July 26, 2025 • 36 mins
The Dallas Cowboys have started their fall camp with an interception and Jerry Jones sticking his foot in his mouth. We discuss the upcoming season.
Baylor Basketball is going for gold in international play. What does this mean for a team that has a completely new roster for Scott Drew?
And we are a little over a month away from Baylor Football kicking off. We give our early prediction on how we think the Bears will play in 2025.
Baylor Basketball is going for gold in international play. What does this mean for a team that has a completely new roster for Scott Drew?
And we are a little over a month away from Baylor Football kicking off. We give our early prediction on how we think the Bears will play in 2025.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome into another conversation with the Chrisis. As always, I'm
Scott Miller, joined by Chris Byram and Chris Shirley. Gentlemen,
it is We've taken a little bit of a summer off,
so welcome back. This is our favorite time of the
year as we're on the cusp of football season. You
guys ready, you're excited.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
I don't know if i'd call it my favorite time
of the year because I have to go back to work.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
But oh gosh, surely we feel sorry for him, don't
we know?
Speaker 3 (00:27):
I'm not really I know, I know I'm ready. I'm
ready for my kids to go back to school.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Sorry that I understand too, but yeah, I am. I
am really ready to see how this year plays out.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Well, we're going to talk about everything related to football
and some things for basketball, but I thought i'd start
off on a fun note this morning, and just to
clear the air for anyone who's wondering. Part of the
big stories that have hit Maybe you guys have seen this,
maybe you have it. It's not sports related, but a
big story that's sir clean right now is how lucrative
(01:03):
podcasting is and how these people are making clearly hundreds
of thousands of dollars, some of them even over a
million dollars per month, and I just want to set
the record straight that we make a negative twenty dollars
every month. So none of us are quitting our day jobs.
But maybe one day, maybe one day, and if you
feel sorry for us and you want to send us
(01:24):
a check, we'll certainly we'll certainly cash it. No all
getting aside. I want to start with the Dallas Cowboys.
They have started their training camp out in Oxnard. Again,
we don't have the budget to be out in California,
but I found it very poetic and it's something that
my a certain Philadelphia Eagle fan who listens to this podcast,
(01:49):
you know who I'm talking about, you know, loves to
send me Cowboys hate and he tells me he filters in,
you know, filters out most of it. But it was
like the first day of Dak Prescott goes out there
and throws an interception, and the joke is he is
now in mid season form as Dak, and I'll start
with you byrom as. Dak is entering his tenth year
(02:12):
in the NFL, and the Cowboys made some offseason moves.
They've got some running backs now, something they didn't really
have last year. They've picked up another wide receiver, They've
picked up some help on the defensive side, they recruited
an offensive linemen. How prepared is this Cowboys team? Is
this the team that's going to be different than what
(02:35):
we've seen on the field, you know, called the last
thirty years.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Now, it's not because Jerry has already has inserted himself
into the whole discussion with controversy, because he's got to
be the center of attention, and it it's it's almost unbelievable.
But we've got, you know, we've got issues with our
star defensive player in Jerry, and that's all anybody talks about.
(03:02):
And so we already have a major distraction. We cannot
start training camp without a major distraction for the Dallas Cowboys.
And it's just it's almost unbelievable how frustrating this becomes
for Cowboy fans.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
You know, surely my opinion on that is, I think
Jerry Jones is We've said it on this podcast. The
guy is really good at marketing. And I think sometimes
I really do think he says he sings on purpose.
It's almost like Jerry Jones and Donald Trump were cut
from the same cloth. People aren't talking about me, They're
(03:39):
not talking about the Cowboys. What stupid thing? Can I
say that forrests everyone in sports media to start talking
about the Cowboys. Do you think Jerry Jones plans these
things out or he just opens his mouth and something
stupid comes out?
Speaker 3 (03:53):
You know, with all due respect to our sitting president,
you know, I think I think he just says whatever
he wants to. He doesn't think about the long term
ramifications of it as it relates to the Cowboys owner
and CEO, Jerry Jones. I think he's a little bit
(04:17):
more calculated with things that he says and certainly things
that he does. And and is it as as frustrating
as infuriating as it is with these you know, our
star players going into you know, training camp without their
(04:37):
deals being done. You know, that's just him and he's
not going to change the way he does things. He
he loves the headlines. He's he is going to stretch
this thing out literally as long as he possibly can,
you know, maybe into you know the you know, the
(05:01):
pregame hours of you know, the kickoff.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
You know, didn't know what he did with Dak Was
that just last year where it's like, yeah, we're getting
ready and all of a sudden, it's like he woke
up and like we got a deal.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
That's right, and why because he got the headlines? Right? Yeah,
and that's that is You're exactly right, that's what he's
all about.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Well, mission accomplished. I was traveling this week, sitting in
the Admirals Club at Hartsville Jackson Airport. All the TVs,
all the TVs had the Cowboys logo on there talking
about the Dallas Cowboys. I'm like, you know, it's just
that's just Jerry Jones, love him, hate him. He's going
to get you talking about the Cowboys. And by the way,
(05:41):
I have fun when I have my forty nine Er
friends or my Eagle friends to me this hate text message.
I'm starting to say, hey, you're kind of proven why
the Cowboys are America's team because I'm honestly not thinking
about the Philadelphia Eagles training camp, not thinking about the
forty nine Ers training camp, and yet you guys continue
(06:02):
to talk about the Dallas Cowboy training camp. So it's
going to be you know, so let's kind of give
us our way too early prediction. Maybe not way too early.
It's not January or not right after the Super Bowl,
but Byron, if you can look into your crystal ball,
you know, the Cowboys have a very tough schedule, one
(06:25):
of the toughest in the NFL going into the season.
They have a lot of primetime games this year, more
than any other, more than the defending Super Bowl champion.
They're going to be in primetime a lot. They're going
to be playing a lot of Thursday night games. They
have some quick turnarounds where they're playing Sunday and turn
around and playing Thursday. If you had to put a
number on it, how many wins are the Cowboys going
(06:47):
to come out with this twenty twenty five campaign? Seven
seven wins? And that does not get you in the playoffs?
What about you, Shirley, how many wins are you giving
the Cowboys?
Speaker 3 (06:59):
One more? Eight and nine?
Speaker 1 (07:01):
I'm going to give the Cowboys because I just like
to be different. I'm gonna give them ten wins and
they're going to lose in the first round the playoffs
because that just seems like the way the Cowboys do.
