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Post-Spring College Football Top 25 for the 2026 Season · The PatteFacts: A College Football Show

• 0:20
  And here we go, another episode of The Paddifax streaming on
• 0:29
  Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and wherever you may be
• 0:34
  listening or watching. I'm William Patterson, we
• 0:38
  appreciate you hanging out with us on this May 18th, 2026.
• 0:43
  And this is the first episode inside the brand new college
• 0:47
  football studio. How about this place?
• 0:49
  We got some Fernando Mendoza, some Nick Saban on the right,
• 0:54
  Tim Tebow up top, some bobbleheads, Jeremiah Love, one
• 0:59
  of my favorite players from this past season at Notre Dame, Joe
• 1:03
  Burrow from LSU up top, Caleb Williams, and also the Mannings
• 1:08
  are well represented too. We've got the whole thing over
• 1:10
  here. And if you didn't watch our
• 1:12
  video that we put out on Instagram last Sunday, then you
• 1:17
  get to see it for the first time.
• 1:19
  How about it lights, camera, everything been such a fun
• 1:23
  process, sometimes stressful as well, I will note over the last
• 1:27
  two to three months. But this is something that I've
• 1:29
  wanted to do as we continue to try and make this thing more
• 1:33
  than just a college football page, right?
• 1:35
  You know, there are there are a bunch of them out there, but
• 1:38
  we're trying to differentiate ourselves by putting out content
• 1:43
  like this, by continuing to pump out the stuff that you want to
• 1:46
  see and interact with on the social media channels and also
• 1:50
  just kind of make this more of a, a face and a brand than just
• 1:54
  some faceless identity. So, so excited to launch this
• 1:58
  and once again, really appreciative of all of you that
• 2:01
  have followed this journey, whether it be on Instagram or
• 2:04
  here on YouTube, whatever it may be.
• 2:06
  I really appreciate it. It's allowed me to do this, but
• 2:09
  now it's trying to, you know, it's not a now the time I should
• 2:12
  say, as I'm stumbling through trying to even thank people.
• 2:17
  It is now the time to continue turning this up a little bit.
• 2:20
  And we're going to be doing so all college football season.
• 2:23
  So make sure you're following whether it be on Instagram at
• 2:27
  the Padifax or Twitter at the Padifax and also here on YouTube
• 2:32
  because outside of Apple podcast and Spotify, we're putting out
• 2:35
  these episodes on camera on YouTube so you can sit back and
• 2:39
  watch it. And also it's Memorial Day
• 2:42
  coming up too. So you might be driving around
• 2:43
  town, headed to the lake, headed to the beach, wherever it may
• 2:46
  be. You're covered both ways.
• 2:48
  You can watch it in the back of the car or you can listen to it
• 2:51
  as you drive down the road. I don't suggest watching and
• 2:53
  driving, but hey, maybe you want to do that too.
• 2:55
  But great stuff. So excited to get into it.
• 2:59
  And let's do just that because we've got my post spring top 25
• 3:04
  teams and college football heading into the new season.
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  And this weekend I did what every post grad 23 year old does
• 3:13
  in May, which is sit around and get ready for the 2026 college
• 3:19
  football season by putting together 12 pages of notes for
• 3:23
  this top 25 group. And there are some teams that
• 3:26
  didn't make the cut, but I still did notes on.
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  We'll start off with those here in a moment, but there's
• 3:31
  preparation that goes into this. Folks.
• 3:32
  If you don't know me personally or I haven't seen my stuff
• 3:35
  before, the whole point of this is to be enlightened, to learn
• 3:39
  something. And I hopefully think you will
• 3:42
  do that by the end of today's episode.
• 3:45
  If if you don't send me Adm and I'll, I'll get better, I
• 3:48
  promise. Let's start with this our First
• 3:51
  things first topic, the on the cut group and we'll get to that.
• 3:56
  And when I say on the cut, I kind of sectioned this top 25
• 4:00
  out. We're going to go down the list,
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  We'll start on the cut and then we'll go 25 to one.
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  But I kind of separated it into the teams I believe are elite.
• 4:09
  The teams I think are fringe elite, the teams that are big
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  brands or have a coach or a quarterback that I have a lot of
• 4:16
  trust in, but I do have some questions about the rest of the
• 4:20
  team. And then like 25 to 15 is just
• 4:24
  who you believe. What do you believe in?
• 4:27
  So you'll see it as I go down the list, but I've kind of
• 4:29
  sectioned it out to to make it easier for you as well towards
• 4:33
  the teams I believe in and maybe you won't.
