December 31, 2025 • 40 mins
Jason & Buck preview the College Football Playoff action coming up this week, one reason NFL fans should be tuned in and watching these College Football Playoff games, how spending correlates to success in college football, another lackluster bowl loss for the USC Trojans, and more!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio Jason Smith Show
with Mike Carmon hanging out with you all the way
till two am Eastern Time. He's Buck Rising on Jason Fitz.
Part of the reason we're gonna be with you a
few times this week, it's because there's a huge college
football slate. That's right, the college football playoff is finally here,
(00:21):
and Buck, we've talked about this before. I will make
it clear yet again, I hate the college football playoff schedule.
I abhor everything about the delays and the gaps and
everything that has gotten us to hear. But here we
sit coming into a couple of days, New Year's even
New Year's Day, that are full of games. And what
I'm trying to figure out is will we actually get
(00:42):
the best of any of the Will the layoff that
we've seen where teams have gone almost a month without
playing any college football actually be an advantage? Is the
buy an advantage or is the lack of rhythm going
to be a disadvantage for games that Frankly, this year,
as opposed to last year, it feels like you got
a lot of really evenly matched teams, so suddenly what
(01:04):
you have is an Alabama team that's coming in having
played a game a week and a half ago, taking
on an Indiana team that will have been almost a
month since the last time they sat on a stood
on a football field. Like, I don't know what the
gap is going to do. I just know in the
first round we saw plenty of slow starts, and I'm
worried that slow starts could absolutely doom teams that are
(01:24):
supposed to have the advantage of a buye.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Well, that's an interesting way to look at it, because
it's the it's the rest versus rust argument, right, Like,
there's no disputing that Indiana just to take them as
an example before they host well, I guess yeah. I
mean they're hosting theoretically in Pasadena, hosting Alabama in the
Rose Bowl, that they needed that additional time off to
(01:50):
figure out what to do about their interior defensive line.
And forgive me, I'm blanking on the young man's name
that injured himself while he was just going through Well,
he was just a high fiving fans in the stands
on a freakish accident where kind of you know, one
hopped in the air to try to reach up and
high five somebody and came down funny and injured himself.
So there in Indiana, where your talent disparity has been
(02:14):
something that they've been able to mask all year long,
which is one of the craziest things I've ever seen.
That they needed additional time to prepare for that defense
to look, you know, even a fraction of what it's
looked like all year long, which is one of the
most effective defenses in football so far this year. I
think that that should help them in that particular situation.
(02:36):
That's a very specific example. Ty Simpson and Alabama getting
pushed by Oklahoma, getting shut out by Oklahoma a couple
of weeks ago, then rallying back and ultimately coming at
coming back from down what was it, seventeen to nothing
at one period of time to go back and win
that game. I don't know if the momentum from that
(02:59):
moment is lost just because they've had a bit of
a layoff now before they go out and play an
Alabama team or rather an Indiana team that's not going
to give them that really not going to let up
on them the way that Oklahoma did. It is one
of the more interesting who do you think is the
most the biggest variable in the field right now as
(03:20):
we look at this quarterfinal bracket, FITZI.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Yeah, I mean I think Indiana because to your point,
it's Stephen Day was the name of the player you
were referencing that weirdest injury. I can remember just jumping
up and down, high fiving fans after winning the Big
Ten championship game, and he was already supplementing injury on
the defensive line. So I think Indiana has some they
(03:43):
have some things they're gonna have to clean up here.
I also think Alabama has looked really bad at times
this year, so there's so much prove it in these games,
and I think that's part of why Buck I care
so much about this layoff. Remember the teams that had
the bye last year all lost, right, So it's it's
a weird And that's a one year sample size, So
who the hell knows if one year sample size really
(04:06):
means anything. I'm not going to try and make that
have tremendous meaning over you know, anything else when we've
only seen such a limited amount of time on it.
But it does get weird to me when we're trying
to figure out teams that have had longer breaks so
and frankly with that in mind, I mean Indiana at
least their last game was the Big Ten championship game,
(04:27):
so that's at least more recent than even what we've
had for Oregon. I mean Indiana played on December sixth,
So you know, is that is that perfect? December sixth
to now is a hell of a long amount of
time to just sitting around time. I mean, it's for
a rhythm sport, you know what I mean, Like for
we hear all the time people talk about it's just
(04:49):
how much continuity means in doing sort of the little
things the same way. And you hear all of that,
but that's that's just a long long time before, since
since the last time you even stepped on a football field.
And I wanted to be this great I don't know,
this great equalizer. I wanted to be this great you know,
cool moment where it's like, hey, they've had plenty of
time to sort of get ready, but man, I don't know.
(05:12):
I just that's a long time as opposed to somebody
that you know, was just on the field a week
and a half ago. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
And then there's there's the wild card idea of for example,
Texas Tech in the middle of this field, looking at Indiana.
Just looking at the teams that are left right Indiana,
Ohio State, Georgia, Texas Tech. Is the teams coming off
or getting their first round byes versus Oregon, Ole, miss
Miami and Alabama who weren't really tested, I mean Miami
(05:42):
and Texas, A and m that came down to the wire.
The weather was outrageous, the field goals were being missed
all over the place at a high frequency, and it
boiled down to just basically survival in that specific game.
I don't know that the better team necessarily won between
Miami and Texas. All I know is that Miami ends
up surviving and gets the pleasure of playing Ohio State
(06:05):
as a result after the fact. I like that's the
biggest line of the quarter final weekend, is the difference
between Ohio State and Miami. Right now, I are it
opened at nine and a half. I'm curious to see
if it's been bet down at all at this point
in time. We can check on that for you here
in just a second. But the biggest opportunity for an
(06:28):
upset where does it lie on the board right now?
As we're sitting here looking at this is it ole
miss Georgia for the opportunity to get the revenge element?
But Lane Kiffn's not on the sideline, So is it
really revenge for somebody like Pete Golding in this situation?
I mean technically by seating it would be Miami over
(06:51):
Ohio State, I suppose, but that doesn't seem possible, Like
where does the most likely and most possible up set
probability exists?
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Well to your point, Currently, according to the DraftKings Odds,
Ohio State is a nine and a half point favorite
over Miami. I don't think that there's any action to
be had there. Currently, Georgia is a six and a
half point favorite over Old miss which is which is
beefy line? Indiana is a seven point favorite over Alabama.
(07:22):
And you know, Kurt Signetti flat out he was asked about,
you know, the players in taking on the aura of
Alabama and he even said he's like, I don't think
our players even understand the history of Alabama YouTube, but
our players only know what they see on film. And
I think he's right, Like, so, you know, to the
honest answer is the closest game Oregon Texas Tech is
(07:42):
going to be the best game of all of these.
It's just it's a game that I think a lot
of people care the least about out of all these,
brand wise. But I think Oregon Texas Tech. Would I
really call that an upset. Oregon's favored by two and
a half, by the way over a fifth seeded Oregon
favored by two and a half over Texas Tech. Alabama
should not be able to beat Indiana, And I think
(08:06):
what has to happen here is a mindset shift. And boy,
I had to make sure I really said that can
care for me? Thank you? A mindset shift. I'd just
tempted the gods twice because if we just changed the
jerseys to the Buck Risings versus the Jason Fitzes, here
it is. It is absolutely abundantly clear that Indiana is
(08:27):
better than Alabama. There is not a world this year
where Indiana is not better than Alabama. And I will
go back to as I told you before. For the
Big Ten Championship game, I sat in the corner of
my couch and I grabbed my carrots and I sat
there with the dogs and I said, Okay, show me something,
show me what you got right, Prove me, proved something
to me, and Indiana did by god Like, I mean,
Indiana has now gone to Oregon this year and won,
(08:49):
and they beat Big Ten champion in the Big Ten
Championship game. They beat Ohio State this If the exact
teams were reversed, we would be convinced Alabama's gonna roll.
I think sometimes because it's Indiana versus Alabama, that's the
game everybody points to. But to your point, really the
best shot at a notable upset might be Ole Miss
(09:10):
versus Georgia, given the fact that they've done that recently.
But man, I don't know. I think there's a very
real and bad for college football scenario where we get
three blowouts and a decent game that is in the
middle of the afternoon that doesn't get as much attention.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Man, I don't think any of these games are gonna
be blowouts.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
To you. I think Ohio State's gonna roll Miami. I
think that's a three touchdown win for a high why.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Though, I mean, Miami's defense is awesome, and I know
that Carson Beck against the Ohio State defense is not
a favorable matchup, But it's not like Miami's a pushover.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
No, Miami's defense is great. You're right, Carson Beck. I
don't trust worth a dang Like, I'm completely out on
Carson Beck being able to do anything in this And look,
I mean, yes, Miami got the win, and I was
surprised by that. I did not think Miami would win
in the first round. So maybe this is on me.
