July 25, 2025 • 17 mins
Bill Bender of The Sporting News joins the show to talk all things college football.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I grew up in college football. I grew up the
Naval Academy and my dad, you know, coach there for
fifty years. And when you're a part of a school,
you're a part of every team, not just a football team.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
You're a part of every team.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
And that's what it's not like a Carolina whether it's
the men's women's across team, men's women's basketball team, baseball
team which had a great year, and so forth. Just
following those teams around, following being part of the community.
It's that's been awesome. It's really good stuff.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
It's Bill Belichick talking about his stay so far at
North Carolina. Bill Bender wrote about it yesterday in The
Sporting News. You can follow him on Twitter at Bill
Bender ninety two. He's a football writer for that outstanding
publication and he joins us here on XUS and Bros. Bill,
we appreciate it very much. Hope you've had a good week.
How are you today?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
I'm doing well. Thanks for having me on. It's good
to meet you. Yeah, it was wild three days and
still surreal to see Belichick. I'm up on a podium
as a college football coach.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Yeah, I didn't get it at the time. I'm not
sure I get it. Now, why do you think it
could work? And what would stand in his way of
making a work?
Speaker 3 (01:13):
The easiest way it could work is it's Bill Belichick.
It's one of the greatest sexes in O's mind ever
in any football level. And I think the way that
they brought in a whole new roster and they're in
a conference where it's not like other than maybe Clemson,
that the talent gap is so significant that you most games.
(01:38):
If you do the right things, you might win ball games. Now,
why it won't work is you could lose interest. I mean,
it reminds me of Bill Walsh in the nineties. I
don't know how old you are. I remember Bill Walsh
coaching at Stanford for a couple of years. It was
good for one year and then it wasn't good effort.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Why does what do you think? I think the reason
is that many college coaches struggle in a lot of sports,
but especially in basketball and football, struggle at the professional
level or vice versa. Like I thought Jim Mora might
be a good fit. You know, it didn't work. There
have been plenty of examples of guys trying to come
(02:19):
down or go up and it hasn't worked. What's the
biggest difference there, Bill Well.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
I In the NFL, margin for victory on the field
is always slim. I mean, you know Jacksonville could beat
the Chiefs. Yeah, you know the Browns when they beat
Baltimore last year. I live in Ohio. The Browns are terrible,
but they did beat the Raven So those things happen.
(02:51):
I think in college the likelihood of a reading Ohio
State in the New age is much harder. I think
the gaps have been created, not between G five and
Power four, but within the Big ten and the well
SEC maybe less, but I mean, how many teams that
beat Ohio State in the last decade other than Michigan
(03:12):
and before that, you know, earlier in the decade ten
years ago was Michigan State.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
But they don't live much sure is speaking of that.
Derek Moore, University of Michigan defensive lineman joked at Ohio
State's national title is not a real win. I think
that's absurd. Of course it is.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Not.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Every team is going to go unbeaten. But the pressure
on Ryan Day there was immense. Now that he's come through,
has it lessened or has it increased? In your mind.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
I think overall pressure is lessened because after that Michigan game,
he stopped trying to coach like somebody he wasn't. I mean,
we've all run through the reasons for that thirteen to
ten loss last year. The biggest one was that's on
the outside and you're running up the middle at two
first round picks over and over again. And I think
(04:07):
there's a little you know that from following that rivaly.
I'm sure there are coaches that just changed the way
they coach in that game. Yeah, Cooper did that. I
think Woodcar to some extent did that when he was
up against Jim Trestle. So and now we have the
Ryan Day Harball thing where it's just or it was
(04:30):
Hartball and Ryan Day and now Sharona and Ryan Day
and Sharon. Even though Michigan struggled last year, I mean,
they had a pretty good game plan against the Buckeyes. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
I agree with all that. It is interesting how coaches changed,
and maybe it was Chip Kelly as much as anybody else.
