Michigan 'Punishment,' OSU News, Traditions, and B1G Predictions

We have survived the long, monthly off-season podcast schedule we’ve set for ourselves and now we have to (get to) return to our weekly schedule starting with this show. And we’ve got a lot of ground to cover!

Our opening topic is the conclusion of the NCAA investigation into Michigan’s sign-stealing scandal, which ended with Jim Harbaugh becoming the all-time cheatingest coach in college football history, a big fine for Michigan, and absolutely no bowl ban for the school’s Failure to Monitor charge, no vacated wins, and no real teeth to prevent any school from doing it again as long as it’s willing to pay the monetary price and maybe sacrifice a staffer and a coach (who in this case had already left).

On the OSU football news front, 10 Buckeyes shed their black helmet stripes between the start of camp and our recording this episode. Notable names include Devin Sanchez, CJ Donaldson, Riley Pettijohn, Phillip Daniels, Beau Atkinson, Bo Jackson, and Nick McLarty. The 2025 captains are now known, and they are Sonny Styles, Caleb Downs, Austin Siereveld, and Brandon Inniss. Styles will also wear the Block O jersey in 2025.

We also touched on some news items about former Buckeyes in the NFL and two things that shouldn’t exist — preseason polls and the preseason player of the year — and how they relate to Ohio State.

Ross Bjork outlined his plan to get fans to cheer louder. We discuss many of them, and we’re not convinced they’ll do the trick. At wine-and-cheese-crowd ticket prices, it’s difficult to get six-pack-before-the-game fans in the seats to make said noise. Making the games affordable is much more important than courting ridicule with pregame Victory Bell ringing or getting everyone to wear the same color a couple times a year. But hey, that’s just us.

Finally, we dove into how we see the Big Ten shaping up with our annual predictions. We did it a little differently this year, giving you our predictions from 18-1 in groups. We were very close in most respects, but we were pretty far apart on Michigan. At the end of the regular season, it’ll be fun to check back to see how close we came to having the correct finishing order.

We would love to hear from you, so please reach out with your feedback and questions below in the comments section or ⁠send us an email⁠ at [e-mail]. Any questions directed toward us will be answered on our next show.

Be sure to subscribe, rate, review, share, and follow the show over on Twitter at ⁠@SilvrBulletsPod⁠.As always, thanks for listening!

0:21 - The NCAA has spoken loudly and clearly about how much it’ll cost to cheat to win a national championship, and beyond the pricetag, there are no real consequences. Also: there has been a lot of OSU news since our last show.

31:26 - Ross Bjork wants Ohio Stadium to rock, but his ideas seem a bit weird and don’t seem like they’ll do the trick.

45:26 - Our annual preseason Big Ten predictions, in which we don’t differentiate much in our opinions except when it comes to That Team Up North.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:20):
Hello again everybody. It's time once again for the Silver
Bullets podcast. I'm Michael Citrow, I'm Chip Minnick. Chip. We
are back and this is the first of our weekly
podcasts throughout the twenty twenty five Ohio State season. We've
done it, We've survived the offseason yet again, we.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
Have crossed the wilderness. We are officially in week zero.
So this naturally, of course, like any college football fan
looking forward to, you know, the most natural of college
football games Iowa State and Kansas State in Ireland next Saturday.
But all seriousness, it's nice to be able to look
forward to actual college football game it's being played next week.

Speaker 1 (01:02):
Very excited about it, and of course as early as
next week you and I will be previewing an Ohio
State game.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
Yeah, crazy stuff.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
So, of course, the big thing, the big draw for
this episode, as it is every year, it's our Big
ten predictions. Chip. Everybody's been waiting with baited breath all
off season for our predictions and you know, we're who
are we to deprive the people of that? So we're
going to do that a little later in the show.

(01:34):
But there's a lot of news since you and I
last spoke because camp opened, and things have been going on,
and probably too many things to even fit into this show,
but let's just briefly start off with not an Ohio
state topic, but the topic of the Michigan Wolverines investigation.
Finally concluding we have some closure, it of course rage

(02:00):
the entire Ohio State fan base because it is a
slap on the wrist, and it is it is very
clear now what the cost of cheating is. There's a
very real monetary cost to it. But it's not going
to cost your your team in bold appearances, not gonna
it's not gonna hurt recruiting at all. Really really light punishment,

(02:22):
all things considered, considering the history of NCAA, you know, infractions.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yeah, I like guess you know, like you said, I
kind of went into this hoping that the NC double
A would do the right thing. The NC double A,
of course, never fails to disappoint, you know, and I've
got certainly I've got my thoughts on this. By I

(02:49):
wanted to give you the floor because I know that
this is something that I'm not saying that I don't
have thoughts on it, but I wanted to hear you.
I wanted to let you kind of vent before I
offered up my perspective. No, I'm serious, because it's like,
I mean, it's one of these things where I've kind
of used Friday and Saturday to just kind of like

(03:10):
let it just kind of a lot of my thoughts
kind of cascade. So I'm going to let you kind
of vent and then I'll offer my opinions.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
All right, Well, I'm not going to get off on
a rant or anything, so there's you know, I'm not
going to be the guy out on my lawn yelling.
But I will say it is extremely disappointing to see that,
you know, from their findings, they clearly have discovered Michigan cheated.
They gave more penalties to Jim Harbaugh, they gave some

(03:40):
penalties to to Connor Stallions.

Speaker 2 (03:42):
And.

Speaker 1 (03:45):
A very really light tap on the on the wrist
for Sharon Moore, who apparently you don't have to just
have suspensions be the next games coming. They can just
pick whatever games they want to suspend you for. So
that's one problem. The problem is Michigan cheated for the
purpose of gaining a competitive advantage. They said there was

(04:07):
no proof that it, you know, affected the outcome of games.
But we all saw the footage of Connor Stallion's whispers
in the coordinator's ear and shuts down the next Ohio
State play. It clearly had an effect, and the intent
was to circumvent rules just for the purpose of gaining

(04:29):
a competitive advantage. Now as opposed to say, trading your
own personal belongings for a discount on a tattoo. It's
ridiculous what they've come up with for this punishment. They
also get hit with a failure to monitor, and to
my knowledge, there hasn't been a failure to monitor that

(04:49):
didn't come with it a ball ban of some sort
and usually some kind of vacated wins. But I don't
really care about vacated wins because we all saw the
games that that. To me, that doesn't bother me all
that much. But I do think this opens up a
good cause for any school that's had vacated victories in

(05:12):
the past to sue to get those victories reinstated in
the record books.

Speaker 2 (05:19):
It certainly does. I'm not sure if anyone will will
pursue that. I mean, because again one of the things
that I find humorous is that Michigan is going to
appeal the decision the thirty million dollar penalty. So, and
in that appeal, they're just basically okay, we're just we're

(05:41):
going to continue paying substantial lawyer fees no matter how
this turns out. So, I mean, you're already you're already
in a hole thirty million dollars. It might be considered
the largest financial penalty in NCAA history. Do you have
more to say or would you like my perspective because

(06:02):
I just want to allow you to I want to
give you the floor before I offer up mine.

Speaker 1 (06:08):
Yeah, as far as the money is concerned, it's it's money.
I don't know what that equates to winning a championship.
What does that equate to in terms of merchandise you sell?
That says National champions I don't know if that is
enough to offset it. But these are big universities. They
win or you know, they earn and lose tens of

(06:29):
millions of dollars all the time. I don't feel like
it's a very big deterrent. And what it does is
send a message to other schools that say, oh, so
that's what it costs to to get ahead. If I
cheat this, if I'm willing to pay this much money,
I can take my shot at a national championship. But
I knew all along that the NCAA was going to
be very hesitant to vacate a national championship. It's a

(06:53):
black eye on the sport rather than the school that
has embarrassed the sport. That's pretty much all I have
to say it.

