December 9, 2025 • 20 mins
Jon Wilner of The San Jose Mercury News and Wilner Hotline joins Dick Fain and Hugh Millen to talk about a possible next coach for WSU, the NIL situation at UW, the College Football Playoff bracket, Notre Dame getting left out, and the L.A. Bowl vs. Boise State.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's time for our weekly PAC twelve conversation with San
Jose Mercury News reporter John Wilner, brought to you by
Simply Seattle. Our friends at simply Seattle dot com have
the most amazing collection of all things Seattle Seahawks gear.
UW had some of the largest selection of sonics gear
anywhere in the world. Learn more at simply Seattle dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Ah. Yes, a little bit later than usual, all we
gotta fit John's busy schedule. John's been very, very busy
busy this week. Tell us where we are, John, What
have you been doing this week?
Speaker 3 (00:33):
I am in Las Vegas this week attending a convention
or forum on intercollegiate athletics.
Speaker 4 (00:41):
It basically is all about the off the field stuff.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
The business side, the media side, nil legal, and there's
a lot of folks here that are deeply involved in
that aspect of it, and I come every year and
it's super informative.
Speaker 5 (00:56):
Very good.
Speaker 6 (00:57):
Well, let's just start where we ended the last set.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
You and I were talking about the Washington State Cougar's job.
Jimmy Rodgers abruptly leaves after eleven and a half months
as head coach of the of the Cougars, and uh,
you know Rick new Heiseel's names out there and and
Jerry new Eiel had you know, decent success as coordinator
at UCLA this year. What do you think about the
(01:22):
new Heidel's pulling a Dick and Tony Bennett Part two
run in Pullman.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
Yeah, I'm not sure.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
I mean, I can see why there'd be some appeal.
I just am I'm not sure that the president because
remember they don't have a permanent athletic director either. They
have an interimy D. They have no football coach, and
they have an intermay D. And they have a president
who's been on the job for about six months. So
it's very hard to predict how they're going to go
with their strategy. The we could maybe look into the
(01:54):
president's recent pass. She was just at Utah State where
she hired Blanco Mendon away from New Mexico. You know,
a veteran coach who's in the game right now, So
I would think she might try to do something like that.
Speaker 5 (02:11):
Yeah, tell us about what you may have learned at
the forum there in Vegas that interests you.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Well, I mean, there's so much stuff I will say.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
I actually I should say first.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
The first guests this morning at the morning Session, which
was discussing NIL were Washington Athletic Director Pat Shun and
Jonah Coleman, and they were up on the stage in
front of over one hundred people and from college sports
talking about NIL. Coleman talked about how he goes about
(02:48):
kind of managing his own brand when it comes to
NIL endeavors and being the first member of this family
to make it to college. And he is a finalist
tonight for the Hampbell Award, which is like the academic Heisman,
And to be honest with you, I don't know if
they have awarded it yet or not, but that's something
UB should be on the lookout for or Washington fans
(03:10):
because Coleman could win a very prestigious award tonight.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
What about Sun, obviously we're interested up in these parts
anything Pat Sun had to disclose that might be interesting
to Husky fans here.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Well, I mean he talked about there in Il and
dogs unleashed and how they decided to bring it in
house and how they have God, Washington has got this,
you know, incredibly. It's just a landscape that is set
up for Washington to succeed if it can execute. Because
right what these days with outside nil being so important,
(03:46):
having a thriving business community and being an important part
of the culture in the Puget Sound area for UDUB football,
that they feel like.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
Now that they've got everything kind of set up.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
That they have a lot of potential on the nil
front if they can maximize the community with Amazon and Microsoft,
Starbucks and all the Washington alums in Seattle.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Well, do you believe what he's selling, John, Because I've
always been more optimistic than I think you have on
that potential for you DUB to really challenge and be
one of the top quartile of teams in the Big Ten.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
Yeah, I mean to do that.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
If you think about the math, Washington, like all the
top teams in the Big Ten, basically spend at about
thirteen fourteen million dollars on their football roster on average,
maybe fifteen for Ohio State.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
But then you've got the over the cap.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Nil, the outside nil that comes from business opportunities, promotional
stuff like what Jonah Coleman is doing. You need at
least five million in the Big Ten to compete for
the title. Closer to ten million would be good because
you know or and Ohio State are ten million in
nil in addition to their fourteen million in rev share.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
I'm not sure.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
I've never been convinced that Washington could get all the
way up there to that high level. But you know,
if the Huskies can get to five million in nil,
I think they got the chance to put together a
roster that can compete for a title. But I kind
of want to see it. I don't I'm not going
to assume it's going to happen.