They're gonna get our hopes up at some point, We're
gonna be, you know, saying things like.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
I'm gonna them Cowboys.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
And then reality will come in step and repeat.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Interested Hey, Scott, interesting enough, I saw I saw stat
earlier this week that you know, Vegas who obviously they're
they're usually pretty pretty close to spot on and calling,
you know, things because there's a lot of money involved
in in Vegas. The Cowboys have the lowest season win
(07:46):
total going into the season according to Vegas at seven
point five since two thousand and three.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
We're number one. We're number one.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
So you know, I mean, I love the fact that
they brought in like a you know, George Pickens. I
think he's gonna make a difference on the offensive side
of the ball, you know, and like some of the
other moves that they've made. But again it's it's still
the Cowboys, and I think Vegas may know something that
(08:18):
other people who are picking the Cowboys to have many
more wins.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Know.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Yeah, I mean the unknown factor is the coach and
how much does a coach play into an NFL team,
you know, It's not like on the college side, I
think coaches are more influential than they are in the NFL.
But there seems to be a love for this coach
from the players. I think we clearly had some locker
room issues last year, and so you know, the Jones
(08:48):
family has taken a shot on someone who's never been
a head coach, and I personally want him to succeed
because I think he's Chris Shirley's doppelgamer. I think he's
like your twin.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Oh my gosh, you're serious. What do you mean he's
still got his hair.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
I'm just saying, I mean, do you see it Byrom
or is it just me? You know?
Speaker 2 (09:10):
I haven't looked that close honestly, Yeah, thanks, thanks for hiding.
All I know is we may have signed George Pickens,
but it's still going to be slim Pickens.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Oh my gosh, ladies and gentlemen, Chris Byrom, make sure
you tip your waitresses. There's like thirty thousand unemployed comedians
and he's trying to shot at it. Okay, let's before
we get into Baylor football. I want to talk about
Baylor basketball. And surely have you been following this story.
You're you're really more of our basketball guy on this podcast,
(09:40):
and I don't know if you've had a chance, because
I don't know if I can even watch the games anywhere,
but kind of walk me through because, first of all,
how is it that Baylor's players, Baylor's coach has gotten
selected for this more than once? What exactly is this
international tournament? What does it mean?
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Yes, so I actually have been watching quite a few
of these games. I know my boss is not listening,
so I can I can you know, safely admit this
because most of the games have been you know, during
the day. I think the tip times for most of
these games has actually been like ten thirty or one o'clock.
(10:19):
I think today's game is at one o'clock tip time,
our time. So yeah, so this is the twenty twenty
five World University Games. I didn't even know this that
even existed until, you know, a few weeks ago, I
heard that Baylor was going to be playing in this representing,
you know, team Team USA. So I don't know how
(10:42):
we got selected to this. Barron, maybe you you know,
you're a Baylor insider, but you know it, I got
to tell you like this, this has been so invaluable
to our our basketball team. As you guys know, men,
(11:05):
not a single one of these guys was on the
roster last year. So not a single one of them
has ever played together before, and so you know, Baylor
was going to be way behind anybody else in college
basketball that even had two or three players that were
on the same team that played together last year. You know,
we're behind everybody. So just that the opportunity for them
(11:30):
to be able to go and play against you know,
someone who's who's you know, not themselves in practice, right,
get to go play other competition, regardless of the level
of competition, and it hasn't hasn't been fantastic, you know,
but it's it's the opportunity to get to learn about
each other, coaching staff gets to evaluate, you know, players,
(11:55):
and so like this, this is going to pay huge dividends,
I believe for Baylor basketball when you know, the regular
season starts, because the majority of our roster has had
the opportunity to play together. Now we haven't. We have
not had Yesufu Our, you know, our our big time
(12:17):
freshman has not been able to play with us because
he wasn't born in the US. Uh and our center
Bad Bad. I don't know if I'm saying his name
correctly or not, but anyway, that's that's the way it
looks like. Anyway, he was not born in the US either,
(12:38):
so he's not been able to play with US. And
a third player, Michael Rattage. I don't know, we got
these guys with some weird last names. I don't know
how to say him yet because I haven't heard him pronounced.
But anyway, he's actually been playing with Germany who's been
playing in the same tournament, and he's been doing really
well for them, And so it hasn't been our entire roster,
(13:00):
but the majority of our roster, you know, has been
able to participate in this. So man, it's it's been
just fantastic just for I think a team chemistry and
development and and just evaluation standpoint, you know, for UH,
for US and going into this year, I think is
(13:22):
just huge because these guys have not played together before.
So yeah, I you know, I'm I'm I don't know
how we can judge what we have, you know, against
this level of competition, But I will say this, in
the last game, the semi final, we were playing Lithuania,
(13:45):
and they led the the entire game up till the
five point thirty mark in the fourth quarter, and we
finally got the lead and we just took off and
it was just great to be able to see this
team battle because we'd get close and then the other
team was going to run, and then we'd get close again,
(14:07):
the other team was going to run, and this just
kept happening, and we never could get over the top
and get the lead. And these guys just showed a
lot of grit, you know, you can you can tell
there is some chemistry starting to form between some of
these guys. And and uh, I mean, man, some of
these guys have have have done really well. Skillings Dan Skillings,
(14:30):
a transfer from Cincinnati, has averaged sixteen points a game.
Obi Ogbeam, who transferred from Wyoming.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Is I'm really starting to feel sorry for the foster
Pavilion PA announcer.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Yeah no, seriously, you should. Yeah go look at our roster.
I mean these last saves, but nineteen points a game.
He's transferred from Wyoming, He's he has looked fantastic. He's
had a couple of he had twenty twenty two, twenty
three point games. Williams, who is a transfer from Texas
(15:05):
A and m Corpus Christi fourteen points a game. And Carr,
who is our transfer that sat out last year from Tennessee,
has been averaging seventeen points a game, and then Michael Rattage.
I guess again, I'm probably completely butchering these names. Who's
(15:25):
been playing for Germany. He averaged eighteen points a game
in their five games, So like that, this is you know,
I'm I'm tempering my excitement, but I just think this
opportunity more than oh man, we're gonna go win the
Big twelve after these six games we played. I'm not
saying that. I just think this is huge for these
(15:48):
guys to be able to begin to get to play
together before the regular season starts.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
This is not the first time that Baylor's had this opportunity.
I can't remember if it was last season or two
seasons ago. Scott did the same thing, and I remember
thinking then and I'm thinking the same now, like how
was the n C DOUBLEA okay with this? Because they
used to be Byron you know rules as far as
the first time you can practice. I remember having those
(16:15):
midnight practices, you know, the first day the team can
officially get together, so you know, byrom what do you see?
I mean, how is this you know something the n
C Double A is okay with because it does seem
to be a bit of a competitive advantage for Scott Drew.
And as Scott Drew the new coach k that seems
to be well loved in international play, that he gets
(16:37):
these invites, I think they.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Like him, But I mean, how can you not like him?
That that's he's he's such a likable guy. But I
do think that there are a ton of secret or
private games that go on between schools out of season.
They're used for practice purposes, and I think the NCAA
(17:02):
just kind of looks at this as part of that
that these are their super secret games.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Now that's so secret when it's on television.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
And right exactly, which is also a little bit of
an interesting deal because you're giving other coaches a chance
to look at you and what you're going to do.