Bill Bender that he's the Sporting News football writer there
joining us here on exus and Bros. Follow him on
Twitter at Bill Bender ninety two. The president is proposing
is signing an executive order to curb NIL college spending. Now,
(05:01):
whatever your political allegiance may be, the point is the
NC DOUBLEA never saw this coming. For some reason. They
didn't see how NIL would get out of control. They
didn't recognize that it could be the wild wild West,
and they sure as hell didn't recognize that it is
no longer nil, it is paid for play. What do
you think about trying to curb spending through an executive
(05:23):
order compared to the NC DOUBLEA sitting on their hands.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Well, like you said, without getting into political affiliations and
all that, I think most college football fans wouldn't mind
seeing the salary cap type environment in the college football
world because of what we were talking about, where there
are huge gaps in the Big Ten and the SEC
and certain teams can do that. Now, you said something
(05:49):
there that I'm trying to grasp whereas like, yes, it's
out of control. But when NIL was instituted in twenty
twenty one, I didn't think it would get out of
control like this. I thought when it happened, I thought, okay,
players are going to go do car commercials. That's say
they get some money and not that they would be
holding out in the spring transfer portal because of NIL.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
I mean, it's that's so true. I had a conversation
with a member of the NCAA and basketball. It was
more related to basketball a couple of months ago, and
I said, how did you not see this coming?
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Though?
Speaker 2 (06:25):
How did you not know that teams you were going
to have haves and have nots and that they were
the money was going to come from everywhere everywhere? And
if it doesn't stop now you know what's going to happen.
You and I both know Bill they're going to unionize
and then you're going to have all kinds of problems.
How likable or how possible is it to curb it?
(06:46):
And what needs to be done to.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
Do it well? Whether it's I think, first of all,
you need the conference commissioners to work together, and that
asking a lot because they can't agree on a playoff
number right now, going to agree on how we do ANIL?
Are are teams going to circumvent this clearing house? Just
(07:08):
because I mean, we know college football and over the
years these things have happened. So they've found ways to
break rules before in IL, and they'll find ways now
and you know, this is the only sport. I always
say this that it's the only sport. The sport that
is most governed by emotion in this country is college football.
(07:29):
There's no question.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yeah, Bill, do you like the playoff system? And if so,
why the changes that they're about that are about to
be instituted this year? Do you like it? And why
do you think it fixes any arguments that teams or
fan bases may have had.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Well, I like it better than last year because we
have straight seating now, and that's what I want. You know,
we can tell well, you can get in automatically if
you win the Big ten. But you know, like the
top four last year wasn't the necessarily the top four
I would have. And you know when Boise State's getting
a bye week. I love Group five schools. I went
(08:06):
to a MAC school, but they probably weren't ahead of
like Ohio State. So I think we've got to give
this twelve team PLAYFF a chance. I know everybody's trying
to scoot to sixteen as fast as we can, but
give this one a couple more years and see if
it works out. I do think the straight seating will
(08:30):
Maybe I can't say this with one hundred percent certainty.
I think it will end, not end, but we'll have
better first round games. Last year's first round games weren't
good other than being a home campus.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Yeah, I agree with all that, and I love the
perspective I do. I respect it. I hate it, and
the reason I hate it because I don't think it
solves a damn thing. Okay, so I still think last
year you had people complaining that BYU was as good
as SMU, that they were as good as Indiana, and
(09:00):
it's still not getting proven. I don't the whole I
thought I could be wrong here. I thought the whole
objective of expanding the playoffs. I don't know when the
hell it's going to end. I don't know why sixteen
matters compared to twelve. I don't know how twelve beats
eight and all that other stuff. But what I thought
the purpose was was to end a lot of the debate.
(09:21):
It's never going to end. So how does twelve help
us and the debates that one team is deserving more
than another. And on top of that, you've got the
Big Ten and the SEC saying they deserve a certain
amount of teams already in the playoff, which I think
makes it just as bad, if not worse than all
(09:43):
the issues we had with previous remedies.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Well, and I can sound like a huge hypocrate here,
but I was a guy that liked it. I didn't
hate the BCS.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Neither did I.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
I neither did I. Yeah, I'm like, how many you
go back and look at the years of the BC
and you're like, yeah, they got one and two, right.