Speaker 2 (07:01):
Okay, so this is gonna seem like a weird transition.
I want to emphasize. I want to emphasize this. Do
you ever see the movie Lean on Me with Morgan Freeman.
I mean it's.

Speaker 1 (07:15):
Many many, many years, okay, but you remember how it
starts off.

Speaker 2 (07:19):
It starts off when he is a teacher at Eastside
High and he's, you know, teaching kids, and and at
one point he gives them, he's like, I want you
to define the word in Brew. And the kids are
all kind of just stunned and they're paralyzed because they

(07:39):
don't know what it means. And then he starts Morgan
Freeman as Joe Clark starts to taint to stay and
so too. And I wish I had the the ability to,
you know, do a good Morgan Freeman, you know, like
Morgan Freeman impression, but to a taint to stay in

(08:01):
so Connor stallions. With his actions, imbrewed the Michigan football
staining their reputation forever more. Uh. You know, my my
personal thoughts are as an Ohio State podcast, as an
high state fan. Part of the challenge that I think,

(08:23):
you know, when we're when we're on this on this show,
writing articles whatever it might be that I think like
the average college football fan, and certainly any Michigan fan
could say, like see like they're just crying, they're you know,
you know all this kind of stuff. So you know,
it's it's just and this is not meant uh, you know,

(08:44):
to discourage people, you know, like for example, like our
our musual friend Tony Gerdaman, who you know at Buckeye Huddle.
I thought he had a tremendous article uh that he
wrote just kind of talking about you know, the title
of it, the n cua A confirms forgave Gibbs Michigan's cheating.
Uh you know, I mean I thought it summarized it

(09:05):
extremely well. Mike Valenti, who is notorious Michigan State guy. Uh.
Just I mean like the words that he used to
associate Jim Harbaugh, Uh, you know, filth lunatic. You know,
those are just some of the some of the kinder
things that he said in a rant. We what I

(09:25):
the reason I wanted to bring this up is, I
really I'm grateful to the national writers and I realized
Paul Feinbaum is a national guy. But you know, he,
let's face it, like he's in the SEC you know,
you know, firmly in that SEC column an agenda. He's
got an agenda exactly. But what I mean is, you know,

(09:47):
for example, Jim Rome, you know, he basically he went
on his show and said, Michigan man, you have to
quit playing the victim here, like you you cheat. You
want you've got your national championship, but everyone knows you
cheat it. You know, it's like, quit playing the victim.
You know, the the evidence came out it was you know,
it was cheating, and okay, so you've got your national championship.

(10:12):
Pat Forty another guy that in years past, you know,
we were talking about the Ohio State tattoo gate. He certainly
was one of these guys that you know ripped Ohio
State and Jim Tressel back in the day. But I'm
grateful to Pat Forty, you know, basically coming out and
you know, saying, hey that it's one of these things

(10:36):
where uh that you know Jim Harbaugh, you know, he
started off, you know, saying how it's you know, hard
to beat the cheaters. And now Jim Harbaugh, you know,
and this isn't an article that he wrote for Sports Illustrated,
Harball officially becomes one of the most penalized cheaters in

(11:00):
the sports history. That Harbaugh committed major rule violations, delivered
a ten year show cause, which is going to be
added on to the four years. So you're talking fourteen
years before Jim Harbaugh if you were thinking of hiring
him for a college job, not that I would expect
him to ever come back fourteen years before he could
even take the job. And then, you know, just to

(11:21):
kind of to summarize my point. Stuart Mandel of The
Athletic he said in his article about the phrase hypocrites
and liars ought to be added to the lyrics of
Hail to the victors. So my point is, it's the
reason I'm bringing this up is I'm not saying that

(11:45):
you or I, or any Ohio State fan or any
college football fan should not feel angry about the miscarriage
of justice in this sense that all right, when, as
as I mentioned a few moments ago, Tony Gerdman's art
links up to the you know, seventy four page decision,

(12:10):
and how it says out and you you summarize it perfectly,
is that Okay, this should this, this requires a bowl band,
this requires vacating of wins. But you know another thing
that that Tony Gerdaman. And again if you don't know

(12:30):
Tony Gerdamant, I mean like he always like his sense
of humor, you know, bringing humor and levity to situations.
One of the things that he put out on social
media which I enjoyed was that one of the old
Simpsons memes based on when Ned Flanders beat Nick parents

(12:50):
basically are saying, hey, we've done nothing and we're all
out of ideas, man like that, basically making fun of
the NC double a. The fact that they that's kind
of what they did, you know, like that they recognize
the fact, Okay, well we can't do a bull band
because that's punishing the kids that weren't there, and vacating
wins doesn't really make sense, you know, because you know,

(13:12):
it's just one of these things where it's like all right,
like kind of what you said. You know, everyone remembers it,
so we're going to levy financial fines and it's just
you know, if you're a college football fan like you
or I or any of our listeners, it just it's
going to leave you feeling completely like, Okay, this was
just a waste of time. You know, the NCAA is toothless.

(13:36):
But I just wanted to get it on the record
that I am appreciative to at forty, to Jim Rome,
to Stuart Mandel for the national perspective, because it's not, okay,
not just Ohio State guys. It's not Michigan State guys.
It's not you know, just the big ten guy. It's like, no,
everyone is recognizing the fact that things were done incorrectly.

(13:58):
So that's why I wanted to I wanted to allow
you to offer your two cents because mine is like,
I'm appreciated to the national guys, all right.

Speaker 1 (14:06):
I appreciate you giving me that opportunity. And I just
know that like vacating wins is dumb. We all saw
the games. I mean, it's stupid to say Ohio State
didn't beat Arkansas. We all saw the game, but don't
tell me that, oh, it'll hurt the kids that weren't there,
when you've never cared about that before. I mean, if
if five Ohio State players sold their own stuff to

(14:27):
get tattooed, why did the incoming freshmen have a bull band? Why?
You know, why are you going to punish people that
weren't on the field. You just you've already set the precedent.
And one thing that you can do in meeting out
any sort of judgment. We've been doing it for, you know,
since the beginning of time. Basically is when you have
a precedent, you stick with that. Now you can change

(14:48):
precedents over the years and say, Okay, you know what,
this doesn't make sense anymore. But if that's what you're doing,
then you get better get to reversing all the vacating.
That's all I'm saying. Yep, I completely all right, Chip,
Let's move on to some Ohio State centric stuff, especially
news out of camp. And one of the things that
we've seen is a slew of black stripes come off

(15:10):
of helmets at Ohio State's preseason camp. I'm gonna get
on the list real quick, starting August fifth through August sixteenth,
I'm not sure if anybody lost their stripes today. Maybe
you can update this list if they have, but as
of the time I was preparing for this, so sixteenth
was the last that I had, and I've got linebacker

(15:34):
Riley Petty John on August fifth, along with the tight
end Nate Roberts. They're both freshmen. Senior running back transfer
running back CJ. Donaldson and freshman corner Devin Sanchez lost
THEIRS on August sixth. On August thirteenth, there were two
more bo Atkinson, a red shirt junior transfer defensive end

(15:57):
and red shirt sophomore tackle Phill Daniels. Then on the
fourteenth another pair Bo Jackson, freshman running back and Nick McClarty,
red shirt freshman punter. We've been waiting to hear from him.
They both lost their black stripe on August fourteenth. Then
on the sixteenth, another couple of freshmen, safety Fahim Delaye

(16:18):
and guard Jake Cook lost THEIRS. So welcome to the
Buckeye family.

