August 2, 2020 • 48 mins
Mike Blewitt is joined by Joe Lisi for this episode of Football Full Circle! The guys discuss the recent schedule changes to the college football season. They also take a look at some of the players who have decided to opt-out of the 2020 season. How will the SEC schedule look this year? Will Notre Dame be successful in the ACC? Mike and Joe breakdown some of the primetime matchups in college football this year.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Sports grid dot Com Betting insights and entertainment at your
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and more. Want the edge than get on the grid
sports grid dot Com. Hey everybody, welcome to Football Full
(00:21):
Circle of the College edition. Myself to Joe Leasy. We'll
take you around the world of college football and all
the updates that are necessary from this week. Uh well,
there's no real odds changes yet. I think we're going
to get to a point finally soon Joe. Where as
we get to the news this hour and things starts
getting settled as far as scheduling is concerned, we can
(00:44):
see some more odds potentially start to be released, but
we've been in a holding pattern on that for a
long time. We have Mike, But we have some light
at the end of the tunnel. We have more clarity
about which conferences will play conference only games, which will
play none out of con games, the A, C, C,
and SEC, respectively. So we're starting two inch closer to
(01:05):
the start of the college football season, and as a
college football fan and analyst, that's what we look for Yeah,
I agreed, and I think on this show we've tried
to be as pragmatic as possible. We will discuss the
SECS finally confirmed plans, as well as the a c CS.
I'm surprised they're not identical, to be honest, but we'll
get into that in subsequent segments. What I wanted to
(01:27):
spend a few minutes on this segment is something that
has to be noted for any college football fan. We've
seen a couple of dozen players opt out in the NFL,
with potentially more to come, and now we see the
first at least high profile opt out in college football,
as evidenced by this tweet here by Adam Schefter. Virginia
(01:47):
Tech cornerback Caleb Farley, a projected first round pick, is
the first college player to opt out of the coming season.
A source tells ESPN. Farley will spend the year training
from the NFL draft. He's seen NFL players opt out
as uncomfort with playing this year, so thoughts, well, we
expected it, right and when they when they did the
survey for the college football season, they surveyed around seventy
(02:09):
five athletes, about eighty seven to nine percent said that
they would move forward with the college football season, you know,
and take those risks. But ten percent said no, and
now we see the residual effects of that. Caleb Farley
opting out. I have no problem with it. Obviously, his
health is his number one concern. He wants to train
for the NFL Draft. He'll be a legitimate first round selection.
(02:33):
It's part of it. It's part of the risk reward
type of situation. If Virginia Tech, in my opinion, then
the elite team out of the coastal uh and would
have a great chance to knock off possibly Clemson this
year as a legitimate top ten, top twenty five team
this year. But without him playing, What can you say?
I mean, it's just part of what we're seeing in
(02:54):
the landscape of college football. And do others follow I
still think though that like of the athletes will return
to campus for their respective teams this season. Yeah, Look,
we have walk ons, we have scholarship players. He called
it a hundred players per team, even though it's uh
and we're just doing round math. Even though you and
I both know there's a bigger schools. There's even more
(03:16):
walk on than that. You can have as many as
a hundred and ten hundred and fifteen players all said
and done, So you're talking ten of that hundred. That's
ten players out times a hundred and thirty teams. You know,
starts to add up, that's thirteen hundred guys that could
conceivably opt out. For doing simple math like that, Do
I think the number will be that high? Probably not.
(03:38):
I think it probably comes in under. But as you
start to do the multiplication on it, it can still
be several hundred players that opt out because they don't
feel comfortable. Now, I will say that there's a difference
here in college football as opposed to the pros, where
everybody's getting paid and everybody's going after money. In college,
this is the subset of player that I would expect
(03:59):
would opt out. I'm a first round draft pick. I
don't know what's going to happen. I don't want to
put myself at risk. Are we gonna win the national Championship?
Probably not. I'm a first round pick. In fact, according
to Pro Football Focus, Caleb Farley was the number one
cornerback in the NFL draft. So give me your thoughts
about him as a player. Now. He's a physical, blue
(04:21):
collar kid. He can play man to man coverage. He's
physical and run support and really stepped up for the Hokeys.
I think when you look at the risk reward, he's
saying to himself, if I get hurt this year without
fall camp, let's say, starting on time, I run the
risk of losing millions of dollars. And that's really what
it comes down to, on top of the COVID situation.
(04:42):
So I think it's both type of situations melded together.
The fact that we have a pandemic crisis taking place
across the United States in the world right now, and
then I want to say, the lack of preparation from
just the n C Double A and the conferences as
a whole. We still talked about at the start of
the show. They're not all on the same page. So
(05:03):
obviously Virginia Tech might have a different process and procedure
than maybe Clemson does, and maybe he saw that and
wanted to opt out because in his best interest he
needs to get to the NFL and needs to be
a first round selection. So again I don't have a
problem with it. He's a definite first round selection and
one of the best players on that defense, and hopefully
(05:25):
we wish him well and see and where he gets
drafted in late May. And I think he made a
good point about it, not just not it's not just
isolating the COVID situation and how it could impact him.
It is the stop and start nature of this. There
has been far less practice. We don't know exactly how
many practices they'll be able to get in full padded
(05:47):
practices and everything else regarding conditioning in Major League Baseball.
We're at one weekend in we lost Corey Kluber, Clayton Kershaw,
and Justin Verlander, two of them for long term, for
perhaps the entire season. Kershaw is still a question mark.
Was that due to the stop start nature of the season.
Will never know, but it's something that people are going
(06:08):
to consider, people like Caleb Farley will consider. Will there
be other high profile opt outs. I'm sure there will be,
and we'll keep you informed here on Football Full Circle.
Thank you to the radio audience for listening in on
this segment, and we will continue to to push through
to the other topics. We're gonna talk SEC next and
exactly what they've decided to do with their schedule. Will
(06:31):
talk a CEC after that, but as it stands right now.
Caleb Farley really the first high profile player to opt out. Joe. Yeah,
and again you you brought up great points by I
think you know when you look at the situation, just
full circle Football full Circle, you have to say that
his health is his number one concern heading to one. Uh,
(06:53):
you know, for for the sake of being entertained by
college football. If we want the best players out there playing,
it won't happen in Caleb Barley's case. Again, We'll keep
it locked, keep it locked here, We'll keep you updated,
so we'll come back. We'll talk sec. What have they
decided to do with your schedule for the season. It's
Mike and Joe. Football full Circle will be right back
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(07:50):
Football full Circle along with Joe Leasy. Find him on
Twitter at Go for the two. He's a host of
College Football Today. Right here on the grid. I'm at
Mike Blewett, um if you free to follow me on
Twitter at Mike Blewett and uh follow us all on
Twitter at sports Grade, on Instagram at sports Gride TV.
So big news, slightly surprising news, Joe, and that the
(08:13):
SEC has decided to adopt a conference only schedule and
they will not get started until September. This comes on
the heels of the A c C, which we will
actually discuss in the next segment. But the SEC adopts
the conference only schedule with a late start, so it
(08:33):
eliminates a lot of games that we're looking forward to,
but they will keep in place the two seven team
divisions heading towards an SEC title game on December nineteenth,
obviously later that normal due to the late start, but
league teams will play two more opponents from their opposite division. Normally,
(08:55):
the SEC schedule would include six inner division teams, so
you play your division and then one against a permanent
team from the division, once against a rotating team from
the opposite division. So you just add two more from
the opposite division and there we go. You have your
ten games. So what's your biggest surprise of all of this?
When the news broke late Thursday afternoon, Mike of the
(09:17):
SEC canceling all out of conference games. I almost fell
off my chair. I had to do with double take,
because out of all the conferences in terms of the
Power five, the conference that I thought would least give
in to that type of scenario would have been the
SEC teams like l s U, Alabama, Georgia, Auburn. I mean,
the list goes on and on Florida. I mean the
(09:39):
top twenty five teams that are in that conference alone,
and the mare quee matchups that we were ready to
watch in terms of Labor Day weekend that are no
longer going to take place. I couldn't believe it. And
then coupled with the fact that now we're gonna kick
off the schedule September twenty, which is about three weeks
later than originally planned. Something must have happened within the
(10:02):
SEC in terms of leadership when they sat down with
their respective teams and coaches and got in an opinion
that said, this is the best scenario for our conference
and our players to make sure that we finished the season,
not just started. I mean that obviously, if we're just
talking about in terms of coronavirus Texas a and m Tennessee,
(10:27):
Florida are in states that are going through significant outbreaks
right now. So it's not to say that Louisiana, Alabama
and the others aren't experiencing their own problems. Nor is
it saying that states all around the country haven't experienced
this stuff. But in terms of the SEC footprint, those
states in particular um are on the on the heat,
(10:47):
not so to speak. So you mentioned Labor Day weekend,
they were scheduled. We had three games in Atlanta, while
we had two SEC teams that we're going to play
high profile games in neutral site games. One was going
to be on Sunday, September six, when Mississippi was going
to play Baylor at NRG Stadium in Houston. That's out.
(11:09):
Georgia was set to play Virginia on Labor Day in Atlanta.
That's out because the a c C had bumped back
their season. Now a day later, the SEC comes in with,
you know what, forget all the non conflicting nonconference games
were done. I assume Joe, they feel that they're competitive enough. Again,
I have to pause here and say we have to
(11:31):
discuss all of this as if this season is going
to go mostly according to plan. We understand there could
be cancelations, there could be stuff like what's happened with
Major League Baseball. We have to have this conversation as
if things will happen. I don't consider it to be
a fruitless conversation because we're trying to prepare for the
season as if it's going to happen. So I'm off
(11:53):
my soapbox. I'll just say, um, the Georgia Virginia game
was probably one that people getting excited to watch. But
once the a SEC put things in motion, and now
the SEC thing puts things in motion, I assume that
they feel that their conference is powerful, powerful enough top
to bottom that even playing an abbreviated schedule, perhaps even
(12:14):
a game less than some of these other teams that
will be considered at the top of the rankings, isn't
a problem for them. The league's strength is good enough
for them to get somebody or two teams in the
playoff without a doubt. The SEC is the elite, you know,
conference out of out of all the Power five, even
though you can make the argument that the Big Ten
is catching up rather quickly in the last couple of years.
