September 1, 2026 • 17 mins
Jon Wilner of The San Jose Mercury News and Wilner Hotline joins Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain to talk about the Apple Cup this week, the potentially changing CFP and how it plays into the Big Ten and SEC control, USC’s attendance issue last week, UCLA firing their Athletic Director, the college football schedule, California, and his predictions.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Duke of Duke Seafood, letting you know that
this hour of Softie and Dick on your home for
the Huskies and Kraken is proudly brought to you by
Duke Seafood. Why not make it a Duke's night tonight?
Reserve your table today at dukesseafood.com on Sports Radio 93.3.
KJR FM.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
It's time for our weekly Pac-12 conversation with San Jose
Mercury News reporter John Wilner. Brought to you by Simply Seattle.
Our friends at SimplySeattle.com have the most amazing collection of
all things Seattle. Seahawks gear, UW hats, and the largest
selection of Sonics.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Gear anywhere in the world. Learn more at SimplySeattle.com.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
All right, big thanks to our friends at SimplySeattle.com. Whatever
you got your eyes on the website, get ready for
the Huskies, the Hawks, whatever. KJR 15 for 15% off anything,
all the time, every time at SimplySeattle.com. Here he is
off to a 1-0 start, by the way, on the air,
nailing North Carolina and the points. They won outright, outright.
(00:57):
Over TCU and Ireland last Saturday. We'll see what he
can come up with and try to make it 2-0.
But I've got John, I've got you at 26-5 in
your last 31 picks on the year, going back to
the end of the 2024 season. So that means one
of two things are going to happen. Either A, you're
going to continue this ridiculous hot streak, or B, you're
(01:21):
about to totally crash and burn and fall off the
face of the earth and explode on the air this
season the rest of the way.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
So what's it going to be, big boy?
Speaker 5 (01:31):
Well, I would say explosion is coming. But you never know.
I hope somebody's benefited. I certainly haven't.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
Well, you should be benefiting. I told you last year,
you're in the wrong business. I mean, nobody really cares
to read your columns.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
You should be.
Speaker 5 (01:46):
Handicapping, man.
Speaker 4 (01:46):
You should be making money in Vegas, for God's sakes.
There's a lot to go over. Let's just start with
the Apple Cup on Sunday. I don't know if you
heard about the latest. I don't know if it's a controversy, Dick,
but the latest little snafu, I guess, is that Cougar
Marching Band is not coming to the game. What year
did the Husky Band have their accident? Was it 2019, 2018,
(02:07):
whatever year it was? Outside of that year, the Husky
and Cougar bands have been at every single Apple Cup
in my lifetime, and they're not coming this year because
they're pissed off. that UW did not give them good
enough free tickets for the game on Sunday. So they're
taking their tubas and they're going home.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
How about that?
Speaker 5 (02:27):
A little spice to the rivalry. My understanding is that
Washington State has been offered, the band has been offered
the exact same seats that Oregon's band receives in Husky
Stadium or any other opposing team's band receives. So, It
may be different than it's been in the past, but
(02:49):
I don't sense that Washington State is getting treated any
differently than any other UW opponent.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Right.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
They're just whining.
Speaker 6 (02:58):
Whining to whine, I guess. John, what's the game going
to look like, in your opinion? You've done some research
on the Cougs. You've done some research on the Dawgs.
What are we going to see on Sunday?
Speaker 5 (03:11):
Oh, boy, I don't know that it's going to be
real competitive. I just, you know, I'd love to see
a game like two years ago goes down to the
last couple minutes. You know, I'm always in favor of
exciting games. But, man, I don't know. I was looking.
Washington's offensive line outweighs Washington State's defensive front by 50
pounds a man. I believe it's 322 pounds on average
(03:36):
for the UW line and, like, what, 270-something? for Washington
State's defensive front. I just don't know that the Cougars
are going to be able to hold up. Now, if
Washington gets a little pass happy, that could offset the advantage.
