Hour 2: Brian Noe & Jason Martin – College Football Season Preview

Brian and Jason look ahead to the college football season and make predictions for the likes of Notre Dame, Oklahoma and USC.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. What's going on? What's happened?
And welcome in. Two brothers and a couple Joe guys
are out. I think Brady and LaVar back tomorrow. It's
Brian No Jason Martin in with you. He's Brian M.
Jason waiting for the next couple of hours. Here. We
talked a lot of ball an hour one. We can

(00:23):
talk a lot of ball an hour two, and guess what,
spoiler alert, a lot of ball in our three. So
looking at the a P Top twenty five and the coaches, Paul,
we didn't see those teams in action during week zero,
but we will see them all before we are together
one week from today. Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, Clemson, Notre
Dame are your top five teams, and then there's a

(00:45):
smattering of other teams in a different order after that.
Some people like A and M, some people like Michigan,
some people like Oklahoma, and some people like Utah Baylor
several different teams that are out there. I think the
ones that most people feel the most confident in right
now are Alabama, Ohio State, with Georgia right there. Clemson's
where I think it gets a little bit more iffy, Brian,
But I guess we've reached the time where we can

(01:08):
actually start talking about the college football playoff, where we
can start to make predictions and look down the pike
at what we're going to see in college football in
two I'm geeked up for this. Nothing quite like the
atmosphere and the tradition of college football. I've come to
enjoy it, arguably more on Saturdays than Sundays. But it's

(01:29):
it's very, very close. I'll take the one you don't
take quite Frankly, I don't want to bury either league.
I like them both. But college football. Is there anything
that you would say that is a bold prediction before
we even say who's your top four? What? What do
you think? What's your boldest prediction for the college football
season right now? You know, I don't know how high
this ranks on the Bold meter, but um, each year,

(01:54):
on average, there are two teams in the top ten
that end up unranked at the end of the sea season.
And I'm looking at the Michigan Wolverines to be unranked
at the end of the season, because look, they had
their breakout season last year. They snuck up on everybody.
This was on the heels of a two and four season,

(02:14):
and they had a great year. They got to the
College Football Playoff, crashed and burned once they got there.
But most teams that aren't the top dogs do that
when they get to the final four. But it's a
great season for Michigan. But you lose your pass rush,
you lose Aiden Hutchinson, you lose David Ojabo, you lose
all of that. You got this weird merry go round

(02:35):
at quarterback between McNamara and McCarthy or McNamara starts the
first game, then McCarthy starts the second game and we'll
figure it out from there. And so being a marked
team and losing the one of the elements that made
you special last year, which was an outstanding pass rush,
I can see Michigan as the team with the bulls

(02:57):
eye on their chest going from top ten two unranked
when it's all said and done at the end of
the year. Yeah. Look, I don't think it's that bold
because even though Michigan is a solid program, I still
think Ohio States the class of that conference. And you
look at that was Cave McNamara really the reason that
they were in the College Football Playoff last year. No,
not not at all. Um. The quarterback carousel, it's really weird,

(03:21):
and it's something that you can do when your first
two games are those two games, like when you're playing
against those opponents, and really your first month of the
season enables you to do things otherwise maybe you wouldn't try.
They're playing Colorado State, then they're playing Hawaii, so that's
your Mcnamerica gets one, McCarthy gets one. Then you get
Yukon of Maryland and then Iowa. You go to Kinnock,

(03:44):
where Michigan gets beat on a regular basis, and then
things get a little bit more difficult from there after Indiana.
But I think what's interesting here is what it says.
If I'm a quarterback anywhere, a position with a lot
of pressure, I need to believe that they believe in me.
I need to believe that you believe in me. I

(04:06):
need that extra boost. And what this is saying is
not I believe in both of you guys. It's I
don't know which one of you I like at this point.
That's how it comes across. Now we we have Bernie
Fratto on the program on Saturday night. Our colleague here
Fox Sports, Ready, who worked in Michigan for a long time,
has a ton of connections in the Big Tent and
a ton of connections to the University of Michigan program,
and he said, it's gonna be McNamara. But they're doing