Even though, as Surely did point out, you know, we've
got three or four guys who aren't playing because they're
not Americans and you have to be an American citizen
to play on the team. And so we did actually
(17:33):
pick up at least one guy to play on our
team basically as a sub. And I don't think he's
seen much action.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
Yeah he's a center. Yeah he's not on our regular roster. So, yeah,
I was wondering where he came from.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Yeah, and it's just they just kind of picked him up.
It's like, hey, you want to play. So it's kind
of a fascinating deal. But the World University Games have
actually been around for a while. That's kind of the
amazing thing about it. They've actually sat out there for
a while. And I'm not sure. I think we used
to send kind of really low level all star teams,
(18:14):
but in the last couple of go arounds we have
sent college teams over there.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
It's just the easy years.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
It kind of reminds me of the evolution of the
Olympic Games. Right. We used to send college athletes to
represent USA and basketball, and now we send NBA players.
So you know, it's kind of interesting, you know, to
send your best and surely to your point, like what
is a level of competition you really can't judge, you
(18:41):
don't know. But why we're talking about basketball, I want
to kind of throw out an interesting little note that
I picked up recently. Had a chance to talk to
one of the top leaders in an athletic department of
a major university. I'm just going to leave it at that,
and he was talking about how they schedule basketball games differently. Now,
(19:05):
this was an SEC school, I will admit that much.
And as you kind of mentioned it, I thought about
Baylor of like, oh my, this makes sense now now
understand why we're seeing this more and more. But the ranking,
the system that's out there. Forget what it's called, surely
you probably can tell me, but the ranking where they
rank the schedule, strength, the schedule, and that's how they determine,
(19:27):
you know, what is a top basketball school. Well, what
the SEC has figured out and the Big Twelve is
doing as well, and I imagine every conference is doing
it is if you lose to a tough opponent on
the road, it doesn't count as much against you as
if you lose them, you know, lose that game at home.
(19:48):
So this particular university only has like six or seven
home games for their men's basketball program, and that's because
they want to keep the keen up and so they have,
you know, got some tough opponents, but they're playing them
at neutral sites. And we're seeing this more and more.
As I mentioned, Baylor's got a game they're playing I
(20:09):
think at Dickey's Arena.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
This year.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
They've they've played a game at the American Airline Center.
So what do you guys think about that? You know,
I mean Foster Pavilion. How many millions of dollars have
been spent on this gorgeous you know, basketball home and
more and more teams are now playing neutral site games.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
Do you like it?
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Do you hate it? What do you think about it?
And I'll go to you first, surely, I.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
Mean that's interesting. I didn't know that it would. It
would make sense why more schools are scheduling games at
neutral sites or even away you know, away games as well.
I like the neutral site game. I mean, I've I'd
love to try, if you know, money and schedule allows
(20:55):
to catch the Baylor Louisville game when they play at
Dickey's or this next season. I think, you know, I
think it's a great idea.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Well, there's another reason why they're playing neutrocyte games too.
You can use some revenue from that for nil purposes
and those It's become a big deal in basketball to
do that. So yes, and you're exactly right on the
whole scheduling thing too. It just helps them out from
(21:27):
a strength of schedule point of view. It's exactly why
the SEC just wants to stick to eight conference games
because it does help out their strength of schedule, believe
it or not, even though they're playing like, you know,
Korean War University for it. But it is what it is.
(21:49):
And you know, we're going to be stuck for a
while watching all the change. I mean it just because
of revenue purposes. It's turning out we have another round
of there's rumors of another round of conference stealing. Oh yeay,
So yeah, North Carolina's at the center of this one.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
So where do they want to go?
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Apparently the SEC is looking at them. Why well, because
it gets rid of the ACC.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Then you're there's that Bill Belichick and the SEC.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
So the the other three conferences are beginning to line
up like sharks on a feeding frenzy. I mean, it's
shark weeks, so why not?
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Why not? And you know that power conference that is
the PAC twelve. They have Texas State now, so look out.
It's been the biggest casualty of this entire realignment has
been has been the Pack twelve. Well, let's let's talk
some football, and we're going to course focus on on Baylor,
(22:53):
but I want to start with Texas Tech that has
made a lot of off season moves, and I this
always gets Byron going, So we're going to go to
Byron first on this one. Texas Tech, Are they the
best team money can buy? Will the Red Raiders win
the Big Twelve and make a deep run into the playoffs?
(23:13):
Because a lot of sports a lot of sports experts
out there, people who get paid to do this, unlike
us where we're paying to do this podcast, people who
get paid say the Texas Tech is the best team
money can buy, that McGuire has really figured out the
new system. What say you?
Speaker 2 (23:30):
I don't think so. I'm looking around at a lot
of guys who are picking the win loss records in
not a lot of people think so either. I think
the biggest issue they have is they still have their
quarterback who is a turnover machine and they picked up
(23:50):
a lot, but they didn't get that, and so I
think it's going to be very interesting to see what
they do. I do not I saw one pun to
pick them to finish tied for fifth in the Big Twelve.
And I also think that McGuire this could end up
a little bit like A and N when they had
(24:11):
the nation's number one recruiting class and I don't think
there's anybody left there. Maybe one player left for that class.
It was a disaster because they may have picked up
a bunch of prima donnas too. We were more worried
about the money and if things start heading south, watch
out because that could go south fast. And you know,
I McGuire better be ready because if he does not
(24:34):
do well this year, I do not see him lasting
there at all. But I think they're gonna have issues,
I really do.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Surely you agree with that.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
You know, I mean, maybe on paper they have one
of the best teams that money can buy, certainly in
the Big twelve. But you know, we know this from
you know, seeing Texas get top five national recruiting classes
year in year out and not be able to do
anything with them. So just because you have, you know,
(25:05):
a bunch of supposed star players on your roster doesn't
mean that they're going to gel together and become a team.
Nor does it mean that your coaches, who are coaching
them and trying to put them in the best possible
positions for success, are able to do that.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
You know.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
So I think, uh, I think Tech has a ton
of pressure on them to succeed, and I agree. I
think if MacGuire doesn't win with this group because of
all of the hype and expectations, uh man, he could
he could be out of there, you know, into this season.
(25:43):
So you know, I really haven't done a deep dive
into our conference for football, you know yet, but uh
for for me, you know, I'm just from the little
bit I've been hearing. You know, it could come down
to a Arizona State Baylor in the championship football you
(26:06):
know game for the Big Twelve. It could, I think
primarily because of quarterback play.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
You know what. I it's interesting that Byron, you know,
you pointed out what you're seeing is people aren't really
giving tech mini wins. I have seen a lot of
articles talking about, you know, the moves that McGuire's made.
What makes me nervous for for Red Raider fans is
you've got one individual who has a very deep pocket
(26:34):
book that's driving a lot of this and that always
makes me nervous. And that's that's not new in the
NIL world. That's always been the case. You've got to
make sure the backers, you know, are are are happy.
