November 19, 2025 • 48 mins
Colin breaks down LeBron James’ season debut for the red-hot Los Angeles Lakers, explaining why LeBron’s on-court chemistry with Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves looks seamless early, but why the Lakers could still face major challenges as the competition improves.Colin also unveils his NFL Playoff predictions, projecting the full postseason picture if the playoffs started today, including his early Super Bowl matchup: Can the Eagles win it all 2 years in a row?Plus, Fox Sports College Football analyst Joel Klatt joins the show to deliver can’t-miss insights on the College Football Playoff race—including why Texas is officially out, and how Ohio State’s defense could be one of the most dominant units in college football history.Tune in for sharp analysis across the NBA, NFL, and College Football, featuring expert breakdowns, bold predictions, and the biggest storylines shaping the sports world right now.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three Eastern nine am to
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Here we go Wednesday Live in Chicago.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
It's the Herd.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
People are upset, Lebron's happy. Joel Klatt stops by wherever
you may be and however you may be listening. Thanks
for making us part of your day. Well, the story
last night, and I think I've talked about this all
summer long, is that Lebron has always been the best
(00:59):
player on his now last year, Luca was injured and
put on some weight, so I believe on most nights
Lebron was at least Luca's equal, and many times he
was better than Luca. So last night Lebron made his
season debut and it was a perfect night. Utah's the
worst defensive team by a mile in the NBA. The
Lakers had sixteen laps and seventy four points in the paint.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
No physicality.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
It was a home game, the healthiest the Lakers roster
has been in years, and Lebron eased his way back
into it. He didn't have the ball much in his hands.
His passing was as usual exceptional when Walker Kessler is
out for Utah.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
They are so bad defensively, and.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Lebron appropriately did not insert himself into the offense much.
In fact, the usage rate is what I want to
see going forward. Luca had the ball forty four percent
of the time. I'd be happy at forty six forty seven.
Austin Reeves had it twenty five percent of the time.
(02:03):
Lebron had at thirteen, and it was all smiles. Do
I think taking seven shots and having the ball in
his hands thirteen percent of the time, I think Lebron's
going to be happy with that in April?
Speaker 4 (02:20):
I do not.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
But Lebron is really smart. He's always calculated, he's always intentional,
from the food he eats to the shots he takes.
And the Lakers are a fun, well coached offense, a
joyful atmosphere. Last night felt like an intense scrimmage. Utahs
that bad defensively and Lebron's always been an incredibly adaptable player.
(02:43):
Michael Jordan was not. The late Kobe was not, Carmelo
was not. Lebron's always been adaptable. But let's keep it
one hundred. Lebron now, for the first time in his career,
is absolutely the second best player on the team. He
was better than d Wade, He was better than Bosh,
He was better than Kevin Love, he was better than Kyrie,
(03:04):
he was better than a d all of them. And
he was better than Chunky Luca last year on most nights.
But I said all summer, Skinny Luca is the best
offensive player in the world. Skinny Luca last night had
thirty seven points, could have scored more. It felt like
something you'd see at the Why he scored whenever he
(03:26):
felt like it. Utah is atrocious defensively and Lebron's calculated.
He picked this week to come back. Why they play
Utah twice? No physicality in a bunch of days off.
So I will say this JJ Reddick has created. He
is a really good offensive coach. This offense, the spacing's fantastic,
(03:46):
it never gets jammed up. They really pass well. It's
a very giving offense. But Lebron's never been a true robin.
He's always been batman on almost every night of his career.
So settling for seven shots, they're not settling for thirteen
percent ball usage. But that's kind of where I'd like
(04:07):
him at, maybe eighteen twenty one percent. That's not a
knock on him. Luca is so dominant and Lebron is
so old. That's what it should be for the regular season.
And I think it's a challenge, that's all I've said.
I think it's a challenge. This is an offensive team.
It's not like the Lakers were great defensively last night either.
(04:29):
They trailed for you know, three quarters and gave up
a ton. But Lebron, he's intentional. He picked the right team,
he picked the right night. Here's JJ Reddick.
Speaker 4 (04:39):
After just thought he played with the right spirit, very
unselfish all night. You know, was a willing passer, didn't
force it, took his drives in his shots when they
were there. You know, there's the defense is gonna pay
attention to him, particularly when he has the ball in
(05:01):
the post, particularly when he's putting pressure on the rim.
And I just thought he made a lot of great
decisions tonight.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Really good to have him back.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
One of the criticisms of Lebron has been, you know
he on social media, He's very measured, he's very calculated.
I don't see it as a weakness. I think he's smart.
I think this country is very polarized. It's very punitive
if you say the wrong thing in a social media outlet.
Lebron picked Utah twice. And look at the schedule right now,
a lot of days off Utah twice, perfect team, perfect night,
(05:33):
Lakers healthy. But that usage rate. All I'm saying is
this team is really running overwhelmingly and should through Luca
one and on some nights when Austin Reeves gets hot
and feels a jumper, Austin Reeves two. Doesn't mean Austin's
better than Lebron, but the way JJ Reddick's offense runs, Austin.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Reeves needs the ball to good win though.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
All right, so the college football bracket came out. Everybody
always gets worked up, got a lot of football to go.
The team that's really upset is the Miami Hurricanes. Apparently
their nine fans are furious because they are ranked eleventh.
Notre Dame is ninth, and they beat Notre Dame Caines fans,
(06:24):
all nine of you. College football has changed. Head to
head matters. It's not everything, it's a thing, and timing
matters more. Right, So Miami has two losses to unranked teams,
bad teams and ugly losses in the previous format, and
(06:45):
this format are always the worst thing.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
And timing matters when do you lose.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Notre Dame has not lost September thirteenth, and when they lost,
they lost the good teams and they were very close
go either way games. Okay, so college football now is
a little bit like college classes. It's about midterms, but
mostly it's about the final. It's not about your first
(07:12):
test of the year. So Miami had a great opening
line on their date and then ten minutes later spilled
ravioli all over their white dress shirt. They have not
been good in a month, and they've lost a couple
of games in a month to unranked teams in that month. So,
taking deep breath, the committee is basically just saying yes
(07:34):
right now, based on the last six or seven weeks,
Notre Dame's better than Miami.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
That's the way the NFL works.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
And remember, college football the last two to three years
is more like NFL football than it is like college
football twenty years ago. Nil quarterbacks now in college making
three four and five. I just heard last night about
a tight end that's going to make two and a
half million dollars a tight end recruit. The transfer portal, well,
(08:04):
I mean the transfer portal might as well be free agency.
Lane Kevin was talking about that three years ago. And
the college football playoff means you can be Ohio State
and lose your last game to Michigan as a twenty
point favorite and still win the Natty. So nobody's saying
head to head doesn't matter. It's a thing, but timing matters.
(08:27):
What did you do after the head to head matters?
I mean, the Raiders beat the Patriots in Week one?
How much does that matter today? In the fourteen team
playoffs starting at about a month and a half two months,
how much does that matter?
Speaker 3 (08:40):
It doesn't really.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
In the first week of college football, nobody cares about
Ohio State and Texas. Ohio State's number one, not because
they beat Texas in Week one. They're number one because
of what they've done after that, and Texas is going
to miss the College Football Playoff. It's not because of
that loss. It's the losses after Mario Christobol, though not happy,
(09:02):
still thinks we beat Notre Dame, we should be ahead
of them.
Speaker 4 (09:07):
The number one criteria anything's always head levity is It's why.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
We play the game. So I think that always has
been and always will be the number one factory in
the churney whatever relates to whatever.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
So let's just extrapolate this and exaggerate this to prove
my point. Let's say Miami had beaten Notre Dame and
then lost five straight games, and Notre Dame loses close
to Miami and then blows out the next five teams.
Do you really think a five loss Miami team should
be ranked to head a one loss Notre Dame team? Obviously,
(09:44):
if anybody has an IQ above motor oil and salad dressing. No,
So to prove a point, exaggerate the point. Obviously, head
to heady is something, but it's close. It's go either way.
It's a one hended cab. It's something, not everything. And
if I had to put twelve teams together today, I
(10:07):
do think this morning Notre Dame is slightly better.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Okay, sore you go, J Mack. I know you're feeling
it for Lebron.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
I will say this, Lebron's always been one of these
shrewder guys in the league. Last night, he knew he
watched this team. I mean, he's watching the offense. And
he and JJ Reddick used to have a podcast. You know,
they talked about this. You know, it was discussed, and
I thought Lebron was very smart to just smoothly put
(10:37):
himself in. He didn't want to get in the way
of what the team was doing offensively. So did you
notice last night what Lebron really concentrated on his passing
was unbelievable. He looked like Magic in the mid eight
I mean, he was no look past. So Lebron was like, listen, man,
it's going to take about six games. And even Austin
Reeves said after we had to tweak a few things
(10:58):
here and there, but Lebron was I'm hard enough to
realize I'm gonna be the facilitator tonight.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
I'm gonna be And he was.
Speaker 5 (11:03):
He was.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
He played defense, He was a real facilitator. He did
not do ball usage that was intentional.
Speaker 5 (11:10):
Yeah, even coming up the court, you could see he
would just give it to Luca and get out of
the way. He would go to the side. Wait, see
what was going on? Move off the ball. Listen, man,
I know you were hammering. Well, it's not gonna work
when he comes back. It is only Utah, But Colin,
their offense was unreal last night. I mean the passing,
the cutting off ball movement. And they get like four
days off, as you said before, the jazz again, and
(11:32):
if you look at the schedule after that, it's gonna
be like an eighteen and six Lakers team at some point. Okay,
they're coming for ok see, I'm not even kidding. Okay,
see as a juggernaut, I get it. They want to
win seventy games, go for it. Okay, just keep an
eye on the Lakers, my friend.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
All right, be sure to catch live editions of The
Herd weekdays in noon Eastern non am Pacific on Fox
Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 6 (11:56):
Hey, we're Cavino and Rich Fox Sports Radio every day
five to seven pm Eastern. But here's the thing, we
never have enough time to get to everything we want
to get to.
Speaker 7 (12:05):
And that's why we have a brand new podcast called
over Promised. You see, we're having so much fun in
our two hour show. We never get to everything, honestly,
because this guy is over promising.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Things we never have time for. Yeah, you blubber lit me.
Speaker 6 (12:19):
Well you know what it's called over promise. You should
be good at it because you've been over promising women
for years. Well, it's a Covino and Rich after show
and we want you to be a part of it.
