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December 31, 2025 11 mins
Kicking back into the CFPs, the quarterfinals begin tonight with the Miami Hurricanes taking on the Ohio State Buckeyes for the 2025 Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic. Hoping to advance to the Chick-fil-A Bowl for the semifinals and looking at tomorrow's slate of kickoffs, Dan and Cole are joined by host of The Daily Wire and Crane & Company, Jake Crain, hashing out a few predictions mixed with which teams they believe can make it all the way to Miami for a chance at competing for the 2025-26 National Title. 
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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
That's where we go right now to talk with a
really good guy in this business.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Jake Crane.

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Crane and Company, part of the Daily Wire, joins us
right now. Talk some college ball, Jake. Happy New Year
to you, buddy. Let's just go ahead and get it
started with tonight's game between Miami and Ohio State.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Do you see any surprises tonight?

Speaker 3 (00:23):
Well, first off, thanks for having me guys into Happy
New Year to everybody else out there listening. Man, You know,
I feel like, really the one playoff game where I'm
not saying I know exactly what's going to happen, but
I think you know that there's the widest spectrum for
something to happen is probably Oregon Texas Tech. You feel
like this Miami Ohio State game is going to be

(00:44):
low scoring. Now I'm not saying that that Ohio State
couldn't come out and go up seventeen to nothing and
win twenty four to seven or something like that, but
you just feel like with the way that both these
front sevens are playing. Even though Miami has shown the ability,
especially in crucial moments with Fletcher, to be able to
run the ball and have success there, Carson Beck just

(01:06):
looks like you know, a kid who's meeting Santa Claus
for the first time at the mall. They just freak
out and don't know what's going on. And what's crazy
is he's thirty five years old. So you know, measure
those two see how that works out. But when I
look at this game, it's just really hard for me
to find a way that if Ohio State gets to
the ten point mark, then Miami is going to be

(01:26):
able to win. Outside of you know, a defensive touchdown,
the special teams touchdown are both.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
Jake you brought up. I'm in total agreance with you.

Speaker 4 (01:34):
You told me right now that it's a twenty one
to Zhering win in favor of Oregon. I'd believe it
if you told me came down to a game winning
field goal between Texas Tech and the Ducks. I believe
that these are two teams that have elite SATs against
each other. This is one of the best offenses in
college football going up against I think one of the
most slept on defenses. They're number two in run defense,
they're top five and scoring the great inside the red zone.

(01:57):
If I were to give you a stat line of
which breaks first the rushing attack of Oregon or the
defensive run support of Texas Tech. Do you think that
that is the metric that will design this game.

Speaker 3 (02:10):
Well, it's funny, Colon, and you're exactly right. It is
strength versus strength here when you look at Texas Tech
defensively and Oregon offensively. I don't think that's gonna tell
the story though. I think this is actually one of
the games and I'll answer the question you asked, but
I do want to make this point. I think this
is one of the games where the weakness on weakness
is going to determine it and whose weakness is weaker,

(02:33):
and I think it's Oregon's defense. Guys, if you really
look Oregon's defenses under Dan Lanning, which is shocking in
big games, they have not played well. I mean, heck,
they just gave up thirty points to one of the
guys who helped sign the Constitution. Texas Tech's not amazing
on offense, but they're good enough with Dicky and and
Williams and Baron Morton, who sounds like he helped sign

(02:56):
the Constitution, but he didn't. I don't know, maybe in
his family or they may just know own the Salt Company.
But I actually think it's it's Texas Tech's offense against
Oregon's defense that could be the difference, because I wouldn't
be shocked to see somewhat of a stalemate when we're
talking strength on strength because of how talented Dante More
is and to your point, how good this Texas Tech

(03:17):
defense is at making you one dimensional, which if you're
one dimensional, your non dimensional, if that's a word again.

Speaker 1 (03:25):
Jake Crane, Crane and company hopping on with us here
for a few minutes talk some college football in the
morning Tribe with Dan and Cole Sports Talk seven ninety.
Let's talk about even some of the teams that were
just on the outside looking in. We're going to see
him to day Texas, and I mean Steve Sarkisian coming
out seeing what he said yesterday about the transfer portal
Inil everything else of the sort. They've had quite a

(03:47):
few guys that have decided to leave the program since then.
Do you kind of sense a little bit of the
wagon wheels are shaken there in Austin or do you
think they're gonna be just fine?