But when you have one backer that's driving it, it's
like who really is controlling the team. So to both
of your points, you know, if McGuire does it do well,
(26:57):
that backer is probably gonna have a have a pretty
big say in Lubbock. Let's talk about the Baylor Bears.
Has Dave Randa, and he has admitted in the Big
twelve media days he's talked about how he's had to
change his philosophy, how he was really resistant to the
whole transfer portal, the whole nil. Now he's all in
(27:21):
and he's really trying to you know, take advantage of
the transfer portal. But also Baylor's been really big on
still recruiting those high school athletes. We have a top
you know, top thirty recruiting class for twenty twenty six
as we speak today. So I'll start with you surely
on this question as Dave A. Randa finally figured it out,
(27:42):
and how excited are you heading into this fall as
you look at that first game against a tough opponent
in Alburt.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
Well, you know, first of all, you know, well, time
will tell if Dave Randa has figured it out. You know,
this this season as far as transfer portal and guys
that he's brought in. I do, I do like what
I hear about, Hey, we're still concentrating primarily on high
(28:15):
school recruiting. I mean I like that. But on the
flip side of that, I mean, we all know this,
and we've experienced this, you know, just in the last
two or three recruiting classes. Just because we have a
top you know, top thirty recruiting class, best recruiting class
right now in the Big twelve for next year, doesn't
(28:39):
mean that that class is going to be able to
stay intact, you know, with all the money that's being
thrown around these days and promises made to you know,
these seventeen and eighteen year old kids, you know. So
I like the fact that we're going to try to
(29:00):
can We're going to try to build this program primarily
on high school recruiting like it has been in the past.
But you know, I think we'll I think we'll we'll
see how how good of talent evaluators our coaching staff
is when it comes to the transfer portal, and see
(29:21):
how that translates on the on the field. As far
as our our first game and our season, man, I mean,
we're we are going to be tested big time right
out of the gate. And I'm so glad this game
is at home and not uh, you know, not on
the road at Auburn, but you know, Auburn is uh,
(29:42):
it's going to be a huge test, you know, for us,
and so I think we'll see I think we'll see
very early on both the Auburn game and on the
road at SMU. With their success last year, I don't
know if they're going to be able to follow it
up again this year, but to really get tests with
our first two games rile the Gate this season, I
(30:03):
think we're going to find out, you know, what what
we have and what we're made of early on. I'm
excited about this team, which kind of scares me a
little bit, but I'm excited about this team, you know,
and really excited to see you know, sorry Robertson play
a senior year, and ready to see a sophomore season
(30:26):
from you know, a couple of our running backs, and
so just just excited to see, uh, see what happens
this year.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
Byron, as you look at the at the season, you know,
surely's right, it's exciting that the first game is actually
against a real opponent. I mean, you and I have
been at many of games when you had some you know,
lower tier school come into Waco, and you know the
crowd is usually leaving about the third quarter because it's
(30:59):
not even a contest. I don't think that'll be the
case on that Friday night at McLain Stadium. But how
are you feeling about the Baylor Bears going into the
twenty twenty five season?
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Good? But guarded because I'm a Baylor fan and I'm used,
you know, to having hopes dashed. I think we could
be very good. We are going to get a serious
just like Shirley said, We're going to get a serious
test that first game. The weakest point on our defense
(31:28):
are our safeties, and Auburn has a dad gam good receiver,
so that that could be rough. But Auburn's defense is
also not that great, so we may have success there.
So it's it's gonna be fun. It's it's gonna be
fun if we can start off two to zero. Holy
(31:49):
cow watch out.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
By the way, I was the only one last year
that predicted the accurate number of wins that Baylor end
up having. I just want to throw that out there.
You know, got to take my victory lap. I think
this Baylor team is going to be in the Big
Twelve Championship game. So I'm just putting that on record.
But the one thing I want to see that Friday night,
(32:12):
in that first game against Auburn that we never really
saw last year, you know, the season started off, just
to kind of reflecting on it, last year, I get
some tougher opponents, nothing to the level that we're seeing
this season, and it's like they hadn't learned to win together.
And then we saw the team mature the bowl game.
(32:34):
We don't even want to talk about the bowl game,
but throughout the season we saw this team mature, but
we had slow starts. So will this be the year
that an Iranda team can actually start the game off
fast and we're not sitting there at halftime wondering how
the game's going to go. That's the thing I'm going
to be looking for early on in the season is
(32:54):
can this team get off to a quicker start? Anyway?
Surely you're final thoughts on on Baylor football.
Speaker 3 (33:02):
I mean, I could totally see us in the Big
Twelve championship game. I think that would be a great accomplishment,
you know, for this team the season would love to see,
you know, Sawyer Robertson's name. Uh, you know late in
the season in the Heisman race. If man, if he
(33:26):
if he's if he's doing that, then man, we're in
We're in great shape. So yeah, I'm excited about this season.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
Yeah, I'm excited, but you're the points made today are great.
We've got to start off fast. We we can only
get behind. And the other thing we got to do,
we've got to keep certain guys healthy. You know, our
running back, we got to keep healthy. So let's just
see what happens.
Speaker 3 (33:53):
One question I did have, are you are you hearing
anything on the Ashton Hawkins front.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
They were told they would have an answer around July fourth.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
Yeah, that's what I heard, and.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
We still have nothing, and I think the frustration is growing.
They made some rulings on a couple of other guys, Yeah,
I've seen that in NCAA, but they have not ruled
on him, and so we're just we're still waiting, and
I do know there is a lot of frustration on
the inside.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
Well, mark your calendars. The end of August is coming quickly.
We're just about a month away, gentlemen from college football
season starting, and my favorite time of the year. Well,
do we have one more thing to end our podcast?
Speaker 3 (34:39):
I do. Actually I'm prepared this morning. So I don't
know if you guys were aware, but the number one
golfer in the world resides in Dallas. What worth Scottie
Scheffler on his third leg of the and slam of
(35:00):
majors in golf this last week at the British Open.
And interesting fact about his fourth major win, So it
was that's a little confusing. It was a fourth major
to win, but it was the third different major he's won,
so anyway, so interesting fact. So the days between tiger
(35:22):
Woods first and fourth major wins was one thousand, ninety
seven days. The days between Scotty Scheffler's first and fourth
major wins was one thousand, one hundred and ninety seven days.
That's crazy interesting fact. That is an interesting fact. I
(35:46):
don't know that I'm ready to put Shafer up there
with tiger Woods, but maybe so. And by the way,
if you guys are interested in some you know, some
some some low, low, low level intellectual man comedy Happy
(36:09):
Gilmore Too was released on Netflix yesterday and we did
watch it last night and it's it's well worth the watch. Okay,
good tons, of Golfers, profet of current and former on there,
as well as a host of other other stars. Travis
(36:30):
makes an appearance.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
I was this year years old before I realized that
the actress who played in Modern Family was the same
actress in the original Happy Gilmore. It just never made
that connection, so.