But go back this year and just ask ourselves how
(10:02):
much we've actually seen. You know, to your point, yes,
this Miami defense has been great. Have they really played
anybody that's going to stretch them and stress them the
way Ohio State is? I don't think so. I mean,
I think this Ohio State offense is just too damn explosive. So,
you know, the unfortunate thing for this way, I look
at some of these games like we have to look
(10:23):
at the ebb and flow of it. Then I got
to ask myself, can my quarterback dig me out of
a hole? Because in college football, way more than the NFL,
you can be down by seventeen and you can get
yourself right back into that game. The problem for Miami
is that if they are dug into a hole and
Carson Beck has to be the one that digs them out,
I don't think he can especially against this Ohio State defense,
So they got to keep it close to the entire way.
(10:45):
I don't think they will, so yeah, I think I
think Ohio State roles here.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
The other component of that, what you just mentioned about
the idea of the quarterback being able to dig you
out of a hole. Does that case work in favor
of Alabama? Because Alabama at this point in time, despite
not playing their best football for the final month of
the regular season and looking very suspect for the first
(11:09):
half against Oklahoma in their first round College Football playoff matchup,
would you now consider Alabama battle tested to the point
where you can trust them or do you still think
that they're fraught because they are playing in a lot
of games where they end up having to close it
out and being in a decisive or making decisive plays
(11:35):
and critical moments and route to swing up some of
these victories that feel like they shouldn't be as close
as they actually are if Alabama just goes out there
and does its job for four quarters. But that's not
been the case, right, But they've been in these situations
where ty Simpson has had to dig them out of holes.
I don't think of him that way, even though I've
(11:55):
seen him do it a variety of times. They're four
and one in one score for finishes this year. And
where are you on the idea of that being a
skill versus some degree? You know, there's a degree of
luck in all of this. The stats that cite a
team's record or a quarterbacks record or a coaches record
in one score games, I really struggle with them, given
(12:18):
how many individual plays can completely flip that stat on
its head.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Yeah. I think though, where it becomes significant is when
you need plays, do you have the best playmakers? And
where Alabama's skill position has had the best playmakers, they
certainly Ty Simpson has played well. You're right, I owed
Ty Simpson a little bit of an apology because I
don't think I expected, especially the way the last month
(12:43):
of the season. When if you'd have told me going
into the first round playoff matchup that Alabama would average
one point one yards per carry against Oklahoma and win
by ten, I had a slape in the face that
says you were stupid, right, Like, there's just no chance
that that's going to happen. And that's exactly what they did.
They averaged one point one yard per carry and they
(13:06):
beat Oklahoma by ten. Make it make sense. It's tough
to make that will make sense, especially you know, and
part of that has to do with just flat out efficiency.
Ty Simpson had a good game and he was able
to do that. You can't be that one dimensional and
beat this Indiana team. But there is something to all
of this. You mentioned Ty Simpson, which gets us to
Fernanda Mendoza, and it gets us to the one reason why,
(13:29):
even if you don't like college football, this playoff this weekend,
particularly if you are an NFL fan, is wildly important
to you. We'll tell you why when we come back.
He's buck Rising on Jason Fitz Bucking fits hanging out
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
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 iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Hey, this is Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straight Fire
with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pod pushing
the same tired narratives down your throat.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Every day.
Speaker 4 (14:07):
Straight Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest
sports headlines. Accurate stats to help you win big at
the sportsbook and all the best guests. Do yourself a
favor and listen to Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre on
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
It's Bucking Fits hanging out with you on Fox Sports Radio.
It's actually the Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon, but
Bucking Fits taking over. We just came in, grabbed the
microphones from the fellows, so we're taking it. It's ours tonight.
Be sure to subscribe to the Fox Sports Radio YouTube channel.
You can see the battle that went down for it.
Just search Fox Sports Radio on YouTube. Looked a lot
like Anchorman. I'm just saying, you'll see our best videos
(14:49):
from all of our shows. Don't stop there, hit that
thumbs up icon. Comming away. Let us know the takes
that you like, frankly, even the ones you don't like,
especially if they're Bucks. Just search Fox Sports Radio on
YouTube and subscribe. Remember, just tell Buck you hate his
takes and love you love mine. That's the simple way
to go about it. By the way, you can also
tweet us at Jason Fitz at Buck Rising, which is
(15:13):
r ei SI ng. It's just spelling out there for everybody.
I really love the interaction. As we've been talking all night.
There's one thing about the College Football Playoff Buck that
I think NFL fans need to just circle on the
calendar and a reason why, even if you don't like
college football, you should sit down and watch these games
over the course of the next few days. And it's
(15:33):
proof of concept that that's going to happen from the
College Football Playoff and in fact, you cover cam Ward
and as part of your job covering the Tennessee Titans.
One thing that I said last year, right now at
this time, is that it really was a shame that
Miami wasn't in the College Football Playoff because it didn't
give everybody the opportunity to see cam Ward in a
(15:56):
pressure situation against the absolute best opponents. No matter what
you think of college football, you can acknowledge that for
Nano Mendoza, Ty Simpson, Dante Moore at Oregon, these are
three quarterbacks that if Dante and Ty decide that they're
going to declare for the NFL Draft, they are going
to make or lose millions of dollars based on what
(16:18):
the next couple of weeks look like, because you can't
tell me that if, for example, Oregon goes on around
Dante Moore is somebody that has a limited body of
work as a starter, right, but people already love the traits.
We know how much we talk about that. If he
goes out and just dominates the college Football Playoff Oregon
wins the national Championship, I guarantee you the conversation around
(16:38):
his draft stocks is going to change. If Nano Mendoza
goes out in his first playoff game and throws four
picks and is absolutely awful, while ty Simpson goes out
and lights it up, There's gonna be a real conversation,
and there should be, because this is part of the
glory of what's happening for the college football that does
impact the NFL in a good way. More proof of
concept on quarterbacks is a good thing for teams trying
(17:00):
to figure out who to draft.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
You think Cam's got any mixed emotions about watching this
Miami team with the defense that's all world versus his
Miami team where he's getting in shootouts on a weekly
basis with Fernando Mendosa at Cal and with Tyler Schuck
at Louisville and things like that, Like he has to
(17:23):
be a little I mean, every time he's asked about it,
and we have asked him about it a couple of times,
he's expressed nothing but happiness for the program and for
the guys that were his teammates last year and all
these different kinds of things. But ah, just a little
bit of a selfish moment at one point in time.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Being like, God, I just wish.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
That I had the opportunity to play with the defense
like that at my back.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Dude. I had to apologize last year to Anthony Gargano,
my friend and co host on The Fellows for a
couple of years on Fox Sports Radio right and the
week of the Georgia Tech Miami game, he kept telling me,
He's like, man, Miami's defense stinks. Georgia Tech's gonna run
all over him. Miami's gonna lose this game. And I
sat there in there and I was like, there is
(18:05):
no damn way. Cam Ward is too good and he
saves them too often. They'll be just fine. Oh my god.
I was at the gym that day working out during
the game, and I looked out on my phone and
I have like twenty texts from Gargano that was just like, hmmm,
would you like to say anything now while we watched
Georgia tex just run the football down that defense's throat
all day, Like, I mean, cam Ward was failed by
(18:26):
that Miami defense. There's no toubt go ahead to get well.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
No, I just I just I am fascinated to see
how these quarterbacks respond. What's the biggest question about Fernando
Mendoz to you?
Speaker 1 (18:37):
I I don't really have a lot of questions about
Fernando Mendos. I guess I walked into the Big Ten
Championship game saying, Okay, what's it gonna look like when
there are people just barreling at him, Like, what's he
look like? Under pressure? Got it? And then he just
gets knocked the you know like straight out of Friday.
He got knocked the you know what out and then
(18:58):
got right back up and kept throwing the ball. With that,
I think people would probably like to see some athleticism
too from him. Let's see him run around a little bit,
make plays off schedule. What's it look like when he's
flushed out of the pocket and has to continually make plays.
I think that's probably what most people want to see,
but I don't know, man. That was my question was
what's it looked like when there are a huge defensive
(19:18):
linemen at his feet? And I thought he looked great
in the Big Ten championship game of that setting.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
No, he was incredibly tough, and to your point, he
did not it would rattle anybody in that particular situation.
I thought he was as tough as he's been all
season long in that particular game. Whereas the rest of
these guys, as you kind of look at what ty
Simpson is up against, can they continue to be one dimensional?
Indiana's offense has a bit more balance right now. It's
(19:45):
allowing for Fernando Mendoza to be a better version of himself.
