The Best Of The Jason Smith Show

Jason Smith and Mike Harmon are joined by Pete Fiutak, Jason Cole, and Todd Fuhrman.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of the Jason Smith
Show with Mike Carmen podcast. Be sure to catch us
live every weeknight from ten pm to two a m.
Eastern seven to eleven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio.
Find your local station for The Jason Smith Show with
Mike Carmen at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream
us live every night on the I Heart Radio app
by searching fs R. This is the best of the

(00:22):
Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon on Fox Sports Radio. Well,
we got five big games coming your way tomorrow in
college football, but four you tell them, Lebron, but five.
Joining us now on the hotline as a way to
help me forget about the Mets lost of the braise

(00:43):
and why Daniel Vogelback didn't pinch hit in the ninth
inning and said the Mets put up a rookie, just up,
even though he's a great prospect. I don't get it.
We have time for that, but we have time for
right now. The editor in chief, owner proprietor Grant Puba.
You're one stop shopping for college football news. It is
Allege Football News dot Com. Pete few Tack. He's on
Twitter at Pete few tech peat. What's happening, man, aren't

(01:05):
there that's already in the playoffs. Yes, but the Mets
and the Braves are fighting for the division title, so
you don't have to play in the first round of
the playoffs and you can have a buy. Alright, yeah,
I guess fold. I should have known that. But alright,
it's okay. You're in Chicago and there's no playoff basely
and it's it's you know, it's so funny that the

(01:27):
Cubs started getting bad right when I got YouTube TV
and couldn't watch him anymore. So it all kind of
worked in the same time. And I think the White
Sox play on the other side of the town. But uh,
but but that day, digress. Now, I would have been
worried if you had said, wait, there's five games between
top twenty five teams. It sounds like a great weekend.
Then I would have been a little worried. Yeah. No,

(01:48):
that that part I kind of have down. But yeah,
but you know, but here's the the funky part about
is I did I really didn't watch baseball year other
than my really bad fantasy team. And it's fine. This
is when you start watching, like okay, so Aaron Judge
had a bunch of home runs. That's cool. I just
started watching. Now this is when it matters. So this

(02:09):
is perfect timing. Yeah, you were able to have a
whole bunch of time to not have to worry about it.
Now you pick it up at the end pretty much,
and so are the twins good No, okay, so I
didn't waste my time with that and the good No.
So I didn't have to waste my time with that.
So now I can take it right back up and
I didn't have to sit through a whole you know,
really boring baseball games. Well okay, that's one way to

(02:31):
look at it. Yeah, good. I have a rant on
that too when it comes to the NBA, but that's
for another time. Plenty of time. You got a couple
of weeks before that gets started up, all right, So
looking at this slate tomorrow, Pete, as I said, you know,
you got some big games. You got top twenty five
teams playing this this. Do you think this could be
the first movement Saturday where we start seeing a bunch

(02:54):
of movement in the top ten with some upsets or
do you think these you know, some of these games
are gonna go as scripted. Yeah, it only matters if
Arkansas does anything against Alabama. I mean, because Ohio State's
not gonna have any issues with Rutgers. Georgia should pretty
much wipe up Missouri. So you know, really what we're
talking about here are the top three and you know, okay,

(03:15):
Clemson and Nancy States. That's a big one because if
you look at Clemson schedule, there's this, there's Notre Dame,
and that's probably it. There's just nothing else there that
screams and possible loss unless something really funky happens to
the Tigers before they get to the a SEC championship. Wait,
wait a minute, Wait a minute. They're gonna be playing

(03:36):
an undefeated Syracuse team in a couple of weeks, and
there has given them trouble almost every year the last
four years. Is it like one of those weird Tuesday
night games where Kelly Bryant got hurt or something like
that and that's how they got it the last time
that that is your your joke, But that is an
actual big game. I mean, that's the team that's as

(03:57):
flaky as Clemson is and has strongly struggling as much
as it is in the secondary. Yeah, that's okay, that's
a game too, but but that's one of those games
this weekend. But yeah, outside of that, yeah, there's gonna
be some shakeouts somewhere. But part of the issue right
now is, you know, there's gonna it's gonna be Ohio State,
it's gonna be the SEC champion, and I think we can't.