(12:35):
But to your point in terms of some of the
regions that are that are struggling right now, Texas and Florida.
You look at a Big twelve, they're not having the
same type of sentiment teams like TCU. Teams like Texas
Tech and Texas they're moving ahead. They've actually said that
they wanted to have fifty percent capacity in the stadium
for for long run games. So you're not seeing that
(12:57):
same type of sentiment across the Power five. I think
when you look at some of the games that we're
gonna lose out on, it's not just the Labor Day
week games, because you could throw in Auburn and North
Carolina into the mix, and then Alabama was scheduled to
play usc they were supposed to or had talks so
would rather be y U step in or Notre Dame,
So throw that out the window. But the September twelve
(13:20):
games really hinge on terms of a national landscape and
enthusiasm and TV broadcast. You're gonna lose out on Texas
traveling to Baton Rouge to face l s U. That
matchup took place on September twelve. That's gone. And Oklahoma
Tennessee in Norman was a huge game for the volunteers
and Jeremy Pruitt forget that along with Ohio State Oregon
(13:43):
that was supposed to take place in Eugene, and the
a C C U SEC rivalry games were thought. Maybe
the door was open when the a SEC announced their plan,
but those games had to be in state by a
SEC rule, so it had made them effectively all home games,
although Georgia Georgia Tech that could have been played on
Georgia's campus, Florida Florida State could have been played on
(14:05):
Florida's Florida could have been played on either campus, and uh,
you know, Kentucky, Louisville, South Carolina, Clemson. Those four rivalry
games would have been open to being played via the
a SECS by laws and still with the SEC being
added in. But perhaps they assumed that not all of
the fourteen teams could scramble to find a worthy opponent opponent,
(14:28):
so they just eliminated that because if you know, if
A and M isn't able to play anybody in state
because they didn't have room, it just would have gotten difficult.
The landscape got a lot harder for the top teams
in the country. And I'm just gonna talk about the
SEC right now in terms of Alabama, Traditionally, you look
at last year in terms of strength of schedule, Alabama
(14:50):
had one of the weakest in terms of the SEC,
dead last five percent winning percentage. Now Alabama is gonna
face Florida. They have never faced Florida in the regular
season almost every other ten years or decade. Now they're
gonna face Florida. They're gonna face Georgia at home in Tuscaloosa.
Those are two critical battles for Alabama this year that
(15:12):
wouldn't have taken place with the scenario in terms of COVID.
So we're gonna see that. We're gonna see Florida, Texas,
A and M. We're gonna see Ole Miss in Tennessee.
So we have a schedule that really is gonna be
entertaining and and this is gonna be a different but
unique college football season and I really can't wait to
see how it plays out. We mentioned a few of
(15:34):
the games that were lost. You said Tennessee, O Gloma, LSU, Texas,
Mississippi State was going to play NC State, Baylor, Ole Miss.
I mentioned Arkansas was playing Notre Dame Vandy, Kansas State.
That's gone A and m Colorado, Alabama USC as a
result of a previous decision by the PAC twelve. And
then Georgia, Virginia and Auburn North Carolina that we've mentioned
(15:54):
as well. So those are I mean, that's late alone.
That's a lot of good games that go by the wayside. Obviously. Uh,
it's still good news that they're moving forward with this
ten game schedule. It doesn't seem like there will be
any adjustments this conferences are starting to settle in to
what they feel comfortable with, Joe, They really are and
it should play out in the month of December, Mike
(16:15):
for the College Football Playoff, which teams are gonna be
really prepared at the end of the year, not just
on the field, but from the COVID aspect. And maybe
that's why the SEC has for more time. Yeah, I
think that's possible. A conference only model eliminates games against
Group of five and FCS teams. Those buy games. SEC
(16:36):
teams pay steep prices, sometimes as much as one and
a half million dollars a game to their traveling competitors.
In fact, SEC teams in ten paid out more than
forty five million dollars in buy games according to end
the school and see a reports obtained by S. It's
obtained by Sports Illustrated. I should note that the author
of this article is Ross Dellinger, Uh, really good college
(16:59):
football writer. So that's really it as far as the
SEC is concerned. We will continue and track to see
as all the games are released, we will get a
sense of how we can pin down what the odds
might look like. Who has a better schedule, weaker schedule.
I think they need a little bit more time in
order to get all of that stuff settled. But I
(17:20):
think we're days away, possibly Joe, from having that. So
we'll come back. We'll talk about the a c c
S decision to go to Conference plus one. After this
on the Grid, It's Mike and Joe will be right back.
Sports grid dot Com Betting insights and entertainment at your
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(17:42):
and more. Want the edge than get on the grid
Sports grid dot Com. M You're watching Sports one Back
(18:13):
on the Grid, Mike and Joe talking about the a
c c S decision to move forward with their football season. Now,
as we're going over these conferences and decisions made, it
has to be noted that in the case of the
SEC they've noted September is the plan to move forward,
doesn't mean it's definitely going to happen. Uh. They've got
(18:34):
a lot of issues with students that may or may
not be coming back to campus. I've heard of anecdotal
issues where students are just deciding to defer for a year.
If you're a freshman, you defer, you enter some sort
of service program, and you can come back. I think
a lot of students will consider doing that if they
can't be on campus and experience college the way that
(18:55):
they intended. So imagine the difficulty of hand university issues
and how football or any other sports can play into it. So,
the a c C confirms that Notre Dame will play
a ten game conference schedule and be eligible for the
league title game. In addition to that, the a c
(19:15):
C also and that that was a couple of days ago.
Then they also announced that they are moving to a
eleven game schedule across the board, playing a ten game
conference schedule plus one that plus one game. Joe has
to be an in state game, so doesn't mean it
has to be an in state rival. But you take
(19:37):
my alma mater, Boston College, they would probably play a
team that's local. It could be a Yukon or U
mass in order to fill in that game. Based on
all these other things, It's like you said in the
last segment, they're not gonna have an SEC team, or
a Packed twelve team or a Big ten team travel
The Big twelve hasn't shut it down yet, but with
the other four saying their conference only except for the
(20:00):
a CEC, that would be the only other option. But
do we really think that Big twelve teams and a
SEC teams are gonna get together when it's gonna be
all a CEC home games. That seems unlikely. It does,
But I like the model that the a c C
put forth and and I credited the way they move forward.
They put out the schedule on Wednesday night of this week,
and they got fans excited. They gave us matchups that
(20:24):
were not traditionally gonna see. I mean, you look at
the Clemson Tigers overall, their schedule got a lot harder
from the start of the year. I mean, they're gonna
face Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech possibly two of the best
defensive fronts that came out of the coast. So now
Clemson faces them. So those are the type of matchups
that we're gonna see. Notre Dame played Florida State a
(20:46):
couple of years ago, They're gonna play them again. So
and I think that they did the right decision as
well with the out of conference games, giving the local
FCS schools the potential to earn our paycheck from the
a c C. Because these schools are losing or hemorrhaging
money right now. Mike, you look at just you know,
Virginia Tech within the conference. If they don't play football
(21:08):
in Virginia Tech, poses could lose seventy million dollars to
that school or university. So, you know, money does drive
the bus, as it always does. But I like the
model set forth by the a c C this year.
So each the season will commence over span of several
days from September seven to September twelve. Each conference school
(21:28):
have two by weekends in a season that, if played,
would be stretched out over thirteen weeks. Uh that we
talked about the Chick fil A games going by the
wayside that impact at Florida State, West Virginia, Georgia, Virginia,
and North Carolina Auburn Notre Dame, that Navy BC at Kansas,
Florida State at Boise State are affected as well, along
(21:49):
with a handful of other games. So the a SEC
confirms that for the kicker who Notre Dames playing the
ten game conference schedule, they'd be eligible to play in
the league championship game. They're going with one conference, no divisions,
whereas the SEC keeps the divisions in place. The a
CEC decides to go to one division show this is
(22:10):
what COVID has brought about. I think it's great though
that Notre Dame has joined the conference. They're taking the
Big twelve type of model where you take the top
two teams and whichever top two teams in the standings
they go to the conference championship games. So again, I
like the fact that they mixed it up. I like
that we have some intriguing matchups and this is gonna
(22:30):
be a very competitive a c C schedule. In terms
of the football season, Clemson head and shoulders above the rest,
but it's gonna be a lot horner in terms of
their road. Getting back to the a c C championship game. Yeah,
so the game the championship team will be played in
Charlotte either the weekend of December twelve or nineteen. I'm
(22:51):
not sure why it's shifting. It had been scheduled for
December five, possibly maybe that that weekend of the twelve, right,
I guess, I guess that's right. Yeah, the Fighting Irish
would be also eligible to claim the a CC's Orange
Bowl birth if it's not in the college football. That's
a monumental development. For this reason, Notre Dame has never
(23:13):
played in a conference championship game before, Joe, since it
began playing the sport way back in here's time for
your tribute. Question. What year? What year did they start
playing a conference a conference scheme? When didn't Notre Dame
start playing football? That's the question. It never played in
a conference game, So they started playing eighteen forty six?
(23:34):
I have no idea eighteen eighty seven close enough. Uh,
it's post Civil War, not pre Civil War. Uh. They've
been a football independent for each one of those one
hundred and thirty three seasons. And as you stated, they
released the schedule. So we have a bunch of games
on this late now that we can take a look at, uh,
they did it in a crazy graphic oriented way. So
(23:58):
I'll try to uh to keep them as much as possible. Now,
all the dates are to be announced. They're still arranging this.
But let's take Clemson. You mentioned before. Their home games
are BC, Miami Pit Syracuse, Virginia road games, Florida State,
Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest. So you
(24:18):
throw a Notre Dame road game on there, that makes
your schedule a little trickier than it was. Do we
think Clemson is better than Notre Dame this year? Absolutely,
but they're not undefeated. Their damn close to it, Clemson,
but they're not undefeated in conference play, and playing Notre
Dame on the road is a little kicker. Yeah, that is.
