BIG TEN TEAM PREVIEWS: Iowa, Nebraska, USC, Washington, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan State, UCLA & Rutgers | 2025 College Football - The Solid Verbal College Football

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the solid verbal.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
I'll that for me.

Speaker 1 (00:06):
I'm a man, I'm forty.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
I've heard so many players say, well, I want to
be happy.

Speaker 3 (00:10):
You want to be happy for day at the State?

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Is that? Whoo whoom?

Speaker 2 (00:14):
And Dan and Tie.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
Danner Venstein welcome back Big ten Preview Part three. This
is Big ten Team Previews Part Duh dude. On today's episode,
let me get my notepad out here. We've got Iowa, Nebraska, USC,
Michigan State, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ucla, and Rutgers.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
All kind of fascinating in their own way.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
They kind of are. I was looking over this before
we hit go, and yeah, each one of these teams,
I have what, at least for me is a whole
list of intriguing questions. So I'm excited to be back
here with you. I'm excited to be back here with
our wonderful for ballerhood. Hit follow hit subscribes that you
don't miss the episodes of our bowlers. Dot Com of

(01:03):
course is the Patreon where you can go and further
support what Dan and I do. The five star ratings
and reviews are always appreciated to help spread the word
about what we're doing here. If you're a Big Ten
fan or just a big fan of college football, go
back and listen to parts one and two so that
you know what's going on at least through half of
our or a third two thirds of our Big Ten coverage.

(01:25):
This is the final chapter today, mister Rubinstein. How goes it?

Speaker 2 (01:29):
It goes really well. It's very hot here in the
Midwest as we record this, and what better way to
celebrate that heat, that burn is to talk Minnesota football,
Rutgers rebuilding their secondary, UCLA looking for offensive linemen, USC

(01:53):
try to finish some games. It all adds up. Ty,
I'm very ready to talk about all of these teams. Really,
the Big Ten is a five conference. We talked about
it before that. It was a maybe surprisingly electric year
for the conference last year with adding the teams that
they added and getting the emerging teams that they got,
and even the teams that seemed to be down were

(02:14):
competitive by the end of the season. For the most part.
There were results there to say like, Okay, this team
is improving. Michigan State whatever they are, beat Iowa, Ucla,
whatever they are, beat Iowa.

Speaker 1 (02:25):
Yeah, this is true, very true. Iowa ran an average
offense last year. Right, Hey, so why not there was
hidden electricity to be mined in twenty twenty four, and
I'm excited to see that. Maybe it's not all over
the place this year, but of the teams you just listed,
there's a lot of sparks here.

Speaker 3 (02:44):
Big Ten twenty twenty five, Dark.

Speaker 1 (02:48):
Energy, dark energy, dark.

Speaker 3 (02:52):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (02:53):
Well, welcome on back. Thank you one and all again
for your ongoing support. I'm excited to do this show.
I've shot out out of a cannon today. I am
ready for this. I am excited to close out all
things Big ten with you. Dan. We talked about the
Biggins on the last episode. Today is going to be
more Biggins.

Speaker 3 (03:10):
Of course.

Speaker 1 (03:11):
Is a big conference now eighteen teams, Yes, but not
necessarily the teams. We've gotten that top tier. Where do
you want to start? Who is of most interest to
you on this list of team that we got to
talk about today?

Speaker 2 (03:25):
Listen, I've already said their school twice. They are the
team that has probably had the most recent success in
this conference. I guess we're going Iowa, Iowa most Big
Ten of these teams. I don't know Wisconsin. Perhaps let's
go Iowa.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
I love Iowa. I'm all in in Iowa. This here, man,
I like them. I like them more than I expected.
I set it back in part one. The win total
six and a half. It might be by bet of
the year. I'm all in. Wow. Tough schedule, right, yeah,
And I'll talk through why. But I'm They're all in
the middle, all everyone. Every last one of my soliverbo

(04:02):
poker chips which we don't have yet, maybe we can
get made. Every last one of them is in the
middle for Iowa this year.

Speaker 2 (04:09):
Wow, can you explain why? Where are we starting? The
Great State of South Dakota.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
Well, we're going to get to the Great State of
South Dakota again. I've been doing this thing and this
is kind of like I think my achilles heel. It's
just a broadcaster or a podcast or a person in general.
I always have this affinity to go back and talk
through all the contexts before I get to my point.
So forgive me, indulge me a second. But the context

(04:35):
is important here because Iowa, Iowa was a laughing stock
on offense, so they brought in Tim Lester before the
start of last season. I remember having Scott Document on
with us from the Athletic to talk through what that
looked like and how we thought the offense might evolve.
The offense improved dramatically. It was one of the ten

(04:57):
worst offenses in twenty twenty three. Last season it jumped
up to like middle of the pack. Yeah, which look,
middle of the pack does not constitute a great offense.
Middle of a pack for Iowa given where they've been,
that was a great offense.

Speaker 2 (05:10):
Iowa improved by one point zero seven points. They were
the eighth most improved offense in America in terms of
points per drive, especially you know, taking away garbage time.
So yes, from a pure efficiency standpoint, and they're not
playing fast, but even still doesn't matter. That ad up
to points wise is an extra point per drive, which

(05:31):
ten eleven twelve drives per game adds up.

Speaker 1 (05:33):
It just has to work. It just has to work. Now,
did he build the whole plane out of Caleb Johnson
in fifteen hundred yards from him?

Speaker 3 (05:41):
Absolutely? Do they have Caleb Johnson this year?

Speaker 1 (05:44):
He is playing in the NFL, So yeah, a little
bit of a thing that they got to work out there.
But still I think the proof of concept in year
one was there for Tim Lester Agree, who I do
continue to get confused with John Lester, former Boston Red
Sox pitch lefty right. Yes, okay, so yes, it's gonna
hurt to lose Caleb Johnson. I don't see how it can't.

(06:07):
But this is still a veteran team with a lot back,
which is bringing in my guy, Mark Gronowski from South
Dakota State. Yes, quarterback, this guy, quarterback, thank you. This
guy was the best player at the FCS level. He
had a forty nine and six record as a starter,
one back to back national titles with the jack Rabbits.

(06:31):
I gave him the cam Ward treatment, the full cam
Ward treatment, which means I went out and I watched
as much tape of his as I could find out
on YouTube and two hours worth. This guy is absolutely
going to give team fits, teams fit. Okay, I can't
even talk on that exit because I had that Guyanne

(06:53):
Pepper this morning by accident. That's what's my tongue is
still on fire.

Speaker 2 (06:57):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (06:59):
He's a really strong long runner.

Speaker 1 (07:00):
Between the tackles, and I think there's going to be
this constant fear with him that they're just gonna run
a quarterback draw, a delayed quarterback draw. I really like him,
and he's not a jitterbug. You know, he's not going
to be out there dancing around pulling a bit Siefield. Yeah,
six three two twenty. Dude's gonna go out there and
head hunt. He wants to run you over. So that's

(07:23):
what South Dakota State did. Essentially, they played it off
that to great effect. They'd snap the ball, maybe a
stutter step or two, Bam, he pops it over your
secondary because you're afraid of him running. I think this
could work really well with Tim Lester's philosophy, which is
trying to get some burners out wide who can get vertical,

(07:44):
and he does want to pop you deep. Now, they
didn't really have that last year, right, and the guys
they have this year I think are unproven. But I
do think that they have done done the necessary work
to go out there and get the pieces in place
that in theory, could make that work. I almost can't
wait to see the Syhawk game because I am telling
you right now they're going to pull this on Iowa State,

(08:06):
given Iowa State's questions in the back of their defense.
I am just waiting to see if they're able to
cook the clones one time A couple times on this
exact thing that I am describing, where the thread of
him running is there. Everybody's got to creep up. Before
you know it, there's somebody going deep for a ball.

Speaker 3 (08:26):
Okay, So I think it works.

Speaker 1 (08:28):
The other thing we should mention, and maybe we should
start here with Iowa. I think one of the better
lines in the conference, sure, which definitely should.

Speaker 2 (08:38):
Help when you have one of the greatest, if not
the greatest offensive line coach. Ever, as your head coach,
you assume quality development, you assume a high standard and
improvement year over year.

Speaker 1 (08:50):
So that's what I'm looking for. That's what I think
Mark Gronowski brings to the equation. Again, I watched a
lot of highlights of him. He's a What stuck out
to me was the running ability and his running style.
He can throw it, He's been a very good thrower.
But I just think having a dual threat guy that
can get those hard yards for you, those guys tend

(09:11):
to be a problem. I'm not saying he's Tim Tebow like,
let's not go there, but those type of guys who
aren't afraid to run you over tend to be a
real problem to stop as a defense. And I think
I was got that with him, so I hope it works.
You know, defensively, defensively, it's going to be a step back.
They allowed seventeen points a game last year. I think
I like him more upfront than in the back seven.

(09:33):
But Phil Parker knows what he's doing.

Speaker 2 (09:34):
Yep.

Speaker 1 (09:35):
And like, even if they're marginally worse here, I still
think they're going to be a top fifteen at worst
top twenty defense. I always set up really well. I
really like the pieces that they've gotten. I'm real curious
to see what this offense is going to look like.