(04:18):
We have to kind of stop with the whole Alabama
and Georgia because remember, the College Football Playoff is yet
to take A team that has two losses in Alabama
looks like it's gonna get hit somewhere along the way
by one of these SEC West teams. So I don't
think that's quite a given. But then what else you got?
You know, I'm still a believer that USC, because of

(04:39):
the schedule that doesn't have Oregon, doesn't have Washington, they
do have to go to Utah. I do sort of
believe that that USC is good enough where they can
get to late November where they're still in it. I
don't think they certainly don't think they can do anything
if they get in, but they're gonna be right in
the mix. Michigan is you know, as long as Michigan
keeps on winning and I think they're gonna beat the

(05:00):
Iowa this week and not a problem. They're gonna be
right there till the end. And in about ten minutes
or so. Let's let's see what this Washington team really is.
Let's if they're as good as we all kind of
think they are. They don't have too much of a
problem with Again, I use the word flaky uh U
s U c l A team that never ceases to

(05:21):
underwhelm when it gets a big chance to do something big.
Certainly a big opportunity here the spread uh inside of
three points U c l A at two and a
half point home home underdog here, But that one I
would have thought, yeah, yeah, yeah, one of my top
picks of the week. On the side of the ten

(05:42):
best predictions of the week, I picked Washington, I think
number two. So of course the second I said that
everyone jumped on U c l A, and rightly, so yeah,
it all goes to hell right there. But you went
and and mentioned Michigan Iowa and Iowa is one of
those teams that it's like watching as you're driving on
the four oh five and is a bunch of cars
sitting there? Was it an accident? Is it a stalled.

(06:06):
Let let me take a guest here. You say that
you don't have San Diego State boys the state on
one of your monitors. Oh no, I just put it
on just now. Oh dear god. That is so bad.
It's like it's they lost their starting quarterback and it's
like they literally cannot run a play without almost bumbling
or getting eaten alive by Boise State. Now it is

(06:27):
the San Diego State is so bad offensively that it's
just it's it's amazing that in two thousand twenty two
you can have a program that's that's actually good, that
has no sublance of an offense. But you're right, I
was not going to score us. The offense won't score. Now,
the defense can come up with like three safeties or something,

(06:48):
but the Iowa offense is not going to do anything.
So then it comes down to whether or not you
believe that Michigan can score enough just to get out
of there alive. I mean it, you know, I joke.
I'm old enough to know who Rob Hotlin is and
white nicely done. Uh, and you know you can hit.

(07:11):
You know, this can be one of those games where
I was ugly, they gained you know, two yards and
somehow win nine to seven because of a bunch of
field goal I don't think that's gonna happen. Michigan should
have no problems in this game, but funky things happen
when teams traveled to Iowa City. Alright, Pete, so taken.
Look now we're getting to the end of September, right
that we're we're gonna be hitting October one tomorrow and

(07:32):
everything is going to be wonderful, and we're going in
the second week to fall. The foliage is coming down.
If I said to you, the contender that concerns you
the most after the first month of the season, the
contender that you think that's a college football playoff contender,
the one that concerns you the most after the first
month is who oh Alabama? I mean I'm the highest

(07:53):
of high ends. I mean forgetting that. You know again,
Clemson looks shaky, USC looks shaky. You know who else?
You guy? Mean? Know you? Michigan? Okay, there. I think
they're gonna be there, but we all know that they're good.
They're not good enough to do much if they get there.
But on the top three or the three teams that
you're saying those three could win, get there into the
College Football Playoffs and maybe win the national championship. By far,

(08:16):
it's Alabama. They still have not figured out their number
one wide receiver, they still have a secondary that hasn't
really been tested too much. And they're gonna still win
games easily. I I coin flip on whether or not
they come out and just you know, blow away Arkansas
or if they have to struggle and then win but
don't be Arkansas tomorrow most likely. But that is a

(08:38):
team that you look at their schedule coming up. They
still gotta deal with Old miss They still got to
deal with Mississippi State in Arkansas tomorrow and l s
U and Tennessee uh and then the you know rival gaming.
The Laubard is not doing anything and all. I mean,
they still have a slew of nasty games to deal
with and there's one loss hanging in there somewhere. And again,
if you get to Georgia in the SEC Championship and

(08:59):
you lose, then it comes up to the College Football
playoffs to say, yeah, you know what, that is one
of the four best teams in college football. We're gonna
put him in with two losses and you know, send
a new president, and he might be right in doing that,
but that is the one real concerning team out of
the three. Now, let let me pull it back for
our guys Smith because he's already booking flights, hotel and
everything to exotic destinations because of the Syracuse short, which

(09:23):
means he's given up on the Mets, like he's completely
going all in on Xerocuse here, dude, we haven't been
five and oh in thirty five years. Okay, I wasn't good.
I'dn't even go to the school yet. The last time
we were five and oh to start a season, you are,
that had to have been eighty eight. Okay, that was

(09:45):
That was the season that ended with the tie game
with the yeah going for the time. That was brutal,
but uh no, yeah, I mean this is a fun team.
I mean because they pivoted the went from being all run,
no pass to all of a sudden, Garrett Straders, you know,
Garrett Mahomes out there or you're winging it around Sehn Tuck.

