Countdown to Kickoff Presented by BetMGM

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Are you ready to witness gritness? Football fans?

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Let's go.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
We're here to break it all down. God, this is
Fox Sports Radios Countdown to Kickoff, presented by bett em App.

Speaker 1 (00:35):
No, we're lyve from your tailgate.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
Here's Brian Nook, former Penn State All American, Rich Hornberger
and FSR betting analyst Jared Smith.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
Oh, good morning, everybody. Welcome in here on a victory Saturday.
Isn't it a beautiful day?

Speaker 4 (01:01):
Fellow?

Speaker 1 (01:01):
What a gorgeous day it is? After the Irish triumph.
Actually couldn't help myself the other day. I had to
get a little momento over here.

Speaker 3 (01:12):
I look at this.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
Look at look at look at this. Right, I'll look
at that little little shamrock, little mini helmet necklace. Overy
Come on, how about that? A couple of garbage scores
by IU at the end there they're losing twenty seven
to three with about two minutes to go. Beautiful, beautiful,
start to the College Football Playoff? Was it not?

Speaker 4 (01:35):
You know you are maybe the only person saying that
waking up this morning, you with all your other Irish fans,
the Notre Dame victory over Indiana will go down. I
think as a failed experiment. I think that's how it's
going to be remembered. There's a lot of people who

(01:55):
are reacting on social media, in the media, mainstream media,
all the media. Everybody seems to believe that this was
a bad thing for the postseason. I disagree. I disagree
because I don't know if I love necessarily every team
that got invited to the CFP. But I will tell

(02:16):
you what I do love. I do love when the
small can test their might against the big on an
even playing ground and see where they stack up. And Indiana,
for all the pomp and circumstance, including some self inflicted
wounds that Signetti Kurt Signetti drew upon Indiana leading up

(02:39):
to kickoff, taking time out of his game day to
join game day to talk some stuff before going out
there and getting stuffed that that's.

Speaker 3 (02:49):
A bad look for the program.

Speaker 4 (02:50):
However, going back to my original statement, I still think
it's good for football. I think it's good sometimes to see,
all right, is there a route to get yet to
the top that's less conventional, you know, that doesn't require
having literally the best players on the planet or spending
the most money and doing all those things. Is there

(03:11):
a way to start a program like Kurt Signetti did
where he's bringing on all these JAMU transfers and he's
installing a system that seems to work against lesser competition,
stacking up a great record. When it's tested against a
better team with more money, better players, can it work?
The answer we got yesterday resoundingly was no. And it

(03:32):
wasn't a particularly competitive football game, but I don't think
it was bad for the sport. Like a lot of
people were cheerleading from the sidelines.

Speaker 3 (03:40):
Yeah, I mean everyone.

Speaker 5 (03:42):
Like all of the arguments for the three loss SEC
teams were all bro and I was.

Speaker 1 (03:47):
One of them.

Speaker 5 (03:48):
I mean, I mean, I'm a sucker for engagement. I'm
an engagement farmer. I don't farm potatoes or carrots, but
I do farm engagement.

Speaker 1 (03:56):
Sometimes.

Speaker 3 (03:57):
It was low.

Speaker 6 (03:58):
Hanging fruit that Alabama ole miss.

Speaker 5 (04:01):
Frankly, any of the three lost SEC teams I think
would have put up a little bit more of a
fight in that game that Indiana did. But to be fair,
the writing was on the wall. We did watch Indiana
go into the horseshoe and get pushed around. And I
don't particularly think Ohio State is an overly tough bullied
this year.

Speaker 6 (04:18):
So that was kind of the writing on the wall
for that.

Speaker 5 (04:20):
The part that disappointed me was it goes back to
the Lions argument and Brian, I remember we were talking
about this multiple times. Oh you should You know, we
criticized Dan Campbell for some of the things that he does,
but that's who the Lions are. If Kurt Signetti wants
to go on game day and talk the talk, you
gotta walk the walk. You can't run the ball three

(04:43):
times in the first half on third and law, you
gotta go for it. You can't punt the ball down
eleven or whatever the time and score situation was late
in the game. If you're gonna talk that kind of talk,
if you're gonna be brash and you're gonna be the
new kid on the block that's gonna do things in
a different way, you gotta step onto the field.

Speaker 6 (05:05):
And coach your team that way.

Speaker 5 (05:07):
Now, apparently he's just a conservative coach, but you wouldn't
guess that based off of the way that he goes
about his business talking. So it's a talk to talk
walk the walk issue. I understand that Indiana was physically outmatched.
I think a lot of teams that would have went
into South Bend last night would have gotten physically outmatched.
But if you're gonna talk it, at least back it

(05:28):
up with the actions on the field, with the decisions
you make and the plays you call.

Speaker 6 (05:34):
Kurt Signetty was the gap could not.

Speaker 5 (05:36):
Have been wider from the talk and the walk last night,
and that was the big problem that I had.

Speaker 1 (05:42):
Yeah, okay, so two things. First Off, Lane Kiffin, head
coach at ole Miss, he was one of the many
fanning the Flames and he took to x slash Twitter
and just wrote, very sarcastically, really exciting competitive game, college
football playoff. Great job, And of course yeah that's him

(06:06):
complaining that the Rebels his team were not in the playoff.
And it's like, Lane, spare me your tears. Dude, beat
unranked Kentucky and unranked Florida and you're in Okay, Like
I get it. If IU is playing Ole Miss's schedule,
IU is probably not in the playoff. I could say
IU is definitely not in the playoff, but that's not

(06:28):
the reality here. The reality is Ole misplays who O
misplays and if all miss loses to the top of
the SEC Georgia Bama, they lose to Texas. Oh okay,
I'll listen to that argument. Those weren't their three losses.
Two of their three were to unranked middle of the
road like SEC teams in Kentucky and Florida this season.

(06:49):
So I don't want to hear it. Spare me your tears.
Everyone wants to play this. Oh we would have done better.
Well you didn't against Kentucky and Florida. I can tell
you that much. So I don't want to hear it.
And the other I'm totally with you, Jared. And shout
out to our guy Chris Purfett, our technical producer, extraordinary.
He was first to the group chat with bashing Conservative.

(07:09):
I would like that to be his new nickname, Conservative
Curt noth Kurt about cowardly Kurt. Cowardly Kurt, I like that,
that's good.

Speaker 3 (07:17):
He needs a heart like a lion. And yeah, Wizard
of Oz.

Speaker 1 (07:20):
Right, And you pointed out, Jared, it wasn't just failing
to go for it with less than eleven minutes to
go around midfield and it's fourth and eleven. It's go time.
There's not enough time. Yeah to put what He's like three?

Speaker 5 (07:37):
Yeah, he was like, she gave so bad. He's like,
we haven't done any offensively all night. Yeah, that's why
you're down twenty seven three exactly.

Speaker 1 (07:43):
That's why it's time to go for broke right, Like,
I just didn't want to punt there. Our offense was
doing nothing. We're just hoping and praying for a conversion
if we go for it. Our defense was at least fighting.
It's like, bro that's all great, you still have no
chance to win if you punt it. So I don't
want to hear all this. I win Google me and

(08:04):
he's this, are you just missing a big Texas belt buckle?

Speaker 6 (08:08):
You know?

Speaker 1 (08:08):
And at a big jaw in the side of ding.

Speaker 3 (08:11):
You know.

Speaker 1 (08:12):
You can't have that swagger with talk and nothing with action.
And that's what we saw last night. There was no
brashness with action, and that's what really counts well.

Speaker 4 (08:23):
And I love the fact that Jared earlier you brought
up Dan Campbell with the Lions, because Dan Campbell has
really cornered the market in the tough guy coach talk
stuff and backing it up. I think the place where
where analysts and people like US opinion makers are starting

(08:44):
to come down on Dan Campbell is he sort of
still playing like the small fry on the on the playground.
Like in that Packers game couple of weeks back, he
was overly aggressive playing with the lead going forward on
fourth down. Sometimes now it's baked into the DNA of
the Detroit Lions, like we're gonna be the school yard

(09:05):
bullies or the pip squeak who went back and hit
the gym in the summertime, came back to the school
yard and is now looking to pick a fight with
the bullies. That's who we are, that's what we're made
of in Detroit, and that's a great mentality to have.
But sometimes conserving or being conservative and playing with the
lead is a different role that you have to sort

(09:26):
of take on and in view and become when you
become a bigger, more fierce animal on the playground or
on the serengetti on the planes out there. That wasn't
the case with the Hoosiers last night. They weren't the
big animal. They were the timid, cornered animal, and you
have to become more ferocious. You have to do things

(09:49):
that are maybe even out of character sometime because you're
not facing saving yourself for the next day, because there
is no tomorrow.

Speaker 3 (09:57):
In the college football playoff, you have to go for broke.
You gotta go for broke.

Speaker 4 (10:02):
So what if the scoreboard says this morning, I don't know,
forty two seven instead of twenty seven to seventeen. Are
we saying anything differently? No, no, So why not go
for it? It's just it drives me crazy when you
put players. That's my biggest complaint about what we saw
last night, Not the fact that it's you know, you

(10:25):
know link Kiffin boo who that it's it's Indiana instead
of old mess.

Speaker 3 (10:29):
I don't care about that part of it.

Speaker 4 (10:31):
The part I care about are the players on the
field who don't get to choose when to go for
it on fourth down, who don't get to choose the
play call, who aren't in control of their future, and
they got a coach talking all that mess on game day,
on college game day, and they go on the field
and call.

Speaker 3 (10:47):
Them that conservative garbage. That's the problem I.

Speaker 5 (10:50):
Have yeah, I think the SEC three loss debate is
more for the media, more for more, for show where
the right driver show putt for doe, where the short
game is really what we're talking about here.

Speaker 6 (11:06):
What took place on the field in that small, little
sixty minute.

Speaker 5 (11:09):
Window that was not really indicative I think of what
the spirit of college football is, which is to go
for it and to really leave it all out. Like
if you asked Indiana people last night, hey, do you
leave it out all out there on the field.

Speaker 7 (11:22):
No?

Speaker 5 (11:23):
Absolutely not, at least not on the sidelines, not the coaches,
not the way that the game was called.

Speaker 6 (11:29):
That game was not left out on the field.

Speaker 1 (11:32):
It wasn't.

Speaker 5 (11:32):
You know, Hey, at least we lost. But I can
go rest my head late at night knowing that we.

Speaker 1 (11:38):
Left it all out on the field.

Speaker 5 (11:40):
I don't think Kurtz Signetty can look in the mirror
and say that today. At least I wouldn't if I
was coaching that game. Now, the next question is is
there a way to fix what we saw, which is
not get these cupcake teams with cupcake rainbow schedules into
the playoff.

Speaker 6 (11:58):
No, there's really no way to avoid it.

Speaker 5 (12:00):
The big ten, right now, because of the size of
the conference and the way the schedule is constructed, there
will be one of these teams every year. The conference
gets a lot of respect because of who's at the top,
but the way that the schedule is constructed currently, there
is no way for at least one team every year
to get this kind of path. The only way to

(12:22):
fix it, you bow And I've been saying this for years.
Everyone thinks I'm crazy. It's fine, I'll be crazy. I'm
cool with that. The conferences are irrelevant, get rid of them.
People are like, oh, but the rivalries. What rival a
high state Michigan, So schedule it. The conferences are irrelevant.
We need thirty to thirty five teams in the Mega Conference,
and we need to schedule like the NFL, where the

(12:45):
number one team has to play a tough schedule every year.
The team that's at the bottom of the barrel gets
to play an easier schedule but still has to play.

Speaker 3 (12:55):
The top teams at the top.

Speaker 5 (12:56):
Maybe they don't have to play all of the top teams,
but Indian has got to play one game against Georgia,
one game against Obama, one game against an Ohio State
at least and in the bottom tier teams. Of course,
I'm sorry, but you're gonna have to be you know,
you're gonna have to go through a secondary playoff to
get promoted into the Mega Conference. But we really only
need thirty to thirty five teams. I don't need to

(13:19):
see Indiana play Northwestern. I'm sorry.

Speaker 3 (13:21):
We just don't like we've we have evolved past.

Speaker 5 (13:24):
That point of college football. But that's not the way
we're operating in reality. So we're gonna get these situations.

Speaker 1 (13:30):
Yeah, I don't know, man, it's uh, I hear you
trust me.

Speaker 6 (13:33):
But the reason I'm just screening.

Speaker 1 (13:35):
The overreaction to one game is ridiculous. Like for anyone
who's like Indiana shouldn't have been there, you're dumb. Sorry,
you're dumb. Like, listen, it was a soft schedule, I
get it. But nobody was saying before access to the
results last night that I you shouldn't have been one
of the twelve teams in the playoffs. No one in
their right mind. They lost to Ohio State and ran

(13:57):
the table. They were eleven and one. No one was
saying a three loss old miss team should be Ian
ahead of IU. But I you get smacked and it's like, oh,
we should have had a Bama. No, no, we shouldn't have.
Like this reminds me of twenty twelve with Notre Dame.
They got crushed in the College in the BCS Championship
game against Alabama. They lost by four touchdowns and and

(14:21):
people are like, it should have been somebody else. No,
it shouldn't have. They were clear, they were undefeated, they
played a big boy scheduled, Like, just because you'll lose
your game doesn't mean you shouldn't have been there. So
that that part, to me is ridiculous. And I'll say,
really fat, I can tell we could talk for three
hours with no commercial breaks right now. Yeah, yeah, all
right now, but I'll save it for uh right around

(14:44):
the corner.

Speaker 3 (14:45):
It's a good conversation they have. I mean, it is
really valid.

Speaker 4 (14:49):
Perspective from somebody who lost to a nine win Giants
team in the Super Bowl.

Speaker 3 (14:55):
I think there's value.

Speaker 4 (14:57):
There's value in having teams who are underwhelming or play
an underwhelming schedule in the regular season to see them
test their metal in the postseason, because sometimes you see
special things occur, like that Giants team. They went on
a hot run to finish out their season, and they
caught fire in the postseason, and we were a damn

(15:18):
good Patriots team in twenty eleven, and they beat us
in Indianapolis.

Speaker 3 (15:22):
Fair and square.

Speaker 4 (15:23):
Eli Manning may make it to the Hall of Fame
as a result of that second Super Bowl victory over
Tom Brady and the UATS.

Speaker 3 (15:30):
And he will. Yeah, and you know what, good on him, because.

Speaker 4 (15:34):
I think there's room in sports for somebody who's taken
maybe a lesser route to see if they could get
to the top. And again, like you said, Brian, I
think it was perfectly stated. Let's not judge the whole
CFP based on the outcome of the literal first game
we've seen in the expanded format. I agree with that.