But if I'm the dogs, man, I would just pound
the thing until Washington State stops it and wear them
(03:56):
down and just dominate the ball.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
Yeah, I saw where they had the third heaviest offensive
line in college football. That's what Twitter says, so who
knows if that's true or not. The ninth heaviest offensive
line in college football. But I know that since we
last spoke, maybe you've been kind of digging around a
little bit on the series and keeping this thing going.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
It's funny, I was talking to.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
greg bell this morning on his show that every time
pat chun or jed fish talk about the apple cup
they talk about how they want it to continue but
dot dot dot we want to continue but scheduling may
not be in our control we want it to continue
but we have to do financially what's best for udub
so as it sits right now is it possible that
(04:37):
this is one of the final three apple cups that
we'll see for a while do you believe.
Speaker 5 (04:41):
That Yeah, no, I think there's a chance of that. And,
you know, Washington State says the same thing. I talked
to their athletic director, John Harlow, a few weeks ago,
and he kind of said, you know, I talked to Pat.
We understand the importance of the game in the state,
but dot, dot, dot. You know, we've got to stay flexible.
You know, from their standpoint, a lot of the calculation
(05:03):
is the Pac-12 trying to figure out the best strategy,
scheduling strategy to get that group of six bid in
the playoff. Washington has got a lot of things to consider, right?
The budget, seven home games, the limited flexibility. If you
commit to the home-and-home series with Washington State, you really
can't play a home-and-home series with anybody else. If the
(05:27):
playoff expands to 24, are the Big Ten and SEC
going to try to do a crossover series that would
commit Washington to play in Florida one year and Arkansas
the next? And how would that work with the Apple Cup?
It's very complicated now. And I think that there's, I
don't know that it's better than 50-50, but I certainly
think there's a decent chance that once we get through
(05:47):
the game in 28, that might be it for some
period of time.
Speaker 6 (05:54):
We heard both Jed Fish yesterday in person at Husky
Stadium and Pat Chun on the Husky show last night
both say that the schedule might not be in our control. Now,
do you think they mean one non-conference game not being
under their control because it's a potential crossover with the SEC?
Or do you think there'll be a time where the
(06:15):
Big Ten controls all the team's non-conference schedules?
Speaker 5 (06:20):
I think that we could get to that point. I
have not heard that there is anything imminent on that front,
but certainly if there's a crossover series with the SEC
or if the Big Ten implements a requirement that you
have to play 10 P4 teams, the ACC, SEC, and
(06:42):
Big 12 all have that. The Big Ten does not.
If the Big Ten implements that, then, again, Washington is
going to have to find a way to make that
work with the need to have seven home games for
the budget. So I think that that might be what
they're referring to at this point. But, you know, eventually...
(07:04):
We have no idea what scheduling is going to look
like five, seven years out in terms of how much
control the schools have and how much control the conferences have.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Yeah, well, John Wilner is with us. John, I know
you did.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
Maybe you were there at the USC San Jose State
game at the Coliseum over the weekend. The crowd obviously
looked terrible in the Coliseum, and it was hot down there,
and we're getting games that are getting played earlier and
earlier into August every single season, but USC put a
statement out about it.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
They got ripped by Paul Feinbaum and others for that.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
What was your kind of reaction to the reaction to
the horrible crowd that USC had on Saturday?
Speaker 5 (07:40):
I can't believe it was such a story. I really don't.
I've been watching USC games, going to USC games, watching
USC games for a long time. And if you had
told me they're playing San Jose State in August... and
this is the replacement game for Notre Dame. I mean,
USC told its fans, we're not going to play Notre
(08:02):
Dame this year. We're playing San Jose state instead. And
it's a hundred degrees. I would have said there's going
to be 20,000 people in that stadium. You know, that
was a no brainer. So I was not surprised at all.
And I'm just mystified that it has become such a story.
I think USC did add to it by putting the
statement out, you know, Stanford was also empty. Stanford stadium
(08:23):
has been empty for years, but, I just think it's
a little bit much ado about nothing that they're going
to have a 70, 80,000 people in the Coliseum for
big 10 games.
Speaker 6 (08:34):
What's your wild idea of starting college football in mid August, John,
even earlier than we do now.