Speaker 3 (36:44):
I know, right, lots of cameos.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
Lots of cameos. Okay, well good, that's Happy Gilmore too.
On Netflix. That's Chris Shirley and Chris Byram. I'm Scott
Miller until next time. So long, everybody,
Welcome into another conversation with the Chrisis. As always, I'm
Scott Miller, joined by Chris Byram and Chris Shirley. Gentlemen,
it is We've taken a little bit of a summer off,
so welcome back. This is our favorite time of the
year as we're on the cusp of football season. You
guys ready, you're excited.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
I don't know if i'd call it my favorite time
of the year because I have to go back to work.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
But oh gosh, surely we feel sorry for him, don't
we know?
Speaker 3 (00:27):
I'm not really I know, I know I'm ready. I'm
ready for my kids to go back to school.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Sorry that I understand too, but yeah, I am. I
am really ready to see how this year plays out.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Well, we're going to talk about everything related to football
and some things for basketball, but I thought i'd start
off on a fun note this morning, and just to
clear the air for anyone who's wondering. Part of the
big stories that have hit Maybe you guys have seen this,
maybe you have it. It's not sports related, but a
big story that's sir clean right now is how lucrative
(01:03):
podcasting is and how these people are making clearly hundreds
of thousands of dollars, some of them even over a
million dollars per month, and I just want to set
the record straight that we make a negative twenty dollars
every month. So none of us are quitting our day jobs.
But maybe one day, maybe one day, and if you
feel sorry for us and you want to send us
(01:24):
a check, we'll certainly we'll certainly cash it. No all
getting aside. I want to start with the Dallas Cowboys.
They have started their training camp out in Oxnard. Again,
we don't have the budget to be out in California,
but I found it very poetic and it's something that
my a certain Philadelphia Eagle fan who listens to this podcast,
(01:49):
you know who I'm talking about, you know, loves to
send me Cowboys hate and he tells me he filters in,
you know, filters out most of it. But it was
like the first day of Dak Prescott goes out there
and throws an interception, and the joke is he is
now in mid season form as Dak, and I'll start
with you byrom as. Dak is entering his tenth year
(02:12):
in the NFL, and the Cowboys made some offseason moves.
They've got some running backs now, something they didn't really
have last year. They've picked up another wide receiver, They've
picked up some help on the defensive side, they recruited
an offensive linemen. How prepared is this Cowboys team? Is
this the team that's going to be different than what
(02:35):
we've seen on the field, you know, called the last
thirty years.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Now, it's not because Jerry has already has inserted himself
into the whole discussion with controversy, because he's got to
be the center of attention, and it it's it's almost unbelievable.
But we've got, you know, we've got issues with our
star defensive player in Jerry, and that's all anybody talks about.
(03:02):
And so we already have a major distraction. We cannot
start training camp without a major distraction for the Dallas Cowboys.
And it's just it's almost unbelievable how frustrating this becomes
for Cowboy fans.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
You know, surely my opinion on that is, I think
Jerry Jones is We've said it on this podcast. The
guy is really good at marketing. And I think sometimes
I really do think he says he sings on purpose.
It's almost like Jerry Jones and Donald Trump were cut
from the same cloth. People aren't talking about me, They're
(03:39):
not talking about the Cowboys. What stupid thing? Can I
say that forrests everyone in sports media to start talking
about the Cowboys. Do you think Jerry Jones plans these
things out or he just opens his mouth and something
stupid comes out?
Speaker 3 (03:53):
You know, with all due respect to our sitting president,
you know, I think I think he just says whatever
he wants to. He doesn't think about the long term
ramifications of it as it relates to the Cowboys owner
and CEO, Jerry Jones. I think he's a little bit
(04:17):
more calculated with things that he says and certainly things
that he does. And and is it as as frustrating
as infuriating as it is with these you know, our
star players going into you know, training camp without their
(04:37):
deals being done. You know, that's just him and he's
not going to change the way he does things. He
he loves the headlines. He's he is going to stretch
this thing out literally as long as he possibly can,
you know, maybe into you know the you know, the
(05:01):
pregame hours of you know, the kickoff.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
You know, didn't know what he did with Dak Was
that just last year where it's like, yeah, we're getting
ready and all of a sudden, it's like he woke
up and like we got a deal.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
That's right, and why because he got the headlines? Right? Yeah,
and that's that is You're exactly right, that's what he's
all about.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Well, mission accomplished. I was traveling this week, sitting in
the Admirals Club at Hartsville Jackson Airport. All the TVs,
all the TVs had the Cowboys logo on there talking
about the Dallas Cowboys. I'm like, you know, it's just
that's just Jerry Jones, love him, hate him. He's going
to get you talking about the Cowboys. And by the way,
(05:41):
I have fun when I have my forty nine Er
friends or my Eagle friends to me this hate text message.
I'm starting to say, hey, you're kind of proven why
the Cowboys are America's team because I'm honestly not thinking
about the Philadelphia Eagles training camp, not thinking about the
forty nine Ers training camp, and yet you guys continue
(06:02):
to talk about the Dallas Cowboy training camp. So it's
going to be you know, so let's kind of give
us our way too early prediction. Maybe not way too early.
It's not January or not right after the Super Bowl,
but Byron, if you can look into your crystal ball,
you know, the Cowboys have a very tough schedule, one
(06:25):
of the toughest in the NFL going into the season.
They have a lot of primetime games this year, more
than any other, more than the defending Super Bowl champion.
They're going to be in primetime a lot. They're going
to be playing a lot of Thursday night games. They
have some quick turnarounds where they're playing Sunday and turn
around and playing Thursday. If you had to put a
number on it, how many wins are the Cowboys going
(06:47):
to come out with this twenty twenty five campaign? Seven
seven wins? And that does not get you in the playoffs?
What about you, Shirley, how many wins are you giving
the Cowboys?
Speaker 3 (06:59):
One more? Eight and nine?
Speaker 1 (07:01):
I'm going to give the Cowboys because I just like
to be different. I'm gonna give them ten wins and
they're going to lose in the first round the playoffs
because that just seems like the way the Cowboys do.
They're gonna get our hopes up at some point, We're
gonna be, you know, saying things like.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
I'm gonna them Cowboys.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
And then reality will come in step and repeat.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Interested Hey, Scott, interesting enough, I saw I saw stat
earlier this week that you know, Vegas who obviously they're
they're usually pretty pretty close to spot on and calling,
you know, things because there's a lot of money involved
in in Vegas. The Cowboys have the lowest season win
(07:46):
total going into the season according to Vegas at seven
point five since two thousand and three.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
We're number one. We're number one.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
So you know, I mean, I love the fact that
they brought in like a you know, George Pickens. I
think he's gonna make a difference on the offensive side
of the ball, you know, and like some of the
other moves that they've made. But again it's it's still
the Cowboys, and I think Vegas may know something that
(08:18):
other people who are picking the Cowboys to have many
more wins.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Know.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Yeah, I mean the unknown factor is the coach and
how much does a coach play into an NFL team,
you know, It's not like on the college side, I
think coaches are more influential than they are in the NFL.