Speaker 5 (15:54):
But the difference in that Patriots here is that year
Rich the Giants during the regular season and also played
the Patriots. They also played the Niners. They also played
the Packers, who were the three.

Speaker 3 (16:05):
Teams in season.

Speaker 5 (16:06):
Yeah, those are the same teams that they played in
the playoffs. They played them in the regular season too,
So and again I agree with Brian's point, Indiana based
off deserved.

Speaker 3 (16:20):
They deserve to be there.

Speaker 5 (16:22):
But the way that we choose the most deserving teams
based off the current schedule that is in college football
with the conferences is flawed.

Speaker 6 (16:32):
It's a flawed schedule.

Speaker 5 (16:34):
So I'm not saying they deserve to be in there
based off of a flawed schedule.

Speaker 3 (16:38):
Yeah, that's the way.

Speaker 1 (16:40):
But the thing is like why are we playing these games?
Then we could just say, well, yeah, I know, I
Alabama just lost to Vanderbilt, but I still think they're
better than I you, So Alabama goes okay, So why
is why is Indiana playing any games?

Speaker 5 (16:56):
Well, we need Alabama in Indiana or in the same conference,
and they all played similar I.

Speaker 1 (17:04):
Know, I know, but real fast. Chris Purfed, our trusted
producer as the last word on this.

Speaker 8 (17:09):
Yeah, Chris, we spent a lot of time talking about
whether or not Indiana deserved or not. But I feel
like that kind of underscores and I've been kind of
pounding this table all year. How good Notre Dame's defense is.
That's shutting down offenses? Like we're talking about a defense
that's got probably like okay, Xavier Watts, Howard Cross, benjam Morris,
Riley Mills, maybe Jack Kaiser, all those game guys are

(17:30):
going to play in the NFL. And a lot of
them might be top one hundred picks. I feel like
when we're like doing this on Indiana, it kind of
does disservice to just how Notre Dames shut down a
very good offense. And I feel like if we had
put a three loss SEC team in there, we maybe
not as disparate a result. But I do feel like

(17:52):
Notre Dame still wins this game in their own stadium.

Speaker 5 (17:55):
Fantastic blat situation. And he also definitely doesn't call the
game the same way.

Speaker 1 (18:00):
Astick point, Chris Profess a good point. What an exclamation point?

Speaker 3 (18:04):
Brian's got Chris on the doll here, yes, checks in
the monk.

Speaker 1 (18:08):
I'm a Trojan. This this breaks my heart.

Speaker 5 (18:10):
You're going to get a chance to show the world
how good they are in ten.

Speaker 1 (18:14):
Days though, yeah, yeah it's late.

Speaker 5 (18:15):
We'll see they're they're a dog right now against against Georgia,
who favorite, and now they're an underdog.

Speaker 8 (18:21):
Georgia it might still be the best team in the
country too. So this is this is one hell of
a game.

Speaker 1 (18:26):
See all right, We've got rich ron Berger, Penn State
All American, Jared Smith FSR betting analyst. I'm Brian, though,
it's football time. At bet MGM, use code countdown and
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(18:46):
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coming up next? Yeah, but that should exist and can
this team slow the other team's running game down? It

(19:10):
is Fox Sports Radios camp Down to Kickoff, presented by BETMGM.

Speaker 2 (19:14):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
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Speaker 1 (19:26):
It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown to Kickoff, presented by BETMGM.
All season long, betmgm's offering you a second chance on
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(19:47):
So brief thought on the Irish brief Brieffellas, Because if
we don't save time, there's no time for your Nitney Lions. Huh,
there's always time for the nitt Go quickly here and
then we'll get right to that first matchup of the day.
I was chatting with one of my friends from home

(20:09):
last night, my good friend Jay. We grew up, went
to high school together, the whole thing, and he's a
diehard Notre Dame fan. We're both from South Bend, and
he was texting me something to the effect of, there's
gonna be a yeah but with Notre Dame for a
while in the playoff where it's like, yeah, but I
you was fools Gold, you know, or yeah but Georgia

(20:33):
was down to their backup quarterback, or yeah but it's
Poise State, or it's small game James, right if they
keep advancing, And I'm like, yeah, it might take them
winning a championship to get universal love. And this isn't
just a what do they call it? Like, it's like
a scarecrow argument or this isn't just making something up

(20:56):
straw man there. I can never get that right, Thank you, Rich,
appreciate that. Yeah but there were some people giving him
credit and saying they dominated the game and all that.
But you know as well as I do, there's a
yeah but there are plenty of your yeah but whatever,
Like I you, what are they? And I said, good,
that's the way it should be. I get it. Notre

(21:19):
Dame played a soft schedule. They lost in Northern Illinois.
They're not gonna just get universal praise for beating IU.
They're not gonna get universal praise if they beat a
Georgia team without Carson Beck. I don't have an issue
with that. I have no problem with Notre Dame not
getting true respect unless they win it all. I don't
think that's unreasonable at all.

Speaker 3 (21:40):
I agree with you.

Speaker 4 (21:41):
I think that there are plenty of teams, franchises, programs
that have made mistakes because they get lost in the
world of the yeah butts and they're not living in reality.
There was a time where the Chargers had a fourteen
and two Marty Schottenheimer and fired him. You know, there
was a time where the Philadelphia Eagles had Andy Reid

(22:05):
and we're going to the postseason a lot with Donovan
McNabb and fired him. You know, there was a time
where before the the thing really got rolling for Bill Belichick,
where he was cast aside as one of the one
of the the the parts you could spare in a

(22:25):
franchise moving from one city to another. And when the
Browns left Cleveland and went to Baltimore, they didn't bring
their coaching staff with them. They weren't yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (22:35):
We're good.

Speaker 4 (22:36):
Art Modell fired the whole place and said we're going
to start over in Baltimore.

Speaker 3 (22:40):
And then Bill went on to have success.

Speaker 4 (22:42):
Andy Reid was hired by the Chiefs and now he's
a Hall of Famer. You know, So that is that
is an interesting point you bring up, and it's a
lesson that we never seemed to learn in sports that
you don't really value the process only the results. The
process is in In fact, I would argue, in many

(23:02):
ways the process is more important than the results because
belief has to start somewhere. And so if this team
believes in their coach I'm talking about the Irish, if
this program believes in the way they track down recruits
and they sustain talent in this world of the transfer
portal and the NIL monies that are available elsewhere. If

(23:24):
they have a booster club or an NIL collective, or
a group of wealthyed donors or maybe not wealthy donors,
but enough donors that they have some wealth in loring
players to the program, and they've built a good mouse trap,
there's belief behind it.

Speaker 3 (23:42):
You could get some fantastic things done.

Speaker 4 (23:45):
And so that Andy Reid, who is cast aside in
Philadelphia becomes a Hall of Famer with a Kansas City
Chiefs program who believes in them, you know. And also
by the way he drafted arguably the greatest talent accordsquarterback
we've seen in this generation.

Speaker 3 (24:02):
You know, that same coach I.

Speaker 4 (24:03):
Was talking about who's cast aside in a move from
Cleveland to Baltimore becomes the greatest and most winningest coach
in the history of the NFL outside of Don Shula,
and certainly in terms of championships as to all the
rings to back the point I'm making, which is it
has to start somewhere. It has to start with belief.
So the yeah butts that I'm hearing about Notre Dame.

(24:24):
It's like, hey, you're you're just arriving early to the
party and saying it sucks before everybody else arrives.

Speaker 3 (24:31):
You have no idea what this party's gonna look like.

Speaker 5 (24:34):
There really can only be one team every year that
doesn't have a yeah butt. So it you know, out
of the one hundred and thirty plus teams in college football,
every one of them has a yeah butt except for
one at the end of the rainbow. Process over results
is absolutely huge in the gambling world. For me, if
you just look at your record, you are missing the picture.

(24:55):
And I know, like, oh, that means how much money
you make? Yes, I know, but the best gamblers on
the planet lose four and a half times out of ten.
Are they just you know, every time they lose, They're
just like, oh, I suck at this. I can't do
it anymore. The best gamblers in the world go through
losing streaks. You have to continue to preach the process.

(25:17):
I think Notre Dame's process has been really good throughout
this entire situation. I'll be honest, I do think that
of the new like we're in a new era of
college football and I a lot of people call, oh, well,
you know this happened a few years ago. We have
to forget everything that happened in the last thirty years,
Like it's just it's not relevant anymore. Like we're in

(25:38):
a completely new era of recruiting anil transfer portal. Notre
Dame is building one of I would say, a top
twenty kind of program that is going to be sustainable
for years to come.

Speaker 3 (25:49):
Are they gonna win a national championship?

Speaker 4 (25:50):
I don't know.

Speaker 5 (25:51):
The ball's gonna have to bounce their way. It's really competitive.
How many teams have won a Super Bowl in the last.

Speaker 1 (25:55):
Decade was like four or five.

Speaker 5 (25:57):
It's not that many, so it's really really hard to
get over that hump. I think eventually they will get there, though,
Like Brian, if the original question kind of goes down
to Kenodo Day won a national championship, yeah, I think
the answer is definitely more yes than no, based off
of the way that their process is currently constructed.

Speaker 1 (26:15):
I'll tell you the team, and I like what you
said right there, Jared, I like that, dude. Let me
not gloss over that. But the ultimate yeah butt team
in college football, I would say it's the twenty fourteen
Ohio State buck Eyes. They showed how you handle yeah,
but the right way where it was like, yeah, but
does this team even deserve to be in the playoff?

(26:37):
They smacked Wisconsin fifty nine to nothing in the Big
Ten championship game, and then it was like, yeah, but
they're down to their third string quarterback. Are they gonna
beat Alabama? They beat Alabama? Yeah, but are they gonna
beat Oregon? I mean, come on, they beat Oregon. They
won it all like, they gave us no other option
but to respect them. And that's the interesting thing to

(26:58):
me is sometimes these teams that seek respect, it sometimes
gets in their way of actually earning respect because they
get so focused on you're not respecting us, You're not.
It's like, do your job, win games, and they'll eventually
have no other option but to respect you. Right, That's
what it comes down to. And we'll see if this

(27:18):
notating team can keep you their head down the same
way as Ohio State did.

Speaker 6 (27:22):
Hey, let's get to the real team.

Speaker 3 (27:24):
Oh yeah, yeah, I do want to get that.

Speaker 4 (27:25):
Last thing I'll say is and it's it all starts
with the leader, Marcus Freeman. He is not a headline guy.
In the headline era of college football. True, if this
guy wants to put in the work, he wants to
lead his class, he wants to he wants to raise
football players, not starlits who are speaking to the media
and speaking in hyperbolic terms. He wants to play football

(27:49):
and match some heads. I love that attitude. And there's
still coaches like that left. You know, Kurt Signetti got
found out a little bit. Maybe he's quieter next season.
Maybe not, Lane Kiffin. I think what you just said,
the whole yeah but argument is perfectly stated, Brian, because
lank Kevin. I think one of the biggest things that
gets in his way is vanity. I think sometimes I

(28:10):
think sometimes he can't see the forest before the trees,
and like so statements even like oh my gosh, Indiana,
they stink we should have had a better team in there,
wink wink towards the camera. It's like, yeah, look but Lane,
like you said, Brian, beat Kentucky.

Speaker 3 (28:26):
Beat Florida. You're in Let the results do the.

Speaker 1 (28:29):
Talking absolutely well. Now, as Jared said, he wanted to
highlight the eleven seed, the SMU Mustangs.

Speaker 6 (28:39):
I'm all about the Mustangs.

Speaker 1 (28:40):
Let's get that really strong defensive line, right, like, you
got a lot going for.

Speaker 3 (28:46):
Him team Kevin Jennings today.

Speaker 1 (28:48):
Chard Smith out of the backfield, you know, let's go,
very good player. But yes, this is if you look
at number eleven SMU at number six Penn State. I
think a lot of this game is gonna come down
to how successful can SMU be against Penn State's running game.
The last time we saw SMU was against Clemson and

(29:10):
Phil Maffa, who we love, is nicked up and didn't
do anything in that game. This is absolutely a step
up in weight class, So that's the big question. Can
they slow down Nicholas Singleton, k Tron Allen, that Penn
State running game who just ran all over Oregon. Now,
Oregon's rush defense is leaky, but still this is punching
up in weight class for SMU. If you're able to

(29:33):
slow the running game down, It's not like Penn State
has dynamic wide receivers. You're in the game if you
can do that. But that's a big if today.

Speaker 4 (29:41):
Yeah, look, I think that SMU when they made the
switch to Jennings, they got a boost to their offense,
and obviously that has revitalized.

Speaker 3 (29:53):
Things for them.

Speaker 4 (29:54):
But Penn State, they look they they give up, gives
up too many explosive and Penn States too explosive for
the Mustangs to be able to contain them.

Speaker 3 (30:06):
For more than half.

Speaker 4 (30:08):
I mean, maybe in the first half. This is a
close game, but it's kind of like, can the Levies
hole than The answer is no. I think this is
going to be one of those scores that leave.

Speaker 3 (30:21):
A lot of people really.

Speaker 4 (30:23):
Scratching their heads saying, hey, do we have the right
system in place? Especially after what we saw last night
Notre Dame over Indiana, I think this could get even uglier.

Speaker 5 (30:33):
Yeah, I think the weather and the atmosphere will be
a factor here, although I did hear it's not as
there are plenty of seats available apparently at Beaver Stadium today.

Speaker 6 (30:45):
And I think the big reason is the kids.

Speaker 5 (30:47):
Aren't on campus, schools out, so it's unfortunate that the
timing of the game, and unlike Notre Dame, which is
closer to big cities and obviously has a big commuter
you know, Chicago element to it, State College does not
like you've got to drive. Most of the kids are
in Philly or in New York City or in Pittsburg.
You got to drive four hours to get there, So
it's just it's a very different vibe when the kids

(31:10):
aren't on campus. I do think it'll be a really
tough atmosphere. Still, it's really cold. Apparently according to my
people that are boots on the ground, the average kickoff
temperature for an SMU game this year with seventy two degrees.
It's twenty five in State College today. So and I
know that they dealt with it in Charlotte. I know
Dallas is not you know, the Bahamas, but it's still

(31:31):
it's still a very different atmosphere than they've ever played
in before. And they didn't handle the ACC title game
the beginning of that game very well. It took him
a while to get acclimated to the elements. The key
here for me, the variants in this game, I think
is actually on the Penn State defensive side of the ball,
because their defense has struggled this year against spread concepts.