Speaker 2 (16:24):
Yeah, I'm happy for Nick McCarty in the sense that
at punter everyone knows, you know, kind of when mistakes
are made or a bad punt, and he came in
with a lot of hype last year and I can't
remember who it was, but somebody said years ago, I

(16:45):
think that, you know, it's one of these things where
all right, when you are going into your second year
and you still haven't had the black stripe removed, it
starts to become kind of a social stigma.

Speaker 1 (16:56):
Arlette letter.

Speaker 2 (16:57):
Yeah, I guess he could say associated to it. So
I'm happy for him as far as everyone else. One
of the most intriguing names that I think that you
rattled off Philip Daniels, simply because based on reports that
you hear on various social media outlets that Philip Daniels
is certainly making a move on the offensive line. That

(17:19):
that is it's a welcome sign. You know that he
came in as he transferred from Minnesota. He's an Ohio kid,
never got the Ohio state offer, so in a matter
of speaking, you know, coming back home and possibly in
contention to start at right tackle. You know, bo Atkinson
was a guy that came in after the spring so

(17:43):
never ever had an opportunity to be in winter conditioning
or spring ball. But it's certainly made his move on
the depth chart and is looking to contribute. And then
as far as the freshman go. You know, Devin Sanchez
probably is one of the guys that out of the
freshman class. We always talk about this on this podcast

(18:06):
that we're not really into recruiting the recruiting stuff, but
he is probably the most highly regarded of the incoming
recruits to the fact that he had his blackstriper moved
along with Like you said, you know a number of
other true freshmen have had their black stripe removed. So
it'll be interesting to see how many and if all

(18:28):
of them will all of those black stripe players will
be in action against Texas in the season opener, But
I would certainly be surprised if we didn't see a
number of them, certainly in weeks two and three when
Ohio State brings in Grambling State and Ohio University.

Speaker 1 (18:46):
Yep, absolutely, but congrats to all those young men. And
speaking of congrats, Chip, why don't we tip our virtual
caps here to the new captains of Ohio State University's
football team in twenty twenty five. Those captains are Sunny Styles,
Caleb Downs, Austin Siraveld, and Brandon innis no real surprise

(19:11):
with Styles and Downs. I'm a little surprised at the
other two. But Austin Siraveld has apparently been really turning
heads and raising his level since you know spring ball.

Speaker 2 (19:24):
Yeah, Austin Sirabeld is one of these guys that came
out of where I just mentioned the fact that you know,
we don't follow on the recruiting side of things, but
everything about him last year at this time was that, okay,
he had really impressed and was a candidate to contribute
and start as a guard. He came out of an

(19:45):
offense in high school that was predominantly running the options.
So pass protection is one of these things where Austin
Cerebeld you would presume would have his struggles with. Fast
forward to this year and I I mentioned a few
moments ago about with social media and things like that
that Austin Siraveeld might be a likely candidate to start

(20:07):
at left tackle. So he has certainly put the work in.
He earned Iron Buckeye, which is prestigious award amongst the
team in terms of, you know, getting the physical work
and physical preparation done in the weight room. So he
was one of those guys that was named. He's certainly
been turning heads along the offensive line, and as far

(20:27):
as the other candidate for captain, I agree with you
that along the lines of like Sunny Styles and Caleb
Downs not being a surprise, Brandon innis in a minor
surprise in the sense that he's contributed the last few years,
but now is the year that he has looked upon

(20:49):
as a probable starter at the wide receiver position, which
is which is tremendous, But I think it speaks volumes
about the fact that he hasn't played as much as
probably he would have liked to in his previous two years.
But nonetheless he's been such a motivating factor for his
teammates that he earned enough votes to be selected as

(21:11):
a captain. So congratulations to all four of them and
looking forward to the type of leadership that they can
provide or High State this coming season.

Speaker 1 (21:19):
Yeah, I think Brandon Ennis was a little surprising to
me because of that that lack of playing time certainly
figures to see the field a lot more this year,
and we knew that coming in. But also he's got
a lot of heat behind him from the likes of
Mylon Graham and players like that. He's known for his
attitude you mentioned it, and he's probably he's probably in

(21:42):
that Xavier Johnson mold only you know, probably with a
lot more upside.

Speaker 2 (21:47):
Mm. Good point.

Speaker 1 (21:49):
All right, So congrats to the new captains. And speaking
of one of those captains, Sunny Styles, as we surmised
as early as last year or you know, the end
of the season, end of the twenty twenty four season,
he's got the block Oh jersey chip Sonny is gonna
wear number zero.

Speaker 2 (22:07):
Yeah, very worthy award. Like you said, it didn't come
really as a surprise. One of the things just to
kind of add on to what we're talking about with
regard to the captains, but this ties in with the
block Oh. One of the things I like to do
is as soon as the players have been announced and
on social media is and I think it's great that

(22:29):
they do this as Ohio State, they will put out
videos of the players with their position coach making calls
home to their respective homes. So, getting back to Sonny Styles,
what was cool is the fact that like James Laurnidis,
you know, a former captain this and this predates the
whole block O jersey thing, but James Laurnidis sitting with

(22:50):
Sunny Styles saying to Sunny Styles parents that Sonny was
the top vote earner among all the eligible players for
captain and also was awarded that block, Oh Jersey. So
I think personally, I think this is a tremendous tradition
that Ryan Day started. It's only been since the twenty

(23:11):
twenty season, and you know, it's just one of these
things where I think Sunny Styles certainly represents everything that
I think the block O Jersey should.

Speaker 1 (23:21):
I agree with you about the tradition, and we'll talk
more about new traditions a little bit later in the show.

Speaker 2 (23:27):
Yeah, absolutely, all right.

Speaker 1 (23:29):
A couple quick more a couple more quick OSU notes
before we break briefly, And first of those is that
a draft picked by your brownies, quin Shawn Judkins, will
not be charged formally. They did not feel they could
get a conviction on the charge, So no, they're not
moving forward with the case. Important to note it doesn't

(23:53):
mean that quin Shawn is innocent, but he's not proven
guilty and now he has a path forward to signing
a contract and becoming an NFL player.

Speaker 2 (24:05):
Yeah, it's really it's been one of these things where
that news when it came out, understandably, you know, mixed
emotions mixed results in terms of how people feel about it,
you know, being a Browns fan, being a Quincheon Judkins
fan for his his play on the field, certainly want
to see the Browns doing well and Quinjon Judkins being

(24:30):
productive as an NFL player. That being said, I guess
it would not be surprising to me even though the
courts have decided not to proceed the NFL with the
idea of kind of like the old protect the Shield
mantra that Roger Goodell likes to use, it wouldn't be
surprising if he still faces a suspension. A suspension so

(24:53):
he has has not yet signed a contract, and I
have not seen or heard anything about any movement on
that front.

Speaker 1 (25:01):
Yeah, you know, one thing is as human beings that
we need to keep in mind. I think most people
believe in forgiveness, but there does seem to be a
lot of opposition to that concept these days. I feel
like young people do make mistakes and do dumb things,

(25:22):
terrible things, thoughtless things, and I hate to see anybody
you know, ruin their life over it. So, you know,
if Quinn Shawn had been guilty of this, hopefully he's
turned over a new leaf. And if he wasn't, then
I hope he can put this whole thing behind him.
And but you know, just wanted to bring that up
because we did talk about it briefly on our last show.