I didn't hate the fourteen playoffs. I thought there was
more debates, but it was fine, And I think we
skipped this step. I'm sorry I forgot to ask which
format you prefer? But why didn't we go to eight?
(10:18):
Eight would have been.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
A good number, right right, exactly what I've said. Here's
my issue, and this is no disrespect to you or
your colleagues. It's who's voting. I think that's part of
the problem. It's similar to my complaint about voting for
the Heisman and voting for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Now,
you don't see everybody, okay, haven't people doesn't haven't always
(10:40):
done their research. And I'm not saying it should be coaches,
because you and I both know coaches aren't voting on
that stuff. They don't have time to do it, they
don't see all it. I don't know what the perfect
remedy is. I don't think twelve solves anything, and I
don't think sixteen solves anything other than bringing more money in,
which I think opens up more problem.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Yeah. And also, and this is something that I don't
think is gonna happen anytime soon. I think you go
head to head with the NFL in the playoffs, it's
you're going to lose. I made this analogy a few times.
I went to the championship game last year. I'm meeting
breakfast on Monday morning before Notre Dame, Ohio State, which
(11:22):
it doesn't get much larger from a brand perspective. And
the networks are talking about the Bills and Ravens, right,
and the Chiefs and Bills. And you're not going to
beat the NFL in middle of January, and I think
they should scoot that move. That's college football playoff calendar.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Up one one hundred. It's what I've said for a
long time. If you if you think you can beat
the NFL, go ask Lebron James in the NBA. Okay,
because on Christmas Day, the NBA was a step child
to the NFL. Bill Bender joining us here. He's a
college football writer for Sporting News Bill Bender ninety two.
(12:00):
A lot of the stories are about arch Manning, talk
about pressure. There is a crapload on that young man's back.
How good is he and how do you think he
can lead Texas this year?
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Well, yeah, he can't live up to the expectations because
the expectations are impossible. I think he'll handle them well
like his uncles did. I think Texas is going to
be very good. And if they go up to Columbus
and win in the opener, there's no controlling the heights
for the rest of the year. I'm looking forward to
(12:35):
watching him play and the limited sample we've seen he
can run a little bit more mobile than his uncle
and for a really good deep ball where the consistency
will be in that like intermediate passing range will determine
how well he plays this year. And I here's something else,
I will be surprised if he stays both years. You know,
just look at the family history there Peyton Stage's senior year.
(12:58):
Eli played five years in college, so he doesn't have
to be in a big hurry. And if you get
I think you'll actually get the best of Archie Manning
in college next year if he stays.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Yeah, that's all said. I hope he doesn't get in
trouble like his like his uncle Eli did when he
was just a little young and had to mature just
a little bit. SEC best team is who.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
Texas or Georgia. I think we have Texas ranked higher,
so I'll say that they did lose a lot of
guys in the NFL, and then Georgia a little bit
of a you know, it's it's hard to say they
had a when they won the SEC last season, but
they definitely have. They definitely have those impossible standards as
(13:46):
a program. So I think those are the two best teams.
And after that you're looking at like Alabama, LSU, and
a couple others. I mean, we have ten SEC teams
dranked in our post spring top twenty five, and that
means one of them has to finish ninth or.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Wow, which coach is on the hot seat?
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Big Ten I think Luke Fickle a little bit, just
because you know, Wisconsince is kind of they you know this,
they were in that top tier of Big ten teams
and now with eighteen it's been a little bit of
a struggle. I think you won briand venables at Oklahoma.
They bring in John Mattier from Washington State. They should
(14:25):
have a good year. That Michigan game early is really big,
so I think that's one of the more interesting September games.
So those are two that stand out. You Freeze at.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Auburn be another one last one for you, and I
appreciate all the insight, really good insight. You and I
are both matt guys. Okay, I worry. I get the
whole Power Conferences stuff and that they're going to be
headed for national championships. That's where most people want to win,
and most people want to go, and most people want
to watch. But I worry about the mid majors. I do.