(31:51):
If you go watch the film against Oregon, go watch
the first half against USC.

Speaker 6 (31:56):
Heck, go watch the Bowling Green game.

Speaker 5 (31:59):
And I know Bowling Green is not your average MAC
team with like one hundred seniors on the two deep,
but those spread running concepts gave Penn State problems. They're
a top twenty team defending the run against traditional run concepts.

Speaker 6 (32:11):
When you spread them out, they're outside the top eighty.

Speaker 5 (32:14):
That's where Burshark Smith could have a big impact in
this game.

Speaker 3 (32:17):
On the offensive side.

Speaker 5 (32:18):
I trust cold on Nicky with two weeks to prepare
to give me something special here.

Speaker 3 (32:22):
He needs to be in his bag.

Speaker 5 (32:24):
And the Penn State offense, which has been inconsistent at
times running the ball this year. I hope that Nikolas
Singleton gives me what he gave against Oregon. That was
his first one hundred yard rushing game since Week two.
If he runs for one hundred, it's gonna be tough
to beat Penn State today. But that spread offense scares me.
Kevin Jenny's gonna be running around and this is I'll
be honest. I do think Penn State wins and covers,

(32:45):
but I think the beginning parts of this game.

Speaker 1 (32:47):
Might be a little bit nervy.

Speaker 3 (32:49):
Hmm.

Speaker 1 (32:50):
Maybe a little first half SMU played Jared, what do
you think.

Speaker 5 (32:53):
Man, I'm just gonna I'll be so, I'll be transparent.
I laid it with Penn State. I gave it out
as my Friday bet mg best bet I'm gonna bet.
I'm gonna mitigate that though with some over props for SMU.
Skill guys Smith, and also the tight end hibner. If
you go out to tell you honest, SMU use a
tight end a ton. They used it a lot against Clemson,
and when you spread Penn State out, the bowling Green

(33:16):
tight end was going bananas in their game. I think
that's the middle of the field is where Penn State's
a little vulnerable. So I think running back over tight
end over for SMU. But I think Penn State does
win and cover this game.

Speaker 1 (33:26):
Okay, all right, We've got shared Smith FSR betting analyst
Rich Ornberger, Penn State all American, I'm Brian No. Right
around the corner. The parlay platter. Huh. We'll each have
one selection, pull it together for a greater payout. We'll
share our picks with you. Coming up, it's Fox Sports
Radios Countdown to Kickoff, presented by bet MGM. It is

(33:46):
Fox Sports Radios Countdown to Kickoff presented by BETMGM. Every
time you make a wager at BETMGM, you earn BETMGM
rewards points that could be redeemed for things like bonus
bets or converted to MGM rewards points that could be
used towards dining shows and hotel rooms at over twenty
MGM resorts. All right, let's do this.

Speaker 2 (34:07):
Check this out, Arlay latter.

Speaker 1 (34:10):
All right, the platter. We each have one pick for you.
We pull it together for a greater payout. We're going
Tuddy time again, NFL or college football. Jared, start us off, Buddy,
study time.

Speaker 3 (34:22):
It's study time. This is my favorite time of the week.
Every week we get to do Tuddy time with you.
All right.

Speaker 5 (34:28):
We gave dealers choice today, College or NFL. I went college.
It's a homer pick.

Speaker 3 (34:33):
I don't care. I'm going with it anyways.

Speaker 5 (34:35):
I bet it individually. You put it in the parlay
platter as well. It's Tyler Warren, the most underrated Unicorn
in the entire sport. Didn't score last week against Oregon.
Everything but seven for eighty four went over his receiving yards.
Prop didn't find the end zone in that game against Oregon. However,
I do think he will find the end zone today
and again continues to be miss trie in this market

(34:58):
because when you take out bo Primula, who's like the
short yardage back, the quarterback backup quarterback for Penn State
who's now transferring out. I think it opens up more
opportunities for Tyler Warren. We know how he can receive
a touchdown and he can also run it in on the
goal line. I think they're gonna get creative with getting
into football. Today, Tyler Warren minus won fifty five first
leg of Tuddy time.

Speaker 3 (35:17):
All Right, I'm gonna go with Saquon Barkley.

Speaker 4 (35:20):
He and his Eagles are facing the Commanders. The Commanders
have a terrible rush defense, and they've given up a
dozen touchdowns on the ground to running backs, and Saquon
Barkley is responsible.

Speaker 3 (35:33):
For two of them.

Speaker 4 (35:34):
Those two were scored in the game they played about
a month ago where he racked up close to two
hundred rushing yards against the Commanders. So give me Saquan
anytime TD in this one against Washington.

Speaker 1 (35:49):
Okay, I'm gonna go back to college here. Give me
Jeremiah Smith, stud Ohio State wide receiver. He's at plus
one point fifteen taking on Tennessee today. The last time
we saw Ohio State, they were running into a brick
Michigan wall. You know what I mean like, throw the
ball Ohio State, instead of like we're physical, We're gonna

(36:13):
establish the treach to throw the ball. Throw the ball.
You've got an advantage there. And I think Jeremiah Smith
he's absolutely gonna be targeted in the passing game. I
think he gets lose for a Tuddy. I'll take him
plus one fifteen.

Speaker 5 (36:29):
Plus four seventy four on Tudy time, Tuty time.

Speaker 3 (36:34):
I'll be honest. I feel like we could do better.

Speaker 1 (36:37):
You know what I thought about Jared. I thought about
probably my call in the NFL instead of Jeremiah Smith.
I thought about Lamar Jackson.

Speaker 6 (36:46):
Oh yeah, that's right, big one.

Speaker 1 (36:48):
Today we'll talk about the Rabe plus two hundred. What
do you think if you substituted Lamar for Jeremiah or
even or just add it on right, Take you guys out.

Speaker 5 (37:02):
You don't take people out of the tunny time brlay
You're in time there going.

Speaker 1 (37:10):
I like your thinking, Rich, that's.

Speaker 5 (37:11):
Always the last. It's always the last leg. To get
you to watch the first three legs. You're gonna cash,
and then Lamar is gonna get stopped the one and
the Derreck Henry is just gonna mosey on in or
the the thing the one.

Speaker 4 (37:27):
And by the way, on the same team, the touchdown
rushing touchdown leader.

Speaker 3 (37:32):
And all the NFL is jel It hurts and it's
that amazing.

Speaker 4 (37:35):
It stopped at the one that Jellen Hurts punches it in.

Speaker 5 (37:38):
So if we just went no Jeremiah Smith, they'd be
seven to one with the three legs Jeremiah or Lamar Jackson,
Saquon Tyler Warren is seven to one.

Speaker 3 (37:46):
I mean that's that. That's pretty good.

Speaker 5 (37:48):
Yeah, I'll be honest, I kind of like that better
than Jeremiah than the Jeremiah Smith value.

Speaker 3 (37:53):
You know what, bet them all round, Robin.

Speaker 1 (37:57):
What would that be with the payout of all four beach.

Speaker 5 (38:00):
Let's see if we go Jeremiah Smith there really quick
because I took it out.

Speaker 1 (38:03):
I got to get it back. Yeah. By the way,
shout out to bed MGM with the little helmets, the
little icons, so you know which player plays for which team?
Very nice, important, very nice.

Speaker 5 (38:13):
Eighteen to one if we put all four legs in there. Now,
that's now we're now we're cooking with gas.

Speaker 3 (38:20):
Like Chrismas.

Speaker 1 (38:22):
Right, what was it? What was the total plus?

Speaker 9 (38:24):
What?

Speaker 3 (38:24):
Teen to one? Sixteen plus sixteen twenty four.

Speaker 5 (38:28):
For the precise people out there, I do loud, be
honest with you.

Speaker 1 (38:32):
Listen when it comes to some of these college teams.
I know who these players play for in the NFL,
but some of these college teams, it's a revolving door
to keep up with them. It's like, Hey, who does
Terry Winn play for? Is it Bowling Green or is
it you tep. It's like, I don't know, I have
to google that one. That really s.

Speaker 5 (38:50):
Yeah, I'll give you a bonus. Toutty time standalone tunny time.
That's pretty juicy on its own. How about kay Club
Micket plus three forty. I think he is like the
guy for Club in the day that can keep them
in it.

Speaker 4 (39:02):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (39:02):
I like that mobility.

Speaker 5 (39:04):
He had a big explosive run against the pitch game
to pitch game. He's had some big runs this year
for Clumpson. I think he's really their only chance. I
think the stands game is.

Speaker 1 (39:12):
That it's funny to me sometimes when you're like, oh,
give me Wisner, what's Wisner to get in the paint
against Clem's Oh god minus three.

Speaker 4 (39:24):
Easy?

Speaker 3 (39:25):
It's free money giving it to you.

Speaker 1 (39:28):
It just it just takes all your scheme away, or
you're like, I want to bet that, and it's like,
what will I win? You'll win two cents.

Speaker 3 (39:35):
You know that.

Speaker 9 (39:36):
The touchdown bets are a very popular prop, but they're
also incredibly frustrating because they have no game script or
anything like, it's just who gets the call when the
like it's it's a very very volatile prop, but they're
very fun.

Speaker 1 (39:53):
Yeah, listen, man, Just like player props, the touchdown props,
your teammates are your enemies.

Speaker 3 (39:59):
Yeah, that's what it is.

Speaker 1 (40:00):
Right, Like, if you're on Jeremiah Smith and somehow Abuka
scores a touchdown, it's like, how many touchdowns? Ohios they
gonna score today? Yeah, especially in the NFL, you might
only score two three touchdowns in a game. If some
other guys scores a touchdown, that could be curtains for
your bet.

Speaker 9 (40:17):
You know.

Speaker 6 (40:17):
That's why you go for the juicy ones.

Speaker 5 (40:19):
Forget about the wisnert minus three fifty, Go for the
club next to plus three forty.

Speaker 1 (40:23):
That's what I like. Go for broke, you know, go
for the home run. All right, come it up next man.
They are undermanned at the wrong time. Ah, good morning.
What a day on three college football playoff games and
two NFL games on this Saturday, and two good NFL matchups.
We'll get to that this hour. Roy. We got the

(40:44):
Texans at the Chiefs, got the Steelers at the Ravens.
That's pretty good, huge, pretty good. So listen, college football playoff.
They're hoping for closer games than what we saw last night,
or a lot of the public's gonna be like, hell, well,
let me see what's going on with Mahomes right here,
you know, let's flip over there, let's go to this

(41:05):
Clemson Texas game. Texas favored by thirteen and a half
now at BETMGM. The first part of this to me, guys,
is Clemson just doesn't have the talent that Texas has.
It Isn't that a wild statement, because not too long
ago Clemson was winning titles. You know, wasn't that long ago.

(41:25):
It wasn't like another era in the eighties or something.
It's just not that long ago. They're going toe to
toe with Bama and beating them to win titles, you know,
and now they're just not as talented as Texas is.
That's the first part of this is if Texas plays
their best Clemson can't win. The question is will Texas

(41:46):
play their best? But if you start in the trenches, Rich,
it's advantaged Texas on both sides of the ball. Clemson's
offensive line is iffy, Texas's d line is real, and
then you look at the other side, Clemson's defensive line
isn't what it normally is. I mean, you've got guys
from Clemson littered throughout the NFL, better defensive lineman, Christian Wilkins,

(42:10):
sexy Dexter Lawrence, list goes on and on. You don't
have those same type of dudes at Clemson right now.
So it's advantaged Texas offensive line when you've got advantage
in the trenches on both sides of the ball, and
your advantages continue from that point on. There's a reason
why Texas is favored by thirteen and a half.

Speaker 4 (42:30):
I mean they should be favored by maybe more, but
I think that number gets too hot. Smart or sharp
money will pour in on Clemson's side. Who has a
coach who's been here before. This program's not the same.
This isn't the Clemson of yesteryear where they were going
toe to toe with Alabama for who's gonna take top spot?

(42:53):
In college football year after year when we had a
top four college football playoff, but they snuck.

Speaker 3 (42:59):
In this year. You know, this is UH.

Speaker 4 (43:01):
This is a team that has earned their right to
be in this in this conversation, and like you said,
I think if this is another blowout loss, if there
are a couple today, it's gonna have a lot of
fans flipping over to the NFL to see what's going
on in a heavy heavy playoff implication day for UH,
for for the NFL. But getting back to this one, Yeah,

(43:23):
this is gonna be a war in the trenches and
it's gonna be one with a decided edge for the Longhorns.
I think it's gonna come down to Kate Klubnick. I
think if he's contained as a rusher today, I think
it's curtains for Clemson. He's gonna have to get some
things done outside the pocket. They're gonna have to create
opportunities for them to hurt Texas with his legs if

(43:44):
they're going to win this football game, and if they
can't get him going as a rusher, if he can't
scare Texas enough and have defensive back committing to the
line of scrimmage and getting off of you know, first
or second receiving targets.

Speaker 3 (43:59):
Or get some done in the scramble game.

Speaker 4 (44:01):
I don't. I don't think the Tigers really have a
shot in this one.

Speaker 5 (44:05):
Nailed it four ten yard rushes or more against or
ten or more yard rushes against South Carolina, five of.

Speaker 6 (44:11):
Them against Wake. He had the explosive against Pitt.

Speaker 5 (44:13):
He had an explosive against Virginia Tech, which changed that game.
Kate club Nick's mobility is the X factor in this game, Mafa's.

Speaker 6 (44:22):
I'm assuming he's still banged up.

Speaker 5 (44:23):
Obviously we don't know the full extent of his shoulder injury.
But even when healthy this year, he's in the ninth
percent tile of all running backs when you hit a
matter behind the line of scrimmage. In terms of elusiveness,
he's just not an elusive He's a bruiser, and when
you're a bruiser and you're bruised up, it just makes
it that much harder, especially going up against the front

(44:44):
he's going to go up against today. Now here's the
part of the game that could get dicey.

Speaker 3 (44:50):
I don't fully trust quinn yours. There.

Speaker 5 (44:52):
I said it, I'll say it again. I don't think
Texas fully trust Quinn yours either. I think he'll be
on a very short leash.

Speaker 3 (44:58):
Today. You're hearing transfer room. Is he gonna transfer? I
have no idea.

Speaker 6 (45:02):
If he plays like dog Doodoo today, he might.