Speaker 5 (05:26):
Yeah, John Wilner with us. John, we haven't talked to
you since last week. This weekend, a lot of stuff
going on in the field on Saturday, a lot of
stuff of interest on Sunday with the selection. What was
your reaction to what you saw this weekend?
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Oh boy, I don't even know where to start. I mean,
I guess, first of all, I should come clean. I
thought Miami was going to get left out. I thought
what they were going to do is they were going
to drop Alabama one spot so that Alabama would be
between Notre Dame and Miami, so they didn't actually have
to get to the point of using the head to
head to get the Canes.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
In ahead of the Irish. I thought they were going.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
To kind of protect themselves from that by putting Alabama
in between. They kept them and where they were, so
the head to Notre Dame in Miami were next to
each other, which meant the head to head came into play.
Miami got the spot. I certainly thought Notre Dame's reaction
was completely uncalled for. The weekly ranking show is the problem.
(06:26):
It is a huge problem for the college football playoffs.
But Notre Dame, I mean, not going to a bowl
game is just quitting and sends a terrible message that
comments by their athletics director I thought were completely.
Speaker 6 (06:38):
Out of line.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
They have handled it very, very poorly. After twelve years
of the college Football Playoff bending over backwards to pacify
Notre Dame and to give Notre Dame great access, now
they're acting like spoiled children.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Yeah, you're exactly right, and I think your thoughts are
shared by a vast majority of the country that does
not bleed Kelly Green, that is for sure. But I was, Yeah,
I didn't understand why Bavaqua the ad he goes on
Dan Patrick today and he starts taking shots at the
ACC is like all the ACC didn't advocate for us. Well,
(07:16):
wait a second, did did you did you turn down
invitations from these conferences or these conferences not letting you in.
Speaker 6 (07:25):
I think we all know the answer to that question.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
So why should the ACC advocate for an independent football school.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
They shouldn't. I mean, Notre Dame wants its.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Cake and is eating it too, and it wants your
cake and everybody's cake. Really, they are claiming that because
they are a member of the ACC in twenty four
sports or whatever it is, that the ACC should not
have taken Miami's side.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
Right.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
The ACC did a bunch of messaging last week in
favor of Miami, and Notre Dame was put off by that.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
But too bad. They're not a member of the ACC football.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
The ACC has no obligation whatsoever to advocate for Notre
Dame in football when Notre Dame has said.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
No, we're not joining. And the thing is, if Notre Dame.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
A lot of people say, oh, well, they could go
to the Big ten and get you know, say go
by the ACC. But here's the thing. Notre Dame wants
to partner with the ACC because of the wins.
Speaker 4 (08:21):
The AEC is not very good.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
They go to the Big ten or they partner with
the SEC they're going to start, they're going to the
losses are going to pile up, and so they have
strategically picked the ACC because the schedule is softer and
it makes it an easier path to get to ten
and two. This year they got burned because the AEC
was so bad that their strength of schedule was terrible
(08:45):
and that kept them out.
Speaker 5 (08:47):
So there really was the three teams vine for two spots, Alabama, Miami,
Notre Dame. In John Wilner's Ideal World, had you been
asked to submit in order those three teams, who's most first, second,
and third among those three John.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
In terms of well they did. Technically it looked like
three for two, but based on the fact that they
didn't move Alabama, it was almost just two for one spot.
So I thought I would have put Alabama in because
I didn't think you should pull Alabama out for losing
to a team that they had already beaten on the road.
Speaker 4 (09:30):
That was the difference.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Everybody pointed to the fact that you know, by you
lost the Texas tex and dropped, but by you lost
the Texas Sex twice in blowouts. Alabama beat Georgia at Georgia,
so to then turn around and punish them for losing
to Georgia. I didn't think that they had any business
keeping Alabama out. The interesting thing is, if you're asking
(09:53):
me which of those three teams do I think that
has the best chance to win the national title, it
will be Notre Dame.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
In fact, if Notre Dame were.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
In the playoff, I would think hard about picking Notre
Dame to win the whole thing. And if you, if
you like, asked an oddsmaker who would be favored Notre
Dame versus all the twelve playoff teams, I would bet
you that the Irish would be favored against everybody except
Ohio State.
Speaker 6 (10:16):
Really, they'd be favored Georgia.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
Yeah, I do. I do.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
I think that they they they are like all eye
tests and and but that they look good and the
odds I think the odds makers would maybe it'd be
a pick them against Indiana, but I bet you they'd
be favored against Georgia absolutely well.
