the after effects. It's not
about them being sick, them being hospitalized, them being on ventilators. Necessarily,
it is about what happens to the logistics of the program.
And Rutgers had to shut it down because a bunch
of players attested positive. And what's interesting, Mike, is the
(36:57):
fact that it's a new head coach slash old head
coach and Greg Ciano. Now, so you know, when a
new head coach comes in, it takes a while. They
have to have team meetings, he has to establish the foundation.
And unfortunately, without fall spring camp excuse me, taking place,
I'm sure that that factored into the coaching staff being
(37:19):
able to at least inform their players about what they
expect what they need to do from a book precaution standpoint,
that one on one coaching that takes place throughout the year,
and and unfortunately Rutgers is that Uh, the wrong side
of the spectrum in Michigan State as well, another new
head coach in terms of Melt Tucker and the same
(37:39):
type of situation within the Big Twelve. And that's the
type of situation that we have to monitor because we
see teams like Oklahoma with a veteran coaching staff in
Lincoln Riley last week again no positive tests. So that's
the type of situation that we have to monitor as
the month of August comes around. Week by week, Clemson
(38:00):
had a ton of cases. Ut Oklahoma, they've been drying
able to drive those cases down. Judith Parish Chiley, the
state health commissioner for New Jersey state in which you live, Joe.
She said, here there's been an outbreak of Rutgers football players,
with fifteen of them currently testing positive. She said, while
grouping together list of indoor and outdoor gatherings. These examples.
(38:22):
I was here today account for one new cases of
COVID etcetera, etcetera. Uh So, uh, that's the reality. I think.
You know what's funny is I think funny strange is
that a lot of people out there, like gosh, I
just don't know anybody that's gotten this virus. It's it's
terrible what's happening on TV. Some people are less convinced,
(38:42):
but I have a similar anecdotal story a friend of mine,
back before New York was even even really in shutdown mode.
It was right around that time, he had gone to
a party not dissimilar to what these UH players have done.
This guy's a lot younger than me as a friend
UH younger brother of a friend, and he and his
(39:03):
fiance went to this party. A week later, most of
the party had symptoms. His ended up being where he
felt like he had the flu for a bunch of days.
Fiance feels like she had she lost her taste, sense
of taste, and smell. So they're young people. They bounced back.
They're having a good summer. But again it's just indicative
of not how sick they can get, which could be severe.
(39:28):
And obviously getting coaches and older people involved with the
program involved makes it a little bit riskier, But it's
just about having to do with Oklahoma and Clemson did
and drive these cases down aggressively. Quarantine wear, masks v
sanitary those are the types of things that every all
on programs, plus they're going to have to get used
(39:49):
to they're gonna have to do it and they're gonna
have to be consistent in terms of their approach. And
that's the mindset of football players, right They're strong, they're big,
they're physical, But we're talking about virus that you can't see,
you can't really really dictate, or you can't understand where
it affects you or how it's going to affect you.
(40:10):
You need to take proper precaution. And and when you
look at both of those programs, like we mentioned Rutgers
of Michigan State, unfortunately they've been under five programs now
Michigan State seven and six over the last couple of years.
But they're going in the opposite directions as some of
the other teams that we mentioned, like Clemson, like Alabama,
(40:31):
like the top tier programs Oklahoma. Where's the mindset? I
think mindset has a lot to play in this type
of situation as well. You know, when new kids come
into school or a program, they don't know what to expect.
And we understand that in Oklahoma, Clemson, l s U, Alabama,
there's a culture there and it takes a while for
(40:51):
the coach to instill that culture in In the mindset
of the team, So it's a feeling out process. Each
team has to deal with it. But it's gonna be
a situation, a team by team scenario that plays out
week to week in college football, and we have to
monitory Shadow is not Shanno is not somebody that's unaccustomed
(41:15):
to discipline and unaccustomed to winning cultures. So I'm sure
they'll all get on the same page very shortly. So
one thing I wanted to do to have a little
bit more fun. There has been more lines released on
the Vandals Sports Book in terms of college football games. Now, uh,
they still have some editing to do. Uh, full disclosure,
there's some games on their listed with an improper date.
(41:37):
And look, this is all happening very quickly. Within the
last couple of days as we're filming this, A C,
C and SEC teams have changed their schedules completely. So
you're gonna go on the Vandal Sports Book. Just give
them a day or so. They'll adjust some of the
dates of these games. And there's still more dates to
be released, but let's go with some of the ones
(41:57):
that are still on the schedule. We don't have odds
for some of those early Big twelve games that are
still on Missouri State at Oklahoma Southern miss at Kansas.
Time is to be determined on that, but we assume
right now, Joe, that those are the first games that
are going to happen. The Big Twelve has not pushed
back their start. They haven't said conference only, so we
(42:17):
can assume those to be the first two. We don't
have odds on those yet. Is that fair to say that?
Is that that's fair? And expect Oklahoma to be about
a thirty to thirty five point favorite in that matchup
with Spencer Rattler taking over at the helm for Lincoln
Riley's offense. And I think that when you look at
Oklahoma's decision to play that game August twenty nine, it
was due in part to their September twelfth game that
(42:40):
just got canceled with Tennessee to give them an extra
game in terms of preparation and then have a bye
week before that matchup. So now their schedule changes a bit.