Speaker 2 (09:46):
Okay, I think all of that is reasonable. Mark Ronowski
did play a game against a power conference team last year.
They played the worst Big twelve team in Oklahoma State.
He was fine, not a huge game, and he was
with FC level talent. Somewhat on South Dakota State. I mean,
I think South Dakota State would have won games as
an FBS team last year. So I think there is

(10:11):
high potential for improvement over where they were at quarterback
last year. Obviously, Cad McNamara gets hurt and it's you know, comedy.
I think was Brendan Lewis, Brendan Sullivan. That was a
Brendan in Iowa's offense, Brendan Sullivan to me, it's just
going to be a question of to whom is he
throwing right that it's hard to convince receivers to go

(10:32):
to Iowa quality receivers, and I know you know it
offers an opportunity for transfers. What does their tight end
room look like? For so many years they were year
after year after year, like mac equality tight ends. As
bad as the offense would look, you were still dealing
with what Noah Fan and t J. Hawkinson, Hockinson and
Luke Lasche like guys like that, Sam Laporta, We're always there,

(10:58):
So what is the status of that room? Curious to
see where the upside is there and just pedal to
metal aggression. You know that's not going to be Iowa's
calling card on offense. But are they going to take opportunities?
Are they going to continue to be a little bit
more unpredictable, and are they going to do more than
just try to service their defense which worked for a
long time and probably would still work to a certain extent.

(11:20):
But take the shots when they're there, And you're right
about the defense and a lot of new faces there.
You know, it's a system, right, It's that aggressive zone system.
So Phil Parker can continue to teach it and they
can continue to develop and identify guys that work in
that system. Yeah, there's a little bit experience in the
back end, not a ton. I think it's safety linebackers.
The concern for me for the Iowa team just because

(11:43):
they're replacing so much talent, losing Jay Higgins and like again,
this is a position group where they have continuously found
guys to step in and succeed. I just wonder how
long it's going to take when there are that many
questions on both sides of the ball against this schedule.

Speaker 1 (11:58):
Yeah, and look, I like Iowa a lot. There are
real questions about what they're going to be out wide.
There's you know that that's going to be the open
question as to whether or not they can do any
of what I described.

Speaker 3 (12:10):
My guy, though, is Sam Phillips.

Speaker 1 (12:12):
That's my pet player outside of Mark Ronowski on this
s Iowa squad. Sam Phillips, I think a five to
nine burner from Chattanooga. I want to say, I don't
have my notes in front of me on Sam Phillips,
but I liked what I saw he had offers from
some other places, some other power conference places around the country.

Speaker 2 (12:32):
Legendary producer started Sun Records, Johnny Cash, Sam Phillips.

Speaker 1 (12:36):
Right, same guy, same guy, absolutely the same guy. So
I like what I see from Iowa. I'm fine with
the defense, even though for sure there are some question marks.
The sticking point is the schedule, though you're right about that.
They've got five of the projected top seven in the conference.
Let me say this though, I already know I'm going
to catch out for this online, So it's fine. It

(12:57):
just is what it is. I'm only confident two losses
on this thing, Penn State and Oregon, both of which
are at home. Yeah, both are at home. I think
they can beat Iowa State. I think they can beat Indiana.
I think they can beat USC. I think they can
beat Nebraska. I am not saying they will beat all

(13:17):
of those teams, Okay, but I think nine and three
is like a real possibility. My bets eight and Fourka.
But if we're having this conversation December and we're talking
about a nine and three Iowa that played that style
of offense, was able to use Mark Ronowski's skill set
to beat teams deep either way. Eight and four, nine

(13:38):
and three against the schedules A pretty good year, a
pretty good year, and you would clear that over under
of six and a half by a game and a half.
So that's like my bet of the year. I don't
have the lockdown. I'll have to find the locksown, but
my lock of the year in terms of win totals
is Iowa over six and a half.

Speaker 2 (13:56):
Yeah, it's also not terrible. Look the teams are tricky,
but they get a buy at home before Oregon. I
believe Oregon's off as well, but you want you want
to buy at home before a big game there Iowa
for Indiana, which they get in Iowa City. That huge
Indiana Illinois game is the week before that, so that's

(14:17):
nice for Iowa. Wisconsin, I believe is in a crazy
sandwich between Michigan and Ohio state that game is there's
always going to be a motion in that game. I
believe that was the nature film I did Iowa Wisconsin,
the Hakaiskys, Yeah, the iowah Kis. Of course, Iowa gets
sc before Oregon, before SC has Oregon, excuse me, and

(14:40):
Iowa has Nebraska to finish out the season. The week
after Nebraska travels to Penn State. So Iowa most certainly
is that program. If you're a little bit worn down emotionally,
a little bit worn down physically, they become that much
less fun to play against, exactly, and so duationally, Iowa

(15:01):
does have good teams, but they will grind down those
who have already been ground down pretty easily. So I
don't hate the schedule. I don't love the schedule. I
think I'm right in that like eight ish wind zone. Yeah,
so we're both going over, We're both going over. Oh,
look at this now. I don't love, just plainly the

(15:25):
idea of an FCS quarterback as much as you are
in love with Mark Gronowski.

Speaker 1 (15:29):
I love all FCS quarterbacks equally, but maybe Mark Gronowski
a lot.

Speaker 2 (15:34):
Cam Ward was incredible after two years at Washington State
after Incarnate Word.

Speaker 3 (15:39):
I'm always early on these guys.

Speaker 1 (15:40):
If Mark Gronowski can play until he's twenty seven, he'll
be great. Yes, How he'll do this year, I don't know,
but I feel pretty good about it. I did find
the sound. I do have it at the ready. If
you have any locks that you'd like to trot out
for the people here, Unfortunately, they updated my soundboard app
and it deleted all the sounds, so I'm having to
add these back on the floor, which has definitely added

(16:01):
a degree of difficulty that I'm not used to.

Speaker 2 (16:04):
By the way, easy transition here sounds to the next team,
unless you have any other stray eye.

Speaker 1 (16:07):
Oh no, no, no, I'm good, and I'm good in Iowa.
I'm pretty pumped.

Speaker 2 (16:10):
Is your Phil Snow sound back? Because Phil Snow is back?

Speaker 1 (16:16):
All right, vamp a little bit. I'm gonna find.

Speaker 2 (16:18):
It, Okay. So obviously we're talking about Nebraska here. Longtime
collaborator hand man. Yes, Matt rule. Phil Snow back as
an associate head coach with Matt Ruhle in Nebraska, which
totally changes my outlook on the husk No.

Speaker 3 (16:34):
I really like.

Speaker 2 (16:35):
Phil Snow's defenses at Baylor. Anybody would be crazy not
to have enjoyed those defenses. But Nebraska is the next move. Obviously,
rivalry game against Iowa and a huge off season of
change for Nebraska making Daniel Holgerson the full time offensive coordinator.
I think it's hiring or promoting John Butler the secondary's coach.

Speaker 3 (16:55):
Yeah, yeah, I got it, I got it.

Speaker 1 (16:57):
I got it.

Speaker 2 (16:57):
Okay, okay, web.

Speaker 1 (16:58):
Cover coming up to wait, goo goo.

Speaker 2 (17:03):
Snow advisory.

Speaker 1 (17:04):
That's the snow advisory, baby, you know it.

Speaker 2 (17:08):
Phil Snow is back. He was at Temple and Baylor.
I think he went with him to the Panthers. You
can fact check me on that. Nebraska's fascinating, right, Nebraska's
fascinating because of year two of Dylan Royola upgrades at receiver,
the line should finally be pretty decent after a long
stretch of the line not being pretty decent. Yeah, changes

(17:30):
in the running back room, but there's still some continuity there.
Of course. I think Dante dud Dell's off to Kentucky,
I believe. And so the expectation after a very picklebally
twenty twenty four of short routes and not stretching teams
downfield all that often is that Nebraska will at least
be more varied. They're not going to be bombing it

(17:52):
down the field all the time now with Dylan Royola,
but the threat should be there. What it's Naiah Hunt
and Dane Key and Dane Key, yeah, I.

Speaker 1 (18:03):
Both of whom I really like. I like what they
did by bringing those guys in and to the point,
Dylan Royola showed a ton of promise last season. He
completed sixty six percent of his passes. It was a
twelve to ten ratio, so it wasn't always the cleanest,
but one hundred and twelve nationally in air yards per target,

(18:23):
which what does that mean? While it means they weren't
really stretching the field a whole lot in the passing game,
and I think both daye Key and Zia Hunter give
him more of a downfield threat. If there is one
thing I'm watching it is that basically a dot number. Again,
they call it or airyards per target. I want to
see if that number ticks up that all. Now that

(18:44):
they've got two guys that I think are more vertical
than what they had last year, this offense is going
to be better. If there is more of a vertical threat,
that's what they need. I think it will get better because,
as you said, this could be the year where the
line flips from being a weakness to more of a
strength you'd hope, which would be a big deal. I
think a very like underrated aspect of this team could

(19:06):
be better offensive line play. It just would make the
whole thing better. So I'm excited about Nebraska as well.
The other thing that I would add, and I was
looking for my snow sounds. So forgive me if you
already said this right, Like, anytime you bring Matt rule,
at least in the college ranks, anytime we've brought Matt
rule into a new program builder type situation, we got

(19:27):
about a thirty six month germination process before we start
seeing those succulent rule fruits start to appear.

Speaker 2 (19:34):
You got a wat of that bamboo, you know, you
don't first see the growth, but steady, day by day, watering,
you'll get there.

Speaker 3 (19:40):
You will get there.

Speaker 1 (19:41):
So I think it's not only a matter of the
offensive line getting better, but also trying to figure out
what this defense is going to be now with Tony
White leaving. And that's really where my concern is. I
think the most with this team, I think the offense
is going to improve.

Speaker 3 (19:56):
I do tend to handwave some of the.

Speaker 1 (19:58):
Defensive concerns with Matt Ruhle, since he usually does feeld
a pretty good defense kind of his style like Phil Snow,
got Phil Snow, I mean John Butler, right, Like, I
just think it's a little more complicated this year since
both the defensive line and the linebacker corps are more
of a question. And you know, anytime you've got a
successful guy like Tony White leaving, it's unclear to me

(20:21):
what this defense looks like under John Butler. Now, like,
are they going to stray from the scheme that we
saw last year? If so, by how much you might
be surprised to know this about John Butler. I don't
know if this is anything that you read, but his
approach actually might be a little bit more aggressive and

(20:42):
attacking than his predecessor.