We're gonna be talking sports, of course, but we're also
gonna talk life and relationships. And if Rich and I
are arguing about something or we didn't have enough time,
it will continue on our after show called over Promised. Well,
if you don't get enough Covino and Rich, make sure
(12:40):
you check out over Promised and also uncensored by the way,
so maybe we'll go at it even a little harder.
It's gonna be the best after show podcast of all time.
Speaker 7 (12:48):
There you go, over promising, and remember you could see
on YouTube, but definitely join us. Listen Over Promised with
Covino and Rich on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or
wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
I'm watching and some Lakers, and I'm I'm you know,
I'm watching some Bulls and I'm watching some Celtics and
the warriors. STEP's great warriors, aren't. Luca had thirty seven
last night for the Lakers, and he's just unbelievable offensive player,
best offensive player on the planet. So Adam Silver, and
(13:19):
I've defended Adam Silver. When David Stern took over the NBA,
the NBA was broken, There was a cocaine rumors, bankrupt teams.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
Awful owners. It was awful.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
So David Stern wanted to put the name on the
back of the jersey, you know Jordan's. He wanted to
put it on the front. He wanted to sell the individual,
he wanted the shoe companies involved. It was the right
thing to do at the right time. And with that
you had dynasties formed. Big markets did very well, Lakers
in Boston and Chicago and Detroit. Big markets did very well.
(13:53):
Adam Silver took over for David Stern. It was a
different league. There was some resentment that the league was
too top heavy. So I will defend Adam Silver on this.
He has created the new CBA. All these second and
third aprons, you can't. Owners are not willing to pay
one hundred million dollars annually in taxes. And so seven years,
(14:13):
seven champions. There's a lot of uncertainty going into the playoffs.
Nobody's really sure. But I thought this morning as I
was watching the Lakers last night, here are the six
things that are not debatable. Everything else in the NBA
is debatable right now except these six things. Number One
is the best player is still Nikoti Jokiks the Joker
(14:35):
for Denver is a scoring, passing, rebounding machine. I've never
seen a big guy with this many skills. He's averaging
twenty nine, thirteen and eleven and the only guy in
the league to do it, and he was the only
guy last year to go twenty seven, twelve and nine.
He is, on any given night, the best shooter from
the perimeter, the best shooter mid range, the best low
(14:56):
post player, and when he wants to play defense, he's
not bad.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Best player in the league is the Joker. It is
not debatable.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Second thing, the best pure score Skinny Luca, Luca. First
three years Skinny and Luca Now you can't stop him.
I mean, he's six seven and a half long, all
knees and elbows. He gets whatever he wants, whenever he wants.
He's as good a shooter as Larry Bird.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
But quicker.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
There's just no weakness. He's actually when he wants to
be a good passer, but he shouldn't pass much because
he's that good. He's just you know, I said, he's
like Dirt Novisky, but stronger and quicker, Larry Bird, but quicker.
He is the best offensive pure player on the planet.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Luca.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Number three is let's not even deny it. They're not
even healthy now. OKC is the best team, folks. They're
eighty two and fifteen since the start of last season.
Last year they won by an average of thirteen points.
They're deep, they're big, heart and style che Homer, they
have physicality, they have an elite score. They've got a
(16:04):
great number two. They're well coached, they have the Howie
Roseman of GMS. O case is the best team. The
play number four. If you asked every GM next ten years,
who's the player you build around, it would be Wemby,
not the joker Wemby. Every year his stats are getting better, scoring, rebounding,
(16:25):
shooting efficiency. He is already the best shot blocker since
the NBA started tracking it in the early seventies seventy
three seventy four, the best shot blocker ever better offensively.
I mean, there's no doubt. I'm not sure outside of
Lebron and maybe Michael Jordan in my life, MJ Lebron
(16:48):
and Wemby. If you asked every GM when all three
of those players were like twenty five twenty four, who
would you build around. It's unanimous and I love the joker.
Number five is and it's not close. The Western Conference is.
It's not even the same sport. It's so much better
than the Eastern Conference. Six of the last nine champs
(17:09):
are from the West. Thro the top three MVP favorites
now from the West. Seven of the top ten MVP
favorites are from the West. Offensively, it's a different conference
than the East now. Again, if Tatum and Halliburton were around,
it would be at least not quite as lobsided. But
(17:31):
right now the West feels like the SEC. About six
years ago, there wasn't even an argument. I mean, now
they may be the best Big ten's pretty good. Six
years ago, there was no argument. That's the West in
the East now and number six is Steph Curry remains
the best long distance shooter in the league. Even Luca,
(17:51):
as great as he is, can't compare to Steph leads
the NBA and threes made this season. In fact, Old
Steph in the last five years has made sixteen hundred
and twenty one threes. Number two has made three hundred
and fifty fewer. There is no question there has never
(18:12):
been a shooter this good from this distance. So everything
else in the NBA, to me is absolutely debatable except
these six things. Yo Ki's the best player, Luca the
best pier score Thunder the best team. Wemby's who you
build around for the next five to ten years. The
West is much better than the East, and when it
(18:34):
comes to shooting threes, there's one guy in the league
I want taking that final shot, and that is Steph.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
I thought this was interesting.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
I was.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
JMX, you have any thoughts on that?
Speaker 5 (18:46):
Well, real quick, Colin, look at look on the screen.
All I see is Western Conference players. Indeed, well, what
is the East that bad?
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Well?
Speaker 5 (18:54):
I saw the Pacers. I just have to look up
the standings. The Pacers are one in thirteen.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Yes, for those who questioned Halliburton's value, gosh, I mean
Myles Turner left but it faded.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
Yeah, they lost Turner.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
So anybody out there that doesn't get Halliburton. You don't
get basketball.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
They the Knicks just aren't as interesting yet.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Maybe.
Speaker 5 (19:15):
I mean, if they trade Karl Anthony Town's Yiannis to
the Knicks would be great for the league.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
That's a little sad for these Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
So I was watching, Yeah, I don't. I just keep
my eye on what people are watching. I've always said, you,
the audience, the consumer, sort of drive this show.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
I picked you.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
You largely have a say in what we talk about.
And I watch ratings baseball. The last two years, I've
spent a ton of time on baseball. Why the numbers
have popped? The National League, the Phillies, the Mets, the Padres,
the Dodgers, the Cubs, even the upstart Brewers.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
It's it's interesting.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
I went a long time not talking a lot of
college football because I thought it got very regional. It
became Georgia, Bama, and Clemson, and that's just one tiny
subset of the country. Right. So, but college football now
everybody was terrified transfer portal nil playoff gonna ruin the
college football season.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Have you looked at the numbers.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Both networks, Fox and ESPN, both the pregame shows up
twenty some percent, uh and I think, well, there's two
things I can promise you AI and college football.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
They're both gonna grow.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
I know a lot of people don't like changes, but
AI will broaden the economy, it won't wreck it. And
college football with the playoff, the NIL, the transfer portal,
the ratings are incredible. It's popped, and I find myself,
I mean, this weekend's a great example. I get Oregon
in the USC, so I get some old school Pac
(20:48):
twelve football. But I thought it was great watching Iowa
USC last weekend and Oregon Iowa the year before, And
so I still get the old school Pac twelve that
I love. I can still get Texas playing an old foe.
But I don't know how anybody can argue college football
(21:10):
now there's just more big games. And to me, college
football always had one or two primary issues. Number one
was a big game shortage, and number two was if
you lost a second game by mid October, your.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Season was over. You're playing in the Alamo Bowl.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Now Notre Dame's got two losses, I think they're gonna
make the playoffs. Miami had big wins early, they may not.
US Sea beats Oregon, They're probably gonna make it. So
I and there was this fear that the little guy
was just gonna get suffocated by all the money of
the nil. Well, it just so happens Old miss has
(21:51):
a lot of money and Lane Kiffin's gonna make the playoff,
and Indiana apparently has enough money to pay for a
star quarterback and a great head coaching.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
Guy.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
I look at college football right now. I remember when
I moved off college football because I could look at
the preseason rankings and it was like I knew Alabama,
Georgia and Clemson. If Clemson had an elite quarterback, we're
going to be around at the end of the year.
I feel like after Ohio State, anybody could be anybody
in this college football bracket. I mean big noon Saturday
(22:26):
up fifteen percent. More people are interested more big games.
And you know, I'm a West Coast guy. I did
not need to see Cal play Oregon State one more
time in my life. I just and I'm I'm I
was a West Coast loyalist. I just didn't need to
see it. I've loved it. I think it's been fun.
I think the West Coast teams have helped Big Ten recruiting.
(22:48):
I think the Pac twelve has made the Big ten
better at quarterback, a little bit smarter offensively, a little
more clever. And I think the tradition of the Big
ten has helped the Pac twelve. It's forced USC to
get bigger and go after more alignment, which they need
to do without the Big Ten five years ago. So
it just you know, everybody's terrified at AI college football
(23:11):
is now. I'm going to be the same. I'm looking
at the numbers. I find myself watching and enjoying more
big games than my entire life.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
It's good football.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays
and noon Easter not a em Pacific.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
Here we go, our number two hour one flew by.
It's the hurt.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
So before we get to Joel Clatten about five or
six minutes. I came in this morning and in the
current playoff picture, the Detroit Lions, the Ravens, and the
Chiefs are not in. So this is what I'm about
to do is hypothetical. But if the Colts don't win,
if the Colts beat the Chiefs this weekend, I don't
think Kansady is making the playoffs. And Try right now
(24:00):
is in a fight, because right now this morning, they
got their head coach taken over play calling duties, and
I don't love where Detroit's at, although I love their roster.
So I said, it's most of the teams that are
in the playoffs I think are gonna stick.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
I think we're pretty close. So let's take the teams.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
If the playoffs started today, this would be the playoff matchups.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
Denver get to.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Buy as a number one seed. I think that will
be the case. I would take in the wild card
round Buffalo to beat Pittsburgh, even though it's at Pittsburgh,
because they won their division. Pittsburgh's lost six straight playoff
games and in five or six they've been gashed. And
if you have a good run game, you could give
Buffalo trouble here. But I get a major major quarterback advantage,
(24:50):
major offense advantage, and Pittsburgh can't run the ball, and
they have not ended seasons well since it's about twenty sixteen. Buffalo,
I would take the Colts at home over the Chargers,
a dependable run game and O line. Again if maybe
if it's on the road, it's different. But folks, the
better roster right now due to injuries is the Colts
(25:12):
and I have said this in the playoffs in baseball,
say it in the NFL playoffs. Good old lines, endure
and last and keep the ball away from star coaches
and star quarterbacks to take the Colts. And then I
would take the Patriots at home to beat the Jags
in the wild card round. You trust Jacksonville and cold Weather?
