August 6, 2025 • 10 mins
Jesse Simonton of On3 Sports joins the show to talk the hottest national storylines in college football, from Arch Manning and Texas to the oversaturation of talent in major conferences.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Honored that Jesse Simonton, who covers college football for on
three Sports, joins us to talk a little college football
right in his wheelhouse, and he's with us here on
this Wednesday morning. Jesse, I hope you're well, what do
you think the biggest storyline in college football is right now?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Well, thank you guys for having me. I would say
that most of the actions in this offseason has obviously
been consumed by everything other than football, you know, whether
it's you know, the constant Nil wars, Greg Sinkee and
Tony Petit kind of doing their latest pot of d
I mean, it kind of feels like groundhog Day with
(00:38):
some of these playoffs debates and everything. So I think
the fact that we're finally getting, you know, close to
the season, to me, the most interesting story I think
is just kind of the arch Manning mania. And you know,
you could you could choose Bill Belichick in North Carolina,
what's happening down at Texas Tech. I think Michigan where
(01:01):
you guys are LSU. Some of those teams are kind
of fascinating what his team, But from a from kind
of just a broad perspective, and I think something that's
probably going to bring in the most eyeballs and intrigue
is just you know, how good is this? How good
is arch Manning? You know, because I've called dug him
kind of the most interesting man in college football in
(01:23):
twenty twenty five. You know, this is a guy who
he is saddled with just major, major pressure and expectations,
and thus far he has handled it, you know, with
a plumb. I mean, he's very low key. His teammates
seem to love him, but he does. You know. The
weight of that last name carries a lot. And then
(01:45):
the fact that you know he's the starting quarterback for
what is presumed to be the number one team in
the country with an offense that's you know, changing a
lot of parts. I mean, they lost both their tackles,
They're bringing in a whole new receiving corps. There's a
lot around him that needs to go well that we
don't know about either. So I long waited answer there,
(02:05):
but I would say arch Manning.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
No, it's a great answer. Jesse Simonton on three Sports,
joining us here on exis and Bros fam on Twitter
at Jesse R. E. Simonton. He's on the Lindsay Hunter
Foundation Hotline. James Franklin and Penn State preseason. I don't
know how much you take stock into preseason rankings. I
don't take much into it, but preseason three, at what
point do you think people stop believing in a James
(02:31):
Franklin led team.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Well makes the case that they'd be number one if
folks really actually believed in James Franklin and rankings. But
I agree that, you know, they're fun, they're silly, they're
they're they're they're good for debate. They don't need a
whole lot.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
But I think when you.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Just put on pay for what they're bringing back versus
what Ohio State and even Texas is bringing back, there's
a strong case that pends they should be number one.
Uh just on you know, they're kind of running the
Ohio State playbook from last season where they convinced h
a buy and paid a bunch of guys to to
you know, return for their senior seasons. It's kind of
(03:12):
a one last dance sort of ride. Look, Dames Franklin's
got to beat you know, those sorts of teams on
his schedule. He has basically not done that throughout the
majority of his Penn State tenure. This is a chance,
and I'm not sure if like the if not now
win sort of deal, but there's a lot of folks
(03:34):
have kind of thrown out some of these kind of
you know, Mark Rick comparisons to Georgia. What Franklin did
obviously at Vanderbilt was even more impressive, but Risch had
an even better sustainability and did routinely actually beat Georgia's rivals.
He struggled against Florida, but he was beating Auburn, Tennessee,
Georgia Tech. You know, for James Franklin, he can't beat
(03:57):
Michigan and Ohio State, So uh uh can he can?
He you know, win those quote unquote big games? And
if he does, and I think, you know, the buy
in for Penn State's future will only kind of sore.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
What about college football in general right now? Do you
think jesse is is good? Why would it be in
a good place? Why would it be in a bad place?
And what would you do to fix it?
Speaker 2 (04:24):
I don't time for that for that full segment of
what I would do fix it? Uh. I do think
that the sport is is healthy in terms of talent,
has maybe kind of been evened out a little bit.
I think it's too early. A lot of folks have
(04:44):
kind of, you know, already rubber stamps that you know,
it's going to be a sport of parody like the
NFL that because you know Texas Tech and some of
these other programs at Louisville, you know, uh, you know,
these prorams that aren't necessarily blue bloods that they are
now kind of taking a lot of these best players
(05:06):
from the Alabama's, the Georgia's, even the Michigan's and whatnot.
