Fox Sports Radio's Countdown to Kickoff Presented by BetMGM!

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Are you ready to witnesses football fans? Welcome to the
biggest tailgate party in the nation, that being bro Fox
Sports Radios Countdown to Kickoff, presented by Make It Legendary.
We're setting you up with the information you need to

(00:21):
watch your team win.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Let's go.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
We're here to break it all down. This is Fox
Sports Radios Countdown to Kickoff, presented by Bett mg app.

Speaker 3 (00:35):
No, we're live from your tailgate.

Speaker 1 (00:38):
Here's Brian Nook, former Penn State All American, Rich Hornberger,
and FSR betting analyst Jared Smith.

Speaker 4 (00:46):
Oh what is going on? Welcome in here, Happy Saturday
to you, as we not only have college football to
talk about today, we have the NFL. That is right,
with a limited college football schedule, we will get to
the National Football League, which is very exciting stuff. Good
morning Jared, Good morning Rich. Everything good, Everything's good.

Speaker 5 (01:10):
Yeah, we got we got an exciting weekend of football.
Even though we don't have college football or much to
speak of. We have we have an old friend back
in the NFL, and I know we'll get to it
at some point in the show today. But my teammate
Philip Rivers back with the chart course me back with
the Colts.

Speaker 6 (01:31):
Yeah, unreal is the right way to describe it.

Speaker 5 (01:33):
I couldn't believe it when I saw it, but I
shot him a text message and I'm going to be
watching that game with baited breath if if he ends
up starting, I'm assuming they're gonna give him a week,
but who knows.

Speaker 3 (01:46):
I think I think he's starting. Yeah, I don't think
you call unless he's starting, right, Like, that is the
whole point of bringing him in. We get some Saturday
NFL games coming up the next couple of weeks, which
will be fun, and then we'll get some Saturday postseason games.
So yeah, like we're in that. We're in that tweener
period with college Some of the bowl games too, Like,

(02:06):
don't get me wrong, I like, for example, the game
today the Boys who Washington game like it's it has
its it has its flair for the dramatic because it's
a college football game. But a lot of the bowl
games over the next week or so outside of the playoff,
they're very pedestrian. But we watch we love it's ball.

Speaker 6 (02:27):
It's baul.

Speaker 4 (02:28):
It qualifies as the most you can say some of
the matchups is like, well, technically it is football, right.

Speaker 6 (02:37):
Man?

Speaker 4 (02:37):
I'll tell you what this this the last week not
great for your boy with my precious name fighting Irish,
not getting into the playoff. And listen, man, here's the
first thing I want to say. Okay, it's kind of
like a deep breath statement because as soon as we

(02:58):
get into like who's in, who's out, why, what's up
with the committee inconsistencies, and then it's just emotion. You know,
it's pure emotion. But this is where I think you
have to exhale and you have to say, this is
just like boxing. What do they say in boxing, don't
leave it in the hands of the judges, right, It's
the famous expression in boxing. It applies to the college

(03:20):
football playoff. Also, you can't leave it in the hands
of the judges. The judges in college football it's the
playoff committee, and you can get to every single argument
you want to. But at the end of the day,
that's what Notre Dame did. They left it in the
hands of the judges, and the judges did what they did,
and it went sideways for the Irish. But man, that's

(03:42):
the thing is you can't have you know, tears, crocodile tears,
you know, all day long is if you didn't leave
it in their hands. And that's what Notre Dame did,
and they had a chance to take care of business
the first two weeks of their schedule and they didn't,
and that came back to bite them. So that's the
first thing that I would say we could get to
the Committee being a completely inconsistent joke. We're all season long,

(04:06):
it's like, nope, Notre Dame over Miami, Notre Dame over Miami.
Next poll, Notre Dame over Miami. Then the last poll,
just kidding, Miami over Notre Dame. It's like, what what
are you guys talking about? Or the fascination with Alabama.
My gosh, Alabama gets freaking destroyed in the SEC championship

(04:27):
game by Georgia, and the Committee is like, although they're
probably fool scold, we're not gonna move them. They didn't
even budge. They didn't move down one spot. They moved
down everybody else who lost their conference championship games, including BYU,
which coincidentally put Notre Dame in Miami side by side.
They moved BYU down after they got rolled by Texas Tech.

(04:48):
They didn't touch Alabama. So the Committee is completely inconsistent
a total joke. They're more fraudulent than Alabama is, if
you can believe that. But you know, Notre Dame left
it in the hands the judges, and that's on them.
And so all these arguments you're going to hear is
if it's the big bad committee that no, it's Notre
Dame left it in their hands. You got to take

(05:09):
care of business and not do that. And you have
yourself to blame when you make it the committee's decision.
That's the way it went down.

Speaker 5 (05:18):
Yeah, yeah, I hated it for the fighting Irish. I
hated it for college football because who would I rather
see in the college football playoff? And maybe there's people
who disagree with me. Maybe they would say Miami would,
Miami would make a more compelling playoff team, But I
would argue Notre Dame. And if you're going to look

(05:41):
at this through the lens that I look at it through,
which is that this is a mate for TV ranking. Anyways,
why not just make it the best ten and two
team of the two teams we're discussing here. You know, why,
why does fairness all of a sudden need to enter
the equation. You're not fair, You've never been fair. The

(06:03):
college football playoff ranking isn't fair. I mean, it's a
it's a myth, it's made up. It's a bunch of
minds coming together in a room and deciding who stays
who goes.

Speaker 6 (06:15):
So that's what's always.

Speaker 5 (06:17):
Baffling to me, is why certain things happen the way
they do.

Speaker 6 (06:22):
And maybe, I don't know, maybe.

Speaker 5 (06:24):
There's a certain level of mal intent here because when
you think about Notre Dame, they have a separate television
broadcast rights deal with NBC and the playoffs are mostly
played out on a different network, and so next year

(06:47):
they get an auto bid if they're a top twelve
team based on their independent standing. They're not affiliated with
a conference, and maybe that pisses off some people in
the room who can be swayed by, you know, major
players with with some of these these broadcast companies, you know,
and so they're like, hey, let's penalize them now because

(07:10):
we're not going.

Speaker 6 (07:10):
To be able to in the future.

Speaker 5 (07:12):
Hey, they're a top ten team, you know, they're ranked
eleventh or whatever they were when they got bounced out
of this postseason.

Speaker 6 (07:18):
We can make the excuse this year.

Speaker 5 (07:20):
We won't be able to do it next year, So
let's do it while the getting's good. I think I
think Marcus Freeman's reaction and the Notre Dame Athletic Department's
reaction was somewhat juvenile.

Speaker 6 (07:33):
I don't think that.

Speaker 5 (07:35):
I don't think that sitting out of bowl season was
necessarily the right choice. But I also understand it to
the to the extent that in some ways it shines
light on a broken system. You know, hey, we can
do this, so we're going to do this double middle finger. Thanks,

(07:55):
but no thanks, We're not going to play your game.
And I also think Marcus Freeman is a all that
worried about, you know, potentially pissing people off because he
might be throwing a couple of stones before he bounces
for the NFL. I don't think we're done with the
coaching carousel in college football, not by a long shot,
because remember Black Monday in the NFL is still yet

(08:17):
to come. We're weeks away from that, and when that occurs,
I think Marcus Freeman could be one of those names
that gets elevated to those ranks and then all of
a sudden, you have a new scrambling of the deck.
If you think your team right now, especially a team
in a mid major or maybe a lower level major
conference coaching higher is settled with their head coach. Think again,

(08:40):
because we've seen it before. Unless there's an ironclad contract,
if a Notre Dame job comes open, they basically can
hire whoever they want, you know, So I think this
gets more interesting from here.

Speaker 6 (08:54):
But yeah, just to react to the college football Playoff.

Speaker 5 (08:57):
The two things I react to, and I think everybody
is on the one Notre Dame not getting in.

Speaker 6 (09:02):
But then the other.

Speaker 5 (09:03):
One is, I mean, does Tulane and jam You have
a shot? The answer is no, They're going to get
absolutely smoked in this playoff.

Speaker 6 (09:13):
So it kind of feels like, what are we even doing?

Speaker 5 (09:16):
I mean, I know you want an auto bid for
a group of five team, but they're not going to
do very much.

Speaker 6 (09:22):
And Jamu I think is.

Speaker 5 (09:24):
I think they're dogged by twenty one and a half
points or something that might have gotten more out of
control since the last time I looked at it. I mean,
we have a college football Playoff kind of by name
only because we're including teams who have absolutely zero shot
to win a national title this year.

Speaker 3 (09:42):
That's the point right there. The point is Alabama's a
top twelve team, so is Notre Dame and so is BYU.
You know why because if you look at the college
ball playoff rankings, all twelve of those teams are in
the top twelve. So the reason that people are really
upset is I think the right reason, but framed incorrectly.

(10:05):
Everyone's like, well, Notre Dame should be in in front
in front of Miami because they were in front of
Miami the whole time, or Notre Dames should be in
front of Bama because Bama didn't drop. And I agree
Bama should have dropped. But also if you drop Bama
from nine to ten, right, Ohio State and Indiana played
and they flipped one spot, so you drop Bama one
spot like that to me, that's how it should have went.

(10:27):
But that still means Bama's in the top twelve because
they started in nine. You started ninth, so that means
they should have been tenth. And BYU and you drop
a spot from eleventh, they should have been twelve. Still
in the top twelve. Why do we have a twelve
team playoff and we are taking the twentieth and twenty
fourth ranked teams in the college twelve playoff rankins I'm

(10:48):
done with the inclusivity stuff. I'm done with it. It's caused
too much trouble than good. Right, last year, what did
we see. We saw the buys for these you know
auto bids. They both got not wax, but they both
lost in their first game. Now they're just in the field.
They're both gonna lose. Omens ain't losing a Tulane Jamu

(11:11):
ain't beatn Norgan. So we now have two years of
this where it's obvious to me that the experiment of
including and not only that it went completely awry this
year for the ACC because the winner of their championship
game didn't even get in. So we need to adjust
the way that we picked the teams. I hate how

(11:32):
the committee handled it. I hate the fact that they
didn't drop Bama. I hate the fact that they flip
these two teams Notre Dame in Miami, after having one
of them in front of the other for the whole year.
It is very inconsistent. I agree with all of the
gripe and the anger that is coming from the Notre
Dame fan base this week. I get it, but in life,
bad things are going to happen to you. It is inevitable.

(11:55):
You are going to lose. The only thing you can
control is how you respond to it. And the way
Notre Dame responded to it was like they put on
a clinic of what not to do when something bad
happens in your life, which is just run away and cry.
Like they canceled a book signing for one of the
CFP members. I think they put it back on at

(12:15):
one point, but it was just like it was a mess.
It was a cluster from the start. I feel their pain,
but man, did I hate how the Notre Dame brain
trust reacted to it. It sucks that we don't get
a Notre Dame all Miss game and it's all Miss
too Lane instead. It sucks that we don't get Oregon

(12:35):
versus BYU. That would have been an awesome five to
twelve game. That's the game we should have gotten. But
we have to take JMU, we have to take Tulane
because we're hand coughed by this system which is one
hundred percent broken, and we're gonna play the games and
those teams are gonna lose. Are they gonna cover? Maybe,

(12:55):
but they're gonna lose, and then next year we'll be
right back to the same spot, and that the MoU
Brian that memorandum of understanding. Man, I don't know who
cooked that thing up for Notre Dame. But next year,
the same situation happens, the committee will have no choice.
They will have to take Notre Dame. And I think
that is another reason why this system just needs a
massive renovation.

Speaker 4 (13:16):
Absolutely, I think it's horrible. Like I've been against automatic
spots from the get go, where it's like, you know,
the Big Ten has been really pushing for we need
at least four spots, no questions asked that. It's like, well,
what if your fourth team in doesn't really deserve to
be in, it sucks that they have an automatic spot.

(13:37):
I'm completely against automatic spots, including for my Irish, like
that's no you earn your way in, You're not promised
anything just because you happen to be in the top twelve.
I think that's scarbage. I'm not a fan of that whatsoever.
I do want to say real fast, before we move
it along and move it forward here, I want to
give a shout out to mark Ingram, former Alabama running

(13:58):
back now with Fox because before the Big Ten Championship game,
this is last week right. So they're previewing Indiana playing
Ohio State for the Big Ten championship, and this is
right after the SEC championship, and they ask mark Ingram like, hey,
what do you think about your Alabama Crimson Tide getting
into the playoffs. And he starts to answer, and I'm

(14:19):
I'm just kind of like rolling my eyes, like I
know what's coming. It's gonna be roll tied, baby. Yeah,
we belonging that thing. And he did the exact opposite.
He was completely objective. I love what he had to say.
Listen to his argument too. This is mark Ingram on Fox.

Speaker 6 (14:34):
You're ty gonna be in it.

Speaker 3 (14:36):
In my opinion, I don't think they're in there.

Speaker 7 (14:38):
You're number nine, two losses, you get a third loss,
twenty eight to seven.

Speaker 6 (14:43):
You lose by twenty one points.

Speaker 7 (14:44):
They say you can't be punished for how you play
your conference game, but it matters how you play your
conference game. If you play well, play it close, play tough, then.

Speaker 3 (14:53):
You get the benefit of the doubt of not being
punished for that.

Speaker 7 (14:55):
But if you go into the conference championship game, r B,
why you lose by twenty seven points.

Speaker 6 (14:59):
You're Alabama.