There's so much pressure being put on ty Simpson for
an Alabama team that can't keep their running backs healthy
and the offensive line hasn't been up to snuff, and
the idea that Alabama can't run the football with regular
or to just control the pace of the game and
to take pressure off of their quarterback in these particular
(20:06):
situations where they're existing in so many third and six
plus situations that he simply had to bail them out
of and for a good period, as we talked about
earlier in the show, for a good period of the
regular season. He wasn't having as much success in those
third and long circumstances because it's simply not sustainable for
somebody like Dante more in Oregon. Where is where is
(20:29):
the place that they can be exploited? If there is
a place that they can be exploited, and how will
that matchup kind of take shape in front of us?
Will the Oregon just be overwhelming the way that they
kind of have been the whole way through, except against
Indiana at home, which is probably one of the most
impressive college football wins of the season. I would venture
(20:50):
a guess, but I'm looking at a lot of these
teams because Texas Tech they invested what twenty five million
dollars in their roster reported in Nile spending this year,
somewhere about the vast majority of that in their defensive line.
That's going to be the toughest test that Oregon has
seen up front all year long. And I don't know
(21:10):
that there. I don't know that it would favor them.
Indiana gave them a hard time, especially in the second
half of that game. If you remember early on in
the Big Ten season or in the in the college
football season when Indiana went out west to play that game.
And I don't think anybody expected Indiana's defense to be
able to fly around and move sideline to sideline with
such efficiency as they are able to do. Texas Tech
(21:32):
is a way bigger, faster, stronger version of anything that
Oregon has seen all year long. I am I am
so curious. That's the biggest science experiment game to me.
As you mentioned, it may not have the attractiveness and
it may not do the biggest rating of any of
these teams that we're talking about, or any of these
games that we're talking about, but that, by far and
(21:52):
away is the most interesting matchup one to me.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Well, and there are interesting levels to the spending that
you just mentioned. I want to get more. We're into that,
but first, Steve Desager, get us updated on what's going
on on the scoreboard right now.
Speaker 5 (22:05):
We've got overtime at the Alamo Bowl. USC was leading
TCU by ten with five minutes to go, and then
two long drives for the horn Frogs the last two
forum in regulation touchdown and then a short field goal
and the game is tied. At twenty four sc with
a second in goal on its overtime possession coming up.
(22:26):
Illinois edged Tennessee thirty to twenty eight in the Music
City Bowl on a short field goal final play, and
Louisiana Tech in Treeport today beat Coastal Carolina twenty three
to fourteen. Miami will play number two Ohio State on
New Year's Eve at the Cotton Bowl quarterfinal. Ohio State
head coach Ryan Day will call the offensive plays in
their playoff opener. Brian Hartline will leave later for USF.
(22:48):
Oregon faces Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl Quarterfinal on
New Year's Day. Texas Tech quarterback Baron Morton has practiced
fully this month. He's out of a walking boot. He'd
injured his leg two and a half half months ago.
Alabama will be in the Rose Bowl quarterfinal against number
one Indiana. There is a chance of rain steel for Pasadyen.
It will definitely rain on the parade. In fact, the
(23:09):
newest storm to southern California is coming tomorrow, but they're
saying right now that it's likely not going to rain
through the whole game. Nonetheless, a rarity a rainy Rose Bowl,
and we'll see what the turf is like for that
Rose Bowl. By the way, Alabama sophomore wide receiver Ryan
Williams said he does plan to return to the team
next season, and Ole miss will play Georgia in the
(23:31):
Sugar Bowl quarterfinal New Year's Night. Mississippi lost at Georgia
in October forty three to thirty five. Georgia scored seventeen
straight points in the fourth quarter to win. Northwestern's new
offensive coordinator is Chip Kelly. The new defensive coordinator at
Boston College is Ted Rufe. The Dallas Cowboys cut veteran
defensive back Trayvon Diggs. The Steelers are optimistic that pass
(23:53):
rusher TJ. Watt can play in the finale Sunday Night
against Baltimore. Drew Brees and Eli Manning are among the
fifteen Hall of Fame finalists to the NBA Scoreboard. Just
four games, Detroit still leading, but not by much at
the Lakers eighty six eighty one late in the third,
even though the Pistons are shooting sixty five percent from
the floor. The Lakers Lukadancic has twenty seven points in
(24:16):
twenty eight minutes on the court. Complete domination at the
Clippers Arena for the Clips seventy nine forty five over
Sacramento early in the third. Boston won again one twenty
nine to one nineteen at Utah despite thirty seven points
from Keyante George, and Philadelphia got an overtime victory at
Memphis one thirty nine, one thirty six, thirty four points
(24:37):
each for Joel Embiide and Tyrese Maxi in the loss,
forty points for John Morant. Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokich
will miss at least a month with a hyper extended
knee suffered last night. He has a bone bruise in
the left knee as well. Bulls guard Josh Kitty could
reportedly miss a few weeks with the strained hamstring he
suffered last night. Hawk center Kristaps Porzinga will return from
(25:01):
illness on Wednesday. NHL Montreal one in overtime, three to
two at Florida the Angels in third basement. Anthony Rendon
reportedly restructured his contract. Sc has kicked a field goal
Trojans twenty seven, twenty four in overtime still against TCU
at the Alamobile Back to you.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
He's bug rising on Jason Fitz We're hanging out with you.
Bucket Fit's takeover coming to you live from the Fox
Sports Radio studio. Speaking of some college football, why don't
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in college football, for many of these programs you just
mentioned some of what we're going to learn. I just
(26:01):
want to remind everybody. According to On three Sports that
did a survey of the top spenders in college football,
number one was Texas. They're not in this, number two,
Texas Tech, number three, Ohio State number four, Oregon number five,
Texas A and m already eliminated and Miami tied. Right,
So you can go up and down the list and
(26:23):
see a pretty easy correlation between the amount of money
spent and the success they're having. It will be interesting
to see, though, Buck, because when you're putting that much
money on the line, I always call them the Buddy
Garritys for anybody that loves Friday Night Lights the way
I do. Like, if you remember the show, Buddy Garritty
was the used car dealer that was coming up to
Coach Taylor constantly being like, why are we playing this guy?
(26:44):
Why are we doing that? Like what's going to happen
for the program? You got a lot of Buddy Garritys
involved in all of these. So when you're spending that
much money, it is going to be interesting to see
how the teams that don't advance. When you're talking about
Texas Tech being the second highest amount of money in
Oregon being the fourth, how all of these fan bases
and how all of these collectives react to it. Because
(27:04):
this isn't just pride anymore. There's a lot of cash
being spent with the expectation of a national championship.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Two things on that front. Am I allowed to continue
in my profession as a sports NFL reporter and a
sports talk host. If I've never seen or read Friday Night.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Lights, yes you can. Here's what I would tell you
the movies. The movie's good. The movie's good, the book
is very good. The TV show is elite. It's one
of the best TV shows ever made. So Cavy show
better than the movie, far better than the movie. And
the TV show was really just like it's really about
a family in small town life, and football is the
(27:43):
backdrop on it. Friday Night Lights. The TV show is
just just started from the beginning to yourself that gift,
give yourself that New Year's gift. It will I don't
even like sports movies, Like as a general rule, I
don't like sports movies. If I want drama, just watch
actual sports. I don't need to watch Disney make a
sports movie when I can just watch an actual sporting event. Friday.
(28:08):
Oh well, what was that was that with what's his name? Yeah? Yeah, yeah?
Was that any given Sunday?
Speaker 2 (28:14):
That sounds right, any given Sunday. It's one of the
most ridiculous football movies I've ever seen. It's delightful, but
it's just outrageous, like it's got, It's got when the
guy's eyeball pops out on the field is.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
One of the most like this is where when everybody
like when everybody does their rankings a best sports movie.
My ranking is always they're all trash like it just
like for everybody else. Can't say that I just don't
like them.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
I don't like them like remember the Titans.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Remember the Titans was fine, it was fine.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
I will accept fine, I will accept fine. But you
cannot call it trash. It is not a trash movie.
There are many quotable lines to call it a trash movie.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
We I was in school, I think it was middle school,
we had to write a report, like a character analysis
report on the movie Feel to Dreams. That was our
school assignment, and I instead wrote the report on what
a waste it was that we were watching a movie
in a class like it just did like I thought
it was stupid. And my parents got called in for
(29:11):
a parent teacher conference, and I remember my mom coming
in and mother f and the teacher up and down
because she thought I was right. So I'm just saying,
I've never, you know, always a sports CHUNKI never a
sports movie fan. Friday Night Lights, the TV show, the.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
Access secondarily, okay, didn't Florida State just kind of go
through this where they spent big in the portal and
they went all in in the portal after having success
and being snubbed from the college Football Playoff picture because
it was a Jordan Travis the name of the quarterback.
Yeah at the time it snapped his leg and all
the controversy that came out of that. Then they come
(29:45):
back next year, they spend all this money on defensive
line help in the portal, and it goes straight to hell. Now,
Mike norvel is just kind of a lame duck coaching
situation because they spent their budget, their fans aren't spending
any more money on that program, to the point where
Florida State fans they're almost just kind of taking a
(30:05):
It's not a tanking year, almost because you can't tank.