(10:08):
Sean Tucker is, you know, arguing the best running back
in college football last year, and he's just sort of
part of the puzzle. So uh and it's working. They're
finding ways to pull out winds um and yeah there is,
and you're when the AC is just not very good.
Look if Pick could do it last year, if week
fourth can get there, yes, Syracuse. But however, with that said,

(10:31):
I'm sure I don't have to tell you take a
look at what's coming up the hell? You wanna talk
about hell coming to breakfast? Where that scheduled Syracuse had?
Don't they have like somehow eight straight road games to
play or something crazy like that. I would want to
answer that, but I don't want to be depressed. I'm
just gonna look ahead to tomorrow and the bye exact,

(10:54):
you'll get to a bowl game and everything will be
right with the world, Yes exactly, and syric this after
that blazing five and oh start this game to be
Bowl eligible as they've slid to five and six of
the sea. Yeah, they'll win one of those. But I
do think that I think it is something insane, like
I think they get four of the last or the
next five games on the road, and I think they

(11:15):
play three ranked teams including Clemson and Wakes Forest and
anybody else is even remotely good in the a SEC.
He's on Twitter at Pete fu Tech. That is at
Pete Futech College Football News dot Com. You're one stop
shopping for college football. Every preview, every game, every recap,
every bit of analysis you need is at College Football

(11:38):
News dot Com. Pete is always buddy, appreciate your time
and we'll grab that NBA rant from you next week.
How about that? Oh, it's fine. It's pretty much just
think everything I said about baseball and applied to the NBA. Okay,
very good, all right, yeah we're talking. May well be
sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith Show
with Mike harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven pm
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the Radio app. Well.

(12:01):
A big weekend ahead of us in the NFL as
we still try to make sense of what happened with
two a tongue of Valoa joining us now on the hotline.
He is a longtime NFL insider. He is a Pro
Football Hall of Fame voter. At least currently. You can
follow him on Twitter at Jason Cole sixty two, in
which he is now trying to communicate with aliens from

(12:24):
other planets. You know this when you see just a
random a music line, a random lyric He's actually trying
to talk with people and other planets. Check out his
Twitter you'll see it. It's Jason Cole. What's up, Jaicole?
All I have to say is my communications with other

(12:45):
planets consist of I will send more more Chuck Berry,
I promise. Did the other planets say to you, hey,
you know we're here like five light years away? What
the hell are the dolphins doing with two of the
last couple of nights we were trying to figure it out?
Can you tell us? You know? The Stephen a of
the of the Alternate Work Universe on ESPN Outer Planets

(13:09):
UM went on just a wild rant about this this
morning when I was when I was listening to their show. Okay,
shocking off. Uh, you know, here's my only problem with
this whole thing. But I'm not a doctor. Um, I

(13:33):
haven't played one on TV. But God, that would be great,
wouldn't it be? Could you if you could be a
TV doctor? Who would it be? Quincy the medical exam?
Well he was the medical examiner. He was the smartest.
But did you require a PhD? Probably? What's a good question.
I would guess you did. You can't. You can't just
apply to be a coroner or you can't, you know, yeah,

(13:55):
you have to say, yeah, he's a doctor, Yeah, he's
definitely and it was plugging, yeah, Marky Marcus. Well, but
you don't want to go old no no, no, no, no,
they were they dated all incredibly. Oh yeah he made it,

(14:16):
but that that plane crash happened, all right, don't want
to ruin that one. Um. So, I guess my thing is,
if this policy were to be handled correctly, you have
an independent neurologist who should just make a determination, right,

(14:39):
and so I trust that doctor made a determination on
Sunday that and what we were told is the truth.
And we're gonna find out because Dr Tom Mayor Um
said today and he's a you know, he's a physician
for the NFL Players Association. He said that they're gonna,
you know, they're gonna print that you make it public