I mean that game was scheduled priorate. But the game
that stands out for me, Mike, the game that stands
(24:41):
out for me when you just I mentioned Virginia Tech
and Pittsburgh, those two games, and now you add Dieri
King in Miami, an elite quarterback as well. I mean
when you go back prior to you know, in the
mid two thousand's, Clemson and Miami played some stellar games.
Go to that matchup in the in the Orange Bowl
with c. J. Spiller and Jacoby Ford back in in
(25:02):
two thousand and nine. I mean, there's been some fantastic finishes.
So I mean again, Clemson head and shoulders above the
rest within the conference forty nine and four straight up
since two thousand and fourteen. But you now throw in
some of these coastal matchups, gonna be a lot harder
for the Clemson Tigers to get back there. You mentioned
de Eric King. Here's their schedules. They play at home
(25:25):
Florida State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Pitt Virginia there on
the road at Clemson, Louisville, n C State, Virginia Tech,
Wake Forest. Look, a lot of these schedules are going
to look similar this year because they're playing mostly a
conference schedule. But you do duck a few teams obviously,
and George in Miami schedule doesn't really feel like they
(25:47):
ducked anybody, right, They have Florida State and Clemson on
their Louisville, Virginia Tech obviously lost their big player in
Caleb Farley, but they and Sam how you're in love
with Sam. How so they got to face a tough
quarterback there, and pitt defense. We keep Pitts defense comes
up over and over on the show, whether it's you
or Rich Jermanello, the other host of College Football Today. Uh,
Pitt has a really tough defense to contend against. So,
(26:10):
whether these games are scheduled prior or not, Miami has
a full slate of games here against teams that are
not soft opponents within the conference, not at all. And
Miami's weakness, Mike, on top of not having fall camp,
has been the offensive line. We've talked about a fifty
one sacks allowed as a unit. That unit develops in
spring camp, it develops all all summer long in terms
(26:33):
of strength and conditioning, and then in fall camp. Now
throw in a new quarterback in Diara King. I mean,
he's one of the most athletic in college football. But
playing within a suspect offensive line without that cohesiveness, that's
gonna be a problem. And you mentioned Pitt Virginia Tech
possibly again, they have about eight storters coming back. Takeaway
(26:54):
Caleb Fairley from that defense. This is a legitimate defensive
front for justin Flente and the hockey and you look
at some of the other quarterbacks, Hennon Hooker from Virginia Tech.
You have Kenny Pickett from Pittsburgh that is a senior quarterback.
So these are the type of teams that are standing
in the way of potential roadblocks for Clemson in Miami,
(27:14):
and it's gonna be intriguing. The a c C did
it right. They had TV ratings in mind as well
when they developed this schedule. So Notre Dame, let's talk
about them in the context of this specifically. Obviously it's
the biggest change to all of this. They gave Notre
Dame a bailout there already playing six opponents anyway, so
some would say they didn't really extend themselves that much,
(27:35):
but I think it makes sense that it's a it's
a working business relationship. I don't have any faith that
Notre Dame is going to be a permanent a CC
member in football anytime soon. I'm sure they got some
of the TV revenue shared with them for this arrangement.
But in terms of how all of the teams line up,
Clemson's at the top, is Notre Dame next? Yeah, Notre
(27:59):
Dame in Virginia's Hecko the two top In my opinion,
and I know Pittsburgh's defensive front is there, but the
struggle for Pittsburgh was offensive consistency. So they were averaged
five and a half yards to carry. Two years ago
they dipped to three and a half yards per carry.
Kenny Pickett hasn't developed, but Ian Book, in my opinion,
now is the second best quarterback behind Trevor Lawrence. That
(28:20):
offense is explosive, the defense has playmakers, and Brian Kelly
has lost the Clemson over the last couple of meetings,
so he's chomping at that bit for that November six matchup.
How about a dark horse team here Louisville. They've bounced back,
rebuilt a little quicker than we might have anticipated. Florida
State dealing with yet another new head coach. Any other
(28:43):
dark horses out there. I'd love to you for you
to say my alma mater, but I don't have any
expectations there. The first year coach now meet Carl cutting
him in Louisville are loaded offensively, Javian Hawkins to to
at Well Dez Fitzpatrick. I mean this is a nine
potential nine when football team, I mean prior. This is
prior with the old schedule. With the new schedule got
(29:05):
a little bit more difficult to need. Defense needs consistency,
but I'll still say it there. I like Virginia Tech.
I like Hendon Hooker thirteen touchdown passes, two interceptions. Both
interceptions came against Virginia in the last regular season game.
Their defenses loaded. Trade Turner's a big play wide receiver.
I like Justin Flente and what he has in terms
(29:27):
of a foundation with Virginia Tech and Blacksburgh. Virginia Tech
road games are Duke Louisville, North Carolina, Pitt and Wake Forest, UM.
Louisville's road games r DC, Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, Pitt,
and Virginia. So all the schedules, like I said, are
looked pretty much the same. We'll start to see how
(29:50):
these lineup as the dates come out, doesn't line up
a little bit better for other teams, and we'll start
to take a look at some of these individual matchups
of these lines that are on the board now on
the ban to a sports book, Joe and I'll talk
about it right after this on Football Full Circle. Get
on the Grid sports grid dot Com Betting insights and
entertainment at your fingertips as our team covers the most
(30:11):
important topics in sports wagering, real time odds, predictive betting models,
expert picks, and more. Want the edge than get on
the grid Sports grid dot Com. M Back on the Grid,
(30:52):
Mike and Joe talking about college football right now and
a little bit of bad news regarding the COVID situation
Rutgers COVID nineteen I'll break. This is according to John
Taylor from College Football uh Talk on NBC Sports outbreak
reportedly tied to party attended by several football players. So
I think this is going to be an issue for
(31:13):
a while. Joe, I think much in the way that
baseball players, I think culturally are used to going out
because they're going from city to city there on the
road so long. College players they're young. We're talking about eighteen, nineteen,
twenty year olds. In many instances, they're gonna go out there.
They don't feel like they're going to be in harm's
way from the virus, And by and large, a lot
(31:36):
of the cases are asymptomatic or mild. But it's the
after effects. It's not about them being sick, them being hospitalized,
them being on ventilators, necessarily it is about what happens
to the logistics of the program, and Rutgers had to
shut it down because a bunch of players attested positive.
And what's interesting, Mike, is the fact that it's a
(31:58):
new head coach slash oh head coach and Greg Siano. Now,
so you know when a new head coach comes in,
it takes a while. They have to have team meetings,
he has to establish the foundation. And unfortunately, without fall
spring camp excuse me taking place, I'm sure that that
factored into the coaching staff being able to at least
(32:19):
inform their players about what they expect what they need
to do from a book precaution standpoint, that one on
one coaching that takes place throughout the year and and
unfortunately Rutgers is that, uh the wrong side of the spectrum.
In Michigan State as well, another new head coach in
terms of melt Tucker and the same type of situation
(32:41):
within the Big Twelve. And that's the type of situation
that we have to monitor because we see teams like
Oklahoma with a veteran coaching staff in Lincoln Riley last
week again no positive tests. So that's the type of
situation that we have to monitor as the month of
August comes around. Week by week. Clemson had a ton
of cases ut Oklahoma. They've been dry able to drive
(33:05):
those cases down. Judith Parish Chiley, the state health Commissioner
for New Jersey, state in which you live, Joe. She
said here there's been an outbreak of Rutgers football players,
with fifteen of them currently testing positive. She said while
grouping together list of indoor and outdoor gatherings. These examples
that we share today account for one new cases of
COVID etcetera, etcetera. Uh so, uh, that's the reality. I think.
(33:30):
You know what's funny is I think funny strange is
that a lot of people out there, like gosh, I
just don't know anybody that's gotten this virus. It's it's
terrible what's happening on TV. Some people are less convinced.
But I have a similar anecdotal story a friend of mine,
back before New York was even even really in shutdown mode.
(33:51):
It was right around that time he had gone to
a party, not dissimilar to what these UH players have done.
This guy's a lot younger than me. He's a friend,
uh younger brother of a friend and he and his
fiance went to this party a week later. Most of
the party had symptoms. Has ended up being where he
felt like he had the flu for a bunch of days.
(34:12):
Fiance feels like she had she lost her taste, sense
of taste and smell. So they're young people. They bounced back,
they're having a good summer. But again it's just indicative
of not how sick they can get, which could be severe.
And obviously getting coaches and older people involved with the
program involved makes it a little bit riskier. But it's
(34:34):
just about having to do with Oklahoma and Clemson did
and drive these cases down aggressively. Quarantine, wear, masks, v
sanitary those are the types of things that every all
programs plus they're going to have to get used to.
They're gonna have to do it, and they're gonna have
to be consistent in terms of their approach. And that's
the mindset of football players, right they're strong, they're big,
(34:57):
they're physical, but we're talking about virus that you can't see,
you can't really really dictate, or you can't understand where
it affects you or how it's going to affect you.
You need to take proper precaution and and when you
look at both of those programs, like we mentioned Rutgers
in Michigan State, unfortunately they've been under five hundred programs
(35:20):
now Michigan State seven and six over the last couple
of years. But they're going in the opposite directions as
some of the other teams that we mentioned, like Clemson,
like Alabama, like the top tier programs Oklahoma. Where's the mindset?
I think mindset has a lot to play in this
type of situation as well. You know, when new kids
come into school or a program, they don't know what
(35:43):
to expect. And we understand that in Oklahoma, Clemson, l
s U, Alabama, there's a culture there and it takes
a while for the coach to instill that culture in
in the mindset of the team. So it's a feeling
out process. Each team has to deal with it. But
it's gonna be a situation, a team by team scenario
(36:04):
that plays out week to week in college football, and
we have to monitory shiannow is not Shianno, is not
somebody that's unaccustomed to discipline and unaccustomed to winning cultures.