I think it's too early to say that that is
actually like a long term deal, but it certainly is
happening in the short term, which for the short term
is giving those fan bases something to be excited about
and kind of hope that they previously have never had.
(05:29):
I am not a huge proponent of this kind of
ever ending and expanding playoff. I think it's extremely problematic.
I think what the two you know, back and forth,
whether it's the auto bids or the five and eleven,
I think there's issues with both of those deals is
kind of never ending thirst to kind of continue to
(05:50):
bring more and more teams in the playoff. I do
absolutely believe and unequivocally can't really don't understand other folks
who say otherwise, it is. It is saturating. You know
the regular season that that number one, number two Texas
Ohio State is going to be super fun, and then
the second that game's over, you're going to hear people say, well,
(06:13):
it doesn't mean anything for who lost because you know
their twelve spots and next year there's gonna be And
it's like, well, it's supposed to mean something. I mean,
like Michigan beating Ohio State last year should have meant
more than it did. But because of the twelve team playoffs,
you know, they get a reprieve and win. So if
it was under me, four was obviously a bad, bad system.
(06:35):
I think eight probably is the ideal, uh, you know
set up, but they're not. They're not gonna put the
two faces back in.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
The tube there. So yeah, that is such a great explanation.
I love a Jesse Simonson joining us here on the
Lindsey Hunter Foundation guest line he writes for on three Sports.
Follow him on Twitter at Jesse Ari Simonton. I know
we only have a short time with you. Great answer
to that. There's so many different ways I want to go,
but let's just stick with the Big Ten in general.
(07:06):
How do you view the conference and is it is
it as top heavy as it appears compared to other
conferences in college football this year?
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Top heavy? But I'm someone you know, I'm very skeptical
about like a USC this season. I think they could
really struggle. But on the flip side, I'm someone that
I think that it's like a Desmond Williams hit and
kind of reaches that potential. There's a chance Washington is
scaring some teams. So when you're going that far down
(07:40):
the league, when you also have the Penn State, Ohio State, Oregon, Michigan,
you know, these teams that are absolute lou excuse me,
expecting to be a playoff team. You get down to
like a Washington, Indiana, Illinois, Illinois, Iowa, you know, suddenly
there is kind of some depth there. Not dissimilar obviously
(08:03):
from the SEC. I mean I think you know that
middle pack of the SEC with Florida, Texas, A and
m Tennessee Old Myths, South Carolina, I mean that's a
meady middle there. I think the bottom of the Big
Ten is worse than the bottom of the SEC for sure,
Just you know, Purdue, maybe one outside of Stanford and
cow I mean, we'll see how the transfer worked out
(08:25):
for Purdue and verry Odam, but they may be one
of the worst power you know, power four teams in
the country. Northwestern and Rutgers are going to struggle this year.
I'm not you know, I haven't been too impressible at
Maryland's brought in so that it's you know, there's there's
some wins there for for you know, some layups there
for a lot of these teams. But frankly, that's kind
(08:46):
of the way it is, you know, at all these
conferences right now, because they're just so big and you've
got seventeen teams for you know, it's just there's gonna
be uh some some teams you just kind of get
run over.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Yeah, I quite honestly, I don't know how you feel
about it. I respect everybody's opinion. For the most part,
I hate it, quite honestly, I hate it. I hate
these massive conferences. I would much rather Yeah, I would
much rather see some of these teams play their traditional
rivals and play within the conference. You want to go
to a larger you want to go to a nine
conference schedule, then have ten teams. You know, I it's
(09:22):
all money grab and everybody knows it, and it's I
think it's ruining college athletics and it's been out of
control for a long time.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
So great. It's particularly bad, you know, for all these
sports other than football and basketball, just the travel and
what it requires for you know, these golfers or these
swimmers or indraft.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
It's a mess. Yeah, it is. And you know what,
shame on the NC double, A shame on the team,
on the school presidents, and shame on the athletic directors
who voted West Virginia and their girls swimming team participating
in the twelve. It makes no sense whatsoever. You make
a lot of sense. We appreciate the insight, really really
(10:06):
good stuff. Jesse Simonson. Have a great year and thanks
for the time today.