(04:30):
this a little bit because McCarthy was highly touted and
in general, they want to try and hold him as
long as possible, so he didn't end up in the
transfer portal, which is where maybe he's going to end up. See,
I thought it was the other way around. I thought
it was gonna be McCarthy. And this was kind of
the Olive Branch to McNamara, kind of the Kelly Bryant
to Trevor Lawrence effect. And Era torre As my broadcast

(04:51):
partner on Saturday night, said what if what if this?
He just kind of threw it out as a hypothetical.
What if it's we're gonna show you both these guys,
because McCarthy's clearly better, and as soon as you see it,
you're gonna know why we make this move. It's not
going to it's gonna take the pressure off of me,
meaning Jim Harball. All the fans are gonna see it.
Everybody in the country is gonna see it, and it's
gonna be obvious. I don't I don't know which side

(05:14):
of that I am on. Bertie's usually right when it
comes to this stuff, so now I'm expected. He said,
you won't see a starter named officially until the week
of the Iowa game, which is week five. I just
look at all this, and I say, dude, be an adult, right, Like,
if you're Jim Harball, be an adult. You gotta pick
somebody like this. I understand maybe you maybe you do

(05:37):
feel like you have two quarterbacks. This isn't I have too,
So I've got none situation. I don't know. All I
know is I know who C. J. Stroud is. I
know who Bryce Young is. I know who Will Levis is.
I know who these top flight quarterbacks are. I know
who Kayleb Williams is. I mean, look, eventually Texas made
their move over the weekend. Uh, it's the same thing
happened for Texas A and M with Haines King getting

(05:59):
it over Max Johnson and those guys. Eventually, you gotta
make a choice here. This just feels gimmicky, It feels uncertain,
it feels like you're just this is not the way
you want to start your season, Like you don't need
to start figuring it out, Like you know who the
guy is. Jim, you played the position. You know who
the guy is. Stop with the feelings hurt stuff. The

(06:20):
transfer portal is gonna happen anyway. Just pick a guy
and let's go. But because you're playing lesser opponents, you
feel like you can take take advantage of this and
keep it going longer. Not a huge fan of it. Yeah,
And look, it's interesting where a couple of teams in
the top ten they've got these quarterback question marks. Where
you just detailed it with Michigan, I'd also argue with Clemson.

(06:43):
And it's great where you said that Kelly Bryant and
Trevor Lawrence thing where Kelly Bryant a few years ago
he was the starter and you made the switch over
there to Trevor Lawrence. That worked out pretty well for
Dabbo Sweeney. He might do the same thing this season
where dj y young little uncle Lay. He looked great
against Notre Dame. He was unbelievable a couple of years ago,

(07:05):
four hundred thirty nine passing yards. That's the most ever
that Notre Dame has given up to an opposing quarterback.
And then last season, dj Ui as I call him
for short, he was brutal. Nine touchdown passes, ten picks Clemson.
Clemson's offense finished number ninety nine nationally. They were second
to dead last in the A C C. So you

(07:27):
might see the second iteration of this where d j
U uncle lay he is the starter to begin the
season and he's replaced by this young kid kid Klubnick.
He might take over as a true freshman. So it's
crazy where Clemson's fourth and you've got this unsettled quarterback situation.

(07:48):
So a couple of teams, Clemson and Michigan in the
top ten right now, and we're just kind of figuring
it out, figuring it out as we go at QB. Yeah,
that's right, and that's why I'm not so sure about
Clempson either. I One of the storylines that I'm most
interested to see is, well, it's Clemson gonna be back
this year or are we seeing just a little slight

(08:08):
decline where dj was supposed to be the guy last
year and now we're hearing about how good he looks
in camp, but you have a five star guy behind him.
But how good is he? And where are you there?
The a c C should be a better league this year.
They should be a little bit deeper. You like some
of the moves that you're seeing Pitt looks like they
could be dangerous. Keaton Slova's I've seen that guy play
really nice football in bad situations at times of USC

(08:30):
I want to see what he looks like becoming, you know,
Kenny Pickett's successor at Pitt. What's Wake Forest gonna do?
I went to two schools. I went to Western Kentucky
and actually finished my degree, but I started last century
at NC State. NC State's pretty doagone good football team,
well coached with a great quarterback. North Carolina looks like
they might be better this season. It's a better conference.