(14:58):
I worry about them a lot because they need those
paydays to sustain their program and other programs at those schools.
What happens to the forgotten conferences as we move forward
with these twelve sixteen playoff and Power Conferences?
Speaker 3 (15:15):
In your mind, well, I mean my stomach turned a
couple of weeks ago as an Ohio University grad when
I read reports that they were feeling out the Sunbelt
or whatever, and then Northern Illinois goes to the Mountain West,
and I'm thinking why I get the double edged sword
of the maction weekday games, because yes, people watch them,
(15:39):
but for a guy like me who has kids, like
I can't just it's tough to get down there on
the Tuesday night, you know. So I think that's one thing,
you know, because I didn't. I grew up after college
and Ohio University played on Saturdays and it was fine,
you know. And I don't want to lose rivalries with
Miami and tent And I'm not sure which one you
(16:03):
went to. I don't want to take a guess, but
you know I always enjoy the games against the Michigan
schools as well.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Yeah, yeah, me too, I mean the directional schools. I
went to Central Michigan, but I love to seeing you
playing Western Michigan. My problem with the Tuesday Wednesday games
is there's no college atmosphere. Students are going, you know,
they're going to the wayside sometimes, but mostly they're staying
in because they're studying, getting ready for a Thursday night,
(16:30):
you know, bar crawl, that's what they're doing.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
Yeah, and in Ohio, we had a couple couple of
so the game.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
I bet you did. Yeah, well, listen, I really appreciate it.
Have a great weekend. Thank you for all the insight.
Keep up the great work there at the Sporting News.
Really enjoy that publication. You guys do yeomen's work. You
allow people like us to have really good topics, and
you're a big reason for it. So folks follow Bill
Bender Bill Bender ninety two on Twitter, read stuff on
(17:00):
a regular basis at the Sporting News. They'll have a
great college football season. I hope we can talk again
sometime down the road.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
No problem. Thanks for having me on. Take care of you.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Bet all right, Bill Bender of than the Sporting It
was a really good guest.
I grew up in college football. I grew up the
Naval Academy and my dad, you know, coach there for
fifty years. And when you're a part of a school,
you're a part of every team, not just a football team.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
You're a part of every team.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
And that's what it's not like a Carolina whether it's
the men's women's across team, men's women's basketball team, baseball
team which had a great year, and so forth. Just
following those teams around, following being part of the community.
It's that's been awesome. It's really good stuff.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
It's Bill Belichick talking about his stay so far at
North Carolina. Bill Bender wrote about it yesterday in The
Sporting News. You can follow him on Twitter at Bill
Bender ninety two. He's a football writer for that outstanding
publication and he joins us here on XUS and Bros. Bill,
we appreciate it very much. Hope you've had a good week.
How are you today?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
I'm doing well. Thanks for having me on. It's good
to meet you. Yeah, it was wild three days and
still surreal to see Belichick. I'm up on a podium
as a college football coach.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Yeah, I didn't get it at the time. I'm not
sure I get it. Now, why do you think it
could work? And what would stand in his way of
making a work?
Speaker 3 (01:13):
The easiest way it could work is it's Bill Belichick.
It's one of the greatest sexes in O's mind ever
in any football level. And I think the way that
they brought in a whole new roster and they're in
a conference where it's not like other than maybe Clemson,
that the talent gap is so significant that you most games.
(01:38):
If you do the right things, you might win ball games. Now,
why it won't work is you could lose interest. I mean,
it reminds me of Bill Walsh in the nineties. I
don't know how old you are. I remember Bill Walsh
coaching at Stanford for a couple of years. It was
good for one year and then it wasn't good effort.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Why does what do you think? I think the reason
is that many college coaches struggle in a lot of sports,
but especially in basketball and football, struggle at the professional
level or vice versa. Like I thought Jim Mora might
be a good fit. You know, it didn't work. There
have been plenty of examples of guys trying to come
(02:19):
down or go up and it hasn't worked. What's the
biggest difference there, Bill Well.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
I In the NFL, margin for victory on the field
is always slim. I mean, you know Jacksonville could beat
the Chiefs. Yeah, you know the Browns when they beat
Baltimore last year. I live in Ohio. The Browns are terrible,
but they did beat the Raven So those things happen.