So I'm sure they'll all get on the same page
very shortly, so one thing I wanted to do to
have a little bit more fun. There has been more
(36:25):
lines released on the Vandals Sports Book in terms of
college football games. Now, uh, they still have some editing
to do. Uh, full disclosure, there's some games on their
listed with an improper date. And look, this is all
happening very quickly. Within the last couple of days as
we're filming this, A, C, C and SEC teams have
(36:47):
changed their schedules completely. So you're gonna go on the
Vandal Sports Book. Just give them a day or so.
They'll adjust some of the dates of these games. And
there's still more dates to be released, but let's go
with some of the ones that are still on the schedule.
We don't have odds yet for some of those early
Big Twelve games that are still on Missouri State at Oklahoma,
Southern miss at Kansas. Time is to be determined on that.
(37:08):
But we assume right now, Joe, that those are the
first games that are going to happen. The Big Twelve
has not pushed back their start. They haven't said conference only,
so we can assume those to be the first two.
We don't have odyes on those yet. Is that fair
to say that is that that's fair and expect Oklahoma
to be about a thirty to thirty five point favorite
in that matchup with Spencer Rattler taking over at the
(37:30):
helm for Lincoln Riley's offense. And I think that when
you look at Oklahoma's decision to play that game August
twenty nine, it was due in part to their September
twelve game that just got canceled with Tennessee to give
them an extra game in terms of preparation, and then
have a bye week before that matchup, So now their
schedule changes a bit. So I think when you look
(37:52):
at Kansas and less Miles, again, they need to start fast.
He's an offense and a defensive line that's in transition.
They need to oilden identity before they get into conference place.
So there's a reason why both of those teams are
starting the season on August twenty nine, But again I
don't blame them for it. The earlier that you could
(38:12):
kick it off and get your team in terms of
the consistency, Mike right, the creatures a habit. The earlier
that you could kick off your season and establish that
gives your team an opportunity to at least have a
successful season. Yeah, so that's the funky thing, right. There
was a moment I felt like, probably three or four
weeks ago when you and I talked, where we were
(38:34):
trying to make sure that these seasons all kicked off
as soon as possible so that we can get done
with them quicker, more quickly. But the way things have evolved,
it's becoming pretty obvious that for the most part, it's
going to be difficult to kick off on time because
of the things we're seeing with Rutgers, with Michigan State.
(38:54):
So some of these conferences have taken pause and said,
you know what, let's not do it on August twenty nine.
Let's do it on September twelve. Let's talk about that
first game Clemson Louisville. We still have listed right now
September twelve, just assuming that that's now that's going to happen,
not being to not be an adjusted game. Clemson twenty
(39:14):
one and a half point favorites on the road at Louisville,
and this could be a tough opening start for Clemson because, again,
game one, you want to work out the kinks, you
want to build a quarterback to wide receiver, relationship. Clemson's
leading wide receiver, Justin Ross is not there. He's hurt
for the year. So where's Clemson's mindset? Last year they
(39:34):
opened up and demolished Georgia Tech, which was a one
dimensional offense with Jeff Collins at the helm, and went
from a triple option attack to a more balanced attack.
Now they're playing one of the most lethal offenses within
the conference with their quarterback Mikael Cunningham. And Mikael Cunningham
is a dual threat quarterback. He rushed for over four
hundred yards average four yards per carry. Like I said before,
(39:58):
two big play wide receivers you do at well Dez
Fitzpatrick and throw in fifteen hundred yard rusher j Beyond Hawkins.
This is a tough animal Week one for Clemson. Twenty
one and a half is a huge number. But keep
in mind, Mike, you look at Clemson's margin of victory
within the a c C last year ten and oh
(40:19):
they won by thirty six point seven points per game.
So Clemson should be favorite. But it's a very difficult
Week one matchup. Yeah, So bumping up to the next one,
Week three, which is now listen as Week three, it's
gonna end up being Week one and a half or
week two. We got Minnesota, Iowa, Alabama, Georgia listed here
(40:41):
on the nineteenth, So that would be Alabama currently a
seven point under favorite on the road against Georgia. What
do you think? Yeah, I would lay the wood here
with with Alabama. Now that's not to take away from
my Georgia Bulldogs. Those those people that know me know
that I packed Georgia the big way. But Jamie Newman
(41:01):
making the road start in Tuscaloosa without the preparation is
going to be the main What if it's in Athens?
If it's in Athens. Now see the reason I pause
because we have to say if, because there's some things
that aren't potentially going to change. So we're taking a
look as it as scheduled. Currently, Alabama would be at Georgia.
(41:26):
Now things can change. Since they've reduced to ten games,
they move some things around. It's possibly see some games
get eliminated, some added. But if Alabama remains at Georgia
on the nineteenth, what do you think? Sorry, we're no
fans were less than let's say I'm taking out with
them and Mac Jones. I really am in that type
of atmosphere. Let's let's look at the wide receiver position.
(41:49):
Jalen Wattle is there, DeVonta Smith not j Harris, Those
players have played there before. You still have a raw
offensive line that loses three starters with Georgie Jamie Newman
transfers in George Pickens only a sophomore. Z a mere
White is only a sophomore. Give me Alabama and that
type of scenario about we got one more here in
(42:11):
the SEC ole Miss at Auburn that same day, nine
and a half point favorites are Auburn hosting Mississippi with
Lanola like Auburn. Auburn, prior to this whole COVID situation,
was my pick to win the SEC West. I'm not
backing down now. I love what uh Gus miles On
has done in terms of the progression of his quarterback boat. Next,
(42:34):
they add Chad Morris, the former SMU and Arkansas coaches
offensive play caller. That should bring more balance. And when
you just look at the defensive line for Ole Miss,
they stepped up last year under Mike McIntyre Chris Partridge
a new defensive scheme. I liked the physicality of Auburn
in that matchup last game for this segment, Stanford playing
(42:56):
USC that same day would potentially be September than teams.
We're gonna act as if that happens. Right now, USC
is a nine point favorite at home. Yeah, I would
lay the wood with us C. I'm not sold on
the consistency of Stanford. They got away from their identity.
Give me Keaton Slovis and armand st Brown to dominate
(43:17):
that matchup. How about one more if I dip into
the next week, I want to see this game is
still happening. Clemson announces Clemson with the new SEC A
CEC football schedule. It says Clemson is hosting Virginia. Ray
have it listed here as a Virginia home game. A
thirty and a half point underdog. Do you think Clemson's
(43:40):
gonna put up almost a five touchdown win against Virginia?
They did in the in the in the A SEC
Championship game, and that was with Bryce Perkins at the helm.
You have a new quarterback that comes over. Uh In
terms of Keaton Thompson for Mississippi State transferred into Virginia,
so again with him at the helm, it doesn't matter
to me. Clen is the superior team, although Charles Snowden,
(44:03):
an elite talent from the linebacker fur of Virginia. Keep
an eye out for him and he's definitely a first
round talent. Yeah, I think they could have used the
game at home fans or no fans, but not looking
good for them. We're gonna come back close out for
this hour of football Full Circle with Joe and myself
will be right back on the grid after this. Sports
(44:23):
grid dot Com betting insights and entertainment at your fingertips
as our team covers the most important topics in sports wagering,
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Want the edge than get on the grid. Sports grid
dot Com closing out this hour of football Full Circle
(44:48):
and Ross Tellinger again from sports ill State. I've been
using him a lot lately for some good information. The
n c A is allowing schools to begin camp according
to their previously scheduled season openers, so that means it's
a seven week preseason for the SEC unless the conference
are schools determined differently. The n c A is not
(45:09):
expected to, so the normal twenty hour rule week kicks
in once the season. Once classes start, so you start
to do the math. They're getting a seven week preseason
out of this. They seemingly get to prepare longer than
everybody else. And my wrong or is everybody's gonna be
seven weeks? It seems like the SEC is getting a
(45:31):
longer preseason here. It does. I wonder if Nick Saban
had any input on that type of decision by the SEC,
because without spring camp, you know it as well as anybody, Mike,
these younger players need to get to develop because they're
going to be instrumental if the COVID situation plays out.
And I'm sure that's in the background of Kirby smart
(45:54):
Edo geron Nick Saban. If players go down, you need
to know who you can turn to without even thinking
about it. And that's I'm sure what Nick Saban and
those SEC coaches are thinking about in terms of the
extra weeks of preparation. Yeah so. Greg Sanky also said
that the SEC's mid season bye week is going to
be spread to all schools over a three week stretch.
(46:16):
He didn't elaborate beyond that. He said there will be
a December twelveth shared off week, so that title game
is the nineteen It looks like nobody will play on
the twelfth in order to ensure that they have some
sort of break assuming if and when Bowl games happen.
You and I both love the Bowl games. Even though
there's tons of them out there that you know, there's
(46:37):
not a lot of attendance. Are these Bowl games but
interesting show to watch? I would say that in general,
I don't know what the story is going to be
with the Bowl games. Do do they get rid of them?
Do they still have it in place? What do you think?
I would like to pose a scenario for the bowl games?
I say this, let's have the college football playoff. Let's
take the bowl game type of scenario, and let's have
(46:59):
like an end I T type of tournament for the
group of five and the other remaining Power five teams.
I think that would be fantastic. It's not bad, but
you know, those guys are gonna want to start prepping
for the draft, even at some of those schools. So uh,
we'll continue to try to get more information as we
go along. I think Vandals Sports Book has got a
(47:20):
lot to work on in terms of getting these new
games some odds, and we'll be excited when they do.