Speaker 7 (14:59):
You lose about twenty one points, you're number nine, you're
number eleven on the bubble.

Speaker 6 (15:03):
Now with three losses, I think that they're out.

Speaker 7 (15:05):
I think if you're a Notre Dame and you're a
Miami fan, everything happened the way you want to happen today.
B Yu gets dominated, Alabama gets dominated. In my opinion,
I think that opens the door for Notre Dame to.

Speaker 3 (15:16):
Get in and both Miami to get in as well.

Speaker 4 (15:19):
Man, well, that's the thing. I give him a lot
of credit for saying it the way that he did
and not going straight Homer, and he made a good
argument for you know, Bama not being in there. I
feel so stupid, guys, I have to tell you real fast.
I was watching the SEC Championship game as a Notre
Dame fan, living with every play like hoping that Alabama

(15:42):
would get blasted because that I thought would give Notre
Dame a much better chance to make it into the
playoff and come to fight out. It didn't matter at all.
They didn't even move down one spot. So I feel
stupid about that, But I mean, bottom line, the committee
was hell bent on putting Alabama in the playoff. You
could see the handwriting on the Wall the week before

(16:03):
after they beat Auburn, Like, they barely held on to
beat Auburn. I know it's a rivalry game, but it's
five and seventeen. Alabama barely squeaked that one out riverboat gambler,
Kaylin Debor going forward on fourth and two. That's how
close it was at the end of the game. And
the Committee on Tuesday was like, man, but what a
first half by Alabama.

Speaker 6 (16:21):
That was wow.

Speaker 4 (16:22):
It's like, really, guys, come on now. But that's the thing, man,
the committee, it's I hear all these arguments throughout the week,
and and a lot of them are just bad. It's
not like, oh, oh, Notre Dame is getting punished for
not being in a conference. No they aren't. The committee
didn't sit around in a room and say, all right,
these rat bastards have skated for long enough being independent.

(16:44):
This is the perfect opportunity to punish them. That's not
what happened. And I hear, well, they're making Notre Dame
join a conference. Listen, just so everybody knows, Notre Dame's
not joining a conference.

Speaker 3 (16:55):
Never.

Speaker 4 (16:55):
He's never happened there never Unless it hasn't happened, it's
never happens right unless it moves to right, like you
have to be in a super conference or there's no
way you can even get in to get.

Speaker 3 (17:07):
Rid of conference completely, and they go to something different.

Speaker 4 (17:09):
That's right, that's the only way they're joining a conference.
So like, it's not about punishing them, it's not about
making them join a conference. None of that factored in
at all. I know we love to be cynical, but
it really came down to, while we love Alabama, they're
in and now it's Notre Dame versus Miami, and they
finally honored the head to head matchup, which they should

(17:31):
have done from the get go. That's what it came
down to. It is nothing more than that. So that's
the way it is and we move on. But uh,
bitter pill. As a Notre Dame fan, man I would say,
mostly right end, result, wrong process, Like the process, Rotto.
It's like six weeks of no Notre Dame over Miami

(17:51):
and then at the end it's like, no, that's Miami.
Psych they pulled a psyke on.

Speaker 3 (17:54):
Us, Notredame, and by you both should have been in
both of that. Both of those team should be in
the playoffs.

Speaker 5 (18:01):
They're both top teams in the rankings, mark Ingram said,
because the reality is, I I don't I don't necessarily
think you should factor out a conference championship game. If
you're going to play it, then it should be punitive
or it should help your standing or your chances. And
it shouldn't be a sometimes thing, you know, it should

(18:22):
be a some It should be always or never. And
that's again another It's emblematic of a broken system because
sometimes it matters and sometimes it doesn't. In this case,
it didn't matter with Alabama. And I don't know if
there's necessarily anything that could have help Notre Dame the
way it shook out. They wanted Miami there and so

(18:44):
they were there. But it's it's a bizarre system that
we're leaning on to decide whether or not a team
stays or goes, and I it needs a major overhaul.
And I don't know if it gets better if you
expect the postseason, if we go to sixteen teams, Do
these get decisions? Do these decisions get harder or easier?

(19:06):
What I do know is getting back to my original
point about James Madison being dogged by more than twenty points.
I think they're twenty one and a half point underdogs.
You'll have more teams like that in the postseason, which
may make less sense. So I don't know where we
go from here, guys, but we're staring down a completely
broken system that makes close to zero sense, that is

(19:29):
lionizing certain teams certain years for certain reasons, and it's
not always for football reasons. And I think that's very obvious.

Speaker 3 (19:37):
Yeah, I mean, I think Bama is a top twelve
team too. Like that. The point of this whole argument
is not that which one do you take, It's that
everyone should have been in in this conversation, and the
system itself is what needs the renovation because next year
it's gonna be the same thing over and over again.
It's like Groundhog Day. Last year it was the bye

(20:00):
people were crazy about the buys. How do you give
Arizona State and Boise State byes? Yes, we know it
was absurd. They fixed it. Now we have another issue.
When JMU loses by fifty to Oregon, we need to
like take a look at this system and be how
did this happen that we allowed this team that is,

(20:21):
don't get me wrong, a very feisty, good football team.
They are not one of the top twelve teams in
the country.

Speaker 6 (20:28):
There need not walked.

Speaker 3 (20:30):
They're gonna get destroyed, and it's gonna be That is
when the conversation really will turn. I think, yep, when
JMU goes to Eugene and loses like forty eight to ten,
and we're gonna be like, man, this sucks.

Speaker 6 (20:43):
There's no Cinderella's in football.

Speaker 5 (20:45):
It's just not gonna happen. It's a really tough sport
to get it.

Speaker 3 (20:49):
And I know the argument against it, Brian is like, oh,
March madness and this and that. This isn't march madness.
This is not basketball. It is a different sport. It
is brute force. You need people that are large humans
to play it. And not every school has that many
large humans on their roster. Oregon does, jam you doesn't.
It's gonna be rough, all right.

Speaker 4 (21:10):
We've got rich oron Berger, Penn State, All American, Chared
Smith FSR betting analyst. I'm Brian know we are often
running today very feisty, you know, very lively down trodden
on my end the Irish. But we press forward. Register
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(21:32):
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bonus code is countdown, bet MGM. Make it legendary, all right?
Coming up next, we always hear this like scouts on
hand for like a high school or a college player.
You know, We've got scouts on hand tomorrow for a

(21:55):
much different reason. We'll give you details. Coming up it
is Fox Sports Radios Countdown to Kickoff, presented by BETMGM.

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Subscribe, hit that sums up icon and comment away. It
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(23:02):
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win their first bet. That's code countdown in the bet
MGM app. All right, So you know you typically hear
this when it comes to a high school player or
a college football player, where it's like all the scouts

(23:24):
are in the stands man scouts are here. They're all
making their way to see Fernando Mendoza, right, Like all
these NFL scouts are right, and that sort of thing.
I think the Disney Scouts are gonna be at the
Colts game tomorrow night with Philip Rivers, right, Like Philip
Rivers comes out of retirement if he has like the
sensational performance and they somehow win. And this is a

(23:46):
Disney movie right here?

Speaker 6 (23:47):
You kidding? Meet?

Speaker 4 (23:48):
Like Netflix representatives are gonna be there. We're gonna have
like Lifetime representatives. The Scouts are gonna be there from Lifetime.
What a story, huh you have? Daniel Jones go down
and by the way, injuries are the worst in sports man.
I feel so bad for Daniel Jones and his achilles injury.
Think of the money that that injury costs him potentially

(24:11):
where he's in line. The Colts make this blockbuster trade
for Sauce Gardner. They trade two first round picks away.
Give if they're going quarterback shopping, those two first round
picks are highly valuable. They're like, nope, give them away,
let's get Sauce. And they were absolutely hitching their wagon
to Daniel Jones going forward as well. That's what it
indicates with that trade of Sauce Gardner. And now he's

(24:34):
hurt with that achilles injury, and we'll see what happens
with him contractually. There's a lot of speculation, but for
the here and now, it meant that Philip Rivers got
a phone call. He's unretiring and rejoining the Colts, and
he's expected to start tomorrow against a nasty Seahawks defense.
This is unbelievable, man. But what a story.

Speaker 5 (24:56):
Yeah, it does feel like a movie, and I do
agree with you. I think Lifetime, Disney somebody is gonna
be on the sideline. So the stans trying to wait
for Philip Rivers after the game to get them to
sign the rights to the story being made into a screenplay,
because I mean, like everything about this is is kind
of picture picturesque. If he ends up, you know, following

(25:20):
through with this look, the biggest concern obviously is his health.
This is a violent game played by violent people, and
if I'm a defensive coordinator, my plan is to hit
Philip early and hit him hard. I mean that is
that is the reality of playing a contact sport. If
you're a boxer and you're preparing for a title fight

(25:44):
and you're thinking to yourself, like, what is the best
way to rattle my opponent's cage, and if your corner
comes up with the plan, the fight plan. Hey, we're
gonna we're gonna pop them early. We're we're gonna try
to make sure we we sneak one under his chin early.
We're gonna test his chin. We're gonna find out if
he could stand on his two feet for ten rounds

(26:05):
with the champ Let's go. That's exactly what I'd do
with Philip Rivers. I'd find out if he can hack
it still. Uh So I'd be I'd be sending people
to get in there and hit him and and and
rough them up a little bit. So he's thinking about
who's in the pocket with him outside of that, which

(26:26):
is something I'm worried about, honestly, is the personal side
to this, which is he's a former teammate of mine
and my favorite teammate of all time. Philip Rivers is
an incredible human being. He is a family man. He
is one of the most knowledgeable football players I've ever

(26:47):
played with. He's he's certainly talented, and and I have
no concerns that he's gonna be able to throw the football.
Like I said, my only concern is his health coming
through an NFL football game at forty four years old
after a five year layoff. But in terms of him
being good for this team from a leadership standpoint or

(27:09):
from a football IQ or an emotional intelligence IQ with
a playoff push happening, I have no concerns about that.
This this guy is football. Philip Rivers is football. So from
that standpoint, the Colts made an excellent selection bringing him in.

Speaker 3 (27:27):
I do have concerns, though, Yeah, I think I agree
with you on that. So I went back and I
was like, let me just look up some of the
stats from the end of his career and I kept
looking at, you know, twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen with the Chargers,
last two years there, and then he had that one
year with the Colts, and I'm like, only sixteen games,
Like did he miss a start? Now, it's been so

(27:50):
long that that the NFL was only a sixteen game
schedule back then, So like, that's that's how long it's
been since Philip Rivers has been in the league. The
numbers were really good his last year in Indie, and
I think that, like, let's start there. Why is this happening? Well,
it's because he has a really good relationship with Shane
Steichen and he knows that system really well. I think
I read somewhere that the high school he coaches at

(28:11):
runs the same system. So it just it was like
an easy transition where they were in desperate need of help.
There were other court I'm sure there were other quarterbacks
they called. I'm sure they did their due diligence on
several other quarterbacks. But the verbiage in the NFL is
so dense it's hard to learn it in a week,

(28:33):
Like you've got to be a Rhodes scholar to pick
up an offense in a week. So it really was
the only option if Riley Leonard wasn't the guy. And
I think that's the more intriguing question here is it's
not why Philip Rivers, it's why not Riley Leonard? Because
he's been in the system the whole year and he's
a backup and they drafted him. It's not just like

(28:55):
some kid off the street like they drafted him. And
I hope it's injury and not you just can't play,
because that would be unfortunate the concerns that Rich shared
about Rivers. Let me just go on the record right now.
I love the story, but I think it's a terrible idea.
I think it's not gonna end well, I think it's
gonna end in unfortunate some kind of hit or some

(29:18):
kind of you know issue with him, you know, staying
in the pocket and actually making plays with his legs.
I heard it can still spin it. The arms the
last thing to go. Trust me as a former quarterback myself,
I'm not obviously an NFL quarterback. I can still throw
it really far. But man, if you ask me to
run or if I get hit, that's it. I'm done over,
forget it. I don't want to deal with any of that.
So I think that's where ri River's gonna have an issue.

(29:40):
Like he's gonna be able to throw it all over
the field. But what's the Mike Tyson line, Brian, Like,
you know, everyone's got a plan until they get punched
in the mouth.

Speaker 6 (29:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (29:49):
I like that feels like the issue I think in
this situation.

Speaker 4 (29:53):
Yeah, hey, fair enough, And let me pivot to another story,
which is pretty wild. How about Sharon Moore out at Michigan,
no longer the head coach at Michigan. The story is
he had an inappropriate intimate relationship with the staff member,
and you know she broke up with Sharon Moore, and

(30:13):
then the story after that, like he was fired four
cause because of this relationship, and then the next part
of the story was he apparently like broke into her place,
you know, was grabbing butter knives and threatening to take
his own life and you ruined my life and this
whole thing. He got arrested for that. So that's a
whole other side issue. But no longer the head coach

(30:34):
at Michigan and after the whole coaching carousel really right, like,
so this is bad timing for Michigan. Obviously, it's a
terrible situation for Sharon Moore, the staff member. That's that's
a whole thing going on right there. But yeah, man, wow,
just a left turn where it's like he was fired

(30:56):
and it's like, wait a minute, what happened right there?
And then you start to get the information, it's like,
oh man, this is not good whatsoever. But Michigan's looking
for a new head coach as we speak right now.

Speaker 5 (31:06):
Yeah, he took a bad situation and he made it
so much worse with his actions after his firing. It's
it's really one of those stories where if you can't
handle the repercussions of a decision.