Speaker 5 (08:40):
Yeah. Even earlier. I think we college football needs to
start playing on what is week negative one. So basically
two Saturdays ago, it is, there is no competition other
than NFL exhibition games and, And it is wide open
territory for the sport to move its schedule up. That
(09:03):
would allow it to do, one, finish the championship game
in early January, which I think is what everybody wants.
Because if you start on week negative one, you can
play your regular season finales, Thanksgiving weekend, with the buys,
and that solves everything. the calendar problem. The other issue
(09:24):
that nobody's talking about is the NFL is going to
go to that 18th game. Now, I don't know if
it's going to be in two years or at the next.
uh cba with the players the nfl is going to
go to the 18th game and everybody in college football
who's following that thinks that they're going to put that
game on labor day weekend which would mean that what
is currently a wide open weekend for college football is
(09:48):
going to get eaten up by the nfl right so
if you want to stay out from under the nfl
you start a little bit earlier.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
Why did ucla wait until like a week before the
season starts to fire their ad.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
I have no idea. It is weird timing. There's no
doubt about that. The move itself is not a big surprise.
He has been unpopular. for a long time. The Chip
Kelly situation, the Deshaun Foster hire, both were very poorly
received by the UCLA constituents. Their budget is a mess.
(10:23):
So I don't think anybody was real surprised that they
made the change, but I do think, yes, the week
before Bob Chesney's first game is a little bit weird,
and they're bringing in a guy who's been an executive
with the Lakers. He's going to work pro bono on
an interim basis and I don't know that that's going
to work either. They've got to get somebody in permanently
(10:44):
as soon as they can.
Speaker 6 (10:45):
Staying in L.A., you did a story recently on Lincoln Riley.
Why should we believe, John, that he's anything more than
a 9-3 coach that racks up 45 and 50 points
but gives up 40 points to every single game?
Speaker 5 (11:00):
I don't think so. I mean, I think the same thing.
I want to see it, that he can be 11-1,
10-2 with a good defense, and actually he runs the
ball on third and three, or third and one. I
haven't seen that yet since he's been at USC. He
(11:21):
had great playoff teams at Oklahoma, but that was a
little bit different. Big 12 back then, a lot different
than the Big 10 right now. I'm with you, Dick.
I want to see it.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
Is there a surprise team in the Big Ten that
we're going to see this year? I'm not saying like
Indiana from two years ago. I'm talking about like a Minnesota,
for example, or a Michigan State that nobody's talking about.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
They've got, what, seven ranked teams, I think, guys?
Speaker 4 (11:43):
So almost half the conference, about 40% of the conference
is ranked. Is there a surprise team in this Big
Ten that we're not talking about that maybe by the
end of the year we will be talking about, John?
Speaker 5 (11:55):
I do, too. UCLA, because I do think Bob Chesney
knows what he's doing. Their schedule is there's a lot
of winnable games. And also Wisconsin, partly for the same reason.
Wisconsin had the hardest schedule in the country last year.
This year, like, there's no Ohio State. There's no Indiana.
They have flipped it. And you guys know, watching the
(12:17):
Washington schedules from year to year, who you miss is
almost as important as who you're playing. And Wisconsin gets
a big break this year. They put more money into NIL.
So I could see Wisconsin ended up like 7-5, 8-4,
kind of surprised.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
I'm looking at UCLA's schedule.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
At Cal, San Diego State, Purdue, Maryland, then Oregon, but
then Wisconsin, Michigan State, Nevada, Minnesota, Illinois.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
That's crazy.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
They'll be ranked by the end of October. They might
have eight or nine wins. But how about Cal? Is
our old buddy Tosh LaPoi going to do some magic
in Berkeley, you think? Because I know there's people talking
about Tosh LaPoi. If he ends up killing it at Cal,
then he might be a hot candidate down the road.
Speaker 5 (12:57):
Well, he's certainly got a great reputation as a recruiter.
They've done a nice job in the transfer portal. They
had a top 20 class with the portal. And, you know,
the ACC, I don't know that it's open at the
very top, but it's kind of open in that, like,
you know, 3-4-5 window. And Cal's got good enough players.