Honored that Jesse Simonton, who covers college football for on
three Sports, joins us to talk a little college football
right in his wheelhouse, and he's with us here on
this Wednesday morning. Jesse, I hope you're well, what do
you think the biggest storyline in college football is right now?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Well, thank you guys for having me. I would say
that most of the actions in this offseason has obviously
been consumed by everything other than football, you know, whether
it's you know, the constant Nil wars, Greg Sinkee and
Tony Petit kind of doing their latest pot of d
I mean, it kind of feels like groundhog Day with
(00:38):
some of these playoffs debates and everything. So I think
the fact that we're finally getting, you know, close to
the season, to me, the most interesting story I think
is just kind of the arch Manning mania. And you know,
you could you could choose Bill Belichick in North Carolina,
what's happening down at Texas Tech. I think Michigan where
(01:01):
you guys are LSU. Some of those teams are kind
of fascinating what his team, But from a from kind
of just a broad perspective, and I think something that's
probably going to bring in the most eyeballs and intrigue
is just you know, how good is this? How good
is arch Manning? You know, because I've called dug him
kind of the most interesting man in college football in
(01:23):
twenty twenty five. You know, this is a guy who
he is saddled with just major, major pressure and expectations,
and thus far he has handled it, you know, with
a plumb. I mean, he's very low key. His teammates
seem to love him, but he does. You know. The
weight of that last name carries a lot. And then
(01:45):
the fact that you know he's the starting quarterback for
what is presumed to be the number one team in
the country with an offense that's you know, changing a
lot of parts. I mean, they lost both their tackles,
They're bringing in a whole new receiving corps. There's a
lot around him that needs to go well that we
don't know about either. So I long waited answer there,
(02:05):
but I would say arch Manning.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
No, it's a great answer. Jesse Simonton on three Sports,
joining us here on exis and Bros fam on Twitter
at Jesse R. E. Simonton. He's on the Lindsay Hunter
Foundation Hotline. James Franklin and Penn State preseason. I don't
know how much you take stock into preseason rankings. I
don't take much into it, but preseason three, at what
point do you think people stop believing in a James
(02:31):
Franklin led team.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Well makes the case that they'd be number one if
folks really actually believed in James Franklin and rankings. But
I agree that, you know, they're fun, they're silly, they're
they're they're they're good for debate. They don't need a
whole lot.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
But I think when you.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Just put on pay for what they're bringing back versus
what Ohio State and even Texas is bringing back, there's
a strong case that pends they should be number one.
Uh just on you know, they're kind of running the
Ohio State playbook from last season where they convinced h
a buy and paid a bunch of guys to to
you know, return for their senior seasons. It's kind of
(03:12):
a one last dance sort of ride. Look, Dames Franklin's
got to beat you know, those sorts of teams on
his schedule. He has basically not done that throughout the
majority of his Penn State tenure. This is a chance,
and I'm not sure if like the if not now
win sort of deal, but there's a lot of folks
(03:34):
have kind of thrown out some of these kind of
you know, Mark Rick comparisons to Georgia. What Franklin did
obviously at Vanderbilt was even more impressive, but Risch had
an even better sustainability and did routinely actually beat Georgia's rivals.
He struggled against Florida, but he was beating Auburn, Tennessee,
Georgia Tech. You know, for James Franklin, he can't beat
(03:57):
Michigan and Ohio State, So uh uh can he can?
He you know, win those quote unquote big games? And
if he does, and I think, you know, the buy
in for Penn State's future will only kind of sore.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
What about college football in general right now? Do you
think jesse is is good? Why would it be in
a good place? Why would it be in a bad place?
And what would you do to fix it?
Speaker 2 (04:24):
I don't time for that for that full segment of
what I would do fix it? Uh. I do think
that the sport is is healthy in terms of talent,
has maybe kind of been evened out a little bit.
I think it's too early. A lot of folks have
(04:44):
kind of, you know, already rubber stamps that you know,
it's going to be a sport of parody like the
NFL that because you know Texas Tech and some of
these other programs at Louisville, you know, uh, you know,
these prorams that aren't necessarily blue bloods that they are
now kind of taking a lot of these best players
(05:06):
from the Alabama's, the Georgia's, even the Michigan's and whatnot.