It might even be assumed as next week when Joe
appears so on behalf of our producer Brian Rotkowski, Joe
Leasy at Go for the Two on Twitter, and co
host of College Football Today Mike Lewett. We'll see on
Football full Circle next time. Get on the Grid sports
(47:41):
grid dot Com betting insides and entertainment at your fingertips
seven as our team covers the most important topics in
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sports grid dot Com
Sports grid dot Com Betting insights and entertainment at your
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and more. Want the edge than get on the grid
sports grid dot Com. Hey everybody, welcome to Football Full
(00:21):
Circle of the College edition. Myself to Joe Leasy. We'll
take you around the world of college football and all
the updates that are necessary from this week. Uh well,
there's no real odds changes yet. I think we're going
to get to a point finally soon Joe. Where as
we get to the news this hour and things starts
getting settled as far as scheduling is concerned, we can
(00:44):
see some more odds potentially start to be released, but
we've been in a holding pattern on that for a
long time. We have Mike, But we have some light
at the end of the tunnel. We have more clarity
about which conferences will play conference only games, which will
play none out of con games, the A, C, C,
and SEC, respectively. So we're starting two inch closer to
(01:05):
the start of the college football season, and as a
college football fan and analyst, that's what we look for Yeah,
I agreed, and I think on this show we've tried
to be as pragmatic as possible. We will discuss the
SECS finally confirmed plans, as well as the a c CS.
I'm surprised they're not identical, to be honest, but we'll
get into that in subsequent segments. What I wanted to
(01:27):
spend a few minutes on this segment is something that
has to be noted for any college football fan. We've
seen a couple of dozen players opt out in the NFL,
with potentially more to come, and now we see the
first at least high profile opt out in college football,
as evidenced by this tweet here by Adam Schefter. Virginia
(01:47):
Tech cornerback Caleb Farley, a projected first round pick, is
the first college player to opt out of the coming season.
A source tells ESPN. Farley will spend the year training
from the NFL draft. He's seen NFL players opt out
as uncomfort with playing this year, so thoughts, well, we
expected it, right and when they when they did the
survey for the college football season, they surveyed around seventy
(02:09):
five athletes, about eighty seven to nine percent said that
they would move forward with the college football season, you know,
and take those risks. But ten percent said no, and
now we see the residual effects of that. Caleb Farley
opting out. I have no problem with it. Obviously, his
health is his number one concern. He wants to train
for the NFL Draft. He'll be a legitimate first round selection.
(02:33):
It's part of it. It's part of the risk reward
type of situation. If Virginia Tech, in my opinion, then
the elite team out of the coastal uh and would
have a great chance to knock off possibly Clemson this
year as a legitimate top ten, top twenty five team
this year. But without him playing, What can you say?
I mean, it's just part of what we're seeing in
(02:54):
the landscape of college football. And do others follow I
still think though that like of the athletes will return
to campus for their respective teams this season. Yeah, Look,
we have walk ons, we have scholarship players. He called
it a hundred players per team, even though it's uh
and we're just doing round math. Even though you and
I both know there's a bigger schools. There's even more
(03:16):
walk on than that. You can have as many as
a hundred and ten hundred and fifteen players all said
and done, So you're talking ten of that hundred. That's
ten players out times a hundred and thirty teams. You know,
starts to add up, that's thirteen hundred guys that could
conceivably opt out. For doing simple math like that, Do
I think the number will be that high? Probably not.
(03:38):
I think it probably comes in under. But as you
start to do the multiplication on it, it can still
be several hundred players that opt out because they don't
feel comfortable. Now, I will say that there's a difference
here in college football as opposed to the pros, where
everybody's getting paid and everybody's going after money. In college,
this is the subset of player that I would expect
(03:59):
would opt out. I'm a first round draft pick. I
don't know what's going to happen. I don't want to
put myself at risk. Are we gonna win the national Championship?
Probably not. I'm a first round pick. In fact, according
to Pro Football Focus, Caleb Farley was the number one
cornerback in the NFL draft. So give me your thoughts
about him as a player. Now. He's a physical, blue
(04:21):
collar kid. He can play man to man coverage. He's
physical and run support and really stepped up for the Hokeys.
I think when you look at the risk reward, he's
saying to himself, if I get hurt this year without
fall camp, let's say, starting on time, I run the
risk of losing millions of dollars. And that's really what
it comes down to, on top of the COVID situation.
(04:42):
So I think it's both type of situations melded together.
The fact that we have a pandemic crisis taking place
across the United States in the world right now, and
then I want to say, the lack of preparation from
just the n C Double A and the conferences as
a whole. We still talked about at the start of
the show. They're not all on the same page. So
(05:03):
obviously Virginia Tech might have a different process and procedure
than maybe Clemson does, and maybe he saw that and
wanted to opt out because in his best interest he
needs to get to the NFL and needs to be
a first round selection. So again I don't have a
problem with it. He's a definite first round selection and
one of the best players on that defense, and hopefully
(05:25):
we wish him well and see and where he gets
drafted in late May. And I think he made a
good point about it, not just not it's not just
isolating the COVID situation and how it could impact him.
It is the stop and start nature of this. There
has been far less practice. We don't know exactly how
many practices they'll be able to get in full padded
(05:47):
practices and everything else regarding conditioning in Major League Baseball.
We're at one weekend in we lost Corey Kluber, Clayton Kershaw,
and Justin Verlander, two of them for long term, for
perhaps the entire season. Kershaw is still a question mark.
Was that due to the stop start nature of the season.
Will never know, but it's something that people are going
(06:08):
to consider, people like Caleb Farley will consider. Will there
be other high profile opt outs. I'm sure there will be,
and we'll keep you informed here on Football Full Circle.
Thank you to the radio audience for listening in on
this segment, and we will continue to to push through
to the other topics. We're gonna talk SEC next and
exactly what they've decided to do with their schedule. Will
(06:31):
talk a CEC after that, but as it stands right now.
Caleb Farley really the first high profile player to opt out. Joe. Yeah,
and again you you brought up great points by I
think you know when you look at the situation, just
full circle Football full Circle, you have to say that
his health is his number one concern heading to one. Uh,
(06:53):
you know, for for the sake of being entertained by
college football. If we want the best players out there playing,
it won't happen in Caleb Barley's case. Again, We'll keep
it locked, keep it locked here, We'll keep you updated,
so we'll come back. We'll talk sec. What have they
decided to do with your schedule for the season. It's
Mike and Joe. Football full Circle will be right back
after this. Sports grid dot Com Betting insights and entertainment
(07:16):
at your fingertips as our team covers the most important
topics in sports wagering, real time odds, predictive betting models,
expert picks, and more. Want the edge than get on
the grid. Sports grid dot Com Back on the grid
(07:50):
Football full Circle along with Joe Leasy. Find him on
Twitter at Go for the two. He's a host of
College Football Today. Right here on the grid. I'm at
Mike Blewett, um if you free to follow me on
Twitter at Mike Blewett and uh follow us all on
Twitter at sports Grade, on Instagram at sports Gride TV.
So big news, slightly surprising news, Joe, and that the
(08:13):
SEC has decided to adopt a conference only schedule and
they will not get started until September. This comes on
the heels of the A c C, which we will
actually discuss in the next segment. But the SEC adopts
the conference only schedule with a late start, so it
(08:33):
eliminates a lot of games that we're looking forward to,
but they will keep in place the two seven team
divisions heading towards an SEC title game on December nineteenth,
obviously later that normal due to the late start, but
league teams will play two more opponents from their opposite division. Normally,
(08:55):
the SEC schedule would include six inner division teams, so
you play your division and then one against a permanent
team from the division, once against a rotating team from
the opposite division. So you just add two more from
the opposite division and there we go. You have your
ten games. So what's your biggest surprise of all of this?
When the news broke late Thursday afternoon, Mike of the
(09:17):
SEC canceling all out of conference games. I almost fell
off my chair. I had to do with double take,
because out of all the conferences in terms of the
Power five, the conference that I thought would least give
in to that type of scenario would have been the
SEC teams like l s U, Alabama, Georgia, Auburn. I mean,
the list goes on and on Florida. I mean the
(09:39):
top twenty five teams that are in that conference alone,
and the mare quee matchups that we were ready to
watch in terms of Labor Day weekend that are no
longer going to take place. I couldn't believe it. And
then coupled with the fact that now we're gonna kick
off the schedule September twenty, which is about three weeks
later than originally planned. Something must have happened within the
(10:02):
SEC in terms of leadership when they sat down with
their respective teams and coaches and got in an opinion
that said, this is the best scenario for our conference
and our players to make sure that we finished the season,
not just started. I mean that obviously, if we're just
talking about in terms of coronavirus Texas a and m Tennessee,
(10:27):
Florida are in states that are going through significant outbreaks
right now. So it's not to say that Louisiana, Alabama
and the others aren't experiencing their own problems. Nor is
it saying that states all around the country haven't experienced
this stuff. But in terms of the SEC footprint, those
states in particular um are on the on the heat,
(10:47):
not so to speak. So you mentioned Labor Day weekend,
they were scheduled. We had three games in Atlanta, while
we had two SEC teams that we're going to play
high profile games in neutral site games. One was going
to be on Sunday, September six, when Mississippi was going
to play Baylor at NRG Stadium in Houston. That's out.
(11:09):
Georgia was set to play Virginia on Labor Day in Atlanta.
That's out because the a c C had bumped back
their season. Now a day later, the SEC comes in with,
you know what, forget all the non conflicting nonconference games
were done. I assume Joe, they feel that they're competitive enough. Again,
I have to pause here and say we have to
(11:31):
discuss all of this as if this season is going
to go mostly according to plan. We understand there could
be cancelations, there could be stuff like what's happened with
Major League Baseball. We have to have this conversation as
if things will happen. I don't consider it to be
a fruitless conversation because we're trying to prepare for the
season as if it's going to happen. So I'm off
(11:53):
my soapbox. I'll just say, um, the Georgia Virginia game
was probably one that people getting excited to watch. But
once the a SEC put things in motion, and now
the SEC thing puts things in motion, I assume that
they feel that their conference is powerful, powerful enough top
to bottom that even playing an abbreviated schedule, perhaps even
(12:14):
a game less than some of these other teams that
will be considered at the top of the rankings, isn't
a problem for them. The league's strength is good enough
for them to get somebody or two teams in the
playoff without a doubt. The SEC is the elite, you know,
conference out of out of all the Power five, even
though you can make the argument that the Big Ten
is catching up rather quickly in the last couple of years.