Speaker 5 (45:06):
I think you're going to see arch manning packages at
some point. I think you're going to see the Texas
offense that we are accustomed to seeing, which is everything
is in a phone booth. They like to run the ball,
they like to run screens and draws. They like to
keep the ball within five to ten yards of the
line of scrimmage. It's safe, it's conservative. They have athletes,

(45:27):
they have the advantage in this game. I don't think
they're going to be very risky with their offensive game plan.
That being said, Quen, you we was under passing yards.
Two fifty six feels like a pretty high number. Obviously
a screen or draw, you know, he could break one
of those little tunnel screens and go for.

Speaker 3 (45:43):
Eighty, but.

Speaker 5 (45:46):
That is less likely than you know, getting beat deep
down the field. And I think if the game script
goes the way we think it's gonna go here, this
is gonna be a heavy run game.

Speaker 1 (45:58):
I love this Texas defense.

Speaker 6 (45:59):
I think that's the best unit on the field in.

Speaker 5 (46:01):
This game, and they should dictate the tempo if they
convert the pressure on Clubnick to sacks. Club Nick does
have that elusiveness, but if they can convert that pressure
to sacks, it's gonna be a long day. Like mccouba,
Clemson transfer, he knows this Garrett Riley offense really well.

Speaker 6 (46:17):
I think this could be a really long day for Clemson.

Speaker 1 (46:20):
Yeah, and interesting that Phil Maffa his rushing prop bet
is down to forty four and a half. Yeah, I
bet under forty five last night and the understill might hit. Yeah,
but man, that is it's a shout out to Texas's
defensive line and it's just looking at the facts right now.
He's banged up. He was completely ineffective against SMU the

(46:41):
last time we saw Clemson. The other thing to keep
in mind here is I think Weisner should have a
big day and because the Texas running back, they have
an advantage when it comes to their running game. There's
no doubt about that. But the other thing is Clemson defensively,
We've seen the blueprint from Georgia right where Georgia they

(47:03):
just crowded the line of scrimmage and they're just like, Okay,
you like to do all these little quick throws, We're
going to play you close. I want to see if
Clemson does something similar here, because I think that's the
way to try to slow Texas down. Is it's like basketball,
Like they're high percentage little running plays. It's like they

(47:26):
they run the ball through their passing game a lot
of times, and they've got athletes that can go so
if you miss a tackle, all of a sudden, they're
cooking with grease. I think the best way to slow
that offense down is to get up in their space,
you know, crowd the line of scrimmage. And Clemson has
enough in their secondary to not get beat deep if

(47:48):
you're going to do that. So that's what I would do.
That would be my approach if I'm Clemson is crowd
that line of scrimmage. Obviously, try to shut that slow
down the run, but that passing game, the short quick stuff,
but it sometimes pops like, really try to slow that
down and crowd their space. Because Georgia showed that Texas
doesn't like that. They don't like being defended that way.

Speaker 4 (48:09):
The Clemson Tigers have a really efficient and active edge
rusher named TJ. Parker. He is one of these guys
who can wreck a game all by himself, so the
Longhards have to find a way to contain him. And
outside of that being a game changing player or stat

(48:31):
how about this one. I highlighted this one. Quarterback Quin
Hewers has struggled in the most significant moments of the season.
Twelve of his seventeen turnover worthy plays have come against
Georgia and Texas A and M. Do you remember when
JJ McCarthy was leaving Michigan and Jim Harbaugh had accepted
the Chargers head coaching job. What he said about JJ

(48:54):
and the reason why he felt he should be the
first overall pick was because when the moment arrives, he
shows up. He was like, anytime we had to rely on,
JJ McCarthy got the job done for us. Quinni Erew
says kind of like the opposite effect. The bigger the moment,
the smaller he plays, the bigger the moment, the more

(49:14):
he's struggled. And so this is a big moment for Texas.
This is a game that is going to really sort
of set the record straight because in their first appearance
in a conference championship game, the kind of fade they
have an opportunity to win the new conference they belong
to in the opener.

Speaker 3 (49:35):
Of the playoff.

Speaker 4 (49:37):
If if they win and don't win easily, I don't
want to say easily, but if they don't win big,
I think it's going to be conned. It's going to
condemn them a little bit. It's going to it's going
to feel more like a death march towards the second
round as opposed to an opportunity for the Longhorns, especially
if their quarterback doesn't play well.

Speaker 5 (49:57):
Yeah, thirteen sacks against Georgia in the two games, fifteen
the other eleven games, like, yeah, it's it really well, Hey,
it goes back to what we talked about at the
top of the show. Maybe Georgia is just really that good.
But it also kind of speaks to what Texas is.
They are not ready to manage up yet. Well, they

(50:20):
don't have to worry about that today. However, I do
think quin Ewers will be on a very short leash.
The one thing, so Clemson's defense, this is not the
Clemson defense of years past.

Speaker 6 (50:30):
This is not a team that is going.

Speaker 1 (50:32):
To bully you.

Speaker 6 (50:33):
But if you want to say what they do well.

Speaker 5 (50:37):
They're top five and two categories this year, creating turnovers
and creating negative.

Speaker 6 (50:42):
Plays, havoc and more havoc with turnovers.

Speaker 5 (50:48):
That scares me when you're going up against Quinn yours,
because the one thing that Youwers has shown you this
year is the floor can be really low.

Speaker 6 (50:56):
When he's rattled.

Speaker 5 (50:57):
And that's why I think he's going to be on
a short least today. I think you saw it last night.
Now Texas is at home, which is helpful, but I
think you saw it last night with Curtis Rorke.

Speaker 6 (51:06):
Curtis Rorck was seeing ghosts last night.

Speaker 5 (51:08):
He was seeing touchdown Jesus ghosts, like he was rattled
by the environment. And I don't think Quinn will be
rattled by the home crowd. But if he makes a
mistake early or takes a really bad sack early, it
can snowball. And I think that's why I like the
under on his passing yards. And obviously again you know
they break a tunnel screen, he goes eighty yards.

Speaker 6 (51:29):
You get screwed on this bet.

Speaker 5 (51:30):
But I think the game script will dictate let's run it,
let's play conservative, Let's not make the first mistake. Let's
let Clemson make the first mistake. Now you play not
to lose. That's where the back door gets open for
Clemson to come through. But I think Texas should control
this game from a tempo standpoint, and I think quin

(51:51):
viewers will play it'll be more of a conservative game play.

Speaker 1 (51:55):
Right, it's so completely random comparison, and it just hit
me right now. But you remember Notre Dame's kicker last night.
He's had a rough season, Jeter. Yeah, and he hit
the forty nine yarder and all of a sudden, it's
like McDonald kept it and saying he's back. You could
tell he had confidence. You know, he's making CAGs. He's

(52:16):
like he's like staring down Marcus Freeman like, yeah, yeah,
I hit that. That's what I do, Marcus. And it's
if you compare that to quinn yours, right, Sometimes getting
into a rhythm and feeling comfortable, it could be just
a little screen pass that pops for twenty yards and
you're like, okay, I'm feeling good. That's why I think

(52:37):
there's value in crowding the line of scrimmage where you're
not giving quinn Ewers those easy completions to start to
generate more of a rhythm. I would rather crowd the
line of scrimmage. And again you're taking a risk. Yeah,
you could get beat deep, but I think the dumb
factor for like Quinn yours doing something silly up when

(53:00):
you're forcing him to throw the ball downfield as opposed
to throwing a screen pass or something that's high percentage.
I just wouldn't allow him to get into a rhythm
like that. I would do what Georgia did. They did
it twice, you know what I mean, Like crowd the
line of scrimmage and force them to beat you deep
because they'll kill you doing all this little short, quick

(53:22):
stuff that they're really good at that. So if you
don't defend it, I would rather I would rather not
get beaten by a thousand paper cuts. And Clemson is
so well, they're so good at doing exactly that.

Speaker 3 (53:35):
I completely agree with you.

Speaker 4 (53:36):
I think you got to kind of go for broke
defensively against Texas's offense if you're going to win this game.
And here, actually, so some of the best things Texas
done really link up with what you just said. Brian
top two nationally in these four categories quality drives, finishing, drives, defensively,
coverage and limiting pass explosiveness. So when you're going against

(53:59):
the team that can sustain drives for a long time
and also finish drives, so they're going to score points
on you methodically, but then also on the other side
put a lid on your offense.

Speaker 3 (54:09):
What do you got to do. You've got to attack that.

Speaker 4 (54:12):
Methodical edge they have offensively, force them outside of their
comfort zone. So now they can't control the clock. Now
they can't sit on the football for eight minutes, you know,
and a sixteen play drive in the first quarter and
really take the win.

Speaker 3 (54:28):
Out of the game.

Speaker 4 (54:29):
No, create some havoc, call some blitz zero. Let's see
some blitz one. Let's see some exotics. You've had some
time to think about this. Defensively, attack that quarterback who's
shaky in big games, and let's see if you can't
get a turnover or at very least a toss up,
throw me.

Speaker 3 (54:47):
A fifty to fifty ball. Let's see what our coverage
guys can do with that. I completely agree.

Speaker 4 (54:52):
I think this is going to come down to the
Clemson Tigers.

Speaker 3 (54:55):
Let's see how how.

Speaker 4 (54:58):
Let's see let's see the onions defensively. Yeah, let's let
it all hang out here because you got no other choice.

Speaker 5 (55:06):
Yeah, Club Nick's gonna have to be a star tonight,
and it's a homecoming game for him. He played at
west Lake High School in Austin. He's from Austin. I'm
sure he'll have And I'd never played in front of
my hometown with one hundred thousand screaming people, So I'm
sure he won't like know that his people are there,
but he'll know right like when you're playing in front
of your hometown crowd, Like there's a certain element of

(55:27):
that that is in the forefront.

Speaker 6 (55:30):
I would imagine Rich.

Speaker 5 (55:31):
I'm sure you've been down that road before, playing some
games in the New York City area.

Speaker 3 (55:34):
It's just I don't know.

Speaker 5 (55:36):
I don't know what Clemson is going to be able
to accomplish down to down offensively here, Like they're gonna
have to hit an explosive, They're gonna have to get
a turnover, they're gonna have to get a lead, like
I think, I think the key and what Indiana did
not do last night, Like if you want to talk
about we have three games today, they're all relatively bigger spreads.
They're all touchdown plus put pressure on the favorite, like

(56:00):
Indiana put no pressure on Notre Dame last night.

Speaker 6 (56:03):
There was not one moment of.

Speaker 5 (56:05):
That game after the interception on the first drive, when
Indiana threw that pick and and Jeremiah Love scoring on
the next play ninety eight yards.

Speaker 3 (56:14):
That was it.

Speaker 5 (56:15):
There was not a moment in that game where Notre
Dame was like, man, we can lose this. We need
to up our level here. You have to put the
pressure on the favorite. And if Clemson could do that
early in the game, you could put some doubt in
Tech because right now Texas is the biggest favorite of
the weekend. Yeah, in their mind, they're already cruising to
the next round. They're already planning for Arizona State. If

(56:37):
you could put some pressure on them, make them make
quin yeers a little bit uncertain, right. But if it's
just you know, Texas left, right and center and they're
just leaning on them, this is going to be a
long day.

Speaker 1 (56:49):
That's why last little thing here is this is the
exact opposite. I think what Clemson should do as what
the NFL is doing right The NFL is two deep safeties,
keep everything in front of you. Yeah, don't get furtten
deep right like I think. I think Clemson should be
more like the eighty five Bears. You know, croud the
line of scrimmage forced them to beat you deep because

(57:12):
Texas can do it. Don't get me wrong, but they
really get that offense humming when they're doing their short,
quick stuff. I don't think.

Speaker 5 (57:18):
I say bond Injury is big. That's the one to
keep an eye on today. I don't think he's gonna
play it for Texas.

Speaker 1 (57:22):
Yeah, all right, we've got rich Oornberger, Penn State All American,
Jared Smith FSR betting analyst. I'm Brian No. Be sure
to check out the new looking features in the betmgm app.
It's fast and easy access to the sports you love,
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(57:44):
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Speaker 3 (57:56):
All right.

Speaker 1 (57:56):
Coming up next, our good friend Seamus McGee. He'll get
us all set for these college football playoff games. Maybe
a little NFL too, maybe a little you know, D two.

Speaker 5 (58:07):
We got, we got FCS games today. Yeah, I already
bet so.

Speaker 1 (58:11):
Is D three still in season? I'm not sure. I
don't know. I don't know, but we'll find maybe Seamous
will have a play as far as that goes. He's
coming up next. It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown to
Kickoff presented by BEDMGM. It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown
to Kickoff presented by bed MGM. Throughout the entire football season,
BETMGM will offer all different types of no sweat tokens.

(58:32):
Be on the lookout for no sweat same game parlay
tokens and parlay boost tokens, just to name a couple,
and be sure to follow bet MGM across all socials
at BEDMGM. All right, let's do this, follow the money,
real good money. Ah Yes, following the money with our
good friend Seamus McGee, Team lead of Sports Trading at BEDMGM.

(58:53):
Good morning to you, Seamus. So three college football playoff
games today? What line? What points spread or total? Do
you find the most interesting of these three games?

Speaker 7 (59:06):
Hey, guys, good to be back. I'd see right now.
I mean, markets really settled down on a lot of these,
But one thing that definitely jumped was we opened Texas
minus ten and a half this weekend at home against Clemson.
Sharps pounced on this pretty decently, and we're up only
the thirteen and a half now, so I think the

(59:26):
movement on that definitely jumped out to me.

Speaker 3 (59:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (59:29):
I felt a little heavy at open too, and I
guess I was wrong about that assessment because the markets
still like Texas all week I thought the total in
that game was intriguing, fifty one, of course, being a
key total in college football in the NFL lands about
three percent of the time. Once I saw that number
drop below fifty one, of course, people loved about the over,

(59:50):
but the sharps looks it looks like the under in
that Clemson Texas game also is a pretty significant move.

Speaker 7 (59:58):
Yeah, open fifty two half, as you said, down all
the way to fifty and a half. So there's some
belief on the over. I wouldn't say it's something we
necessarily need right now, but it's definitely one where sharp
interest definitely had us move this down.

Speaker 3 (01:00:11):
A bit, Seamus.

Speaker 4 (01:00:12):
The Penn State line opened with them favored by eight
over the Mustangs. So look, I'm not saying they're gonna
be SMU by a million. And this does sound like
Homer bias here as I am a former Nitney lion,
but I did expect to see this line move more
than it has. It's really only moved a half point

(01:00:33):
in Penn State's direction. Is this just a tough one
to handicap or is this a difficult one for you know,
Sharps really to make a strong play on.