Speaker 6 (31:22):
Don't make that decision, and.

Speaker 5 (31:25):
He obviously, whether it was over more about this story
obviously will come out, and so it's so difficult to
talk about ongoing investigations. But if everything that's been alleged
is true, and we're still in the allegedly phase, but
if he in fact had an inappropriate relationship with this

(31:47):
staffer and it stemmed over a long time, it means
he didn't make a decision in a vacuum. He made
a decision over months and months and potentially years where
he was, you know, turning his back on his wife.
And obviously there was workplace misconduct happening because you're not
allowed to sleep with one of your staffers your subordinates,

(32:07):
like obviously that's strictly forbidden at most workplaces. So he
knew he was doing something wrong. And then on top
of it, yeah, you can, you can blame whoever you want,
but essentially, you made the decision to end your relationship
with your wife, to destroy your your workplace environment and

(32:27):
lose your job, to make matters worse by not accepting
the accountability of your actions, and then to commit assault
on the person who you were in this relationship with.
This side relationship to your marriage. It's it's just a
It's what every football coach talks about in the United
States every single day on a practice field or in

(32:50):
a weight room, depending on what part of your season
you're in. It's accountability, you know, take accountability for your
own actions. Yeah, you're right, was party to this, but
it was your decision to do all of this too,
and so instead of blaming anybody else, hold the mirror up,
accept it like a man. You made a mistake, or

(33:12):
you made a series of really really inconscionable, unconscionable mistakes,
and you just got to own up to it and
move on. He made matters so much worse with the
alleged actions that followed the firing.

Speaker 6 (33:29):
So yeah, I moving on.

Speaker 5 (33:31):
I honestly, I wish the best for his family as
they move forward, because you know, a bunch of kids
just I mean, had their whole family life blown up
in front of their eyes publicly, and that's horrible. I
wish the best for his wife, and frankly, I hope

(33:52):
the best for the Michigan football program and the players
because they had nothing to do with this. This reminds
me a little bit obviously not the same. But when
scandal strikes a university like Penn State, it had the
football players have nothing to do with this, and they
are going to be some of the most affected by
the actions of their head coach. And so it's an

(34:15):
unfortunate story. And when you hire a head coach, obviously
you have higher expectations than those that Sharon Moore lived
up to, and it's it's a horrible situation.

Speaker 3 (34:28):
Yeah, if I was assigning blame in the scenario, I
probably go like ninety percent Charon Moore and like ten
percent her Like obviously she was a you know, consensual
party in it, and she was involved in it, but
he was the one in the position of power. He
allowed it to happen and continued to happen, like he
allowed that situation to fester for I don't know how long,

(34:50):
whoever would I don't want to speak on the on
the terms of the relationship. I have no idea how
long it went on for. But from what we're hearing
in the media from some reputable source is they had
an investigation about this in like the summer, and they
both denied it. And at that point, what can you
do if they both denied the relationship, you just move on.
But then later obviously it kind of bubbled over. I

(35:14):
guess this week, I hate what he did after. I
hate it, and I think it's just a classic case
of lack of accountability, like you just you can't blame her,
like I think, like the quote he used that was
used in the arraignment was you know, like she you know,
you ruined my life or whatever. No, like you ruined

(35:35):
your own life. Like that's to me the way that
I look at the story, like he allowed this situation
to happen, and he needs to take accountability for it.
And I think that's what will eventually happen once the
details of the of the case continue to emerge.

Speaker 4 (35:50):
All right, that's Jared Smith FSR. Betting analyst Rich Ornberger
with US former Penn State All American. I'm Brian.

Speaker 8 (35:56):
No.

Speaker 4 (35:56):
Every time you make a wager at BETMGM, you earned
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parlay platter. That's right, we'd have one selection for you.

(36:18):
We pull it together for a greater payout. Jared says,
it applies to today. We're not waiting till tomorrow. We're
not waiting until like Friday or the playoff with today today, baby,
So let's go. Let's get something that you can throw
into your BETMGM sportsbook app you know today, we'll do that.
Coming up next, it's Fox Sports Radios Countdown to Kickoff

(36:40):
presented by BETMGM. It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown to
Kickoff presented by bet MGM. Register with BETMGM to get
instant access to the best variety of parlay selection features,
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(37:02):
Today again, the bonus code is countdown bet MGM. Make
it legendary. All right, let's do this, check this out
parlay letter. All right, weach have one selection for you
we pull it together for a greater payout. Jared, we
start with you. What do you like today?

Speaker 3 (37:20):
Let's have a little fun, right, Obviously it's a limited
slate today. I want to get something on the books
where we could hopefully cash today. So let's look at
the Army Navy game. Because I'll be honest, I'm really
excited to watch this game. It's probably one of my
favorite games to watch all year, even though it won't
really have a huge impact on anything happening, you know,
at the highest levels of college football. Boy is it fun.

(37:41):
And I'm gonna go to my guy, Blake Corbat. Last
year he had a massive game in this spot, and
I think he has another big game here, especially in
the red zone, because when things get tight for Navy,
they spread it out a little bit, you know, in
between the twenties, but when things get tight in the
red zone, he is their go to guy. He scored
two touchdowns last year in this game. He's at four
multiple touchdown games this season, including a four touchdown game

(38:05):
against that BEU. So I'll give you a Blake Horvat
to score dose, right, go for dose. We're seeing those
in the dos Akis conversials all the time plus two
thirty to get the parley platter started.

Speaker 6 (38:18):
All right, well, I'm all bucked up for this LA Bowl.

Speaker 5 (38:21):
Where you got Boise State taken on Washington the Huskies,
who's a better defense than Boise State has faced all
year long, and down the stretch they were stingy with
points that they allowed. However, Maddox Madson, who had an
unbelievable conference championship game, sealing it for his team in
the Mountain West to gain entrance to the LA Bowl.

(38:43):
His numbers at two hundred and five or it should
say two hundred point five passing yards.

Speaker 6 (38:49):
I think that's too low.

Speaker 5 (38:50):
Every game he was healthy for this season he eclipsed
that mark by at least fifty yards. He's been a
good all season, not great, but he's guts he I
think this team has an opportunity to win between the
twenties again, gonna be difficult to put the ball in
the end zone for the Broncos against the Husky defense,

(39:12):
but I think he'll get his yards. So give me
Maddox match in the Boise State quarterback over two hundred
and a half yards on the day.

Speaker 4 (39:20):
Alrighty, I'm gonna go with Navy. I'm gonna lay the
six and a half points, not the most difficult handicap
of all time. Army isn't good, not a good football team.
Navy's much better, much better this season. Now, listen in
Army Navy games, that doesn't mean everything, right.

Speaker 6 (39:39):
This is as a.

Speaker 4 (39:40):
Hotly contested of a rivalry as you can get, and
there have been many years where the much better team
lost to the much worse team. So I'm not under
some false impression that just because you know, the two
plus two equals four and that's the way it's gonna go.
And I mean, you can have some hairy moments here,
but at the end of the day, I think Navy

(40:00):
is just that much better than Army. I think Army's
gonna have a hard time slowing down Navy. Army's defenses brutal.
So I'll lay the six and a half and go
with Navy in this one. Dude, Yeah, my dad was
in the Navy, right like you would diszone me if
I didn't go with Navy in this.

Speaker 3 (40:16):
Wow, I didn't know, that's right. Yeah, you know you
can't pick Army in this spot like that, like you,
families get torn apart for stuff like that.

Speaker 6 (40:24):
I know this is a big deal.

Speaker 3 (40:27):
So I didn't get a boost today from Bettmgym. I
think next week we'll get a boost for the playoff games.
So if you do the SGP plus right, we're doing
a two leg SGP with Navy minus six and a
half play quarterback two plus touchdowns. That's slightly correlated, so
we're not getting as much juice. And then we throw
in Rich's prop on mats in over seven to one

(40:49):
plus seven O nine. It's still nice for again a
correlated two legger, and then you throw in the Matson
prop on top. So essentially it's like a two and
a half leg.

Speaker 4 (40:56):
Corla alrighty okay, coming up next. When one of the
best salesmen of all time has a hard time selling this,
it's a little telling. Oh what is going on? Happy
Saturday to you. I hope things are going swimmingly so far.
We will get to one of the best rivalries in
sports in just a minute. But first, every goal starts

(41:19):
with an assist on and off the field. That's why
Haleyon and US Soccer are launching for the Assist, a
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Speaker 6 (41:39):
All right, so.

Speaker 4 (41:41):
One of my buddies, Jay, back home in South Bend,
he sent me something a couple of weeks ago and
he was like, this is not political, all right, This
was the like the you prefaced it. This is not political,
but I think it's hilarious. And so it was President
Donald Trump and he was talking about an MRO and
it's important because we're gonna get to the Army Navy

(42:03):
game in a second. So listen to to President Donald
Trump selling this MRI that he had. Now he's on
a plane. There's background noise, but you'll be able to
hear what he says. Check this out, very short SoundBite.

Speaker 1 (42:16):
The doctor said it was the best result he has
ever seen as a doctor, the.

Speaker 4 (42:23):
Best result ever. That's our running joke. Now, like this
MRIs happened in sports all the time. If it's like, hey,
Justin Herbert's gonna have an MRI on Monday or whomever,
we're gonna be like, well, hopefully it's the second best
result ever, because we know who has the best result
of all time. We know, so great salesman, you know,
say what you will, but great salesman. This is President

(42:46):
Donald Trump at the Army Navy game a handful of
years ago. Listen to what he says about it.

Speaker 8 (42:53):
I mean, I don't know if it's necessarily the best football,
but it's very good.

Speaker 6 (42:57):
But boy do they have spirit.

Speaker 4 (42:58):
Wow, that's the sales pitch right again. We went from
the best results MRI ever to like, I don't know
if it's the best football that it is unbelievable to me.
But in any event, it's Army Navy today. And what
he said is accurate. It's not the greatest brand of football.

(43:20):
But you talk about scratching and clawing and pride and
all of that. Like, I love the Army Navy game
every single year, and Navy is by far the better
football team in this matchup. But as I said in
the parlay platter, that doesn't mean everything. A lot of
years the worst team wins. So we'll see if the
Black Knights can give Navy a game today. But man,

(43:42):
Army's defense is rough. They're gonna have a rough time today.

Speaker 6 (43:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (43:46):
Yeah, Army, especially against the run, really really struggles this year,
so Navy almost a touchdown favorite in this game heading in,
I think their plan is gonna be to really try
to control the line of scrimmage and see how far
their run game can take them. Although then you look
at Blake har Horvav. You know it's his last ride

(44:06):
with the midshipman, so I'm sure they're going to try
to get his two. Yeah, this comes down to Armies defense.
Can they stop the run at all? They really are
one of the bottom dwellers when you look at some
of the advanced analytics with their their run stuffing rates
and things of that nature.

Speaker 6 (44:27):
Can they stop the football at.

Speaker 5 (44:29):
All when Navy has the ball is going to be
the question if they can. This could actually turn into
an interesting game. My guess his Navy's going to buy
and large be able to do whatever they want.

Speaker 6 (44:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (44:41):
This actually, honestly and not to you know, completely go
against our great President Trump, but I do think this
football is better than maybe he expects, maybe the country expects.
Like these are two top thirty five Pro football focused
great offenses. Like these teams can move it a little
bit now they do it in different ways. Bavy has
become more modern with their offense. Horvath can throw it

(45:04):
down the field and he's got a pretty decent receiver.
Heiden Reich's been a good weapon for them on the outside,
and I think he is You know, if you over
commit to the run, they will stretch you vertically, and
Army had that last year too with bryceon daily. Now
this year, Army's offense is a little bit more ground
and pound. They went through a quarterback change mid season.

(45:26):
Dwayne Coleman battled injuries. Cal Hellams has done a really
good job coming in in relief. He's four and two
as the starter. But they just run the heck out
of it. I mean, they've got the highest run rate
in college football over eighty percent, highest time of possession
over thirty five minutes per game. They're actually a really
good blocking team. Again, the advanced analytics do not paint

(45:47):
a picture of bad football. Will Jeffcoat, the left guard
for Army, is the highest rated guard in the entire
sport period, end of story. Like Ohio State, Indiana or
and all these other great offensive linemens. No, Will Jeffcoat
from Army highest graded garden the sport. So I do

(46:08):
think there is an opportunity for Army to move the
football if they can, you know, keep the ball in
their hands and own time of possession, which has been there.
That's been their vibe all year. So there's a couple
of weapons in this game. I actually think, right the
totals in the high thirties. We've seen totals in this
game in the high twenties over the last couple of years.
But the over has been doing pretty well usually as

(46:30):
an undergame. Brian right, sixteen three and once and so five.
We keep talking about under under our Army Navy. The
overs two zero to one in the last three years
we had the one push and then last year went
way over. So this game does have a little bit
of a little bit of spark to it, I think
on the offensive side.