(08:52):
Clemson is not going to have the easiest time of
it here if they don't have their quarterback scenario figured out.
So here's my bold te We did the College Football
Playoff four on Saturday. We picked our we picked our teams,
and that night I picked Baylor four. I'm pulling back
on that because I've thought about it over the last

(09:13):
twenty four hours. We still haven't gotten a season going
for any of these teams. I think that might be
a little bit too bold, but I'm gonna take Utah.
I'm gonna camera Risings back. They got two thirds of
that team back. They're incredibly well coached, big shock, like
they're always incredibly well coached. Their veteran they already gave
teams fits last year. I'm taking Utah to make that

(09:35):
that and then that's bold enough for me, because the
Pat twelve hasn't gotten teams in too regularly, uh in
the College football Playoff, to say the least. So I
still think that's bold. I don't I don't know that
Baylor is gonna have quite enough. I still really like
that team, and I really like Dave Randa, But that's
my kind of flying the appointment team. I do think

(09:57):
George is there, even though the other thing that I
am very interested to see Stetson Bennet's probably gonna be
asked to do more this year than he did last year.
Because they lost their whole defense. Doesn't mean they don't
have guys backing them up. We know what their recruiting
class looks like, but are they gonna be quite as
good and gel together as they were last year where
they were so dominant. They've got new running backs, they've

(10:19):
got Brought Bowers, there's a stud tight end obviously, but Bennett,
if he's called upon to do more, we already sort
of had question marks and then he had a great
National championship game. Was that the blip? Or is that
what Stetson Bennett is gonna give us this year? If
Stetson Bennett's not up to the challenge, they can get
got and they're in a situation where if they're not

(10:40):
undefeated when they go into the SEC Championship game, they
might be forced to beat Alabama to then make the
College Football Playoff, and that is by no means gonna
be an easy task. Yeah, I think the two things
that stand out about Georgia, Like you mentioned the defense.
They're reloading, But does this new group, i think they
lost eight starters in that defense from last year. Does

(11:01):
this new group do they just play within themselves it's
the old Patriots do your job thing? Or are they
trying to live up to this standard that was last
year's defense? And I think if you're trying to live
up to a standard, sometimes you press a little bit.
Sometimes you try to do a little bit more than
just simply doing your job. I'm curious if that happens
at all with George's defense. And the first game of

(11:25):
the season is against Oregon that's coming up this weekend
right on a neutral field, So that's one of only
two ranked opponents that Georgia has on its roster. So
that could be a plus, that could be a minus
because if you aren't undefeated with this exact slate of games,
You're right, you might have to beat Alabama in the

(11:48):
SEC championship game, assuming that is the matchup, to get
into the playoff. So it's a it's a weird situation
for Georgia wherethy the schedule it's almost a little bit
like Notre Dame in a way. I know they don't
play a conference championship game, but the schedule certain years
it can be help to you. Where you run the

(12:08):
table and it's not the strongest schedule, or if you
lose one game it comes back to bite you. It
might be that situation for Georgia this season. A couple
of questions we can address on the other side of
this break, and then we'll jump into some of the
NFL headlines and some of the things that we are
tracking from over the weekend. There are new coaches and
new faces in some big time places. Two questions, One,

(12:33):
who are we talking about more at the end of
the season between l s U and Notre Dame, not
who's got the better record? Who are we talking about
more and why? And then who are we talking about more?
USC or Oklahoma with your one of Brett Venables that
is coming up on Two pros and a Cup of
Joe with Brian No and Jason Martin right here on

(12:53):
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(13:16):
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s R to listen live. Welcome back here at Fox
Sports Radio. Hope your Monday is starting out well, It's
Brian No with me. I'm Jason Martin at the No
Show at j mart Radios, where you can find us
on Twitter in for the guys, I'm pretty sure Brady

(13:41):
and um LaVar back tomorrow. So College football Week zero,
we saw some teams we already talked about. Nebraska, Briant,
you're Notre Dame guy, if I'm not mistaken. Is that
not right? Oh yeah, it's my hometown, Bleed, Irish football.
Jason Martin, that's correct, Yes, all right. So I asked
two questions before the break, and it's it's because they've