(13:17):
They certainly have got a good enough quarterback. He's terrific,
you know, to actually move up onto the top tier
and win. you know, that would be a big breakthrough
from them. They have been in the 6-6, 7-5 window
for a long time, but they're putting more money into football.
They got a recruiter. We'll see. I think they got
(13:38):
a shot to actually do something this year.
Speaker 6 (13:40):
Well, Tosh can now have $ 3, 000 in a.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
Coffee cup if he wants to. That's right. Doesn't matter.
Speaker 6 (13:45):
You know, it doesn't matter anymore. John Wildner joining us.
Speaker 5 (13:48):
John, what's... You said it, Dick, not me, but I
am silently agreeing. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
I love it.
Speaker 6 (13:53):
Not so silently agreeing.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
You know, it's interesting.
Speaker 6 (13:56):
Colin Coward, I heard him the other day, he said
he was talking to Kevin Warren, the old Big Ten commissioner.
And they both agreed that the four West Coast Big
Ten schools have given the conference creativity, coaching, and skill
position players, and that the conference has benefited as much
from them as they have from being in the conference.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Do you agree with that statement?
Speaker 5 (14:18):
I certainly do agree. I mean, Oregon in the conference, absolutely.
I mean, the Ducks have been in the playoff both years.
They won the Big Ten their first year. No doubt
about that. I mean, I'm not sure that UCLA, for instance,
has been super beneficial to the Big Ten to this point.
(14:39):
You know, it's going to take time. I even think
after two years, we don't really know how this thing
is going to play out long-term. But, yeah, I can
see why the Big Ten thinks it's been beneficial. I mean,
it certainly gets their teams exposed to a whole part
of the country that they hadn't gotten before, and there's
a lot of Big Ten alums out on the West Coast. So, yeah,
(14:59):
there's certainly been some benefits, but we'll see. I'm not
convinced that it's also, you know... But it's different for
each school in some ways, right? More beneficial for some
than others.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
Well, John, before you go, you're 1-0.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
You got North Carolina last week, by the way, with
the upset over TCU.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
So the Wendalorian is off to a great start at 1-0.
Speaker 4 (15:22):
You got a full slate of Big Ten games this weekend,
by the way, ending on Sunday with the Apple Cup.
And the Wisconsin-Notre Dame game is starting this week. It
was already started, I guess, but Thursday, September 3rd. We've
got a bunch of games, including Rutgers in Minnesota, Illinois.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
What do you like this week to make it 2-0, baby?
Speaker 5 (15:42):
Well, I actually was going to make a request. Can
I pick two games?
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Of course.
Speaker 5 (15:45):
Because I feel compelled to pick the Apple Cup, but
that would not be my first choice.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
All right.
Speaker 5 (15:52):
Okay. You know, otherwise, I definitely think I would take USC.
I don't even know what the number is against Fresno,
but I will take USC and give the points.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
I believe it's 22.5 was the number that I saw.
Speaker 4 (16:04):
Yeah, 22.5.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
All right, so USC giving 22.5.
Speaker 5 (16:05):
Gotcha.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Gotcha.
Speaker 5 (16:10):
I'll take them. I think it's a big advantage that
they've already played a game, and I think that their
performance against San Jose State was a little underwhelming, so
the number is probably a little smaller than it should be.
All right. And I will take the Huskies. All right.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
Huskies are giving, I'll tell you, it's 23 and a
half right now.
Speaker 5 (16:29):
See, I would have wanted more. After what happened last year,
the gap between the sport is flattening out at the top,
but it is becoming more and more vertical when you
go through the tiers. And I think that, you know,
it's getting harder for Washington State against Washington. It's getting harder.
(16:49):
Boise State against Oregon is another example. I think it's
going to be tough for the Broncos to come close
to doing what they did in Eugene two years ago.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
All right, we'll see what happens, John. Great stuff, and
we've got a full weekend of games and the first
dog game to talk about next Tuesday on the air.
So great stuff, and we'll talk in a.
Speaker 5 (17:06):
Week, man. Thanks, John. Thanks a lot, guys.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
All right, John Willner with us on the radio show.
We're going to break. A lot more to get to.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
Seahawks getting going a week from tomorrow against the Patriots.