(25:34):
Really you trust Trevor Lawrence cold Weather up north, I don't,
so I would have Denver by Buffalo, Colts Patriots advance.
Now we go to the divisional round, I would take
Denver over Buffalo. Denver at home off of by Sean Payton,
offensive coach.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
Off of Bye.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
First of all, the Bills can't stop the run. Between
boh Niggs, Bonis's legs and the run game, I think
it'd be death by a thousand Cuts. Colts Patriots, Daniel Jones, regression,
cold Weather. I'm going to take New England. I don't
trust Daniel Jones in this spot. I think New England
(26:18):
pressure is the quarterback. I've watched Daniel Jones with a
little pressure.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
I know what I get.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
Now, Patriots Broncos, I'm taking Denver. More playmakers on both
sides of the ball, more elite players in their prime.
If you look at recent history, offensive coach against defensive
coach in divisional round and conference championships has favored the
offensive coach, Denver to the super Bowl. As of today,
(26:47):
now Baltimore and Kansas City today are not in the
AFC playoffs. Maybe that changes things, but the matchups, that's
where I would go.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
NFC.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Let's go Wildcard Seattle tam with the Eagles getting the buy.
I take Seattle. Why better overall roster? If you look
at Baker Mayfield when facing pressure this year, and Seattle
applies a lot of pressure. Baker facing pressure forty six
passer rating. Seattle is also, bizarrely the best road team
(27:20):
in the NFL the last two years. Green Bay Chicago's
a coin flip. If it's at Chicago, I'd take Chicago,
I would. I'd take Caleb Williams making a play. Chicago
in bad weather and that'll be bad weather. Is a
consistently better run team. Chicago runs the ball a lot
(27:41):
and runs it well. Green Bay runs it a lot
and doesn't run it well. I would take the Bears
in an ugly, windy, cold, low scoring game. Niners at
the Rams. Mcvay's head Shanahan's number recently. I think it's
a Rams have a better overall roster. I trust their health,
I trust their offensive and defensive consistency. No question, the
(28:02):
Rams are the much better defense than the Niners this year,
and that's not particularly close. Now we go to the
NFC Divisional round, I would take the Eagles off of
by beating Seattle. Why Philly in the playoffs creates turnovers,
Seattle leaves the NFL in giveaways.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
Sam in this spot, cold windy on the road.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
What Philadelphia does well defensively, Seattle can struggle with offensively.
Take Philly Bears Rams again. If you go look at
the Rams under McVeigh home playoff games, they win, and
they win convincingly. I think the more well rounded team,
the veteran quarterback, the veteran coach, take the Rams to
win convincingly. Rams Philly game of the year in the playoffs.
(28:45):
I would take the Rams. Listen right now, the Rams defense,
everybody is good, the Rams offense more consistent.
Speaker 3 (28:54):
The Rams run the ball better, they throw it better.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
I get McVeigh Stafford over hurt Siriani in a big spot,
as long as it's not blowing sideways. Even if it
is Rams running game is better, I'll take the Rams.
We get to the Super Bowl, Rams over Denver again.
I get the veteran quarterback, two great defenses. The Rams
(29:18):
are the least penalized team in the league. The Broncos
are the most penalized team in the league in close games.
That stuff matters. Stafford McVay whin their second Super Bowl together.
As of now, Baltimore Chiefs couldn't make the playoffs. I
would take Denver. J Max beside himself.
Speaker 3 (29:41):
He didn't know what to do with it.
Speaker 5 (29:43):
I'm flying the gaster the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
What how do you know if the Bills winning in
the first round. I mean, there's too much there to
chew on.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
I know we got a guess.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Let's revisit later in the Okay, Okay and Joe now
joining us live the college football playoff. Right. Miami is
all upset, boy, Miami is all upset. And I said,
they're nine fans in America are furious. I think head
to head matters less than it used to. It still matters, absolutely,
(30:16):
but it doesn't matter like it did.
Speaker 5 (30:17):
You.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
It's like the NFL. The Raiders beat the Patriots in
a week one. Nobody cares. As college football has created
a playoff and has extended their season more games, it
just doesn't have the impact. And right now, those two
ugly losses for Miami, I would put Notre Dame narrowly
ahead of Miami, would you. So I think it matters
if you're comparing them directly, and right now they're not
(30:40):
being compared directly, and I think that's where it's at.
And I do think that the Playoff committee has, maybe artificially,
but they have created a buffer between Miami and Notre
Dame so that they're not compared, you know, And you
can maybe say that's intentionally. I'm not sure, but for instance,
the resume for Alabama is much better than Notre Dame,
so it doesn't really make sense for them to fall
(31:01):
behind Notre Dame unless you're going to go just based
on eye tests. And remember there are coaches on this committee.
Mark D'Antonio, the former Michigan State coach, he's obviously going
to favor a run oriented team that's consistent. Well that's
Notre Dame versus Alabama. Mike Riley is on the staff,
you know, which can't run the football. So I think
that the eye test has won out in a lot
(31:22):
of these arguments for this version of the committee. And
right now there's a buffer. You've got Utah and BYU
sitting in there, you've got Alabama, so you don't have
to directly compare Notre Dame in Miami. Now, if they,
for whatever reason get closer to one another and it
becomes a discussion about Miami or Notre Dame for inclusion
into the playoff, then you have to go head to head.
(31:43):
This is where I would disagree with you. If it
comes down to those two, you have to honor the
on field result. But until they're compared directly, at this point,
the committee is not really taking that into consideration. So
Georgia beats Texas again with physicality. All three games of
look the same to me. I didn't think Arcs played bad.
(32:03):
I didn't think he was the story. What are we
to make I've said this, USC and Texas, even when
they're good or kind of pretty, Georgia's never been pretty.
I think Georgia is just an awful matchup for Texas.
I actually think, I actually think, and.
Speaker 3 (32:18):
I was wrong on this.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
I think Oklahoma is actually built like an SEC team.
They they were good quarter Well they proved.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
That at Bama. You know, they went in there and
played great defense. That's right.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
And what do we think of the Texas Longhorns today?
What do we think of them? I think they're out.
You know, there was this conversation like, well, maybe at
nine to three Texas, because one of those losses is
at Ohio State, maybe they could back their way into
the playoff. No, no, no, I'm done with that, not
after the way that they lost to Georgia, not after
their even by the way, a couple of their close
(32:51):
wins are awful. I mean, Missippi State and Kentucky are
not good football teams. They had to take overtime to
do that. In fact, they remind me a lot of
last year's BAMA team that was left out of the playoff. Remember,
last year's Bama team was nine to three. Last year's
Bama team had to win over Georgia. This year, you know,
Texas has a big win over Oklahoma, so you've got
(33:12):
two big wins. They each had really difficult road losses
this year Texas at Ohio State. Last year Bama at Tennessee,
and then they each had bad, brutal late season beats
on the road. Last year's BAMA team got drilled by
Oklahoma late, and Texas this year got drilled by Georgia late.
To me, it's not a resume that you can get
(33:32):
back into the playoffs. So to me, Texas is done
and any conversation that suggests otherwise is nefarious in my estimation.
If you look at their resume, if you watch them
on tape, neither of those things can put Texas into
that college football playoff. And Georgia, by the way, I
just think Georgia is the best SEC team that we're
(33:52):
seeing right now, whether they get to the SEC Championship
game or not, calling that's the best team in the
SEC because you got to play against great players who
believe in their coach, and their coach believes in them.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
Think about that sequence where they go for it.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
On fourth down, fourth and one from their own thirty
five yard line, up fourteen to ten, and all of
a sudden, Arts goes from throwing a touchdown pass with
five and a half minutes left, he doesn't see the
ball again until eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter,
down twenty eight ten. What a sequence in there with
the on side kick the fourth downs Kirby was amazing.
What if Texas hammers Texas A and M. I don't care,
(34:26):
like hammer one one to seven. Do you really think that?
Speaker 3 (34:30):
I mean, I don't think. I don't buy Texas A
and M. So I don't.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
I watched the entire game last week. I don't care.
You can't get down thirty to three at home to
South Carolina. I think Texas gonna beat Texas and M soundly,
and then they're gonna say, well, okay, we lost to Georgia.
Speaker 3 (34:44):
Well, they're the best team and we narrowly lost.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
They also they also needed a punt return in overtime
to beat Mississippi State. They also needed overtime to beat Kentucky.
You know, like I, I don't, I don't see it.
I don't see it with Texas. Not if you were
going to set a precedent for a nine and three
team to make the playoffs, let's.
Speaker 3 (35:04):
Make them good.
Speaker 1 (35:05):
You know, this Texas team hasn't even played well for
sixty minutes, not one time this entire season. So that
would I mean, I would call them the question that
they're all of a sudden going to drill Texas A
and M.
Speaker 3 (35:15):
I mean A and M.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
Yes, you ride the roller coaster. You got the terrible
first half, but they had a great second half. And
I think I just don't think that at nine and three,
Texas has any business sniffing around this playoff.
Speaker 5 (35:27):
No.
Speaker 1 (35:27):
I just say, if they blow out an A and M,
they'll be three and two against I mean, you could
have an eleven and two BYU. You could have a
ten and two Utah, you could have a ten and
two USC. I mean there are a lot of teams
that you can have a ten and three Alabama. You know,
what do you do with the ten and three Alabama
that goes to the SEC Championship game maybe and loses.
Speaker 3 (35:46):
I mean, what do you do with them? They would
be over at Texas. So I think Texas has too
much to overcome. All Right, the.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
UFC Oregon, now I don't think. I don't know if
they can block Oregon. I do not know if USC
can block Oregon's two first round defensive lineman up front.
I'm not as concerned with it. If they can block them,
whether they can tackle them. I think Oregon's gonna win
by about ten to thirteen points. Do you know. I
think it's a bad matchup for USC, and I said
the same thing about about the Iowa game last last week.
(36:16):
In Iowa did cover, but USC showed me a lot
winning that game in those conditions, the way that they did,
being down twenty one to seven and coming back and
winning that football game that was really really good, and
in particular their defense holding Iowa to nothing really one
hundred yards and no points in the second half.
Speaker 3 (36:31):
That was huge.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
But but Oregon's a different animal, and that location where
they're playing different animal. We know that USC struggles a
little bit on their road, even though they've gotten some
road victories here this season. If I told you that
Oregon was the second best rushing team in the country
yards per carry, you'd be like, oh, I didn't realize that.
Speaker 3 (36:52):
Well they are.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
They're ahead of teams like Notre Dame. Notre Dame shredded
this USC defense running the football, and Oregon will line
up with a stable of backs. They've got three or
four different backs that they can hand the football to,
and they will run the rock with physicality. They did
it against Iowa, They've been doing it against everybody. So
the fact that they're banged up at the wide receiver
position in the skill positions with who is that Gary
(37:14):
Bryant has been out to Goreyan Moore has been out.