(14:02):
been coaching moves in both directions in both of these places.
Who are we talking about more at the end of
the season. We'll do the Oklahoma USC here in a minute,
but Notre Dame or L s U. And I'm not
suggesting which one is the better football team, Yeah, I'm
suggesting which one? Like, are we looking at L s
U at the end of the season and saying, boy,
you know they're starting at maybe they're a little head
of schedule here. I know Vegas had him at six

(14:25):
and a half wins, but we're staring at an eight
win team right now. That's you know, Brian Kelly's he's
got a good staff around him. Let's see what they
do next year. And then Notre Dame, who I hate
to tell you this is gonna get throttled this coming weekend.
Outside of that, there's some other games on their schedule
that could be taxing. It depends on what USC actually
looks like by the time you get to the end

(14:46):
of the season. But Riley may have they're becoming more
trendy to be really good. I'm not really buying into
that just yet. But what do you think about the question?
Notre Dame or L s U. I think that's one
of the most fascinating story lines, is is that and
some of these big high profile moves with these coaches
and these quarterbacks. Yeah, I I still have hoop dreams

(15:10):
that Notre Dame is gonna pull an ore Agon. Remember
that when they upset Ohio State and they were about
a two touchdown underdogs. So and I can tell you're
not envisioning that happening, and you might be right, not really. Yeah,
the question is who's talked about more at the end
of the season. I think there's a chance with L
s U. Because look, this is going to be a

(15:31):
trying season for them. It's not like they're gonna run
the table. It's not like they're one of the favorites.
They're gonna lose anywhere between four and six games most likely.
But the end of the schedule, when you've got ranked teams,
when you've got Alabama on November five, L s U.
By that stage they might have three losses, maybe four

(15:51):
losses at that time, and then they close at Texas
A and M. Just based on the magnitude of those games,
maybe it's LS you because of that, you can play
the same game with Notre Dame. They get Clemson later on,
they get USC at the very end of the schedule.
Who knows what the stakes are of those games, even
if Notre Dame has dropped a couple But I think

(16:12):
that between the two, I think that it's going to
be Notre Dame's national program. And even if they aren't
in the college football playoff picture, the same is gonna
be with L s U and UM. I think with
the big games at the end of Notre dame schedule,
I think they're gonna have fewer losses than L s U.
I think they will be talked about more than the Tigers.

(16:35):
So they've got Clemson and SC. They got Clemson does
Notre Dame on November five, and then November at SC.
Those are two obviously big games. If Notre Dame is
undefeated going into USC, that means that they have beaten Clemson,
and that's a still I think it would be an
impressive win despite where the Tigers are. But you do
hope if you're a Notre Dame fan that Clemson has

(16:57):
a really strong start. You don't want them to not
be in the mix because that win is gonna need
to carry a lot of weight. I think you lose
the Ohio State, probably convincingly, then Marshall cal North Carolina.
North Carolina is not terrible, but I'd still and I'm
really Marcus Freeman. It's hard not to want to root
for them. And I'm definitely not a Notre Dame fan,

(17:19):
but I'm really wanting to see him do well. I
like everything I've seen him say. I like everything I'm
seeing from the team and how they seem to be
rallying around him. It's a it's a culture that seems
like it's fun to be around b y U and
you know they could be pesky, but I don't love
that For a Notre Dame loss, Stanford their best days
maybe behind the bun l v V U and lv

(17:41):
UM Syracuse their coaches Scott Frost two point oh, like
he's trying to save his job right now as well.
So Notre Dame could get into a scenario where they
have one loss going into Clemson. If you beat Clemson,
maybe it sometimes can be irritating, but Notre Dame could
be a one loss team going into the sc game.

(18:03):
If you do that, is that going to be enough?
I guess it depends on what everybody else does around you.
But one thing we have seen in college football over
the last few years is there's a whole lot of
teams you buy into mid season and by the end
of the year you're not talking about at all, and
Notre Dame ends upstanding longer than most of those teams do.