Speaker 3 (03:58):
Man? You know that thing upsets me more than watching
rich people cry about and how the cake takes. I mean,
this is this, is this, They're lucky? This isn't you
know eighteen hundred France or whatever with Marie Antoinette or
are they just sent start to the guillotine after that one.
I just I'm not gonna sit here and listen to it.

(04:19):
I just think it's hilarious that you know a A
And I've got nothing against Texas hearing y'all complain about
nil and this, that and the other. Are you kidding me?
You're you're like one of the You're like the Rockefellers
of this stuff. I don't have time for it. But
as far as the bowl games go that you mentioned,
it's just it's sad, Dan, because it's somebody like you

(04:43):
who loves football, who grew up loving football and college
football and understanding, you know, how how much fun the
ball games are. It's just, man, it just doesn't hit
the same. It just really doesn't. You know. I had
a buddy in college who's who's fiance CHEATDH on them,
and it was just never the same again. And it
just feels like that, like we'll never rekindle that magic.

(05:06):
That's why we need to get my plan and we
need to have a twelve team n IT style tournament
with nil money on the line for teams that don't
make the playoffs.

Speaker 2 (05:16):
I'm all for it.

Speaker 4 (05:17):
I'm one hundred percent of all four because I'm getting flocked
from Texas fans every single day, dude about how they
belong in the playoff for being the first team with
three ranked wins against top ten opponents since twenty nineteen.
And I'm like, okay, cool, don't lose Ohio State or Florida.
This is this is a moot point, guys, so like.

Speaker 3 (05:34):
With that, well yeah, and also like you again, and
and look, do I think Texas should have been in
over Tulane and JMU, Yes, just like I think that
Notre Dame and BYU should have Vanderbilt should have.

Speaker 2 (05:48):
Been over them.

Speaker 3 (05:50):
But you know it's funny. They're like, dude, the first
team to do this since twenty nineteen. That's really not
that long ago. If you hit me with like nineteen
forty eight, we can have a discussion, but not twenty nineteen.

Speaker 4 (06:01):
Like Texas A and M is, how does it won
a national title since World War Two was underway? I mean, like, look, like,
give me a stat like that, and then I'll feel
sorry for you at some point, I'm sorry.

Speaker 3 (06:10):
Well, yeah, which we look, which we should just automatically
give those titles to the Army, the Navy, and the
Air Force, even though the Air Forces wasn't you know,
was still in its infancy. We should just World War
two era all the titles should go to the Academy.

Speaker 1 (06:23):
Yeah, those boys were showing some real physicality on the fields.

Speaker 3 (06:27):
You want to talk about the RPO, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (06:30):
For sure, for sure again Jake Crane, Crane and company
hopping on with us here for a few minutes of
the four games here over the next couple of days.
Who do you think is on upset watch the most?

Speaker 3 (06:44):
Look, I've already we already did our prediction.

Speaker 5 (06:46):
Socialists out there.

Speaker 3 (06:46):
I think Bama's gonna beat Indiana. I think they're gonna
beat him. I think Steven Hanley being out's a lot
bigger deal than what people are no really across the coat,
especially in the South, because you know, again, I'm not
trying to downplay anybody's love for the sport, but I
don't think a lot of people have watched Indiana that much.

(07:08):
From Maya and our neck of the woods. Indiana's very quality,
very quality Stig's done a great job upgrading that roster.
They played in their strength, but they don't have a
lot of guys like eight running around in that front
seven and Bama's kind of run the ball a little
bit better. You saw him against the defense in Oklahoma

(07:29):
that is one of the best in the country. Find
a way to run the ball there at the end,
I think Alabama ends up beating Indiana.

Speaker 5 (07:37):
And I know the Joel Klepts of the world and
the Chris Fowlers of the world won't love it, but
it would be kind of funny, especially after watching the
SEC gets there, you know, pants pulled down and spanked
in front of everybody in Kroger.