That doesn't bother me as much because they can lean
on the run game, specifically against this us USC team.
By the way, they couple that with the number one
pass defense in America. So again it's like the matchup
does not favor USC. If they win this, they will
be firmly in the playoff in my estimation, because it's
(37:35):
not a matchup that favors them, and it's a tough
location to play. You know, it really comes down to
USC and they had they beaten Illinois, which by the way,
they scored the go ahead touchdown. I was there with
a minute ago, and I remember I got a text
from a friend. He goes, boy, they pulled it out,
and I said, no, no, Illinois's got a great kicker.
US Seed not stopping them. Their defense been on the field.
(37:56):
If they scored too fast, I said it on the broadcast. Yeah,
they scored with much time left and that defense for
in the second half, Illinois was doing whatever they wanted to.
They scored too fast. They won that game. You could
lose close to Oregon, you lose the notre name, you
can get into the playoff.
Speaker 3 (38:11):
But I don't think they match up well. So let
me throw this out, is that I read.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
These stories, I don't know if I believe them that
there's an ultimatum. Old Miss has given Lane Kiff and
an ultimatum. Now my take is, shouldn't be somewhere in
the middle, right, I mean, couldn't they be like, hey,
we need an answer. But it's not a full ultimatum.
So you can say like, no, that's totally false. There's
no ultimatum, but behind the scenes they're probably like, hey,
like we need an answer. So I think he should
(38:40):
stay at Old Miss or go pro. I don't want
to bounce into LSU or Florida either. Stay at Old Miss.
They've got in IL money. I made a call on
that two days ago. They've got in IL money. That's
not an issue. He'll be I think the SEC jobs
outside of maybe Georgia are all kind of the same.
They're all dysfunctional, a bit delusional. Georgia between George High
(39:00):
school football and Florida and just the revenue Georgia to
me is like it's good, it's a top five job
in the country, maybe Bama, but Bama doesn't have Georgia's
high school football talent within one hundred feet.
Speaker 3 (39:13):
Of the campus.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
So I I to me, if you have an sec
job and you're winning, stay in that job, or you disagree,
I don't disagree. And my take is not necessarily on
the level or quality of the job. I would just say,
if he was gonna stay at Old Mess, I think
he would have already done it. And I know I've
(39:36):
bounced around on this. I have been kind of all
over the map. And part of that is because Lane
is all over the map.
Speaker 3 (39:43):
Yeah, and you know, like.
Speaker 1 (39:47):
Like it or not, Lane loves this. He loves to
be the center of attention on social media in the
college football world.
Speaker 3 (39:55):
He loves this.
Speaker 1 (39:56):
I mean he two weeks ago he ran out under
the the middle of the field so that he could
photo Obama a couple that was getting engaged on the
field at Ole Miss. And he loves being the center
of attention. And he is right now and calling you.
But here's the thing. If he wanted to stay, he
would stay, and we would have already known it. Look
at all the other coaches around the country that have
(40:19):
said they're staying or signed extensions and Ole Miss, I know,
has told him money is not a factor here. Whatever
you get offered, we will match it. So it's not
that he's going to make more somewhere else, which is
starting to lead me to believe. And again I will
fully own I have been all over the map on
this and Lane. But Lane is a unique cat. Now
(40:40):
I don't know if he can come back to Ole Miss.
You can't lead him on for this long. And now
there's going to start to be animates like why aren't
you signing an extension? What's the problem? And I think
he's going to Florida, I really do. I think he's
going to Florida, and I think he's going to be
the next coach of the Gators, and I think that
we're going to have one of the biggest messes. And
in college football history go down before the playoff when
(41:03):
Lane Kiffin steps away from a college football playoff team
and goes to coach another team. You know what he
should say right before the Egg Bowl. That's where they
want the answer and say, well, I'm gonna make you fire.
I'm not going to give you an answer, fire me,
and ole Miss will back off and they can't just
say fire me. If you're going to fire me or
hire another coach and see how it plays to your
booster group. That would be the leverage he could play,
(41:24):
because he's certainly in the driver's seat here. But my
point being, regardless of what they're trying to do in
this quote unquote ultimatum, if he wanted to be there, Colin,
he would have already been there. He would have already signed.
That's where I'm starting to sit here, and I think
he's going to Florida. Well, I don't think there's anything
wrong with taking phone calls unless you're married. Other than that,
(41:50):
take phone calls, not with marriage, everything else, take phone calls.
Speaker 3 (41:55):
Every job. A good caveat That was a nice That
was a really nice save there. That's a great caveat.
Speaker 1 (42:01):
Okay, Ohio State host Rutgers. All the years you've been
covering college football, those Alabama defenses were unbelievable with Nick,
But he didn't have the NIOL or transfer portal. If
he had a weakness, he had a weakness. Now you
can just go solve it. Not only can you solve it,
you can go get the best player in the country
(42:21):
and put him in the spot you need at corner
like Caleb Downs or safety. So transfer portal is its
free agency, and so it's not just you know, if
even Nick Saban would be like, we're probably one pass
rusher away. You go to a junior college, but you
can't really solve it. Now you can go buy the
best player in the country at that position. Does this
Ohio State defense does it rank with the Saban defenses
(42:46):
or the best you've ever seen in college?
Speaker 6 (42:47):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (42:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (42:47):
They've given up eight total touchdowns in ten games. They're
giving up seven and a half points per game. I mean, yeah, absolutely,
this is one of the best defenses I've ever seen
and ever covered. They're good on every single level. I
think their schematics are as good as I've ever seen
in college.
Speaker 3 (43:04):
And here's the thing.
Speaker 1 (43:05):
They're running the new England Patriots defense. The Patriots defense.
Speaker 5 (43:09):
That gave.
Speaker 1 (43:11):
Professional play callers and quarterbacks and NFL guys problems for years.
They're running that. And the reason that they can is
that their players are so intelligent. Caleb Downs is one
of the most intelligent players that I've ever been around
covering this sport. Sonny styles is the same way Arvel
Reese has stepped in and by the way, I think
Rvel Reese is playing himself into a top three pick
(43:33):
in college in the NFL draft, because people are going
to start to view Arvel Reese like Micah Parsons or
an abdual Carter, a guy that can play off the
ball but also on the ball and present and create pressure.
Speaker 3 (43:46):
So Reese's stock is through the roof.
Speaker 1 (43:48):
So They've got a top three pick in the NFL
draft sitting on their defense, and he might not even
be the best player on their defense because Downs is
still behind him, who's probably a top A, top top tick,
top ten me picking the NFL draft.
Speaker 3 (44:01):
So yeah, this is this is as good as it gets.
Speaker 1 (44:04):
And it's the marriage between Matt Patriciaan what he's doing schematically,
the players, their intellect, their physicality, their ability to run,
their length, all of it. This is the best defense
that I've seen. And there's been some good ones. Yeah,
Nick had some good ones at Bama. There are some
really good ones at Georgia. This one is right up
there with those. Hey, by the way, talking yesterday the
(44:24):
day before, actually well it was in the last seventy
two hours.
Speaker 3 (44:31):
I have talked to an NFL head coach.
Speaker 1 (44:33):
Okay, and this NFL coach text me and said, Mendoz
at Indiana. He said, he's one of the easier quarterbacks
to evaluate that he remembers in college. He goes because
Indiana uses some NFL stuff. Yep, he says. Indiana does
(44:53):
a really good job. Kurt Signetti to run some pro
Sunday stuff, he said. Mendoza's you know, he goes. The
biggest problem, he texted me, is a lot of times
he's college programs are doing stuff for years and years,
even with Mahomes. You're like, well, it doesn't look close
to the NFL.
Speaker 3 (45:07):
Didn't translate schematically. Yeah, oh, what is that big twelve
stuff NFL?
Speaker 1 (45:11):
This coach said, really easy comp He's one of the
easier of OL's arm size NFL. You look at their offense,
you'll be able to watch him, watch the film and
figure out, Okay, that's what we would do on Sunday.
He's either good at it or average at it. Just
throw that out there that he's going to be. He's
also got the experience, which I love, you know that.
(45:34):
You know, I always talk about reps and number of starts.
This is what hurts a guy like Ty Simpson who
hasn't started a huge number of games in college football.
Yeah that listen, Mendoza is going to be easily a
top three pick, maybe the top pick in the entire
NFL draft. And here's the thing, we haven't even gotten
to the interview process. I think that's going to be
his best trait is his interview process. When I sit
(45:55):
with him, it's like I'm sitting across the table from
Kirk Cousins. And I mean that in a compliment. He
understands what he's about, he knows who he is, he
knows the offense, He's comfortable in his own skin. He's
he's a football nerd in the best ways possible. And
so Mendoza is going to be evaluated, just based on
the film, is possibly a number one pick. Then when
(46:17):
he walks into the room and they meet him, they're
going to be like, Yep, he's a face of the
franchise type of guy. You know at this point with
the size of Ty Simpson and the fact that he
hasn't played a ton of football, and I would suggest
to him that he go back, Dante Moore, go back
play more football in the college game. I think Mendoza
is is on the trajectory to be the number one
(46:37):
pick in the draft. For the record, when you played
minor league baseball, what position.
Speaker 5 (46:42):
Did you play?
Speaker 1 (46:43):
I was a third baseman and played a little first
base as well. Reportably you or Mike Schmidt without any
power or range. Yeah, that's right, kind of. You know
what I lacked in power, I made up for in
a lack of speed. Here, Oh you got the swings.
Oh no, look at this, Oh warning track power. Let's
see here, there's no one. I was bitterly disappointed I
(47:07):
couldn't get one of those out. Bitterly disappointed who was pitching.
Speaker 3 (47:11):
It was a machine, and it.
Speaker 1 (47:12):
Just wasn't like fast enough to try to generate that
pop that was like center field. Gross, gosh, dang it,
you look like a pitcher trying to hit. Kind of
now that's now, Hold on a second. I'd tell you
my ribs were sore the next day calling I was
swinging hard.
Speaker 3 (47:33):
Man. Oh that's kind I actually got the impressed look
at that. I mean, I appreciate How old are you?
Speaker 2 (47:39):
Right?
Speaker 1 (47:40):
I'm forty three? Now all right, all right, almost, that's
not bad. It's a good looking swing almost almost, all right, buddy,
Great seeing you, Great to see you.
Speaker 3 (47:50):
As well.