(18:23):
To your point, we're not talking about L s U
in terms of college football playoff, But I do think
that I think it's intriguing and I think it's fascinating,
and I think we know Brian Kelly can coach. Whatever
we think about him, like his personality and the fit
and all that that's been discussed at knowledge hum. I've
done plenty of it. We've mocked it, We've had fun
with the accent. I think quietly though, they've been sort

(18:47):
of just they've kind of stayed down, Brian like over
the last few months. L s U is just kind
of a program. Brian Kelly's just got to work. When
he went to SEC media Days, he joked about the accent,
had some fun with it. Was a little self depreca
aiding that was a good look for him. I just
think it's hard to believe that they're gonna be a
six win team. Maybe they are, but I think he's

(19:09):
also playing with house money in year one. Like I
I think that you're getting to the point with what
Texas anticipates and expects. I think Starksa needs to show
something good this year, uh, just to stay in good graces.
But I look at Brian Kelly and just say, as
pressure packed as that situation is, I don't think anybody

(19:29):
has dreams of the College Football Playoff in year one.
This is all about doing the right things to put
yourself in motion for next year. Yeah, he can flat
out coach and look, I would rather based on where
L s U is this year, I would rather the
schedule sets up the way it does then if it
was flip flopped, where you get a lot of these
ranked opponents. Toward the end, you get Alabama, towards the end,

(19:51):
you get Texas A and M at the very end.
I would rather it set up like that. Look some
of these teams. Most of the time, it's you know,
cupcake city at the beginning, but you get some tough games.
We've got a couple this weekend. We've got number two
Ohio State against number five Notre Dame. Right, we've got
number three Georgia number eleven Oregon. Some of these teams
start off being thrown into the deep end. For l

(20:14):
s U, it starts off lighter and then gets progress
progressively more difficult. I think that's better for them based
on where they are this year. It's a rebuilding year.
He can flat out coach and I don't expect them
to be a disaster. But um yeah, I think that.
I think that L s U is a growing program
and give it a little bit of time, could be

(20:36):
a powerhouse. If Brian Kelly is still there when Nick
Saban eventually hangs him up, how wouldn't be surprised V
has big success over there. I mean, he just has
to weather the storm and get LUs. You back in
the mix while Nick Saban is still on the sideline.
How how good do you think Notre Dame is. I
think that there they're good. I think they're not great.

(21:00):
I think their offensive line is one of the best
in the country. I don't love their quarterback Buckner, who
had three touchdowns throws in three interceptions last year. It's like,
you gotta give me more in the passing game, and
they don't have great wide receivers. They've also had some
injuries to their wide receivers, so that that worries me.

(21:21):
I think it's similar to what you saw in the
Brian Kelly era. There. They're strong in the in the trenches,
which gives you a chance weekend and week out, and
then you'll see it in certain occasions where maybe you
don't have the skill position players, maybe you don't have
the cornerbacks and in this particular matchup that sort of thing.
So they're gonna win a lot of games, but their

(21:43):
flaws are going to show up in the bigger games.
That's my sense of where Notre Dame is this season.
There's always one flaw right with Notre Dame. It's okay, well,
they're not fast enough and you play against an SEC
team and all of a sudden you see it or
they're not big enough, and they'll address one of them
and they'll feel like they fix that, and then there's
another one that pops up. Is it fatally flawed in

(22:04):
your opinion? Or do you look at and look with
the admission standards, it's always gonna be harder. It's gonna
be easier for Brian Kelly to get better players in
l s U than you did a Notre Dame. But
in the n I L ERA does that help Notre
Dames cause a bit? Because they've got a lot of
people with a lot of money like to win football
games up there. They're they're they're going to spend money

(22:26):
if they have to to get some of these top
flight athletes. Does that benefit them or do you feel
like Notre Dame is still fatally flawed because of the
admission situation? So I think it's certainly. Yeah, it certainly
helps them. Where the n I l ERA, they've been
right at the number one recruiting class, you know, heading
into next year, and they've been fluctuating a little bit.

(22:46):
You know, it's kind of like college rankings where even
the recruiting classes changes from week to week seemingly, but
they're right there, if not one too. They're at the
very top and they've got skilled position guys. They've had speed.
I know it's been the knock on them for a
while now, but they've had some guys that have flat
out speed. So yeah, I think that can get better.