(02:51):
I think in college the likelihood of a reading Ohio
State in the New age is much harder. I think
the gaps have been created, not between G five and
Power four, but within the Big ten and the well
SEC maybe less, but I mean, how many teams that
beat Ohio State in the last decade other than Michigan
(03:12):
and before that, you know, earlier in the decade ten
years ago was Michigan State.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
But they don't live much sure is speaking of that.
Derek Moore, University of Michigan defensive lineman joked at Ohio
State's national title is not a real win. I think
that's absurd. Of course it is.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Not.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Every team is going to go unbeaten. But the pressure
on Ryan Day there was immense. Now that he's come through,
has it lessened or has it increased? In your mind.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
I think overall pressure is lessened because after that Michigan game,
he stopped trying to coach like somebody he wasn't. I mean,
we've all run through the reasons for that thirteen to
ten loss last year. The biggest one was that's on
the outside and you're running up the middle at two
first round picks over and over again. And I think
(04:07):
there's a little you know that from following that rivaly.
I'm sure there are coaches that just changed the way
they coach in that game. Yeah, Cooper did that. I
think Woodcar to some extent did that when he was
up against Jim Trestle. So and now we have the
Ryan Day Harball thing where it's just or it was
(04:30):
Hartball and Ryan Day and now Sharona and Ryan Day
and Sharon. Even though Michigan struggled last year, I mean,
they had a pretty good game plan against the Buckeyes. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
I agree with all that. It is interesting how coaches changed,
and maybe it was Chip Kelly as much as anybody else.
Bill Bender that he's the Sporting News football writer there
joining us here on exus and Bros. Follow him on
Twitter at Bill Bender ninety two. The president is proposing
is signing an executive order to curb NIL college spending. Now,
(05:01):
whatever your political allegiance may be, the point is the
NC DOUBLEA never saw this coming. For some reason. They
didn't see how NIL would get out of control. They
didn't recognize that it could be the wild wild West,
and they sure as hell didn't recognize that it is
no longer nil, it is paid for play. What do
you think about trying to curb spending through an executive
(05:23):
order compared to the NC DOUBLEA sitting on their hands.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Well, like you said, without getting into political affiliations and
all that, I think most college football fans wouldn't mind
seeing the salary cap type environment in the college football
world because of what we were talking about, where there
are huge gaps in the Big Ten and the SEC
and certain teams can do that. Now, you said something
(05:49):
there that I'm trying to grasp whereas like, yes, it's
out of control. But when NIL was instituted in twenty
twenty one, I didn't think it would get out of
control like this. I thought when it happened, I thought, okay,
players are going to go do car commercials. That's say
they get some money and not that they would be
holding out in the spring transfer portal because of NIL.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
I mean, it's that's so true. I had a conversation
with a member of the NCAA and basketball. It was
more related to basketball a couple of months ago, and
I said, how did you not see this coming?
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Though?
Speaker 2 (06:25):
How did you not know that teams you were going
to have haves and have nots and that they were
the money was going to come from everywhere everywhere? And
if it doesn't stop now you know what's going to happen.
You and I both know Bill they're going to unionize
and then you're going to have all kinds of problems.
How likable or how possible is it to curb it?
(06:46):
And what needs to be done to.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
Do it well? Whether it's I think, first of all,
you need the conference commissioners to work together, and that
asking a lot because they can't agree on a playoff
number right now, going to agree on how we do ANIL?
Are are teams going to circumvent this clearing house? Just
(07:08):
because I mean, we know college football and over the
years these things have happened. So they've found ways to
break rules before in IL, and they'll find ways now
and you know, this is the only sport. I always
say this that it's the only sport. The sport that
is most governed by emotion in this country is college football.