What are you tanking for in college football? But you're
kind of just letting a season go by. So Norvelle's
buyout goes down, which to me is the equivalent of
college of tanking in college football, like just throwing away
a season because you've put yourself in a financial situation
(30:29):
that is not sustainable and now all of a sudden
you don't like your coach anymore and you want to
move on. But also that's going to cost a lot
more money and you've already asked all these boosters for
all this money, and they're not willing to give you anymore.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Yeah, it's that's the part of this. Like for everybody
that sits there and talks about the future of college football,
I think what doesn't necessarily get enough coverage because we're
all convinced, you know that not we're all there are
many people that are loudly convinced this sport is broken.
I'm not one personally. I think ratings are up, then
everybody's paying more attention, and it's kind of fun to me.
(31:01):
Like I also, at my core don't care about your
favorite football team. I just love the sports, so since
I don't care if one team is being sacrificed, like
I've had this argument with you know, Michael Junior obviously
passionate about college football and knows so much about it
and played it, and the number of times he and
I have argued about it, Like I just I don't
care if your program doesn't succeed, and I don't really
(31:23):
care if they level the playing field. I just want
to watch the best college football I can. So'm I'm
a big fan of free market capitalism. In capital capitalism,
so go out and get yours, buy yours, and if
you can't buy yours, that's not really my problem. So
I just like watching college football. With that being said,
I do think you raised an interesting point because at
some point, for any rich person, there has to be
(31:45):
some level of ROI or you stop giving money. Now,
maybe you can buy that ROI is a championship a
few times, but can you sustainably go in and find
tens of millions of dollars into the eventually hundreds of
millions of dollars that require over the course of decades.
Can you find billions of dollars from benefactors that have
(32:06):
no money to be made other than just watching their
favorite college football teams win. I think that that well
dries at some point. There has to be some way
that it's bringing back cash or it's bringing back results. Otherwise,
to your point, there's always going to be somebody that
for a year or two will give money, But will
they continue forever? I mean, it's just this isn't the
(32:28):
NFL where you've got owners that are turning around and
doing it because they're also making hundreds of millions of
dollars in profit. This is just a bunch of you know,
Buddy garrityes out there trying to find a way to
make sure that Indiana wins a championship and that that's
cute for a few years that I don't know how
sustainable that is.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
There's never been a state that has more people named
Buddy Garrity in real life than Indiana.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
That that is fair. TCU, by the way, has just
taken down USC in overtime. They have won the game
falls and just a reminder that USC isn't even in
the college football playoff. Conversation, guys, it is. It is
(33:09):
wild to me how some brands have figured out how
to compete and some brands just have it. We got
plenty more to break down on it, including like, let's
figure it out. Let's figure out for all of this,
who we actually think is worth watching the most and
who's gonna win this thing. We'll figure it out. He's
Buck Rising, I'm Jason fitz buckmfits hanging out with you
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (33:29):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
So Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon, But a Buck
and fits takeover Buck Rising. I'm Jason Fitz with you
all the way until two a m. Eastern time, hanging
out with you. We just watched USC lose in a
bowl game you're not paying attention to. But there is
consequence to all of this as we try and figure
out what the hell to make of who USC is
(34:00):
right now, Because, frankly, when you think about the teams
that you expect can be dominant across the landscape of
college football, USC is supposed to be on that list.
But earlier in the show, when we were talking about
money and where it's currently invested. When you're talking about
the top spenders in college football, you can go all
the way down to number ten and not see Oh
I correct myself, USC listed at number seven. So USC
(34:22):
out here spending number seven money for what a loss
in a bowl game. I know bowl games aren't significant,
but it feels like it's all significant right now for
a team that's just lost. Our producer, bo USC. You're
a US guy through and three you went to USC.
How we feeling like what has to happen for USC
in your mind to become nationally prominent again.
Speaker 6 (34:46):
It's such a double edged sword at this point because
they have the number one recruiting class next year. That
is of course by volume, not by pure talent in there.
But so you can't really sit here and say fire
Lincoln Riley. But it's getting close to there. I don't
know if you guys have seen their schedule for next year.
They get Ohio State and Oregon at home, and they
(35:09):
go on the road to Indiana. So that's I think
three losses right there, and then of course you know
they have Maryland at home, they have watching It at home,
Penn State, Rutgers, Wisconsin, Ucla on the road next year.
That's probably five six losses given the way this team
has played, so he's probably gonna get fired next year.
(35:29):
So kind of if you're gonna do it anyway, you
might as well just do it. But the program is
not to where it needs to be for how much
Lincoln Rally' is getting paid and the talent that they have,
so they kind of do need to just hit reset.
I think this is just the latest embarrassing. Like I
don't know if you guys saw the play that they
lost on, but it was just bad tackling, which has
just been the thing with all of Lincoln Riley's teams.
(35:52):
So it's really just frustrating because, as we were talking
about in the break, like USC is the pro football
team out here, Like the support for the Rams has
gotten better as long as they've been here longer. But
when us he's good, like, the city goes absolutely nuts
for them, and we've been waiting for that to come
back and it just hasn't yet.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
Well it's interesting because they they have and who is
that what is the name of the defensive coordinator of
that's leaving them for Penn State bo.
Speaker 6 (36:18):
It's Dan Lynn, Okay, Dan Stanton, but everybody just calls
him Dan.
Speaker 2 (36:22):
He's been there for a couple of years now and
he's actually helped kind of level out USC's defense. I mean,
they were they were not great by any stretch of
the imagination this year, but they were forty eighth overall
in the country. They were averaging or giving up twenty
two point four points per game, So you know, right
around the right around the South Carolina, Florida State Vandy line,
(36:43):
which is good enough to give your opportunity or give
your offense an opportunity. And all Lincoln Riley has to
show for his tenure so far in Los Angeles, is
wins in the Holiday Bowl, FITZI and the Las Vegas Bowl.
I think he is the biggest underachiever relative to expectation
in college football right now, Lincoln Riley. And maybe that's
(37:04):
easy for me to do because I'm not you know,
I don't watch USC day in and day out. I'm
not on the West Coast. I'm in Nashville, Tennessee. And
you know, it probably doesn't help to just to put
all the biases out there that I'm a Notre Dame fan,
and I don't love the way that he's talking about
the way that Notre Dame ended the USC Notre Dame
rivalry in his estimation, where he failed to follow through
(37:28):
on the pledge to play Notre Dame anytime anywhere. So
I look at Lincoln Riley and I look at his
tenure and I understand the meteoric rise that he had
at the time and earned by the way, Like those
Oklahoma teams that he was coaching were awesome. He got
the best out of Jalen Hurts by a mile. And
Jalen Hurts was also coached by Nick Saban in his
(37:50):
collegiate career. There's so much good that he has done.
But this is one of those things where I feel
like we've probably had this some version of this conversation before.
Where you are if you are good enough at a
couple of things, but you get promoted to the point
in your respective industry or profession where you cease to
(38:14):
be good at the job that you've been given because
you've just been promoted past the point of your competency.
It happens in a lot of industries. Hell, it happens
in our industry. Mean if it's your shining examples of
people who have been promoted beyond our competency on a
regular basis, I just feel like Lincoln Riley is that
in a big boy job with big boy stakes and
a huge amount of resources that he's done jack with.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
For me, the resources are part of what I always
think of when I think of USC, because certainly I
didn't grow up in LA but I did grow up
in Vegas as a kid, and you grew up in
Vegas as a kid. You understand the brand of USC
from a college football standpoint and the ability to dominate
the entire West Coast from recruiting standpoint. Like, think of
how often you and I have talked about some of
(38:59):
the advantages that are perceived in the SEC when it
comes to recruiting. Now, I have made the argument a
lot in the last year that modern college football means
that you've got private jets and first class tickets to everything.
So I'm not sure having the most recruits in your
state matters as much. You just got to make sure
that you have a path and a plan that will
allow families to fly out and see the kids. I
(39:22):
find that there's less and less importance to regionality in
recruiting in college football when I talk to high school
kids right now. That being said, USC is supposed to
dominate the West Coast. Now, I'll give some of that
to Oregon, certainly, Dan Lanning has built a program. But
if you are turning around and you are a quarterback whisperer,
which is absolutely got to be part of Lincoln Riley's
(39:44):
sales pitch right like, come here and I'll help you
win a Heisman. If you are a wide receiver that
wants to play like you should be able to be
building the most explosive offense because you have just the
upper hand on the West Coast constantly. So I feel
like there's an advantage here that just isn't being taken
advantage of. So you're Lincoln Riley who's getting paid an
(40:06):
astronomical amount of money to be the head football coach
at USC, and you're doing what with it? Like, what
is the thing that USC is better than expected? What
is the winds above replacement that Lincoln Riley is bringing
to the table. And if the answer is none,
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio Jason Smith Show
with Mike Carmon hanging out with you all the way
till two am Eastern Time. He's Buck Rising on Jason Fitz.