Speaker 2 (20:45):
Okay, I'm.

Speaker 3 (20:48):
Something else to watch for.

Speaker 1 (20:49):
I think we see a marginal step back on defense,
but probably not enough to really.

Speaker 2 (20:54):
Very active in the portal suspenders along the defensive line. Yeah, yeah,
he was. Tony White was not a big blitzer.

Speaker 1 (21:01):
No no, And I think we're going to see again
more of that aggressive attacking mentality here on sure, sure, sure,
John Butler. There are two distinct seasons within Nebraska season. Okay,
you got the first eight games, five of which look
very winnable to me, three three could be coin tosses, okay,
and then you've got the final four games, three of

(21:23):
which look very losable. So how they do in that
first two thirds of the season is ultimately going to
determine what their ceiling is with respect to the win
loss record. But I definitely think just bigger picture, how
the line holds up and if they are able to
establish more of a downfield threat, that's going to determine
their ceiling as an offense.

Speaker 2 (21:44):
Agree. The good news also for Nebraska, so they have
the first game is in is that arrowhead.

Speaker 3 (21:51):
First games Kansas City.

Speaker 1 (21:52):
It's a Thursday night game against Cincinnati on August of
twenty eighth.

Speaker 2 (21:55):
Yeah, right, so that's week one. It's ahead of week
one after you know, between zero and one, the quarterback
slash passing a tax faced if what they are upfront
is a concern both in terms of the pass rush
and helping out the secondary, which they return a bunch
in the secondary. Correct, Yeah, it's kind of good news
for Nebraska if you're looking at quarterbacks and passing attacks face.

(22:18):
They're getting Michigan in the first month at home. So
whatever Michigan's offense is going to be, it's not going
to be that by that game. I don't believe if
it's a true freshman at quarterback, if it's a healing
Mikey Keane. Whatever it is, it's Michigan State at home
with a by the week before. I don't know if
we're fully there with Michigan State yet. I guess we're
going to get to that soon. It is Maryland and

(22:39):
Minnesota on the road with some combination of youth and
inexperience at quarterback there and not in Minnesota's case, bringing
in a ton of recent success downfield. Ucla big old
question mark. Northwestern probably not going to be incredible through
the air, USC is at home, but should be somewhat
strong through the air. Penn State should be good through

(23:03):
the air, and Iowa is despite all of your uh,
your your love and tingliness still a big question.

Speaker 1 (23:10):
There's so many tingles.

Speaker 2 (23:11):
So the reason that that's interesting to me, even though
I'm not as high on Nebraska as you are, is
what is the number Nebraska needs to consistently score get
to to say Okay, they've definitively improved under Dana Holgerson, Like,
there's more, there's more of a vision, there's more of
a plan, there's more comfort there, and that gives you,

(23:31):
if you feel decently about the Nebraska defense, gives you
a decent enough cushion The number in my mind is
like twenty seven points, twenty seven somewhere between twenty seven
and thirty points. If Nebraska's consistently in that zone, which
they very much were not last year, that's the thing.
You're gonna have to see that bump. You're gonna have
to see more explosive plays you know you saw a
little bit of in the bowl game. You're gonna have

(23:53):
to see that bump from Nebraska because fielding, and it
is the Big ten. But fielding a team wek in
week out that needs to win twenty to seventeen seventeen
fourteen just leaves you no margin for error. And there's
still a lot of questions and new faces on both
sides of this Nebraska team. So that's where I feel
a lot more comfortable. If after I don't know the

(24:17):
Michigan game, I guess, you know, you get three weeks,
including a Cincinnati game on a neutral site. If by
the time we get into like week six or seven,
and like they're scoring thirty points, thirty three points against
decent teams Cincinnati and Michigan, then I'm like, Okay, this
Nebraska team is worth all of our collective attention. But
I'm not there yet.

Speaker 1 (24:38):
I think all that's fair. And the only other thing
that I would point out about this offense, because you
mentioned Dana Holgerson, I am curious obviously about the line
about how they integrate maybe more of an attacking, aggressive
mentality with respect to their vertical passing game. I'm curious
to see what they do as a running offense as well,

(25:00):
because we didn't see much of it until Holgerson took
the rains last season, and it was at that point
we started to see a little bit more out of
Emma Johnson. It was gonna be there starting running back
this year, and so I'm just hoping that we see
a little bit more of a cohesive approach on offense,
that it's not all on Dylan Royola. It's not pickleball.
They're able to kind of make all of these parts
work together to make the team better. They were seven

(25:23):
and six a year ago. The over under this year
is seven and a half. That's another over under. I
feel pretty good about the issue though with Nebraska this season,
and I mentioned this on Part one. You could talk
me as much into ten and two as you could
six and six. I think there's a pretty wide disparity
of results there nine and three for me for Nebraska

(25:43):
this year, Wow, I.

Speaker 2 (25:46):
Think I'm closer to seven and five. I'm not there.
I just I need it from the offense, and I
like the pop they've added at receiver. I just need
to see it all come together over four quarters against
take your pick, Michigan, Iowa. You know I mentioned the
passing offenses on here. Could be a lot of stingy
defenses on here, depending on what I mean. Obviously we

(26:07):
think that about Penn State, Iowa, probably Minnesota that there's
a lot of change there. Probably Michigan, like there's a
good amount. Northwestern I think will be okay on defense.
That's the thing to me, is like, yeah, it's fine.
It's a good July story. But push comes to shove
and they're losing another they're winning games ten to seven.
They're like, ugh, I don't know, man, here we go again.

Speaker 1 (26:28):
This is the problem with me making some of these
proclamations in late July, like Iowa, Nebraska, there were some
other teams we talked through yesterday. I am putting my
chips on a bunch of unproven units, and that's never
a great idea, right until it is, but for now,

(26:51):
it's that that's sort of the downside to this approach.
But I like both these teams we talked about so
far pretty a pretty good amount.

Speaker 2 (26:57):
It wasn't like a terribly long time time ago that
we were watching Charlie Brewer get destroyed physically because they
couldn't figure out offensive line, they couldn't figure out how
to be creative on offense, and they were winning despite it.
I just think it's really hard to win despite your
quarterback getting shelled all the time and not being able

(27:18):
to bomb the ball down the field occasionally.

Speaker 1 (27:21):
I'm with you. I'm with you. So you're going seven
and five, seven and five, boll tame for sure, nine
and three babies, seven and five with upside.

Speaker 2 (27:29):
But I don't know, I've been burned before.

Speaker 3 (27:33):
Why don't we keep it here with another.

Speaker 1 (27:36):
Marquee blue blood program that has a seven and a
half win total.

Speaker 2 (27:41):
I'm ready.

Speaker 1 (27:42):
Let's talk about your USC Trojans dance. Yeah, so let
me start with a positive on USC. Okay, the positive
is that Danton Lynn is the real deal the defensive
I think so yeah, took over the defense last year,
made the whole thing better, and I think he's going
to make it better again. There was a huge effort

(28:04):
to improve the defensive line, which I think they addressed
well through the portal, and that makes me feel a
lot better about USC coming into this year and their potential.
They were ninety fifth last year in yards allowed per contact,
eighty eighth in pressure rate. They got no push up front,
so they got to find a way to improve that.

(28:24):
I think with what they did in the portal, they
will find a way to do that. I like Dan Lynn.
I think he will concoct away with his attacking aggressive
scheme of course, to get a little bit more of
a push up front.

Speaker 3 (28:36):
Outside of that, though, Dan.

Speaker 1 (28:40):
I mixed on USC. That's okay, I'm really mixed here,
and I am trying not to let it be or
let it sound like East Coast bias. Okay, why don't
I hand it over to you. You're always the more
balanced Southern California kid talking about all things USC.

Speaker 2 (29:00):
I hope. So, I don't know. USC people probably don't
feel that way. They definitely don't because you're an organ guy.
But yeah, but we do not. We never review how
we feel about these teams. We're always kind of coming
at this cold you and I talking it through. It
works better that way. Well, we did it a little
bit on the first episode. Are a little bit big
picture that it was clear that I'm higher on USC
than you are this season. But talk me through your

(29:23):
like USC logic here. Okay, the case for USC is
not terribly complicated. The case for USC is it's Jade
Mayova's first season being the guy this entire offseason. The
running back room is likely worse. You know, transfers coming
in after losing Woody Marx, I mean he's done career wise,

(29:43):
and Quentin Joyner transfers to Texas Tech. They're a little
bit thinner at receiver, losing the receivers that they lost,
Deuce Robinson, Zachariah Branch, Kiren Hudson. But the pair of
Jacoby Lane and Makaie Lemon, I think our quality, if
not good, sort of disappeared at times. But that's never
fully on receiver, you know, just offensive struggles and Miller
Moss having an up and down year and trying to

(30:04):
figure out what the vision of this offense is going
to be. Offensive line solidified last year, which was a
nice improvement to see. I think it'll still be solid
this season, even with the losses that they've suffered, tight
end is in a good place. I just think there
are options for this offense. And now the people who
like to criticize Lincoln Riley, usually in a fair way,
will say offense has never really been the issue with

(30:26):
Lincoln Riley. He has solidified the defense. They bring in
transfers once again, their beefier upfront because they were not good.
I don't believe against the run last season. The secondary
has portal guys, They're healthier at linebacker. They lost key
dudes on all three levels of this defense. Of course
everybody does. But I think there's enough back. I don't

(30:50):
think Lincoln Riley has forgotten how to coach. If anything,
he's forgotten how to finish. And I think going into
the off season there is that such a clear note
on this team, like what's the plan in the fourth quarter,
Whether it's being better in terms of stamina and physique whatever,

(31:10):
I don't think that makes sense. Better in terms of physique,
we can all be better in terms of physique time
who among us yet? But in terms of like right
stamina and plan and mental acuity at the end of games,
here's the plan, here's what we're doing, and I.