So I think when you look at Kansas and less
miles again, they need to start fast. He's an offense
and a defensive line that's in transition. They need to
build an identity before they get into conference place. So
(43:03):
there's a reason why both of those teams are starting
the season on August twenty nine. But again, I don't
blame them for it. The earlier that you could kick
it off and get your team in terms of the consistency, Mike, right,
the creatures a habit. The earlier that you could kick
off your season and establish that gives your team an
opportunity to at least have a successful season. Yeah, so
(43:26):
that's the funky thing, right. There was a moment I
felt like, probably three or four weeks ago when you
and I talked, where we were trying to make sure
that these seasons all kicked off as soon as possible
so that we can get done with them quicker more quickly.
But the way things have evolved, it's becoming pretty obvious
(43:47):
that for the most part, it's going to be difficult
to kick off on time because of the things we're
seeing with Rutgers, with Michigan State. So some of these
conferences have taken pause and said, you know what, let's
not do it on August twenty nine. Let's do it
on September twelve. Let's talk about that first game Clemson Louisville.
We still have listed right now, September twelve, just assuming
(44:07):
that that's now that's going to happen, not being to
not be an adjusted game. Clemson twenty one and a
half point favorites on the road at Louisville, and this
could be a tough opening start for Clemson because again,
game one, you want to work out the kinks, you
want to build a quarterback to wide receiver relationship. Clemson's
(44:28):
leading wide receiver, Justin Ross is not there. He's hurt
for the year. So where's Clemson's mindset? Last year they
opened up and demolished Georgia Tech, which was a one
dimensional offense with Jeff Collins at the helm, and went
from a triple option attack to a more balanced attack.
Now they're playing one of the most lethal offenses within
the conference with their quarterback Mikael Cunningham. And Mikael Cunningham
(44:51):
is a dual threat quarterback. He rushed for over four
hundred yards average four yards per carry. Like I said before,
two big play wide receivers to two at well Dez Fitzpatrick,
and throw in fifteen hundred yard rusher j Beyond Hawkins.
This is a tough animal Week one for Clemson twenty
one and a half is a huge number. But keep
(45:12):
in mind, Mike, you look at Clemson's margin of victory
within the a c C last year ten and oh
they won by thirty six point seven points per game.
So Clemson should be favorite. But it's a very difficult
week one matchup. Yeah, so bumping up to the next one,
Week three, which is now listen as Week three, it's
(45:33):
gonna end up being Week one and a half or
week two. Uh. We got Minnesota, Iowa, Alabama, Georgia listed
here on the nineteenth, So that would be Alabama currently
a seven point under favorite on the road against Georgia.
What do you think? Yeah, I would lay the wood
here with with Alabama. Now that's not to take away
(45:55):
from my Georgia Bulldogs. Those those people that know me
know that I backed George in a big way. But
Jamie Newman, making the road start in Tuscaloosa without the
preparation is going to be the making what if it's
in Athens? If it's in Athens? Now see the reason
I pause because we have to say if, because there's
(46:17):
some things that aren't potentially going to change. So we're
taking a look as it as scheduled currently Alabama would
be at Georgia. Now things can change. Since they've reduced
to ten games, they move some things around. It's possibly
see some games get eliminated, some added. But if Alabama
remains at Georgia on the nineteens, what do you think,
(46:38):
sorry with no fans were less than let's say I'm
taking out with Bam and Mac Jones. I really am
in that type of atmosphere. Let's let's look at the
wide receiver position. Jalen Wattle is there, DeVonta Smith not
j Harris, those players have played there before. You still
have a raw offensive line that loses three starters with
(46:59):
George Jamie Newman transfers in George Pickens only a sophomore?
Is a Mere White is only a sophomore? Give me
Alabama and that type of scenario about we got one
more here in the SEC Ole miss at Auburn that
same day, nine and a half point favorites are Auburn
hosting Mississippi with Lincoln like Auburn. Auburn, prior to this
(47:22):
whole COVID situation, was my pick to win the SEC West.
I'm not backing down now. I love what uh Gus
miles On has done in terms of the progression of
his quarterback boat. Next they add Chad Morris, the former
SMU and Arkansas coaches offensive play caller. That should bring
more balanced And when you just look at the defensive
(47:43):
line for ole Miss, they stepped up last year under
Mike McIntyre Chris Partridge a new defensive scheme. I liked
the physicality of Auburn in that matchup. Last game for
this segment, Stanford playing USC that same day would potentially
be September nineteenth. We're gonna act as if that happens.
Right now, USC is a nine point favorite at home. Yeah,
(48:07):
I would lay the wood with us C. I'm not
sold on the consistency of Stanford. They got away from
their identity. Give me Keaton Slovis and armand st Brown
to dominate that matchup. How about one more? If I
dip into the next week, I want to see this
game is still happening Clemson? Uh Now, it says Clemson.