Speaker 7 (01:00:44):
Yeah, it is interesting. We opened up eight and a half,
we haven't really moved. Maybe the juice on the eight
and a half moved around a little bit, but you know,
it's definitely right now will lead for us. Looks like
if there are backers on SMU a lot are just
taking flyers on the money line here, and then pig
backers on Penn State are taking this sprend. So I
think we're looking to thread the needle between. You know,

(01:01:06):
if we can get SMU plus eight and a half
and Penn State money line, they'll be a good one
for the book, but definitely an interesting one. I've seen
money come in on both sides.

Speaker 1 (01:01:14):
Here. What else do you need today, Seamus? What would
be a great outcome for bed MGM.

Speaker 7 (01:01:20):
Best one we need. It's going to be what looks
like it might end up being the whole day is
Ohio State minus seven and a half? Ye As I say,
in a lot of weeks, you know, we have the
Colorados of the world, a few years ago the kansas
Is of the world where backers in the States really
gamer the hometown team, and Tennessee is no. You know,
they're absolutely part of that equation. A lot of Tennessee backers,

(01:01:43):
they come out, they show off of the balls. So
a lot of money on Tennessee. Today, we're going to
need Ohio State, big Tom.

Speaker 5 (01:01:50):
Here, did you guys, actually I'm looking at it right now.
You did open Georgia Notre Dame. It looks like Georgia
a slight favorite in that game. Anything significant with the
quarterfinal matchup, with those odds just dropping last night, that's a.

Speaker 7 (01:02:04):
Big Yet I still think a lot of better is
just trying to see how the rest of these games
are gonna go. But yeah, some ton of movement there
so far, But of course we'll see I think that's
gonna be a huge handle game the two big brands there,
So no, it should be fun.

Speaker 4 (01:02:19):
Don't want to let you scoot out of here without
at least asking you one question on the NFL who
shares this slate with the CFP today Houston visiting Arrowhead Stadium.
You got the Chiefs favored in this one. Here's what's
interesting is I love the text inside of this because
the Chiefs have played almost nothing but close games, still

(01:02:43):
favored by what bet MGM has casey three and a half. Yeah,
I mean, talk me off of the text inside of
this spread.

Speaker 7 (01:02:54):
It's hard to rich. It's not easy because you know,
there is a big reaction Mahomes, you know, aid practicing,
then being a full participant and then not even be
injury report at all. So a lot of money did
come in on the Chiefs. But at the same time,
we're still seeing somebody coming out of the Texans all
week because people weren't sure about how healthy Mahomes his

(01:03:15):
ankle was. So I'm not sure if I can talk
you off of that, because I, frankly am not one
hundred percent like how one hundred percent is Mahome is
going to be this week. I know Twitter likes to
joke this is a classic fake injury Mahomes has every year.
But you know, you got you got to you got
to take these things seriously when when they're showing up
on injury reports and stuff like that.

Speaker 3 (01:03:35):
I like that.

Speaker 1 (01:03:36):
I'm going to talk you into it. That's what says anything.
What's the shame of special today? What do you have
for us?

Speaker 7 (01:03:44):
It coincides with our biggest need today. I love Ohio
State on the spread. I think they can win this
game easily by double ditchits. I think they're going to
be really really ticked off the way they played against Michigan.
I think they're really going to try to put the
pedal of the metal here and and frankly, I just
don't see Tennessee going into the shoe and keeping this
one close.

Speaker 3 (01:04:04):
Wow.

Speaker 5 (01:04:05):
Okay, okay, interesting, how about my South Dakota State? But
I actually bet him three last night now three and
a half, So I guess the market agrees.

Speaker 3 (01:04:11):
With the.

Speaker 7 (01:04:13):
Yeah, I was. I was looking at the toll there
up to fifteen and a half. I know it's too
explosive teams, but this is thirteen to nine the last
time they played yeah, so it feels like I am
a toll. I feel like it's a big rivalry game. Yeah,
the teams, it might be a little tense up there,
but uh yeah, it's not often you find you know,
North Dakota State get three and a half. You don't.

Speaker 5 (01:04:35):
I got burned on the under last week with South
Dakota State because they decided to go absolutely bananas in
that game outdoors.

Speaker 6 (01:04:40):
Now it's in the Fargo Dome windows.

Speaker 5 (01:04:41):
I don't know if I can bet an under again,
but you're probably right, James, You're probably right.

Speaker 1 (01:04:45):
Yeah, all right, Seamus, good stuff as always. Man, enjoyed
the day. We'll catch you soon.

Speaker 7 (01:04:50):
Thanks, have a good one, guys, good you too.

Speaker 1 (01:04:52):
There. He is Seamus McGee, team lead of sports Trading
at bet MGM. That's the worst when you're on the
under and one team score ten points and the other
team scores fifty nine in you're.

Speaker 6 (01:05:03):
Yeah, that was a tough beat.

Speaker 3 (01:05:04):
Really.

Speaker 2 (01:05:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:05:07):
I was really on the right side of that under
when Incarnate Word gave up a fifty burger.

Speaker 1 (01:05:12):
Yeah. Rich, you talked about the NFL, Right, we got
a doubleheader today, so if we dive into that first up,
we've got the Texans at the Chiefs. This line has
moved a ton. At the beginning of the week, we
didn't know about Mahomes. Was he gonna be healthy for
this one? Was he gonna play the Chiefs? Were what
a three point underdog?

Speaker 6 (01:05:33):
I got Chiefs plus three?

Speaker 3 (01:05:34):
How about that?

Speaker 1 (01:05:34):
That's great value? Great wowue and the Chiefs now they're
favored by three and a half. This stands out to me.
Patrick Mahomes seventeenth in passer rating, c J. Stroud twentieth
in passer rating this season.

Speaker 3 (01:05:50):
C J.

Speaker 1 (01:05:50):
Stroud's passer rating is eighty nine. That's well below league average.
That's not good. But the thing I really hone in
on is I think they're too much trash being talked
about Patrick Mahomes. Again, this is not straw man. I
hear these things on talk shows where it's like, watch
Mahomes doing I'm Mahomes just mediocre, man, He's having a
bad year. Let the playoffs roll around. Okay, you think

(01:06:12):
he's just mediocre now, like because he's having a down year.
That's ridiculous to me. If you don't think this guy
is fully capable of turning it on and playing great
football when it matters most you've completely forgotten everything that
you've seen. And note about Patrick Mahomes.

Speaker 4 (01:06:28):
Also remember he only needs to win two games to
be in the super Bowl. I mean, the Chiefs are
gonna have the one seed lockdown in the NFC. They're
gonna get to play those games at home, where it's
been a house of horrors for any team that's visited
in his conference or otherwise since he's started as a Chief.

(01:06:49):
So I agree with you. I don't think the magic
is gone. The Mahomes magic is gone. I will say
this though, regular season Mahomes over the past two seasons,
the majority of these game games, he's looked very mortal.
He does not look like playoffs Mahomes in the regular season.
And I don't know if it's complacency. I don't know

(01:07:10):
if it's the fact that defenses have smartened up and
that clutch gene turns on at the right time and
he gets the job done. But he's really struggling more
against what defensive game planning has done to him. And
these games have been tighter this season. So I love
if there's points to take, whether it's on the Chiefs

(01:07:32):
side or the Texan side, take them because I think
it's gonna be a close game. I just I really
don't see anybody running away with this one because all
of these have been closer.

Speaker 3 (01:07:43):
I shouldn't say all of them.

Speaker 4 (01:07:44):
Most of these Chiefs games have been close finishes this season.

Speaker 3 (01:07:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:07:48):
Actually last week when they covered against the Browns, it
was their first cover since Week seven against the Niners. Yeah,
I mean it's been you know, we're in Week sixteen.
It's been a while.

Speaker 3 (01:07:58):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (01:07:59):
You like that. Do you ever do that karaoke style?

Speaker 6 (01:08:02):
Actually I haven't done.

Speaker 5 (01:08:04):
Maybe it's just some karaoke in town one night, Brian,
you and I go out, Hey, Harry, let's get crazy,
you know all that?

Speaker 6 (01:08:09):
Yeah, the Niners.

Speaker 5 (01:08:11):
That Niners game, it feels like forever ago, but that
was you know that that game's not exactly aging like
fine line. You know, the Niners haven't looked great, and
this Texans team hasn't looked great in this stretch either.
I mean, when I was going through the numbers on CJ.
Stroud this year, so twenty eight out of thirty five
qualifying quarterbacks in efficiency, I mean he's playing very below average.
The offensive line has been very bad. I would say

(01:08:35):
down to down.

Speaker 3 (01:08:36):
This is a.

Speaker 5 (01:08:36):
Texans offense that just hasn't been very explosive. Sam could
be said about the Chiefs. They haven't scored more than
twenty one points in five of their last six games.

Speaker 6 (01:08:44):
So you want to talk about taking points.

Speaker 5 (01:08:46):
Yeah, if if Kansas City's not gonna score more than
twenty one, you take three and a half with with
Houston they only score eighteen, and you're good. And I
think just in general, this feels like a tight, close
to the vest kind of game. I did very fortunate,
got ahead of the Mahomes move earlier in the week,
took plus three with Kansas City. I'm gonna come back
on Houston plus three and a half and hopefully we

(01:09:08):
get a field goal game on either side and everyone's happy.

Speaker 1 (01:09:10):
Yeah. The other game is Steelers at the Ravens. Ravens
favored by six and a half. You know what blows
my mind. I don't know how this can even be
a thing. The Ravens pass defense is thirty first in
terms of passing yards giving up per game, thirty first,
Yet they are third in sacks. Their defense is generated

(01:09:33):
forty four sacks, so they're they're getting pressure on these quarterbacks.
And yet they're second to dead last in past defense.
How can that be?

Speaker 4 (01:09:44):
I Mean, the funny thing about about the Steelers, or
the or the Ravens for that matter, is no matter
what you think of them, they both seem to find
a way to either impress you or disappoint you in
wins or losses both. Like, I know that's kind of

(01:10:05):
throwing a wide net over the conversation and it feels
like I'm covering, but let me explain my thought process here, Like,
there are so many times where Pittsburgh wins games where
I'm nauseated.

Speaker 3 (01:10:16):
I think to myself, like, what did I just watch here?
And then I look at.

Speaker 4 (01:10:20):
Tomlin postgame and I go, oh, yeah, I watched Mike Tomlin.

Speaker 3 (01:10:24):
Figure it out. And then you start to let it
wash over you.

Speaker 4 (01:10:27):
Days later, you're like, he's a Hall of Fame coach
because of just the fact that he is able to
frustrate you with wins. And then there are times where
you fall in love with the Steelers. You're like, oh
my god, he's reinvented Russell Wilson. This is what this
is the scariest team in the AFC. Then look at
John Harbaugh and the Ravens with Lamar Jackson.

Speaker 3 (01:10:46):
I have the same feelings towards them.

Speaker 4 (01:10:48):
Sometimes they win games and I go, the refs gave
them that game, or they shouldn't have won it, but
Lamar just turned turned on God mode in the end
of the fourth quarter and found a way or the
defense made a stop or whatever. And then sometimes in wins,
I say, the Baltimore Ravens are gonna get found out
in the postseason like they seemingly always do against Mahomes

(01:11:09):
or the Bills or etc. It's they FC North. I
think it's such a battle of attrition between these teams,
and there is actually so much volatility within the division
they cannibalize each other. I think that as long as
this is such a fierce divisional battle between the Browns,

(01:11:30):
the Bengals, the Ravens, the Steelers, They're going to wear
out their edge before the postseason every year.

Speaker 3 (01:11:37):
I think it actually harms each of these.

Speaker 4 (01:11:39):
Teams, even when there is one dominant team in the
AFC North coming out of that division. It is such
a war of attrition. These teams come out battered and
beaten and bloodied, and when they go against prettier competition,
game ready competition in the AFC side of the playoffs,
they often lose because they've been through hell for six games.

(01:12:01):
I love this division and hate it at the same time. Yeah,
market really likes Baltimore here. I agree with with Rich's sentiment.
These two teams.

Speaker 5 (01:12:10):
I think Pittsburgh more than Baltimore probably peaking at the
wrong time. It kind of reminds me of the Lions,
Like I think, at their core, the Steelers are a
good football team. Are they a great football team? Are
they gonna go into Arrowhead and we're gonna find out?
Are they gonna go into Arrowhead and beat the Chiefs?
Are they gonna go into Baltimore and beat the Ravens?

(01:12:31):
Are they gonna go into Buffalo and beat the Bills
in a January game? I think conventional wisdom says they're
not at that level yet, but they've already beaten the
Ravens this year.

Speaker 3 (01:12:41):
That was a really tight game.

Speaker 5 (01:12:42):
Steelers were a three point home dog back in Week eleven.

Speaker 3 (01:12:45):
Low.

Speaker 6 (01:12:47):
Yeah, Justin Tucker.

Speaker 5 (01:12:48):
Missed a bunch of field goals, game went way under
the total defense force three turnovers in that game. I
think that's where I would focus on this game. From
a betting.

Speaker 6 (01:12:57):
Perspective that so that game was played five weeks.

Speaker 5 (01:13:01):
Ago and the total was forty eight and a half. Well,
now the totals forty four and a half. Like what's
changed in five weeks to move the total down four points.
It's the same teams on both sides, offense def in
fact anything. If Pittsburgh's offense maybe a little banged up
with with Pickens, but their defense also banged up with Watt,
and the Ravens just were a bumbling mess in that game,

(01:13:25):
like they're not gonna score sixteen points and miss a
bunch of field goals today, I think over forty four
and a half would be my favorite bet in this game.
It's tough for me to pick the side. I think
Baltimore wins, but laying seven feels a little too heavy.

Speaker 1 (01:13:38):
Well that's the thing. It's like, come on, Baltimore, this
is you're at home. Yeah, should have won the first
game on the road. This is the time to get
your tenth win, move into you know, like pole position
for the division.

Speaker 3 (01:13:52):
Yep.

Speaker 1 (01:13:52):
And like George Pickens, since he's been down, Pittsburgh's offense
has done nothing. Nothing. It's like if the Ravens pass
defense can finally show up. This is the time to
do it. And the other last little thing I'll throw
out there. Lamar Jackson has put up numbers. He's been
fantastic this regular season. Thirty four touchdown passes, three interceptions.

(01:14:12):
He leads the league in passer rating at one twenty
point seven. Those are sick numbers. Should he win the MVP, No,
absolutely not. It should be Josh Allen.

Speaker 3 (01:14:21):
I heard some pushback. I agree with you, but I
heard some pushback for this. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:14:25):
But the thing I would like to point out is
we were talking about Mahomes in the earlier game compared
to Lamar in the later game. I have far more
questions about Lamar in the playoffs than I do Mahomes, like,
not even close. In their regular seasons have been the
opposite of each other. But Lamar has thrown six touchdowns
six interceptions in the playoffs. He's two and four in

(01:14:45):
the playoffs. I have way more questions about him than
I do Mahomes.