• 4:37
  The teams that I have a couple of questions about the team that
• 4:39
  I believe are fringe elite and then those elite teams.
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  So watch it cover. Let's get into it on the cut.
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  No specific order here, but I'm going to touch on them briefly.
• 4:50
  Missouri Eli Drinkowitz heads into another season in Columbia.
• 4:55
  He brings in Ole Miss transfer quarterback Austin Simmons, who
• 4:59
  had an interesting timeline last year, began the season as a
• 5:02
  Rebel starter, got a little bit bruised up.
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  Trinidad Chambliss came in and obviously the rest was history
• 5:08
  for that Rebels team, but he still has a lot left in the
• 5:12
  tank. He's a very smart guy.
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  Think he's already graduated college and he's still got two
• 5:18
  to three years of eligibility remaining.
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  So that tells you the type of student he is.
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  But he needs to be a student of the game a little bit better
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  because there were moments specifically against Kentucky
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  last year and that first quarter we had two interceptions to the
• 5:31
  same player. And it it just was frustrating
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  to watch because he was supposed to be the up and coming next
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  piece for Ole Miss following Jackson Dart, but he never lived
• 5:41
  up to that expectation. Now finds himself in Como.
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  His receiver Kaden Lee, who transferred him from Ole Miss
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  comes over as well. And I like that duo.
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  And I also really like the running back.
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  That running back position got a little interesting last week and
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  I say that with an inflection on my voice, not to be necessarily
• 6:00
  a positive way, but more so just a crazy thing that transpired if
• 6:04
  you didn't catch it. Ahmad Hardy, the SE CS leading
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  rusher last year, got shot in the leg at a concert in
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  Mississippi and he is thankfully OK, but he is going through
• 6:17
  physical therapy right now and the question as to whether he's
• 6:20
  going to be available for the 2026 season is still up in the
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  air. So if he's 100% healthy, I think
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  Missouri could easily be a top 25 team heading into the season.
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  But just the doubt there keeps him on the cut for me.
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  Next up is Clemson. Now I know you might be saying
• 6:37
  William, why are we trusting Clemson?
• 6:40
  Well, I trust Dabo Sweeney, and I know that might sound even
• 6:43
  more ridiculous because he hasn't necessarily adapted to
• 6:48
  college football the way that some other coaches have, and I
• 6:52
  think that has continued to put him in tough spots.
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  But he's at Clemson. He has built that program to
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  what it is. He has won national
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  championships. He is taking teams or taking
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  teams with different quarterbacks and different
• 7:06
  personnels to the highest stage. He hasn't necessarily done so
• 7:10
  recently, but he still got that in his repertoire.
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  He's done it before and I know last season was a big
• 7:17
  disappointment. You need none other than me to
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  tell you that because I had Clemson as the number one team
• 7:23
  in college football last year. I had Clemson winning the
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  national championship pre season.
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  And before you turn off this episode and before you forget me
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  forever, I understand it did not go as planned.
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  But that talent was there. That roster had it up and down.
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  It just was a bad start to the year losing LSUI.
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  Do believe if Antonio Williams plays that full game, then
• 7:45
  things might have gone differently.
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  But I'll put the hand up. I was wrong, but I still got a
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  little bit of faith in Dabo Sweeney.
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  And also knowing that that's the college game day game in Week 1.
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  LSU and Clemson, you kind of figure if they're going to be a
• 8:01
  top 25 team anyway, just to fit the narrative of views.
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  But that's not why I'm putting them here.
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  Just, you know, Full disclosure. But I think you're going to
• 8:11
  learn a lot about what Dabo's future looks like Clemson in
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  Week 1 because if they get run off the field, things could can
• 8:18
  get interesting. But if they compete with that
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  immensely A talented LSU team, then I think they could be a
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  contender in the ACC Keep in mind Duke A5 loss team won the
• 8:30
  conference last year. So anything's possible in the
• 8:33
  ACC. We'll move to Arizona.
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  And after that I kind of skipped one, but we'll get back to that
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  here in a moment. Arizona, a lot of people have
• 8:43
  them in the top 25. They're a fringe team for me.
• 8:45
  I like Noah Fafida a lot at quarterback.
• 8:48
  He's one of the most established slingers returning to the
• 8:52
  college football scene this season.
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  He's played for three years. He's finishing out his college
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  career as a Wildcat, even though he could have gone to a lot of
• 9:02
  places in the transfer portal. Him and Totoro, like McMillan
• 9:05
  had such a great chemistry a couple of seasons ago and even
• 9:09
  without him last year, I thought he did a really good job.