Part of the reason we're gonna be with you a
few times this week, it's because there's a huge college
football slate. That's right, the college football playoff is finally here,
(00:21):
and Buck, we've talked about this before. I will make
it clear yet again, I hate the college football playoff schedule.
I abhor everything about the delays and the gaps and
everything that has gotten us to hear. But here we
sit coming into a couple of days, New Year's even
New Year's Day, that are full of games. And what
I'm trying to figure out is will we actually get
(00:42):
the best of any of the Will the layoff that
we've seen where teams have gone almost a month without
playing any college football actually be an advantage? Is the
buy an advantage or is the lack of rhythm going
to be a disadvantage for games that Frankly, this year,
as opposed to last year, it feels like you got
a lot of really evenly matched teams, so suddenly what
(01:04):
you have is an Alabama team that's coming in having
played a game a week and a half ago, taking
on an Indiana team that will have been almost a
month since the last time they sat on a stood
on a football field. Like, I don't know what the
gap is going to do. I just know in the
first round we saw plenty of slow starts, and I'm
worried that slow starts could absolutely doom teams that are
(01:24):
supposed to have the advantage of a buye.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Well, that's an interesting way to look at it, because
it's the it's the rest versus rust argument, right, Like,
there's no disputing that Indiana just to take them as
an example before they host well, I guess yeah. I
mean they're hosting theoretically in Pasadena, hosting Alabama in the
Rose Bowl, that they needed that additional time off to
(01:50):
figure out what to do about their interior defensive line.
And forgive me, I'm blanking on the young man's name
that injured himself while he was just going through Well,
he was just a high fiving fans in the stands
on a freakish accident where kind of you know, one
hopped in the air to try to reach up and
high five somebody and came down funny and injured himself.
So there in Indiana, where your talent disparity has been
(02:14):
something that they've been able to mask all year long,
which is one of the craziest things I've ever seen.
That they needed additional time to prepare for that defense
to look, you know, even a fraction of what it's
looked like all year long, which is one of the
most effective defenses in football so far this year. I
think that that should help them in that particular situation.
(02:36):
That's a very specific example. Ty Simpson and Alabama getting
pushed by Oklahoma, getting shut out by Oklahoma a couple
of weeks ago, then rallying back and ultimately coming at
coming back from down what was it, seventeen to nothing
at one period of time to go back and win
that game. I don't know if the momentum from that
(02:59):
moment is lost just because they've had a bit of
a layoff now before they go out and play an
Alabama team or rather an Indiana team that's not going
to give them that really not going to let up
on them the way that Oklahoma did. It is one
of the more interesting who do you think is the
most the biggest variable in the field right now as
(03:20):
we look at this quarterfinal bracket, FITZI.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Yeah, I mean I think Indiana because to your point,
it's Stephen Day was the name of the player you
were referencing that weirdest injury. I can remember just jumping
up and down, high fiving fans after winning the Big
Ten championship game, and he was already supplementing injury on
the defensive line. So I think Indiana has some they
(03:43):
have some things they're gonna have to clean up here.
I also think Alabama has looked really bad at times
this year, so there's so much prove it in these games,
and I think that's part of why Buck I care
so much about this layoff. Remember the teams that had
the bye last year all lost, right, So it's it's
a weird And that's a one year sample size, So
who the hell knows if one year sample size really
(04:06):
means anything. I'm not going to try and make that
have tremendous meaning over you know, anything else when we've
only seen such a limited amount of time on it.
But it does get weird to me when we're trying
to figure out teams that have had longer breaks so
and frankly with that in mind, I mean Indiana at
least their last game was the Big Ten championship game,
(04:27):
so that's at least more recent than even what we've
had for Oregon. I mean Indiana played on December sixth,
So you know, is that is that perfect? December sixth
to now is a hell of a long amount of
time to just sitting around time. I mean, it's for
a rhythm sport, you know what I mean, Like for
we hear all the time people talk about it's just
(04:49):
how much continuity means in doing sort of the little
things the same way. And you hear all of that,
but that's that's just a long long time before, since
since the last time you even stepped on a football field.
And I wanted to be this great I don't know,
this great equalizer. I wanted to be this great you know,
cool moment where it's like, hey, they've had plenty of
time to sort of get ready, but man, I don't know.
(05:12):
I just that's a long time as opposed to somebody
that you know, was just on the field a week
and a half ago. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
And then there's there's the wild card idea of for example,
Texas Tech in the middle of this field, looking at Indiana.
Just looking at the teams that are left right Indiana,
Ohio State, Georgia, Texas Tech. Is the teams coming off
or getting their first round byes versus Oregon, Ole, miss
Miami and Alabama who weren't really tested, I mean Miami
(05:42):
and Texas, A and m that came down to the wire.
The weather was outrageous, the field goals were being missed
all over the place at a high frequency, and it
boiled down to just basically survival in that specific game.
I don't know that the better team necessarily won between
Miami and Texas. All I know is that Miami ends
up surviving and gets the pleasure of playing Ohio State
(06:05):
as a result after the fact. I like that's the
biggest line of the quarter final weekend, is the difference
between Ohio State and Miami. Right now, I are it
opened at nine and a half. I'm curious to see
if it's been bet down at all at this point
in time. We can check on that for you here
in just a second. But the biggest opportunity for an
(06:28):
upset where does it lie on the board right now?
As we're sitting here looking at this is it ole
miss Georgia for the opportunity to get the revenge element?
But Lane Kiffn's not on the sideline, So is it
really revenge for somebody like Pete Golding in this situation?
I mean technically by seating it would be Miami over
(06:51):
Ohio State, I suppose, but that doesn't seem possible, Like
where does the most likely and most possible up set
probability exists?
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Well to your point, Currently, according to the DraftKings Odds,
Ohio State is a nine and a half point favorite
over Miami. I don't think that there's any action to
be had there. Currently, Georgia is a six and a
half point favorite over Old miss which is which is
beefy line? Indiana is a seven point favorite over Alabama.
(07:22):
And you know, Kurt Signetti flat out he was asked about,
you know, the players in taking on the aura of
Alabama and he even said he's like, I don't think
our players even understand the history of Alabama YouTube, but
our players only know what they see on film. And
I think he's right, Like, so, you know, to the
honest answer is the closest game Oregon Texas Tech is
(07:42):
going to be the best game of all of these.
It's just it's a game that I think a lot
of people care the least about out of all these,
brand wise. But I think Oregon Texas Tech. Would I
really call that an upset. Oregon's favored by two and
a half, by the way over a fifth seeded Oregon
favored by two and a half over Texas Tech. Alabama
should not be able to beat Indiana, And I think
(08:06):
what has to happen here is a mindset shift. And boy,
I had to make sure I really said that can
care for me? Thank you? A mindset shift. I'd just
tempted the gods twice because if we just changed the
jerseys to the Buck Risings versus the Jason Fitzes, here
it is. It is absolutely abundantly clear that Indiana is
(08:27):
better than Alabama. There is not a world this year
where Indiana is not better than Alabama. And I will
go back to as I told you before. For the
Big Ten Championship game, I sat in the corner of
my couch and I grabbed my carrots and I sat
there with the dogs and I said, Okay, show me something,
show me what you got right, Prove me, proved something
to me, and Indiana did by god Like, I mean,
Indiana has now gone to Oregon this year and won,
(08:49):
and they beat Big Ten champion in the Big Ten
Championship game. They beat Ohio State this If the exact
teams were reversed, we would be convinced Alabama's gonna roll.
I think sometimes because it's Indiana versus Alabama, that's the
game everybody points to. But to your point, really the
best shot at a notable upset might be Ole Miss
(09:10):
versus Georgia, given the fact that they've done that recently.
But man, I don't know. I think there's a very
real and bad for college football scenario where we get
three blowouts and a decent game that is in the
middle of the afternoon that doesn't get as much attention.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Man, I don't think any of these games are gonna
be blowouts.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
To you. I think Ohio State's gonna roll Miami. I
think that's a three touchdown win for a high why.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Though, I mean, Miami's defense is awesome, and I know
that Carson Beck against the Ohio State defense is not
a favorable matchup, But it's not like Miami's a pushover.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
No, Miami's defense is great. You're right, Carson Beck. I
don't trust worth a dang Like, I'm completely out on
Carson Beck being able to do anything in this And look,
I mean, yes, Miami got the win, and I was
surprised by that. I did not think Miami would win
in the first round. So maybe this is on me.