Speaker 6 (10:36):
Jeremiah Love is explosive. I want that guy in the.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Same Their offense is awesome, their defense has gotten better.
But so who deserved to get in? I would say
it would be Miami and Alabama I just didn't think
the committee would do it after all those weeks of
saying Miami's behind Notre Dame. And that's again, that's the problem.
They box themselves in because they've got to do those
five shows for ESPN a lot.
Speaker 6 (11:00):
As we're talking about Notre Dame. I got one more
on the Irish.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Should USC just smoke the Irish out and just seriously,
container consider taking Notre Dame off their schedule because now
with a weak ACC that Notre Dame plays a bunch
of teams in and then they sprinkle in some crap
teams from other conferences, you take USC out, I mean,
they just won't have the strength of schedule to even
I mean they would have to go. They would have
(11:24):
to be a one lost team to make the playoffs
with the type of schedule if you did, if they
didn't play USC.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
The thing is, that game is worth a lot of
money to the Big Ten, and it's worth a lot
to USC, and USC fans care a ton about that game,
and they are up in arms over the fact that
I'll make it canceled. The issue is, and I think
USC's got a point. They don't like having to go
to South Bend. Every other year in the middle of October.
That is a competitive disadvantage versus everybody else in the
(11:52):
Big Ten that doesn't have to do that. SC wants
to move the game to the early weeks of the
season and play it as a typical non conference game.
The problem is Notre Dame has already booked up with
a whole bunch of showdowns the first couple of weeks.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
They don't want to add.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
USC to it because they're worried they're going to be
zero to two or zero to three if they've also
got to play the Trojans plus Alabama or the Trojans
plus you know whoever.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
That's the problem.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
Not want to play it early, and USC doesn't want
to play it in the middle of the season.
Speaker 5 (12:24):
John Wilner with us and John, I've got a clear
and strong take on the James Madison slash Twulane slash
Group of five, our participation in this tournament. I expressed
you yesterday, I want to know your I want to
know your take.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Well, my take is the only reason there's two of
them in is because the ACC sucked.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
I mean, that's the bottom line.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
James Madison would not be and everybody wants to blame
the Group of five. James Madison would not be in
the playoffs if the ACC hadn't produced a champion. There
was eight and five, right. The problem is that Duke
won the ACC with five losses, including a loss to
Yukon and a loss to two Lane. So that's the
issue and the ACC. One level deeper is the ACC's
(13:13):
tiebreaker was terrible. Right, Duke should never have been allowed.
Speaker 4 (13:17):
To get into the championship game and play for it.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
They didn't have any wins against the teams they were
tied with, and yet they still advance into the tie breaker.
Speaker 5 (13:27):
Well, my strongest take on this it has to do
with how the powerfo schools and those who advocate for
power for football, they need to be aware of the
legal ramifications of trying to exclude the Group of five.
You land an anti trust court. I'm not going to
get into all the details, but you know it. You
(13:49):
studied it like you want to leave well enough alone.
The NCAA made a big mistake with Austin and how
that impacted the entire landscape. You don't want to be
in court with a group of five schools talking about
how they've been damaged and so leave well enough alone,
give them their two spots and just think of it
as a ten team power forour tournament, and the other
(14:12):
two just are therefore to cover your ass legally. That's
the crux of my take. What's your take and your response, well.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Yeah, absolutely, If they try to box out the group
of five, there'll be a lawsuit in about three seconds.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
And that's the reason.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
That it structured the way it is. Right, it's the
five highest rank conference champions.
Speaker 4 (14:34):
There is nothing.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
Specific to power four or group of five. It's just
the five highest rank conference champs, which means the four
Power four and room for one of the group of five.
Otherwise they're going to get sued. And there's no doubt
about it. I mean, it's a non starter. And if
they go to sixteen, the group of five is going
to have access. If they go to twenty four, the
group of five is going to have access. There's no
(14:57):
way they cannot do it without ending up in court.
Speaker 6 (15:00):
Then how do we get to a super conference?
Speaker 4 (15:01):
Then to a super conference?
Speaker 3 (15:05):
Yes, I mean, well that would be a totally different deal.
It would be probably funded by private equity and it
would not be subject to the same legal constraints that
we have right now.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
If they want to be part of it, they wouldn't
be part of the FBS, wouldn't be part of the NCAA.