But there seems to be a love for this coach
from the players. I think we clearly had some locker
room issues last year, and so you know, the Jones
(08:48):
family has taken a shot on someone who's never been
a head coach, and I personally want him to succeed
because I think he's Chris Shirley's doppelgamer. I think he's
like your twin.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Oh my gosh, you're serious. What do you mean he's
still got his hair.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
I'm just saying, I mean, do you see it Byrom
or is it just me? You know?
Speaker 2 (09:10):
I haven't looked that close honestly, Yeah, thanks, thanks for hiding.
All I know is we may have signed George Pickens,
but it's still going to be slim Pickens.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Oh my gosh, ladies and gentlemen, Chris Byrom, make sure
you tip your waitresses. There's like thirty thousand unemployed comedians
and he's trying to shot at it. Okay, let's before
we get into Baylor football. I want to talk about
Baylor basketball. And surely have you been following this story.
You're you're really more of our basketball guy on this podcast,
(09:40):
and I don't know if you've had a chance, because
I don't know if I can even watch the games anywhere,
but kind of walk me through because, first of all,
how is it that Baylor's players, Baylor's coach has gotten
selected for this more than once? What exactly is this
international tournament? What does it mean?
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Yes, so I actually have been watching quite a few
of these games. I know my boss is not listening,
so I can I can you know, safely admit this
because most of the games have been you know, during
the day. I think the tip times for most of
these games has actually been like ten thirty or one o'clock.
(10:19):
I think today's game is at one o'clock tip time,
our time. So yeah, so this is the twenty twenty
five World University Games. I didn't even know this that
even existed until, you know, a few weeks ago, I
heard that Baylor was going to be playing in this representing,
you know, team Team USA. So I don't know how
(10:42):
we got selected to this. Barron, maybe you you know,
you're a Baylor insider, but you know it, I got
to tell you like this, this has been so invaluable
to our our basketball team. As you guys know, men,
(11:05):
not a single one of these guys was on the
roster last year. So not a single one of them
has ever played together before, and so you know, Baylor
was going to be way behind anybody else in college
basketball that even had two or three players that were
on the same team that played together last year. You know,
we're behind everybody. So just that the opportunity for them
(11:30):
to be able to go and play against you know,
someone who's who's you know, not themselves in practice, right,
get to go play other competition, regardless of the level
of competition, and it hasn't hasn't been fantastic, you know,
but it's it's the opportunity to get to learn about
each other, coaching staff gets to evaluate, you know, players,
(11:55):
and so like this, this is going to pay huge dividends,
I believe for Baylor basketball when you know, the regular
season starts, because the majority of our roster has had
the opportunity to play together. Now we haven't. We have
not had Yesufu Our, you know, our our big time
(12:17):
freshman has not been able to play with us because
he wasn't born in the US. Uh and our center
Bad Bad. I don't know if I'm saying his name
correctly or not, but anyway, that's that's the way it
looks like. Anyway, he was not born in the US either,
(12:38):
so he's not been able to play with US. And
a third player, Michael Rattage. I don't know, we got
these guys with some weird last names. I don't know
how to say him yet because I haven't heard him pronounced.
But anyway, he's actually been playing with Germany who's been
playing in the same tournament, and he's been doing really
well for them, And so it hasn't been our entire roster,
(13:00):
but the majority of our roster, you know, has been
able to participate in this. So man, it's it's been
just fantastic just for I think a team chemistry and
development and and just evaluation standpoint, you know, for UH,
for US and going into this year, I think is
(13:22):
just huge because these guys have not played together before.
So yeah, I you know, I'm I'm I don't know
how we can judge what we have, you know, against
this level of competition, But I will say this, in
the last game, the semi final, we were playing Lithuania,
(13:45):
and they led the the entire game up till the
five point thirty mark in the fourth quarter, and we
finally got the lead and we just took off and
it was just great to be able to see this
team battle because we'd get close and then the other
team was going to run, and then we'd get close again,
(14:07):
the other team was going to run, and this just
kept happening, and we never could get over the top
and get the lead. And these guys just showed a
lot of grit, you know, you can you can tell
there is some chemistry starting to form between some of
these guys. And and uh, I mean, man, some of
these guys have have have done really well. Skillings Dan Skillings,
(14:30):
a transfer from Cincinnati, has averaged sixteen points a game.
Obi Ogbeam, who transferred from Wyoming.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Is I'm really starting to feel sorry for the foster
Pavilion PA announcer.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Yeah no, seriously, you should. Yeah go look at our roster.
I mean these last saves, but nineteen points a game.
He's transferred from Wyoming, He's he has looked fantastic. He's
had a couple of he had twenty twenty two, twenty
three point games. Williams, who is a transfer from Texas
(15:05):
A and m Corpus Christi fourteen points a game. And Carr,
who is our transfer that sat out last year from Tennessee,
has been averaging seventeen points a game, and then Michael Rattage.
I guess again, I'm probably completely butchering these names. Who's
(15:25):
been playing for Germany. He averaged eighteen points a game
in their five games, So like that, this is you know,
I'm I'm tempering my excitement, but I just think this
opportunity more than oh man, we're gonna go win the
Big twelve after these six games we played. I'm not
saying that. I just think this is huge for these
(15:48):
guys to be able to begin to get to play
together before the regular season starts.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
This is not the first time that Baylor's had this opportunity.
I can't remember if it was last season or two
seasons ago. Scott did the same thing, and I remember
thinking then and I'm thinking the same now, like how
was the n C DOUBLEA okay with this? Because they
used to be Byron you know rules as far as
the first time you can practice. I remember having those
(16:15):
midnight practices, you know, the first day the team can
officially get together, so you know, byrom what do you see?
I mean, how is this you know something the n
C Double A is okay with because it does seem
to be a bit of a competitive advantage for Scott Drew.
And as Scott Drew the new coach k that seems
to be well loved in international play, that he gets
(16:37):
these invites, I think they.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Like him, But I mean, how can you not like him?
That that's he's he's such a likable guy. But I
do think that there are a ton of secret or
private games that go on between schools out of season.
They're used for practice purposes, and I think the NCAA
(17:02):
just kind of looks at this as part of that
that these are their super secret games.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Now that's so secret when it's on television.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
And right exactly, which is also a little bit of
an interesting deal because you're giving other coaches a chance
to look at you and what you're going to do.
Even though, as Surely did point out, you know, we've
got three or four guys who aren't playing because they're
not Americans and you have to be an American citizen
to play on the team. And so we did actually
(17:33):
pick up at least one guy to play on our
team basically as a sub. And I don't think he's
seen much action.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
Yeah he's a center. Yeah he's not on our regular roster. So, yeah,
I was wondering where he came from.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Yeah, and it's just they just kind of picked him up.