But go back this year and just ask ourselves how
(10:02):
much we've actually seen. You know, to your point, yes,
this Miami defense has been great. Have they really played
anybody that's going to stretch them and stress them the
way Ohio State is? I don't think so. I mean,
I think this Ohio State offense is just too damn explosive. So,
you know, the unfortunate thing for this way, I look
at some of these games like we have to look
(10:23):
at the ebb and flow of it. Then I got
to ask myself, can my quarterback dig me out of
a hole? Because in college football, way more than the NFL,
you can be down by seventeen and you can get
yourself right back into that game. The problem for Miami
is that if they are dug into a hole and
Carson Beck has to be the one that digs them out,
I don't think he can especially against this Ohio State defense,
So they got to keep it close to the entire way.
(10:45):
I don't think they will, so yeah, I think I
think Ohio State roles here.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
The other component of that, what you just mentioned about
the idea of the quarterback being able to dig you
out of a hole. Does that case work in favor
of Alabama? Because Alabama at this point in time, despite
not playing their best football for the final month of
the regular season and looking very suspect for the first
(11:09):
half against Oklahoma in their first round College Football playoff matchup,
would you now consider Alabama battle tested to the point
where you can trust them or do you still think
that they're fraught because they are playing in a lot
of games where they end up having to close it
out and being in a decisive or making decisive plays
(11:35):
and critical moments and route to swing up some of
these victories that feel like they shouldn't be as close
as they actually are if Alabama just goes out there
and does its job for four quarters. But that's not
been the case, right, But they've been in these situations
where ty Simpson has had to dig them out of holes.
I don't think of him that way, even though I've
(11:55):
seen him do it a variety of times. They're four
and one in one score for finishes this year. And
where are you on the idea of that being a
skill versus some degree? You know, there's a degree of
luck in all of this. The stats that cite a
team's record or a quarterbacks record or a coaches record
in one score games, I really struggle with them, given
(12:18):
how many individual plays can completely flip that stat on
its head.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Yeah. I think though, where it becomes significant is when
you need plays, do you have the best playmakers? And
where Alabama's skill position has had the best playmakers, they
certainly Ty Simpson has played well. You're right, I owed
Ty Simpson a little bit of an apology because I
don't think I expected, especially the way the last month
(12:43):
of the season. When if you'd have told me going
into the first round playoff matchup that Alabama would average
one point one yards per carry against Oklahoma and win
by ten, I had a slape in the face that
says you were stupid, right, Like, there's just no chance
that that's going to happen. And that's exactly what they did.
They averaged one point one yard per carry and they
(13:06):
beat Oklahoma by ten. Make it make sense. It's tough
to make that will make sense, especially you know, and
part of that has to do with just flat out efficiency.
Ty Simpson had a good game and he was able
to do that. You can't be that one dimensional and
beat this Indiana team. But there is something to all
of this. You mentioned Ty Simpson, which gets us to
Fernanda Mendoza, and it gets us to the one reason why,
(13:29):
even if you don't like college football, this playoff this weekend,
particularly if you are an NFL fan, is wildly important
to you. We'll tell you why when we come back.
He's buck Rising on Jason Fitz Bucking fits hanging out
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
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 iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Hey, this is Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straight Fire
with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pod pushing
the same tired narratives down your throat.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Every day.
Speaker 4 (14:07):
Straight Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest
sports headlines. Accurate stats to help you win big at
the sportsbook and all the best guests. Do yourself a
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Speaker 1 (14:27):
It's Bucking Fits hanging out with you on Fox Sports Radio.
It's actually the Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon, but
Bucking Fits taking over. We just came in, grabbed the
microphones from the fellows, so we're taking it. It's ours tonight.
Be sure to subscribe to the Fox Sports Radio YouTube channel.
You can see the battle that went down for it.
Just search Fox Sports Radio on YouTube. Looked a lot
like Anchorman. I'm just saying, you'll see our best videos
(14:49):
from all of our shows. Don't stop there, hit that
thumbs up icon. Comming away. Let us know the takes
that you like, frankly, even the ones you don't like,
especially if they're Bucks. Just search Fox Sports Radio on
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to go about it. By the way, you can also
tweet us at Jason Fitz at Buck Rising, which is
(15:13):
r ei SI ng. It's just spelling out there for everybody.
I really love the interaction. As we've been talking all night.
There's one thing about the College Football Playoff Buck that
I think NFL fans need to just circle on the
calendar and a reason why, even if you don't like
college football, you should sit down and watch these games
over the course of the next few days. And it's
(15:33):
proof of concept that that's going to happen from the
College Football Playoff and in fact, you cover cam Ward
and as part of your job covering the Tennessee Titans.
One thing that I said last year, right now at
this time, is that it really was a shame that
Miami wasn't in the College Football Playoff because it didn't
give everybody the opportunity to see cam Ward in a
(15:56):
pressure situation against the absolute best opponents. No matter what
you think of college football, you can acknowledge that for
Nano Mendoza, Ty Simpson, Dante Moore at Oregon, these are
three quarterbacks that if Dante and Ty decide that they're
going to declare for the NFL Draft, they are going
to make or lose millions of dollars based on what
(16:18):
the next couple of weeks look like, because you can't
tell me that if, for example, Oregon goes on around
Dante Moore is somebody that has a limited body of
work as a starter, right, but people already love the traits.
We know how much we talk about that. If he
goes out and just dominates the college Football Playoff Oregon
wins the national Championship, I guarantee you the conversation around
(16:38):
his draft stocks is going to change. If Nano Mendoza
goes out in his first playoff game and throws four
picks and is absolutely awful, while ty Simpson goes out
and lights it up, There's gonna be a real conversation,
and there should be, because this is part of the
glory of what's happening for the college football that does
impact the NFL in a good way. More proof of
concept on quarterbacks is a good thing for teams trying
(17:00):
to figure out who to draft.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
You think Cam's got any mixed emotions about watching this
Miami team with the defense that's all world versus his
Miami team where he's getting in shootouts on a weekly
basis with Fernando Mendosa at Cal and with Tyler Schuck
at Louisville and things like that, Like he has to
(17:23):
be a little I mean, every time he's asked about it,
and we have asked him about it a couple of times,
he's expressed nothing but happiness for the program and for
the guys that were his teammates last year and all
these different kinds of things. But ah, just a little
bit of a selfish moment at one point in time.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Being like, God, I just wish.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
That I had the opportunity to play with the defense
like that at my back.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Dude. I had to apologize last year to Anthony Gargano,
my friend and co host on The Fellows for a
couple of years on Fox Sports Radio right and the
week of the Georgia Tech Miami game, he kept telling me,
He's like, man, Miami's defense stinks. Georgia Tech's gonna run
all over him. Miami's gonna lose this game. And I
sat there in there and I was like, there is
(18:05):
no damn way. Cam Ward is too good and he
saves them too often. They'll be just fine. Oh my god.
I was at the gym that day working out during
the game, and I looked out on my phone and
I have like twenty texts from Gargano that was just like, hmmm,
would you like to say anything now while we watched
Georgia tex just run the football down that defense's throat
all day, Like, I mean, cam Ward was failed by
(18:26):
that Miami defense. There's no toubt go ahead to get well.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
No, I just I just I am fascinated to see
how these quarterbacks respond. What's the biggest question about Fernando
Mendoz to you?
Speaker 1 (18:37):
I I don't really have a lot of questions about
Fernando Mendos. I guess I walked into the Big Ten
Championship game saying, Okay, what's it gonna look like when
there are people just barreling at him, Like, what's he
look like? Under pressure? Got it? And then he just
gets knocked the you know like straight out of Friday.
He got knocked the you know what out and then
(18:58):
got right back up and kept throwing the ball. With that,
I think people would probably like to see some athleticism
too from him. Let's see him run around a little bit,
make plays off schedule. What's it look like when he's
flushed out of the pocket and has to continually make plays.
I think that's probably what most people want to see,
but I don't know, man. That was my question was
what's it looked like when there are a huge defensive
(19:18):
linemen at his feet? And I thought he looked great
in the Big Ten championship game of that setting.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
No, he was incredibly tough, and to your point, he
did not it would rattle anybody in that particular situation.
I thought he was as tough as he's been all
season long in that particular game. Whereas the rest of
these guys, as you kind of look at what ty
Simpson is up against, can they continue to be one dimensional?
Indiana's offense has a bit more balance right now. It's
(19:45):
allowing for Fernando Mendoza to be a better version of himself.
There's so much pressure being put on ty Simpson for
an Alabama team that can't keep their running backs healthy
and the offensive line hasn't been up to snuff, and
the idea that Alabama can't run the football with regular
or to just control the pace of the game and
to take pressure off of their quarterback in these particular
(20:06):
situations where they're existing in so many third and six
plus situations that he simply had to bail them out
of and for a good period, as we talked about
earlier in the show, for a good period of the
regular season. He wasn't having as much success in those
third and long circumstances because it's simply not sustainable for
somebody like Dante more in Oregon. Where is where is
(20:29):
the place that they can be exploited? If there is
a place that they can be exploited, and how will
that matchup kind of take shape in front of us?