Speaker 6 (15:24):
They would just be.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Talking no, no, they the super Conference would be you know,
thirty two forty eight teams and if they're if they're
not part of that that structure, then they wouldn't have
a claim on getting into the playoff for that structure.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Gotcha?
Speaker 5 (15:41):
So what intrigues you the most about the term? Is
there a team that you think, okay, you you already
mentioned Notre Dame, Well they're not in it other than shock,
tell us some some upsets that you would see if
you were filling out a bracket kind of like an
NCAA tournament bracket. Who would you like that maybeeople aren't
talking about. Is there's somebody in there that's gonna make
(16:02):
a run that we're not seeing?
Speaker 3 (16:05):
Well, I guess it depends on how far down you
want to go on the seeds. I mean, the first
thing that structure that stuck out to me was as
soon as Ohio State lost to Indiana, you knew it
was going to be Ohio State Georgia paired together as
the two three, and that is the side of the
bracket to avoid because you don't want to have to
play one of those teams in the quarters and then
one of those teams in the semis. Because as good
(16:26):
as Indiana is, I think Georgia and Ohio State are
the most talented teams. I actually does this five seed
count as like a sleep burgon because Oregon, Oregon has
got the best spot. The five seed is the best
spot in this entire tournament, regardless of the team itself.
Oregon gets to play at home, it gets to twelve,
they advance and they play Texas Tech. Texas Tech's going
(16:48):
to be have been off for a month, Oregon's gonna
have been had ten days a rest. It's a neutral site.
I think it's perfect for the Ducks to get into
the semis, and then they got to rematch against Indiana.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
But the five every year.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
In the way, this is the format of the twelve
team playoff, the five seed is the seed to get.
Speaker 4 (17:10):
Well.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
John on December ninth, twenty twenty six, we hope we
have you on and we're talking about the Huskies and
the college football playoffs. But right now it's twenty twenty five,
and we're talking about a preview with the LA.
Speaker 6 (17:21):
Bowl and Boise State.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
So how much, if at all, have you seen Boise
State this week?
Speaker 6 (17:29):
And what do you think about the you know, Husky.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Team that seems motivated, they're not nobody's scratching from this game.
Jed's got them all on the right track headed down.
Speaker 6 (17:37):
To LA.
Speaker 4 (17:40):
Yeah. I mean, it's just alle to me so quickly.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
Right, We're just we're still kind of engulfed in the
furor of the CFP decisions.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
And the Huskies are playing them what like four to eight.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
It's nuts.
Speaker 4 (17:53):
It's nuts. Look.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
I have watched Poise a bunch, and the big thing
is that their quarterback healthy Madox Matts, and they're totally
different team with him.
Speaker 4 (18:03):
They lost that slopfest to.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
San Diego State when he was hurt. They're much better
team than they were early when they got beat badly
by South Florida. But they're also a totally different team
because there's no astroon genty right, so they're a better
balanced on offense. They're just very well coached. They're very solid.
Speaker 4 (18:23):
You know. I would say if we see.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
The home version of you dub, the Husky should win
the game. If we see the road version of you
dub that we've seen so many times in the last
two years, I think Boys State will win well.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
The question is as Boys to stay closer to Michigan,
Ohio State and Oregon, or are they closer to Purdue
Wazoo Illinois. I mean, that's that's the question. I mean,
it's not necessarily home and road too that's played.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
Well.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
I think that they are probably in the middle. I mean,
I don't you know, yeah, middle of that. They're certainly
not nearly as good as the top teams Washington's played,
but they're also way better than Purdue. And the thing
is they will be motivated because for the Mountain West
champ the La bul is a big deal because they
always want to beat the Pac twelve team. And even
(19:16):
though Washington is now in the Big ten, it's still
the same. You know, in their eyes, it's beaten, you know,
a bigger, richer school type thing.
Speaker 5 (19:25):
John, Yes or no, it's news in Seattle. If Jedfish
talked to had interest sought the Florida job, to your knowledge,
did that happen.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
I don't know for sure that he talked to them.
Do I think that he wanted to wanted to be
on their list. Yeah, I do for sure, but I
don't honestly know whether there were conversations there.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
It was before it was very public.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
About wanting Lane Kiffin, and once they weren't, they didn't
get Kiffin. I don't know where Fish fell of them.
My guess is he was third or four choice.
Speaker 6 (20:03):
Okay, John, great stuff. We appreciate him, man.
Speaker 4 (20:06):
Thanks, thanks guys.