Speaker 4 (46:45):
Yeah, the overtime over a couple of years ago, Yeah,
just brutal. I remember I was on the under in
that game and it was a slugfest the whole game.
It got to overtime and it was like touchdown, touchdown.
It's like, okay, all right, that's awesome. I'm like, what
just happened right here? But yeah, like, uh, listen, the
if you look at the prop numbers, very unconventional, right,

(47:07):
this is typically you never see this, but you will
see it in an Army Navy contest. So you have
Blake Horvath. His passing yards prop is at one ten
and a half. His rushing yards prop is at one
oh nine and a half, right, So that's like, okay,
that stands out a little bit. And then Army's quarterback
Cale Hellms sixty four and a half is his passing

(47:29):
yardage prop and his rushing yardage prop is one thirteen
and a half. So it's what it's double, almost not quite,
but in the neighborhood of being double the quarterbacks rushing
yardage prop compared to his passing yardage prop. So in
twenty twenty five, that is not typically what you see.
But that's why the total is interesting. Where you get

(47:51):
a bunch of running that clock is just going, going, going, going, going,
and you know you get a red zone stop. You know,
you force a field goal here, maybe it's close, I
would I would lean to the over, as Jared just
detailed right there, Army, like Rich said, Army has a
really hard time stopping the run and they're playing Navy,

(48:14):
like this is the worst situation possible for that Black
Knight's defense man the Cadets, they're gonna have to pull
a role reversal here today because they've been so bad
against the rush. And that's all Navy does. I mean,
that's what they do the best job of. As Jared
just said, that's not only what they do, but that's
their bread and butter is running the football. So Army,

(48:35):
if they can't stop the run, it's gonna be a long,
long day.

Speaker 6 (48:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (48:39):
And I'll give you another reason why the over is
very alive in this game is the fact that I
think this Navy nickel defense struggles tackling downfield, and Army,
especially if they're you know, trying to set things up
with their run defense or excuse me, with their runrushing offense.

(49:01):
I could see them pop in a couple of play
action passes for some explosives downfield to get them within
the scoring range. And likewise, with Navy, like we outlined,
a hard time for Army stopping the run. They're an
explosive rushing offense. They run out of that twenty one
personnel and they not only can get the ball downfield

(49:24):
in a hurry through the air, but they also they
have an explosive rushing attack, they kind of put your
safeties in a bind where with their power schemes, their
gap schemes, they're going to get you one on one
with the last defender available to make a tackle, and
if you can make that man miss, you can rack

(49:47):
off a twenty or thirty yard run. And we've seen
that multiple times for Navy. So I think between the
Army play action pass explosives, the poor tackling from Navy,
and the opportunity for Navy to pop some big runs
against this Army rushing defense that we've outlined being pretty
poor this season, Do I second that or third that

(50:11):
statement about the over being very much alive in this game.

Speaker 3 (50:16):
Yeah, Like, I think the context matters. Like there's been
some really low totals in this series over the years,
and that's why the over hasn't hit as much. Actually,
if you go back and you look at some of
the prior games, like in the early two thousands, the
total was super high. It was like in the forties
and the fifties, and then the unders happened and then
the totals crashed, and then over the last few years, right,

(50:38):
these totals were so low that they just almost had
to go like that. You couldn't stay under them because
they were just so freaking low. Both teams really struggle
to tackle. Obviously, the run game is going to be huge.
But if your Army and you look at the tape
from last year and you see Blake Corvath run for
two hundred yards on twenty five carries. Wow, If I'm
the Army defense, I am saying anybody but horrvaf abh

(51:04):
anybody but horrorvaf because you can't let him beat you.
That's why I actually think there might be some opportunities
to throw it in this game because Navy's not afraid
to throw it. Army doesn't want to throw Army again,
eight out of ten plays eighty one percent run right,
They're gonna They're gonna run it. So Army doesn't want
to throw it even if you give them looks to

(51:26):
throw it. Whereas Navy, if you take away quarterback run,
which is you've got to, like, if you're the Army
defensive coordinator, like, just nobody, anybody but horror Bath can
beat me in this game. So you got to take
away that, and then maybe that opens up hiden Reich.
Maybe that opens up Teshka. I always mispronounced his name,
but that would be a guy that I would look

(51:47):
for in the prop market. I'll give you a I mean,
I've got to play this. Cale Helm's passing yards for ropets.
It's like the craziest number I've ever seen for a
quarterback in an FBS game.

Speaker 4 (51:56):
Will you're taking the over, You're going over sixty four
and a half, No, you're going under.

Speaker 3 (52:00):
Nice. I can't bet an over on a passing yards
prop for a team that runs it on eight half
ten plays.

Speaker 4 (52:09):
I'm surprised that I was expecting more when you said eight,
I'm like, they throw it twice every ten time, Like wow,
I thought it would be like like nine to one.

Speaker 3 (52:18):
Well, to be fair, I think this. I don't know
if the sacks count. I guess they do because they're
technically rushes. Yeah, so like even yeah, like you maybe,
but also they only run like forty plays a game.
They only throw it like eight times a game. Like
this is such a small amount, but it is going
to be interesting to see how the Navy or excuse me,

(52:39):
how the Army defense plays this. Because you cannot allow
horback to go for two hundred. That's the way to
lose thirty eight thirteen like they did last year. You
have got to make him give it on the quarterback
gave right there, run that triple option. So you over
commit to the to the keep or you force him
to throw it and you give him very heavy boxes
and that could be danger too, because then that sets

(53:00):
up the explosive.

Speaker 4 (53:01):
Poss Yeah, should be fun looking forward to it.

Speaker 6 (53:06):
Yeah, but you're right.

Speaker 4 (53:07):
If you let horvv go off, even if you let
horvv be effective, it's death for your chances to win
the game. So what is it? ABH anybody but.

Speaker 3 (53:18):
Anybody but horrbite it? Maybe ABB anybody but Blake?

Speaker 4 (53:23):
Okay, I like that ABB for some reason, a little
bit easier to remember. Yeah, I know it's sticks in
my memory a little bit more right there. All right,
we've got Rich Hornberger, Penn State All American, Jared Smith FSR.
Betting analyst I'm Brian No. Throughout the entire football season,
bet MGM will offer all different types of no sweat
tokens and odds boost tokens. Be on the lookout for

(53:43):
no sweat same game parlay tokens, parlay boost tokens, and
so much more coming up. Next our made Man Seamus
McGee from BETMGM gets all set for not only today
but tomorrow as well. Heavy NFL action going on, some
huge games right this Lions Ran game just to name
one of them. See what the book needs and is

(54:04):
there anything of great need today for BETMGM. If you
want to align yourself with the bookmaker, it's something to
be aware of, so we'll ask him.

Speaker 3 (54:12):
Coming up, it is Fox.

Speaker 4 (54:13):
Sports Radios Countdown to kick Off presented by BETMGM. It
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(54:34):
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Speaker 1 (54:50):
Follow the money, real good money, that's right.

Speaker 4 (54:53):
Welcome in our good friend, Seamus McGee, team lead of
sports trading at BETMGM. And you know, Seamus, I thought
exactly of you because I'm looking through the bet MGM
app and it says FCS Championship Quarterfinals, and I'm like,
this is a day made for Seamus mcginnie. Come on,
we got FCS playoff action going on here. But seriously,

(55:16):
is there anything today limited college football schedule right very light?
Is there anything that bet MGM has a great need
of happening today?

Speaker 2 (55:26):
Hey, guys, going to be back. It really does fall
down to the Army Navy game every year this weekend,
and it's pretty one way traffic on the Midshipman, So
it feels like we're going to be needing Army this week.
If we can get that out right, that would be huge.

Speaker 3 (55:45):
Yeah, that would be wild. I feel like every year
we get this break shamous with the bowl games, and
I think that gives you guys an opportunity to, you know,
get your heads on straight. We have a bowl game today,
Like it just it seems like the schedule is just
so different this year, and I guess maybe last year
we started to go to a bit of a different
format with the schedule, where they moved around a lot

(56:07):
of these traditional games, and they, you know, because the
CPP expanded. But is this the earliest bowl game you've
ever had to prepare for?

Speaker 2 (56:15):
This is sacrilege?

Speaker 1 (56:19):
What are we doing?

Speaker 2 (56:21):
How how is there a bowl game this day? Of
Army Navy? In the travesty? What happened to the game?
I love? But if you want to bet on the game,
it is pretty balanced, it is, you know, it's handled
starting to tick up a little bit here, slightly more
money on Washington minus ten here. But I can't imagine

(56:44):
this is a game where the book is I really
going to be like needing this side here under I
guess would help. Just a lot of money that goes
in on the over in these games.

Speaker 5 (56:54):
All right, it feels like almost we had to talk
a little college football with Seamous, you know, I mean
there's only two games playing though everybody's eyes are looking
towards the weekend and Philip Rivers and the Indianapolis Colts
and what happens in Seattle.

Speaker 6 (57:13):
How do you handicap a game like that?

Speaker 2 (57:17):
It's HiT's tough. You're dealing with the quarterback who hasn't
played in since twenty twenty, the COVID season, and you
have a Seahawks team at home. I mean, this is
the recipe for disaster for the Colts, it would seem,
but we have to see it's the Colts are I
can already tell you They're gonna end up being one
of the biggest needs we'll have all week. It's constant

(57:39):
money on the Seahawks today or this week.

Speaker 4 (57:42):
How about these these other big underdogs in the NFL
shamous You got the Jets, they're like almost two touchdown underdogs.
You've got the Raiders against Philly they're huge underdogs, as
Rich said, the Colts big dogs, and the Titans on
the road against the Niners. Any of those big dogs Raiders, Jets, Colts,

(58:04):
Titans appeal to you.

Speaker 9 (58:08):
It's tough.

Speaker 2 (58:10):
Maybe I'm biased, like maybe the Jets, Like are the
Jags good enough to be laying double digits even against
Brady Cook? But like what if Brady Cook is like
not bad? It's only his first start. So if I
had to pick, I can't trust the Raiders with an
early one o'clock game. Colts, if I'm getting Philip Rivers,

(58:31):
no shot in Seattle and the Titans going west. Diners
need that game. It's tough. I mean, it's gonna we're
gonna have a stunt. We're gonna need all four of
those dogs here because all of these teams are playing
for playoff positions, So a lot of better is like
to load up on these teams who are, you know,
trying to get into the playoffs and lock.

Speaker 3 (58:50):
Some things up anything early with the CEE IF games
next week looks like the Bama Oklahoma Lin kind of
flipped a little bit, not surprised there after Bama, you know,
kind of flamed out in the Sea. And I really
think the most intriguing game might be that Miami A
and M game.

Speaker 2 (59:05):
Yeah really, I mean we're probably gonna end up needing
the big dogs to cover. Miami A and M. Is
the only game right now that's been balanced action so far.

Speaker 8 (59:15):
Line has really even budged up three and a half,
but it's been Ala has definitely been the most bet
team we've had for next for these playoff games.

Speaker 2 (59:26):
So Oklahoma at home, we're gonna need a home dog, right.
I don't expect that need to change. I think that
it's gonna be a lot of money on Alabama come
kick off.

Speaker 5 (59:36):
I was looking around Pro football for some totals and
I was I spotlighted the Lions visiting LA to face
the Rams. A pretty good NFC battle there. Lion's obviously
trying to stay in playoff shape. Rams firmly seeded at
this moment, maybe improving their lot with some more wins
against NFC fos. The total set of fifty five, Uh,

(01:00:01):
that feels that feels high for this game, although I
guess you know recently there's been a falloff with both
teams defense. What are your thoughts on the total on
that one.

Speaker 2 (01:00:12):
I'm gonna need the under here, and uh, you know,
I think the toll is high for a reason. I mean,
even like since Dan Campbell's.

Speaker 8 (01:00:19):
Been calling these plays, I feel like they are starting
to score a lot more points.

Speaker 2 (01:00:22):
Stafford's playing like an MVP.

Speaker 8 (01:00:25):
I mean, we're in a dome for golf, so we
don't have to worry about cold weather with him.

Speaker 2 (01:00:32):
But it's definitely gonna be a game where you need
the under, where you need not the usual.

Speaker 8 (01:00:37):
Suspects to score a lot of touchdowns here, but definitely
gonna be a popular play.

Speaker 4 (01:00:42):
All right, gives me great pleasure to roll out the
red carpet for the Shamus special. I have no idea
where you're taking us today. My hunch is maybe FCS related.
What do you have for a shamist.

Speaker 2 (01:00:54):
I feel like we have to go to FCS. Yeah,
we're gonna keep rolling with this Illinois State Redbird team.

Speaker 6 (01:01:02):
Yeah, had the.

Speaker 2 (01:01:02):
Big upset last week, only a short dog on the
road at you see, Davis, Let's see if you can
keep them mo mentally going. So Illinois State money line.

Speaker 4 (01:01:12):
By the way, before you go, Seamus, one quick bonus
question and uh, you know, I I hate to bring up,
you know, bad results from last week, but I'm curious
what you think with your Virginia Cavaliers going down. What
do you think happens with Miami? The committee Notre Dame.
Do you think that affected anything? With Virginia losing and

(01:01:33):
a five lost duke team winning the ACC championship, does
that have any effect with Miami maybe getting like a
slight boost and like we got to get an ACC
team in here.

Speaker 2 (01:01:45):
I think that probably helped. I really have We have
all very hard time trying to convince anyone what the
committee is thinking, because I don't know what they're doing.

Speaker 9 (01:01:58):
Exactly, Like we did this crap with ned Dame being
ranked higher weeks and weeks and suddenly now okay, And
I'm actually not even mad about Miami and overname nerd name.

Speaker 2 (01:02:11):
I told you guys last week, I at Miami and
over nerd name in my field every week. Yeah, Alabama
just not getting punished is an absolute joke. And the
only team to lose the conference championship game and not
have at least one ranking fall. I just really did
not understand the way they lost, Like I know, oh
it's George, it's a good team. But you ran for

(01:02:33):
minus three rushing yards. How do you do that?