Speaker 1 (31:22):
Think they will be.

Speaker 2 (31:22):
They weren't far off last year, but a lot of
teams are not good in close games and don't get
it fixed. I think USC can. I think they have
smart coaches. I think they have good enough players, and
I think offensively, I'm not terribly worried. I think they'll
be able to run the ball fine, not maybe in
an electric fashion, and then on defense they address what

(31:44):
they needed to address. I don't think they have star
power on this defense, maybe besides for Kamari Ramsey at safety,
who by the way, Sierra Canyon graduate. There you go,
shout out Blazers. I just think there's enough. I think
there's enough there. And when you look at a lot
of this conference, there are so many questions and USC
does have just like they kept Dan Lynn right, there's

(32:05):
a good amount of continuity involved that. I just I think,
like the question I have about Nebraska is can they
get to thirty points a game? I think USC can
get to thirty to thirty four points a game. They
just need to keep the other team to twenty eight consistently,
good or bad, and that remains a question to me.

(32:25):
The schedule is.

Speaker 1 (32:27):
Interesting, it's kind of ridiculous, is what it is.

Speaker 2 (32:31):
It's interesting. I know they have Oregon late and they
have Notre Dame and Illinois on the road, but like,
I'm not crazy crazy high on Illinois. We talked about
that on the previous episode. They should win their first
four games. They should start out four and zero. They
should have a decent shot against Michigan in transition because
that's in LA and they have a bye the week
before that, and Michigan has Wisconsin the week before that

(32:54):
before traveling out west, like a bye before a tough
road game at Nebraska. When Nebraska plays the week before,
I'll be it at home. They get Iowa at home,
and Oregon's on the road, and that's a tough two
week stretch. UCLA's in transition. Like I don't even need
to squint that much to say, Okay, they can go

(33:14):
eight and four, nine and three if they're able to
win a tight, low scoring game against Iowa, which is
going to be difficult, sure, and beat Michigan at home
or beat Illinois on the road. I don't think those
are impossible things. With what USC is bringing to the table.

Speaker 1 (33:31):
There are only two teams in the schedule that I
look at and I say, yeah, they they're definitely worse
than those teams Oregon and Notre Dame. Orgon and Notre Dame,
both of which are on the road. But I think
games like Illinois and Nebraska are coin flips. I think
games like Michigan and Iowa, both of which are at home,
are definitely losable games, but maybe a little bit less

(33:51):
of a coin flip, right, given the circumstances. So yeah,
I look at the schedule and I think I see
the same things that you do. There are good teams
on this Situationally it kind of works to their favor.
But let me backtrack just a little bit for a second.
And by the way, I take your point, they're gonna
score thirty some points a game, They're gonna get four
hundred plus yards a game like that. That's sort of

(34:14):
Lincoln Riley's deal, right, we got to get to thirty five,
we got to find a way to keep the other
team to twenty eight. That's been his story the entirety
of his time as a head coach. There's nothing new
in that argument. But to your point about they've got
to be better in close games, USC in some ways
is kind of like the anti Illinois from a year ago.

(34:35):
If Illinois was winning all those close games, if they
were five and one in close games and their second
order win total was less than their actual win total
in real life, USC was on the other end of that, right,
USC second order wins was much higher because they found
themselves in close games and they couldn't close. What have
they actually done though, to prove to you that they

(34:56):
will be better?

Speaker 2 (34:58):
Well, they changed their quarterback two thirds of the way
into the season. They changed their quarterback. But and I
like Jade Mayab, I do, yeah, But what.

Speaker 1 (35:06):
Do you think about him as a steadying force to
get past some of those issues they had last year? Oh,
he's a wild card, he's chuck it. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
And that's my point. I think he's an exciting player.
I liked him when they got him. But I'm not
sure he's going to be like this bedrock to lean
on that's suddenly going to make USC bulletproof or more

(35:28):
bulletproof in these close games.

Speaker 2 (35:29):
I am with you. It wasn't Miller Moss last year.
It just wasn't. He was not the guy at the
end of these games. So, if you're talking about Illinois specifically,
Illinois had a better quarterback and a better fourth quarter
managing head coach for sure, and coaching staff altogether one
hundred percent true. USC went to overtime with a college

(35:50):
football semi finalist at home in Penn State.

Speaker 3 (35:53):
Correct.

Speaker 1 (35:53):
Correct.

Speaker 2 (35:54):
Tyler Warren had only five hundred and eight total yards
in that game against sc They were one freak very
impressive play from Michigan away from beating Michigan at Michigan correct.

Speaker 1 (36:06):
Correct.

Speaker 2 (36:07):
They were in position they beat LSU in Texas A
and m to bookend the season correct.

Speaker 1 (36:11):
Correct.

Speaker 2 (36:13):
So I'm just saying they weren't out classed last year.
Even the Notre Dame game was what a one touchdown
game halfway through the fourth quarter, which is a sunny
way of looking at two pick six Tony.

Speaker 3 (36:23):
I mean, if we want to talk about.

Speaker 1 (36:24):
Jade Mayava giving them this lift in the fourth quarter,
they were right there with noted Amy threw for three
hundred and some odd yards, but threw a ninety nine
yard pick six to Christian Gray in one hundred yard
to Xavier Watts.

Speaker 2 (36:35):
No, he was a great personal trainer. He got Notre
Dame secondary members a ton of exercise in that game.
But all said, all told, he put USC in position
to win and put USC in position to lose that game,
but they weren't outclassed by a team in the National
Championship for the majority of that game. Sure, this is
me wearing you know, Lincoln Riley Cardinal and gold glasses

(36:58):
right now.

Speaker 3 (36:58):
Wow, maybe you should go work for Ryan Abraham.

Speaker 2 (37:00):
I should.

Speaker 3 (37:01):
You're really in on USC here, aren't you.

Speaker 2 (37:03):
I might get a raise. So no, I'm just saying
that's the case for USC. If you're going to pick
a team, an emerging team candidate, one who played with
the best of college football and came up just short late.
Is a team that hypothetically could win more fifty to

(37:24):
fifty games because they were in position to win those games. Obviously,
the case against USC is the reason they lost those
games was happening week after week after week. It was
poor preparation, poor game management. It was you know, Miller
Moss making poor decisions, Lincoln Riley making poor decisions, not
running the ball enough, giving Maryland their only I think
Big ten win of the season. Right the way they

(37:45):
lost to Minnesota, the way they lost to Washington. You
can go on and on, but I think the talent
is there to play four quarters of decent football on
both sides of the ball. They needed to beef up.
They beefed up. They need to add talent to the secondary.
They added talent to the second they did.

Speaker 3 (38:02):
No, I mean, all this is true.

Speaker 1 (38:03):
You're you're not wrong.

Speaker 2 (38:04):
All this is true. I would love a higher end
running back. I would love a slightly less of a
wild card quarterman not.

Speaker 1 (38:11):
In on a transfer from New Mexico.

Speaker 2 (38:13):
Buddy camp Scataboo came in from sax State. Okay, I'll
due respect to sax State. No or gets starting to
left tackle from Nevada.

Speaker 1 (38:21):
Yeah, I get it. Listen, this is fair, This is
all fair, This is all, this is all correct. And
I think it's an eight and fourteen.

Speaker 2 (38:31):
I just look at this conference and you look up
and down, not even just their schedule, but like Minnesota
is starting over, Michigan State has a ton left to do,
Rutgers has a ton left to do. Like there's just
so much that is just up in the air for
so many of the teams in the Big Ten. And
USC is just like chugging along hoping to get like
fifteen percent better. And if USC gets fifteen percent better,

(38:54):
this season. They're going nine and three.

Speaker 1 (38:55):
Yeah, they're going nine to three. They get fifteen percent better.
I listen, everything you're saying is accurate. I am going
to be a little bit more cautious on sc because
I again, and I've said this a couple of times
now through the course of all these previews, I don't
know how you fix that late game situation. You know,
where you're in close games, some of its luck. Granted, well,

(39:17):
not after that many times, not after that many times,
after that many times, it becomes more of a trend,
more of a feature than a bug. And so I'm
going to be cautious here. I think eight and four.
I could see seven and five, but I'll say eight
and four just to be a little bit more generous.
And I'm excited to see j malv again. I like

(39:37):
him a lot. I'm excited to see a full year
with him, and now he's had a full offseason to
kind of be the guy. But he does have a
five star kind of breathing down his neck.

Speaker 2 (39:47):
Oh in Hassan Long Street.

Speaker 1 (39:48):
If it doesn't if it doesn't go, there will be
an option later in the year. Again, like there was
sure to replace Miller, Moss but I'm on eight and four.

Speaker 2 (39:57):
USC is the sort of they're the reverse Pinkman. But
he can't just he just can't keep getting away with it.
USC can't keep not getting away with it.

Speaker 1 (40:07):
I know. All right, Yeah, we've got six other teams
to get through here.

Speaker 2 (40:12):
Oh please, let's go.

Speaker 1 (40:14):
Let's go to Washington, Dan, all right, let's talk about
another former PAC twelve school. And you might be surprised
to know this is another team that I am all
in on. I'm all in. I think context again is important.
I think it was a mass exodus last year after
Kalin de Bord bolted for Alabama, Jed Fish was named
the coach. He cobbled it together, you know, the best

(40:35):
he could on short notice. But line play was a
struggle bus. They only had six healthy scholarship offensive lineman
last spring. Still, they went six and six. Lost the
bowl game to Louisville.

Speaker 2 (40:48):
Was not a.