Speaker 6 (20:08):
Connect you and thank you.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Hugh. We're going to let you go because of my
interview with the Husky defensive coordinator Ryan Walters comes up
next right here on ninety three point three kJ R
FM
It's time for our weekly PAC twelve conversation with San
Jose Mercury News reporter John Wilner, brought to you by
Simply Seattle. Our friends at simply Seattle dot com have
the most amazing collection of all things Seattle Seahawks gear.
UW had some of the largest selection of sonics gear
anywhere in the world. Learn more at simply Seattle dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Ah. Yes, a little bit later than usual, all we
gotta fit John's busy schedule. John's been very, very busy
busy this week. Tell us where we are, John, What
have you been doing this week?
Speaker 3 (00:33):
I am in Las Vegas this week attending a convention
or forum on intercollegiate athletics.
Speaker 4 (00:41):
It basically is all about the off the field stuff.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
The business side, the media side, nil legal, and there's
a lot of folks here that are deeply involved in
that aspect of it, and I come every year and
it's super informative.
Speaker 5 (00:56):
Very good.
Speaker 6 (00:57):
Well, let's just start where we ended the last set.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
You and I were talking about the Washington State Cougar's job.
Jimmy Rodgers abruptly leaves after eleven and a half months
as head coach of the of the Cougars, and uh,
you know Rick new Heiseel's names out there and and
Jerry new Eiel had you know, decent success as coordinator
at UCLA this year. What do you think about the
(01:22):
new Heidel's pulling a Dick and Tony Bennett Part two
run in Pullman.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
Yeah, I'm not sure.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
I mean, I can see why there'd be some appeal.
I just am I'm not sure that the president because
remember they don't have a permanent athletic director either. They
have an interimy D. They have no football coach, and
they have an intermay D. And they have a president
who's been on the job for about six months. So
it's very hard to predict how they're going to go
with their strategy. The we could maybe look into the
(01:54):
president's recent pass. She was just at Utah State where
she hired Blanco Mendon away from New Mexico. You know,
a veteran coach who's in the game right now, So
I would think she might try to do something like that.
Speaker 5 (02:11):
Yeah, tell us about what you may have learned at
the forum there in Vegas that interests you.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Well, I mean, there's so much stuff I will say.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
I actually I should say first.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
The first guests this morning at the morning Session, which
was discussing NIL were Washington Athletic Director Pat Shun and
Jonah Coleman, and they were up on the stage in
front of over one hundred people and from college sports
talking about NIL. Coleman talked about how he goes about
(02:48):
kind of managing his own brand when it comes to
NIL endeavors and being the first member of this family
to make it to college. And he is a finalist
tonight for the Hampbell Award, which is like the academic Heisman,
And to be honest with you, I don't know if
they have awarded it yet or not, but that's something
UB should be on the lookout for or Washington fans
(03:10):
because Coleman could win a very prestigious award tonight.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
What about Sun, obviously we're interested up in these parts
anything Pat Sun had to disclose that might be interesting
to Husky fans here.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Well, I mean he talked about there in Il and
dogs unleashed and how they decided to bring it in
house and how they have God, Washington has got this,
you know, incredibly. It's just a landscape that is set
up for Washington to succeed if it can execute. Because
right what these days with outside nil being so important,
(03:46):
having a thriving business community and being an important part
of the culture in the Puget Sound area for UDUB football,
that they feel like.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
Now that they've got everything kind of set up.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
That they have a lot of potential on the nil
front if they can maximize the community with Amazon and Microsoft,
Starbucks and all the Washington alums in Seattle.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Well, do you believe what he's selling, John, Because I've
always been more optimistic than I think you have on
that potential for you DUB to really challenge and be
one of the top quartile of teams in the Big Ten.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
Yeah, I mean to do that.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
If you think about the math, Washington, like all the
top teams in the Big Ten, basically spend at about
thirteen fourteen million dollars on their football roster on average,
maybe fifteen for Ohio State.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
But then you've got the over the cap.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Nil, the outside nil that comes from business opportunities, promotional
stuff like what Jonah Coleman is doing. You need at
least five million in the Big Ten to compete for
the title. Closer to ten million would be good because
you know or and Ohio State are ten million in
nil in addition to their fourteen million in rev share.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
I'm not sure.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
I've never been convinced that Washington could get all the
way up there to that high level. But you know,
if the Huskies can get to five million in nil,
I think they got the chance to put together a
roster that can compete for a title. But I kind
of want to see it. I don't I'm not going
to assume it's going to happen.