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  So this upcoming year it's going to be does he have enough around
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  him? And specifically, does that
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  defense have enough to allow for Feta to do his thing, put up
• 9:24
  points? And that Wildcats defense is
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  then going to have to make stops and a Big 12 that I think could
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  be really chaotic. So they're a top 25 fringe team
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  for me, a lot of it because of Noah Fafita.
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  But this is a group that finished off the 2025 season
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  really well. So we'll see what they can do in
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  2026. Colorado is also a fringe team
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  for me. And I know you might be saying,
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  William, what? How is Colorado a fringe team?
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  Did you see the way they finished last year?
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  Well, sure. But this is a completely
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  different group. Yeah.
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  They lost a couple of big players like a Jordan Seton who
• 9:58
  went to LSU and he was a former five star offensive tackle.
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  It was a Big 12 second team honoree last year, started 9
• 10:06
  games after getting injured, cannot finish the season.
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  But regardless, that was a big loss.
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  I understand it, but I do like what they did in the transfer
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  portal outside of that. Now Julian Lewis is going to be
• 10:19
  their starting quarterback most likely.
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  Isaac Wilson, Zach Wilson's brother is also in contention.
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  Wilson transfers over from Utah so maybe you see him get a go.
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  But one of the big things I've heard out of Colorado as of late
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  is they really like Cam Perry out of Miami, Ohio wide receiver
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  transfer that was an all Mac player last season and is a
• 10:44
  really talented guy for this Buffs team.
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  Kind of a, I don't want to say a Travis Hunter type because it's
• 10:51
  so easy, but it's kind of he's a little Jimmy Horn.
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  He's a little Jimmy Horn to him and I like his play making
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  ability. You've also got Boo Carter, a
• 10:59
  transfer from Tennessee. That's more of the Travis Hunter
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  range of playing. Both sides dealt with some
• 11:04
  problems in Knoxville. Does that continue in Boulder as
• 11:08
  a question? But I also like Gideon.
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  ESPN Lamprey at a Bowling Green was one of the leaders in
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  tackles for loss last season. I think, you know, up and down
• 11:19
  this roster, they've got a lot of talented pieces, but can they
• 11:21
  put it all together and can Julian Lewis be their starting
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  quarterback from Week 1 to the end of the season and do so
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  consistently? Again, I think the Big 12 is
• 11:31
  wide open. Colorado could easily find a way
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  to get momentum within that conference and string off a
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  couple of wins and be in contention for a Big 12 title
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  game like they were two years ago.
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  But they're going to have to have a lot of things put
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  together. That team is going to have to
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  gel, but I like Deion Sanders. I've always liked him.
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  I think he's a great motivator and I think he knows how to get
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  the best out of his kids. I know last year was all over
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  the place, but I've got some reaffirmed confidence in
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  Colorado this upcoming season. Really liked a couple of the
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  additions they made out of the portal.
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  Finally, South Carolina in terms of these on the cut teams.
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  South Carolina is going to be one of the interesting teams in
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  college football this year because I think there were a ton
• 12:16
  of different dynamics. First off, you've got three
• 12:19
  first round picks, quarterback Lenora Sellers, edge Dylan
• 12:24
  Stewart and wide receiver Nick Harbour.
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  All three of those guys can be first round picks.
• 12:29
  So the talent is going to be there.
• 12:31
  But I have questions about the offensive line.
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  Keep in mind that South Carolina last year allowed 44 sacks.
• 12:40
  Lenora Sellers was sacked 44 times.
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  His offensive line hated them. South Carolina this offseason,
• 12:45
  they go out and turn everything on its head.
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  They get rid of last year's group and add in some really
• 12:50
  talented transfers to curious peak at an NC State.
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  Is one of the top offensive tackles available.
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  The problem? Well, he got hurt.
• 12:59
  He got hurt this offseason and he's not going to be a full go
• 13:02
  for the entirety of the season. So what is South Carolina's
• 13:05
  offensive line look like? Are they able to establish the
• 13:08
  run some they struggle with last year as well?
• 13:11
  I'm I'm intrigued by this group because the talent is there, but
• 13:15
  the SEC schedule is going to be difficult.
• 13:17
  The offensive line is a bit of a question mark and Shane Beamer
• 13:21
  is fully on the hot seat. So if he has a tough start to
• 13:24
  the year, I don't even know if he finishes the season.
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  So South Carolina is one of those teams and keeping an eye
• 13:30
  on because I think they could be really good, but I haven't seen
• 13:35
  a lot of positivity out of Shane Beamer's group in the last at
• 13:40
  least. Last year was a disaster.
• 13:41
  I'll say that. They finished off 2024 with some
• 13:44
  momentum, but last year was horrible.