Will the Oregon just be overwhelming the way that they
kind of have been the whole way through, except against
Indiana at home, which is probably one of the most
impressive college football wins of the season. I would venture
(20:50):
a guess, but I'm looking at a lot of these
teams because Texas Tech they invested what twenty five million
dollars in their roster reported in Nile spending this year,
somewhere about the vast majority of that in their defensive line.
That's going to be the toughest test that Oregon has
seen up front all year long. And I don't know
(21:10):
that there. I don't know that it would favor them.
Indiana gave them a hard time, especially in the second
half of that game. If you remember early on in
the Big Ten season or in the in the college
football season when Indiana went out west to play that game.
And I don't think anybody expected Indiana's defense to be
able to fly around and move sideline to sideline with
such efficiency as they are able to do. Texas Tech
(21:32):
is a way bigger, faster, stronger version of anything that
Oregon has seen all year long. I am I am
so curious. That's the biggest science experiment game to me.
As you mentioned, it may not have the attractiveness and
it may not do the biggest rating of any of
these teams that we're talking about, or any of these
games that we're talking about, but that, by far and
(21:52):
away is the most interesting matchup one to me.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Well, and there are interesting levels to the spending that
you just mentioned. I want to get more. We're into that,
but first, Steve Desager, get us updated on what's going
on on the scoreboard right now.
Speaker 5 (22:05):
We've got overtime at the Alamo Bowl. USC was leading
TCU by ten with five minutes to go, and then
two long drives for the horn Frogs the last two
forum in regulation touchdown and then a short field goal
and the game is tied. At twenty four sc with
a second in goal on its overtime possession coming up.
(22:26):
Illinois edged Tennessee thirty to twenty eight in the Music
City Bowl on a short field goal final play, and
Louisiana Tech in Treeport today beat Coastal Carolina twenty three
to fourteen. Miami will play number two Ohio State on
New Year's Eve at the Cotton Bowl quarterfinal. Ohio State
head coach Ryan Day will call the offensive plays in
their playoff opener. Brian Hartline will leave later for USF.
(22:48):
Oregon faces Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl Quarterfinal on
New Year's Day. Texas Tech quarterback Baron Morton has practiced
fully this month. He's out of a walking boot. He'd
injured his leg two and a half half months ago.
Alabama will be in the Rose Bowl quarterfinal against number
one Indiana. There is a chance of rain steel for Pasadyen.
It will definitely rain on the parade. In fact, the
(23:09):
newest storm to southern California is coming tomorrow, but they're
saying right now that it's likely not going to rain
through the whole game. Nonetheless, a rarity a rainy Rose Bowl,
and we'll see what the turf is like for that
Rose Bowl. By the way, Alabama sophomore wide receiver Ryan
Williams said he does plan to return to the team
next season, and Ole miss will play Georgia in the
(23:31):
Sugar Bowl quarterfinal New Year's Night. Mississippi lost at Georgia
in October forty three to thirty five. Georgia scored seventeen
straight points in the fourth quarter to win. Northwestern's new
offensive coordinator is Chip Kelly. The new defensive coordinator at
Boston College is Ted Rufe. The Dallas Cowboys cut veteran
defensive back Trayvon Diggs. The Steelers are optimistic that pass
(23:53):
rusher TJ. Watt can play in the finale Sunday Night
against Baltimore. Drew Brees and Eli Manning are among the
fifteen Hall of Fame finalists to the NBA Scoreboard. Just
four games, Detroit still leading, but not by much at
the Lakers eighty six eighty one late in the third,
even though the Pistons are shooting sixty five percent from
the floor. The Lakers Lukadancic has twenty seven points in
(24:16):
twenty eight minutes on the court. Complete domination at the
Clippers Arena for the Clips seventy nine forty five over
Sacramento early in the third. Boston won again one twenty
nine to one nineteen at Utah despite thirty seven points
from Keyante George, and Philadelphia got an overtime victory at
Memphis one thirty nine, one thirty six, thirty four points
(24:37):
each for Joel Embiide and Tyrese Maxi in the loss,
forty points for John Morant. Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokich
will miss at least a month with a hyper extended
knee suffered last night. He has a bone bruise in
the left knee as well. Bulls guard Josh Kitty could
reportedly miss a few weeks with the strained hamstring he
suffered last night. Hawk center Kristaps Porzinga will return from
(25:01):
illness on Wednesday. NHL Montreal one in overtime, three to
two at Florida the Angels in third basement. Anthony Rendon
reportedly restructured his contract. Sc has kicked a field goal
Trojans twenty seven, twenty four in overtime still against TCU
at the Alamobile Back to you.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
He's bug rising on Jason Fitz We're hanging out with you.
Bucket Fit's takeover coming to you live from the Fox
Sports Radio studio. Speaking of some college football, why don't
we get into some tire rack. Well, actually there is
no play here. Look at me learning how to read.
We'll tell you about tire Rack. For over forty years,
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The way tire buying should be. You can buy plenty
of tires for the budget, nil budget, I should say,
in college football, for many of these programs you just
mentioned some of what we're going to learn. I just
(26:01):
want to remind everybody. According to On three Sports that
did a survey of the top spenders in college football,
number one was Texas. They're not in this, number two,
Texas Tech, number three, Ohio State number four, Oregon number five,
Texas A and m already eliminated and Miami tied. Right,
So you can go up and down the list and
(26:23):
see a pretty easy correlation between the amount of money
spent and the success they're having. It will be interesting
to see, though, Buck, because when you're putting that much
money on the line, I always call them the Buddy
Garritys for anybody that loves Friday Night Lights the way
I do. Like, if you remember the show, Buddy Garritty
was the used car dealer that was coming up to
Coach Taylor constantly being like, why are we playing this guy?
(26:44):
Why are we doing that? Like what's going to happen
for the program? You got a lot of Buddy Garritys
involved in all of these. So when you're spending that
much money, it is going to be interesting to see
how the teams that don't advance. When you're talking about
Texas Tech being the second highest amount of money in
Oregon being the fourth, how all of these fan bases
and how all of these collectives react to it. Because
(27:04):
this isn't just pride anymore. There's a lot of cash
being spent with the expectation of a national championship.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Two things on that front. Am I allowed to continue
in my profession as a sports NFL reporter and a
sports talk host. If I've never seen or read Friday Night.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Lights, yes you can. Here's what I would tell you
the movies. The movie's good. The movie's good, the book
is very good. The TV show is elite. It's one
of the best TV shows ever made. So Cavy show
better than the movie, far better than the movie. And
the TV show was really just like it's really about
a family in small town life, and football is the
(27:43):
backdrop on it. Friday Night Lights. The TV show is
just just started from the beginning to yourself that gift,
give yourself that New Year's gift. It will I don't
even like sports movies, Like as a general rule, I
don't like sports movies. If I want drama, just watch
actual sports. I don't need to watch Disney make a
sports movie when I can just watch an actual sporting event. Friday.
(28:08):
Oh well, what was that was that with what's his name? Yeah? Yeah, yeah?
Was that any given Sunday?
Speaker 2 (28:14):
That sounds right, any given Sunday. It's one of the
most ridiculous football movies I've ever seen. It's delightful, but
it's just outrageous, like it's got, It's got when the
guy's eyeball pops out on the field is.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
One of the most like this is where when everybody
like when everybody does their rankings a best sports movie.
My ranking is always they're all trash like it just
like for everybody else. Can't say that I just don't
like them.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
I don't like them like remember the Titans.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Remember the Titans was fine, it was fine.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
I will accept fine, I will accept fine. But you
cannot call it trash. It is not a trash movie.
There are many quotable lines to call it a trash movie.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
We I was in school, I think it was middle school,
we had to write a report, like a character analysis
report on the movie Feel to Dreams. That was our
school assignment, and I instead wrote the report on what
a waste it was that we were watching a movie
in a class like it just did like I thought
it was stupid. And my parents got called in for
(29:11):
a parent teacher conference, and I remember my mom coming
in and mother f and the teacher up and down
because she thought I was right. So I'm just saying,
I've never, you know, always a sports CHUNKI never a
sports movie fan. Friday Night Lights, the TV show, the.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
Access secondarily, okay, didn't Florida State just kind of go
through this where they spent big in the portal and
they went all in in the portal after having success
and being snubbed from the college Football Playoff picture because
it was a Jordan Travis the name of the quarterback.
Yeah at the time it snapped his leg and all
the controversy that came out of that. Then they come
(29:45):
back next year, they spend all this money on defensive
line help in the portal, and it goes straight to hell. Now,
Mike norvel is just kind of a lame duck coaching
situation because they spent their budget, their fans aren't spending
any more money on that program, to the point where
Florida State fans they're almost just kind of taking a
(30:05):
It's not a tanking year, almost because you can't tank.