(25:43):
So moving on, Malcolm Jenkins Chip headed for the Philadelphia
Eagles Hall of Fame.

Speaker 2 (25:53):
Congratulations. He's certainly somebody who not only had a productive
of Ohio State career, productive NFL career, has been very
active in terms of her causes of social justice. So
I'm happy to see Malcolm Jenkins being rewarded by the
Philadelphia Eagles organization.

Speaker 1 (26:15):
Another NFL note, former Buckeye Traveon Henderson. All he did
with his first touch as an NFL player was go
one hundred yards on a kickoff for turn to score
a touchdown. Chip.

Speaker 2 (26:28):
Yeah, he's one of those guys where you know you
hear me lament about this every time with the NFL Draft,
how the Browns will bypass if an Ohio State player,
you know, just to take somebody else. Well, when it
came to Travon Henderson, it was it was always in

(26:50):
the back of Browns fans' minds that the Browns took
Quinchawn Judkins instead of Travon Henderson. And this is not
to imply that Quinjehn Judkins can't possibly have a productive
NFL career, but it would be also fair to say
that Cleveland Brown's fans are always going to remember, especially

(27:10):
if Travon Henderson, if the trajectory continues to be upward,
that it's going to be one of these things that
NFL excuse me, that Cleveland Brown's fans will always remember that, Okay,
we could have had him instead. So hopefully Quinn John
Judkins when he comes in, he doesn't necessarily try to
score the very first I'm sure it would be welcomed, but

(27:31):
that he doesn't try to outdo anything that he just
plays within himself. But yeah, I'm happy for Travion Henderson
that he's off to strong start in New England.

Speaker 1 (27:40):
Yeah, I'm not happy that he's in New England as
a Yeah I know, all right. A couple other things
closer to home for Ohio State in the current day,
and these are two things chip that should not exist.
First of all, the pre season AP poll. Why is
this a thing? No one's played a game. It doesn't

(28:01):
make any sense to rank teams based on where we
think they'll be let's see what they really are before
we ranked them. I always thought that they shouldn't start
ranking teams till a few weeks into the season. But anyway,
there is a poll in Ohio State is ranked third.
I saw way too much discussion of this in my
social media feed. People being angry about a preseason AP poll.

(28:22):
Makes no sense to me. This is not a thing.
So but it's out there. They're number three. Chip any
thoughts on that.

Speaker 2 (28:29):
I completely agree with you. I'm not I'm not a
big fan of polls. I understand. I mean, it's something
that it's just kind of traditional, right that it's it's
always been out there. But I think that it just
kind of an especially we mentioned earlier about ESPN that
you know, just the old narrative, how that you know,
it just means more in the SEC and all this

(28:51):
kind of stuff than you know. I keep going back
to our friend Tony Gerdaman. I think he had a
really good point, how you know. Peter Burns of ESPN
was trying to squawk about how great the SEC is,
and Tony was very quick with social media posts pointing
out that every SEC team that was that was ranked

(29:13):
in the AP pole finished lower or out of the
poll completely. So this whole idea about how tough the
SEC is. Like you said, Michael, I think let's let's
see how the teams look on the field, and let's
see what the results are before we start ranking them.

Speaker 1 (29:29):
Yeah, I'm good with waiting till week six and then
starting polls. I don't think we need polls before then.
It's especially when so many of the Power five schools
play cupcakes the first few weeks.

Speaker 2 (29:43):
You got it, all right.

Speaker 1 (29:45):
The other thing that shouldn't exist is the is a
preseason player of the year. Uh it's Jeremiah Smith, Which, hey,
good for you, Jeremiah. Awesome, that's great. But I mean
to me, this is just the college football equivalent of
naming someone in the yearbook most likely to succeed.

Speaker 2 (30:07):
Yeah, I you know, if anything, you know it, you know,
he's he's certainly worthy. Speaking of Jeremiah Smith has nothing
to do with the preseason ranking, but down in Columbus today,
it's kind of making the rounds on social media. Jeremiah Smith.
I guess he's kind of getting a taste of, you
know what Beatlemania must have felt like, you know, back

(30:29):
in nineteen sixty four. You know, he was at a DIX.
I think it was a you know, like a we're
Dick Sporting Goods down at the Player's Parkway and in
Columbus and just you know, the thousands of people waiting
to you know, get a picture or get an autograph
or whatever. But to your point, Yeah, I think let's
let's slow the preseason player of the year stuff and

(30:51):
let's just see how they how they do on the field.

Speaker 1 (30:53):
Yeah, it makes no sense to have that as a thing,
but anyway, it's out there. So we're telling you about it.
We've put in our two cents, and we've got plenty
more to talk about because you and I are going
to do our Big ten final standings predictions for twenty
twenty five, and we're going to talk about those new traditions.

(31:14):
Why don't we get to those things right after this?
All right, Chip, we're back, and let's talk about the
new tradition evolved initiative by Ohio State. Because all this
really tells me about ross Byork is that he is

(31:37):
a man bereft of ideas when the ideas solutions are
very simple. He wants to improve the game day experience,
wants improve the atmosphere Ohio Stadium. The only way you
do that organically is to make it affordable for students,
young people, blue collar workers. Right now, those people are

(31:58):
watching these games at home because they can't afford to go.

Speaker 2 (32:01):
I completely agree with you. I think you know some
of them, you know, and I know we'll get to them,
you know, Like I I like the idea of better
scoreboards for example, you know, like I think that's you know,
something that I think Ohio State fans have been hoping for.
I would I would think improving Wi Fi would be.

(32:23):
That would be you want to improve the experience in
the stadium. That would be like top of the list
for me. But yeah, I think it's one of these
things where Ohio State is trying to They're trying to
rationalize and figure out, Okay, well we're charging absurdly high
prices for these games, and then you know, the reality

(32:50):
is like a lot of these things that are that
are going to be like tradition evolved. I wouldn't say
that it's you know, just as a fan myself, I
wouldn't say that, Oh, like, well that would that was
like first and foremost on my list.

Speaker 1 (33:03):
Yeah, I mean, you're just you're relocating the band and
putting in suites so people can have their lobster and
their caveat and their champagne while they watch the game.
Are they really going to be the ones to make
the noise? I don't think they are.

Speaker 2 (33:21):
No no. I mean it's the issue that you have.
I mean, you have people that go to a high state,
and I get it. I understand like a lot of
people when they go to a game, they want to
watch the game. They're not necessarily interested in you know,
like loud music being played, and they you know, they
they want to watch the game. And then you've got

(33:43):
another group and I think you reference it like the
idea of like the students and younger people that want
to be able to stand the entire the entire game,
and the people that I just mentioned are you know,
like sit down, you know, like so you know, I
just think that there needs to I think there needs
to be some kind of an understanding in terms of
what your audience is, not that what you want it

(34:06):
to be, and try and figure out ways to make
your existing audience happier. And I think what you said
at the beginning about the prices, and I also believe
in terms of the competition. And I'm not talking about
the Big Ten because I know we're going to talk
about that in a little bit. Talking about your non
conference games, now, you can't you can't argue with a

(34:27):
game of the of the magnitude of Texas. I'm just
saying that future non conference schedules, I think they need
to understand. Well, yeah, fans are not going to really
get excited about shelling over one hundred dollars for filling
the blank that you know that they're going to stomp
by five touchdowns.