Speaker 4 (01:02:37):
Absolutely? Man, you're preaching the choir on that one. But
always appreciate your time. Seamous, good stuff today, good luck
and we'll catch you soon.

Speaker 3 (01:02:45):
Thanks guys, and jurding games you too.

Speaker 6 (01:02:47):
There.

Speaker 4 (01:02:47):
He is Seamus McGee, team lead at sports Trading at BETMGM.
Can I say one thing based on what Seamus said
right there? Yes, can we eliminate going forward the playoffs?
Right like even the morning of the morning of like
the the final selection selection Sunday, if you will, It

(01:03:07):
was like the ESPN playoff predictor has Notre Dame in
eighty five percent? And it's like, can we stop and
think about that for a second. It's is it twelve
members right now? It's a twelve member playoff committee? Who
knows what they're thinking, who knows why they're putting this
team ahead of that team, and whatever their reasons are.

(01:03:30):
These playoff predictors are ridiculous, like eighty five percent chance
to get in and Notre Dame's not in, and it's like,
why did you come up with eighty five percent? It's
a twelve member committee.

Speaker 3 (01:03:42):
It's crazy.

Speaker 5 (01:03:44):
Yeah, it's again the same way the playoffs are made
for TV. So is the hype train behind theoffs and
leading up to the playoffs and in lockstep with the playoffs.
When when you have these predict or, these analysts who
are coming on presuming to know something, you know, based

(01:04:05):
off of one tidbit of information they heard from somebody
who sits on the committee or knows somebody who sits
on the committee. The truth is that morsel is about worth,
you know, the the the ounce of gold that's attached
to it, which is which is zero. It's I mean,
it's there's nothing attached to it. It's all ethereal. You

(01:04:26):
have to have all these people in the room together
to come up with either how they're going to really, frankly,
in my opinion, how they're going to pitch the selection
committee's process in getting to the results that they get to,
because that's the biggest strain here is with a straight face,
to be able to face America and say, and here's

(01:04:49):
the reason why your favorite team is factored out this year.
And it's not a criteria that's based in reality. It
is it is power rankings that are decided by individuals.
It's all opinion based. So you know, like Seamus said,
they're gonna be people who are absolutely aghast by the
fact that Alabama is in and they weren't punished for

(01:05:13):
their conference championship game showing. There's gonna be people who
are pissed at Notre Dame's not in because they're a
better team.

Speaker 6 (01:05:20):
Like, use your eyeballs, they're a better team than Miami.

Speaker 5 (01:05:23):
You know, who cares about the heads up win that
was so long ago it feels like a different time.
Now feels almost like a different season. But use your eyeballs,
they're the better team. There's gonna be people like me
who do not want to see James Madison take on
Oregon because they're going to get.

Speaker 6 (01:05:37):
Dog walked by the Ducks. Because it's stupid. It's dumb.
They don't stand a chance. Those two teams are playing
a different sport.

Speaker 5 (01:05:47):
I'm sorry, James Madison has no business being in the postseason.
I think it's cute. I think it's fun. I think
it's a little bit funny that we are doing this,
but it's it's they are going to get absolutely smoked.

Speaker 6 (01:06:03):
So I look, the reality of the college.

Speaker 5 (01:06:06):
Football Playoff is whatever you look at leading up to
the selection committee's decision is just more hyped for this train.
And the louder you complain about it on social media
or the more gassed you are is a reaction, and
they are looking for your reaction.

Speaker 3 (01:06:24):
Yeah, tou Lane lost to UTSA by twenty two points,
and then of course the team that they're playing, oh
Miss by thirty five, and that is what it all
comes down to. I agree that they should have dropped Bama.
But even if they drop Bama, I think all reasonable
mind's gonna agree Bama's a top twelve team in college football.
I think all reasonable mind's gonna agree. Notre Dame is

(01:06:45):
a top twelve team in college football, say so is Miami.
They should all be in the playoff. I think the
twelfth spot. You could make the case like maybe Vandy,
maybe BYU, Like that would be an interesting discussion. But
we're not talking about those teams. We're talking This is
an Alan Iverson quote. We're talking about practice. We're talking
about too Lane, We're talking about JMU And it's the

(01:07:09):
inclusivity stuff that is ruining this process. Now, the process
has other flaws as well, like that ranking show, which
is it's politics. It is like the definition of politics.
It has no actual value in the actual prediction or
the selection process itself. It is just for show. It

(01:07:32):
is a dog and pony show. That is part of
their agreement that ESBN gets the rights to this show
every week where they get to drop the rankings that
are completely meaningless. They get the rights to something that
doesn't matter. They created it for content. Now, we do
a lot of things for content, that's the nature of

(01:07:54):
our business. But when you're dealing with the highest level
of the sport who plays in the playoff, we should
be a little bit more discerning about the content We
put out. For example, the highest newsmakers in sports, the Schefters,
the rapaports is. Their social media accounts are nuclear weapons.

(01:08:19):
They can drop bombs on markets if they say this
player is injured or this situation is this. They can
move the market based off of what they tweet, based
off of their content. We need to have the same
level of discernment with these ranking shows and the listen.
We could argue for days about the process and the flaws.

(01:08:39):
At the end of the day, they didn't take the
top twelve teams. They took the top ten teams and
then the twentieth and the twenty fourth ranked team, And
I think that to me is the root of the
problem we have with this selection process.

Speaker 4 (01:08:51):
Well, the last thing I'll say is, you know what
Jared said is correct. It's the definition of politics. And
if you go back to BAM for a second, Alabama
getting blasted in the SEC Championship game, like Seamus just said,
they should have dropped.

Speaker 3 (01:09:09):
The thing that's.

Speaker 4 (01:09:09):
Really lame about that if you put them in different
colored uniforms and called them Vanderbilt, there is no chance
they don't drop. You know what I'm saying, Like it's
it's so weird, how that How can that be a
thing if if you had instead of it's Bama, it's Vanderbilt,
same exact resume. Everything is to a t and Vanderbilt

(01:09:32):
gets dropped, gets crushed the way that that that that
Bama did in the SEC title game. Vanderbilt is absolutely dropping.
Vanderbilt is probably dropping out of the playoff completely. But
uh not Bama. Man there, they were hell bent on
putting Bama in there. But we put that all to
the side. Let's get back to the futures over here.
Let's dive into this. It's the futures, all right, a

(01:09:58):
little college edition right here. Jared, you wanted to dive
head first in the to these waters here, so we'll
let you lead this off with the cannonball.

Speaker 6 (01:10:05):
You know, well, I listaid.

Speaker 3 (01:10:07):
I think at the end of the day, like obviously
we were very upset about the process and everything, but
we still get football, and we still get some pretty
damn good games, and we'll get I think, a very
intriguing bracket. Like when I looked at the bracket, because
this is this is the one thing I like about
the playoff is you get this kind of road, you
get this path that you can dissect and try to

(01:10:27):
break down. And I think if you asked me, and
this is my opinion, I think, if you asked me
if I would rather be on the top half or
the bottom back half of the bracket, I think it's
obvious to me that I would rather face Texas Tech
in Indiana than Georgia and Ohio State. Like, if I'm
one of the teams coming from the left side of
the bracket, Bama, Oklahoma, Ole, Miss Miami A and m Like,

(01:10:47):
we're gonna throw out Jami, We're gonna throw out too late.
But if I'm like trying to make a run like
Ohio State did last year, which is playing the first
round and make a run all the way to the championship,
I would rather be a top half team. I'd rather
be Oregon. I'd rather be Bama. I'd rather be Oklahoma
because I'd rather face Indiana in the quarterfinals instead of
Georgia and Ohio State. That's just me. I'd rather face
Baron Morton in Texas Tech than Georgia. Like, again, that's

(01:11:10):
just my opinion. So I think Georgia to me is
the most intriguing team of the quarterfinal group because I
think the thing I've noticed with Georgia this year is
they've significantly improved week after week. And that team you
saw beat down Bama over the weekend, that is a
really good football team. And Gunner Stockton's playing at a
very high level. He's a dude. So I think Georgia,

(01:11:32):
to me, being on the third rung, right, they're the
third favorite in the field right now. The Big Ten
teams are getting all belove, but I think Georgia might
be the best team in this field top to bottom,
nose to toe's, mentality, physicality, all of it. So Georgia
five to one is the bet I gave out this
week on the bet MGM Fox Sports Radio video, and
I think that's my pick right now to win the championship.

Speaker 5 (01:11:54):
I know that they're resting, and I understand that the
last showing wasn't great rate, but I think a loss
in the Big Ten championship game was exactly what Ohio
State needed. I think that with a team this good,
rolling through opponents, taking the l where they they could

(01:12:16):
take it, it actually probably benefited them.

Speaker 6 (01:12:20):
Now.

Speaker 5 (01:12:21):
I mean, we'll see, you have to play these games,
just like Jared alluded to, but.

Speaker 6 (01:12:26):
You know, just just feeling feeling.

Speaker 5 (01:12:30):
My feeling didn't change very much on the other side
of the Big Ten championship game, and.

Speaker 6 (01:12:34):
I thought it would.

Speaker 5 (01:12:35):
I thought I would feel differently about Ohio State if
they lost, depending on margin, depending on how they looked,
and I thought they looked about as flat and about
as bad as they possibly could in that game, especially
against Indiana, who I feel like if that game is
played with a level of attention and ferocity that a like,

(01:12:56):
for example, a playoff game would be played as opposed
to championship game that neither team really needed. I think
the results may have been different. I think emotionally, the
investment wasn't there, and so that's that's the reason.

Speaker 6 (01:13:11):
But the embarrassment still, it still stings.

Speaker 5 (01:13:14):
So I believe Ohio State it's a better team than
the last outing. I think that a week's rest to
start the postseason is probably what the doctor ordered, literally
to lick your wounds a little bit and get ready
for the action of the postseason once more. But I
also think that they are the best team left standing
and the only thing that can potentially hold them back

(01:13:37):
is the fact that they are starting a freshman quarterback,
and that is a heavy weight to toll when you
are a young man playing in some of the biggest
games you've ever played in in well, actually the biggest game.
Every next game is the biggest game he's ever played in.
So it's going to be keeping him calm, keeping his
you know, keeping his his temperature low under the collar,

(01:14:01):
keeping the heart rate low, and having him operate. But
I do think Ohio State's most talented team left in
this field.

Speaker 4 (01:14:08):
I like the Dogs. You know, I've been on Georgia
for most of the season, and I love what Kirby
Smart said earlier in the year when they came back
and beat Ole Miss The.

Speaker 3 (01:14:17):
One thing we are we're hard to kill.

Speaker 4 (01:14:20):
They are. They are absolutely hard to kill, and we're
used to seeing them get off to bad starts and
claw their way back. But they got off to a
great start against Alabama. So if that's a sign of
things to come, If they can actually get out to
good starts and they don't have to scratch and claw
their way back, I think they're an even tougher out.

(01:14:41):
So their defense is played a lot better. You know,
their past defense was real iffy throughout the first half
of the season, I would say, but they've looked a
lot better lately. And listen, they can run the ball,
they can stop the run. They play an aggressive just
they love to just fight you all.

Speaker 6 (01:15:00):
Gay.

Speaker 4 (01:15:01):
I love this Georgia team in terms of their their
their mental makeup, and just how nasty of a team
they are. That's what they are. They're They're fantastic in
that right, and I think that's what it's gonna take
to win a championship this season. You have to have
that DNA, and Georgia certainly has it. They're not the
only team that has it, obviously. One other thing that

(01:15:21):
catches my attention is the second round matchup would be
Oregon at Texas Tech or versus Texas Tech. I should say,
yeah and game And you look at the futures market,
Oregon is eight to one to win a championship. Texas
Tech is nine to one to win it. All it
is is Oregon going to be favored against Texas Tech

(01:15:42):
on a neutral field?

Speaker 6 (01:15:43):
Right?

Speaker 3 (01:15:43):
The market just doesn't like Texas Tech. I think the
issue with Texas Tech is I don't trust Morton, but
that defensive line is a problem.

Speaker 4 (01:15:49):
They're so nasty, man problem, They're really really good man. Yeah,
that that front that front seven, I would say is really.

Speaker 3 (01:15:59):
Probably the best seven in the sport. I honestly think so.
I think Look, one thing that makes Texas Tech interesting
Texas Tech against Indiana, Mendoz was going to be running
for his life, right, that's the game.

Speaker 4 (01:16:09):
Well, and listen, we get that. You know Texas Tech,
all right, I'm sorry. Oregon kind of has a buy
facing JMU at home, right, But injuries can happen. Injuries
can happen in any football game. So the fact that
you know Oregon is playing a game before taking on
Texas Tech, should they beat JM, you kind of surprising

(01:16:30):
that Oregon has shorter odds to win.

Speaker 3 (01:16:33):
You might be right, Oregon might be favored in that game.
Is that is that the Rose Bowl? Is that the
Rose Bowl?

Speaker 4 (01:16:37):
I'm not I'm not sure.

Speaker 3 (01:16:38):
I know it's a West Coast game. I think yeah,
it might be.

Speaker 4 (01:16:41):
I don't know. All right, We've got rich Oinberger, Penn
State All American, Jared Smith FSR, betting analyst. I'm Brian No.
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(01:17:03):
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onassist dot com. All right, coming up next, prop it up?
That's right, the prop betting markets. We will compare copious notes,
maybe NFL related copious notes.