We've got the Mariners in Boston. Apple Cup on Sunday.
A lot more to get to on a busy, busy
Tuesday right here on 93.3 KJRFM.
This is Duke of Duke Seafood, letting you know that
this hour of Softie and Dick on your home for
the Huskies and Kraken is proudly brought to you by
Duke Seafood. Why not make it a Duke's night tonight?
Reserve your table today at dukesseafood.com on Sports Radio 93.3.
KJR FM.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
It's time for our weekly Pac-12 conversation with San Jose
Mercury News reporter John Wilner. Brought to you by Simply Seattle.
Our friends at SimplySeattle.com have the most amazing collection of
all things Seattle. Seahawks gear, UW hats, and the largest
selection of Sonics.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Gear anywhere in the world. Learn more at SimplySeattle.com.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
All right, big thanks to our friends at SimplySeattle.com. Whatever
you got your eyes on the website, get ready for
the Huskies, the Hawks, whatever. KJR 15 for 15% off anything,
all the time, every time at SimplySeattle.com. Here he is
off to a 1-0 start, by the way, on the air,
nailing North Carolina and the points. They won outright, outright.
(00:57):
Over TCU and Ireland last Saturday. We'll see what he
can come up with and try to make it 2-0.
But I've got John, I've got you at 26-5 in
your last 31 picks on the year, going back to
the end of the 2024 season. So that means one
of two things are going to happen. Either A, you're
going to continue this ridiculous hot streak, or B, you're
(01:21):
about to totally crash and burn and fall off the
face of the earth and explode on the air this
season the rest of the way.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
So what's it going to be, big boy?
Speaker 5 (01:31):
Well, I would say explosion is coming. But you never know.
I hope somebody's benefited. I certainly haven't.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
Well, you should be benefiting. I told you last year,
you're in the wrong business. I mean, nobody really cares
to read your columns.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
You should be.
Speaker 5 (01:46):
Handicapping, man.
Speaker 4 (01:46):
You should be making money in Vegas, for God's sakes.
There's a lot to go over. Let's just start with
the Apple Cup on Sunday. I don't know if you
heard about the latest. I don't know if it's a controversy, Dick,
but the latest little snafu, I guess, is that Cougar
Marching Band is not coming to the game. What year
did the Husky Band have their accident? Was it 2019, 2018,
(02:07):
whatever year it was? Outside of that year, the Husky
and Cougar bands have been at every single Apple Cup
in my lifetime, and they're not coming this year because
they're pissed off. that UW did not give them good
enough free tickets for the game on Sunday. So they're
taking their tubas and they're going home.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
How about that?
Speaker 5 (02:27):
A little spice to the rivalry. My understanding is that
Washington State has been offered, the band has been offered
the exact same seats that Oregon's band receives in Husky
Stadium or any other opposing team's band receives. So, It
may be different than it's been in the past, but
(02:49):
I don't sense that Washington State is getting treated any
differently than any other UW opponent.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Right.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
They're just whining.
Speaker 6 (02:58):
Whining to whine, I guess. John, what's the game going
to look like, in your opinion? You've done some research
on the Cougs. You've done some research on the Dawgs.
What are we going to see on Sunday?
Speaker 5 (03:11):
Oh, boy, I don't know that it's going to be
real competitive. I just, you know, I'd love to see
a game like two years ago goes down to the
last couple minutes. You know, I'm always in favor of
exciting games. But, man, I don't know. I was looking.
Washington's offensive line outweighs Washington State's defensive front by 50
pounds a man. I believe it's 322 pounds on average
(03:36):
for the UW line and, like, what, 270-something? for Washington
State's defensive front. I just don't know that the Cougars
are going to be able to hold up. Now, if
Washington gets a little pass happy, that could offset the advantage.