Speaker 1 (34:46):
Ramblings and Rhode Islands and teams like that. Yeah, it's
not going to It doesn't move the needle. What do
you think of the victory bell? What? What could possibly
go wrong with ringing the victory bell before a game
even happens.

Speaker 2 (35:01):
Yeah, I like I said, this is a this is
a solution in search of a problem. You know, it's
you know, I think, I mean, you you're inviting bad karma.
I don't care, you know, Like I love I love
the idea of the celebrity ringing it, But I would say, okay,

(35:21):
let's let's earn that victory. Let's not be so presumptuous
that we're going to do that prior to the game. Uh,
you know, I love the fact like Archie Griffin, Okay,
he is the greatest ambassador of Ohio State football without exception,
you know, in terms of you know, just I'm not
even talking about the fact that his two Heisman trophies.

(35:43):
I'm just just in terms of just his his friendliness,
his everything. I've I've ever heard about Archie Griffin. Rumor
has it the man hasn't been able to go out
in public and eat a hot meal because he just
is continually, you know, interrupted and more than willing to
take pictures and sign things. And that just speaks to

(36:06):
the the kind of character he asked. My point being
is like, let's have him ring the bell after the victory.

Speaker 1 (36:14):
Is what everyone loves Archie. There's no question. I was
concerned that this has been a long tradition for Alpha
fay Omegas, and I guess they're still going to be
involved in selecting the ambassadors, but I don't know they
They definitely should be involved. I always felt like that

(36:34):
was a little exclusionary, but it's been going on so long.
I'm okay with them keeping the tradition that way, but
I just don't like the idea of ringing it before
the game. I believe I agree with you, you're inviting
bad mojo, but there's no reason to do that. What
do you think about the the towel? Chip Uh, That

(36:55):
was my exact reaction. My exact reaction, Ben done that.

Speaker 2 (37:00):
You know, it just seems, you know, like kind of
your your take on you know, the terrible towel. And
I'm not saying that as a Browns fan. You know
that is has anything against it. I mean, that's their thing.
You know, that's that's their thing. I just think, Okay,
you know, it just seems it just smacks of you know,
copycat and it just it's just kind of an unnecessary

(37:23):
thing in my opinion.

Speaker 1 (37:24):
What do you think about color outs?

Speaker 2 (37:28):
I'm not a to me the I've never been. I've
never shied away from this one. I've never been a
fan of I. I really don't see like any reason
to have, you know, for example, like the blackout. I
know that you know, I'm I'd be lying to you
if I if I didn't say, like, oh, you know,

(37:50):
like I I get it, you know like it. You know,
the players like it, students like it to me when
you when you talk about, you know, men of the
scarlet and gray, you know that it's all right. I don't.
I don't get the whole black thing, and what's kind
of adding insult to injury in my humble opinion, is

(38:11):
all right, more than likely the black the blackout is
not even gonna be when it's dark outside. So it's
I mean, it's just one of these things where it's
just kind of confounding to me.

Speaker 1 (38:21):
A noon blackout doesn't punish anybody, but the people coming
to watch.

Speaker 2 (38:24):
You got it, You got it.

Speaker 1 (38:25):
It's gonna be it's gonna be sunny, it's gonna be hot.
I mean may it could be rainy, but you know.

Speaker 2 (38:30):
It could more than likely, more than likely not sunny.
But yeah, I know what you mean.

Speaker 1 (38:36):
Scarleting the shoe. I mean they they say, oh, it
will transformal House Stadium into an intimidating environment. Yeah. I
mean you arrive and you're playing for Rutgers, and you
look up in the stands and go, you know, I
wasn't worried, but everybody's wearing the same color. Yeah, is
that a thing? Is that scary? You? I think?

Speaker 2 (39:00):
Be more intimidating, And I do you know kind of
to I know we're going to talk about the Texas
game next week, but you know, when you hear people
like Matt Patricia, you hear people like Bryan Day saying, Okay,
we need the fans to be out there loud, you know,
recognizing the fact that, Okay, it's a noon game and
people I might not be as excited about it as

(39:21):
if it was a night game. And I get that,
but when they're saying, you know, we need people to
be loud and make it difficult for arch Manning when
he's trying to bark out signals, has nothing to do
with the color, has everything to do with the volume.

Speaker 1 (39:34):
Right to that end, Chip, how do you feel about
virtual Buckeye leaves for making noise?

Speaker 2 (39:41):
Yeah, Like I mean, I just it's just I appreciate
the effort, but I just think it's just being all
of these things are just being put into things that
I don't remember anyone really asking for.

Speaker 3 (39:57):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (39:58):
I know that I know for certain that better WiFi
is that everybody asks for at the stadium.

Speaker 1 (40:07):
They always say they're making it better, and it never
seems better.

Speaker 2 (40:10):
It's not. It's not better. Better bathroom situation, right, and
I know you kind of you're kind of restricted in
terms of, you know, what you can do within the facility,
you know, but uh, you know, I just think, you know,
for example, like I'm just gonna go off with a
little tangent here the concession, the concession experience in the
sense that okay, well you can order you know, on

(40:33):
an app and then go up and you know, pick
it up. I think that that might that might be
I'm not a big concession guy, but I that to
me that like, oh, that that would make it, that
would seem to make it.

Speaker 3 (40:44):
Easier if you had Wi Fi, right, if you had WiFi,
if you do it, it's just it's it's just one
of those things where I just know, you know, I
I go back to the fact that whenever you.

Speaker 2 (40:56):
Go to a game, I realize, you know, like I'm
defin only you know, sounding like you know, Grandpa Simpson,
you know, yelling at the cloud. But that when they
when you're told repeatedly with your tickets that are now
on your phone, you better have them downloaded to your

(41:18):
phone before you even get remotely close to the stadium,
because it's almost impossible to you know, be able to
connect to me that that's a problem.

Speaker 1 (41:28):
That's it.

Speaker 2 (41:28):
That's a problem.

Speaker 1 (41:29):
It is, and I haven't experienced it to that extent
in other venues. You know, some of them are better
than others. You know, sometimes you go to a big
concert and you can't send your photos to Facebook or whatever.
But yeah, that's definitely an issue. But but Chip, they're
going to visually represent, uh, the virtual Buckeye leaf on

(41:54):
the scoreboard whenever the opposing offense come it's a false
start or burns a time out because of crowd noise.
So and and then there's also going to be signage
at block oh to keep track of how many buck
eye leaves are earned throughout the season. So you know,
how can you argue with that?

Speaker 2 (42:16):
Well, I guess well, I will say this much. My son,
my wife and I we moved our son into his
his off campus. I'll Hio State House this weekend, so
you know, he's got his tickets. So I will have
to ask my son, owen you know how many you know,

(42:36):
how how much did you contribute to you know, the
virtual buck eye leaves when you were in attendance. I'll
have to I'll have to put him on the spot.

Speaker 1 (42:44):
Uh, the other thing I wanted to talk about is
this forcing this song down our throats as a new tradition,
the song Ohio by the band Camp. I had never
heard this song before I looked it up. Listen to it,
and if you like that kind of music, I guess
it's okay. I don't. I think it sucks. Sorry, Camp,

(43:07):
I'm not into your music. But there's nothing inherently other
than the chorus where they say the word Ohio in
a way that you can almost not even tell what
they're saying. There's no real connection for me in that song.
And it doesn't hype you up. It's not the kind
of song that hypes you up. It's fingerpicking, you know,

(43:28):
and a horn. You know. It's like, this is not
get up on your feet music.