Speaker 5 (05:26):
Yeah, John Wilner with us. John, we haven't talked to
you since last week. This weekend, a lot of stuff
going on in the field on Saturday, a lot of
stuff of interest on Sunday with the selection. What was
your reaction to what you saw this weekend?
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Oh boy, I don't even know where to start. I mean,
I guess, first of all, I should come clean. I
thought Miami was going to get left out. I thought
what they were going to do is they were going
to drop Alabama one spot so that Alabama would be
between Notre Dame and Miami, so they didn't actually have
to get to the point of using the head to
head to get the Canes.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
In ahead of the Irish. I thought they were going.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
To kind of protect themselves from that by putting Alabama
in between. They kept them and where they were, so
the head to Notre Dame in Miami were next to
each other, which meant the head to head came into play.
Miami got the spot. I certainly thought Notre Dame's reaction
was completely uncalled for. The weekly ranking show is the problem.
(06:26):
It is a huge problem for the college football playoffs.
But Notre Dame, I mean, not going to a bowl
game is just quitting and sends a terrible message that
comments by their athletics director I thought were completely.
Speaker 6 (06:38):
Out of line.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
They have handled it very, very poorly. After twelve years
of the college Football Playoff bending over backwards to pacify
Notre Dame and to give Notre Dame great access, now
they're acting like spoiled children.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Yeah, you're exactly right, and I think your thoughts are
shared by a vast majority of the country that does
not bleed Kelly Green, that is for sure. But I was, Yeah,
I didn't understand why Bavaqua the ad he goes on
Dan Patrick today and he starts taking shots at the
ACC is like all the ACC didn't advocate for us. Well,
(07:16):
wait a second, did did you did you turn down
invitations from these conferences or these conferences not letting you in.
Speaker 6 (07:25):
I think we all know the answer to that question.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
So why should the ACC advocate for an independent football school.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
They shouldn't. I mean, Notre Dame wants its.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Cake and is eating it too, and it wants your
cake and everybody's cake. Really, they are claiming that because
they are a member of the ACC in twenty four
sports or whatever it is, that the ACC should not
have taken Miami's side.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
Right.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
The ACC did a bunch of messaging last week in
favor of Miami, and Notre Dame was put off by that.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
But too bad. They're not a member of the ACC football.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
The ACC has no obligation whatsoever to advocate for Notre
Dame in football when Notre Dame has said.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
No, we're not joining. And the thing is, if Notre Dame.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
A lot of people say, oh, well, they could go
to the Big ten and get you know, say go
by the ACC. But here's the thing. Notre Dame wants
to partner with the ACC because of the wins.
Speaker 4 (08:21):
The AEC is not very good.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
They go to the Big ten or they partner with
the SEC they're going to start, they're going to the
losses are going to pile up, and so they have
strategically picked the ACC because the schedule is softer and
it makes it an easier path to get to ten
and two. This year they got burned because the AEC
was so bad that their strength of schedule was terrible
(08:45):
and that kept them out.
Speaker 5 (08:47):
So there really was the three teams vine for two spots, Alabama, Miami,
Notre Dame. In John Wilner's Ideal World, had you been
asked to submit in order those three teams, who's most first, second,
and third among those three John.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
In terms of well they did. Technically it looked like
three for two, but based on the fact that they
didn't move Alabama, it was almost just two for one spot.
So I thought I would have put Alabama in because
I didn't think you should pull Alabama out for losing
to a team that they had already beaten on the road.
Speaker 4 (09:30):
That was the difference.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Everybody pointed to the fact that you know, by you
lost the Texas tex and dropped, but by you lost
the Texas Sex twice in blowouts. Alabama beat Georgia at Georgia,
so to then turn around and punish them for losing
to Georgia. I didn't think that they had any business
keeping Alabama out. The interesting thing is, if you're asking
(09:53):
me which of those three teams do I think that
has the best chance to win the national title, it
will be Notre Dame.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
In fact, if Notre Dame were.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
In the playoff, I would think hard about picking Notre
Dame to win the whole thing. And if you, if
you like, asked an oddsmaker who would be favored Notre
Dame versus all the twelve playoff teams, I would bet
you that the Irish would be favored against everybody except
Ohio State.
Speaker 6 (10:16):
Really, they'd be favored Georgia.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
Yeah, I do. I do.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
I think that they they they are like all eye
tests and and but that they look good and the
odds I think the odds makers would maybe it'd be
a pick them against Indiana, but I bet you they'd
be favored against Georgia absolutely well.