(15:00):
with findings were and so hopefully we'll get to some
level of truth on this, right. And but it always
has to be somebody independent because the players, the players
don't grasp what's going on here, like they think it's
life and death because there's a lot of money on
the line. Obviously, you know too has got to play
well this year, not only you know, to help the team,

(15:21):
but he's got you know, chance of a big contract
of course. And and and the head coaches, I mean,
you leave it to them. I mean, you know, like
those guys would send players to their death if they
could win a game. I mean, that's just how they are.
I mean, I still remember Dave wants that Chris Chambers
got this just nasty concussion. I think it was in Denver,

(15:43):
and the doctor told me, yeah, he's gonna miss it
at least a couple of weeks. And then on you know,
once that got that, and just well that means only
one game because he misses this week, doesn't play in
the game, and then he misses another week and complain
in the game. Right nowadays, that's not how it works.
That's not what I'm missing. A couple of weeks means

(16:05):
to the doctor that you think that needs that to you, so, um,
you know you can't try. I just hope that we
get to the point where the independent neurologist prett much
is the only person he makes the determination. And okay,
even that guy can make a mistake occasionally, and I
don't know if that's what happened with two? Uh? But boys,

(16:29):
you know when he went to that convulsion on the
field with his hands, I mean Roger Adell Is like, no, no, no,
don't play that. You know, like that's that was scary.
I mean that reminded me of football in the seventies.
I put it, you know, I put it up on Twitter.
I remember Jim young Blood, Zack and Tommy Kramer in Minnesota,

(16:52):
and you know, he went into convulsions with his hands.
He could see it, and I was like, I was like,
I was probably thirteen years old or something, was like,
what Fabboth's going on? Like, let me bring damage. M
You know. The thing that that gets me about this
j is that, let's just say the Dolphins, everything they've
said is accurate, right, he went through the Yeah, well

(17:16):
I had to be at this point. I mean, I
don't know how many sandwiches, how many more donations you
have to make to the to the rowing company. I mean,
come on, I mean I made a lot. You went
for sandwiches, and that was gonna be a week, and
you knew, You're like, I gotta pivot from sandwich. Sandwich
is not good enough. Rowing. Throwing gap saved Dave. I'm saved,

(17:39):
you know, because here's what here's here's the thing that
that gets me on Let's just say what the Dolphins
are saying. Everything is true. You believe everything they say,
and they're telling the truth. He was looked at on
the sideline, He was cleared. Uh, they checked him out,
didn't need to be a concussion protocol. They checked him
out during the week, everything was fine. They still took
a guy who cleared really wasn't healthy and put him

(18:02):
back in the game on Sunday and then put him
back in the game to start on Thursday. They took
an injured player who you knew something was up, whether
it was a concussion, Well, there's no concussion, he can play, no,
but obviously there's something wrong that guy. You saw what
happened to him. He fell down after he after he
hit his head, right. I don't think he can play
this week, no matter what happens. They still took an
injured player and said, yeah, well you passed concussion test,

(18:25):
you can go back out on the field. It's the same,
no matter what you could say, that's what they did
and that's the same. That's it's basically the same thing
as we were negligent and we put an injured player
back out there, so nothing changes for it. Right. The
question is this is where you always have to have
other doctors who are independent making judgments, and team doctors

(18:47):
are a joke because the team doctor get paid by
the team, right there, beholden to the team. That's why
I always say you have to have like an independent nero.
All just okay, if he got by Sunday because intended neurologist,
all right, I'll buy that. But where was the second
opinion during the middle of the week that you know,

(19:08):
to have him go to somebody and say, okay, I'm
clearing this guy, or I don't know. That's the That's
the one that I've always very literally about is did
the kid have adequate second opinion and get other people
look at him, and did those people claim Because if
they did, then this can be a situation where it

(19:29):
is two different injuries that happened to be very closely related.
It could be that, right because he took that was
a nasty hit last night, right that you know, fallen
back on the back of your head. That's that's as
nasty as it gets, especially on art artificial turf. Field.
That's that's awful, right, So, um, this couldn't be two

(19:50):
different injuries. I'd like to know that, but I would
most importantly like to know that from a doctor who
doesn't get paid by the team, because that it's the
problem I really have. And I know plenty of team
doctors who you know, they have very fine reputation, but
at the end of the day, they get a check
cut to them by the team or worse, this is