Speaker 1 (40:48):
Particularly explosive offense. They were really bad on third downs.
They gave up a lot of sacks, maybe because of
that line.

Speaker 2 (40:55):
Definitely a different team with them on Williams Rodgers, although
he was sad ten times against Oregon.

Speaker 1 (41:03):
You're picking up when I'm putting down because this is
all the very long way of saying that despite the
fact that they went six and six and there were
a bunch of warts that they got to deal with,
none of it matters because they found DeMont Williams, who
I think looks like the real deal. He went off
in the sun Ball at four hundred and twenty yards
and five touchdowns. Smaller dude like five eleven two hundre

(41:27):
but e loose of his hell a good passer has
track speed. Will Rogers was the starter for most of
the year, but Jed got to mon Williams some work
the full way through, I think because he knew what
he had.

Speaker 2 (41:38):
Yep.

Speaker 1 (41:40):
So if you look at his stat line over the
course of the year, and it's not indicative, but seventy
eight percent of his passes were completions at eight to
one td't interception ratio. Now a full off season to
build this thing with him as the dude, and Jedfish
brings in some reinforcements right via the portal via the
high school ranks. I think they are set for a

(42:02):
pretty big jump here. Jonah Coleman, who I like, is
back at running back as well. The wide receiver room
quietly pretty decent. Not as good as it was two
years ago, obviously, but quietly pretty decent. The lines are restocked,
they should be better. And then on top of all that,
Jetfish goes out and he hires Ryan Walters to take
over the defense, who was recently fired from Purdue but

(42:25):
before then was really good as a defensive coordinator for Illinois.

Speaker 2 (42:28):
When you can get that twenty twenty four perdue coaching
DNA on your coaching.

Speaker 3 (42:33):
Staff, you gotta take you.

Speaker 1 (42:35):
You gotta do it.

Speaker 3 (42:36):
You got no choice.

Speaker 1 (42:37):
How do you?

Speaker 2 (42:37):
How do you avoid?

Speaker 1 (42:39):
Steve Belichick was fine, He's fine. It comes from great pedigree.
But Ryan Walters, sorry to say, North Carolina is a
clear upgrade over Steve Belichick. The interesting thing that I
think Washington people should know about Ryan Walters. You want
to take it again, Ryan.

Speaker 2 (42:56):
Ryan Walters is an upgrade over Steve Belichick. Absolutely, you
said North Carolina was an upgrade over Steve Belichick, and
I was like, wow, we are going to a deep place.

Speaker 3 (43:04):
I don't know what I said.

Speaker 2 (43:05):
I am not intelligent enough.

Speaker 1 (43:06):
I think Kayenne on the oatmeal this morning instead of centiment.

Speaker 2 (43:09):
I love that for you.

Speaker 1 (43:10):
And I'm still dealing with the after effects of this. Okay,
so forgive me if I have a slip of tongue
or two. Would you like to take a guess as
to what Washington faithful should know about the Ryan Walters scheme.

Speaker 2 (43:24):
Works really well against god awful twenty twenty two Big
Ten offenses true.

Speaker 1 (43:31):
Anything else that you might be surprised to know.

Speaker 2 (43:34):
I recall Illinois having an incredible corner that year who
has taken in like, stop it.

Speaker 3 (43:40):
You know what I'm going to say?

Speaker 2 (43:41):
What say tacking aggressive mentality?

Speaker 3 (43:44):
It's aggressive, It's attacking.

Speaker 1 (43:46):
That's what you're getting out of Ryan Walters. Something else
mentioned this on a previous episode. Taylor Mays is the
safety's coach. If you want to blast from the past
to make us all feel a little bit older. Seattle native,
I have got Washington as my white knuckle team of
the Big Ten this year. Okay, they're not gonna win

(44:07):
the conference. Not gonna win the conference. I'm shaking my
head violently.

Speaker 2 (44:12):
No, Okay.

Speaker 1 (44:14):
They host Ohio State, they host Illinois, they host Oregon.

Speaker 2 (44:20):
It's a good home. Like if you're a season ticket
holder for Washington, I want a little runket holder.

Speaker 1 (44:26):
They have a game at Michigan. They might go ozer
to four against those teams. They're gonna make those teams
work for it. Dog. Yes, this is a team that
I think is poised for a really big jump now
that Jet's had a full cycle to kind of get
his guys in there, He's got his quarterback to build around.
I'm there're gonna be some white knuckle situations for teams
perceived as much better than Washington going to Seattle obviously,

(44:50):
as they go on the road to Michigan. I'm I'm
pretty excited about this year for the Washington Huskies.

Speaker 3 (44:56):
I am.

Speaker 2 (44:57):
I think Jeed Fish is a pretty good coach. I
think they're are definite low moments in year one, and
a lot of that was roster driven and situation driven.
Losing the way they did to Rutgers, losing they did
to Wazoo the way that look Lincoln Riley gets all
the flackout West for how he does or doesn't finish games.
But there's some Peter South to Jedfish right there is

(45:25):
things aren't trending North. So I like Washington this year.
I like how much deeper they appear to be. I
need to, Okay, you want to take a moment to digest.

Speaker 3 (45:38):
Go ahead.

Speaker 1 (45:39):
That was good, Okay, go ahead.

Speaker 2 (45:42):
The offensive line should be better. They spent in the
portal there. They are recruiting well there, so long term,
I think the prognosis is pretty good for the offensive line,
which I think may have won the Joe More Award
when they went to the National Championship Game a couple
of years ago. It's a very good offensive line then.
And I think Tom Williams is good. I think Denzel
Boston is good. I think Jonah Coleman is good. I'd

(46:05):
like to see more from this offensive line getting consistent
push against the better teams on their schedule. Jonah Coleman
did absolutely nothing against Oregon. The offense did absolutely nothing
against Penn State. I was a thirty five to seven
game something like that. So what is the higher end?
And that was not a Demond Williams games. I don't
believe the Penn State game until he came in late.
Is this team capable of scoring thirty five points, thirty

(46:27):
eight points, thirty three points against some of the better
defenses on this schedule? Tbd? And I don't know what
I'm looking at in this front seven. I don't know
what I'm seeing here to make me think, if I'm
any of these teams on the schedule, you just like,
let's just run it right at Washington. Have they improved
so much upfront with the losses transfers coming in that

(46:49):
if you're a Washington fan, And I think Ryan Walser
just has his work cut out for him, because the
secondary should be in a good place. It's Tacario Davis
comes over from Arizona. The corners should be good, be good.
They were great against the pass last year, but why
not just run straight at Washington? I'd like to know
that in the first month of the season.

Speaker 1 (47:08):
Or so, I think. I do think they got bigger
and deeper upfront along the line, But now they got
to figure out a way to to your point, get
a little bit better against the rush and do something.

Speaker 2 (47:19):
They've got Ohio State Week five.

Speaker 1 (47:21):
Against against quarterbacks, right, get some pressure. I mean the
pressure rate actually wasn't horrible, but they weren't converting that
into sacks last season, and so they need to find
a way to do that. And look, I mean I
kind of portray some of the teams on this schedule
as reasons to be interested, and I am under the
assumption that they will keep these games interesting.

Speaker 3 (47:44):
Over the whole.

Speaker 1 (47:45):
Though, there's a lot on this schedule that could go south.
There's a lot on this schedule definitely that could absolutely
go south. Also, there are five conference teams coming off
by to play Washington this season. Ooh, so I know
we like to factor that in, but we've got a

(48:05):
situation here where they're going to be teams that are
rested and ready for whatever Washington is going to throw
at them. So you know, the line I think is
it's cluding Ohio State, by the way, in Cludio State. Yeah,
it's Ohio State, It's Maryland, it's Rutgers, it's Wisconsin, and
I believe Illinois. Those five so those aren't, you know,
all bad teams with some pretty good teams on there.

(48:26):
And I just think that you're right to be concerned
about the line. We don't know how much better it's
going to be. For as much as I like Demon Williams,
consistency is definitely something that we have to wonder about.
And of course the schedule goal it here. Yeah, so
I'm under seven and a half. For as much as
I like Washington, the schedule's pretty tough. I'm going under

(48:47):
the seven and a half, but I think they're better.
I do think they're going to be white knuckle moments
with this team. And even though I know I talked
them up in Part one as a sleeper, I still
think they're seven and five. But it's going to be
a very very interesting and entertaining seven to five this year.

Speaker 2 (49:02):
Yeah, I'm right there between seven and eight, which is
me just straddling the fence. They're eight and four if
they beat who they're supposed to beat and don't lose
something stupid like they should beat Wazoo this year, considering
what Wazoo lost they didn't last year, bid him they
should beat basically, you look at this schedule, I'm excuse me,
they should lose to maybe some combination Oregon, Illinois, Michigan,

(49:25):
Ohio State. But I don't know Illinois at home. Oregon's
at home. We'll see what Oregon looks like. By then
we'll have a good sense of Illinois. The game against
Michigan at Michigan will be tough. They beat Michigan last year,
they beat them. Yeah, I think we're likely looking at
an eight and fourteen.

Speaker 1 (49:41):
All right, Wisconsin, give it to me, Give me the
Wisconsin reality here. Okay, five and seven year ago, the
over unders five and a half again.

Speaker 2 (49:54):
I like so much of what Wisconsin has done to
address what has been ailing them. I like how aggressive
they were in the portal. I like that. Even if
we're not crazy about Billy Edwards, he's pretty good. He's
like a legit Big ten quarterback with legit Big ten upside.
They didn't have that these past couple of years. TVD

(50:15):
and Braden Locke whatever. So I think the receivers are okay.
I think they can find answers among skill position players.
I think they did enough to address what they needed upfront.
Very aggressive going for defensive linemen.

Speaker 1 (50:30):
Really aggressive. There's something like five four stars that they
got in the transfer portal, so they were they were
very aggressive. They knew that they needed to get better
there and they did.