Speaker 3 (01:14:49):
I completely agree with that.

Speaker 4 (01:14:51):
I look, Mahomes is a playoff winning machine, and you
can spotlight the Chiefs being a very talented group, but
it's that's really him. I mean Tom Brady with the
Patriots versus Tom Brady without or should say versus the
Patriots without Tom Brady. Completely different teams, completely different makeups.

(01:15:12):
The quarterback can make a huge difference, especially in the postseason.
His composure is unlike any we've seen outside of the Goat. So, yeah,
I'm with you. I think Mahomes and Lamar are completely
different levels when it comes to the postseason conversation.

Speaker 1 (01:15:28):
Yeah, they have been. Lamar has been the a Rod
of the playoffs. Alex Rodriguez. Yeah, great regular season and
then for far too long in the playoffs, a whole
lot of nothing, but a whole lot of nothing. He's
got to change that when we get there. Hey, our
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(01:15:48):
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We've got Rich Orenberger Penn State All American. Jared Smith,

(01:16:10):
FSR betting analyst. I'm Brian No. Coming up next, prop
it Up? Ah Yes, the prop bet market. We'll share
some picks with you. Coming up. It's Fox Sports Radios
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(01:16:32):
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let's do this.

Speaker 2 (01:16:49):
Prop it up player plays.

Speaker 1 (01:16:52):
Ah Yes, prop bets goalore Jared, We start with you.

Speaker 3 (01:16:55):
What do you like? I did just bet Ohio State
minus seven. I listened to Shaman. We always listened to
Seamus here on the show.

Speaker 5 (01:17:02):
But I am going to kind of reverse course with
my prop selection, and I'm gonna take the under on
Will Howard's passing yard two.

Speaker 6 (01:17:10):
Thirty four and a half.

Speaker 3 (01:17:11):
Big number.

Speaker 5 (01:17:11):
And I know what you're thinking. Well, if you like
Ohio State in the game, then you probably like Will
Howard to go over.

Speaker 4 (01:17:15):
Eh.

Speaker 3 (01:17:16):
Not necessarily. Game script could dictate the fact that this might.

Speaker 6 (01:17:20):
Be a lower scoring game.

Speaker 5 (01:17:21):
The total forty six, so we're expecting a lower scoring
game to begin with.

Speaker 6 (01:17:25):
And I don't trust Chip Kelly.

Speaker 5 (01:17:28):
I said it. I don't trust them as far as
I can throw them, and I don't think I can
throw them very far. I don't think they're gonna give
him the keys or I don't think the Chip is
gonna give Will the keys to the offense in this spot.
I think this is gonna be run, run, run, Let
Nico make the first mistake freshman quarterback on the road
in a tough spot. And I think under two thirty
four and a half is the prop bet I like

(01:17:48):
for Ohio State and Tennessee.

Speaker 4 (01:17:50):
All right, not amazing value on this, but it does
feel like a lock in my brain, So I'm gonna
throw it out there. Penn State taking on SMU, you
have Drue Aller, you have an SMU Mustangs defense that
has a hard time stopping the explosive play, and you.

Speaker 3 (01:18:07):
Have big game Drew.

Speaker 4 (01:18:09):
If it's small game, James, I'm gonna say big game, Drew.
I like the way he's shown up in some of
these games. I don't always love the game plan, but
I like the fight in this guy, and I think
that they're going to be early and active in the
passing game. So give me Aller over his one and
a half passing touchdowns in this game. Minus won thirty
most places.

Speaker 3 (01:18:30):
But I love it.

Speaker 4 (01:18:31):
I love it, I love it, I love it true
Aller all day.

Speaker 1 (01:18:34):
Okay, So I look at this Ohio State game differently,
and maybe I'm wrong, but I'm taking Quinchawn Judkins under
fifty four and a half rushing yards for a couple
of reasons. You look at Ohio States offensive line, down
their center, down their left tackle. Tennessee's defensive front is real,
it's good, it's deep. And I look at Ohio State.

(01:18:57):
They tried to be the more physical team against Michigan
and it failed miserably. I think Chip throws it more today.
Gamescript to your point, Jared, if Ohio State has a lead,
maybe they're trying to run it more late and it
sneaks over but more. Their home run hitter has been
Trayveon Henderson. I like Judkins under fifty four and a

(01:19:18):
half rushing yards today against the Falls. I think it's
funny though, how the sweat is completely different whether you
on the over or the under. If you're on Judkins
under and he rushes for eight yards, you're like, tackle him,
tackle him.

Speaker 4 (01:19:33):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:19:34):
If you're on the over, you're like, don't give the
ball to Henderson, give Judkins.

Speaker 3 (01:19:42):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:19:42):
And you know what, Honestly, selfishly, I was seeking out
a Penn State over that I could really get.

Speaker 5 (01:19:49):
You don't say it, don't say this one.

Speaker 4 (01:19:53):
This one felt like the one for me. But but yeah,
I mean I would way rather sweat go over and
be praying for rain than the officer.

Speaker 3 (01:20:02):
And everything Tyler Warren today.

Speaker 1 (01:20:04):
Yeah, he's a stud man, no doubt about that. Coming
up next, this is probably the dumbest question of the day. Ah, yes,
good morning. We are what we are one hour away
from kickoff? We got SMU take it on Penn State
up first on TNT. Yeah, huh wow, a little different here.

(01:20:26):
It's the twelve team playoff era TNT broadcasting games. I
think it's an ESPN crew, is it not. It just
happens to be on TNT.

Speaker 3 (01:20:35):
Do whatever.

Speaker 1 (01:20:35):
We'll figure it out. When we get there. But let's
look at the nightcap here, nine seed Tennessee against the
eight seed Ohio State. Just saying that out loud feels weird.
The eight seed Ohio State. That's what happens when you
get smacked by Michigan. Ohio State is favored by seven
in this one. This has to easily be the dumbest

(01:20:57):
question of the entire week. This was not made up.
These were on actual shows. I got actual alerts on
my phone, like, hey, check out this video. Is Ryan
Day coaching for his job against Tennessee. It's like, yeah,
he is. How is that even a question? Can you

(01:21:18):
imagine Ryan Day he lost to Michigan again and then
maybe being the only home team to lose in the
first round of the playoff, and he's still the head
coach at Ohio State. How is this actually a question?
There is no chance that happens. That's only built on

(01:21:39):
an if. If Ohio State were to lose, he's gone.
He's done. Of course, he's coaching for his job today.

Speaker 3 (01:21:45):
You're always coaching for your job.

Speaker 4 (01:21:47):
This is a results driven business, and the results for
Ohio State have been poor in some of the bigger
moments of his coaching.

Speaker 3 (01:21:57):
Career at Ohio State.

Speaker 4 (01:21:59):
Especially consider it's almost like it's podium fodder. It's important
you understand the rivalry, but it's also important that what
you do within that rivalry strikes the right chord with
the fan base. Michigan is a different game than any
other game on the schedule, including playoffs. It's weighted differently,

(01:22:22):
it feels differently. Couple losing to Michigan with being knocked
down close to tenth ranked in the country heading into
the postseason, and then lose in the opening round.

Speaker 3 (01:22:35):
Of the playoffs.

Speaker 4 (01:22:37):
There's no way, I one thousand percent, there isn't even
a flinch in my heart. If Ohio State loses this game,
there are going to be backroom conversations, maybe front room conversations.
Some of these conversations may happen in front of him
with the door open, about his future as the head

(01:22:59):
coach of the Buck guys.

Speaker 5 (01:23:01):
Yeah, I think that's an obvious one. I think if
you go back to the the like the Michigan game,
I think there were people who wanted to fire him
right right there on the spot, like literally.

Speaker 1 (01:23:11):
I think the board of trustees might have.

Speaker 5 (01:23:13):
Actually done it if they could have for this game,
I agree with what Shamis said earlier, like Ohio State
definitely in terms of the fade, the public, the need,
they are definitely front and center. But I still see
some variance to this game, especially because it's a very
I thought of the of the three today, I actually

(01:23:34):
thought this was the toughest to cap because of the
wild card that is Chip Kelly in this offense, and
Brian and I see it in different ways with with
with how Chip's gonna go about it. So the context
is he came out after the Michigan game and admitted, Hey,
I need to get the ball to my playmakers.

Speaker 6 (01:23:49):
More like yeah, no, no, dull you got.

Speaker 5 (01:23:53):
You've got three of the best receivers in the sport
and you're slamming it into the box against the top
twenty rushing defense like time and time again. But in
order to trust your receivers, you have to trust Will Howard,
and I think that's the crux of this. I think
they don't fully trust Will Howard to make the right reads,

(01:24:14):
make the right throws, not defecate down his leg.

Speaker 6 (01:24:17):
And you have to also throw in another.

Speaker 5 (01:24:20):
Offensive line combination for Ohio State this week, Luke Montgomery's
gonna start at left guard. Mean, now he's had three
weeks to get reveed up, but he's only had seventy
seven snaps the whole year. Now he's a top five player,
you know. I think he was the number two player
in like the state of Ohio, but still a very
new offensive lineman in another new situation. I still think

(01:24:43):
Ohio State wins this game. Do they cover? Probably? I
bet it because Seame has told me to. But I'm
scared backing Will Howard and Chip Kelly. I don't fully
trust it because I don't fully trust Will.

Speaker 3 (01:24:56):
And it's gonna be interesting to see how.

Speaker 5 (01:24:57):
Much of the of the keys the carte blanche Will
has in this game. If they throw it early and
they're aggressive. Yeah, Ohio State's probably gonna win this game.
But I also see you a scenario where Hypel and
Ryan Day in the fourth quarter are just kind of
sitting there staring at each other, having a you know
which team's gonna make the first mistake kind of moment.
So low total game feels like a feels like a

(01:25:21):
fun football game. But I do think Ohio State wins.

Speaker 1 (01:25:23):
I would argue of these three playoff games, the team
that needs to run the ball effectively the most is Tennessee.

Speaker 3 (01:25:31):
Yep.

Speaker 1 (01:25:32):
I would argue it's them because Dylan Samson is their guy.
His rushing prop is at ninety two and a half.
They lean on him heavily. If you look at the
passing game, they're wide, receivers are banged up, They've had
their issues. Nico IAmA Layava. His passing yardage prop is
at one eighty and a half. That's really low. And

(01:25:54):
here's the thing. You're on the road. You've got to
be able to, you know, keep your defense off the
field against a very talented offense. Again, you don't want
the shoe to get into it right. The best way
you do that is control the ball, time of possession,
run it. And when your offense is heavily built upon

(01:26:16):
Dylan Samson, you've got to be able to run the ball.
I'll put it this way. I don't love Will Howard.
I hear everything that you're saying, Jared, but ask yourself this.
If Ohio State's running game is held in check and
Tennessee's running game is held in check, who has the advantage.
It's Ohio State. Look at their receivers compared to Tennessee's receivers.

(01:26:37):
So Tennessee has got to run it today.

Speaker 4 (01:26:39):
Tennessee's got to run it. They've got to shorten this
ball game. I think Ohio State overall probably the more
explosive team, but Tennessee they can grind out some production
with Sampson. And like you said, that's pretty heavy rush total.
But Sampson's earned it, and I do mean earned it.
If you look at his yards after contact after first contact,

(01:27:04):
he's averaging over three and a half yards per carry.
And this isn't a great offensive line. They struggle more
in the pass protection game than they do opening up
lanes for Samson, but they're not perfect upfront, so he's
had a bit be a war course for them a
little bit. But say, let's put it this way, say
Ohio State has a slow first half, establishing themselves downfield,

(01:27:29):
Tennessee plays over their head defensively for a half. I
think this could be one of those second halfs where,
just like you said, Jared, you could have who makes
the first mistake or the last mistake type of situation
in the fourth quarter that determines the outcome of this game.
I think if Tennessee is able to establish the run

(01:27:53):
and eat up a bunch of the clock and feature
Sampson the way they want to because sixty one percent
of their snap from scrimmage our run plays. Wow, So
that's what they want to do. This is going to
be a long, hard day for the Buckeyes, and I
don't think that's what they wanted first rattle out of
the box in the CFP, especially after the horror show.

Speaker 3 (01:28:15):
That ended their regular season.

Speaker 5 (01:28:18):
Yeah, I think the big reason for imolov Is prop
to be really low is really what's going on at
receiver for Tennessee. He got four of the ten scholarship
receivers they've entered the portal. He got three players in
practice this week wearing red non contact jerseys at just
at the receiver position. And then you've got the Dylan
Samson effect. So Nico, you know, we saw him in

(01:28:39):
this spot on the road at Georgia.

Speaker 3 (01:28:40):
They struggled.

Speaker 5 (01:28:41):
He took five sacks, He had five point one yards
per play, yards per attempt, that was a season low.
So he hasn't really done the job when they've managed
up in class. Tennessee's offense is a very different animal
in conference play compared to add a conference play. In
against the Cupcakes, they have a six hundred yards per
game two points per game. Then they went to conference

(01:29:01):
play twenty five points per game, less than four hundred
yards per game two and a half yards per carry,
less in conference games than in non conference games. This
Ohio State defense is on that top tier SEC level.
I think if you were going to grade the units
on the field in this game, I put Ohio State's
defense at the top of all four units.

Speaker 3 (01:29:18):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:29:18):
I feel the same way about Texas defense too, Like
this is if you like offense, this might not be
the CFP game for you.

Speaker 6 (01:29:26):
And that being.

Speaker 5 (01:29:27):
Said, though, Ohio State's defense big spot against Oregon, big
spot against Michigan, I mean the Michigan game in the
second half, the last two drives fifteen plays seventy seven
yards nine minutes ended on that goal line pick. Then
the game winning field goal drive eleven plays fifty seven
yards five and a half minutes. Like that's winning time

(01:29:48):
and Ohio State's defense folding like a ten.

Speaker 3 (01:29:50):
Here's the scenario that's intriguing here.

Speaker 5 (01:29:53):
If Tennessee starts fast and Ohio State struggles, does the
home field advantage for Ohio State turn right? Because of
what happened to Michigan in the Michigan game and what's
happened lately. That's what that's what would scare me for
being the home team today. If it doesn't start well
for the Buckeyes, that crowd could turn. There's a ton

(01:30:13):
of orange and whatever colors they have in Columbus today
because obviously the SEC travels and it's not a huge
trip to get from Knoxville to Columbus.