(07:29):
There's no question.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yeah, Bill, do you like the playoff system? And if so,
why the changes that they're about that are about to
be instituted this year? Do you like it? And why
do you think it fixes any arguments that teams or
fan bases may have had.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Well, I like it better than last year because we
have straight seating now, and that's what I want. You know,
we can tell well, you can get in automatically if
you win the Big ten. But you know, like the
top four last year wasn't the necessarily the top four
I would have. And you know when Boise State's getting
a bye week. I love Group five schools. I went
(08:06):
to a MAC school, but they probably weren't ahead of
like Ohio State. So I think we've got to give
this twelve team PLAYFF a chance. I know everybody's trying
to scoot to sixteen as fast as we can, but
give this one a couple more years and see if
it works out. I do think the straight seating will
(08:30):
Maybe I can't say this with one hundred percent certainty.
I think it will end, not end, but we'll have
better first round games. Last year's first round games weren't
good other than being a home campus.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Yeah, I agree with all that, and I love the
perspective I do. I respect it. I hate it, and
the reason I hate it because I don't think it
solves a damn thing. Okay, so I still think last
year you had people complaining that BYU was as good
as SMU, that they were as good as Indiana, and
(09:00):
it's still not getting proven. I don't the whole I
thought I could be wrong here. I thought the whole
objective of expanding the playoffs. I don't know when the
hell it's going to end. I don't know why sixteen
matters compared to twelve. I don't know how twelve beats
eight and all that other stuff. But what I thought
the purpose was was to end a lot of the debate.
(09:21):
It's never going to end. So how does twelve help
us and the debates that one team is deserving more
than another. And on top of that, you've got the
Big Ten and the SEC saying they deserve a certain
amount of teams already in the playoff, which I think
makes it just as bad, if not worse than all
(09:43):
the issues we had with previous remedies.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Well, and I can sound like a huge hypocrate here,
but I was a guy that liked it. I didn't
hate the BCS.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Neither did I.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
I neither did I. Yeah, I'm like, how many you
go back and look at the years of the BC
and you're like, yeah, they got one and two, right.
I didn't hate the fourteen playoffs. I thought there was
more debates, but it was fine, And I think we
skipped this step. I'm sorry I forgot to ask which
format you prefer? But why didn't we go to eight?
(10:18):
Eight would have been.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
A good number, right right, exactly what I've said. Here's
my issue, and this is no disrespect to you or
your colleagues. It's who's voting. I think that's part of
the problem. It's similar to my complaint about voting for
the Heisman and voting for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Now,
you don't see everybody, okay, haven't people doesn't haven't always
(10:40):
done their research. And I'm not saying it should be coaches,
because you and I both know coaches aren't voting on
that stuff. They don't have time to do it, they
don't see all it. I don't know what the perfect
remedy is. I don't think twelve solves anything, and I
don't think sixteen solves anything other than bringing more money in,
which I think opens up more problem.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Yeah. And also, and this is something that I don't
think is gonna happen anytime soon. I think you go
head to head with the NFL in the playoffs, it's
you're going to lose. I made this analogy a few times.
I went to the championship game last year. I'm meeting
breakfast on Monday morning before Notre Dame, Ohio State, which
(11:22):
it doesn't get much larger from a brand perspective. And
the networks are talking about the Bills and Ravens, right,
and the Chiefs and Bills. And you're not going to
beat the NFL in middle of January, and I think
they should scoot that move. That's college football playoff calendar.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Up one one hundred. It's what I've said for a
long time. If you if you think you can beat
the NFL, go ask Lebron James in the NBA. Okay,
because on Christmas Day, the NBA was a step child
to the NFL. Bill Bender joining us here. He's a
college football writer for Sporting News Bill Bender ninety two.
(12:00):
A lot of the stories are about arch Manning, talk
about pressure. There is a crapload on that young man's back.
How good is he and how do you think he
can lead Texas this year?