Speaker 2 (50:40):
There's experience and quality in the secondary, especially at corner.
There's just there's a lot to say that like, Wisconsin's
a candidate to look more organized and just of higher
quality in the Big Ten.

Speaker 1 (50:53):
And then you look at the schedule and you're like, well,
it'd be the toughest schedule in America.

Speaker 2 (50:58):
It may be because they have what Alabama men Tuscaloosa
early on, and just the hits just keep on coming
with the way that this schedule is laid out in
the Big Ten.

Speaker 1 (51:07):
So at Alabama, they're also at Michigan, Michigan coming off
of bye. They're home against Iowa, Iowa coming off of bye,
home against Ohio State on the road at Oregon. By
the way, those four games are back to back to
back to back. Then after a bye, Washington coming to
town but also off of bye at Indiana home against Illinois.

(51:29):
They close out the year rivalry game against Minnesota. Yeah,
that's really tough, dude, really tough.

Speaker 2 (51:37):
I don't know what you do, Like, you're gonna need
to score. You might like Jeff Grimes. You might love
Jeff Grimes.

Speaker 1 (51:45):
Grime.

Speaker 2 (51:46):
He's got to get to thirty five points a lot
with this offense, because I think the defense will be okay,
but it's not going to be where Wisconsin's defense was.

Speaker 1 (51:54):
No, I mean they this is another team that's got
to figure out how to get some pressure on the quarterback.
They had seventy sacks all of last season, which was
the fewest they've had since nineteen eighty three. So going
hard at defensive line that was very much necessary, and
I think to your point, they did a good job there.
They knew the assignment, they understanding, Yes, I think, yeah

(52:15):
and yeah, so they at least attempted to address it.
They were self aware enough to know where they needed
to fix something. But the bigger issue for me is
they've had an identity crisis the last two years and
they got to figure out a way to find themselves
against what might be the toughest schedule in the country,
which is not an easy task. The biggest issue I
think they've had is that they tried to install the

(52:36):
air raid or some version of it under Phil long
Go and it never clicked. And also that is kind
of incompatible with what we know of Wisconsin over all
these years. They've never been that kind of team.

Speaker 2 (52:48):
Well, and just how they've recruited, what their reputation is
in the Midwest, or how they've recruited it offensive linemen
tight ends, they didn't use the tight end.

Speaker 3 (52:57):
Yeah, it's just not that.

Speaker 1 (52:59):
So the offense took a pretty big step back in
year one. It was the ninety ninth best offense per
the sp plus last season, and now they're going in
a different direction with Jeff Grimes as the offensive coordinator,
which is going to be more pro style, more of
the downhill running stuff that Wisconsin is known for, which

(53:20):
I think is it's like, it's very wise to shift
back to this another instance, another example of them kind
of understanding where they're at, being self aware enough to like,
all right, let's pump the brakes a little bit and
go in a different direction. So I think, schematically and
I think via the portal, what Wisconsin did was very smart.

(53:41):
I'm just not sure how it looks now because of
the schedule, you know. Like I like Dylan Jones, their
red shirt freshman running back. I think you could do
well in this scheme. I like Billy Edwards. I like
the fact that Billy Edwards is not a statue like
the guys who came before him, with Tanner, Mordecai and
TVD and rate in lock like nothing against those guys.

(54:04):
Billy Edwards is a different kind of quarterback who I
think fits better with this scheme. Okay, I just don't
know how much better they get as a result of it,
And I don't know how it looks now because the
schedule is so brutal. That's my issue here.

Speaker 2 (54:16):
Look, if they don't win that Maryland game with the
Billy Edwards narrative, that's it man. And that game is
in Madison, Yes, but that's coming off of an Alabama
road trip. They get a bye before Michigan, but so
does Michigan. Iowa gets a buye before Wisconsin.

Speaker 1 (54:34):
As it's four teams off by. I think, yeah, three
teams off by in the Big Ten.

Speaker 2 (54:40):
It's a tough one too for Ohio State, you know,
on the road two weeks, the first week being Illinois
before they play against Wisconsin. I just yeah, it's just brutal.

Speaker 1 (54:51):
We had this situation too often last year where we're
looking at this team and I you know, the quarterback
thing was a mess, but we're looking at Wisconsin and
we're saying they got no shot. And I think that's
really what sticks in the crawl if you're a Wisconsin fan.
Because this is again a proud program. They won a
lot of games. They definitely benefit benefited from being in

(55:12):
the Big Ten West for a number of years.

Speaker 2 (55:14):
Yep.

Speaker 3 (55:15):
But still we were used to.

Speaker 1 (55:16):
Seeing this team play in high leverage situations and you're
looking at the schedule all too often last year, especially
down the stretch, thinking to yourself, they ain't got no shot.

Speaker 3 (55:26):
No shot.

Speaker 1 (55:27):
So hopefully they get past that. They can graduate past that,
because they're going to have an opportunity against a bunch
of big guns.

Speaker 2 (55:33):
This year and they you know what, they didn't perform
terribly against the best teams on their schedule last year.
TVD got hurt in the Alabama game, and they still
weren't going to likely keep it all that close against Bama. No,
they were competitive. This is the big ass risk. They
were competitive with Penn State for a chunk of that game. Yes, right,
I'd rather a team be competitive for a chunk than

(55:54):
not be competitive for a chunk. They took Oregon to
the gun at home, and they were up on at halftime. Again,
you got to play four quarters of good football. I
happen to believe that Luke Fickle's a really good coach,
And I happen to believe really good coaches are good
at diagnosing and fixing and admitting when things didn't go
the way they thought they would and pivoting. And I

(56:17):
don't know if it's going to work out for Luke
Fickle at Wisconsin, but I feel pretty decently about Luke
Fickles's ability to figure things out, and they're throwing money
behind the roster. Hopefully that makes a difference in terms
of what their final schedule looks like. But at least
that's a nice starting point for Wisconsin.

Speaker 3 (56:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (56:37):
Look, I totally agree. I just I come back to
what we saw last year, and I'm just crazy curious
to see if we take a step forward now, both
along the defensive line and with the offense. Because I'm
looking at some of these losses from last season, the

(56:57):
Alabama loss Penn State law US, the loss at Iowa,
the loss at home to close out the season against Minnesota.
Postgame win expectancy on all of those games was zero percent. Yeah,
so even if there were moments where the game was close,
if you run what they did through the simulator a
million times, simulator ain't having it. They're saying, basically, Wisconsin

(57:23):
wasn't close when all was said and done in those games.
They got to improve upon that. They got to improve
upon that. I hope they did it this year. I'm
not rooting against them. I'm gonna say six and six.

Speaker 2 (57:34):
Yeah, five and seven, six and six is where I
am What what was the name the assistant coach who
went to Notre Dame, the corners coach Mike Mickens. Yes,
who found I think he found Sauce Gardner and Kobe Bryant.

Speaker 1 (57:46):
Sauce Gardner, Kobe Bryant, most recently Leonard Moore. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (57:49):
So could he just like pass a note to Luke
Pickle and just say.

Speaker 3 (57:54):
Like, hey, a messenger, Pigel.

Speaker 2 (57:56):
Yeah, like we're not taking these corners at Notre Dame,
but like these guys are worth it, man, I mean,
corner's not the issue this year.

Speaker 1 (58:05):
All right, we got four teams left, all right, where
are we going? We're at like an hour.

Speaker 2 (58:08):
Okay, let's do this.

Speaker 1 (58:10):
It's do Minnesota.

Speaker 2 (58:11):
Two and a half hours of big ten content coming
your way.

Speaker 1 (58:14):
Let's do Minnesota here, all right. You might be surprised
to hear that I'm again high on Minnesota. I do
it every year. I do this to myself.

Speaker 2 (58:23):
I have no It's a tough case this year, I admitted,
and I'm I think they're dependably pretty good. It's a
tough case this year.

Speaker 1 (58:29):
I am doing this to myself this year. I have
no one to blame but myself. Like I said in
Part one, I look forward to commiserating six months from
now after another four or five lost season for Minnesota.
That's just the way this thing goes. But I'm saying
this again because I did actually do this. I did
preschedule the zoom call for December, the Minnesota Football Support Zoom.

(58:53):
All are welcome to join email Solid Verbal at gmail
dot com. I will set it up so you get
an invite like eight hours before it goes off. I
am one hundred percent serious about this because this is
more for me than it is for you. I'm gonna
need this level of support because they're gonna do this
to me again. I know it.

Speaker 2 (59:09):
You're just gonna talk to people about mo Ebraham. What
are you gonna talk about all?

Speaker 1 (59:12):
I don't know. I'm gonna talk about Drake Lindsay's what
I'm gonna do.

Speaker 2 (59:14):
Okay, continue six.

Speaker 1 (59:17):
Minnesota is the butt also team of the Big Ten
because the team has to some degree underachieved. Yes, but
also the culture seems like it's really strong and it's
generally a stable program. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (59:34):
Is PJ flex still doing the like rewards? What wasn't
that a thing in the locker room? He like gives
out like elite points.

Speaker 3 (59:43):
I gotta believe.

Speaker 1 (59:44):
So, I mean that there's not there's there's not like
a goofy, highbrow concept that well still an elite day
is above PJ. Fleck, He's game for all of it.
But like good culture, they I think this year figure
to fly a bit under the radar. But they're also

(01:00:05):
okay with being a sleeper team. I think that suits
them in the culture that they've built. I think it's
an offense it's gonna look different, but also one that's
got enough pieces back to still be pretty intriguing. And
it is a team with a lot of questions to
your point, but also they've got a pretty good schedule.

Speaker 2 (01:00:21):
That's true.

Speaker 1 (01:00:23):
So which side of the corner are you on here?
I know where I'm at. Where are you at?