Speaker 6 (10:36):
Jeremiah Love is explosive. I want that guy in the.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Same Their offense is awesome, their defense has gotten better.
But so who deserved to get in? I would say
it would be Miami and Alabama I just didn't think
the committee would do it after all those weeks of
saying Miami's behind Notre Dame. And that's again, that's the problem.
They box themselves in because they've got to do those
five shows for ESPN a lot.
Speaker 6 (11:00):
As we're talking about Notre Dame. I got one more
on the Irish.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Should USC just smoke the Irish out and just seriously,
container consider taking Notre Dame off their schedule because now
with a weak ACC that Notre Dame plays a bunch
of teams in and then they sprinkle in some crap
teams from other conferences, you take USC out, I mean,
they just won't have the strength of schedule to even
I mean they would have to go. They would have
(11:24):
to be a one lost team to make the playoffs
with the type of schedule if you did, if they
didn't play USC.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
The thing is, that game is worth a lot of
money to the Big Ten, and it's worth a lot
to USC, and USC fans care a ton about that game,
and they are up in arms over the fact that
I'll make it canceled. The issue is, and I think
USC's got a point. They don't like having to go
to South Bend. Every other year in the middle of October.
That is a competitive disadvantage versus everybody else in the
(11:52):
Big Ten that doesn't have to do that. SC wants
to move the game to the early weeks of the
season and play it as a typical non conference game.
The problem is Notre Dame has already booked up with
a whole bunch of showdowns the first couple of weeks.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
They don't want to add.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
USC to it because they're worried they're going to be
zero to two or zero to three if they've also
got to play the Trojans plus Alabama or the Trojans
plus you know whoever.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
That's the problem.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
Not want to play it early, and USC doesn't want
to play it in the middle of the season.
Speaker 5 (12:24):
John Wilner with us and John, I've got a clear
and strong take on the James Madison slash Twulane slash
Group of five, our participation in this tournament. I expressed
you yesterday, I want to know your I want to
know your take.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Well, my take is the only reason there's two of
them in is because the ACC sucked.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
I mean, that's the bottom line.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
James Madison would not be and everybody wants to blame
the Group of five. James Madison would not be in
the playoffs if the ACC hadn't produced a champion. There
was eight and five, right. The problem is that Duke
won the ACC with five losses, including a loss to
Yukon and a loss to two Lane. So that's the
issue and the ACC. One level deeper is the ACC's
(13:13):
tiebreaker was terrible. Right, Duke should never have been allowed.
Speaker 4 (13:17):
To get into the championship game and play for it.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
They didn't have any wins against the teams they were
tied with, and yet they still advance into the tie breaker.
Speaker 5 (13:27):
Well, my strongest take on this it has to do
with how the powerfo schools and those who advocate for
power for football, they need to be aware of the
legal ramifications of trying to exclude the Group of five.
You land an anti trust court. I'm not going to
get into all the details, but you know it. You
(13:49):
studied it like you want to leave well enough alone.
The NCAA made a big mistake with Austin and how
that impacted the entire landscape. You don't want to be
in court with a group of five schools talking about
how they've been damaged and so leave well enough alone,
give them their two spots and just think of it
as a ten team power forour tournament, and the other
(14:12):
two just are therefore to cover your ass legally. That's
the crux of my take. What's your take and your response, well.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Yeah, absolutely, If they try to box out the group
of five, there'll be a lawsuit in about three seconds.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
And that's the reason.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
That it structured the way it is. Right, it's the
five highest rank conference champions.
Speaker 4 (14:34):
There is nothing.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
Specific to power four or group of five. It's just
the five highest rank conference champs, which means the four
Power four and room for one of the group of five.
Otherwise they're going to get sued. And there's no doubt
about it. I mean, it's a non starter. And if
they go to sixteen, the group of five is going
to have access. If they go to twenty four, the
group of five is going to have access. There's no
(14:57):
way they cannot do it without ending up in court.
Speaker 6 (15:00):
Then how do we get to a super conference?
Speaker 4 (15:01):
Then to a super conference?
Speaker 3 (15:05):
Yes, I mean, well that would be a totally different deal.
It would be probably funded by private equity and it
would not be subject to the same legal constraints that
we have right now.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
If they want to be part of it, they wouldn't
be part of the FBS, wouldn't be part of the NCAA.
Speaker 6 (15:24):
They would just be.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Talking no, no, they the super Conference would be you know,
thirty two forty eight teams and if they're if they're
not part of that that structure, then they wouldn't have
a claim on getting into the playoff for that structure.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Gotcha?