Speaker 4 (07:52):
Listen, Jake, you know how I feel about this because
of US's call Space Spain.

Speaker 2 (07:56):
I'm not hiding it.

Speaker 4 (07:57):
I would love nothing more than see Alabama find a
way to get the job done. I will say, you's
read on something last night that I think you hit
right on the head. In today's day and age of
the world of college football, we are no longer going
to see these Super Conference that is the SEC run
the show.

Speaker 2 (08:11):
There is gonna be more parody.

Speaker 3 (08:12):
In the sport.

Speaker 2 (08:13):
But at the same time.

Speaker 4 (08:15):
There is a difference, and I want you to be
able to explain the audience because of your knowledge on
the sport.

Speaker 2 (08:19):
There's a difference of saying that the.

Speaker 4 (08:20):
SEC is going to be losing some traction when it
comes to middle teams like Missouri, Tennessee, South Carolina almost
going back to eight and four versus A. Now, we're
gonna still have five teams at the very forefront that
would kick the crap out of anybody in college football,
just like the Big Ten does. It's more parody in
that standpoint, and then there's more middling grounds because of
the future with nil and transferportal news.

Speaker 3 (08:42):
Yeah, yeah, without a doubt, that's one hundred percent correct.
What again, I think we have to be able to
call balls and strikes regardless of where you're from. You know,
the level It's like, you can't argue with the level
of dominance of the SEC from what well, what two
thousand and five to twoenty twenty, right, I don't think

(09:05):
we'll I don't think you can argue the level of
dominance in the Southeastern Conference. I don't think we'll ever
see a run like that. And to me, you know again,
whenever we have this argument of oh, what's the best conference, Well,
you have to develop what metrics you're using. You know,
some people think it's just national champion. Some people think
it's the amount of teams that you get in the playoffs.

(09:26):
Others think how you do in bowl games, and even
some look at the NFL Draft. I think it's all
of it. I think you've got to put it all
together to be able to make that assumption. And that's
not to say that one conference won't be able to
string together some good years. We're watching the Big Ten
do it right now, but there is no way that

(09:47):
you're gonna be able to replicate in today's landscape within
il on the transfer portal. What the SEC did over
really that you know, fifteen to seventeen year period, and
you're always going to have these teams at the top
that are gonna be able to go and do the
things we saw in the past. Is what has changed

(10:08):
the game is now you have some of these middle
ground teams or these middle of the road teams that
not only can compete in the SEC, but go look
at the Big Ten, right even go look at the
ACC in the Big twelve. That's that's what's kind of changed.
The the total dominant factor of one comp you know,

(10:29):
one conference. You can't monopolize the sport anymore.

Speaker 4 (10:33):
Jake, I guess you out of here. On this transfer
portal opens up on Friday. A lot of teams, mister
college football playoff. They want to make a run back.
Who is the team you're most interested in? To see
how they target the portal to upgrade their roster going
into twenty twenty six.

Speaker 3 (10:47):
I mean, Vandy's gonna be interesting post Diego Pavia. You know,
I don't care how many letters he writes to the president.
I don't think they're gonna give you a twelve year bud,
you know, just to see if Vandy. I know Jared
Curtis is going there too, just to see how they
approached the portal. Outside of that, man, you know, we

(11:07):
doesn't it feel like we know the teams that are
gonna have success in the portal, Like it's not really
like a stretch that, oh well, you know, bring back
up Texas. You know, yeah, they've lost some guys, but
they're still gonna have success in the portal. So I
would say Vandy just because they're super intriguing to me
how this is gonna look post Diego Pavia.

Speaker 2 (11:27):
It's gonna be fun to watch. I think there's any
question about that. Again, East Jake.

Speaker 1 (11:30):
Crane, Crane Company, part of the Daily Wire, hopping on
with us here for a few minutes. Jake, always the best, buddy.
Happy New Year to you and yours and hope to
see you this summer in Tampa at SEC Media Days.

Speaker 2 (11:43):
Let's go, man, meet you.

Speaker 3 (11:44):
Kenny Powers and Stevie and Cole can come too. It'll
be fun.
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