Speaker 2 (43:34):
I would agree, I would agree.

Speaker 1 (43:38):
It makes no sense. Would I would rather have something
like the Black Keys Ohio or something else, you know,
something that hasn't even been imagined yet. But honestly, with
the death of Rick Jarringer earlier this year, I think
they should really double down on the sloopy Yeah, certainly
just to pay tribute to Rick Derringer. Uh I, you know,

(44:03):
his involvement with McCoy's I think that that should be
a big thing this year. I agree, But you know what,
do we know we're not getting paid millions of dollars.
I just I don't think any of this is great.
I don't see any of this really improving the experience

(44:24):
for me.

Speaker 2 (44:28):
Yeah, I have the vast majority of the time I'm
at home as well, so I really can't sit here
and say, oh, you know, like I said off to
vicariously with my son being there, ask him what are
his impressions?

Speaker 1 (44:42):
Yeah? I mean when I was going to games regularly,
the stadium didn't hold as many as it holds now.
It was way louder. And the only difference is we
could afford to go. The people that actually are passionate
in care can afford to go. It's not just some
play to go to be seen.

Speaker 2 (45:02):
Good point. It will be a good point.

Speaker 1 (45:04):
So but you know what, they're not giving that money back,
so they got to figure out other ways to make
it louder. You got it, all right, Buorke the money man. Honestly,
I'd rather have the Icelandic singer Byork as our ad
right now. Ouch? Yeah, all right, Chip, it's time. It

(45:25):
is prediction time. How will the Big ten shakeout this year?
And I think this year we're gonna do it a
little bit differently. In the past, we've done it, you know,
eighteen through ten and then you know the top nine.
That's what we did last year. There's obviously no divisions,

(45:47):
So I think we just go eighteen to one and
we'll we'll do like do like groups at a time,
and I'll get yours and I'll give you mine. And
I don't think we need to get two in the
weeds about our for every position. But if we have
a question and we go, oh, that's interesting, you have
you know, I don't understand why you have Purdue at three,

(46:09):
you know, then we'll stop. We'll talk about it.

Speaker 2 (46:12):
But I can promise you that ain't the case.

Speaker 1 (46:14):
I know I threw it out there because it's yeah.
So I think we start give me your eighteen through fifteen, Chip,
start with the who's going to finish in the basement,
and I'll give you my eighteen through fifteen.

Speaker 2 (46:27):
Okay, speaking of Purdue going with them at eighteen. Feel
bad for Barry Odom, but I think fifty one new players.
I believe that's what I heard on the Big ten
Networks preview and I'm really tough schedule. Let's not ignore that.
So there's there's my eighteen seventeen. I'm going Mike Mike

(46:48):
Loxley in Maryland, and I think Mike Laxley will be
showing the door at the end of the season. Six sixteen,
I'm going with Northwestern. I realize that they are excited
about their Granser Portal class, but I'm not seeing it,
you know. I think they're gonna have a tough year.
And then I'm gonna go fifteen. I'm gonna go to UCLA.

Speaker 1 (47:11):
Okay, you and I are not quite in lockstep, but
we're extremely close. I also have Purdue at eighteen. I've
got Northwestern and Maryland flipped. I've got Northwestern at seventeen,
Maryland at sixteen, and I've got UCLA at fifteen as well.
So right now we're not crossing each other up at all. Okay,

(47:32):
So let's go fourteen to ten.

Speaker 2 (47:37):
Okay, fourteen, I'm gonna go to Michigan State. I know,
I just I just talked about UCLA. But the fact
that Michigan State UCLA they're both going to be these
teams that you never know like they might they might
catch enough braks to to become Bowl eligible. That I

(47:57):
don't know hurt me to write this one, but I
just I think it's just a brutal schedule. Thirteen, I'm
going with Wisconsin. I think Luke fickle. I think that
they're going to be improved, but I think the record's
gonna it's it's just a tough schedule. I mean, if
they were well established. Twelve, I'm going with Rutgers. I

(48:19):
think that Greg Ciano this this team is probably based
on things that the Big Ten network is saying might
be the best team that they have seen Greg Cianna
put on the field since his second tour of duty began.
But I just think that schedule is going to be
really tough for them.

Speaker 1 (48:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (48:38):
Then this then at number eleven, and this one, I'm thinking,
I'm going to throw you a curveball one, but I've
got some serious rationale for this one. I'm gonna go
with Michigan at number eleven. I think defense is going
to be tough as nails, but I think that offense

(48:58):
has got a ways to go, and possible true freshman quarterback.
I don't care how talented Bryce Underwood is, I think it,
and that schedule is tough too. And then at ten,
I've got USC. I'm not a Lincoln Riley fan by
any stretch. I know that they've kind of invested along
their lines on both offensive and defensive line, but as

(49:20):
remains to be seen. Like you said, you know, it's
like there's a reason why we play the games.

Speaker 1 (49:24):
Yeah, all right, So let's see. We started with fourteen.
I also have Michigan State at fourteen, so we're still
very close there. I've got Rutgers at thirteen, so again
we're only one off from each other. And that one
I think Rutgers again, that schedule bothers me a bit
for them. And then I've got three teams in a

(49:45):
row that I don't know. They could finish outside the
top ten in the Big Ten, or they could finish
inside the Big ten, and I don't know which way
it's going to go. So I've got twelve Nebraska. I
think they're better than that, but I just don't know
about them. I just I can't figure them out. I've

(50:07):
got Minnesota at eleven and I've got Wisconsin at ten.
So anything there troubling you or anything.

Speaker 2 (50:17):
No, I mean, we're going to get to I'll give
you my rationale for why I have them those teams
coming up, But no, I wouldn't say troubling. I mean
it again, you know, until until you see these teams
in action, and I'm willing to say in Big ten action.

(50:38):
You know, it's kind of difficult to see what you have.

Speaker 1 (50:40):
So there's there are things about all of them that
give me pause. But then they all have the potential
to elevate themselves this season. That's kind of where I
see those teams and and and some of the teams
above them could falter. So let's go with nine, eight, seven, six,

(51:01):
and five. Okay.

Speaker 2 (51:05):
At nine, I'm going with Iowa. Mark Gronowski is the
new quarterback that Iowa has penned. More than just their hopes,
you know. He they're raving about the fact that they
actually have a quarterback who can run and get outside
of the pocket, like this is like something completely revolutionary.

(51:26):
They didn't know that that was even possible.

Speaker 1 (51:30):
It's a new thing.

Speaker 2 (51:31):
It's exactly number eight. I'm gonna go with Minnesota. I
realize that you know you have them lower, but I
could I could see you know, having them lower as well.
But I do think that PJ Flex Say what you will.
I know he's not for everybody, but his teams are
really good, usually at running the ball and stopping the run.

(51:53):
So that's kind of where my rational there. At seven,
I'm going to go with Nebraska. I am counting on
the off season. The reason why I have them a
little higher than you is that I'm counting on a
full off season of Daniel Holgerson as the offensive coordinator,
a slim down Dylan Rayola making substantial leaps in his

(52:17):
second year as the starter. That I think Nebraska, I
think that they will they will be better. Number six
and here's a team that I think a lot of
people have been I don't want to say sleeping on,
but it's easy to overlook. But I really like Washington
at six. I think Washington is going to be a

(52:38):
team if you're as an Ohio State fan the end
of September, look out because those guys when when they're
at home Washington are really really tough. So that that
promises to be a really good game. And then at
number five, I'm going to go at number five with Illinois.