It's like, hey, you want to play. So it's kind
of a fascinating deal. But the World University Games have
actually been around for a while. That's kind of the
amazing thing about it. They've actually sat out there for
a while. And I'm not sure. I think we used
to send kind of really low level all star teams,
(18:14):
but in the last couple of go arounds we have
sent college teams over there.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
It's just the easy years.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
It kind of reminds me of the evolution of the
Olympic Games. Right. We used to send college athletes to
represent USA and basketball, and now we send NBA players.
So you know, it's kind of interesting, you know, to
send your best and surely to your point, like what
is a level of competition you really can't judge, you
(18:41):
don't know. But why we're talking about basketball, I want
to kind of throw out an interesting little note that
I picked up recently. Had a chance to talk to
one of the top leaders in an athletic department of
a major university. I'm just going to leave it at that,
and he was talking about how they schedule basketball games differently. Now,
(19:05):
this was an SEC school, I will admit that much.
And as you kind of mentioned it, I thought about
Baylor of like, oh my, this makes sense now now
understand why we're seeing this more and more. But the ranking,
the system that's out there. Forget what it's called, surely
you probably can tell me, but the ranking where they
rank the schedule, strength, the schedule, and that's how they determine,
(19:27):
you know, what is a top basketball school. Well, what
the SEC has figured out and the Big Twelve is
doing as well, and I imagine every conference is doing
it is if you lose to a tough opponent on
the road, it doesn't count as much against you as
if you lose them, you know, lose that game at home.
(19:48):
So this particular university only has like six or seven
home games for their men's basketball program, and that's because
they want to keep the keen up and so they have,
you know, got some tough opponents, but they're playing them
at neutral sites. And we're seeing this more and more.
As I mentioned, Baylor's got a game they're playing I
(20:09):
think at Dickey's Arena.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
This year.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
They've they've played a game at the American Airline Center.
So what do you guys think about that? You know,
I mean Foster Pavilion. How many millions of dollars have
been spent on this gorgeous you know, basketball home and
more and more teams are now playing neutral site games.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
Do you like it?
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Do you hate it? What do you think about it?
And I'll go to you first, surely, I.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
Mean that's interesting. I didn't know that it would. It
would make sense why more schools are scheduling games at
neutral sites or even away you know, away games as well.
I like the neutral site game. I mean, I've I'd
love to try, if you know, money and schedule allows
(20:55):
to catch the Baylor Louisville game when they play at
Dickey's or this next season. I think, you know, I
think it's a great idea.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Well, there's another reason why they're playing neutrocyte games too.
You can use some revenue from that for nil purposes
and those It's become a big deal in basketball to
do that. So yes, and you're exactly right on the
whole scheduling thing too. It just helps them out from
(21:27):
a strength of schedule point of view. It's exactly why
the SEC just wants to stick to eight conference games
because it does help out their strength of schedule, believe
it or not, even though they're playing like, you know,
Korean War University for it. But it is what it is.
(21:49):
And you know, we're going to be stuck for a
while watching all the change. I mean it just because
of revenue purposes. It's turning out we have another round
of there's rumors of another round of conference stealing. Oh yeay,
So yeah, North Carolina's at the center of this one.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
So where do they want to go?
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Apparently the SEC is looking at them. Why well, because
it gets rid of the ACC.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Then you're there's that Bill Belichick and the SEC.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
So the the other three conferences are beginning to line
up like sharks on a feeding frenzy. I mean, it's
shark weeks, so why not?
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Why not? And you know that power conference that is
the PAC twelve. They have Texas State now, so look out.
It's been the biggest casualty of this entire realignment has
been has been the Pack twelve. Well, let's let's talk
some football, and we're going to course focus on on Baylor,
(22:53):
but I want to start with Texas Tech that has
made a lot of off season moves, and I this
always gets Byron going, So we're going to go to
Byron first on this one. Texas Tech, Are they the
best team money can buy? Will the Red Raiders win
the Big Twelve and make a deep run into the playoffs?
(23:13):
Because a lot of sports a lot of sports experts
out there, people who get paid to do this, unlike
us where we're paying to do this podcast, people who
get paid say the Texas Tech is the best team
money can buy, that McGuire has really figured out the
new system. What say you?
Speaker 2 (23:30):
I don't think so. I'm looking around at a lot
of guys who are picking the win loss records in
not a lot of people think so either. I think
the biggest issue they have is they still have their
quarterback who is a turnover machine and they picked up
(23:50):
a lot, but they didn't get that, and so I
think it's going to be very interesting to see what
they do. I do not I saw one pun to
pick them to finish tied for fifth in the Big Twelve.
And I also think that McGuire this could end up
a little bit like A and N when they had
(24:11):
the nation's number one recruiting class and I don't think
there's anybody left there. Maybe one player left for that class.
It was a disaster because they may have picked up
a bunch of prima donnas too. We were more worried
about the money and if things start heading south, watch
out because that could go south fast. And you know,
I McGuire better be ready because if he does not
(24:34):
do well this year, I do not see him lasting
there at all. But I think they're gonna have issues,
I really do.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Surely you agree with that.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
You know, I mean, maybe on paper they have one
of the best teams that money can buy, certainly in
the Big twelve. But you know, we know this from
you know, seeing Texas get top five national recruiting classes
year in year out and not be able to do
anything with them. So just because you have, you know,
(25:05):
a bunch of supposed star players on your roster doesn't
mean that they're going to gel together and become a team.
Nor does it mean that your coaches, who are coaching
them and trying to put them in the best possible
positions for success, are able to do that.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
You know.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
So I think, uh, I think Tech has a ton
of pressure on them to succeed, and I agree. I
think if MacGuire doesn't win with this group because of
all of the hype and expectations, uh man, he could
he could be out of there, you know, into this season.
(25:43):
So you know, I really haven't done a deep dive
into our conference for football, you know yet, but uh
for for me, you know, I'm just from the little
bit I've been hearing. You know, it could come down
to a Arizona State Baylor in the championship football you
(26:06):
know game for the Big Twelve. It could, I think
primarily because of quarterback play.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
You know what. I it's interesting that Byron, you know,
you pointed out what you're seeing is people aren't really
giving tech mini wins. I have seen a lot of
articles talking about, you know, the moves that McGuire's made.
What makes me nervous for for Red Raider fans is
you've got one individual who has a very deep pocket
(26:34):
book that's driving a lot of this and that always
makes me nervous. And that's that's not new in the
NIL world. That's always been the case. You've got to
make sure the backers, you know, are are are happy.
But when you have one backer that's driving it, it's
like who really is controlling the team. So to both
of your points, you know, if McGuire does it do well,
(26:57):
that backer is probably gonna have a have a pretty
big say in Lubbock. Let's talk about the Baylor Bears.