Speaker 3 (01:17:18):
We'll find out.

Speaker 4 (01:17:19):
It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown to Kickoff presented by BETMGM.
It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown to Kickoff presented by
bet MGM, and it is time for the ti Raq
Play of the Day.

Speaker 6 (01:17:32):
To the corner, Devin Chenzo three good sense?

Speaker 3 (01:17:36):
Are you kidding me? A couple of clutch threes by
Dante DiVincenzo.

Speaker 4 (01:17:41):
The former Warrior puts the Wolves up by five twenty
seven point four. Lacker, there you go. Compliments of Kfan
one hundred point three Timberwolves Radio Network. As the Timberwolves
beat the Warriors, t Wolves on the road, so nice
little road win for them as they get it done
despite a Steph Curry hitting a full court shot before

(01:18:03):
the game started, which was pretty cool.

Speaker 6 (01:18:05):
Hey.

Speaker 4 (01:18:05):
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Speaker 3 (01:18:24):
It up player plays all.

Speaker 4 (01:18:27):
Right, prop betsco Lord Shared. We start with you with
something you like.

Speaker 3 (01:18:31):
I mean, anytime I can bet a passing yards prop
under sixty four and a half yards for an FBS
quarterback with two arms and a full full game. This
is the first half prop. This is a full game
prop for Cale hell under sixty four and a half
passing art. Listen, Army's gonna run the heck out of
it today. I think they'll be behind in the game,

(01:18:52):
which doesn't bode well for a passing yard under. But
I just look at this number and I say he's
gone under this in I think four out of his
six starts, and there's just not a lot of meat
on the bone. So I'll say, hellum's under sixty four
and a half passing yards and we'll hope for one
hundred percent run right from the Black Knights today.

Speaker 6 (01:19:11):
All right, I'm back on the Broncos.

Speaker 5 (01:19:13):
This Washington Husky is first the Poise State Broncos La Bowl.
I got Latrell Caples, top receiver for the Broncos this season,
reeled in forty six receptions five hundred, five hundred and
forty seven yards.

Speaker 6 (01:19:27):
Not incredibly.

Speaker 5 (01:19:31):
Eye popping statistically this season, but he's he's been competent,
and he is, without question, Mattick Mattson's favorite target. And
so if I'm going to take the overprop on Mattocks
Mattson like I did in the parlay platter, I'll take
his top receiver as well. So give me Latrell Caples
for over forty two and a half yards receiving today.

Speaker 4 (01:19:52):
All right, I'm looking to the NFL tomorrow and Chris Purfett,
our trusted technical producer, he might have to close his.

Speaker 3 (01:19:58):
Ears for a second over here.

Speaker 4 (01:20:00):
Okay, oh boy, nothing personal whatsoever. And this is a
high high number, what with good reason, I'm taking Matthew
Stafford over two seventy nine and a half passing yards.
This Lion's secondary is banged up. They're not good.

Speaker 3 (01:20:14):
There's no Bronch secondary.

Speaker 4 (01:20:16):
They don't have a secondary.

Speaker 3 (01:20:17):
Joseph is out for this weekend now too.

Speaker 6 (01:20:20):
There you go.

Speaker 4 (01:20:20):
We got injuries. On top of the injuries, not good
Stafford is gonna do unspeakable things, ny Secondary, It's gonna
be nasty. So I'm taking over two seventy nine and
a half.

Speaker 3 (01:20:32):
As far as that goes, I like it.

Speaker 4 (01:20:34):
Oh my god, nice good? All right, coming up next.
Enough of the reviews, let's get to the previews. Oh,
welcome in, Happy Saturday to you. I hope everything is
going fantastic for you. We've done the reviews. Now it's
time for the previews that in a second bet MGM
players will receive college football odds boost tokens and college
football parlay boost tokens throughout the season to use on

(01:20:57):
college football bets. Don't use those college football odds boost
tokens on like soccer bets or something. It doesn't work
like this for college football bets. Score extra winnings if
your bet with the token applied wins. Check it out
in the bet MGM app All right, we've squawked about
Notre Dame not getting in, Vanderbilt staying at number nine,
you know Jmu's there, what's going on? What's up with

(01:21:20):
you know Tulane. Now it's time to do the previews, right,
we've done the reviews. Now it's the previews. Now we
get the playoff games and the first round first game
starts before we hit the air next week, Right, we
get a Friday game and then we get three games
on Saturday. So of this slate, right like, we've got

(01:21:40):
Alabama a fraudulent you know, fools gold Alabama against Oklahoma.
That's on Friday evening, and then we get on Saturday
the tripleheader Miami is at Texas A and m Tulane
at Ole Miss. And then the nightcap is JMU twenty
one and a half point underdogs against Oregon. So of
those four games, what do you have your eye on

(01:22:01):
the most?

Speaker 6 (01:22:03):
Oklahoma Alabama?

Speaker 5 (01:22:05):
Obviously the standalone I think is going to be easily
the most interesting of the weekend. There's so much that
went into Alabama making the postseed season, Notre Dame being
left out in the cold. A lot of people say
they shouldn't be because of the conference championship game loss,
and I just think this is gonna be a battle.

(01:22:29):
How could it not be. It's going to be an
absolute battle. We could get into the weeds of what
you know, Oklahoma's defense and a dominant defensive unit at
that is going to look like against this Bama offense
in the postseason. But I mean, just from the standpoint
of cinema, just from the standpoint of box office, which

(01:22:52):
game am I most geared up for and excited about?

Speaker 6 (01:22:54):
It's that one.

Speaker 2 (01:22:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:22:56):
I went back and watched the first one this week,
did a deep dive for it. I put a film
study up on my YouTube page if anybody wants to
watch it. And it was it was a lot about
communication and protection. I think those are the two most
important things in this game. When Oklahoma was in flow
right this game was in Tuscaloosa, they were on the road.

(01:23:16):
When Oklahoma's defense was in flow and they were communicating
and they were really putting pressure on ty Simpson, it
looked bad. For example, there was one play that I targeted,
the pick six right, go back and watch the pick
six that ty Simpson threw. It was on the third
drive of the game. First two drives, Bama goes three
and out, Oklahoma's defense is locked in third drive, Bama
gets a little bit of rhythm going They're in and

(01:23:38):
there it was like right outside the red zone, and
they did a blitz scheme that through the Alabama offensive
line through reloops so much so that Alabama on the
pick six again, go watch it. It was an unblocked
middle linebacker right through the A gap and Alabama had
three offensive linemen blocking one defensive tackle and then the
middle linebacker right through the A gap on blocked pressure

(01:24:01):
on ty Simpson. Great job by the safety throwing Horton
off his route. And then the pick six Apps and
that was really the tone setter for the game. That's
what Brent Vennables does. He is a habitual liar. He
will show you cover one, flash to cover two. I'll
have all these crazy, you know, schemes at the line
of scrimmage where the linebackers will calm and then the

(01:24:21):
defensive lineman will drop into coverage. It is very hard
to diagnose. And now Alabama has to do it on
the road in Norman. Very difficult task. Now, maybe they
get back Jan Miller, maybe they're running games a little
bit more effective like it was in the first half
against Auburn. But man, I just I really want to
get to Bama on this game. Obviously I love Bama, right,

(01:24:43):
but when I look at Oklahoma's defense and I see
what they're able to do with the line of scrimmage.
It's tough, and then Mattier gets a little bit extra
time to heal that thumb. I think they're running games
starting to come on a little bit with Blaylock, the
freshman Oklahoma's I don't don't know if their offense has
a really high ceiling, Brian, Like, I think twenty four
points is kind of their ceiling as an offense. But

(01:25:06):
that means you got to score twenty four against their defense,
which I think is a really tough thing to do.

Speaker 6 (01:25:11):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:25:11):
Absolutely, And that's the thing is if you think about Bama,
their offense has been discombobulated right the last couple of games.
If you look at obviously they got dominated by Georgia
in the SEC title game, but going back to that
Auburn game, they got out gained by one hundred and
thirty one yards against Auburn, Right like that, that's not

(01:25:33):
that's not good offense. Ryan Williams, I don't think he
had a target that game. Right in the iron ball?
How does Ryan Williams not get a target in the
iron Bullet's insane? But Ryan Williams has been on a
milk carton for the last month. Plus And that's the
thing is you're trying to get your discombobulated offense combobulated,

(01:25:56):
right like against Oklahoma. That's a tough thing to do
against a really good defense. So good luck sorting out
all these offensive issues against a rock solid defense at
home in a playoff atmosphere. That is not gonna be easy.
But I do know one of two things has to
happen for Baman to have a shot. It's you gotta

(01:26:16):
have a running game. You can't be running for minus
three yards. That's obvious. And the other thing is like
ty Simpson's got to look like ty Simpson has looked
most of the year. Ty Simpson has been real skittish
and a fish out of water when he's facing a
pass rush. I call him the college Jared Goff is
what Ty Simpson has looked like against the pass rush lately,

(01:26:40):
and he's been very inaccurate. I'm watching Ty Simpson. It's
like this dude has had pinpoint accuracy throughout most of
the season and that has vanished as of late. So
one of two things has to happen for the Tide.
You got to run the ball more effectively, or Ty
Simpson has to revert back to good ty Simpson and
not skittish can't do anything under pressure type Simpson.

Speaker 5 (01:27:02):
Yeah, I mean early thoughts on the Crimson tide. If
they're going to have a chance at winning a national
championship this year, there's no question they need to sure
up their run game.

Speaker 6 (01:27:13):
There's no question they.

Speaker 5 (01:27:15):
Need to keep Tye Simpson on his feet and comfortable,
and he obviously needs to settle into this massive role
that he has in anchoring this Alabama offense. That's difficult
for a young, inexperienced quarterback to handle. This defense has
to play lights out like they haven't played all season long.

(01:27:37):
They've played better at times, but they haven't been consistently.

Speaker 6 (01:27:41):
Great, even though they've got a lot of great players.

Speaker 5 (01:27:43):
I think if you look around that defensive roster, both
for this upcoming season or I should say this upcoming
draft in the NFL and an undrafted free agent class,
but also years to come, Alabama's going to produce several
NFL players from this defense. However, having said all that,

(01:28:05):
they're they're not the saban Alabama teams. They're They're not
they've they're they This run game has been non existent
at times, this defense even though it's a collection of
great players, has not played very consistently. And I agree
with your assessment on ty Simpson. I think he's unraveled
a little bit in the late season. So they're gonna

(01:28:26):
have to play some of the best football at the
most important time of the year to string together enough
wins to win win the thing. In terms of against Oklahoma,
it is it's a it's a big it's a big
opening matchup. But it's tough to beat the same team twice.
So we'll see, we'll see what happens here. But but man,

(01:28:46):
Bama's talented. This is gonna be a fun watch. I
either way, win or lose, it's gonna be a fun watch.

Speaker 3 (01:28:53):
Yeah, Bama's not playing Bama football. That's the issue right now.
They're missing assignments up front, there's confusion at the line
of scrimmage. They can't run at they're kind of soft.
They played right into Georgia's hands last week. That's not
Bama football, Like, that is not what Nick Saban preached
for years. It's just it's sloppy. Now again, they get
a little extra time off. They were without their best

(01:29:14):
I would say, not two best players, but definitely best
defensive player, healthi Overton, who's a first round pick, and
Jan Miller, who's their best runner. Like they need those
two tone setters, and they need to get Ty Simpson,
as Brian alluded to, combobulated again, right, because it's just
it's sloppy, like, it's just it's not the Bama. Like,

(01:29:36):
has there been a team this year that has shown
you the absolute peak ceiling four consecutive wins over ranked
teams and then the floor in basically back to back months.
I think it's fair to say Bama peaked in October,
but I also think you have to acknowledge that that
peak might be the highest peak we've seen for any
team all year. But the ceilings also pretty low. So

(01:29:59):
which team do we get? Because I'll make another bold
prediction here. The winner of this Oklahoma Bama games beaten
Indiana in the in the Rose Bowl the following week.
I honestly think that I think one of the teams
that wins in the first round is gonna beat a
quarterfinal team. It's gonna happen, So it's a matter of
which team does it. I would say Bama's ceiling is

(01:30:22):
a little bit higher than Oklahoma's. But I also think
Bama's floor is lower because their defense is not as
good as local. Bama's defense, I think is very good,
very unerrated. Oklahoma might have the best defense in the
country because of their scheme and because of the confusion
they call it with the line of scrimmage. I do
want to give Miami and A and m some love.
Right the other two games, I think we kind of
are pushing to the side, like we kind of know

(01:30:43):
what the results are. I want to give Miami some love.
I really do. I think Malachai Tony might be my
favorite player in college football. Go back and watch the
tape against Pitt.

Speaker 6 (01:30:55):
This dude threw a.

Speaker 3 (01:30:57):
Touchdown pass, ran for a bunch of y'all cards. Obviously
we know he's great in the receiving game. I don't
think there's a player in college football that I've watched
this year that plays with a higher energy level. Like
he plays the game like there is no stamina at all,
Like it's just it's like a video game, Like he
just has unlimited stamina. Like even when he's not a

(01:31:20):
play is not designed for him, he still plays with
just the utmost level of fire and energy. So I'm
excited to watch him go on the road and play
a really good A and M defense and see how
he handles Mike elchoing out Carson Beck and that offense
handles things. I think I'll give the slight edge to
A and M in that game. But I think Malachi
Tony is the best player on the field as a freshman.