Speaker 5 (15:41):
So what intrigues you the most about the term? Is
there a team that you think, okay, you you already
mentioned Notre Dame, Well they're not in it other than shock,
tell us some some upsets that you would see if
you were filling out a bracket kind of like an
NCAA tournament bracket. Who would you like that maybeeople aren't
talking about. Is there's somebody in there that's gonna make
(16:02):
a run that we're not seeing?
Speaker 3 (16:05):
Well, I guess it depends on how far down you
want to go on the seeds. I mean, the first
thing that structure that stuck out to me was as
soon as Ohio State lost to Indiana, you knew it
was going to be Ohio State Georgia paired together as
the two three, and that is the side of the
bracket to avoid because you don't want to have to
play one of those teams in the quarters and then
one of those teams in the semis. Because as good
(16:26):
as Indiana is, I think Georgia and Ohio State are
the most talented teams. I actually does this five seed
count as like a sleep burgon because Oregon, Oregon has
got the best spot. The five seed is the best
spot in this entire tournament, regardless of the team itself.
Oregon gets to play at home, it gets to twelve,
they advance and they play Texas Tech. Texas Tech's going
(16:48):
to be have been off for a month, Oregon's gonna
have been had ten days a rest. It's a neutral site.
I think it's perfect for the Ducks to get into
the semis, and then they got to rematch against Indiana.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
But the five every year.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
In the way, this is the format of the twelve
team playoff, the five seed is the seed to get.
Speaker 4 (17:10):
Well.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
John on December ninth, twenty twenty six, we hope we
have you on and we're talking about the Huskies and
the college football playoffs. But right now it's twenty twenty five,
and we're talking about a preview with the LA.
Speaker 6 (17:21):
Bowl and Boise State.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
So how much, if at all, have you seen Boise
State this week?
Speaker 6 (17:29):
And what do you think about the you know, Husky.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Team that seems motivated, they're not nobody's scratching from this game.
Jed's got them all on the right track headed down.
Speaker 6 (17:37):
To LA.
Speaker 4 (17:40):
Yeah. I mean, it's just alle to me so quickly.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
Right, We're just we're still kind of engulfed in the
furor of the CFP decisions.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
And the Huskies are playing them what like four to eight.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
It's nuts.
Speaker 4 (17:53):
It's nuts. Look.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
I have watched Poise a bunch, and the big thing
is that their quarterback healthy Madox Matts, and they're totally
different team with him.
Speaker 4 (18:03):
They lost that slopfest to.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
San Diego State when he was hurt. They're much better
team than they were early when they got beat badly
by South Florida. But they're also a totally different team
because there's no astroon genty right, so they're a better
balanced on offense. They're just very well coached. They're very solid.
Speaker 4 (18:23):
You know. I would say if we see.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
The home version of you dub, the Husky should win
the game. If we see the road version of you
dub that we've seen so many times in the last
two years, I think Boys State will win well.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
The question is as Boys to stay closer to Michigan,
Ohio State and Oregon, or are they closer to Purdue
Wazoo Illinois. I mean, that's that's the question. I mean,
it's not necessarily home and road too that's played.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
Well.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
I think that they are probably in the middle. I mean,
I don't you know, yeah, middle of that. They're certainly
not nearly as good as the top teams Washington's played,
but they're also way better than Purdue. And the thing
is they will be motivated because for the Mountain West
champ the La bul is a big deal because they
always want to beat the Pac twelve team. And even
(19:16):
though Washington is now in the Big ten, it's still
the same. You know, in their eyes, it's beaten, you know,
a bigger, richer school type thing.
Speaker 5 (19:25):
John, Yes or no, it's news in Seattle. If Jedfish
talked to had interest sought the Florida job, to your knowledge,
did that happen.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
I don't know for sure that he talked to them.
Do I think that he wanted to wanted to be
on their list. Yeah, I do for sure, but I
don't honestly know whether there were conversations there.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
It was before it was very public.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
About wanting Lane Kiffin, and once they weren't, they didn't
get Kiffin. I don't know where Fish fell of them.
My guess is he was third or four choice.
Speaker 6 (20:03):
Okay, John, great stuff. We appreciate him, man.
Speaker 4 (20:06):
Thanks, thanks guys.
Speaker 6 (20:08):
Connect you and thank you.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Hugh. We're going to let you go because of my
interview with the Husky defensive coordinator Ryan Walters comes up
next right here on ninety three point three kJ R
FM
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