Speaker 1 (01:30:23):
I hear you. It's gonna sound like I don't, but
I do. I hear you on this one, Jared. But
here's what it reminds me of. Remember when the Steelers
they started off four and two and Mike Tomlin made
the change to Russell Wilson and a lot of us
felt like, wow, justin fields isn't any good. But they're
four and two. If Russell Wilson struggles, immediately, they're gonna

(01:30:46):
boo the guy. And that's exactly what happened. They went
three and out. He had a couple of bad throws,
Boo boo, and then what happened. He turned it around.
He played great that first game and the booze went away.
So that's my thing. I hear you. I think if
Ohio's they start slowly, you could hear I'm on boo alert,
boo alert again boom. But yeah, is it gonna remain? Right?

(01:31:08):
Is Tennessee good enough to keep Ohio State down? Because
it's one thing for a couple of booze early on,
but will Tennessee sustain that good play where those boos remain?
And I have doubts that'll be the case, right, Like,
That's that's what I think. The other thing is, I'm
really curious about the ratings today. We know NFL is

(01:31:29):
king their ratings are gonna be huge. But when you said, Jared,
and I agree with you, this Ohio State Tennessee matchup, right,
if you love offense, this might not be the game
for you. You really don't want that when you're going
head to head with the NFL, right, Like, So I'll
be really interested to see what the ratings are at
the end of the day.

Speaker 3 (01:31:49):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:31:49):
And also, I think that Tennessee defensively does some good
things against what Ohio State's gonna want to do, especially
in their run game. They love that outside zone. Let's
get everybody running, get some of these defenders on skis,
find a lane, for our running backs and then build
some play action off of that, or RPO game off
of that, or bubble screen off of that. Like Chip

(01:32:12):
Kelly likes to likes to do and move fast. But
this edge defense for Tennessee does a really nice job
of bottling up the outside zone. And so you're gonna
see more of a chess match. If I've got this
guest correctly, like you two, then you're going to see
an offensive explosion or a shootout.

Speaker 3 (01:32:34):
I think this is gonna be a lot.

Speaker 4 (01:32:35):
More crafted and slow, and the play is gonna happen
closer to the line of scrimmage rather than downfield. And
I do think the more methodical, mistake free team wins,
which is not sexy. It's not what you're hoping for
in a college football playoff, but it is a reality
of football, and sometimes it's the team that plays the

(01:32:58):
cleanest football that wins. And in this case, undoubtedly, I
think the winner is going to be the cleanest football team.
I don't think you're gonna be able to turn over
the ball twice and win this game for either the
Balls or the Buckeyes.

Speaker 3 (01:33:11):
Yeah, I don't, you know. I'm gonna be watching.

Speaker 6 (01:33:13):
I'll have That's why God right, the multiple screens. Yes,
I don't want to.

Speaker 5 (01:33:19):
Hear any oh I can't believe the NFL is trying
to infringe on the college football more football than marry Baby,
let's go bring it on. But I could care less
of this game six to three. Honestly, I think it
has so much intrigue behind it because of like of
the of the college football playoff games this weekend, I

(01:33:39):
think it's fair to say that these are the two
biggest brands. I know, Clemson and Texas you know, have
their say, but I put Tennessee and Ohio State slightly
in front of Clemson and Texas in terms of brand
recognition in college football just slightly, and SEC big ten.
You know, you get this just dichotomy of powerhouses going

(01:34:00):
up against each other. So even if the game itself
is not an exciting one in terms of high scoring
or clean football, I think just the intrigue, the drama.

Speaker 6 (01:34:11):
It's like an episode of Downton Abbey. I don't know
if you guys are fans of that, Like, it's.

Speaker 5 (01:34:15):
Not gonna be a blockbuster action in that episode, but
it's every word that they say is dripping with drama.

Speaker 6 (01:34:25):
That is what I am intrigued to see.

Speaker 5 (01:34:27):
How Ryan Day handles this moment, how will Howard and
Chip Kelly handle this offense, how a freshman quarterback handles
what could be a very interesting environment, and of course
just the pageantry.

Speaker 6 (01:34:40):
Of college football.

Speaker 3 (01:34:41):
Like that was my biggest takeaway from last night.

Speaker 5 (01:34:42):
I know, Indiana didn't really meet expectations, but you know
what did meet expectations the environment at a home site
college football playoff game. The game itself was kind of
a dud, but everything else, the pageantry was just top notch.

Speaker 3 (01:34:58):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:34:58):
It's like if anybody asks me, hey, are you watching
the NFL or college football today, I'm like.

Speaker 5 (01:35:03):
Yes, both, yes, and also the FCS and maybe even
throwing college.

Speaker 1 (01:35:09):
Basketball maybe Abby right, I'm sold. But that's the thing though,
not everybody goes multi screen. You know, they will pick
between the NFL and college football. It happens quite a bit. Hey.
Throughout the entire football season, bet MGM will offer all
different types of boost tokens. Be on the lookout for
same game parlay boost tokens, parlay boost tokens, and odds

(01:35:33):
boost tokens. Each NFL weekend. We've got Rich Orenberger Penn
State All American Jared Smith FSR betting analyst. I'm Brian
No coming up next. Would you guys like a mini
rant right around the corner from yours? Truly, there's something
that is just stupid, that is not the end of

(01:35:54):
the world, but needs to be pointed out. And let's
go a'll la carte menu. Huh. We've got three college
football playoff games today, We've got two NFL games, We've
got all of Week sixteen. Let's just go in a
lot of different quick hit directions. Huh. We'll do that
the a la carte menu next as well. It is
Fox Sports Radios Countdown to Kickoff presented by betmgm. It

(01:36:17):
is Fox Sports Radios Countdown to Kickoff presented by BETMGM.
Football is back at betmgm. Use code Countdown and receive
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(01:36:37):
in the business. Download the betmgm app today or visit
betmgm dot com. Use code countdown to receive up to
fifteen hundred dollars back in bonus bets if that bet loses. Okay,
so let me give you a silly rant for a
second here. Okay, now this is let me preface it. It's
not a big deal, but it's something, yes, that I

(01:36:59):
noticed time and time again. The ESPN College Football Playoff bracket. Okay,
at the top of the teams that have a BUYE
they have number four Arizona State on top, and then
below that they have number one Oregon. Why like, think

(01:37:21):
of March Madness. Think of a March Madness bracket. You
always have the number one seed at the top. Why
are we switching this for the college football Playoff? I'm
used to number one at the top, number two at
the bottom. You know how it plays out. Why are
we doing it different for the college football Playoff?

Speaker 4 (01:37:39):
What's the points? I agree with you, And this isn't
a little thing in my brain. It's a big thing.
And I think it's a marketing strategy and it's being
different for the sake of being different. I honestly do,
I really honestly do. It's like, look, I get it.
You know you already have A cola that hit the market,

(01:38:01):
and you want to be new and different in something else,
but PEPSI don't overthink the room. Just just just just
make a brown carbonated liquid that has a little caffeine
and some syrups and sugars and spices and people like it,
you know, And so they do, and they've been number
two forever and that ain't bad. Look is your bracket

(01:38:21):
as good as college basketball?

Speaker 3 (01:38:23):
No?

Speaker 4 (01:38:24):
But the wheel is round because it works. Don't reinvent it.

Speaker 3 (01:38:28):
Let's get rolling here. Yes, how about RC Cola. I'm
an RC Cola guy myself. Are you really?

Speaker 5 (01:38:33):
I mean I was so when I lived in Philly
there was this little small cafe that had RC Cola
on fountain.

Speaker 3 (01:38:39):
Oh my god, I know that was a special time in.

Speaker 1 (01:38:42):
My Life's like casino man, wheeze the juice, remember that
I love the off brand call doctor Thunder.

Speaker 3 (01:38:51):
You know what?

Speaker 1 (01:38:51):
This reminds me of the two minute timeout? Yes, the
same thing.

Speaker 3 (01:38:57):
Let's be different.

Speaker 4 (01:39:00):
Forever.

Speaker 1 (01:39:01):
Let's be college football called it a two minute time out?

Speaker 3 (01:39:04):
What's the like?

Speaker 6 (01:39:04):
Honestly that I don't even understand?

Speaker 1 (01:39:06):
What?

Speaker 3 (01:39:06):
Like?

Speaker 6 (01:39:07):
Who cares? What's is warning about?

Speaker 1 (01:39:09):
Really?

Speaker 7 (01:39:10):
No?

Speaker 4 (01:39:10):
Like?

Speaker 1 (01:39:10):
Warning is fine?

Speaker 3 (01:39:11):
Stick with that.

Speaker 1 (01:39:12):
We all know it. It's a two minute warning.

Speaker 3 (01:39:15):
And when the.

Speaker 1 (01:39:15):
Bracket is shown on ESPN, half Oregon the top seed
at the what do we do it? You know what
it is?

Speaker 3 (01:39:22):
What is it?

Speaker 5 (01:39:23):
It's just for shure, it's just so we can it's
a dog and pony show and not the good Jackpot
kind of dog.

Speaker 1 (01:39:30):
Yeah, jeez. By the way, my leg tattoo is still
around when jack oh it's around.

Speaker 5 (01:39:37):
Yeah, I'm sorry, but I need to be fair. I
have many of them from him. I'm not gonna play
right now.

Speaker 1 (01:39:44):
I would rather have Jackpot be excited to see me
and scratch the hell out of me than just be
different in no scratches, shacked up to see you. Yeah
he was, he was fired up. Okay, So three college
football playoff games today, two NFL games A la carte
may you can go in whatever direction you would want.
First up, obviously you're Nitney Lyons hosting SMU. I would

(01:40:08):
imagine you got some thoughts on that one. I'm gonna
get out of your way. What do you think here?

Speaker 3 (01:40:13):
All right?

Speaker 4 (01:40:13):
So, I think this is actually going to be a
pretty good game if SMU shows up and puts up
a fight in the first half. If their defense can
hold a little bit and their offense can score that
this could be This could be a fun one.

Speaker 3 (01:40:30):
I don't predict it going this way.

Speaker 4 (01:40:32):
I think this is And again I'm trying to exclude
the fact when I'm doing my analysis of this game,
the fact that I do have a dog in the fight,
and I hope that Penn State wins. But I think
this could be the biggest blowout of the day. I
think SMU may be somewhat overrated heading into this game.

(01:40:53):
I think they could get their I think they could
get their doors blown off here. So I hope for
a better game than that. I hope it's not a laugher.
I hope that the CFP, you know, committee got this right,
putting them in their place. But I just I don't
see it that way. So my thought process is Penn

(01:41:16):
State Penn State by.

Speaker 3 (01:41:18):
A lot in this one.

Speaker 5 (01:41:20):
I do think we might see And we're chatting with
our friend Crack and he just gave us a little,
a little nugget that he chimed in. He thinks SMU
is going to get the ball first because of the
coin flip situation. So I'm assuming and I haven't looked
this up, but this is something we've talked about before.
I think the Packers did it once. Yeah, where they
always take the ball and the other team always defers.

Speaker 3 (01:41:41):
And if SMU, like the common.

Speaker 5 (01:41:46):
Trend is defer, always defer, and I guess SMU is
not one of those teams. They like to take the ball.
So whoever wins the toss. If Penn State wins the toss,
they're going to defer. If SMU wins the toss, they're
going to take the ball. So SMU plus a field
goal in the first quarter might be an interesting bet
in that regard. But full game, I think we're gonna
see a similar vibe to what we saw last night.

(01:42:08):
I do think the favorites are chalky today, but I
do think the favorites all win and cover. I don't
think we see that big, which is ironic because all year,
what have we seen in college football chaos, upsets, parody.
I think that's coming, but I just think we don't
have as many good teams to fill the playoff this
year as we needed. You put Alabama in that game

(01:42:30):
last night, they probably lose to Like I think there's
maybe six teams that are really good and collegroable this year.

Speaker 6 (01:42:36):
Everyone else was just very average.

Speaker 5 (01:42:38):
And I don't think SMU or Clemson or even Tennessee
frankly are in that class just yet when they have
to step up, go on the road, manage these tough
environments and play good football. So I think, if you're
gonna ask me blanket today, Schmorgesborg, I would say the favorites,
I would lean to the chalk today.

Speaker 1 (01:42:58):
Yeah. And that's the thing is, that's why I can't
continue to bang this drum. I wish that all these
college football playoff games were home games, except for the
championship game. I might have it just like the NFL,
because play this out. What's gonna happen? We saw yesterday
with IU. You might have some SEC teams say our

(01:43:18):
conference is tough enough. Why are we scheduling up in
the non conference?

Speaker 3 (01:43:23):
Why?

Speaker 1 (01:43:24):
You know? And I think if you if you battle
it out through throughout the regular season, like Oregon should
be playing at home when next week rolls around. Not
the Rose Bowl, right, Like what's a Rosebul's probably bad
exit that's one of the best atmospheres there is. But
would you rather see, you know, Arizona State host a

(01:43:44):
game or the Blue Turf at Boise State, or would
you rather see the Peach Bowl or the Fiesta Bowl.
It's like it's getting in the way here. I think
if you handle business in the regular season, you should
be massively awarded in the postseason. Getting a neutral site
game is not a massive reward. Getting a home game
is a massive reward. It shouldn't just be for the

(01:44:06):
first round.

Speaker 3 (01:44:07):
I agree with you.

Speaker 4 (01:44:08):
I one hundred percent agree with you, and I think
you can still wrap these games with corporate sponsors and
make good on all these agreements. You know, it's it's
gonna be played at Albertson Stadium in Boise, Idaho. But
it is the whatever, the John Deere Bowl. I mean,
call it whatever you want. It's just it's so silly

(01:44:31):
to me that these teams who fought their ass off
and played hard throughout the season are rewarded by, in
certain cases across country trip.

Speaker 3 (01:44:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:44:41):
You know, imagine if you are the number one team
in the nation and just because of the bull draw
this year, you're gonna end up in the Orange Bowl
and your West Coast team, It's like, what, It's just
it is it a cool trip? Absolutely are the players
gonna be fond of the memories that they have going
on the road and staying in different location. Sure that

(01:45:01):
that's all part of the pomp and circumstance of being
a winning team, and those are those are some cool,
cool things, cool moments that come with being a college athlete.
But the more and more the wheel turns towards this
being professional athletics at the collegiate level, which it is,
and we have to start treating this like like like

(01:45:25):
the NFL does, and the NFL awards advantages to to
teams that had better regular season seating wise, then they
do other teams for obvious reasons, because otherwise it's like
what's the what's the point a little bit, you could
make a strong argument for fighting for a lower seat

(01:45:46):
for an easier path because you don't have home field
advantage anyways.