(01:31:40):
Like this kid might win Heisman next year. Honestly, He's
very exciting and I'm really interested to see how he
performs on the big stage.

Speaker 4 (01:31:48):
Yeah, I'm really interesting interested to see Carson Beck. You know,
is this good Carson Beck? Is this bad Carson Beck?
Because if this is bad Carson Beck, forget it. You know,
I'm not talking like four interception Carson Beck against Louisville.
I'm just talking like, you know, maybe two interception Carson
Beck against Louisville, you know, right, like that, not the

(01:32:09):
full version, but like a limited even that's gonna be
a big, big deal in this game. So can he play?
Can he avoid the big mistakes? Can he protect the football?
I think that's really important in this matchup obviously, And
I also look at Miami in the trenches. You know,
we all know that Miami the pass rush is there.

(01:32:29):
They got NFL dudes, Bain is bringing it. Can they
offensively just really dictate things. We've seen Texas A and
M struggle stopping the rush many times this season. Can
Miami with that great offensive line, can they just start
shoving them around a little bit? Can they really win
the battle in the trenches and go from there? Maybe

(01:32:51):
you can hide Carson Beck a little bit if you're
able to run the ball really effectively against A and
M's I'm interested in that matchup Man nine am on
the West Coast. We get it started right away on Saturday,
and we'll preview that one obviously next next Saturday show.
So we got the Alabama Oklahoma review on next week's show. Yeah,

(01:33:13):
and then we've got basically Miami and Texas A and
M like pregame show for a couple of hours because
we're not gonna talk much about Tulane and James Madison,
right Like, that's the way it's gonna go.

Speaker 6 (01:33:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:33:25):
I think the match up here for yeah, Yeah, for
Miami is going to be how their defense performs against
this Texas A and M offense, who's one of the
top teams in the country top thirty teams in the
country passing the football Top twenty rushing the football. Marcel

(01:33:46):
Reid obviously a true dual threat. You're gonna have to
cause disruption if you're going to win this football game.
Miami's got to concentrate on getting upfield and putting blockers
on differ levels in the run game and getting to
read when he decides to throw it. And against this
A and m Aggie's offense, the play action pass is

(01:34:09):
very much so alive, and it can fool you, and
they can lull you into a false sense of confidence
that you are hustling downhill to stop the run, and
then they can pop a big one over your head.

Speaker 6 (01:34:20):
And it doesn't have to be a big throw like
a deep throw.

Speaker 5 (01:34:22):
It can be a seven yard game through the air
in terms of air yards completed, and then it's yards
after catch and making one man miss down the field
can lead to a huge play for the Aggies in
this one.

Speaker 6 (01:34:37):
So I think that's the.

Speaker 5 (01:34:40):
Game within the game to watch is how Miami decides
to attack this Aggie's offense, because defensively, I feel like
they're outmatched.

Speaker 6 (01:34:50):
But you can win which scheme you absolutely.

Speaker 5 (01:34:52):
Can, And they had some time to think about how
they'd like to attack their opponent. Even though they were
waiting to see which one they were going to get,
they had they had an idea of what teams they
could potentially be scheduled again, So I'm very curious to
see how Miami's defense prepares for this Agis or has
prepared for this Agis offense.

Speaker 3 (01:35:12):
Yeah, I get the vibe this could be a higher
scoring game. I think both of the I think when
you look at Miami and Notre Dame, like I know
that was a big discussion, I think both of those
teams have improved dramatically since that first game. I honestly do.
Girard Pringle another freshman. Miami's got two freshmen. Tony who

(01:35:32):
I again, I think he's my favorite player of the
country right now based off of the I went back
and I really dug into that pit game and he
was freaking unbelievable in that game against Bit a couple
of weeks ago. But Gerard Pringle, freshman running back. Again.
We know about Mark Fletcher, who's a big, physical back
six two two twenty five bruisers, probably closer to two forty,

(01:35:53):
but Pringle a little bit lighter, five to eleven point
eighty more of a burner. So now Miami has got
two really good back and again, Pringle at the beginning
of the year wasn't even he was an afterthought, wasn't
even getting playing time. But in college football, freshmen tend
to become sophomores by the end of the year. So
this Pringle kid, Now you've got the lightning, and then

(01:36:15):
you've got thunder with Fletcher and then Tony who just
does everything. We know how good Miami's offensive line is.
I think they've got three offensive linemen that are gonna
be drafted in the first three rounds. The left tackle
Bell as a monster, Myoga is probably the best right
tackle in the sport. He's a first round pick. And
I love the center, Brockermeyer. I kind of think, I
kind of think Miami might be my bet here in

(01:36:35):
this one. I think I'm catching three and a half.
Carson Beck's got the experience. He's got significantly more experience
in these types of games than the other quarterback on
the other side, Marcel Reed, who's had a fantastic year,
but we've seen his play kind of be a little
more inconsistent at times. Right at the crazy comeback against
South Carolina. They needed every ounce of that one. I
could absolutely see Miami going into College Station being the

(01:36:59):
more physical team. And Carson Beck, who throws a very
catchable football. We know how good he is in rhythm,
he stacks plays. They feel like, right like if I
was gonna, if I was gonna, you know, kind of
gauge this on volatility. Brian Texas A and m I
think has the much higher ceiling. But I think Miami's
got the higher floor. I do because of their offensive
line and because of their consistency at quarterback, and now

(01:37:21):
they've got a dual threat running back. You got two
headed running backs and Tony on the outside. It's a lot.
It's a lot to prepare for, and I kind of
think Miami's where I'm leaning on this one.

Speaker 6 (01:37:31):
I don't hate it.

Speaker 4 (01:37:33):
I just I cannot trust Carson Beck.

Speaker 3 (01:37:35):
I know I can't trust crystaball. That's the problem. That's
the problem. I keep having It's crystal ball. But they
don't have to win, just cover by the way.

Speaker 4 (01:37:43):
It's just like twenty seconds here. Mini rants it's time
for our yearly. Mini rants on why does the bracket
look the way it does In the college football playoffs.
I'm so used to the college basketball bracket. The one
seed is at the top, the two seed is at
the bottom.

Speaker 3 (01:38:00):
Oh wow, I didn't men think of that.

Speaker 4 (01:38:01):
Why do we have this in college football? Second straight year?
Four seed at the top and then it's the one seed.
Why why?

Speaker 3 (01:38:09):
I don't even know. That doesn't make sense. They should
have nine to eight at the top because that's the
first game.

Speaker 4 (01:38:13):
Make any sense. Just put the one seat at the top.
That's where we've looked at for years, and it's use
we're used to seeing that.

Speaker 3 (01:38:19):
It looks like, why do they do that? I don't know,
I don't.

Speaker 4 (01:38:21):
Know it makes those sense.

Speaker 6 (01:38:23):
It's really I.

Speaker 3 (01:38:23):
Didn't even realize that.

Speaker 6 (01:38:24):
You just said. Honestly, they changed things up just to
change them. It's like the two minute time.

Speaker 4 (01:38:29):
I was just gonna say it.

Speaker 3 (01:38:30):
It's exactly.

Speaker 6 (01:38:32):
Why we call it the two minute stoppage. You know what, Honestly,
why are we even do it in college football? Get
rid of it. We didn't need it in the first place.

Speaker 4 (01:38:40):
But a warning is not political recording man, too aggressive
of a word.

Speaker 6 (01:38:45):
Oh yeah, two minute warning?

Speaker 4 (01:38:47):
Too invasive right there?

Speaker 6 (01:38:48):
That warning?

Speaker 4 (01:38:49):
Yeah, just put the one seat at the top. Come on,
get these graphics.

Speaker 3 (01:38:53):
Which is the quarterfinal team that is most vulnerable in
that round? That to me, that's the most intriguing question
because that's where you find the most like an Ole
miss beat Georgia, can Can can Alabama, Oklahoma be Indiana,
and Oregon be Texas.

Speaker 4 (01:39:05):
I think it's Ohio State. I would say it's Ohio state.

Speaker 6 (01:39:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:39:09):
Wow, you know I state.

Speaker 3 (01:39:11):
One of the great national championships of all time, Miami
in Han state.

Speaker 4 (01:39:14):
Yeah, and sure of the greatest ripoff jobs of in history.
By the way, interference, Oh it was so bad. But
by the way, quick, very quick story. My nephew, Mini Matt,
was born that day and this is this is why
my sister is the coolest. Okay, So we're in the
waiting room and my sister Christy is way down the

(01:39:35):
hall and my mom, with her supersonic mother hearing, was like,
I think I just heard a cry. I think the
baby was born. I'm like, they're like two blocks away
from us, what do you mean you heard cry? And
sure enough someone walks in like the baby was born.
I was like, wow, wow, that was amazing. But we
go in there, we see Mini Matt. We're like oh great,

(01:39:55):
everything's great. I'm like, hey, Christy, can we get the
football game on? And she goes bee, she hit me
like I just gave birth, like b and I'm like
it's the National Championship game. And it's like fine, go ahead,
turn it off. So he had the National Championship game
on in the delivery room and saw the late past

(01:40:16):
interference flat. Oh my gosh. That was brutal, man, just brutal.

Speaker 3 (01:40:24):
It was.

Speaker 4 (01:40:24):
It was a great game. Yeah, all right, We've got
a rich Hornberger, Penn State All American, Jared Smith FSR
betting analyst. I'm Brian No. Every goal starts with an
assist on and off the field. That's why haleyon in
US Soccer are launching for the Assist, a celebration of
everyday acts of support that help people achieve their goals
with iconic brands like Censidine, Tom's, voltairean Advil, and Centrum.

(01:40:48):
To learn more, go to Hailey on Assist dot com.
All right, coming up next, this team has a great record,
but they have not earned great respect. Tell you about that.
It's Fox Sports Radios Countdown to kick Off presented by BETMGM.
It is Fox Sports Radios countdown to Kickoff, presented by
Bett MGM. With the iHeartRadio App, you can stream us

(01:41:08):
wherever you happen to be. Catch us in all of
our Fox Sports Radio shows live twenty four to seven
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Sports Radio in the app to stream us live all day,
every day. Be sure to select Fox Sports Radio as
one of your presets in the iHeart app so it'll
always pop up at the top of your screen. All right,
we get to the NFL. Ah, the lovely NFL waters,

(01:41:30):
so soothing. How about the Bills against the Patriots. And
the Patriots they've got a great record eleven and two,
they haven't gotten a lot of great respect. Right, there
are one point home underdogs. A lot of talk this
week as Mariah Carey is just jamming today. Man, Jesus,
she's on point.

Speaker 6 (01:41:50):
Right.

Speaker 4 (01:41:51):
It's Christmas time when you hear that one, you know, like, listen,
you look at the Patriots and as good as they've
been this season, it's been almost one way, like, oh, Bills, Bills, Bills, Bills,
they get their revenge. Bills lost the first one, they'll win.
It just seems like that's what I'm hearing all the
time and listen, man, I look at you guys would

(01:42:14):
know this based on my Bama outlook is I look
less at the schedule and I look more at the
formula of a team, like what is your formula for success?
And can you sustain that formula. I look at the Patriots,
and while they're being sold short by a lot of people, man,
because they haven't had the toughest schedule, they're like, they're bumslayers.

(01:42:38):
I don't trust them at all. And it's like, if
you look beyond that, now, they do have a couple
of impressive wins. The road win at Buffalo in primetime
is an impressive win before like injuries and the wheels
came off the tracks for Tampa. What set that in
motion was the Patriots going on the road and getting
a win against Tampa. That's a good win also. So

(01:42:59):
they have a couple of good wins and yes they
have been bump slayers, but look at their formula. What's
their formula for success? Well, they play really good defense.
They've got an outstanding corner in Christian Gonzales. They've got
a really good head coach in Mike Frable. They've got
an MVP candidate at quarterback in Drake May. That's a
good formula. That's a formula where you can sustain success.

(01:43:23):
And so I don't know. I think a lot of
people are sleeping on the Patriots, and as great as
their record is, they just have not gotten a ton
of respect out there.

Speaker 6 (01:43:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:43:32):
I think they have a weaker schedule and that's probably
a big reason why people don't respect them quite as
much as they do a team like the Bills who
also has a record of success. And I think that
gets accounted for more than it should. You're not the
team you were last year. And I think you said
it right. Drake May has played his way into the

(01:43:53):
MVP conversation, and for good reason, because he's one of
the top NFL quarterbacks this season. He's played incredible football
and very consistently. Well you know, it's not like he's
having these outstanding games and then disappearing.

Speaker 6 (01:44:08):
No, he's been good all year long.

Speaker 5 (01:44:09):
And if you're paying attention, Drake May is the goods
and it appears the Patriots have found their long term
answer at quarterback after the Brady years. So moving on
to the Bills, here's the reason why I think the
Bills can and probably will win this game.

Speaker 6 (01:44:26):
The Buffalo Bills.

Speaker 5 (01:44:28):
Everything you just said about the Patriots recipe for success,
you could say about the Bills. You have an MVP
caliber quarterback who's playing great football down the stretch, a
good solid defense, and against better competition they have struggled.
And you can argue the Patriots are better competition, some
of the better competition they'll face this year. But what

(01:44:49):
the Patriots have going for them is they've played against
a bunch of limp armed quarterbacks who have really struggled
against them defensively. When they go against better quarterbacks, I'm
talking about better than average quarterbacks, even the likes of
two A Tongue Vailoa, they get that pass defense is
a bit of a weakness for the Pats.