Speaker 1 (47:50):
Good to be in Chicago to see you in person,
and uh yeah, we'll see you next week brother.
Speaker 3 (47:55):
All right, that was fun.
Speaker 1 (47:56):
Yeah, Michigan Northwestern turned out to be a really really
interesting game, and field was a Murphy's. If you're ever
in Wrigley Field, Murphy's a good place to go. Gets
a little sideways at Murphy's
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three Eastern nine am to
noon Pacific. Find your local station for The Herd at
Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live every
day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio
or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Here we go Wednesday Live in Chicago.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
It's the Herd.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
People are upset, Lebron's happy. Joel Klatt stops by wherever
you may be and however you may be listening. Thanks
for making us part of your day. Well, the story
last night, and I think I've talked about this all
summer long, is that Lebron has always been the best
(00:59):
player on his now last year, Luca was injured and
put on some weight, so I believe on most nights
Lebron was at least Luca's equal, and many times he
was better than Luca. So last night Lebron made his
season debut and it was a perfect night. Utah's the
worst defensive team by a mile in the NBA. The
Lakers had sixteen laps and seventy four points in the paint.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
No physicality.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
It was a home game, the healthiest the Lakers roster
has been in years, and Lebron eased his way back
into it. He didn't have the ball much in his hands.
His passing was as usual exceptional when Walker Kessler is
out for Utah.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
They are so bad defensively, and.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Lebron appropriately did not insert himself into the offense much.
In fact, the usage rate is what I want to
see going forward. Luca had the ball forty four percent
of the time. I'd be happy at forty six forty seven.
Austin Reeves had it twenty five percent of the time.
(02:03):
Lebron had at thirteen, and it was all smiles. Do
I think taking seven shots and having the ball in
his hands thirteen percent of the time, I think Lebron's
going to be happy with that in April?
Speaker 4 (02:20):
I do not.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
But Lebron is really smart. He's always calculated, he's always intentional,
from the food he eats to the shots he takes.
And the Lakers are a fun, well coached offense, a
joyful atmosphere. Last night felt like an intense scrimmage. Utahs
that bad defensively and Lebron's always been an incredibly adaptable player.
(02:43):
Michael Jordan was not. The late Kobe was not, Carmelo
was not. Lebron's always been adaptable. But let's keep it
one hundred. Lebron now, for the first time in his career,
is absolutely the second best player on the team. He
was better than d Wade, He was better than Bosh,
He was better than Kevin Love, he was better than Kyrie,
(03:04):
he was better than a d all of them. And
he was better than Chunky Luca last year on most nights.
But I said all summer, Skinny Luca is the best
offensive player in the world. Skinny Luca last night had
thirty seven points, could have scored more. It felt like
something you'd see at the Why he scored whenever he
(03:26):
felt like it. Utah is atrocious defensively and Lebron's calculated.
He picked this week to come back. Why they play
Utah twice? No physicality in a bunch of days off.
So I will say this JJ Reddick has created. He
is a really good offensive coach. This offense, the spacing's fantastic,
(03:46):
it never gets jammed up. They really pass well. It's
a very giving offense. But Lebron's never been a true robin.
He's always been batman on almost every night of his career.
So settling for seven shots, they're not settling for thirteen
percent ball usage. But that's kind of where I'd like
(04:07):
him at, maybe eighteen twenty one percent. That's not a
knock on him. Luca is so dominant and Lebron is
so old. That's what it should be for the regular season.
And I think it's a challenge, that's all I've said.
I think it's a challenge. This is an offensive team.
It's not like the Lakers were great defensively last night either.
(04:29):
They trailed for you know, three quarters and gave up
a ton. But Lebron, he's intentional. He picked the right team,
he picked the right night. Here's JJ Reddick.
Speaker 4 (04:39):
After just thought he played with the right spirit, very
unselfish all night. You know, was a willing passer, didn't
force it, took his drives in his shots when they
were there. You know, there's the defense is gonna pay
attention to him, particularly when he has the ball in
(05:01):
the post, particularly when he's putting pressure on the rim.
And I just thought he made a lot of great
decisions tonight.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Really good to have him back.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
One of the criticisms of Lebron has been, you know
he on social media, He's very measured, he's very calculated.
I don't see it as a weakness. I think he's smart.
I think this country is very polarized. It's very punitive
if you say the wrong thing in a social media outlet.
Lebron picked Utah twice. And look at the schedule right now,
a lot of days off Utah twice, perfect team, perfect night,
(05:33):
Lakers healthy. But that usage rate. All I'm saying is
this team is really running overwhelmingly and should through Luca
one and on some nights when Austin Reeves gets hot
and feels a jumper, Austin Reeves two. Doesn't mean Austin's
better than Lebron, but the way JJ Reddick's offense runs, Austin.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Reeves needs the ball to good win though.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
All right, so the college football bracket came out. Everybody
always gets worked up, got a lot of football to go.
The team that's really upset is the Miami Hurricanes. Apparently
their nine fans are furious because they are ranked eleventh.
Notre Dame is ninth, and they beat Notre Dame Caines fans,
(06:24):
all nine of you. College football has changed. Head to
head matters. It's not everything, it's a thing, and timing
matters more. Right, So Miami has two losses to unranked teams,
bad teams and ugly losses in the previous format, and
(06:45):
this format are always the worst thing.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
And timing matters when do you lose.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Notre Dame has not lost September thirteenth, and when they lost,
they lost the good teams and they were very close
go either way games. Okay, so college football now is
a little bit like college classes. It's about midterms, but
mostly it's about the final. It's not about your first
(07:12):
test of the year. So Miami had a great opening
line on their date and then ten minutes later spilled
ravioli all over their white dress shirt. They have not
been good in a month, and they've lost a couple
of games in a month to unranked teams in that month. So,
taking deep breath, the committee is basically just saying yes
(07:34):
right now, based on the last six or seven weeks,
Notre Dame's better than Miami.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
That's the way the NFL works.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
And remember, college football the last two to three years
is more like NFL football than it is like college
football twenty years ago. Nil quarterbacks now in college making
three four and five. I just heard last night about
a tight end that's going to make two and a
half million dollars a tight end recruit. The transfer portal, well,
(08:04):
I mean the transfer portal might as well be free agency.
Lane Kevin was talking about that three years ago. And
the college football playoff means you can be Ohio State
and lose your last game to Michigan as a twenty
point favorite and still win the Natty. So nobody's saying
head to head doesn't matter. It's a thing, but timing matters.
(08:27):
What did you do after the head to head matters?
I mean, the Raiders beat the Patriots in Week one?
How much does that matter today? In the fourteen team
playoffs starting at about a month and a half two months,
how much does that matter?
Speaker 3 (08:40):
It doesn't really.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
In the first week of college football, nobody cares about
Ohio State and Texas. Ohio State's number one, not because
they beat Texas in Week one. They're number one because
of what they've done after that, and Texas is going
to miss the College Football Playoff. It's not because of
that loss. It's the losses after Mario Christobol, though not happy,
(09:02):
still thinks we beat Notre Dame, we should be ahead
of them.
Speaker 4 (09:07):
The number one criteria anything's always head levity is It's why.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
We play the game. So I think that always has
been and always will be the number one factory in
the churney whatever relates to whatever.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
So let's just extrapolate this and exaggerate this to prove
my point. Let's say Miami had beaten Notre Dame and
then lost five straight games, and Notre Dame loses close
to Miami and then blows out the next five teams.
Do you really think a five loss Miami team should
be ranked to head a one loss Notre Dame team? Obviously,
(09:44):
if anybody has an IQ above motor oil and salad dressing. No,
So to prove a point, exaggerate the point. Obviously, head
to heady is something, but it's close. It's go either way.
It's a one hended cab. It's something, not everything. And
if I had to put twelve teams together today, I
(10:07):
do think this morning Notre Dame is slightly better.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Okay, sore you go, J Mack. I know you're feeling
it for Lebron.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
I will say this, Lebron's always been one of these
shrewder guys in the league. Last night, he knew he
watched this team. I mean, he's watching the offense. And
he and JJ Reddick used to have a podcast. You know,
they talked about this. You know, it was discussed, and
I thought Lebron was very smart to just smoothly put
(10:37):
himself in. He didn't want to get in the way
of what the team was doing offensively. So did you
notice last night what Lebron really concentrated on his passing
was unbelievable. He looked like Magic in the mid eight
I mean, he was no look past. So Lebron was like, listen, man,
it's going to take about six games. And even Austin
Reeves said after we had to tweak a few things
(10:58):
here and there, but Lebron was I'm hard enough to
realize I'm gonna be the facilitator tonight.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
I'm gonna be And he was.
Speaker 5 (11:03):
He was.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
He played defense, He was a real facilitator. He did
not do ball usage that was intentional.
Speaker 5 (11:10):
Yeah, even coming up the court, you could see he
would just give it to Luca and get out of
the way. He would go to the side. Wait, see
what was going on? Move off the ball. Listen, man,
I know you were hammering. Well, it's not gonna work
when he comes back. It is only Utah, But Colin,
their offense was unreal last night. I mean the passing,
the cutting off ball movement. And they get like four
days off, as you said before, the jazz again, and
(11:32):
if you look at the schedule after that, it's gonna
be like an eighteen and six Lakers team at some point. Okay,
they're coming for ok see, I'm not even kidding. Okay,
see as a juggernaut, I get it. They want to
win seventy games, go for it. Okay, just keep an
eye on the Lakers, my friend.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
All right, be sure to catch live editions of The
Herd weekdays in noon Eastern non am Pacific on Fox
Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 6 (11:56):
Hey, we're Cavino and Rich Fox Sports Radio every day
five to seven pm Eastern. But here's the thing, we
never have enough time to get to everything we want
to get to.
Speaker 7 (12:05):
And that's why we have a brand new podcast called
over Promised. You see, we're having so much fun in
our two hour show. We never get to everything, honestly,
because this guy is over promising.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Things we never have time for. Yeah, you blubber lit me.
Speaker 6 (12:19):
Well you know what it's called over promise. You should
be good at it because you've been over promising women
for years. Well, it's a Covino and Rich after show
and we want you to be a part of it.
We're gonna be talking sports, of course, but we're also
gonna talk life and relationships. And if Rich and I
are arguing about something or we didn't have enough time,
it will continue on our after show called over Promised. Well,
if you don't get enough Covino and Rich, make sure
(12:40):
you check out over Promised and also uncensored by the way,
so maybe we'll go at it even a little harder.
It's gonna be the best after show podcast of all time.