What are you tanking for in college football? But you're
kind of just letting a season go by. So Norvelle's
buyout goes down, which to me is the equivalent of
college of tanking in college football, like just throwing away
a season because you've put yourself in a financial situation
(30:29):
that is not sustainable and now all of a sudden
you don't like your coach anymore and you want to
move on. But also that's going to cost a lot
more money and you've already asked all these boosters for
all this money, and they're not willing to give you anymore.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Yeah, it's that's the part of this. Like for everybody
that sits there and talks about the future of college football,
I think what doesn't necessarily get enough coverage because we're
all convinced, you know that not we're all there are
many people that are loudly convinced this sport is broken.
I'm not one personally. I think ratings are up, then
everybody's paying more attention, and it's kind of fun to me.
(31:01):
Like I also, at my core don't care about your
favorite football team. I just love the sports, so since
I don't care if one team is being sacrificed, like
I've had this argument with you know, Michael Junior obviously
passionate about college football and knows so much about it
and played it, and the number of times he and
I have argued about it, Like I just I don't
care if your program doesn't succeed, and I don't really
(31:23):
care if they level the playing field. I just want
to watch the best college football I can. So'm I'm
a big fan of free market capitalism. In capital capitalism,
so go out and get yours, buy yours, and if
you can't buy yours, that's not really my problem. So
I just like watching college football. With that being said,
I do think you raised an interesting point because at
some point, for any rich person, there has to be
(31:45):
some level of ROI or you stop giving money. Now,
maybe you can buy that ROI is a championship a
few times, but can you sustainably go in and find
tens of millions of dollars into the eventually hundreds of
millions of dollars that require over the course of decades.
Can you find billions of dollars from benefactors that have
(32:06):
no money to be made other than just watching their
favorite college football teams win. I think that that well
dries at some point. There has to be some way
that it's bringing back cash or it's bringing back results. Otherwise,
to your point, there's always going to be somebody that
for a year or two will give money, But will
they continue forever? I mean, it's just this isn't the
(32:28):
NFL where you've got owners that are turning around and
doing it because they're also making hundreds of millions of
dollars in profit. This is just a bunch of you know,
Buddy garrityes out there trying to find a way to
make sure that Indiana wins a championship and that that's
cute for a few years that I don't know how
sustainable that is.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
There's never been a state that has more people named
Buddy Garrity in real life than Indiana.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
That that is fair. TCU, by the way, has just
taken down USC in overtime. They have won the game
falls and just a reminder that USC isn't even in
the college football playoff. Conversation, guys, it is. It is
(33:09):
wild to me how some brands have figured out how
to compete and some brands just have it. We got
plenty more to break down on it, including like, let's
figure it out. Let's figure out for all of this,
who we actually think is worth watching the most and
who's gonna win this thing. We'll figure it out. He's
Buck Rising, I'm Jason fitz buckmfits hanging out with you
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (33:29):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
So Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon, But a Buck
and fits takeover Buck Rising. I'm Jason Fitz with you
all the way until two a m. Eastern time, hanging
out with you. We just watched USC lose in a
bowl game you're not paying attention to. But there is
consequence to all of this as we try and figure
out what the hell to make of who USC is
(34:00):
right now, Because, frankly, when you think about the teams
that you expect can be dominant across the landscape of
college football, USC is supposed to be on that list.
But earlier in the show, when we were talking about
money and where it's currently invested. When you're talking about
the top spenders in college football, you can go all
the way down to number ten and not see Oh
I correct myself, USC listed at number seven. So USC
(34:22):
out here spending number seven money for what a loss
in a bowl game. I know bowl games aren't significant,
but it feels like it's all significant right now for
a team that's just lost. Our producer, bo USC. You're
a US guy through and three you went to USC.
How we feeling like what has to happen for USC
in your mind to become nationally prominent again.
Speaker 6 (34:46):
It's such a double edged sword at this point because
they have the number one recruiting class next year. That
is of course by volume, not by pure talent in there.
But so you can't really sit here and say fire
Lincoln Riley. But it's getting close to there. I don't
know if you guys have seen their schedule for next year.
They get Ohio State and Oregon at home, and they
(35:09):
go on the road to Indiana. So that's I think
three losses right there, and then of course you know
they have Maryland at home, they have watching It at home,
Penn State, Rutgers, Wisconsin, Ucla on the road next year.
That's probably five six losses given the way this team
has played, so he's probably gonna get fired next year.
(35:29):
So kind of if you're gonna do it anyway, you
might as well just do it. But the program is
not to where it needs to be for how much
Lincoln Rally' is getting paid and the talent that they have,
so they kind of do need to just hit reset.
I think this is just the latest embarrassing. Like I
don't know if you guys saw the play that they
lost on, but it was just bad tackling, which has
just been the thing with all of Lincoln Riley's teams.
(35:52):
So it's really just frustrating because, as we were talking
about in the break, like USC is the pro football
team out here, Like the support for the Rams has
gotten better as long as they've been here longer. But
when us he's good, like, the city goes absolutely nuts
for them, and we've been waiting for that to come
back and it just hasn't yet.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
Well it's interesting because they they have and who is
that what is the name of the defensive coordinator of
that's leaving them for Penn State bo.
Speaker 6 (36:18):
It's Dan Lynn, Okay, Dan Stanton, but everybody just calls
him Dan.
Speaker 2 (36:22):
He's been there for a couple of years now and
he's actually helped kind of level out USC's defense. I mean,
they were they were not great by any stretch of
the imagination this year, but they were forty eighth overall
in the country. They were averaging or giving up twenty
two point four points per game, So you know, right
around the right around the South Carolina, Florida State Vandy line,
(36:43):
which is good enough to give your opportunity or give
your offense an opportunity. And all Lincoln Riley has to
show for his tenure so far in Los Angeles, is
wins in the Holiday Bowl, FITZI and the Las Vegas Bowl.
I think he is the biggest underachiever relative to expectation
in college football right now, Lincoln Riley. And maybe that's
(37:04):
easy for me to do because I'm not you know,
I don't watch USC day in and day out. I'm
not on the West Coast. I'm in Nashville, Tennessee. And
you know, it probably doesn't help to just to put
all the biases out there that I'm a Notre Dame fan,
and I don't love the way that he's talking about
the way that Notre Dame ended the USC Notre Dame
rivalry in his estimation, where he failed to follow through
(37:28):
on the pledge to play Notre Dame anytime anywhere. So
I look at Lincoln Riley and I look at his
tenure and I understand the meteoric rise that he had
at the time and earned by the way, Like those
Oklahoma teams that he was coaching were awesome. He got
the best out of Jalen Hurts by a mile. And
Jalen Hurts was also coached by Nick Saban in his
(37:50):
collegiate career. There's so much good that he has done.
But this is one of those things where I feel
like we've probably had this some version of this conversation before.
Where you are if you are good enough at a
couple of things, but you get promoted to the point
in your respective industry or profession where you cease to
(38:14):
be good at the job that you've been given because
you've just been promoted past the point of your competency.
It happens in a lot of industries. Hell, it happens
in our industry. Mean if it's your shining examples of
people who have been promoted beyond our competency on a
regular basis, I just feel like Lincoln Riley is that
in a big boy job with big boy stakes and
a huge amount of resources that he's done jack with.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
For me, the resources are part of what I always
think of when I think of USC, because certainly I
didn't grow up in LA but I did grow up
in Vegas as a kid, and you grew up in
Vegas as a kid. You understand the brand of USC
from a college football standpoint and the ability to dominate
the entire West Coast from recruiting standpoint. Like, think of
how often you and I have talked about some of
(38:59):
the advantages that are perceived in the SEC when it
comes to recruiting. Now, I have made the argument a
lot in the last year that modern college football means
that you've got private jets and first class tickets to everything.
So I'm not sure having the most recruits in your
state matters as much. You just got to make sure
that you have a path and a plan that will
allow families to fly out and see the kids. I
(39:22):
find that there's less and less importance to regionality in
recruiting in college football when I talk to high school
kids right now. That being said, USC is supposed to
dominate the West Coast. Now, I'll give some of that
to Oregon, certainly, Dan Lanning has built a program. But
if you are turning around and you are a quarterback whisperer,
which is absolutely got to be part of Lincoln Riley's
(39:44):
sales pitch right like, come here and I'll help you
win a Heisman. If you are a wide receiver that
wants to play like you should be able to be
building the most explosive offense because you have just the
upper hand on the West Coast constantly. So I feel
like there's an advantage here that just isn't being taken
advantage of. So you're Lincoln Riley who's getting paid an
(40:06):
astronomical amount of money to be the head football coach
at USC, and you're doing what with it? Like, what
is the thing that USC is better than expected? What
is the winds above replacement that Lincoln Riley is bringing
to the table. And if the answer is none,
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The Burden
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.