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Well, yeah, he can't live up to the expectations because
the expectations are impossible. I think he'll handle them well
like his uncles did. I think Texas is going to
be very good. And if they go up to Columbus
and win in the opener, there's no controlling the heights
for the rest of the year. I'm looking forward to
(12:35):
watching him play and the limited sample we've seen he
can run a little bit more mobile than his uncle
and for a really good deep ball where the consistency
will be in that like intermediate passing range will determine
how well he plays this year. And I here's something else,
I will be surprised if he stays both years. You know,
just look at the family history there Peyton Stage's senior year.
(12:58):
Eli played five years in college, so he doesn't have
to be in a big hurry. And if you get
I think you'll actually get the best of Archie Manning
in college next year if he stays.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Yeah, that's all said. I hope he doesn't get in
trouble like his like his uncle Eli did when he
was just a little young and had to mature just
a little bit. SEC best team is who.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
Texas or Georgia. I think we have Texas ranked higher,
so I'll say that they did lose a lot of
guys in the NFL, and then Georgia a little bit
of a you know, it's it's hard to say they
had a when they won the SEC last season, but
they definitely have. They definitely have those impossible standards as
(13:46):
a program. So I think those are the two best teams.
And after that you're looking at like Alabama, LSU, and
a couple others. I mean, we have ten SEC teams
dranked in our post spring top twenty five, and that
means one of them has to finish ninth or.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Wow, which coach is on the hot seat?
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Big Ten I think Luke Fickle a little bit, just
because you know, Wisconsince is kind of they you know this,
they were in that top tier of Big ten teams
and now with eighteen it's been a little bit of
a struggle. I think you won briand venables at Oklahoma.
They bring in John Mattier from Washington State. They should
(14:25):
have a good year. That Michigan game early is really big,
so I think that's one of the more interesting September games.
So those are two that stand out. You Freeze at.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Auburn be another one last one for you, and I
appreciate all the insight, really good insight. You and I
are both matt guys. Okay, I worry. I get the
whole Power Conferences stuff and that they're going to be
headed for national championships. That's where most people want to win,
and most people want to go, and most people want
to watch. But I worry about the mid majors. I do.
(14:58):
I worry about them a lot because they need those
paydays to sustain their program and other programs at those schools.
What happens to the forgotten conferences as we move forward
with these twelve sixteen playoff and Power Conferences?
Speaker 3 (15:15):
In your mind, well, I mean my stomach turned a
couple of weeks ago as an Ohio University grad when
I read reports that they were feeling out the Sunbelt
or whatever, and then Northern Illinois goes to the Mountain West,
and I'm thinking why I get the double edged sword
of the maction weekday games, because yes, people watch them,
(15:39):
but for a guy like me who has kids, like
I can't just it's tough to get down there on
the Tuesday night, you know. So I think that's one thing,
you know, because I didn't. I grew up after college
and Ohio University played on Saturdays and it was fine,
you know. And I don't want to lose rivalries with
Miami and tent And I'm not sure which one you
(16:03):
went to. I don't want to take a guess, but
you know I always enjoy the games against the Michigan
schools as well.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Yeah, yeah, me too, I mean the directional schools. I
went to Central Michigan, but I love to seeing you
playing Western Michigan. My problem with the Tuesday Wednesday games
is there's no college atmosphere. Students are going, you know,
they're going to the wayside sometimes, but mostly they're staying
in because they're studying, getting ready for a Thursday night,
(16:30):
you know, bar crawl, that's what they're doing.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
Yeah, and in Ohio, we had a couple couple of
so the game.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
I bet you did. Yeah, well, listen, I really appreciate it.
Have a great weekend. Thank you for all the insight.
Keep up the great work there at the Sporting News.
Really enjoy that publication. You guys do yeomen's work. You
allow people like us to have really good topics, and
you're a big reason for it. So folks follow Bill
Bender Bill Bender ninety two on Twitter, read stuff on
(17:00):
a regular basis at the Sporting News. They'll have a
great college football season. I hope we can talk again
sometime down the road.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
No problem. Thanks for having me on. Take care of you.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Bet all right, Bill Bender of than the Sporting It
was a really good guest.
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