(12:35):
But to your point in terms of some of the
regions that are that are struggling right now, Texas and Florida.
You look at a Big twelve, they're not having the
same type of sentiment teams like TCU. Teams like Texas
Tech and Texas they're moving ahead. They've actually said that
they wanted to have fifty percent capacity in the stadium
for for long run games. So you're not seeing that
(12:57):
same type of sentiment across the Power five. I think
when you look at some of the games that we're
gonna lose out on, it's not just the Labor Day
week games, because you could throw in Auburn and North
Carolina into the mix, and then Alabama was scheduled to
play usc they were supposed to or had talks so
would rather be y U step in or Notre Dame,
So throw that out the window. But the September twelve
(13:20):
games really hinge on terms of a national landscape and
enthusiasm and TV broadcast. You're gonna lose out on Texas
traveling to Baton Rouge to face l s U. That
matchup took place on September twelve. That's gone. And Oklahoma
Tennessee in Norman was a huge game for the volunteers
and Jeremy Pruitt forget that along with Ohio State Oregon
(13:43):
that was supposed to take place in Eugene, and the
a C C U SEC rivalry games were thought. Maybe
the door was open when the a SEC announced their plan,
but those games had to be in state by a
SEC rule, so it had made them effectively all home games,
although Georgia Georgia Tech that could have been played on
Georgia's campus, Florida Florida State could have been played on
(14:05):
Florida's Florida could have been played on either campus, and uh,
you know, Kentucky, Louisville, South Carolina, Clemson. Those four rivalry
games would have been open to being played via the
a SECS by laws and still with the SEC being
added in. But perhaps they assumed that not all of
the fourteen teams could scramble to find a worthy opponent opponent,
(14:28):
so they just eliminated that because if you know, if
A and M isn't able to play anybody in state
because they didn't have room, it just would have gotten difficult.
The landscape got a lot harder for the top teams
in the country. And I'm just gonna talk about the
SEC right now in terms of Alabama, Traditionally, you look
at last year in terms of strength of schedule, Alabama
(14:50):
had one of the weakest in terms of the SEC,
dead last five percent winning percentage. Now Alabama is gonna
face Florida. They have never faced Florida in the regular
season almost every other ten years or decade. Now they're
gonna face Florida. They're gonna face Georgia at home in Tuscaloosa.
Those are two critical battles for Alabama this year that
(15:12):
wouldn't have taken place with the scenario in terms of COVID.
So we're gonna see that. We're gonna see Florida, Texas,
A and M. We're gonna see Ole Miss in Tennessee.
So we have a schedule that really is gonna be
entertaining and and this is gonna be a different but
unique college football season and I really can't wait to
see how it plays out. We mentioned a few of
(15:34):
the games that were lost. You said Tennessee, O Gloma, LSU, Texas,
Mississippi State was going to play NC State, Baylor, Ole Miss.
I mentioned Arkansas was playing Notre Dame Vandy, Kansas State.
That's gone A and m Colorado, Alabama USC as a
result of a previous decision by the PAC twelve. And
then Georgia, Virginia and Auburn North Carolina that we've mentioned
(15:54):
as well. So those are I mean, that's late alone.
That's a lot of good games that go by the wayside. Obviously. Uh,
it's still good news that they're moving forward with this
ten game schedule. It doesn't seem like there will be
any adjustments this conferences are starting to settle in to
what they feel comfortable with, Joe, They really are and
it should play out in the month of December, Mike
(16:15):
for the College Football Playoff, which teams are gonna be
really prepared at the end of the year, not just
on the field, but from the COVID aspect. And maybe
that's why the SEC has for more time. Yeah, I
think that's possible. A conference only model eliminates games against
Group of five and FCS teams. Those buy games. SEC
(16:36):
teams pay steep prices, sometimes as much as one and
a half million dollars a game to their traveling competitors.
In fact, SEC teams in ten paid out more than
forty five million dollars in buy games according to end
the school and see a reports obtained by S. It's
obtained by Sports Illustrated. I should note that the author
of this article is Ross Dellinger, Uh, really good college
(16:59):
football writer. So that's really it as far as the
SEC is concerned. We will continue and track to see
as all the games are released, we will get a
sense of how we can pin down what the odds
might look like. Who has a better schedule, weaker schedule.
I think they need a little bit more time in
order to get all of that stuff settled. But I
(17:20):
think we're days away, possibly Joe, from having that. So
we'll come back. We'll talk about the a c c
S decision to go to Conference plus one. After this
on the Grid, It's Mike and Joe will be right back.
Sports grid dot Com Betting insights and entertainment at your
fingertips seven as our team covers the most important topics
in sports wagering, real time odds, predictive betting models, expert picks,
(17:42):
and more. Want the edge than get on the grid
Sports grid dot Com. M You're watching Sports one Back
(18:13):
on the Grid, Mike and Joe talking about the a
c c S decision to move forward with their football season. Now,
as we're going over these conferences and decisions made, it
has to be noted that in the case of the
SEC they've noted September is the plan to move forward,
doesn't mean it's definitely going to happen. Uh. They've got
(18:34):
a lot of issues with students that may or may
not be coming back to campus. I've heard of anecdotal
issues where students are just deciding to defer for a year.
If you're a freshman, you defer, you enter some sort
of service program, and you can come back. I think
a lot of students will consider doing that if they
can't be on campus and experience college the way that
(18:55):
they intended. So imagine the difficulty of hand university issues
and how football or any other sports can play into it. So,
the a c C confirms that Notre Dame will play
a ten game conference schedule and be eligible for the
league title game. In addition to that, the a c
(19:15):
C also and that that was a couple of days ago.
Then they also announced that they are moving to a
eleven game schedule across the board, playing a ten game
conference schedule plus one that plus one game. Joe has
to be an in state game, so doesn't mean it
has to be an in state rival. But you take
(19:37):
my alma mater, Boston College, they would probably play a
team that's local. It could be a Yukon or U
mass in order to fill in that game. Based on
all these other things, It's like you said in the
last segment, they're not gonna have an SEC team, or
a Packed twelve team or a Big ten team travel
The Big twelve hasn't shut it down yet, but with
the other four saying their conference only except for the
(20:00):
a CEC, that would be the only other option. But
do we really think that Big twelve teams and a
SEC teams are gonna get together when it's gonna be
all a CEC home games. That seems unlikely. It does,
But I like the model that the a c C
put forth and and I credited the way they move forward.
They put out the schedule on Wednesday night of this week,
and they got fans excited. They gave us matchups that
(20:24):
were not traditionally gonna see. I mean, you look at
the Clemson Tigers overall, their schedule got a lot harder
from the start of the year. I mean, they're gonna
face Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech possibly two of the best
defensive fronts that came out of the coast. So now
Clemson faces them. So those are the type of matchups
that we're gonna see. Notre Dame played Florida State a
(20:46):
couple of years ago, They're gonna play them again. So
and I think that they did the right decision as
well with the out of conference games, giving the local
FCS schools the potential to earn our paycheck from the
a c C. Because these schools are losing or hemorrhaging
money right now. Mike, you look at just you know,
Virginia Tech within the conference. If they don't play football
(21:08):
in Virginia Tech, poses could lose seventy million dollars to
that school or university. So, you know, money does drive
the bus, as it always does. But I like the
model set forth by the a c C this year.
So each the season will commence over span of several
days from September seven to September twelve. Each conference school
(21:28):
have two by weekends in a season that, if played,
would be stretched out over thirteen weeks. Uh that we
talked about the Chick fil A games going by the
wayside that impact at Florida State, West Virginia, Georgia, Virginia,
and North Carolina Auburn Notre Dame, that Navy BC at Kansas,
Florida State at Boise State are affected as well, along
(21:49):
with a handful of other games. So the a SEC
confirms that for the kicker who Notre Dames playing the
ten game conference schedule, they'd be eligible to play in
the league championship game. They're going with one conference, no divisions,
whereas the SEC keeps the divisions in place. The a
CEC decides to go to one division show this is
(22:10):
what COVID has brought about. I think it's great though
that Notre Dame has joined the conference. They're taking the
Big twelve type of model where you take the top
two teams and whichever top two teams in the standings
they go to the conference championship games. So again, I
like the fact that they mixed it up. I like
that we have some intriguing matchups and this is gonna
(22:30):
be a very competitive a c C schedule. In terms
of the football season, Clemson head and shoulders above the rest,
but it's gonna be a lot horner in terms of
their road. Getting back to the a c C championship game. Yeah,
so the game the championship team will be played in
Charlotte either the weekend of December twelve or nineteen. I'm
(22:51):
not sure why it's shifting. It had been scheduled for
December five, possibly maybe that that weekend of the twelve, right,
I guess, I guess that's right. Yeah, the Fighting Irish
would be also eligible to claim the a CC's Orange
Bowl birth if it's not in the college football. That's
a monumental development. For this reason, Notre Dame has never
(23:13):
played in a conference championship game before, Joe, since it
began playing the sport way back in here's time for
your tribute. Question. What year? What year did they start
playing a conference a conference scheme? When didn't Notre Dame
start playing football? That's the question. It never played in
a conference game, So they started playing eighteen forty six?
(23:34):
I have no idea eighteen eighty seven close enough. Uh,
it's post Civil War, not pre Civil War. Uh. They've
been a football independent for each one of those one
hundred and thirty three seasons. And as you stated, they
released the schedule. So we have a bunch of games
on this late now that we can take a look at, uh,
they did it in a crazy graphic oriented way. So
(23:58):
I'll try to uh to keep them as much as possible. Now,
all the dates are to be announced. They're still arranging this.
But let's take Clemson. You mentioned before. Their home games
are BC, Miami Pit Syracuse, Virginia road games, Florida State,
Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest. So you
(24:18):
throw a Notre Dame road game on there, that makes
your schedule a little trickier than it was. Do we
think Clemson is better than Notre Dame this year? Absolutely,
but they're not undefeated. Their damn close to it, Clemson,
but they're not undefeated in conference play, and playing Notre
Dame on the road is a little kicker. Yeah, that is.