(23:07):
Of course, the admission standards, that is tough to to
compensate for. But they've been in the College Football Playoff
two years in the Playoff era there in the BCS
National Championship Game against Bama, and so they've had enough
to at least get to that that portion um that
stage of a season. It's just can the n I

(23:29):
L era get them over the top with getting some
of that much needed speed. I hope, So fingers crossed,
we'll see how it plays out in the years to come.
This is the Fox Sports Radio Studios two pros and
a cup of Joe, Briano Jason Martin. In this morning,
Brian Rory went off, Yeah, that was unbelievable. That was
similating to watch yesterday, Like that is the Rory that

(23:52):
there are at times when that guy is dialed in
where it's just you can't take your eyes off it,
and yesterday was just a day where the eighteen million
notwithstanding and him being one of the most openly critical
guys that lived tour and standing up for the PGA
and everything else. Um, that's exactly who the p g
A needed to win that tournament, and to win it

(24:12):
in that way because he is a needle moving guy,
like he is the guy that if he could get
on a legit role and win tournaments in a row,
all of a sudden, people might start to pay attention
again a little bit more to PGA Tour golf. But
I know we want to talk about it that much.
But Rory super impressive. Yeah, I'll just say real fast.
I can just picture j Monahan, the p g A commissioner,

(24:35):
just applauding, saluting all the suits of the p g
A two are just like, yes, there's a Tiger Woods
fifth pump moment because, like he said, he's been one
of the most outspoken guys against live and so to
do that and to cash in royally too, you know
they want that publicize as well. Eighteen million, eighteen million
dollars eighteen million because it's been all about money with lives.

(24:56):
So yeah, it was a good day for the p
g A Tour. Well, that's one of the things that
Live has done that I think is probably a net positive,
and I'm not probably definitely a net positive. It is
p GA is having to step up and give more
money out. Yeah, they're having to offer more guarantees to
more guys. It's becoming more lucrative to play golf across
the board, whether you like Live or not. And certainly

(25:19):
there are concerns beyond what's actually happening on the course,
and there's some gimmick reattached to Live and there's some
things about it. One of the net things that has
come from it is the p g A has had
to step up totally in the way that it's treating
their players. And even if they haven't gotten there yet
and there's a long way to go, this is forcing
them to up their game in a way that benefits

(25:40):
their talent. And I don't think that's a negative at all. Yeah,
I won't take you too far off track here, but
I'll say this real fast, where Yeah, when you've got
five hundred thousand dollars guaranteed on the p g A Tour,
now if you just show up like that's absolutely a
direct after effect after effect of Live Golf and the

(26:00):
p g A Tour. They weren't gonna do that out
of the goodness of their hearts. They had to do it,
And I would apply it to if you look at
college football. If you look at that Big Ten contract
where it's what over seven billion dollars over seven years,
they're not going to give any of that money to
the players unless they have to. If you get to

(26:20):
the Big Ten championship game this next year, and you know,
the two teams are like, we're not playing until we
get a cut of this TV money, then all of
a sudden things happened. What was it like the US
women's hockey team did something like that. We're like, we're
not playing until we get compensate, and they're like, oh what,
we got this money in the seat cushions all of

(26:41):
a suddenly. The point is they're not gonna do anything
out of the goodness of their hearts until they have to.
The p g A had to. We'll see if there's
anything like that in either major college football or college basketball.
But until they are forced to, they're not going to.
So because you mentioned college football, we can do the
other half of the argument, we did l s U
Notre Dame. Now let's do Oklahoma and USC. Lincoln Riley

(27:04):
goes to SC. Caleb Williams goes with him. Jordan Addison
also goes. Uh. There was a question that was asked.
I think it might have been Steve Hartman had asked
this question of my Saturday Night partner eron Torres and
I had not even considered this question. But I think
it's really interesting if there is not the transfer portal
and I L notwithstanding, but if the transfer portal doesn't exist,

(27:26):
on top of n I L, does Lincoln Riley leave
Oklahoma for USC because he knew with the transfer portal
and the new rules, Caleb can come with him. They
can go grab a Jordan Adison or whatever. And all
of a sudden, when you walk into a situation where
it's well, the cupboard is relatively empty here. But it
changes though, because it's almost like you're moving into a

(27:49):
an apartment where you can fully furnish it before you
get there. You don't have to go recruit and wait
for guys to develop. That's not the that's not that
doesn't have to be the way anymore. If you can
bring Caleb Williams, who you already knows a stud and
then you can lure other people out there without having
to sell the program to every single parent in the country.