(20:13):
the worst one, you know, because this happens everywhere. Now
they're part of a medical group that decides, oh, we
want to buy sponsorship on the team, you know, like
Health South dot Health South when they were still around
and they were buying team sponsorships everywhere. I think that
was like twenty years ago. And like, those guys aren't
trustworthy at all, you know, because they're in they're basically

(20:34):
in bed with the team more than ever. So that's
where that's where my real problem was with all of
this goes is did a guys see an independent doctor,
did he get a fair opinion, and did he you know,
you know, did he get all the information necessary? So
I'll give you your choice and choose your own adventure

(20:54):
for a couple of games. You're one that involves our
our buddy Mr Smith's and Jet So what come first?
Mitchell Drobiskie loses his job or Josh McDaniels against Denver
and the what that flows out of that? He loses
his job? Who's out of work? First? Mr? He come
out of? That's too simple? But like Mark David is

(21:16):
not going to fire Josh McDaniels after four games. I
mean that that would be ludicrous. I mean even by
even by Mark davis stanards, even by Mark Davis standards,
that would be ludicrous. Um. But the real question is,
here's a really important question about the Raiders. When things

(21:37):
go sideways with that team, who does Mark Davis trust ye,
who does he go to for counsel? Because Mark Dane's gone,
all those other executives gone, or Van Charlie's gone, and
I know that they brought in Sharon Douglas. I can't
remember her last Morgan. Sharon Douglas Morgan is the new president.
I'm sorry he doesn't trust her yet? Okay, with okay,

(22:01):
what are our actions? What do we do? Where do
we go? He doesn't trust Judge McDaniels has never really
worked with a guy he doesn't trust, an eagler that's
you know, that's McDaniel's. This guy who's there for Mark
Davis to go to for counsel. And I'll tell you this,
the person that I've been told he is closest to
who helps him the most, who he has the trust

(22:22):
and the most, is his executive assistant, who has been
around him for about twenty years now. She's the most powerful.
She's basically the most powerful person in the organization outside
of Mark Davis and Tad is just stunning to me.
He has nobody there to seek counsel from. And that's

(22:42):
why I think that the NFL is getting closer and
closer and closer to forcing Mark Davis out of that team.
It may take a couple more years. But the woman
that they brought in as president again, this woman um
because Sharon Douglas Morgan. She came from the NFL's outside

(23:05):
law firm. She's trained by the league people, and I
just I just get the feeling that the league is
eventually going to say, Mark, We're gonna have these other
guys kind of run things for you. You need you
need more help, you need you need to kind of
mosey along because this has been a disaster. It really has.

(23:28):
You know, the Grouden thing is a disaster. The d
u I s in that city, or the disaster the
sexual harassment charges. Um, you know, I know the value
of the team has gone up and up and up,
and they got a lot of money from Vegas, but
that really wasn't Mark doing. I mean, they got handed
a big blank check by you know, the goodman in
Las Vegas. Um. I really think they want him out

(23:51):
and they want they want to really well run organization
in Vegas eventually, and they're going to do whatever they
can't get it get rid of him. He's on Twitter
at Jason Cole sixty two. That is at Jason that
was great though, you know, and ended with someone being
deposed for alfeasance and and and being a terrible owner

(24:13):
in the city of sin and and the more serious
Jason Cole gets the deeperest voice here said, you notice
that he starts out up here, Mason kind of quality.
Don You're no, you no, no, You're now you're going
to law school. I thought we were going to medical school.
What do we do? Lat is gonna go back? I
could I can't I can toggle back and forth between them.

(24:34):
There's no question about that. Can you say Martha for
me in a gruff voice? Martha, there you go. Ja.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific. Hey, what's up everybody? It's me three time

(24:55):
Pro Bowl Little Warrington, and I couldn't be more excited
to announce a new pot Castle Up on Game? What
is up on Game? You asked? Along with my fellow
pro bowler t J. Hudgman's outa and Super Bowl champion.
That's right, Plexico Birds. You can only name a show
with that type of talent on it. Up on Game.
We're going to be sharing our real life experiences loaded

(25:19):
with teachable moments. Listen to Up on Game with Me,
LaVar Arrington, t J. Hudgmans, Otta, and Plexico Birds on
the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you
get your podcast from. We have a big college football
Saturday to preview, a big NFL Sunday to preview. What

(25:39):
does Vegas think about the biggest games? Well, luckily for
us and for you on the hotline right now with
us longtime Vegas Inside, a former oddsmaker at Caesar's now
the co host co founder the Better Board podcast. You
can see them on CBS as well. It is Todd Ferman. Todd,
what's happening, buddy? Not a heck of a lot, gentlemen.
Just watch and the local boys trying to rally against