I mean that game was scheduled priorate. But the game
that stands out for me, Mike, the game that stands
(24:41):
out for me when you just I mentioned Virginia Tech
and Pittsburgh, those two games, and now you add Dieri
King in Miami, an elite quarterback as well. I mean
when you go back prior to you know, in the
mid two thousand's, Clemson and Miami played some stellar games.
Go to that matchup in the in the Orange Bowl
with c. J. Spiller and Jacoby Ford back in in
(25:02):
two thousand and nine. I mean, there's been some fantastic finishes.
So I mean again, Clemson head and shoulders above the
rest within the conference forty nine and four straight up
since two thousand and fourteen. But you now throw in
some of these coastal matchups, gonna be a lot harder
for the Clemson Tigers to get back there. You mentioned
de Eric King. Here's their schedules. They play at home
(25:25):
Florida State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Pitt Virginia there on
the road at Clemson, Louisville, n C State, Virginia Tech,
Wake Forest. Look, a lot of these schedules are going
to look similar this year because they're playing mostly a
conference schedule. But you do duck a few teams obviously,
and George in Miami schedule doesn't really feel like they
(25:47):
ducked anybody, right, They have Florida State and Clemson on
their Louisville, Virginia Tech obviously lost their big player in
Caleb Farley, but they and Sam how you're in love
with Sam. How so they got to face a tough
quarterback there, and pitt defense. We keep Pitts defense comes
up over and over on the show, whether it's you
or Rich Jermanello, the other host of College Football Today. Uh,
Pitt has a really tough defense to contend against. So,
(26:10):
whether these games are scheduled prior or not, Miami has
a full slate of games here against teams that are
not soft opponents within the conference, not at all. And
Miami's weakness, Mike, on top of not having fall camp,
has been the offensive line. We've talked about a fifty
one sacks allowed as a unit. That unit develops in
spring camp, it develops all all summer long in terms
(26:33):
of strength and conditioning, and then in fall camp. Now
throw in a new quarterback in Diara King. I mean,
he's one of the most athletic in college football. But
playing within a suspect offensive line without that cohesiveness, that's
gonna be a problem. And you mentioned Pitt Virginia Tech
possibly again, they have about eight storters coming back. Takeaway
(26:54):
Caleb Fairley from that defense. This is a legitimate defensive
front for justin Flente and the hockey and you look
at some of the other quarterbacks, Hennon Hooker from Virginia Tech.
You have Kenny Pickett from Pittsburgh that is a senior quarterback.
So these are the type of teams that are standing
in the way of potential roadblocks for Clemson in Miami,
(27:14):
and it's gonna be intriguing. The a c C did
it right. They had TV ratings in mind as well
when they developed this schedule. So Notre Dame, let's talk
about them in the context of this specifically. Obviously it's
the biggest change to all of this. They gave Notre
Dame a bailout there already playing six opponents anyway, so
some would say they didn't really extend themselves that much,
(27:35):
but I think it makes sense that it's a it's
a working business relationship. I don't have any faith that
Notre Dame is going to be a permanent a CC
member in football anytime soon. I'm sure they got some
of the TV revenue shared with them for this arrangement.
But in terms of how all of the teams line up,
Clemson's at the top, is Notre Dame next? Yeah, Notre
(27:59):
Dame in Virginia's Hecko the two top In my opinion,
and I know Pittsburgh's defensive front is there, but the
struggle for Pittsburgh was offensive consistency. So they were averaged
five and a half yards to carry. Two years ago
they dipped to three and a half yards per carry.
Kenny Pickett hasn't developed, but Ian Book, in my opinion,
now is the second best quarterback behind Trevor Lawrence. That
(28:20):
offense is explosive, the defense has playmakers, and Brian Kelly
has lost the Clemson over the last couple of meetings,
so he's chomping at that bit for that November six matchup.
How about a dark horse team here Louisville. They've bounced back,
rebuilt a little quicker than we might have anticipated. Florida
State dealing with yet another new head coach. Any other
(28:43):
dark horses out there. I'd love to you for you
to say my alma mater, but I don't have any
expectations there. The first year coach now meet Carl cutting
him in Louisville are loaded offensively, Javian Hawkins to to
at Well Dez Fitzpatrick. I mean this is a nine
potential nine when football team, I mean prior. This is
prior with the old schedule. With the new schedule got
(29:05):
a little bit more difficult to need. Defense needs consistency,
but I'll still say it there. I like Virginia Tech.
I like Hendon Hooker thirteen touchdown passes, two interceptions. Both
interceptions came against Virginia in the last regular season game.
Their defenses loaded. Trade Turner's a big play wide receiver.
I like Justin Flente and what he has in terms
(29:27):
of a foundation with Virginia Tech and Blacksburgh. Virginia Tech
road games are Duke Louisville, North Carolina, Pitt and Wake Forest, UM.
Louisville's road games r DC, Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, Pitt,
and Virginia. So all the schedules, like I said, are
looked pretty much the same. We'll start to see how
(29:50):
these lineup as the dates come out, doesn't line up
a little bit better for other teams, and we'll start
to take a look at some of these individual matchups
of these lines that are on the board now on
the ban to a sports book, Joe and I'll talk
about it right after this on Football Full Circle. Get
on the Grid sports grid dot Com Betting insights and
entertainment at your fingertips as our team covers the most
(30:11):
important topics in sports wagering, real time odds, predictive betting models,
expert picks, and more. Want the edge than get on
the grid Sports grid dot Com. M Back on the Grid,
(30:52):
Mike and Joe talking about college football right now and
a little bit of bad news regarding the COVID situation
Rutgers COVID nineteen I'll break. This is according to John
Taylor from College Football uh Talk on NBC Sports outbreak
reportedly tied to party attended by several football players. So
I think this is going to be an issue for
(31:13):
a while. Joe, I think much in the way that
baseball players, I think culturally are used to going out
because they're going from city to city there on the
road so long. College players they're young. We're talking about eighteen, nineteen,
twenty year olds. In many instances, they're gonna go out there.
They don't feel like they're going to be in harm's
way from the virus, And by and large, a lot
(31:36):
of the cases are asymptomatic or mild. But it's the
after effects. It's not about them being sick, them being hospitalized,
them being on ventilators, necessarily it is about what happens
to the logistics of the program, and Rutgers had to
shut it down because a bunch of players attested positive.
And what's interesting, Mike, is the fact that it's a
(31:58):
new head coach slash oh head coach and Greg Siano. Now,
so you know when a new head coach comes in,
it takes a while. They have to have team meetings,
he has to establish the foundation. And unfortunately, without fall
spring camp excuse me taking place, I'm sure that that
factored into the coaching staff being able to at least
(32:19):
inform their players about what they expect what they need
to do from a book precaution standpoint, that one on
one coaching that takes place throughout the year and and
unfortunately Rutgers is that, uh the wrong side of the spectrum.
In Michigan State as well, another new head coach in
terms of melt Tucker and the same type of situation
(32:41):
within the Big Twelve. And that's the type of situation
that we have to monitor because we see teams like
Oklahoma with a veteran coaching staff in Lincoln Riley last
week again no positive tests. So that's the type of
situation that we have to monitor as the month of
August comes around. Week by week. Clemson had a ton
of cases ut Oklahoma. They've been dry able to drive
(33:05):
those cases down. Judith Parish Chiley, the state health Commissioner
for New Jersey, state in which you live, Joe. She
said here there's been an outbreak of Rutgers football players,
with fifteen of them currently testing positive. She said while
grouping together list of indoor and outdoor gatherings. These examples
that we share today account for one new cases of
COVID etcetera, etcetera. Uh so, uh, that's the reality. I think.
(33:30):
You know what's funny is I think funny strange is
that a lot of people out there, like gosh, I
just don't know anybody that's gotten this virus. It's it's
terrible what's happening on TV. Some people are less convinced.
But I have a similar anecdotal story a friend of mine,
back before New York was even even really in shutdown mode.
(33:51):
It was right around that time he had gone to
a party, not dissimilar to what these UH players have done.
This guy's a lot younger than me. He's a friend,
uh younger brother of a friend and he and his
fiance went to this party a week later. Most of
the party had symptoms. Has ended up being where he
felt like he had the flu for a bunch of days.
(34:12):
Fiance feels like she had she lost her taste, sense
of taste and smell. So they're young people. They bounced back,
they're having a good summer. But again it's just indicative
of not how sick they can get, which could be severe.
And obviously getting coaches and older people involved with the
program involved makes it a little bit riskier. But it's
(34:34):
just about having to do with Oklahoma and Clemson did
and drive these cases down aggressively. Quarantine, wear, masks, v
sanitary those are the types of things that every all
programs plus they're going to have to get used to.
They're gonna have to do it, and they're gonna have
to be consistent in terms of their approach. And that's
the mindset of football players, right they're strong, they're big,
(34:57):
they're physical, but we're talking about virus that you can't see,
you can't really really dictate, or you can't understand where
it affects you or how it's going to affect you.
You need to take proper precaution and and when you
look at both of those programs, like we mentioned Rutgers
in Michigan State, unfortunately they've been under five hundred programs
(35:20):
now Michigan State seven and six over the last couple
of years. But they're going in the opposite directions as
some of the other teams that we mentioned, like Clemson,
like Alabama, like the top tier programs Oklahoma. Where's the mindset?
I think mindset has a lot to play in this
type of situation as well. You know, when new kids
come into school or a program, they don't know what
(35:43):
to expect. And we understand that in Oklahoma, Clemson, l
s U, Alabama, there's a culture there and it takes
a while for the coach to instill that culture in
in the mindset of the team. So it's a feeling
out process. Each team has to deal with it. But
it's gonna be a situation, a team by team scenario
(36:04):
that plays out week to week in college football, and
we have to monitory shiannow is not Shianno, is not
somebody that's unaccustomed to discipline and unaccustomed to winning cultures.