Speaker 2 (01:00:28):
I'm decently high on Minnesota overall, Like you said, they
get Purdue, they get Rutgers, whatever you think of Rutgers.
They get Michigan State, and they get Northwestern. It's pretty
good in terms of what they can get. Yeah, obviously
they get Wisconsin ut of the year, we'll see where
the Badgers are there. They miss Penn State and Michigan,

(01:00:50):
I believe, but get Oregon, Iowa, Ohio State's tough threesome.

Speaker 1 (01:00:53):
It's tough.

Speaker 2 (01:00:54):
It's a very difficult variable team. To me that like, Okay,
we're working in a new defensive coordinator, like a new
defensive line, a new quarterback. We'll see at running back,
there's a lot of talent at running back new Like
when Minnesota is working in two new lines and a
new defensive coordinator and a new quarterback, it tells me, yes,

(01:01:17):
they're a bowl team, but they're probably gonna lose a
game or two that they wouldn't ordinarily lose. So I meant,
I think I'm in like a seven and five zone
with Minnesota.

Speaker 1 (01:01:29):
The offensive side of the ball is where you have
the questions, and there are a couple of reasons for it.
The first is you lose Daniel Jackson out wide. It
leads a pretty big hole and not an easy one
that they're going to fill. Obvious questions. I do like
the running back room as well, Darius Taylor, he's back.

Speaker 3 (01:01:44):
However, this is a rushing attack.

Speaker 1 (01:01:46):
Last season one hundred and twenty ninth in yards before contact. Yeah,
so there wasn't of the line.

Speaker 2 (01:01:51):
Good running back, not a good rushing attack.

Speaker 1 (01:01:53):
Not a good rushing attack, So I do think the
line's going to be better, but that you know, they
got to fix that. They got to get some push
up there. And then third, maybe I should have brought
this up first. Is Drake Lindsay the new quarterback, six five,
two thirties, a big kid, red shirt freshman. The measurables,
I think the arm talent are all there. The experience
is definitely not. He's thrown something like five college passes,

(01:02:16):
so it's been a minute since Minnesota had anything going
explosively on the passing side of the offense. They were
one hundred and thirty third in the nation there last year.
The hope is that he can take the torch from
Max Brosmer and build upon whatever.

Speaker 2 (01:02:34):
Can only build on. It can't get much worse in
terms of passing the ball downfield.

Speaker 1 (01:02:38):
Listen, Max Brosmer, to his credit, finished very strongly last season,
so perhaps they can build on some of that momentum
and Drake Lindsay can take the baton and they can
keep going forward. But again there are real questions there.
I feel better about the defense. There are losses on
that side of the ball as well, including Corey Heathman,
the coordinator went down to Miami but that they're promoting

(01:03:01):
from within, there's enough back from like a top fifteen
caliber defense. Again, I think they should be pretty good.
Koy Parish at safety is ridiculous. I like him a lot.
So there's stuff here that I think you can build upon,
but yet questions. But also they are the but also team.
But also the seven and a half win total is
something you look at. Given this schedule. You do mention

(01:03:23):
the games at Ohio State, Iowa, Oregon, Nebraska mixed in there.
Those are kind of the four big ones. But Michigan
State could be interesting. Wisconsin for the rivalry, could be interesting.
Week one game against your Buffalo Bulls could be interesting.

Speaker 2 (01:03:38):
Who knows, very interesting. Yeah, I think barring.

Speaker 1 (01:03:41):
A disaster some kind of like transcendent performance by Drake
Lindsay or one of those two extremes. Yeah, it's a
seven or eight win team. That's right, seven or eight
win team. But I like Drake Lindsay and I'm excited
to see what they can do with Darius Taylor this
year because I think they need to rely a little
bit more upon him until Drake Lindsey gets it figured out.

Speaker 2 (01:04:03):
Yep, Okay, fair enough.

Speaker 1 (01:04:05):
I'll go over eight over eight over with eight wins, oh, okay,
eight and four Minnesota, I'm seven to five. Okay, Michigan State.
Give me the lowdown in Michigan State.

Speaker 2 (01:04:18):
Got a lot of work to do, got a lot
of work to do. Aiden Childs at times was very
fun and interesting and at times he threw the ball
to teams not wearing the same uniform that he was
wearing last year. I think he's intriguing. I think there
is a decent amount to like about the receiver group.
Running the ball was tough, the lines were tough last year.

(01:04:40):
They return a bunch in the secondary. It's just one
of those like prove it years from this defense, specifically
for me, for Michigan State to feel all that good
about Michigan State. I think the offense will improve. I
think the identity will improve. They made highers, it seems
on offense. So it's just I think it's uh was
it Brian Lindgren who came over for Michigan's to help
run the offense with Jonathan Smith. I think that'll keep

(01:05:03):
working nicely when they're not turning the ball over. So
I'm decently high on Michigan State. I'm just I'm gonna
need to see it like the Highs were at least
something right. The Highs basically are limited to that Iowa
game last year. It's a talent thing right.

Speaker 1 (01:05:25):
Now, it is. But you know, they did raise the
floor with transfers. I hope, albeit smaller school. We've kind
of said that the last like four years of Mission
State though smaller school guys. But I think they can
improve upon the offensive line. And I think if anybody
can get the most out of these guys, it's someone
like Jonathan Smith, who's been a proven program builder. That's

(01:05:46):
why they hired him. Right, It is not a certainty
that any of these guys are pop are going to pop,
so it's always a risk anytime you go into the portal.
But I think he has raised the floor there. I
think the defense can make things interesting. They did lose
four of their five top tacklers. Yeah, definitely that hurts.
But the upside I think is there because there were

(01:06:06):
injuries last season, you just got more people experience, so
the depth I looks better to me, I believe. I
saw they brought a nine defensive line transfers so great
that have to know it's not great, but upfront it's
a question of can they generate a pass rush. I
feel like a broken record here, I'm talking about that
with all these teams. They didn't do that at all
last season, but they're at least trying again. They were

(01:06:28):
self aware enough to know where they need to improve,
and we'll see if they can do it offensively, they
will at least be interesting, right like Aiden Childs Nick Marsh.
If nothing more, they've got those two guys. Nick Marsh
point YEP set freshman records last season for receptions and
receiving yards aid and Child's. The best of Aiden Childs, yes,
is very exciting. The worst of him was leading the

(01:06:49):
Big Ten per our friends over at PFF with twenty
turnover worthy plays, last.

Speaker 2 (01:06:54):
Interceptible balls or fumble leave yes moment, Yes, so yes.
They got to iron that out against a tough schedule
like at USC, at Nebraska, at Indiana, at Minnesota, at
Iowa excuse me, also Michigan and Penn State both at home.

Speaker 1 (01:07:09):
It's a very difficult path to get to a bowl.
So if they're going to do it, they got to
start three to zero against Western Michigan, against Boston College,
against Youngstown. Then they got to pick up three along
the rest of the way here, like Maryland's probably beatable,
but they're.

Speaker 3 (01:07:23):
A UCLA at home Ucla. But even that one's not obvious.

Speaker 2 (01:07:28):
Obvious. Yeah, yeah, it's a week after UCLA plays Penn State.

Speaker 3 (01:07:32):
Though, if you.

Speaker 1 (01:07:32):
Believe Michigan State is a bowl team, you're buying some
sort of second year boost from Jonathan Smith that maybe
isn't showing up on paper right now.

Speaker 2 (01:07:42):
You just I don't know how you can think anything
extreme about Michigan State in any one direction when they
just have added so many different players at key spots.
So you really have to buy into another full season
of development in Aiden Schilds being a game changer, having
a nice connection with the receiver and given enough time,
they have one of the best offensive line coaches in

(01:08:03):
the country. But they're bringing in this dude from wherever
Montana State and this dude from Wake four is just like,
I hope it all jels, I hope it all works out.
It's more new again. They lose a bunch of starters
who didn't contribute a ton to actual winning football. They
were good players in different respects, but this was not
a nine win roster last year, and they're hoping that

(01:08:26):
a lot of changes means a lot more wins.

Speaker 1 (01:08:29):
We've got UCLA and Rutgers left. Let me give you
my brief tiede die tribe on UCLA, and then you
can take it and you can tell me where I'm
right wrong. Okay, Ucla is my Iceberg team of the
Big Ten, and by that I mean only ten percent.

(01:08:50):
Ten percent of UCLA right now is in the headlines,
and that's Nico right. The other ninety percent no one's
talking about. But getting Niekh this offseason, clearly, I think
an upgrade a quarterback. That's gonna be the thing that
everybody's talking about. And I do think he'll make them
better at the quarterback position. The problem is the other

(01:09:11):
ninety percent, what you don't get from the headlines, and
from my vantage point, that's their worse everywhere else. Yeah,
they're worse everywhere else. They had thirty five guys. Thirty
five guys leave the team from last season. Though they
did have some momentum at the end of last year,
it's basically a new team. Yeah, this looks like an

(01:09:35):
unproven offense. To me, it looks like a rebuilding defense.
We've got the pretty packaging of Nico Ia Maliava, which
again will make them better in some respects, but I'm
just not digging it. Tino Sensei coming over from Indiana,
I like, I'm okay with that. And I do like
some of their young talent Javian Thomas, the running back
they got from cal and Carson Cox, Quasi Gilmer at

(01:09:58):
wide receiver. I like some of the pieces here, but
I'm just not buying it. Very headline worthy to get
a guy like Anico, But then if you look a
little bit below the surface, it's a worst team with
a brutal schedule that doesn't have the supporting cast.

Speaker 2 (01:10:15):
It's a real tough schedule, and I think you just
like to know what are they going to do? Definitively, Well,
they're going to run the ball, well, this.