Has Dave Randa, and he has admitted in the Big
twelve media days he's talked about how he's had to
change his philosophy, how he was really resistant to the
whole transfer portal, the whole nil. Now he's all in
(27:21):
and he's really trying to you know, take advantage of
the transfer portal. But also Baylor's been really big on
still recruiting those high school athletes. We have a top
you know, top thirty recruiting class for twenty twenty six
as we speak today. So I'll start with you surely
on this question as Dave A. Randa finally figured it out,
(27:42):
and how excited are you heading into this fall as
you look at that first game against a tough opponent
in Alburt.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
Well, you know, first of all, you know, well, time
will tell if Dave Randa has figured it out. You know,
this this season as far as transfer portal and guys
that he's brought in. I do, I do like what
I hear about, Hey, we're still concentrating primarily on high
(28:15):
school recruiting. I mean I like that. But on the
flip side of that, I mean, we all know this,
and we've experienced this, you know, just in the last
two or three recruiting classes. Just because we have a
top you know, top thirty recruiting class, best recruiting class
right now in the Big twelve for next year, doesn't
(28:39):
mean that that class is going to be able to
stay intact, you know, with all the money that's being
thrown around these days and promises made to you know,
these seventeen and eighteen year old kids, you know. So
I like the fact that we're going to try to
(29:00):
can We're going to try to build this program primarily
on high school recruiting like it has been in the past.
But you know, I think we'll I think we'll we'll
see how how good of talent evaluators our coaching staff
is when it comes to the transfer portal, and see
(29:21):
how that translates on the on the field. As far
as our our first game and our season, man, I mean,
we're we are going to be tested big time right
out of the gate. And I'm so glad this game
is at home and not uh, you know, not on
the road at Auburn, but you know, Auburn is uh,
(29:42):
it's going to be a huge test, you know, for us,
and so I think we'll see I think we'll see
very early on both the Auburn game and on the
road at SMU. With their success last year, I don't
know if they're going to be able to follow it
up again this year, but to really get tests with
our first two games rile the Gate this season, I
(30:03):
think we're going to find out, you know, what what
we have and what we're made of early on. I'm
excited about this team, which kind of scares me a
little bit, but I'm excited about this team, you know,
and really excited to see you know, sorry Robertson play
a senior year, and ready to see a sophomore season
(30:26):
from you know, a couple of our running backs, and
so just just excited to see, uh, see what happens
this year.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
Byron, as you look at the at the season, you know,
surely's right, it's exciting that the first game is actually
against a real opponent. I mean, you and I have
been at many of games when you had some you know,
lower tier school come into Waco, and you know the
crowd is usually leaving about the third quarter because it's
(30:59):
not even a contest. I don't think that'll be the
case on that Friday night at McLain Stadium. But how
are you feeling about the Baylor Bears going into the
twenty twenty five season?
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Good? But guarded because I'm a Baylor fan and I'm used,
you know, to having hopes dashed. I think we could
be very good. We are going to get a serious
just like Shirley said, We're going to get a serious
test that first game. The weakest point on our defense
(31:28):
are our safeties, and Auburn has a dad gam good receiver,
so that that could be rough. But Auburn's defense is
also not that great, so we may have success there.
So it's it's gonna be fun. It's it's gonna be
fun if we can start off two to zero. Holy
(31:49):
cow watch out.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
By the way, I was the only one last year
that predicted the accurate number of wins that Baylor end
up having. I just want to throw that out there.
You know, got to take my victory lap. I think
this Baylor team is going to be in the Big
Twelve Championship game. So I'm just putting that on record.
But the one thing I want to see that Friday night,
(32:12):
in that first game against Auburn that we never really
saw last year, you know, the season started off, just
to kind of reflecting on it, last year, I get
some tougher opponents, nothing to the level that we're seeing
this season, and it's like they hadn't learned to win together.
And then we saw the team mature the bowl game.
(32:34):
We don't even want to talk about the bowl game,
but throughout the season we saw this team mature, but
we had slow starts. So will this be the year
that an Iranda team can actually start the game off
fast and we're not sitting there at halftime wondering how
the game's going to go. That's the thing I'm going
to be looking for early on in the season is
(32:54):
can this team get off to a quicker start? Anyway?
Surely you're final thoughts on on Baylor football.
Speaker 3 (33:02):
I mean, I could totally see us in the Big
Twelve championship game. I think that would be a great accomplishment,
you know, for this team the season would love to see,
you know, Sawyer Robertson's name. Uh, you know late in
the season in the Heisman race. If man, if he
(33:26):
if he's if he's doing that, then man, we're in
We're in great shape. So yeah, I'm excited about this season.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
Yeah, I'm excited, but you're the points made today are great.
We've got to start off fast. We we can only
get behind. And the other thing we got to do,
we've got to keep certain guys healthy. You know, our
running back, we got to keep healthy. So let's just
see what happens.
Speaker 3 (33:53):
One question I did have, are you are you hearing
anything on the Ashton Hawkins front.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
They were told they would have an answer around July fourth.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
Yeah, that's what I heard, and.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
We still have nothing, and I think the frustration is growing.
They made some rulings on a couple of other guys, Yeah,
I've seen that in NCAA, but they have not ruled
on him, and so we're just we're still waiting, and
I do know there is a lot of frustration on
the inside.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
Well, mark your calendars. The end of August is coming quickly.
We're just about a month away, gentlemen from college football
season starting, and my favorite time of the year. Well,
do we have one more thing to end our podcast?
Speaker 3 (34:39):
I do. Actually I'm prepared this morning. So I don't
know if you guys were aware, but the number one
golfer in the world resides in Dallas. What worth Scottie
Scheffler on his third leg of the and slam of
(35:00):
majors in golf this last week at the British Open.
And interesting fact about his fourth major win, So it
was that's a little confusing. It was a fourth major
to win, but it was the third different major he's won,
so anyway, so interesting fact. So the days between tiger
(35:22):
Woods first and fourth major wins was one thousand, ninety
seven days. The days between Scotty Scheffler's first and fourth
major wins was one thousand, one hundred and ninety seven days.
That's crazy interesting fact. That is an interesting fact. I
(35:46):
don't know that I'm ready to put Shafer up there
with tiger Woods, but maybe so. And by the way,
if you guys are interested in some you know, some
some some low, low, low level intellectual man comedy Happy
(36:09):
Gilmore Too was released on Netflix yesterday and we did
watch it last night and it's it's well worth the watch. Okay,
good tons, of Golfers, profet of current and former on there,
as well as a host of other other stars. Travis
(36:30):
makes an appearance.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
I was this year years old before I realized that
the actress who played in Modern Family was the same
actress in the original Happy Gilmore. It just never made
that connection, so.
Speaker 3 (36:44):
I know, right, lots of cameos.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
Lots of cameos. Okay, well good, that's Happy Gilmore too.
On Netflix. That's Chris Shirley and Chris Byram. I'm Scott
Miller until next time. So long, everybody,
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