But if I'm the dogs, man, I would just pound
the thing until Washington State stops it and wear them
(03:56):
down and just dominate the ball.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
Yeah, I saw where they had the third heaviest offensive
line in college football. That's what Twitter says, so who
knows if that's true or not. The ninth heaviest offensive
line in college football. But I know that since we
last spoke, maybe you've been kind of digging around a
little bit on the series and keeping this thing going.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
It's funny, I was talking to.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
greg bell this morning on his show that every time
pat chun or jed fish talk about the apple cup
they talk about how they want it to continue but
dot dot dot we want to continue but scheduling may
not be in our control we want it to continue
but we have to do financially what's best for udub
so as it sits right now is it possible that
(04:37):
this is one of the final three apple cups that
we'll see for a while do you believe.
Speaker 5 (04:41):
That Yeah, no, I think there's a chance of that. And,
you know, Washington State says the same thing. I talked
to their athletic director, John Harlow, a few weeks ago,
and he kind of said, you know, I talked to Pat.
We understand the importance of the game in the state,
but dot, dot, dot. You know, we've got to stay flexible.
You know, from their standpoint, a lot of the calculation
(05:03):
is the Pac-12 trying to figure out the best strategy,
scheduling strategy to get that group of six bid in
the playoff. Washington has got a lot of things to consider, right?
The budget, seven home games, the limited flexibility. If you
commit to the home-and-home series with Washington State, you really
can't play a home-and-home series with anybody else. If the
(05:27):
playoff expands to 24, are the Big Ten and SEC
going to try to do a crossover series that would
commit Washington to play in Florida one year and Arkansas
the next? And how would that work with the Apple Cup?
It's very complicated now. And I think that there's, I
don't know that it's better than 50-50, but I certainly
think there's a decent chance that once we get through
(05:47):
the game in 28, that might be it for some
period of time.
Speaker 6 (05:54):
We heard both Jed Fish yesterday in person at Husky
Stadium and Pat Chun on the Husky show last night
both say that the schedule might not be in our control. Now,
do you think they mean one non-conference game not being
under their control because it's a potential crossover with the SEC?
Or do you think there'll be a time where the
(06:15):
Big Ten controls all the team's non-conference schedules?
Speaker 5 (06:20):
I think that we could get to that point. I
have not heard that there is anything imminent on that front,
but certainly if there's a crossover series with the SEC
or if the Big Ten implements a requirement that you
have to play 10 P4 teams, the ACC, SEC, and
(06:42):
Big 12 all have that. The Big Ten does not.
If the Big Ten implements that, then, again, Washington is
going to have to find a way to make that
work with the need to have seven home games for
the budget. So I think that that might be what
they're referring to at this point. But, you know, eventually...
(07:04):
We have no idea what scheduling is going to look
like five, seven years out in terms of how much
control the schools have and how much control the conferences have.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Yeah, well, John Wilner is with us. John, I know
you did.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
Maybe you were there at the USC San Jose State
game at the Coliseum over the weekend. The crowd obviously
looked terrible in the Coliseum, and it was hot down there,
and we're getting games that are getting played earlier and
earlier into August every single season, but USC put a
statement out about it.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
They got ripped by Paul Feinbaum and others for that.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
What was your kind of reaction to the reaction to
the horrible crowd that USC had on Saturday?
Speaker 5 (07:40):
I can't believe it was such a story. I really don't.
I've been watching USC games, going to USC games, watching
USC games for a long time. And if you had
told me they're playing San Jose State in August... and
this is the replacement game for Notre Dame. I mean,
USC told its fans, we're not going to play Notre
(08:02):
Dame this year. We're playing San Jose state instead. And
it's a hundred degrees. I would have said there's going
to be 20,000 people in that stadium. You know, that
was a no brainer. So I was not surprised at all.
And I'm just mystified that it has become such a story.
I think USC did add to it by putting the
statement out, you know, Stanford was also empty. Stanford stadium
(08:23):
has been empty for years, but, I just think it's
a little bit much ado about nothing that they're going
to have a 70, 80,000 people in the Coliseum for
big 10 games.
Speaker 6 (08:34):
What's your wild idea of starting college football in mid August, John,
even earlier than we do now.
Speaker 5 (08:40):
Yeah. Even earlier. I think we college football needs to
start playing on what is week negative one. So basically
two Saturdays ago, it is, there is no competition other
than NFL exhibition games and, And it is wide open
territory for the sport to move its schedule up. That
(09:03):
would allow it to do, one, finish the championship game
in early January, which I think is what everybody wants.