Speaker 7 (12:48):
There you go, over promising, and remember you could see
on YouTube, but definitely join us. Listen Over Promised with
Covino and Rich on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or
wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
I'm watching and some Lakers, and I'm I'm you know,
I'm watching some Bulls and I'm watching some Celtics and
the warriors. STEP's great warriors, aren't. Luca had thirty seven
last night for the Lakers, and he's just unbelievable offensive player,
best offensive player on the planet. So Adam Silver, and
(13:19):
I've defended Adam Silver. When David Stern took over the NBA,
the NBA was broken, There was a cocaine rumors, bankrupt teams.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
Awful owners. It was awful.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
So David Stern wanted to put the name on the
back of the jersey, you know Jordan's. He wanted to
put it on the front. He wanted to sell the individual,
he wanted the shoe companies involved. It was the right
thing to do at the right time. And with that
you had dynasties formed. Big markets did very well, Lakers
in Boston and Chicago and Detroit. Big markets did very well.
(13:53):
Adam Silver took over for David Stern. It was a
different league. There was some resentment that the league was
too top heavy. So I will defend Adam Silver on this.
He has created the new CBA. All these second and
third aprons, you can't. Owners are not willing to pay
one hundred million dollars annually in taxes. And so seven years,
(14:13):
seven champions. There's a lot of uncertainty going into the playoffs.
Nobody's really sure. But I thought this morning as I
was watching the Lakers last night, here are the six
things that are not debatable. Everything else in the NBA
is debatable right now except these six things. Number One
is the best player is still Nikoti Jokiks the Joker
(14:35):
for Denver is a scoring, passing, rebounding machine. I've never
seen a big guy with this many skills. He's averaging
twenty nine, thirteen and eleven and the only guy in
the league to do it, and he was the only
guy last year to go twenty seven, twelve and nine.
He is, on any given night, the best shooter from
the perimeter, the best shooter mid range, the best low
(14:56):
post player, and when he wants to play defense, he's
not bad.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Best player in the league is the Joker. It is
not debatable.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Second thing, the best pure score Skinny Luca, Luca. First
three years Skinny and Luca Now you can't stop him.
I mean, he's six seven and a half long, all
knees and elbows. He gets whatever he wants, whenever he wants.
He's as good a shooter as Larry Bird.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
But quicker.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
There's just no weakness. He's actually when he wants to
be a good passer, but he shouldn't pass much because
he's that good. He's just you know, I said, he's
like Dirt Novisky, but stronger and quicker, Larry Bird, but quicker.
He is the best offensive pure player on the planet.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Luca.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Number three is let's not even deny it. They're not
even healthy now. OKC is the best team, folks. They're
eighty two and fifteen since the start of last season.
Last year they won by an average of thirteen points.
They're deep, they're big, heart and style che Homer, they
have physicality, they have an elite score. They've got a
(16:04):
great number two. They're well coached, they have the Howie
Roseman of GMS. O case is the best team. The
play number four. If you asked every GM next ten years,
who's the player you build around, it would be Wemby,
not the joker Wemby. Every year his stats are getting better, scoring, rebounding,
(16:25):
shooting efficiency. He is already the best shot blocker since
the NBA started tracking it in the early seventies seventy
three seventy four, the best shot blocker ever better offensively.
I mean, there's no doubt. I'm not sure outside of
Lebron and maybe Michael Jordan in my life, MJ Lebron
(16:48):
and Wemby. If you asked every GM when all three
of those players were like twenty five twenty four, who
would you build around. It's unanimous and I love the joker.
Number five is and it's not close. The Western Conference is.
It's not even the same sport. It's so much better
than the Eastern Conference. Six of the last nine champs
(17:09):
are from the West. Thro the top three MVP favorites
now from the West. Seven of the top ten MVP
favorites are from the West. Offensively, it's a different conference
than the East now. Again, if Tatum and Halliburton were around,
it would be at least not quite as lobsided. But
(17:31):
right now the West feels like the SEC. About six
years ago, there wasn't even an argument. I mean, now
they may be the best Big ten's pretty good. Six
years ago, there was no argument. That's the West in
the East now and number six is Steph Curry remains
the best long distance shooter in the league. Even Luca,
(17:51):
as great as he is, can't compare to Steph leads
the NBA and threes made this season. In fact, Old
Steph in the last five years has made sixteen hundred
and twenty one threes. Number two has made three hundred
and fifty fewer. There is no question there has never
(18:12):
been a shooter this good from this distance. So everything
else in the NBA, to me is absolutely debatable except
these six things. Yo Ki's the best player, Luca the
best pier score Thunder the best team. Wemby's who you
build around for the next five to ten years. The
West is much better than the East, and when it
(18:34):
comes to shooting threes, there's one guy in the league
I want taking that final shot, and that is Steph.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
I thought this was interesting.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
I was.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
JMX, you have any thoughts on that?
Speaker 5 (18:46):
Well, real quick, Colin, look at look on the screen.
All I see is Western Conference players. Indeed, well, what
is the East that bad?
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Well?
Speaker 5 (18:54):
I saw the Pacers. I just have to look up
the standings. The Pacers are one in thirteen.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Yes, for those who questioned Halliburton's value, gosh, I mean
Myles Turner left but it faded.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
Yeah, they lost Turner.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
So anybody out there that doesn't get Halliburton. You don't
get basketball.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
They the Knicks just aren't as interesting yet.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Maybe.
Speaker 5 (19:15):
I mean, if they trade Karl Anthony Town's Yiannis to
the Knicks would be great for the league.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
That's a little sad for these Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
So I was watching, Yeah, I don't. I just keep
my eye on what people are watching. I've always said, you,
the audience, the consumer, sort of drive this show.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
I picked you.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
You largely have a say in what we talk about.
And I watch ratings baseball. The last two years, I've
spent a ton of time on baseball. Why the numbers
have popped? The National League, the Phillies, the Mets, the Padres,
the Dodgers, the Cubs, even the upstart Brewers.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
It's it's interesting.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
I went a long time not talking a lot of
college football because I thought it got very regional. It
became Georgia, Bama, and Clemson, and that's just one tiny
subset of the country. Right. So, but college football now
everybody was terrified transfer portal nil playoff gonna ruin the
college football season.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Have you looked at the numbers.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Both networks, Fox and ESPN, both the pregame shows up
twenty some percent, uh and I think, well, there's two
things I can promise you AI and college football.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
They're both gonna grow.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
I know a lot of people don't like changes, but
AI will broaden the economy, it won't wreck it. And
college football with the playoff, the NIL, the transfer portal,
the ratings are incredible. It's popped, and I find myself,
I mean, this weekend's a great example. I get Oregon
in the USC, so I get some old school Pac
(20:48):
twelve football. But I thought it was great watching Iowa
USC last weekend and Oregon Iowa the year before, And
so I still get the old school Pac twelve that
I love. I can still get Texas playing an old foe.
But I don't know how anybody can argue college football
(21:10):
now there's just more big games. And to me, college
football always had one or two primary issues. Number one
was a big game shortage, and number two was if
you lost a second game by mid October, your.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Season was over. You're playing in the Alamo Bowl.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Now Notre Dame's got two losses, I think they're gonna
make the playoffs. Miami had big wins early, they may not.
US Sea beats Oregon, They're probably gonna make it. So
I and there was this fear that the little guy
was just gonna get suffocated by all the money of
the nil. Well, it just so happens Old miss has
(21:51):
a lot of money and Lane Kiffin's gonna make the playoff,
and Indiana apparently has enough money to pay for a
star quarterback and a great head coaching.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
Guy.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
I look at college football right now. I remember when
I moved off college football because I could look at
the preseason rankings and it was like I knew Alabama,
Georgia and Clemson. If Clemson had an elite quarterback, we're
going to be around at the end of the year.
I feel like after Ohio State, anybody could be anybody
in this college football bracket. I mean big noon Saturday
(22:26):
up fifteen percent. More people are interested more big games.
And you know, I'm a West Coast guy. I did
not need to see Cal play Oregon State one more
time in my life. I just and I'm I'm I
was a West Coast loyalist. I just didn't need to
see it. I've loved it. I think it's been fun.
I think the West Coast teams have helped Big Ten recruiting.
(22:48):
I think the Pac twelve has made the Big ten
better at quarterback, a little bit smarter offensively, a little
more clever. And I think the tradition of the Big
ten has helped the Pac twelve. It's forced USC to
get bigger and go after more alignment, which they need
to do without the Big Ten five years ago. So
it just you know, everybody's terrified at AI college football
(23:11):
is now. I'm going to be the same. I'm looking
at the numbers. I find myself watching and enjoying more
big games than my entire life.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
It's good football.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays
and noon Easter not a em Pacific.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
Here we go, our number two hour one flew by.
It's the hurt.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
So before we get to Joel Clatten about five or
six minutes. I came in this morning and in the
current playoff picture, the Detroit Lions, the Ravens, and the
Chiefs are not in. So this is what I'm about
to do is hypothetical. But if the Colts don't win,
if the Colts beat the Chiefs this weekend, I don't
think Kansady is making the playoffs. And Try right now
(24:00):
is in a fight, because right now this morning, they
got their head coach taken over play calling duties, and
I don't love where Detroit's at, although I love their roster.
So I said, it's most of the teams that are
in the playoffs I think are gonna stick.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
I think we're pretty close. So let's take the teams.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
If the playoffs started today, this would be the playoff matchups.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
Denver get to.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Buy as a number one seed. I think that will
be the case. I would take in the wild card
round Buffalo to beat Pittsburgh, even though it's at Pittsburgh,
because they won their division. Pittsburgh's lost six straight playoff
games and in five or six they've been gashed. And
if you have a good run game, you could give
Buffalo trouble here. But I get a major major quarterback advantage,
(24:50):
major offense advantage, and Pittsburgh can't run the ball, and
they have not ended seasons well since it's about twenty sixteen. Buffalo,
I would take the Colts at home over the Chargers,
a dependable run game and O line. Again if maybe
if it's on the road, it's different. But folks, the
better roster right now due to injuries is the Colts
(25:12):
and I have said this in the playoffs in baseball,
say it in the NFL playoffs. Good old lines, endure
and last and keep the ball away from star coaches
and star quarterbacks to take the Colts. And then I
would take the Patriots at home to beat the Jags
in the wild card round. You trust Jacksonville and cold Weather?
(25:34):
Really you trust Trevor Lawrence cold Weather up north, I don't,
so I would have Denver by Buffalo, Colts Patriots advance.