Speaker 5 (01:45:51):
Yeah, Now, the NFL does have their works too with
the stupid division, you know, the yeah, you know, like,
like the seating issues still exist, and I think these
issues will continue to exist in the college game too,
But we're evolving, we're changing, we're learning. There was a
lot of pushback about the seeds this year and Arizona
State and Boise State getting buys like I think eventually

(01:46:13):
these wrinkles will get ironed out. Let's be honest, this
is an imperfect system. Of course, it's an imperfect system.
There's no perfections unattainable. But in general, I do say
what you want about we did at the beginning of
the show, like the committee got the teams right. Do
I wish the game was better last night? Of course
we all do, but SMU Indiana. These teams were the

(01:46:34):
more deserving teams this year. But when they manage up
and go on the road as eighteen to twenty two
year old or in Curtis Ork's case, a twenty four
year old kid might do get a little rattled, get
a little rattled by the moment. And I think that's
what we're gonna notice today with the home field. We
saw it last night. Indiana was rattled early in that game.
It took them probably the whole first half to get

(01:46:56):
settled in, and by the time they did, it.

Speaker 1 (01:46:57):
Was too late.

Speaker 6 (01:46:58):
The question is can the home teams take advantage of that?

Speaker 5 (01:47:02):
Notre Dame did last night, Ken Ohio State, Conpen State,
Can Texas take advantage of that? You know, Clemson especially,
I would say Clemson and SMU would be the two
teams that will be the most rattle, just more so
SMU because they haven't played in these environments this year,
where Tennessee has in the SEC. What is that mental
state going to be? But I'm with you, Brian. Homefield
is a fantastic edge for these teams.

Speaker 1 (01:47:23):
I think it would be the perfect way to make
the regular season more important. Agree, Because listen, like there
are twelve teams. There are three times as many teams
in the playoffs than we used to have with the
four team era, right, and so of course the regular
season is gonna be watered down a bit, there's more
margin for error. But if you're able to, we should

(01:47:44):
see it one through twelve or one through fourteen. However,
many teams there are like, don't do it by you
won your conference. I don't care. I don't care. If
you've a ranked number twelve, you shouldn't be the fourth seed. Sorry,
So rank them are seedom one through twelve, one through fourteen,
and then have home field because that makes all these
regular season games important. If it equals a home playoff

(01:48:08):
game when the playoff rolls around, I would absolutely do that. Now,
let me throw this at you. I was thinking about this.
Let's do a stud of the day. We've got three
college football playoff games, We've got two NFL games, so
two separate categories. Rich will start with you college football
playoff wise, one player who you think will be talking
about the most for good reasons at the end of today.

(01:48:30):
Who would you say it's gonna be.

Speaker 3 (01:48:32):
I like this question.

Speaker 1 (01:48:33):
Yeah, I don't know if we have Rich, I'm gonna go.

Speaker 3 (01:48:36):
I'll just I'll step in here A Rich collects himself.

Speaker 4 (01:48:39):
Okay, sorry, yeah, it must have been.

Speaker 3 (01:48:44):
I mean, you asked me. This question floored me.

Speaker 1 (01:48:48):
Man was speechless.

Speaker 4 (01:48:49):
I do want to ask you so to clarify the
study of the day, like who needs to step up?

Speaker 1 (01:48:54):
And no, no, no, not any of that. Okay, just okay,
Sports Center or whatever highlight show we're leading it. Man,
what a day so and so ahead. Who do you
think that's gonna be when it's all said and done.

Speaker 4 (01:49:07):
I love this question. I love this question a lot.
And my knee jerk reaction now I'm not gonna go there.
I can't do that.

Speaker 1 (01:49:15):
All right, you wanted to go Tylor, I can't.

Speaker 3 (01:49:19):
I'm going.

Speaker 4 (01:49:21):
I'm going okay, I'll let you do it. By the way,
I'm just letting you know mine too. Mine also is
Tyler Warren. But I here's my other day. I think
it's gonna be c J.

Speaker 3 (01:49:31):
Stroud. I think, I think, uh. I think.

Speaker 4 (01:49:35):
First of all, this is such a great NFL lineup
on a Saturday, and it is getting a little bit
backwashed by the excitement around the CFP. But these are
playoff games. I mean, you and And it's a perfect
segue from the conversation we were having because in the NFL,

(01:49:57):
your seating matters when when you're fighting your ass off
for home field advantage. Home field advantage matters in the postseason,
and so when you have college football programs who aren't
fighting for postseason home games, it changes the dynamic of
whether or not seeding actually matters in the postseason at all.
But I digress on that point. My stead of the

(01:50:19):
game is CJ. Stroud because the Texans could use this
win like blood. The Chiefs are fine, they're complacent. They've
been winning games by narrow margins all season long. Even
when they cover, they they either look lousy or the
team they're facing looks lousy, like Jamis Winston and dtr

(01:50:41):
handed them that cover. They gave them the football five
times between the two of them alone.

Speaker 6 (01:50:47):
So don't don't don't miss the boat.

Speaker 4 (01:50:50):
When we're talking about them covering against the Browns, They've
only had one actual cover this entire season. Other than that,
the Chiefs have stunk this season. They've been getting by
by the skin of their teeth.

Speaker 3 (01:51:03):
CJ.

Speaker 4 (01:51:03):
Stroud needs a moment. This is basically a primetime spot
for the Texans. He needs a moment. The Texans need
a moment. I think they're gonna have it. I think
Stroud lights up this Chiefs defense.

Speaker 5 (01:51:14):
Yeah, we've given Tyler Warren enough love today. I do
think he has a big day. I think that's gonna
be a storyline. I want to give a shout out
to Mark Gronowski, the quarterback of South Dakota State. You're
not gonna hear his name leads Sports Center, but I
think he deserves more attention. This is a dude who
turned down seven figures to go play to Power for
Conference because he wanted to go back to back to

(01:51:35):
back at South Dakota State in the money grubbing era
that is college football. For him to leave that kind
of money on the table to stay at South Dakota
State to try to win a three pet in the FCS.

Speaker 6 (01:51:48):
Deserves a lot.

Speaker 5 (01:51:49):
Of your attention because that is a very like that's
a stand up move from him.

Speaker 6 (01:51:54):
Everyone's going for the money.

Speaker 5 (01:51:56):
Everybody's taking the payday right now in college football, not
Mark Gronowski. Maybe he gets a little bit later because
of that decision if he's able to win the title.
I do think South Dakota State wins today, but I
just wanted to give a shout out to Mark Gronowski
because that is an awesome story that is in the
big wash that is college football today with the NFL
and the College Fotball playoff, he won't get a lot

(01:52:18):
of attention, but he deserves a lot of love for
taking the high road and not the money.

Speaker 1 (01:52:24):
I've started the day in college I'm gonna go with
the Texas running back Quinn Treevian Weisner.

Speaker 4 (01:52:31):
It's a little.

Speaker 1 (01:52:32):
Dice he taking to Texas guy, because they have so
many weapons. Right, you don't know who's gonna be the
star of the day. But I think Texas has an
advantage in the trench trenches. I know they do, and
I think they're gonna be able to run it effectively.
I could also see Jeremiah Smith having a big day
for Ohio State. Would it be funny if Will Howard
is the guy?

Speaker 3 (01:52:51):
I hope I lose a lot of money on that,
not Will Howard.

Speaker 1 (01:52:57):
What a day by Will Howard?

Speaker 3 (01:52:59):
Man, Wow, that would be really funny. Though.

Speaker 1 (01:53:01):
That would be Yeah, it would be typical football if
that's the case. NFL wise could be King Henry, you
know I like that. Yeah, Steelers have a good rush defense.
But I'm wondering about Lamar. Lamar has historically struggled against
the Steelers, but hey, with a banged up TJ. Watt,

(01:53:22):
this is a good spot for Lamar to have a
day and we'll see if he can. We'll see if
that that might be the guy.

Speaker 5 (01:53:28):
Eric Henry contract incentive props are becoming a thing. He
needs some touchdowns. Maybe Derek Henry touchdown prop is.

Speaker 1 (01:53:34):
In the carts today. I could see that happening. Absolutely
could see that. All right, We've got Rich Hornberger, Penn State,
All American, Jared Smith FSR betting analysts. I'm Brian know
shortly after the show, our podcast will be going up.
If you missed anything on today's show. Be sure to
check it out. Just search Fox Sports Radio wherever you
get your podcasts, and be sure to also follow, rate
and review it again. Just search Fox Sports Radio wherever

(01:53:57):
you get your podcasts, and you'll see the show posted
right after we get off the air. All right, coming
up next, rapid Fire. We'll each have a bushel of
picks for you. Hopefully they'll all be right. We'll go
nine to zero collectively. Huh one, two three, break. That's
on the way. It's Fox Sports Radios Countdown to Kickoff
presented by BETMGM. It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown to

(01:54:18):
Kickoff presented by BETMGM. All season long. Betmgm's offering you
a second chance on your first touchdown bet in the NFL.
When a customer places an NFL wager on a first
touchdown scorer bet and he doesn't score first, but score
a second, BETMGM will return one hundred percent of their
stakeback in cash. Props to the crew. Bob Benson, our

(01:54:40):
trusted producer the Dodgers Zone Podcast, our technical producer Extraordinary,
Chris Burfett, Pride of Detroit Podcast. Shout out to Sager,
our digital guy posting our clips putting him on social
media does a great job. Top of the Hour up
on Game ten minutes away, LaVar Arrington, wich Manzada, Plexico Buris.

(01:55:02):
I'm thinking LeVar might have some opinions on Penn State. Yeah,
game starts in ten minutes as well. State here. Oh
my gosh, lev today, we've just been alerted.

Speaker 4 (01:55:14):
Yah.

Speaker 1 (01:55:17):
I don't know. It makes a lot more sense right there.
It would have been entertaining program. It would have been
that's it, I swear by the way, Mini Rent, that's
the toughest thing to do is you're like, Okay, we're
talking about Texans and Chiefs, and then there's this big
play that breaks.

Speaker 3 (01:55:32):
For a touchded Like, it's so hard to.

Speaker 1 (01:55:34):
Stay on track. Rich, I know, I know, you do
the show tomorrow. It's not easy.

Speaker 3 (01:55:39):
It is not easy. And then all.

Speaker 4 (01:55:43):
Living the dream with Steve Hartman the Red Zone Radio
is a lot of fun for that reason. But yeah,
I wanted to comment on LeVar who during my playing
career at Penn State, I graduated high school in two
thousand and four. I met LeVar Arrington like days after
that because he was at Penn State a lot. He
is important to that program. Doesn't matter what's gone on

(01:56:06):
over the years. He's always stood by the program and
he's been a mentor for a lot of the kids
who's passed through that program. And so yeah, a lot
of love for LeVar and he's he's at every important
Penn State yet anything.

Speaker 1 (01:56:19):
Yeah, absolutely, all right, we got some picks to make.
Let's do it ramid fire, all right, shared, we start
with you. What do you like?

Speaker 6 (01:56:30):
Just call me the professor. We're going chalk today. I'm
laying it with Texas minus thirteen and a half.

Speaker 3 (01:56:36):
Yeah, oh may that professor.

Speaker 5 (01:56:41):
I think Texas going to strangle the life out of
this game. The Texas defense is the best unit on
the field. I do not trust the Clemson offense down
to down to be able to sustain it. I think
the Longhorn squeeze the life right.

Speaker 1 (01:56:52):
Out of it.

Speaker 6 (01:56:52):
Same thing with Penn State.

Speaker 5 (01:56:53):
SMU might give you something early, but I don't like
the fact that they didn't handle the environment, the conditions
in that acc title. It's gonna be cold, it's gonna
be loud in Happy Valley today. I do not think
Kevin Jennings will be up to that tack. I think
Penn State again squeezes the life out of this game,
and James Franklin if he can cover the number, you
bet you he will. And finally I'll lay it with
Ohio State too. Do I like laying points with Will

(01:57:15):
Howard and Ryan Day and Joe Kelly. No, but I
don't trust Nico on the road in a big spot.
It reminds me of the game at Georgia where they
weren't able to move the football. So I'll go chalk Texas,
Penn State, and Ohio State my three picks against the
spread today.

Speaker 1 (01:57:29):
Interesting.

Speaker 3 (01:57:30):
I am with Jared on the Penn State kick.

Speaker 4 (01:57:34):
Look, I'm gonna lay the points with the Nitney Lions
for one simple fact. I think they outclass SMU in
just about every way. I don't think this is gonna
be much of a ball game. I think this could
be a pretty big beatdown in Halfy Valley. Moving out
to the NFL, very interested in this slate of game,
specifically this Houston Texans Kans City Chiefs game where the

(01:57:57):
Texans are dogged by three and a half points at
CAC I like the Texans here, and if I like
the Texans, I think I like the over. So the
line right now the total is set at forty two
and a half.

Speaker 3 (01:58:10):
I'm gonna take the over there.

Speaker 4 (01:58:11):
This could turn into a little bit of a shootout
between Stroud and Mahomes. The Chiefs have been under the
total of the past three weeks.

Speaker 3 (01:58:20):
I think this is going to be a rare over
on the season.

Speaker 4 (01:58:23):
They're gonna have to keep up with the Houston Texans offense.

Speaker 1 (01:58:26):
Okay, I'm gonna start with College Bowl. Give me Tennessee
their team total under nineteen and a half. Tough test
against Ohio State here today. I am going to go
with the first college game SMU. Give me their running
back Brishard Smith over twenty three and a half receiving yards. Okay,

(01:58:48):
I don't know how much success they're gonna have running it.
Let's throw it to them. Maybe they're down big late.
Let's throw it to them some more safety valve screens.
I think Smith gets over twenty three and a half.
And I'll look at the NFL today as well. Kansas
City struggles covering tight ends. Give me Dalton Schultz over

(01:59:08):
thirty four and a half receiving yards Texans tight end.
There you go, Tennessee under Texans with Schultz over and
for shard Smith over, that's a little bit of a
Penn State. Well, I'm saying they might. Penn State might
be up big, right, So.

Speaker 3 (01:59:22):
That's notre We are here.

Speaker 5 (01:59:24):
We are we are baby, soak it up, breathe it in.

Speaker 1 (01:59:29):
This is a beautiful day for college. By the way,
Penn State, Notre Dame collision Course.

Speaker 6 (01:59:35):
I don't know, we're a lot to be friends by.

Speaker 1 (01:59:37):
Yeah, i'd be cool with that. And you guys will
never speak to me again.

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