(52:59):
They had a really good year last year. The preseason
prognostication right now is that, you know, Illinois should be
another good year again. I know what I said a
few moments ago about PJ. Fleck, But you know Brett
Bilima last year, I mean, he did a really good job,

(53:21):
and I think he's got Illinois in terms of like
the right pieces in place in terms of the style
of team that he likes to play with. So that's
why I've got Illinois at number five.

Speaker 1 (53:30):
All right, My nine is USC so only one different
from you. I've got Washington at eight. I think they're
a very good team and they're very tough to beat
at home. Like you mentioned, I am concerned with they
lost a lot of guys this offseason. Not sure what
they have coming in in terms of the portal. They're
going to be a good team. They could certainly be

(53:50):
higher than eight. They could also be lower than eight.
I've got Iowa at seven, and I just feel like
Iowa is always hanging around. They're always in there, They're
in the mix somewhere. I've got Indiana at six because
I'm not sure I think they'll be good, but I

(54:13):
think their quarterback situation, their quarterback they had last year
was perfect for their system. Can they get that same
kind of production this year? If they can, they could
finish higher. So I've got them at six, and I've
got Illinois at five, just like you do. So those
are all not too far off from what you've got.
That takes us to our top four chip. And I

(54:34):
know there's at least one team that I have in
my top four that you don't, So.

Speaker 2 (54:38):
Yeah, I know exactly who that is. I know. Give
me your four, all right, So in my top four,
I'm gonna go with Indiana. And to your point about
quarterback play, they are extremely excited about Fernando Mendoza quarterback transfer,
and they also brought in Roman Hemby, who was a
really good, solid running back from Maryland. And I'm not

(55:02):
gonna sugarcoat it. They've got, i mean, a joke of
a non conference schedule. What I'm truly excited about is
on September twentieth, Illinois and Indiana playing, And it's like,
that's gonna that's gonna. Remember I said a few moments
ago about the idea like when they start to play
in Big ten, like it's gonna that's gonna be a
barometer game for me in terms of like, all right,

(55:23):
what do we have here within the big ten? So
I've got Indiana at four? How far do you want
me to go? Do you want me to do my remaining.

Speaker 1 (55:32):
For my four will go? Yeah, we'll alternate for these
top four. I got Michigan because I feel like there's
gonna be this This cloud has been lifted off of them.
I feel like there's I don't know how much they
say they haven't been letting it bother them and they're
just doing their jobs, but I think it's got of
it some on some level. Bother you not knowing what
the future is going to be like you could you know.

(55:55):
In some respects it allows you to stay concentrated on
the next game. But I think they're there's also that uncertainty.
Now then they know they quote unquote got away with it.
I feel like it's going to be lifting them. I
feel like they also have been getting pretty decent recruiting classes,
although you and I are not recruit nicks, and I
think they have one or two of the teams that

(56:18):
are among the top that are not on their schedule,
if memory served. So I've got them at four. Also,
they're like Freddy Krueger, you just you know, they just
keep popping up when you think they're dead. So that's
how I got it for So that leaves us number three, Chip, Oregon.

Speaker 2 (56:36):
Talking about talents, I know that they lost a lot
of talent to the NFL Draft and they replenished it
extremely well via the transferport as well as in recruiting.
So I've got Oregon at number three. I just mentioned about,
you know, once things start to happen within within the

(56:56):
Big Ten, can't wait for the it's a night game,
it's a white out. I know Ohio State fans are
angry about not getting a white out excuse me, a
night game for Texas. But Penn State they get a
white out game at the end of September against Oregon.
That's going to be must sy TV.

Speaker 1 (57:16):
That's going to tell us a lot about the Big Ten.

Speaker 2 (57:18):
Yep, you got it.

Speaker 1 (57:20):
I also have Oregon at three, so we're in agree
in an agreement there and that brings us to number two. Chip.

Speaker 2 (57:30):
I'm going to put Penn State there. I'm envisioning Penn
State right now as we as we record this. My
my belief is Penn State will defeat Oregon. But somewhere
along the way besides Ohio State. I think that there

(57:50):
might be another possible trip, you know, like a trip up,
you know, for example, when they go to Iowa, which
is which is? You know, like it's one of these
things where many a highly ranked team has gone to
Kinnick Stadium only to come out of there with a blemish.
So I've got Penn State.

Speaker 1 (58:08):
At number two, all right, which puts Ohio State at one.
For you, you got it, all right? My two is
Ohio State and I have Penn State at one. And
the reason is, if Penn State's ever going to do it,
this has to be the year that they do it.
There's no other way they can do it if it's

(58:29):
not this year when And that's really kind of what
it keeps coming down to for me. And I think
they know that. I think they know this is the
year they have to put it all together. And maybe
also that I'm maybe I'm starting to buy into some
of the what I feel is maybe unwarranted hype. There
seems to be a lot of people on the Drew
Aller train, and I haven't seen it so far, you know,

(58:51):
I haven't seen what all the fuss is about. But
maybe I'm starting to believe it a little bit, but
I feel like, also, God, how can Ohio State not
take a step backward after losing that many starters, that
many key players. I also have some concerns about the
defensive line depth. So that's my rationale. But I think

(59:11):
those teams, I think those top four teams will all
be in the college football playoffs.

Speaker 2 (59:19):
Yeah, I understand it. I have anything the reason why
I am Michigan lower, Like I said, I think, I
mean last year, their offense, I mean it, you know,
as an ISOA fan, I mean, they certainly did just
enough to beat Ohio State. And I have nothing against
running the ball, nothing against it at all. But when
you look at Michigan's schedule when they're on the road,

(59:43):
you know, some of those games and some of the
teams we were talking about, you know, they have to
they have to go on the road to Nebraska, they
have to go on the road to USC. The fact
that Michigan State say what you will about about them,
but Michigan State only lost by it touchdown last year,
and that was you know, against you know, we're talking

(01:00:04):
Michigan State being severely undermanned in comparison. So I just
think that Michigan. Yeah, they're gonna be They're going to
be formidable, But I just think that offensively, they've got
a lot of work to do in the passing game,
you know. They they you know, in terms of their
quarterback play last year was dreadful, and they've got more

(01:00:25):
than likely a true freshman starting, if not the season opener,
by the time the game rules around at the end
of November. So I just think Michigan's going to stumble
a little bit more than people realize, even without like
you said, like the cloud, the cloud no longer hanging

(01:00:45):
over them. I think they're going to have a more
difficult year than I think people are giving them.

Speaker 1 (01:00:51):
I hope you're right to screwed them, you know, I mean,
I mean there is also I'm deeply scarred from many,
many years of going to games.

Speaker 2 (01:01:03):
I get it, I get it.

Speaker 1 (01:01:05):
So yeah, they're They're definitely a team that I didn't
expect them to only win one road game last year
and have that be at Ohio State. But yeah, it's
it's a team that you have to take seriously because
they're very physical and they you know that can overcome

(01:01:26):
a lot of things. They take the ball away. I
don't know. I would love to see them fall flat
though I've got them at four but I'm happy with
them at fourteen.