Now we go to the divisional round, I would take
Denver over Buffalo. Denver at home off of by Sean Payton,
offensive coach.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
Off of Bye.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
First of all, the Bills can't stop the run. Between
boh Niggs, Bonis's legs and the run game, I think
it'd be death by a thousand Cuts. Colts Patriots, Daniel Jones, regression,
cold Weather. I'm going to take New England. I don't
trust Daniel Jones in this spot. I think New England
(26:18):
pressure is the quarterback. I've watched Daniel Jones with a
little pressure.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
I know what I get.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
Now, Patriots Broncos, I'm taking Denver. More playmakers on both
sides of the ball, more elite players in their prime.
If you look at recent history, offensive coach against defensive
coach in divisional round and conference championships has favored the
offensive coach, Denver to the super Bowl. As of today,
(26:47):
now Baltimore and Kansas City today are not in the
AFC playoffs. Maybe that changes things, but the matchups, that's
where I would go.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
NFC.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Let's go Wildcard Seattle tam with the Eagles getting the buy.
I take Seattle. Why better overall roster? If you look
at Baker Mayfield when facing pressure this year, and Seattle
applies a lot of pressure. Baker facing pressure forty six
passer rating. Seattle is also, bizarrely the best road team
(27:20):
in the NFL the last two years. Green Bay Chicago's
a coin flip. If it's at Chicago, I'd take Chicago,
I would. I'd take Caleb Williams making a play. Chicago
in bad weather and that'll be bad weather. Is a
consistently better run team. Chicago runs the ball a lot
(27:41):
and runs it well. Green Bay runs it a lot
and doesn't run it well. I would take the Bears
in an ugly, windy, cold, low scoring game. Niners at
the Rams. Mcvay's head Shanahan's number recently. I think it's
a Rams have a better overall roster. I trust their health,
I trust their offensive and defensive consistency. No question, the
(28:02):
Rams are the much better defense than the Niners this year,
and that's not particularly close. Now we go to the
NFC Divisional round, I would take the Eagles off of
by beating Seattle. Why Philly in the playoffs creates turnovers,
Seattle leaves the NFL in giveaways.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
Sam in this spot, cold windy on the road.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
What Philadelphia does well defensively, Seattle can struggle with offensively.
Take Philly Bears Rams again. If you go look at
the Rams under McVeigh home playoff games, they win, and
they win convincingly. I think the more well rounded team,
the veteran quarterback, the veteran coach, take the Rams to
win convincingly. Rams Philly game of the year in the playoffs.
(28:45):
I would take the Rams. Listen right now, the Rams defense,
everybody is good, the Rams offense more consistent.
Speaker 3 (28:54):
The Rams run the ball better, they throw it better.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
I get McVeigh Stafford over hurt Siriani in a big spot,
as long as it's not blowing sideways. Even if it
is Rams running game is better, I'll take the Rams.
We get to the Super Bowl, Rams over Denver again.
I get the veteran quarterback, two great defenses. The Rams
(29:18):
are the least penalized team in the league. The Broncos
are the most penalized team in the league in close games.
That stuff matters. Stafford McVay whin their second Super Bowl together.
As of now, Baltimore Chiefs couldn't make the playoffs. I
would take Denver. J Max beside himself.
Speaker 3 (29:41):
He didn't know what to do with it.
Speaker 5 (29:43):
I'm flying the gaster the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
What how do you know if the Bills winning in
the first round. I mean, there's too much there to
chew on.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
I know we got a guess.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Let's revisit later in the Okay, Okay and Joe now
joining us live the college football playoff. Right. Miami is
all upset, boy, Miami is all upset. And I said,
they're nine fans in America are furious. I think head
to head matters less than it used to. It still matters, absolutely,
(30:16):
but it doesn't matter like it did.
Speaker 5 (30:17):
You.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
It's like the NFL. The Raiders beat the Patriots in
a week one. Nobody cares. As college football has created
a playoff and has extended their season more games, it
just doesn't have the impact. And right now, those two
ugly losses for Miami, I would put Notre Dame narrowly
ahead of Miami, would you. So I think it matters
if you're comparing them directly, and right now they're not
(30:40):
being compared directly, and I think that's where it's at.
And I do think that the Playoff committee has, maybe artificially,
but they have created a buffer between Miami and Notre
Dame so that they're not compared, you know, And you
can maybe say that's intentionally. I'm not sure, but for instance,
the resume for Alabama is much better than Notre Dame,
so it doesn't really make sense for them to fall
(31:01):
behind Notre Dame unless you're going to go just based
on eye tests. And remember there are coaches on this committee.
Mark D'Antonio, the former Michigan State coach, he's obviously going
to favor a run oriented team that's consistent. Well that's
Notre Dame versus Alabama. Mike Riley is on the staff,
you know, which can't run the football. So I think
that the eye test has won out in a lot
(31:22):
of these arguments for this version of the committee. And
right now there's a buffer. You've got Utah and BYU
sitting in there, you've got Alabama, so you don't have
to directly compare Notre Dame in Miami. Now, if they,
for whatever reason get closer to one another and it
becomes a discussion about Miami or Notre Dame for inclusion
into the playoff, then you have to go head to head.
(31:43):
This is where I would disagree with you. If it
comes down to those two, you have to honor the
on field result. But until they're compared directly, at this point,
the committee is not really taking that into consideration. So
Georgia beats Texas again with physicality. All three games of
look the same to me. I didn't think Arcs played bad.
(32:03):
I didn't think he was the story. What are we
to make I've said this, USC and Texas, even when
they're good or kind of pretty, Georgia's never been pretty.
I think Georgia is just an awful matchup for Texas.
I actually think, I actually think, and.
Speaker 3 (32:18):
I was wrong on this.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
I think Oklahoma is actually built like an SEC team.
They they were good quarter Well they proved.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
That at Bama. You know, they went in there and
played great defense. That's right.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
And what do we think of the Texas Longhorns today?
What do we think of them? I think they're out.
You know, there was this conversation like, well, maybe at
nine to three Texas, because one of those losses is
at Ohio State, maybe they could back their way into
the playoff. No, no, no, I'm done with that, not
after the way that they lost to Georgia, not after
their even by the way, a couple of their close
(32:51):
wins are awful. I mean, Missippi State and Kentucky are
not good football teams. They had to take overtime to
do that. In fact, they remind me a lot of
last year's BAMA team that was left out of the playoff. Remember,
last year's Bama team was nine to three. Last year's
Bama team had to win over Georgia. This year, you know,
Texas has a big win over Oklahoma, so you've got
(33:12):
two big wins. They each had really difficult road losses
this year Texas at Ohio State. Last year Bama at Tennessee,
and then they each had bad, brutal late season beats
on the road. Last year's BAMA team got drilled by
Oklahoma late, and Texas this year got drilled by Georgia late.
To me, it's not a resume that you can get
(33:32):
back into the playoffs. So to me, Texas is done
and any conversation that suggests otherwise is nefarious in my estimation.
If you look at their resume, if you watch them
on tape, neither of those things can put Texas into
that college football playoff. And Georgia, by the way, I
just think Georgia is the best SEC team that we're
(33:52):
seeing right now, whether they get to the SEC Championship
game or not, calling that's the best team in the
SEC because you got to play against great players who
believe in their coach, and their coach believes in them.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
Think about that sequence where they go for it.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
On fourth down, fourth and one from their own thirty
five yard line, up fourteen to ten, and all of
a sudden, Arts goes from throwing a touchdown pass with
five and a half minutes left, he doesn't see the
ball again until eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter,
down twenty eight ten. What a sequence in there with
the on side kick the fourth downs Kirby was amazing.
What if Texas hammers Texas A and M. I don't care,
(34:26):
like hammer one one to seven. Do you really think that?
Speaker 3 (34:30):
I mean, I don't think. I don't buy Texas A
and M. So I don't.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
I watched the entire game last week. I don't care.
You can't get down thirty to three at home to
South Carolina. I think Texas gonna beat Texas and M soundly,
and then they're gonna say, well, okay, we lost to Georgia.
Speaker 3 (34:44):
Well, they're the best team and we narrowly lost.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
They also they also needed a punt return in overtime
to beat Mississippi State. They also needed overtime to beat Kentucky.
You know, like I, I don't, I don't see it.
I don't see it with Texas. Not if you were
going to set a precedent for a nine and three
team to make the playoffs, let's.
Speaker 3 (35:04):
Make them good.
Speaker 1 (35:05):
You know, this Texas team hasn't even played well for
sixty minutes, not one time this entire season. So that
would I mean, I would call them the question that
they're all of a sudden going to drill Texas A
and M.
Speaker 3 (35:15):
I mean A and M.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
Yes, you ride the roller coaster. You got the terrible
first half, but they had a great second half. And
I think I just don't think that at nine and three,
Texas has any business sniffing around this playoff.
Speaker 5 (35:27):
No.
Speaker 1 (35:27):
I just say, if they blow out an A and M,
they'll be three and two against I mean, you could
have an eleven and two BYU. You could have a
ten and two Utah, you could have a ten and
two USC. I mean there are a lot of teams
that you can have a ten and three Alabama. You know,
what do you do with the ten and three Alabama
that goes to the SEC Championship game maybe and loses.
Speaker 3 (35:46):
I mean, what do you do with them? They would
be over at Texas. So I think Texas has too
much to overcome. All Right, the.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
UFC Oregon, now I don't think. I don't know if
they can block Oregon. I do not know if USC
can block Oregon's two first round defensive lineman up front.
I'm not as concerned with it. If they can block them,
whether they can tackle them. I think Oregon's gonna win
by about ten to thirteen points. Do you know. I
think it's a bad matchup for USC, and I said
the same thing about about the Iowa game last last week.
(36:16):
In Iowa did cover, but USC showed me a lot
winning that game in those conditions, the way that they did,
being down twenty one to seven and coming back and
winning that football game that was really really good, and
in particular their defense holding Iowa to nothing really one
hundred yards and no points in the second half.
Speaker 3 (36:31):
That was huge.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
But but Oregon's a different animal, and that location where
they're playing different animal. We know that USC struggles a
little bit on their road, even though they've gotten some
road victories here this season. If I told you that
Oregon was the second best rushing team in the country
yards per carry, you'd be like, oh, I didn't realize that.
Speaker 3 (36:52):
Well they are.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
They're ahead of teams like Notre Dame. Notre Dame shredded
this USC defense running the football, and Oregon will line
up with a stable of backs. They've got three or
four different backs that they can hand the football to,
and they will run the rock with physicality. They did
it against Iowa, They've been doing it against everybody. So
the fact that they're banged up at the wide receiver
position in the skill positions with who is that Gary
(37:14):
Bryant has been out to Goreyan Moore has been out.
That doesn't bother me as much because they can lean
on the run game, specifically against this us USC team.