So I'm sure they'll all get on the same page
very shortly, so one thing I wanted to do to
have a little bit more fun. There has been more
(36:25):
lines released on the Vandals Sports Book in terms of
college football games. Now, uh, they still have some editing
to do. Uh, full disclosure, there's some games on their
listed with an improper date. And look, this is all
happening very quickly. Within the last couple of days as
we're filming this, A, C, C and SEC teams have
(36:47):
changed their schedules completely. So you're gonna go on the
Vandal Sports Book. Just give them a day or so.
They'll adjust some of the dates of these games. And
there's still more dates to be released, but let's go
with some of the ones that are still on the schedule.
We don't have odds yet for some of those early
Big Twelve games that are still on Missouri State at Oklahoma,
Southern miss at Kansas. Time is to be determined on that.
(37:08):
But we assume right now, Joe, that those are the
first games that are going to happen. The Big Twelve
has not pushed back their start. They haven't said conference only,
so we can assume those to be the first two.
We don't have odyes on those yet. Is that fair
to say that is that that's fair and expect Oklahoma
to be about a thirty to thirty five point favorite
in that matchup with Spencer Rattler taking over at the
(37:30):
helm for Lincoln Riley's offense. And I think that when
you look at Oklahoma's decision to play that game August
twenty nine, it was due in part to their September
twelve game that just got canceled with Tennessee to give
them an extra game in terms of preparation, and then
have a bye week before that matchup, So now their
schedule changes a bit. So I think when you look
(37:52):
at Kansas and less Miles, again, they need to start fast.
He's an offense and a defensive line that's in transition.
They need to oilden identity before they get into conference place.
So there's a reason why both of those teams are
starting the season on August twenty nine, But again I
don't blame them for it. The earlier that you could
(38:12):
kick it off and get your team in terms of
the consistency, Mike right, the creatures a habit. The earlier
that you could kick off your season and establish that
gives your team an opportunity to at least have a
successful season. Yeah, so that's the funky thing, right. There
was a moment I felt like, probably three or four
weeks ago when you and I talked, where we were
(38:34):
trying to make sure that these seasons all kicked off
as soon as possible so that we can get done
with them quicker, more quickly. But the way things have evolved,
it's becoming pretty obvious that for the most part, it's
going to be difficult to kick off on time because
of the things we're seeing with Rutgers, with Michigan State.
(38:54):
So some of these conferences have taken pause and said,
you know what, let's not do it on August twenty nine.
Let's do it on September twelve. Let's talk about that
first game Clemson Louisville. We still have listed right now
September twelve, just assuming that that's now that's going to happen,
not being to not be an adjusted game. Clemson twenty
(39:14):
one and a half point favorites on the road at Louisville,
and this could be a tough opening start for Clemson because, again,
game one, you want to work out the kinks, you
want to build a quarterback to wide receiver, relationship. Clemson's
leading wide receiver, Justin Ross is not there. He's hurt
for the year. So where's Clemson's mindset? Last year they
(39:34):
opened up and demolished Georgia Tech, which was a one
dimensional offense with Jeff Collins at the helm, and went
from a triple option attack to a more balanced attack.
Now they're playing one of the most lethal offenses within
the conference with their quarterback Mikael Cunningham. And Mikael Cunningham
is a dual threat quarterback. He rushed for over four
hundred yards average four yards per carry. Like I said before,
(39:58):
two big play wide receivers you do at well Dez
Fitzpatrick and throw in fifteen hundred yard rusher j Beyond Hawkins.
This is a tough animal Week one for Clemson. Twenty
one and a half is a huge number. But keep
in mind, Mike, you look at Clemson's margin of victory
within the a c C last year ten and oh
(40:19):
they won by thirty six point seven points per game.
So Clemson should be favorite. But it's a very difficult
Week one matchup. Yeah, So bumping up to the next one,
Week three, which is now listen as Week three, it's
gonna end up being Week one and a half or
week two. We got Minnesota, Iowa, Alabama, Georgia listed here
(40:41):
on the nineteenth, So that would be Alabama currently a
seven point under favorite on the road against Georgia. What
do you think? Yeah, I would lay the wood here
with with Alabama. Now that's not to take away from
my Georgia Bulldogs. Those those people that know me know
that I packed Georgia the big way. But Jamie Newman
(41:01):
making the road start in Tuscaloosa without the preparation is
going to be the main What if it's in Athens?
If it's in Athens. Now see the reason I pause
because we have to say if, because there's some things
that aren't potentially going to change. So we're taking a
look as it as scheduled. Currently, Alabama would be at Georgia.
(41:26):
Now things can change. Since they've reduced to ten games,
they move some things around. It's possibly see some games
get eliminated, some added. But if Alabama remains at Georgia
on the nineteenth, what do you think? Sorry, we're no
fans were less than let's say I'm taking out with
them and Mac Jones. I really am in that type
of atmosphere. Let's let's look at the wide receiver position.
(41:49):
Jalen Wattle is there, DeVonta Smith not j Harris, Those
players have played there before. You still have a raw
offensive line that loses three starters with Georgie Jamie Newman
transfers in George Pickens only a sophomore. Z a mere
White is only a sophomore. Give me Alabama and that
type of scenario about we got one more here in
(42:11):
the SEC ole Miss at Auburn that same day, nine
and a half point favorites are Auburn hosting Mississippi with
Lanola like Auburn. Auburn, prior to this whole COVID situation,
was my pick to win the SEC West. I'm not
backing down now. I love what uh Gus miles On
has done in terms of the progression of his quarterback boat. Next,
(42:34):
they add Chad Morris, the former SMU and Arkansas coaches
offensive play caller. That should bring more balance. And when
you just look at the defensive line for Ole Miss,
they stepped up last year under Mike McIntyre Chris Partridge
a new defensive scheme. I liked the physicality of Auburn
in that matchup last game for this segment, Stanford playing
(42:56):
USC that same day would potentially be September than teams.
We're gonna act as if that happens. Right now, USC
is a nine point favorite at home. Yeah, I would
lay the wood with us C. I'm not sold on
the consistency of Stanford. They got away from their identity.
Give me Keaton Slovis and armand st Brown to dominate
(43:17):
that matchup. How about one more if I dip into
the next week, I want to see this game is
still happening. Clemson announces Clemson with the new SEC A
CEC football schedule. It says Clemson is hosting Virginia. Ray
have it listed here as a Virginia home game. A
thirty and a half point underdog. Do you think Clemson's
(43:40):
gonna put up almost a five touchdown win against Virginia?
They did in the in the in the A SEC
Championship game, and that was with Bryce Perkins at the helm.
You have a new quarterback that comes over. Uh In
terms of Keaton Thompson for Mississippi State transferred into Virginia,
so again with him at the helm, it doesn't matter
to me. Clen is the superior team, although Charles Snowden,
(44:03):
an elite talent from the linebacker fur of Virginia. Keep
an eye out for him and he's definitely a first
round talent. Yeah, I think they could have used the
game at home fans or no fans, but not looking
good for them. We're gonna come back close out for
this hour of football Full Circle with Joe and myself
will be right back on the grid after this. Sports
(44:23):
grid dot Com betting insights and entertainment at your fingertips
as our team covers the most important topics in sports wagering,
real time odds, predictive betting models, expert picks, and more.
Want the edge than get on the grid. Sports grid
dot Com closing out this hour of football Full Circle
(44:48):
and Ross Tellinger again from sports ill State. I've been
using him a lot lately for some good information. The
n c A is allowing schools to begin camp according
to their previously scheduled season openers, so that means it's
a seven week preseason for the SEC unless the conference
are schools determined differently. The n c A is not
(45:09):
expected to, so the normal twenty hour rule week kicks
in once the season. Once classes start, so you start
to do the math. They're getting a seven week preseason
out of this. They seemingly get to prepare longer than
everybody else. And my wrong or is everybody's gonna be
seven weeks? It seems like the SEC is getting a
(45:31):
longer preseason here. It does. I wonder if Nick Saban
had any input on that type of decision by the SEC,
because without spring camp, you know it as well as anybody, Mike,
these younger players need to get to develop because they're
going to be instrumental if the COVID situation plays out.
And I'm sure that's in the background of Kirby smart
(45:54):
Edo geron Nick Saban. If players go down, you need
to know who you can turn to without even thinking
about it. And that's I'm sure what Nick Saban and
those SEC coaches are thinking about in terms of the
extra weeks of preparation. Yeah so. Greg Sanky also said
that the SEC's mid season bye week is going to
be spread to all schools over a three week stretch.
(46:16):
He didn't elaborate beyond that. He said there will be
a December twelveth shared off week, so that title game
is the nineteen It looks like nobody will play on
the twelfth in order to ensure that they have some
sort of break assuming if and when Bowl games happen.
You and I both love the Bowl games. Even though
there's tons of them out there that you know, there's
(46:37):
not a lot of attendance. Are these Bowl games but
interesting show to watch? I would say that in general,
I don't know what the story is going to be
with the Bowl games. Do do they get rid of them?
Do they still have it in place? What do you think?
I would like to pose a scenario for the bowl games?
I say this, let's have the college football playoff. Let's
take the bowl game type of scenario, and let's have
(46:59):
like an end I T type of tournament for the
group of five and the other remaining Power five teams.
I think that would be fantastic. It's not bad, but
you know, those guys are gonna want to start prepping
for the draft, even at some of those schools. So uh,
we'll continue to try to get more information as we
go along. I think Vandals Sports Book has got a
(47:20):
lot to work on in terms of getting these new
games some odds, and we'll be excited when they do.
It might even be assumed as next week when Joe
appears so on behalf of our producer Brian Rotkowski, Joe
Leasy at Go for the Two on Twitter, and co
host of College Football Today Mike Lewett. We'll see on
Football full Circle next time. Get on the Grid sports
(47:41):
grid dot Com betting insides and entertainment at your fingertips
seven as our team covers the most important topics in
sports wagering, real time odds, predictive betting models, expert picks
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