(28:10):
It makes it, doesn't It shorten the transition time and
make it a lot less painful if you don't have
the transfer portal, If you know, if you go and
you could get Caleb next year, but he would have
to sit out for a season the way the rules
used to be, and all of those kinds of things.
Do you think, especially were going to the SEC and
everything else, that Lincoln Robby still makes this move. I

(28:31):
had not even considered that question, but my answer when
it was asked if me Saturday night was no, I
don't think he goes. That's a great question, and it's
I think it's much more likely that he doesn't go
because usc was four and eight. Like the cupboard is,
if not bear, it's rummaging for some be flavored ramen

(28:52):
noodles over here. You know, it's it's not well stocked
over there. But you're right. It absolutely eases the transition
access when you can bring over Williams with you can
bring Addison with you, and yeah, all of a sudden,
now we're looking at with that transfer portal and not
having to sit out a year, Could USC be this
year's Michigan, Like, that's a legitimate question now, and it

(29:14):
wouldn't be a legitimate question if Marcus Williams was not playing.
So yeah, that absolutely leads to more movement in college football.
And if not for it, yeah, I think Lincoln Riley's
probably still in Norman right now. So SC and Oklahoma,
who are we talking about more by the end of
the year, because Oklahoma can make the College Football Playoff.

(29:34):
I want to know. My biggest question mark is Venable's
temperament because what you always heard about him at Clenson
was one of the reasons why you had to it
had to be a perfect situation for him to step
in as a head guy. Is because he can't stand
to lose. Like he is competitive to a degree that's
almost dangerous. Like there's always the stories of Doug Collins

(29:56):
back when he was an NBA coach, sweating through every student,
his own players, being worried about his safety and his
health because of how much he cared about winning. Brent
Venables is an emotional guy. He's not a Kevin Stefanski type, right,
he's not as even keeled on the sidelines despite what's
going on. That's a dude where if it goes south,

(30:16):
that could become a bit of a powder Kegs situation.
That's the only real issue because we know the guy
can coach, and we know Oklahoma's got a quarterback that
can play, and they've still got a lot of talent.
Their top ten preseason team for a reason. But that
to me is the one question mark is can venables
take it if they run into adversity early at all? Yeah,

(30:37):
if it's between who's gonna be talked about more? I
think for Oklahoma to be talked about more, They're going
to have to be in the mix to win the
Big Ten Big Twelve championship. They're gonna have to be
in the mix to be a college football playoff team.
Short of that, I think it's USC. I think we're
all about the bright, new shiny situation, and that is USC.
With Lincoln Riley going over there and the town that

(31:00):
they have. I think that what Marcus Williams does in
his first year is gonna be interesting throughout the season.
So I think that USC is a bigger story. I
think the only thing that can really derail. That is
big success from Oklahoma and they've had so much turnover
roster wise where I just don't know what this team

(31:20):
is gonna be, you know, so, uh, I gotta see
them maybe with one loss, maybe zero losses towards the
end of the season for me to buy into them
being a bigger story than the Trojans. Real simple. Our
college football playoff predictions to finish our two that's next
is Briano and Jayson Martin in for the guys here
on two pros and a couple of Joe on Fox

(31:41):
Sports Radio. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk
lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows at
Fox Sports Radio dot com and within the I Heart
Radio app search f s R to listen live. Hey,
it's Ben, host to the Fifth Hour with Ben Mallory
with meet a lot to have you join us on
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(32:02):
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off of the Ben Mallers show. Cold Hit Overnights on
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A world will? We chat with captains of industry in media, sports,
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or wherever you get your podcast. Welcome back here Fox

(32:24):
Sports Radio. Two pros and a cup of Joe Brian
Knows of Me, Jason Martin. We are in for the
guys today, got another hour coming up, a lot of
NFL will turn the page back to the pros to
finish the program. But college football beginning, well, it began
over the weekend. Unfortunately. That's a true statement if you're