(26:02):
New Mexico so they can stay a top the standings
in the lovely Mountain West Conference. All right, So if
I had said to you, with U c l A
beating Washington right now four early in the fourth quarter,
if I had said to you before the season, I
want to parlay that U c l A and Syracuse
are both gonna be five, and oh what kind of

(26:22):
odds would you have given me? Well? U c l
A schedule set up extremely favorably. This game on paper
before the year started looked a lot easier than what
it was coming into tonight, giving Washington's hot start under
Kalin Debor. But as far as strength of schedule, when
you looked at U c l a s four nonconference games,
none of those on paper are gonna scare anybody. With
Alabama State Bowling Green and no South Alabama, they had

(26:43):
outlasted the Jaguars have overperformed, but it's more the orange
and the season that they put together so far. You
look at what they have in front of them, clearly
a winnable game, to say the least. Tomorrow is the
more than a fifty point favorite against the vaunted Seahawks
from Wagner. But going forward from their Syracuse gonna have
their work cut out for him, and you hope that
they can find one win in the remaining seven games

(27:03):
to get BOL eligible. I'll worry about those other seven
games when they come. I'm tomorrow. The show is tonight.
The games are tomorrow. I'll worry about tonight and tomorrow. First,
you know, the big question that I have for you, Smith,
is what happens first Syracuse gets BOOL eligible or the
Mets are eliminated from the playoffs. Well, Syracuse is playing
here and then they have a buy so they wouldn't play.

(27:26):
So hey, if that actually happens, that means the Mets
of what a series in the playoffs at least, well,
that's what I'm saying. They have would have won one
series because it would have the Syracuse at ends her
home against NC States Saturday, October fift and at Clemson
the following week before hosting Notre Dames. So if they
go win three in those games, the Mets are gonna
have to win the World Series depending on how that

(27:47):
bet plays out. Well. Since a bad start and I
put bad and air quotes today, uh in Mets Land,
I mean, Smith's already talking about the Zach Wilson air
and Syracuse being his only lifelines for a while in
the sports room. I mean, you can you can understand that.
I mean, being a lifelong Mets fan, you set yourself

(28:07):
up for disappointment. And what would be more fitting than
the Mets having a strangle hold on the National League
East and finding themselves on the outside looking in of
a brand new playoff format that would make the road
to the world theories much more daunting, knowing they would
have to throw Max Scherzer and Jacob Degram in that
best of three series. Alright, so let's take a look
now college football tomorrow, we got we have five games

(28:29):
between top twenty five teams. What upsets do you like?
Who do what? What dogs on the board do you like? Tomorrow?
You know, when you go through the board, I mean,
and you try and identify some of the rank games
that are out there. It's always a little bit tricky.
I think a lot of people are talking way too
much about Kentucky potentially upsetting old myths. This is a
Kentucky offensive line that I think leaves a lot to
be desired, and going on the road down there in Oxford,

(28:52):
they're gonna find extremely daunting Alabama and Arkansas. The number
speaks volumes, and actually books have told me that they're
going to find themselves rooting for Alabama as the general
betting public is rallying around Arkansas catching those generous points
at seventeen Baylor Oklahoma State. I wouldn't really call it
an upset, especially with the Oklahoma State the higher ranked
team at least in the eyes of the polls, but
a modest two and a half point underdog. I think

(29:13):
that's a game that Oklahoma State has a favorable situational spot,
knowing that they had an extra week to prepare. They
haven't had to show much on film so far this year,
and Baylor's had it a little bit more difficult. Uh
two road games against the likes of b y U
and Iowa State, so they're more battle tested. But I
think we know who they are wake Forest and Florida State.
I think the number speaks volumes there at six and
a half seven. I really like what Mike and Orvell

(29:34):
has done to get this team going. And you do
wonder how the wake Forest team and Deacons all rally
and the game that got away from him last week
and Clemson NC State would be the other one for
an upset potential. And I'm just not a big Dave
Dorn guy, So honestly, as I go through all of this,
I think a lot of the top seeds will hold
serve as far as some of the rank versus ranked matchups.
All right, so you you you skipped over the h

(29:56):
Well it's not rank versus ranks, but certainly a road trip. Uh.
Jason Roth talked about it a little tonight in Michigan
ten and a half point favorites at Iowa. Can Iowa
score enough uh to keep it keep it within that
range or is the run game just too much for Michigan.
I mean that's a hundred million dollar question when you
look at Iowa's offense that setting things back to the