With the new sec A CEC football schedule, it says
(48:29):
Clemson is hosting Virginia. Ray have it listed here as
a Virginia home game A thirty and a half point underdog.
Do you think Clemson's gonna put up almost a five
touchdown win against Virginia. They did in the in the
in the a SEC Championship game, and that was with
Bryce Perkins at the helm. You have a new quarterback
(48:50):
that comes over. Uh in terms of Keaton Thompson for
Mississippi State transferred into Virginia, so again with him at
the helm, it doesn't matter to me is the superior team.
Although Charles Snowden an elite talent from the linebacker fur
of Virginia. Keep an eye out for him and he's
definitely a first round talent. Yeah, I think they could
have used the game at home fans or no fans,
(49:11):
but not looking good for them. We're gonna come back
close out this hour of football Full Circle with Joe
and myself will be right back on the grid after this.
Sports grid dot Com betting insights and entertainment at your
fingertips as our team covers the most important topics in
sports wagering, real time odds, predictive betting models, expert picks,
(49:33):
and more want the edge than get on the grid.
Sports grid dot Com closing out this hour of Football
Full Circle and Ross Dellinger again from sports Illustree. I've
been using him a lot lately for some good information.
(49:55):
The n c A is allowing schools to begin camp
according to their previously schedule old season openers, So that
means it's a seven week preseason for the SEC unless
the conference are schools determined differently. The n c A
is not expected to, so the normal twenty hour rule
week kicks in once the season, once classes start, so
(50:17):
you start to do the math. They're getting a seven
week preseason out of this. They seemingly get to prepare
longer than everybody else, and my wrong, or is everybody's
gonna be seven weeks? It seems like the SEC is
getting a longer preseason here. It does. I wonder if
Nick Saban had any input on that type of decision
(50:37):
by the SEC, because without spring camp, you know it
as well as anybody, Mike, These younger players need to
get to develop because they're gonna be instrumental if the
COVID situation plays out, and I'm sure that's in the
background of Kirby smart Edo geron Nick Saban. If players
go down, you need to know who you can turn
(51:00):
to without even thinking about it, and that's I'm sure
what Nick Saban and those SEC coaches are thinking about
in terms of the extra weeks of preparation. Yeah so.
Greg Sanky also said that the SEC's mid season bye
week is going to be spread to all schools over
a three week stretch. He didn't elaborate beyond that. He
said there will be a December twelve shared off week,
(51:21):
so that title game is the nineteen. It looks like
nobody will play on the twelfth in order to ensure
that they have some sort of break, assuming if and
when bowl games happen. You and I both love the
bowl games. Even though there's tons of them out there
that you know, there's not a lot of attendance. Are
these bowl games but interesting show to watch? I would
say that in general, I don't know what the story
(51:45):
is going to be with the bowl games. Do do
they get rid of them? Do they still have it
in place? What do you think? I would like to
pose a scenario for the bowl games? I say this,
let's have the College Football playoff, Let's take the bowl
game type of scenario, and let's have like an n
T type of tournament for the group of five and
the other remaining Power five teams. I think that would
(52:06):
be fantastic. It's not bad, but you know those guys
are gonna want to start prepping for the draft even
at some of those schools. So uh, We'll continue to
try to get more information as we go along. I
think Vandals Sports Book has got a lot to work
on in terms of getting these new games some odds,
and we'll be excited when they do. It might even
be assumed as next week when Joe appears so on
(52:29):
behalf of our producer Brian Rotkowski, Joe Leasy at Go
for the Two on Twitter, and co host of College
Football Today Mike Lewett. We'll see on Football full circle
next time. Get on the Grid sports grid dot Com
Betting insights and entertainment at your fingertips seven as our
team covers the most important topics in sports wagering, real
(52:49):
time odds, predictive betting models, expert picks, and more want
the edge than Get on the Grid sports grid dot Com.
Adoption of teens from foster care is a topic not
enough people know about, and we're here to change that.
I'm April Dinuity, host of the new podcast Navigating Adoption,
presented by adopt us Kids. Each episode brings you compelling,
(53:13):
real life adoption stories told by the families that lived
them with commentary from experts. Visit adopt us Kids dot org,
slash podcast, or subscribe to Navigating Adoption, presented by adopt
Us Kids, brought to you by the U. S Department
of Health, the Human Services Administration for Children and Families,
and the ACT Council. Don't miss out on the top
stories from the best insiders around the NFL. I'm your
(53:35):
host Rhet Lewis and on the NFL Inside Report podcast,
I'll go around the league or in depth analysis and
storytelling with the multitude of exclusive NFL insiders getting unmatched access,
game recaps, the biggest news and in depth storytelling that
take you beyond the headlines multiple times per week. Paul
on the NFL Inside Report podcast. Listen to NFL Inside
(53:56):
Report on the I Heart Radio app, on Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm John Gonzalez, the
host of s i s new podcast, Sports Illustrated Weekly.
Sports Illustrated has delivered some of the best storytelling in
sports for seventy years and now that continues. On our show.
(54:17):
Each week, we'll dive deep into the best stories from
around the sports world. Sports Illustrated Weekly is available every
Wednesday on the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or
wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe now
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.