Speaker 6 (01:45:09):
And with Dalton Kincaid coming back a.

Speaker 5 (01:45:12):
Great red zone target for Josh Allen, with Cook being
involved more in the passing game as a receiver over
the past couple of weeks, I could see the Bills
being more dynamic this time around and the Patriots having
a harder time stopping the passing attack against the Bills.
So I'm definitely one of the folks on the Bills
bandwagon this week, although I will say I've been happily surprised.

(01:45:36):
Although I took the over on the win total, I
don't know if I would have taken the over on
the win total at like the halfway point.

Speaker 6 (01:45:44):
Of the season. Happily surprised with the Patriots success this year.

Speaker 3 (01:45:47):
This is a weird year in the NFL markets. So
listen to this. The Patriots are a home underdog this week.
You have multiple teams that have nine games over five hundred. Yeah,
that are home underdogs this week, right, Denver and New England.

(01:46:07):
So here's your betting nugget of the week, courtesy of
Todd Furman, does a great job covering all things betting
for CBS and other networks. The eighth and ninth teams
to be underdogs nine games over five hundred this late
in the year. The previous seven teams zero and seven
against this bread. So where Brian looks at a lot

(01:46:29):
of formula stuff, I look at market stuff Like that's
what I do. The market is screaming at you to
bet Buffalo. Here screaming screaming to bet Buffalo. They're telling
you that Buffalo is the better team. I'm glad Rich
mentioned the quarterbacks here they are in all their glory
that New England has faced this year, Gino Smith, Tua,

(01:46:52):
Aaron Rodgers, Bryce Young, Dylan Gabriel, Spencer Rattler, cam Ward
Michael Pennix, Injured Bayer, Justin Fields, Joe Flacco, Jackson Dart,
and Josh Allen. That first meeting against Buffalo, Josh Allen
the only quarterback in the top thirteen of EPA per

(01:47:12):
dropback this year, they've only faced one. Not to be fair,
they beat him on the road as an eight and
a half point dog. Give him all the credit for that.
Revenge is a dish best serve cold like this just
feels like Buffalo comes in and says, I know, you've
had a great year in New England. It's been fun.
You're a playoff team. You're probably going to win the
AFC East even if you lose this game. But this

(01:47:35):
feels like Buffalo's game. The market's telling me it's Buffalo's game.
And then I look at the defense for New England
that has struggled a little bit up front this year.
Their secondary is great, but Buffalo doesn't really want to
throw it deep down the field. They want Josh Allen
to be the playmaker. And what I saw last week
with Josh Allen against the Bengals was a quarterback that

(01:47:57):
is willing to do whatever is necessary to get his
team across the finish line. It's been kind of a
weird year for the Bills, but it's the last year
in this stadium. I'm starting to get some Bills magic vibes.
Chiefs are out, Ravens are out. Who's the best team
in the AFC? The market clearly hates the Patriots, the
market clearly hates the Broncos. Who's gonna win the AFC

(01:48:21):
this year? Maybe this is Buffalo's year. Maybe it is.
It took Mahomes and Lamar to kind of pooh pooh
themselves to clear the path for the Bills to maybe
finally get to the super Bowl. It'll be really interesting
in the AC playoffs this year.

Speaker 4 (01:48:35):
It will be. But here's the thing, Like I think
the Bills are the process of elimination team. You know,
where you start listing the other teams like like Patriots, Broncos,
and there are a lot of teams where you're just
not gonna feel comfortable shouting from the rooftops, like I'm
backing this team, Right, you can feel more comfortable backing

(01:48:57):
the Bills because of Josh Allen. He's the defending MVP.
He might win MVP again, He's been fantastic, Right, it's easier.
You feel more comfortable, Like I'm not going to be
an idiot if I back the Bills and they fall
in their face. But it doesn't mean you're right. Their
rush defense sucks, like they can't stop the run at all,

(01:49:20):
and they have b rate wide receivers. Right, Like, so
when you start really getting in on Buffalo, if you're
able to slow down James cook Man, that offense can
come off the tracks real fast as specially as Josh
Allen is, like he can't throw the covered dudes all
day long, you know what I mean. So I don't know, man,

(01:49:40):
I think Buffalo is just that team where a lot
of people are starting to gravitate toward them because they
don't trust anybody else in the AFC. Right now, that
doesn't mean the Bills have the goods and they're gonna
come through. How about this Marquee NFC game. We got
the Lions at the Rams. The total climbs from fifty
and a half all the way to fifty five and
a half. We're at fifty five now, but who's stopping who?

(01:50:04):
You know, Like I guess the big question is can
the Lions run the ball on the Rams, because if
Jamir Gibbs and David Montgomery are held relatively in check,
that's that's gonna be really difficult for the Lions. I
don't like the Rams secondary, so I think Jared Goff's
gonna have some success, even though that's a good pass

(01:50:25):
rush if he can, you know, when he has time,
I think Jared Goff is gonna do damage. I think
Matthew Stafford is gonna do unspeakable things to that Lions
defense man. It's he's gonna shred them. I think this
has Rams written all over it. But what a two
game stretch. Rams hosting the Lions tomorrow and then turning
around on a short week Thursday night at Seattle. These

(01:50:48):
are two monster games for the La Rams.

Speaker 6 (01:50:52):
Yeah, yeah, there's no question about it.

Speaker 5 (01:50:54):
Looking to clinch obviously a playoff spot here, but you
look at the Ram and you see them as the
number one seed in the NFC. The win over the
Lions guarantees them a bit into the postseason, but they're
obviously playing for so much more. Rolling off that insane
route of the Arizona Cardinals. They beat them forty five

(01:51:18):
seventeen if memory serves me correct and Stafford at over
five hundred yards.

Speaker 6 (01:51:24):
They're not going to be stopped by the Lions. They're not.

Speaker 5 (01:51:27):
The Lions secondary is in free fall. They are missing
key players. So it really comes down to Dan Campbell.
I really think that whether or not the Lions win
this game comes down to the offensive scheme that he
ends up deploying against the Rams. And you're going against

(01:51:50):
a pretty stout Rams defense. It's a group that's only
given up seventeen and a half points per game. Young
has been screaming off the edge for that defense. He's
got eleven sound the season. You gotta put on your
big boy pants when you face the Los Angeles Rams
this season. Now, I love Dan Campbell as a head coach.
I think that he sets the tone the right way.

(01:52:12):
If he was the director of this film, you're going
into a movie where he has the right vision. The
question is does he have the right actors? Does he
have enough of a cast to bring home the script?
And that's the biggest question here. I don't know if

(01:52:33):
he does. If he's gonna win, it's gonna be by shootout,
and I don't know if they have the firepower.

Speaker 3 (01:52:39):
Yeah, I think you can make the case that the
Rams are slightly overvalued against the spread here. You could
make that case if you're getting a six on Detroit.
Detroit as a dog is very formidable. And I do
like the play caller switch. I think Dan Campbell is
you know, I don't always love it when the head
coach is the play caller, but I feel like with

(01:53:01):
Dan Campbell it's just it's no nonsense. Like the one
thing I've noticed since the play caller switch is Jamiir
gibbs target rate has gone through the roof. It's almost
doubled since he's gone to the play caller switch. Like
it really they're just spamming Jamiir Gibbs. And that's good,
you know why, because he's basically Barry Sanders, Like, I mean,
he's insane after the catch and his ability to run

(01:53:25):
the football in space and what that does. It sets
up the run game in the play action spots, which
is really something the Lions excel in, and the Rams
are kind of below average defending play action this year.
So if you want the path for Detroit, it's Jamiir
Gibbs left right center. Then play action off of it
like that's how you stay in this game. On the

(01:53:47):
other side of the ball, the Rams are really good
at just shoving it right over you over the top.
They love to throw deep, and the Lions are single
high coverage a lot they will invite the deep ball.
So it I think Stafford is due for a big
statistical game. And then if you want to zoom out
big picture, he's about minus won sixty between that and

(01:54:10):
minus two hundred, somewhere in that range to win MVP.
I would not make that bet now. I would wait
until next week and just bet the Rams to beat
the Seahawks because it's going to be a much better price.
And if they beat the Seahawks next week, Stafford's the MVP.
Stafford can lock up the MVP over the next eight days.
He wins Sunday, he wins Thursday, that's it. It's done.
Nobody else can catch him. If they lose on Sunday night,

(01:54:35):
or if they lose next Thursday. That's where a Drake
may a Josh Allen, the you know, an off beaten
path candidate can maybe steal it. But Matthew Stafford's the
MVP of the league.

Speaker 6 (01:54:46):
No doubt.

Speaker 4 (01:54:46):
Yeah, he's been sensational this season. One difference between these
two teams to point out real fast. If you look
at the scoring offenses, the Lions are number one, the
Rams are number four, So both top five scoring off
scoring defenses, right, like preventing points, Rams are number three
and Detroit's eighteenth. Right, And that's throughout most of the

(01:55:08):
year with mostly healthy guys. You know, now their secondary
is way banged up. No, Brian Branch, No, Kirby Joseph's
that's not good. That's that good against the top five
scoring offense to be that week in the secondary.

Speaker 6 (01:55:21):
But we'll see.

Speaker 4 (01:55:22):
Maybe they can keep it close, maybe they can threaten
to win this game Detroit, We'll see how it goes.
All Right, We've got rich Oinberger, Penn State All American,
Jared Smith FSR betting analyst. I'm Brian No. Be sure
to subscribe to the Fox Sports Radio YouTube channel. Just
search Fox Sports Radio on YouTube and you'll see our
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Hit the thumbs up icon and comment away. Let us

(01:55:43):
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Coming up next, the Moment of Truth rapid Fire Picks.
We each have a bushel for you. We'll share them
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Speaker 3 (01:56:01):
It is Fox.

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(01:56:47):
all that good stuff. Top of the hour up on
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we got some picks to make.

Speaker 6 (01:57:00):
Let's do it.

Speaker 3 (01:57:04):
Rapid fire.

Speaker 4 (01:57:06):
Okay, shared if we start with you, what do you like?

Speaker 3 (01:57:10):
Buckle up, buttercuff. We're going to the bucked up ballet Bowl.
I actually like three plays in this game, so I'm
just gonna give you all three of them and hopefully
we sweep the board because they're all kind of correlated.
We'll start with Dylan Riley under seventy one and a
half rushing yards. This Washington run defense is the Boise
State running back Dylan Riley. This is the best run
defense I think Boise's faced all year. Maybe the Notre

(01:57:30):
Dame defense is better, but if you go and look
at that Notre Dame game, boys, he didn't do a
whole lot in that game. This Washington defense help Oregon's
rushing game in check last week, just two and a
half yards per carry. Only one back has gone over
one hundred on Washington all year. That was all the
way back in in October when Michigan and Jordan Marshall
went berserk. Boise's rushing success right, it's been okay this

(01:57:51):
year despite the Mountain West schedule. You got the freshman
sire Gains also in the mix. So we'll go under
seventy one and a half rushing arts for Dylan Riley.
I think Boise State's gonna struggle to score in this game.
I just told you Washington's defense probably one of the
best that Boise's faced all year. Notre Dame stuffed this
Boise team into a locker. They won twenty eight to
seven way back earlier in the year. So we'll go
Boise State's team total under twenty one.

Speaker 6 (01:58:11):
And a half.

Speaker 3 (01:58:11):
And if you haven't figured it out by now, I
think Washington's better. So I'll lay the ten points with
Washington against Boise State. I like the bye Jetfish give
it off in this game. Looks like a lot of
players are gonna be up that you maybe don't expect.
So Washington, I think wins big against Boise today.

Speaker 5 (01:58:26):
Yeah, it looks like a lot of Washington's players are
gonna be out there. I do think Boise State hangs
tough though, and sticks around on the scoreboard. So we
are again opposed on this what this go around?

Speaker 6 (01:58:40):
Jared Smith?

Speaker 5 (01:58:41):
I got Boise Tate State, and I'm taking the points
with the Broncos. Moving on to Navy against Army Army Navy.

Speaker 6 (01:58:49):
I'm gonna take Navy, though minus six and a half.

Speaker 5 (01:58:52):
I think the midship men win this one, and they
probably do its sailing past Army defensively much better opens
than Army's defense.

Speaker 6 (01:59:02):
And I'll take the over.

Speaker 5 (01:59:03):
In this game thirty eight and a half. I like
this to be a higher scoring Army Navy game.

Speaker 4 (01:59:09):
So there you go, all right, diametrically opposed like I WASNA.

Speaker 3 (01:59:15):
That's such a great line.

Speaker 4 (01:59:16):
Great line, all right, I'm gonna start it off. Give
me Oklahoma. I'll lay the point in a half because
it's all together. Alabama is the fools, gold fools Saturday
can't run the ball. Their defenses is good, and Ty

(01:59:36):
Simpson is skittish. He looks terrible right now. He's the
college cheer at golf facing pressure. He's inaccurate. I don't
know what's going on with the guy. So I'll go
with Boomer sooner. Baby, give me Matthew Stafford Constantine throughout
the show. He's gonna do unspeakable things against the Lions.
Banged up secondary, Give me over two seventy nine and

(01:59:57):
a half passing yards and give me an under. I
like under forty one. In this Chargers Chiefs game. We
got offensive lineman banged dumb left and right. I think
it's going to be a knocker of the slobber variety
right there. So I think it's going to be a grinder. Everybody.
Enjoy the weekend, Enjoy the ball.

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