(30:16):
stone ages. I mean they have a passing attack outside
the top one ten. Yeah, Kirk and Brian Ferrin's continue
to defend the production or lack thereof, that they're getting
from Spencer Patriots the quarterback position. This Iowa team, for me,
feels a little bit different than the Iowa programs in
the past when you look at how they performed against
top five teams in the AP poll at home. Believe
they're five and one straight up in the last six games,

(30:38):
but one of those wins they scored north of a
fifty burger against Ohio State. I think it might take
Iowa twelve conference games to get the fifty points against
Big ten opponents as far as their offensive output. But
I think defensively, Michigan on the road for the first time,
we're seeing Washington struggle away from familiar surroundings. Wouldn't shock
me at all. If we were in a tight game
going into the fourth quarter, if I was defense was

(31:00):
able to keep it somewhere in that you know, fourteen fourteen,
seventeen fourteen type range. Alright, Tom, let's head to the
NFL on Sunday. We have no shortage of big games,
and let's start with the biggest one. Uh not been
the season Tom Brady is hoped for so far, but
Bucks are at home Chiefs have been a little bit
up and down. Who do you like in this one?

(31:21):
I like Tampa and I like Tampa quite a bit
in this spot. I think when you look at this
Bucks receiving corps, it's going to be significantly healthier here,
even if it's justin Mike Evans and Russell Gauge. That's
an upgrade versus what Tom Brady was working with last week.
And the one thing, despite losing that game fourteen twelve
at home against Green Bay, the Bucks defense really stiff
and they gave up two touchdown drives right out of
the gates. They were able to force a turnover on

(31:43):
Aaron Jones inside the five yard line, and they made
the necessary adjustments in the second half. When I look
at Kansas City, I think last week's lost against the
Annapolis Colt's a little bit misleading. They were the better
football team, done in by special teams misques, but offensively,
I'm not really sure they're going to be able to
move the ball consistently enough against Tampa. The one interesting
nugget here that may not hold true as this number

(32:04):
continues to move, potentially with Tampa closing a favorite the
last twelve times We've seen Tom Brady teams listed as
an underdog or home underdog. You're talking about nine and
three straight up, eleven and one against the spread. So
Tom loves to play the US against the world mentality,
and there's no greater way you can do it than
in Vegas. Heaps disrespect upon his shoulders. Fox Sports Radio
Jason Spitz Show with Mike Armon on the Hotline with

(32:26):
us our buddy Todd Ferman to Bet the Board podcast
the best thing going out there. At Bet the Board
pot downloaded, You'll be smarter or should I do? I
have to legally say as smart as anybody else in
the space when you walk away from it, and certainly
smarter than your jackass friends that didn't bother UH to
download it. Go at Bet the Board pod. Get all

(32:47):
the latest for the college slate and certainly for the NFL. UH. Todd,
let me ask about because we always want to know
about movement, UH and players availability and what it means
Detroit loses. There are two best players and most explosive
players at Alan Ross st Brown and DeAndre Swift. Jamal
Williams a nice capable backup for Swift, no doubt, but

(33:11):
the line moved just what about two points? Uh? We
even with that kind of power, can you talk to
to that point in terms of people that may have
expected a bigger swing. Yeah, one player in and of itself,
you know, from when you're talking about skill positions, talents.
Even guys as athletically gifted and as important for what
you're doing offensively as Almond Ross St. Brown uh and

(33:32):
DeAndre Swift probably would have moved the number about a
half a point to one point each on their own.
Now when you add the two of them, that's part
of the reason you've seen this number move from six
all the way down to three and a half. But
those guys aren't the only players on the Lions offense.
I mean, you're talking about an offensive line that's going
in without its starting fullback in Jason Cabinda, who is
extremely useful and opening up holes Jonah Jackson along the

(33:53):
offensive line. And while it's a wealth of riches for
the Lions and the trenches, you'd still like to have
your full compliment of physicality there. They also how to
put Tracy Walker on I R which hurts a little
bit of their defensive depth at the back. So the
Lions are gonna look significantly different than the team we've
seen over the first couple of weeks that have been
explosive on the offense, a positive revelation defensively, and we'll
see if they're able to handle, you know, being a

(34:15):
favorite of more than a field goal for the first
time in an attorney this Sunday when the Seahawks coming down, Hey, Todd,
as far as uh, the Jaguars, the Eagles go. A
game we've talked about a lot tonight. I see so
many points in this game on Sunday. I wouldn't be surprised.
Was one of those thirty eight thirty five games, and
Hurts has a big game and Trevor Lawrence has a
big game that each throwing for three and four touchdowns.