I think it's too early to say that that is
actually like a long term deal, but it certainly is
happening in the short term, which for the short term
is giving those fan bases something to be excited about
and kind of hope that they previously have never had.
(05:29):
I am not a huge proponent of this kind of
ever ending and expanding playoff. I think it's extremely problematic.
I think what the two you know, back and forth,
whether it's the auto bids or the five and eleven,
I think there's issues with both of those deals is
kind of never ending thirst to kind of continue to
(05:50):
bring more and more teams in the playoff. I do
absolutely believe and unequivocally can't really don't understand other folks
who say otherwise, it is. It is saturating. You know
the regular season that that number one, number two Texas
Ohio State is going to be super fun, and then
the second that game's over, you're going to hear people say, well,
(06:13):
it doesn't mean anything for who lost because you know
their twelve spots and next year there's gonna be And
it's like, well, it's supposed to mean something. I mean,
like Michigan beating Ohio State last year should have meant
more than it did. But because of the twelve team playoffs,
you know, they get a reprieve and win. So if
it was under me, four was obviously a bad, bad system.
(06:35):
I think eight probably is the ideal, uh, you know
set up, but they're not. They're not gonna put the
two faces back in.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
The tube there. So yeah, that is such a great explanation.
I love a Jesse Simonson joining us here on the
Lindsey Hunter Foundation guest line he writes for on three Sports.
Follow him on Twitter at Jesse Ari Simonton. I know
we only have a short time with you. Great answer
to that. There's so many different ways I want to go,
but let's just stick with the Big Ten in general.
(07:06):
How do you view the conference and is it is
it as top heavy as it appears compared to other
conferences in college football this year?
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Top heavy? But I'm someone you know, I'm very skeptical
about like a USC this season. I think they could
really struggle. But on the flip side, I'm someone that
I think that it's like a Desmond Williams hit and
kind of reaches that potential. There's a chance Washington is
scaring some teams. So when you're going that far down
(07:40):
the league, when you also have the Penn State, Ohio State, Oregon, Michigan,
you know, these teams that are absolute lou excuse me,
expecting to be a playoff team. You get down to
like a Washington, Indiana, Illinois, Illinois, Iowa, you know, suddenly
there is kind of some depth there. Not dissimilar obviously
(08:03):
from the SEC. I mean I think you know that
middle pack of the SEC with Florida, Texas, A and
m Tennessee Old Myths, South Carolina, I mean that's a
meady middle there. I think the bottom of the Big
Ten is worse than the bottom of the SEC for sure,
Just you know, Purdue, maybe one outside of Stanford and
cow I mean, we'll see how the transfer worked out
(08:25):
for Purdue and verry Odam, but they may be one
of the worst power you know, power four teams in
the country. Northwestern and Rutgers are going to struggle this year.
I'm not you know, I haven't been too impressible at
Maryland's brought in so that it's you know, there's there's
some wins there for for you know, some layups there
for a lot of these teams. But frankly, that's kind
(08:46):
of the way it is, you know, at all these
conferences right now, because they're just so big and you've
got seventeen teams for you know, it's just there's gonna
be uh some some teams you just kind of get
run over.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Yeah, I quite honestly, I don't know how you feel
about it. I respect everybody's opinion. For the most part,
I hate it, quite honestly, I hate it. I hate
these massive conferences. I would much rather Yeah, I would
much rather see some of these teams play their traditional
rivals and play within the conference. You want to go
to a larger you want to go to a nine
conference schedule, then have ten teams. You know, I it's
(09:22):
all money grab and everybody knows it, and it's I
think it's ruining college athletics and it's been out of
control for a long time.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
So great. It's particularly bad, you know, for all these
sports other than football and basketball, just the travel and
what it requires for you know, these golfers or these
swimmers or indraft.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
It's a mess. Yeah, it is. And you know what,
shame on the NC double, A shame on the team,
on the school presidents, and shame on the athletic directors
who voted West Virginia and their girls swimming team participating
in the twelve. It makes no sense whatsoever. You make
a lot of sense. We appreciate the insight, really really
(10:06):
good stuff. Jesse Simonson. Have a great year and thanks
for the time today.
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