(32:46):
in Nebraska, and if you're a fan of Nebraska with
everything that happened over in Dublin with Northwestern, but the
real the contenders, everybody is in action Thursday night or
Saturday or Sunday over mine day. It's gonna be a
cornucopia of college football coming up this weekend. So now
we can actually start to make predictions and at least

(33:08):
put together a final four. I kind of did mind earlier,
but it's sort of chalkish with the first three. Even
though I'm not as sold on Georgia, I'm still gonna
go with Georgia, but not as strongly as I feel
about Alabama and Ohio State. And then my fourth one
is the one where I think that there's gonna be
a number of different answers depending on where you are

(33:30):
in the country, and just do you favor I'm going
with Utah. I'm switching for what I said Saturday night
on these Fox Sports radio airways when I said Baylor,
I'm gonna move to Utah. Two thirds of that team
is back, their quarterback is back, came rising. I I'd
like them to be the flying appointment this year. It's
not the easiest pick to make, but Utah representing that

(33:54):
conference that hasn't seen anybody in there in a while.
They'll have a couple of tough games. But I'm just
gonna go ahead and say I like them just about
as much as anybody else. They're well coached, their experience,
and I'll take them. Yeah, I hate going Chalk, but
this is college football, you know. So I feel like
at least fifty of your final four is gonna be Chalk.

(34:17):
So I see Bama being there, I'd be very surprised
if they're not a playoff team. Ohio State's gonna be tough. Uh,
you know, They've got a couple of tough games, especially
Week one against the Irish. There Jason Martin, But I
think Ohio State probably gets there. Georgia has such a
favorable path. I pause when it comes to two teams

(34:39):
in the conference again for a second straight year. It
just seems like there are so many variables that go
into this that could go haywire where that doesn't happen,
you know what I mean? Um, but with with Clemson
being if he at quarterback, what's gonna happen exactly? There
is u uncle lay gonna be the guy throughout the

(35:00):
You're they hand the baton off to the kid? How
does he play? A lot of unknowns with Clemson at
the QB position. So I would just go I hate
to do it, but I would go chalk at the
top three Bama, Ohio State, Georgia, and then it's finding
the fourth. It's like, who's the fourth? I don't buy Oklahoma,

(35:21):
but like process of elimination, they've got a favorable schedule
and it's like, could they be the team? Yeah? I
just look at that fourth spot and I could make
an argument for a lot of different teams and I
don't like any of them. Like someone's gonna get in
there the process of elimination, and one of those teams
might have a special season, but I'm not buying into anyone.

(35:44):
It's hard for me to hit the campaign trails and
be like it's gonna be a m M or you
know what I mean, Like, I just don't believe it
when it comes to these Notre Dame, Utah, Michigan, Oklahoma, Baylor,
list goes on and on. I'm sorry to cop out
on you, but there isn't anybody that I love out
of that mix. Yeah, no, I get it. I mean

(36:05):
I think the same thing that the reason I'm going
with Utah is because I know who their quarterback is,
I know who their head coach is, and there's established
talent there on those sides. Oh, Colomba got year one
in preventables. That may I don't know exactly how well
that's gonna go. I think it's gonna go well, but
I want to see it. Uh. Notre Dame, you get
a first year head coach. You already said, probably not

(36:26):
quite as strong a team as they've been in the past.
They don't have a dynamic player at quarterback. That's always
gonna be a question mark. Clemson, I'm concerned because the
quarterback thing. Michigan, I'm concerned because of the quarterback thing.
Texas A and m I'm concerned because of the quarterback.
Then that's why I'm going with Utah. When we come back,

(36:47):
I'll tell you who's not concerned at quarterback at least
not a QB one. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They know
who their guy is. He was on the field in
the preseason. Uh So, we'll talk about Tom Brady coming up.
But we could talk about how copycated other banks make
it to redeemed credit card rewards, or we can talk
about how we Discover you can redeem those rewards for
cash in any amount at any time. Talk about amazing

(37:08):
a little more at discover dot com. Slash redeem rewards
terms apply. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk
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Fox sports Radio dot com and within the I Heart
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