Because if you start on week negative one, you can
play your regular season finales, Thanksgiving weekend, with the buys,
and that solves everything. the calendar problem. The other issue
(09:24):
that nobody's talking about is the NFL is going to
go to that 18th game. Now, I don't know if
it's going to be in two years or at the next.
uh cba with the players the nfl is going to
go to the 18th game and everybody in college football
who's following that thinks that they're going to put that
game on labor day weekend which would mean that what
is currently a wide open weekend for college football is
(09:48):
going to get eaten up by the nfl right so
if you want to stay out from under the nfl
you start a little bit earlier.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
Why did ucla wait until like a week before the
season starts to fire their ad.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
I have no idea. It is weird timing. There's no
doubt about that. The move itself is not a big surprise.
He has been unpopular. for a long time. The Chip
Kelly situation, the Deshaun Foster hire, both were very poorly
received by the UCLA constituents. Their budget is a mess.
(10:23):
So I don't think anybody was real surprised that they
made the change, but I do think, yes, the week
before Bob Chesney's first game is a little bit weird,
and they're bringing in a guy who's been an executive
with the Lakers. He's going to work pro bono on
an interim basis and I don't know that that's going
to work either. They've got to get somebody in permanently
(10:44):
as soon as they can.
Speaker 6 (10:45):
Staying in L.A., you did a story recently on Lincoln Riley.
Why should we believe, John, that he's anything more than
a 9-3 coach that racks up 45 and 50 points
but gives up 40 points to every single game?
Speaker 5 (11:00):
I don't think so. I mean, I think the same thing.
I want to see it, that he can be 11-1,
10-2 with a good defense, and actually he runs the
ball on third and three, or third and one. I
haven't seen that yet since he's been at USC. He
(11:21):
had great playoff teams at Oklahoma, but that was a
little bit different. Big 12 back then, a lot different
than the Big 10 right now. I'm with you, Dick.
I want to see it.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
Is there a surprise team in the Big Ten that
we're going to see this year? I'm not saying like
Indiana from two years ago. I'm talking about like a Minnesota,
for example, or a Michigan State that nobody's talking about.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
They've got, what, seven ranked teams, I think, guys?
Speaker 4 (11:43):
So almost half the conference, about 40% of the conference
is ranked. Is there a surprise team in this Big
Ten that we're not talking about that maybe by the
end of the year we will be talking about, John?
Speaker 5 (11:55):
I do, too. UCLA, because I do think Bob Chesney
knows what he's doing. Their schedule is there's a lot
of winnable games. And also Wisconsin, partly for the same reason.
Wisconsin had the hardest schedule in the country last year.
This year, like, there's no Ohio State. There's no Indiana.
They have flipped it. And you guys know, watching the
(12:17):
Washington schedules from year to year, who you miss is
almost as important as who you're playing. And Wisconsin gets
a big break this year. They put more money into NIL.
So I could see Wisconsin ended up like 7-5, 8-4,
kind of surprised.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
I'm looking at UCLA's schedule.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
At Cal, San Diego State, Purdue, Maryland, then Oregon, but
then Wisconsin, Michigan State, Nevada, Minnesota, Illinois.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
That's crazy.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
They'll be ranked by the end of October. They might
have eight or nine wins. But how about Cal? Is
our old buddy Tosh LaPoi going to do some magic
in Berkeley, you think? Because I know there's people talking
about Tosh LaPoi. If he ends up killing it at Cal,
then he might be a hot candidate down the road.
Speaker 5 (12:57):
Well, he's certainly got a great reputation as a recruiter.
They've done a nice job in the transfer portal. They
had a top 20 class with the portal. And, you know,
the ACC, I don't know that it's open at the
very top, but it's kind of open in that, like,
you know, 3-4-5 window. And Cal's got good enough players.
(13:17):
They certainly have got a good enough quarterback. He's terrific,
you know, to actually move up onto the top tier
and win. you know, that would be a big breakthrough
from them. They have been in the 6-6, 7-5 window
for a long time, but they're putting more money into football.