(34:36):
How do you see this one going? I think under
normal circumstances, expecting fireworks would definitely be a reasonable request. Unfortunately, Smith,
mother nature is going to have her say and how
this game is going to go, and that's part of
the reason we've seen this total that was as high
as forty and a half start kicking down in that
forty five and a half range. Forecast looks like it's
about an eighty percent chance of rain and winds that

(34:56):
could be gusting upwards of twenty to thirty an hour,
So that'll make things significantly more difficult. Philadelphia, in my opinion,
who's better on the offensive and defensive line. I think
is better suited to deal with the elements. But at
the same time, there's no doubt that Doug Peterson has
circled this game on his schedule, and it's extremely rare
when the visiting coach comes into a building and it's
his statue out in front of the stadium instead of

(35:17):
the coach on the opposing sideline. Buffalo Baltimore another game
that is likely to be affected by weather. The over
under the last time look was at fifty one Buffalo,
a field goal favorite on the road. The best run
games are the two quarterbacks. How do you see this
one playing out? Yeah? Down from a total of fifty
five for just the reasons you mentioned their harm For me,

(35:37):
I think the biggest question that we all have to
ask is who's actually going to be available for the
Buffalo Bills. I mean, this team looked like an absolute
mashing it during the week of practice. You had a
number of players upgraded to questionable. But I would think
the most impactful is on the defensive side. If Jordan
player can't go, it's a depleted secondary to begin with
with Micah Hyde and I are still waiting for Tradevious
White to return from injury. Dane Jackson questionable. You lose

(35:59):
Christian Benford to a broken hand, it really changes the
dynamic and the way that they can look to employ
or deploy. I should say a too high safety look
against the talented athleticism of Lamar Jackson and the wrinkles
he provides in an offense, along with trying to slow
down one of the most complete tight ends in the
game in Mark Andrews. So if player's ruled out, I'd
like the Ravens even more than I already do, and

(36:20):
I think there's currently plenty of value on them at
plus three. Alright, Todd, So Jets, Steelers, Jets for the Jets,
what what do you think? You know? The biggest concern
I have here in this game, Smith, is when you
look at some of the footage that's come out of
a Cruiser stadium or however the hell we're pronouncing it
these days. Earlier this week, they rolled out some fresh thought,
the problem being is you're going to have torrential rains

(36:42):
and down for impacting the Pittsburgh Georgia Tech game that
will be played on that same surface. We know historically
Hines Field some of the worst drainage in the National
Football League, and now you add in an extra game
on top of that. I'm a little bit worried about
the Jets bringing Zach Wilson back with that knee injury
playing on a sloppy track, But this is no out
a game where we're gonna get a better indication of
what this Jets defense is all about. They finally get

(37:04):
the punch down in class against Mitchell Robinski and company,
and we'll see what the offense can look like when
they're playing when when they're playing out there in space
against the Steelers defense, it's not just a fields while
you're at it. I mean, I can take plenty of
shots at fields. But the nice part about that harm
you're gonna be forced to watch justin fields be just

(37:24):
mediocre enough to keep the Bears, potentially outside of drafting
in the top ten, where they could actually get a
real franchise quarterback capable of elevating the team where they
want to go when they break in that beautiful new
stadium in Arlenton Heights, three or four years down the road.
All right, either or who runs from more yard Sae
Kwon Barkley or Khalil Herbert. You know what that's that's
a great question, and I would actually lean towards Khalil

(37:46):
Herbert in this spot because I think the Giants playing
without Leonard Williams in the middle changes what they can
do defensively. You saw the success the Cowboys had last weekend,
and Sa Kwon Barkley his credit thankfully looks fresh, looks explosive.
But they can utilize him as much as a receiver
out of the backfield as they are runners. So I'd
actually make Khalil Herbert a short favorite in that problem.
He's on Twitter at Todd Ferman, That is at Todd Ferman.

(38:09):
Check him out on CBS to Met the Board podcast.
He is everywhere our insider in Vegas. Todd is always buddy,
appreciate your time. My friend will talk to you soon.
Always a pleasure. Gentsen, don't look now, but we have
a game brewing in the Rose Bowl with a little
more than five minutes to go.