Speaker 3 (01:10:22):
Is me shrugging. This is me shrugging, Dan, I don't
know what are they going to do well.

Speaker 2 (01:10:27):
I don't think you can count on anything because I
don't think the line play is going to be all
that high on either side of the ball. They've upgraded
a quarterback, but it's not like we're dealing with the
situation where Tennessee fans were thrilled with year one of
the Nico experience at the end of the season, they weren't,
and so I just hope for his sake a fresh
start works out and he is, you know, as a

(01:10:48):
really interesting second act. Yeah, I just don't think the
talent level is there. They're not recruiting in a way
that's crazy impressive. The portal hasn't been crazy impressive, and
like you said, the schedule is going to be tough.
I like that they were quick to make that move
to Tino Sensei after just whiffing on right time, right
place with their first coordinator hire, hiring Eric Penemy in

(01:11:12):
that moment, as like Deshaun Foster was late to the
job because of the timing of Chip Kelly Leeve. It
just it was a total rebuilding job. Was not the
right move. It was quickly apparent. So I liked that
they did that quickly. It's going to take a minute.

Speaker 1 (01:11:28):
It's going to take a minute. And by all accounts,
Nico is a really good teammate. That's been written about,
people have reported that out ever since he got to Tennessee.
By all accounts, he's a very good teammate. Now, clearly
whatever went down at Tennessee does not reflect kindly on
him or his team. But I am not buying this

(01:11:50):
idea that he wanted to go somewhere else to get
a supporting a better supporting cast. You know, that's kind
of the rumor out there that while you wanted to
go somewhere because Nico's dad went to a job hypel and
said he needs a better supporting cast. And this is
not a better supporting cast. It isn't it's a worse team.

Speaker 2 (01:12:09):
It was a team who would have him.

Speaker 1 (01:12:11):
Absolutely, He's not getting paid as much and the guys
around him aren't as good, right, So I am not
buying this notion that he went to a better situation.
It's not a better situation. He makes the situation at
quarterback better, but the situation for him if he's trying
to get to the pros, if he's trying to be
a better quarterback. There are a lot of worts on

(01:12:32):
this team still, they're still trying to put this thing together.
So not rooting against him, but that's just the reality
as I see it.

Speaker 2 (01:12:39):
Are they a ball team? No, I think they can be.
I think they're in that five and seven, six and six.
I think we're gonna have a late conversation about whether
they can squeeze into something.

Speaker 1 (01:12:49):
Squeeze into something, all right, close it out with Rutgers.
You're Rutgers, Scarlet Knights, you love Runners this year, you're
in on Rutgers.

Speaker 2 (01:12:58):
This is a vibes thing more than anything. I don't
love where they are at quarterback. I like that they're
passing it a little bit more so, they're a little
bit more unpredictable. But no kyleman on, guy, what did you.

Speaker 3 (01:13:09):
Kill a monster?

Speaker 2 (01:13:10):
The heel of monster? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (01:13:11):
How dare you forget the heel of monster?

Speaker 2 (01:13:14):
Defense took a big old step back last year, lost
their defensive coordinator.

Speaker 3 (01:13:19):
Rob Smith is back.

Speaker 2 (01:13:20):
Though Rob Smith is back, has experienced in this conference,
some of it good, some of it not so good,
a ton of transfers on defense. This is much more
a vibe of like, this team may not be good,
but I think they're good enough to get in somebody's
head and win a couple games.

Speaker 1 (01:13:37):
This team may not have a good record, but they
are better than they were last year, and I think
it may not show because the schedule is brilli right.
I expected more from Rutgers last season. I think Rutgers
expected more from Rutgers last season. That sure, it seemed
like it was set up for them to have a
better year. But now they go into this season, this

(01:14:00):
schedule's murder and still it's I hope it's a situation.
I suspect it's the situation where they're going to give
Siano as much time as he wants. Sure, because it's
going to be a slow build this year. The steam
is on offense, even after losing the heel Monster. There's

(01:14:20):
a good deal of optimism around Atheen caliak manis back
at quarterback. Yeah, they want to throw it a little
bit more, but I think the interior of the offensive
line is pretty good. I'm curious to see what happens though,
as they try to like shift the focus from a
very run heavy offense to I'm just I'm like, I'm
still not all the way in. On Aphan caliak manis,

(01:14:43):
I believe they call him the Greek rifle. I believe
that's the nickname that some have chosen for him. Not
going to buy that until I see it.

Speaker 2 (01:14:54):
They were scoring points second half of last year. There
were scoring points. They were not far off in a
number of games. The UCLA game, the Nebraska game, yes,
like they were competitive.

Speaker 1 (01:15:03):
I still think the meat of this offense is going
to be on the ground. Okay, that's my expectation. And yeah,
I mean a ton of transfers. Rob Smith's work is
going to be cut out for him on defense, and
I think that's where the push pull comes into play
with the offense, you know, like I think they're probably
worse in defense, not like seventieth in the nation worst,

(01:15:26):
but maybe average. You can say you want to air
it out more because you like your quarterback and receivers,
but the quarterback is definitely not the world's most efficient passer.
And if you're not smart with the play calling, that's
how you hang your defense out to dry. Like it
all kind of is connected here. So I like Shiano
as a coach. I think he's done a really good

(01:15:46):
job here. The over unders five and a half. I'm
going under. I can maybe get to five ors six,
but it requires an upset over a team like in Iowa,
a minnesot a, Washington. Two of those games are away,
I'll say five and seven Rutgers, Okay, five and seven.

Speaker 2 (01:16:10):
It's a look ahead city program. They get everybody a
week before. Really teams get others, and there is something
fair or unfair about Rutgers reputation of like, it's just
Rutgers whatever, Right, who are they gonna dump?

Speaker 1 (01:16:23):
Then? Which which team are they gonna dump?

Speaker 2 (01:16:27):
It's a good question. Oregon gets Rutgers a week wells
that's before Wisconsin. But other than Oregon, Rutgers gets Iowa
the week before Iowa plays Indiana. Rutgers gets Minnesota the
week before Minnesota plays Ohio State. Rutgers gets Washington the
week before Washington goes to Michigan. Rutgers gets uh Illinois

(01:16:50):
the week that's a week before or By. Rutgers gets
Maryland the week before they get Illinois on the road.
Rutgers gets Ohio eight the week before Ohio State plays Michigan.
So there is a like if it's the.

Speaker 1 (01:17:04):
Penn State the week after Penn State plays Nebraska.

Speaker 2 (01:17:07):
Yeah, so that's an after that's a letdown spot. But
there's a lot of look ahead potential on here. That's
why I said on I don't know if it was
episode one or two. I was like, Oregon's not losing
the Rutgers, but this voice tone suggests I don't know
that game is in New Jersey I believe. Yeah it
is after the Indiana game. You want to come in
for that one?

Speaker 1 (01:17:25):
We can drive over No, Like I told you, I
was like, I don't.

Speaker 2 (01:17:29):
I could easily drive to Oregon, Iowa one hundred percent
will not. I'm not driving, you know, eight and a
half hours round trip or whatever it takes to watch
a scary game as an Oregon fan. So I'm always
for traveling to New Jersey, but I don't know if
I can do that. We are done with the Big ten.
We're done with a Big ten.

Speaker 1 (01:17:48):
All eighteen teams. Go back and listen if you missed
any of those previews. As always right in, let us
know what we got right, what we got wrong. We've
had people chiming in left and right about all things
Big twelve, giving us feedback, letting us know where we're at.
I think for the most part, we're pretty good. We've
done okay Colorado people always have issue with what we

(01:18:08):
have to say. That's okay.

Speaker 3 (01:18:10):
We appreciate everybody's feedback.

Speaker 2 (01:18:11):
To be there next week.

Speaker 3 (01:18:13):
You're going to be there.

Speaker 2 (01:18:14):
I'm going to be in Colorado. Yeah, I got a
bachelor party.

Speaker 3 (01:18:17):
I think as people are listening maybe to.

Speaker 1 (01:18:21):
One of these episodes, you'll probably be in Colorado since
we're recording a little bit of an advance. So yeah, awesome.

Speaker 2 (01:18:27):
Great, we'll have a good time. Thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:18:29):
Do report back on the food situation in Denver.

Speaker 2 (01:18:31):
I always will.

Speaker 1 (01:18:32):
We'd love to hear more on that, and yeah verballerhood,
weigh in, comments, emails, soliverbot gmail dot com. All that
stuff is greatly appreciated if you are out there on discord.
We have a podcast discussion channel where people can weigh
in about things they hear on the show here and
argue with us if they want to.

Speaker 2 (01:18:51):
I love that. We're very active on there now.

Speaker 1 (01:18:52):
We have too much of that going on, but we
have a lot of people chiming in about things we
have to say and talking amongst themselves. So if that's
something you're into, that's one of the many things we
offer out It for Ballers dot com, v E R
B A L L e r s dot com the
best way singularly to support what Dan and I do.

Speaker 2 (01:19:09):
I'm seeing a lot of people on this discord who
are into your Romaine joke.

Speaker 3 (01:19:14):
You're yeah, better than I expected. I'm gonna be hot.

Speaker 2 (01:19:18):
If that's you, you can be amongst your people.

Speaker 1 (01:19:21):
Come be amongst the people for that guy over there,
my good friend Dan Rubinstein, for myself, Tie hilden Brand,
for this big old conference. Eighteen teams in the Big
Ten that are now officially in the books here in
previous season. We will catch you all next episode. In
the meantime, as always, stay solid, peace,

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BIG TEN TEAM PREVIEWS: Iowa, Nebraska, USC, Washington, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan State, UCLA & Rutgers | 2025 College Football

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}BIG TEN TEAM PREVIEWS: Iowa, Nebraska, USC, Washington, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan State, UCLA & Rutgers | 2025 College Football