They got a recruiter. We'll see. I think they got
(13:38):
a shot to actually do something this year.
Speaker 6 (13:40):
Well, Tosh can now have $ 3, 000 in a.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
Coffee cup if he wants to. That's right. Doesn't matter.
Speaker 6 (13:45):
You know, it doesn't matter anymore. John Wildner joining us.
Speaker 5 (13:48):
John, what's... You said it, Dick, not me, but I
am silently agreeing. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
I love it.
Speaker 6 (13:53):
Not so silently agreeing.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
You know, it's interesting.
Speaker 6 (13:56):
Colin Coward, I heard him the other day, he said
he was talking to Kevin Warren, the old Big Ten commissioner.
And they both agreed that the four West Coast Big
Ten schools have given the conference creativity, coaching, and skill
position players, and that the conference has benefited as much
from them as they have from being in the conference.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Do you agree with that statement?
Speaker 5 (14:18):
I certainly do agree. I mean, Oregon in the conference, absolutely.
I mean, the Ducks have been in the playoff both years.
They won the Big Ten their first year. No doubt
about that. I mean, I'm not sure that UCLA, for instance,
has been super beneficial to the Big Ten to this point.
(14:39):
You know, it's going to take time. I even think
after two years, we don't really know how this thing
is going to play out long-term. But, yeah, I can
see why the Big Ten thinks it's been beneficial. I mean,
it certainly gets their teams exposed to a whole part
of the country that they hadn't gotten before, and there's
a lot of Big Ten alums out on the West Coast. So, yeah,
(14:59):
there's certainly been some benefits, but we'll see. I'm not
convinced that it's also, you know... But it's different for
each school in some ways, right? More beneficial for some
than others.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
Well, John, before you go, you're 1-0.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
You got North Carolina last week, by the way, with
the upset over TCU.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
So the Wendalorian is off to a great start at 1-0.
Speaker 4 (15:22):
You got a full slate of Big Ten games this weekend,
by the way, ending on Sunday with the Apple Cup.
And the Wisconsin-Notre Dame game is starting this week. It
was already started, I guess, but Thursday, September 3rd. We've
got a bunch of games, including Rutgers in Minnesota, Illinois.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
What do you like this week to make it 2-0, baby?
Speaker 5 (15:42):
Well, I actually was going to make a request. Can
I pick two games?
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Of course.
Speaker 5 (15:45):
Because I feel compelled to pick the Apple Cup, but
that would not be my first choice.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
All right.
Speaker 5 (15:52):
Okay. You know, otherwise, I definitely think I would take USC.
I don't even know what the number is against Fresno,
but I will take USC and give the points.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
I believe it's 22.5 was the number that I saw.
Speaker 4 (16:04):
Yeah, 22.5.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
All right, so USC giving 22.5.
Speaker 5 (16:05):
Gotcha.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Gotcha.
Speaker 5 (16:10):
I'll take them. I think it's a big advantage that
they've already played a game, and I think that their
performance against San Jose State was a little underwhelming, so
the number is probably a little smaller than it should be.
All right. And I will take the Huskies. All right.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
Huskies are giving, I'll tell you, it's 23 and a
half right now.
Speaker 5 (16:29):
See, I would have wanted more. After what happened last year,
the gap between the sport is flattening out at the top,
but it is becoming more and more vertical when you
go through the tiers. And I think that, you know,
it's getting harder for Washington State against Washington. It's getting harder.
(16:49):
Boise State against Oregon is another example. I think it's
going to be tough for the Broncos to come close
to doing what they did in Eugene two years ago.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
All right, we'll see what happens, John. Great stuff, and
we've got a full weekend of games and the first
dog game to talk about next Tuesday on the air.
So great stuff, and we'll talk in a.
Speaker 5 (17:06):
Week, man. Thanks, John. Thanks a lot, guys.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
All right, John Willner with us on the radio show.
We're going to break. A lot more to get to.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
Seahawks getting going a week from tomorrow against the Patriots.
We've got the Mariners in Boston. Apple Cup on Sunday.
A lot more to get to on a busy, busy
Tuesday right here on 93.3 KJRFM.
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