By the way, they couple that with the number one
pass defense in America. So again it's like the matchup
does not favor USC. If they win this, they will
be firmly in the playoff in my estimation, because it's
(37:35):
not a matchup that favors them, and it's a tough
location to play. You know, it really comes down to
USC and they had they beaten Illinois, which by the way,
they scored the go ahead touchdown. I was there with
a minute ago, and I remember I got a text
from a friend. He goes, boy, they pulled it out,
and I said, no, no, Illinois's got a great kicker.
US Seed not stopping them. Their defense been on the field.
(37:56):
If they scored too fast, I said it on the broadcast. Yeah,
they scored with much time left and that defense for
in the second half, Illinois was doing whatever they wanted to.
They scored too fast. They won that game. You could
lose close to Oregon, you lose the notre name, you
can get into the playoff.
Speaker 3 (38:11):
But I don't think they match up well. So let
me throw this out, is that I read.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
These stories, I don't know if I believe them that
there's an ultimatum. Old Miss has given Lane Kiff and
an ultimatum. Now my take is, shouldn't be somewhere in
the middle, right, I mean, couldn't they be like, hey,
we need an answer. But it's not a full ultimatum.
So you can say like, no, that's totally false. There's
no ultimatum, but behind the scenes they're probably like, hey,
like we need an answer. So I think he should
(38:40):
stay at Old Miss or go pro. I don't want
to bounce into LSU or Florida either. Stay at Old Miss.
They've got in IL money. I made a call on
that two days ago. They've got in IL money. That's
not an issue. He'll be I think the SEC jobs
outside of maybe Georgia are all kind of the same.
They're all dysfunctional, a bit delusional. Georgia between George High
(39:00):
school football and Florida and just the revenue Georgia to
me is like it's good, it's a top five job
in the country, maybe Bama, but Bama doesn't have Georgia's
high school football talent within one hundred feet.
Speaker 3 (39:13):
Of the campus.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
So I I to me, if you have an sec
job and you're winning, stay in that job, or you disagree,
I don't disagree. And my take is not necessarily on
the level or quality of the job. I would just say,
if he was gonna stay at Old Mess, I think
he would have already done it. And I know I've
(39:36):
bounced around on this. I have been kind of all
over the map. And part of that is because Lane
is all over the map.
Speaker 3 (39:43):
Yeah, and you know, like.
Speaker 1 (39:47):
Like it or not, Lane loves this. He loves to
be the center of attention on social media in the
college football world.
Speaker 3 (39:55):
He loves this.
Speaker 1 (39:56):
I mean he two weeks ago he ran out under
the the middle of the field so that he could
photo Obama a couple that was getting engaged on the
field at Ole Miss. And he loves being the center
of attention. And he is right now and calling you.
But here's the thing. If he wanted to stay, he
would stay, and we would have already known it. Look
at all the other coaches around the country that have
(40:19):
said they're staying or signed extensions and Ole Miss, I know,
has told him money is not a factor here. Whatever
you get offered, we will match it. So it's not
that he's going to make more somewhere else, which is
starting to lead me to believe. And again I will
fully own I have been all over the map on
this and Lane. But Lane is a unique cat. Now
(40:40):
I don't know if he can come back to Ole Miss.
You can't lead him on for this long. And now
there's going to start to be animates like why aren't
you signing an extension? What's the problem? And I think
he's going to Florida, I really do. I think he's
going to Florida, and I think he's going to be
the next coach of the Gators, and I think that
we're going to have one of the biggest messes. And
in college football history go down before the playoff when
(41:03):
Lane Kiffin steps away from a college football playoff team
and goes to coach another team. You know what he
should say right before the Egg Bowl. That's where they
want the answer and say, well, I'm gonna make you fire.
I'm not going to give you an answer, fire me,
and ole Miss will back off and they can't just
say fire me. If you're going to fire me or
hire another coach and see how it plays to your
booster group. That would be the leverage he could play,
(41:24):
because he's certainly in the driver's seat here. But my
point being, regardless of what they're trying to do in
this quote unquote ultimatum, if he wanted to be there, Colin,
he would have already been there. He would have already signed.
That's where I'm starting to sit here, and I think
he's going to Florida. Well, I don't think there's anything
wrong with taking phone calls unless you're married. Other than that,
(41:50):
take phone calls, not with marriage, everything else, take phone calls.
Speaker 3 (41:55):
Every job. A good caveat That was a nice That
was a really nice save there. That's a great caveat.
Speaker 1 (42:01):
Okay, Ohio State host Rutgers. All the years you've been
covering college football, those Alabama defenses were unbelievable with Nick,
But he didn't have the NIOL or transfer portal. If
he had a weakness, he had a weakness. Now you
can just go solve it. Not only can you solve it,
you can go get the best player in the country
(42:21):
and put him in the spot you need at corner
like Caleb Downs or safety. So transfer portal is its
free agency, and so it's not just you know, if
even Nick Saban would be like, we're probably one pass
rusher away. You go to a junior college, but you
can't really solve it. Now you can go buy the
best player in the country at that position. Does this
Ohio State defense does it rank with the Saban defenses
(42:46):
or the best you've ever seen in college?
Speaker 6 (42:47):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (42:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (42:47):
They've given up eight total touchdowns in ten games. They're
giving up seven and a half points per game. I mean, yeah, absolutely,
this is one of the best defenses I've ever seen
and ever covered. They're good on every single level. I
think their schematics are as good as I've ever seen
in college.
Speaker 3 (43:04):
And here's the thing.
Speaker 1 (43:05):
They're running the new England Patriots defense. The Patriots defense.
Speaker 5 (43:09):
That gave.
Speaker 1 (43:11):
Professional play callers and quarterbacks and NFL guys problems for years.
They're running that. And the reason that they can is
that their players are so intelligent. Caleb Downs is one
of the most intelligent players that I've ever been around
covering this sport. Sonny styles is the same way Arvel
Reese has stepped in and by the way, I think
Rvel Reese is playing himself into a top three pick
(43:33):
in college in the NFL draft, because people are going
to start to view Arvel Reese like Micah Parsons or
an abdual Carter, a guy that can play off the
ball but also on the ball and present and create pressure.
Speaker 3 (43:46):
So Reese's stock is through the roof.
Speaker 1 (43:48):
So They've got a top three pick in the NFL
draft sitting on their defense, and he might not even
be the best player on their defense because Downs is
still behind him, who's probably a top A, top top tick,
top ten me picking the NFL draft.
Speaker 3 (44:01):
So yeah, this is this is as good as it gets.
Speaker 1 (44:04):
And it's the marriage between Matt Patriciaan what he's doing schematically,
the players, their intellect, their physicality, their ability to run,
their length, all of it. This is the best defense
that I've seen. And there's been some good ones. Yeah,
Nick had some good ones at Bama. There are some
really good ones at Georgia. This one is right up
there with those. Hey, by the way, talking yesterday the
(44:24):
day before, actually well it was in the last seventy
two hours.
Speaker 3 (44:31):
I have talked to an NFL head coach.
Speaker 1 (44:33):
Okay, and this NFL coach text me and said, Mendoz
at Indiana. He said, he's one of the easier quarterbacks
to evaluate that he remembers in college. He goes because
Indiana uses some NFL stuff. Yep, he says. Indiana does
(44:53):
a really good job. Kurt Signetti to run some pro
Sunday stuff, he said. Mendoza's you know, he goes. The
biggest problem, he texted me, is a lot of times
he's college programs are doing stuff for years and years,
even with Mahomes. You're like, well, it doesn't look close
to the NFL.
Speaker 3 (45:07):
Didn't translate schematically. Yeah, oh, what is that big twelve
stuff NFL?
Speaker 1 (45:11):
This coach said, really easy comp He's one of the
easier of OL's arm size NFL. You look at their offense,
you'll be able to watch him, watch the film and
figure out, Okay, that's what we would do on Sunday.
He's either good at it or average at it. Just
throw that out there that he's going to be. He's
also got the experience, which I love, you know that.
(45:34):
You know, I always talk about reps and number of starts.
This is what hurts a guy like Ty Simpson who
hasn't started a huge number of games in college football.
Yeah that listen, Mendoza is going to be easily a
top three pick, maybe the top pick in the entire
NFL draft. And here's the thing, we haven't even gotten
to the interview process. I think that's going to be
his best trait is his interview process. When I sit
(45:55):
with him, it's like I'm sitting across the table from
Kirk Cousins. And I mean that in a compliment. He
understands what he's about, he knows who he is, he
knows the offense, He's comfortable in his own skin. He's
he's a football nerd in the best ways possible. And
so Mendoza is going to be evaluated, just based on
the film, is possibly a number one pick. Then when
(46:17):
he walks into the room and they meet him, they're
going to be like, Yep, he's a face of the
franchise type of guy. You know at this point with
the size of Ty Simpson and the fact that he
hasn't played a ton of football, and I would suggest
to him that he go back, Dante Moore, go back
play more football in the college game. I think Mendoza
is is on the trajectory to be the number one
(46:37):
pick in the draft. For the record, when you played
minor league baseball, what position.
Speaker 5 (46:42):
Did you play?
Speaker 1 (46:43):
I was a third baseman and played a little first
base as well. Reportably you or Mike Schmidt without any
power or range. Yeah, that's right, kind of. You know
what I lacked in power, I made up for in
a lack of speed. Here, Oh you got the swings.
Oh no, look at this, Oh warning track power. Let's
see here, there's no one. I was bitterly disappointed I
(47:07):
couldn't get one of those out. Bitterly disappointed who was pitching.
Speaker 3 (47:11):
It was a machine, and it.
Speaker 1 (47:12):
Just wasn't like fast enough to try to generate that
pop that was like center field. Gross, gosh, dang it,
you look like a pitcher trying to hit. Kind of
now that's now, Hold on a second. I'd tell you
my ribs were sore the next day calling I was
swinging hard.
Speaker 3 (47:33):
Man. Oh that's kind I actually got the impressed look
at that. I mean, I appreciate How old are you?
Speaker 2 (47:39):
Right?
Speaker 1 (47:40):
I'm forty three? Now all right, all right, almost, that's
not bad. It's a good looking swing almost almost, all right, buddy,
Great seeing you, Great to see you.
Speaker 3 (47:50):
As well.
Speaker 1 (47:50):
Good to be in Chicago to see you in person,
and uh yeah, we'll see you next week brother.
Speaker 3 (47:55):
All right, that was fun.
Speaker 1 (47:56):
Yeah, Michigan Northwestern turned out to be a really really
interesting game, and field was a Murphy's. If you're ever
in Wrigley Field, Murphy's a good place to go. Gets
a little sideways at Murphy's
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