Speaker 2 (01:01:38):
Well, I mean I just said it, you know, like
the idea of the fact that they like they it's
non conference, so it would have no impact whatsoever on
their Big ten standing. But week two when they go
to Oklahoma, you know, you're talking about another team that
you know that they're kind of their backs are up

(01:01:59):
against the wall, so to speak. Oklahoma that is so,
you know, like national television audience. We'll see how they do.
But you know, like I said, September twentieth at Nebraska,
October eleventh at USC, October twenty fifth at Michigan State.
I could see all those as you know, in addition
to the Oklahoma as well as I think Ohio State

(01:02:22):
gets off the schneid this year. I'm going up to
Ann Arbor right there. You know, you're talking about at
least you know, four losses potentially.

Speaker 1 (01:02:30):
Man would be good. I'm all for that. I'm all
for all of that, but you left out one very
important game on their schedule, chip the Connor Stallions Bowl
against Central Michigan's.

Speaker 2 (01:02:42):
Yeah, I'm not really, yeah, I wouldn't really worry about that. Yeah, yeah,
I mean, you know, I think if there is a
and we'll talk about it more next week, if there's
an advantage Ohio State has with right off the jump
playing against one of the top programs perceived programs this

(01:03:04):
year in Texas, is that that is going to give
you a clear indication as to like you said a
few moments ago, Michael, about right, both programs lost a
lot of talent. It's going to give you an idea
as to what you have and what you need to
work on. And in my humble opinion, playing cream puffs

(01:03:25):
and cupcakes a steady diet of that, like Penn State
the first three when you look at their non conference
I mean, Penn State's gonna Now granted I think Penn
State they certainly have the talent, but when Oregon comes
to town, they're not going to have any have any
indication as to how tough they really are. And I
think Ohio State's going to be better suited. Michigan will

(01:03:47):
be better suited playing When you play better competition in
the beginning of the season, it kind of gives you
an idea as to what kind of team you have.
And what kind of things you need to continue to
work on and developsolutely.

Speaker 1 (01:04:00):
I think that it is for me. It's really just
kind of all about how does Penn State. Where do
they go from here? If they can't get to the
top of the Big ten this year, They've never been
better suited they've got They're gonna have an angry defensive
coordinator when they play Ohio State, even though he's been
a big baby about the whole thing. As far as

(01:04:22):
I'm concerned, it's like, oh, you didn't renegotiate with me
in the middle of getting ready to win a national championship. Yeah,
there's just a lot of stuff going on, and I
don't think I think if they don't do it now,
when can they possibly do it? And I do expect
that Ohio State has to have some some just residual
fall off from losing that many guys. So, but if

(01:04:44):
Ohio State can replace those guys and if they can
stay healthy at their thin positions, they absolutely should be,
if not the best, and one of the best in
the conference and in the country.

Speaker 2 (01:04:55):
I agree, Yeah, o High State, without question, no matter
how the Texas game goes, Ohio State, you know, I
would fully anticipate Ohio State by the by the end
of November being you know, pretty much a lock to
make the Constable Playoff.

Speaker 1 (01:05:15):
Well, Texas must be good because they are number one
in the pre season eight peopole.

Speaker 2 (01:05:20):
It must be and they're in the SEC and I
forget let's not forget that.

Speaker 1 (01:05:25):
That's right, all right, che anything else we need to
discuss here on these the prediction show.

Speaker 2 (01:05:32):
No look forward to seeing Like I joked about it,
but it's true. It's like looking forward, looking forward to
seeing how the week zero games go, and then next thing,
you know, it's like, hey, we're in it, you know,
look looking forward to some kind of an announcement more
than likely I'm not saying definitively, but more than likely
about you know, the starting quarterback. Ryan Day kind of

(01:05:54):
hinted at that, but we'll have more to talk about
that next week.

Speaker 1 (01:05:58):
Yeah, it's amazing that we don't have a named starter,
but I guess it's not surprising. It's not the first
time this has happened.

Speaker 2 (01:06:06):
I will just simply say that I I feel some
level of vindication that, you know, anyone who thought that
Lincoln Keyholts was just going to go quietly into that
dark knight. I give it. You know, we talked about
that iron buck eye. Lincoln Keingholts looks like he's he's
had a steady diet of iron this offseason. He certainly

(01:06:26):
looks balked up.

Speaker 1 (01:06:28):
That's good because this is a guy who they didn't
trust to throw the ball against Missouri.

Speaker 2 (01:06:33):
Yeah, I mean that was that was I mean that
that was completely beyond his control.

Speaker 1 (01:06:39):
Yeah it was. It was. I just, uh, what a
what a comeback story if he ends up being the
starter and doing a great job. And also we'll see
where Julian's saying ends up next. I guess.

Speaker 2 (01:06:52):
Well, like I said, I think I think the message
is going to be no matter who's the starter, and
I for the record, I think it's going to be
Julians saying. I think the message is like, hey, don't
you know look at this as okay, like that you're
not needed because you are you know, you are truly
one play away. And I truly believe that Lincoln Keyolts

(01:07:16):
has done enough if he's not named the starter, to
warrant you know, being I even kind of wrote about it.
We'll talk about that here momentarily, about you know, making
sure that you know you stay ready because you know
more than history. If history is any indication, more than
likely a backup quarterback is going to be needed more

(01:07:37):
than than just for mop up duty, you know in
the blowouts.

Speaker 1 (01:07:41):
Yeah, at least there's usually at least one start a
year for the backup. And you know they should just
feed these quarterbacks a steady diet of Cardial Jones.

Speaker 2 (01:07:50):
Cardial Jones, got it, You got it.

Speaker 1 (01:07:53):
And Cardial wasn't the first choice, he wasn't the second choice,
but he was there when it mattered most because he
kept himself ready. You got it, And we have very
fond memories of his time doing that. All right, Chip,
that's going to do it for this episode, and you
and I are going to head into the season, and

(01:08:15):
next week we will have our first preview as we
get ready for number one Texas, and of course we
will check in on what's going on in the college
football world, and we will talk about the named starter
because I'm assuming we will have one by our next
show problem maybe even by the time this show drops.
So before we get out of here, just please remind

(01:08:38):
our listeners where they can find you and your work online.

Speaker 2 (01:08:41):
I can be found on Twitter at Chipmanik. Last name
is spelled m I N n I c H. I'm
a contributor at Buckeye Huddle dot com as well as
Saturday Glory dot com, which is more on kind of
overall college football and Big Ten focus. But you can
see ourals on either of those platforms.

Speaker 1 (01:09:03):
All right, you can find my work this year where
you've found it the last year. That's land Grant holy Land.
Go to Landgrant Holyland dot com. My columns drop on
Mondays and of course with games that means the return
of the grumpy old buck eye, mostly tongue in cheek
things that bugged me about the games. You know, sometimes

(01:09:27):
you just got to look at the dark clouds around
that silver lining.

Speaker 2 (01:09:31):
You got it.

Speaker 1 (01:09:32):
You can also follow me on Twitter at Mike thirty
six fan and a Blue Sky also at Mike thirty
six Fan, and I would love to have you there.
And also you can follow this podcast on Twitter at
silver Bullets Pod s I l v R no E
in silver because there's not enough, there's too many characters,
so s I l v R Bullets Pod. You can

(01:09:55):
also email us at silver Bulletspod at gmail dot com,
and we can use all the letters there so spell
it the correct way. Silver Bulletspod at gmail dot com.
Drop us a line, ask a question if you have one,
throw in your two cents on what you thought of
the games and that kind of thing. We'd love to
hear from you. So with that, the only thing left
for us to do is what we do at the

(01:10:15):
end of every episode and chip. That is to say,
go Bucks, Go Bucks.