• 13:47
  We'll see about that online. But those are my fringe teams.
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  There are other ones I could have mentioned like in Iowa, but
• 13:55
  the South Carolina, Arizona, Colorado, Clemson, Missouri, my
• 13:58
  fringe teams. And let's get into the top 25.
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  We'll begin at 25. And these are kind of my
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  believers, the teams I'm believing in and #25 the Florida
• 14:13
  Gators, I'm a firm believer. And John summary now, he comes
• 14:18
  over from Tulane, led the Greenway to the College Football
• 14:21
  Playoff last year, won the American Championship.
• 14:26
  He won a Sunbelt championship when he was at Troy.
• 14:29
  He spent four years as a head coach in college football, 2 at
• 14:32
  Troy, 2 at Tulane. And he's been a winner at both
• 14:34
  places at the highest level. And this is a group that is 10th
• 14:40
  in return production in terms of the the guys they're bringing
• 14:43
  back in. That's per, that's the Canelli
• 14:47
  SP Plus on ESPN. That's where that return
• 14:50
  production ranking comes from. But I think that John Summerall
• 14:55
  has done all the right things since he's got on campus.
• 14:58
  He's shaking hands with the most important people on that campus.
• 15:03
  He has changed things in the weight room.
• 15:07
  They gutted everything this past month in that weight room after
• 15:12
  two years ago they spent like 70, five, $85 million on
• 15:16
  renovating everything. He gutted it all out and wanted
• 15:18
  something better. And he's not afraid to make a
• 15:22
  couple of pretty bold statements.
• 15:25
  I think it was two or three weeks ago he said that if
• 15:27
  Florida is not bold eligible, he's going to get up on top of
• 15:30
  Inhill Griffin Stadium and start thinking about things.
• 15:33
  That tells you how serious this guy is.
• 15:35
  I like him a lot. I'm a firm believer in him.
• 15:38
  And I think another interesting dynamic about this Florida team
• 15:41
  is the receiving corps. Now, quarterback, something
• 15:44
  we'll get to here in a moment, but the receiving corps is
• 15:46
  really talented. You bring in Eric Singleton,
• 15:49
  junior, a transfer from Georgia Tech in at wide receiver and
• 15:53
  then you've got Vernell Brown and you've got Dallas Wilson.
• 15:57
  Now, Dallas Wilson I thought was going to blow up last year and
• 16:01
  he did against Texas, but he battled injuries throughout the
• 16:03
  season. He was in a boot and early
• 16:06
  spring camp but took it off and it's supposed to be a full go by
• 16:09
  the 2026 season. And Florida is going to be an
• 16:12
  interesting team because of the talent they have on the
• 16:15
  perimeter, but also at running back where they have Jaden Boss
• 16:18
  still around. And he debated going into the
• 16:21
  transfer portal, but his father came out and said that one of
• 16:25
  the things they were debating was staying at Florida and being
• 16:29
  a legend like the and this is a quote like the likes of Emmett
• 16:32
  Smith and Tim Tebow. Or to hit portal and cash in and
• 16:38
  be a kind of a one hit wonder for another school.
• 16:41
  He decided to stay at Florida. I respect the hell out of that
• 16:43
  and he's a hell of a player. They also had London Montgomery
• 16:46
  join them in the transfer portal and Eastern Carolina transfer.
• 16:50
  So I like the weapons for Florida's offense defense.
• 16:54
  They've got a couple of returning pieces as well.
• 16:56
  But the quarterback position, like a couple of these teams on
• 17:00
  this list is going to be interesting.
• 17:02
  Georgia Tech transfer Aaron Philo and then returning
• 17:06
  youngster Tramel Jones. The two options at quarterback.
• 17:10
  I think either could win it. Philo has familiarity of the
• 17:16
  system with his offensive coordinator coming over to
• 17:18
  Florida, a big reason why Philo joined him.
• 17:22
  But also with Tramel Jones, it's this is a guy that was kind of
• 17:26
  breathing down the neck of DJ Lagway last year.
• 17:28
  A lot of fans wanted to see Jones play because Lagway had
• 17:32
  kind of tapped out his his time had come and it was not going
• 17:35
  much better. People want to see more of
• 17:37
  Tramel Jones and and the minute moments we've seen from him.
• 17:43
  I do like the possibility of him at quarterback.
• 17:45
  So I don't have enough trust in either of those guys to move
• 17:49
  Florida up the up the ranks here.
• 17:51
  But I do really like that receiving core.
• 17:54
  The running back group is solid. I like John Sumwal.
• 17:57
  I'm believing in that, and Florida is a top 25 team because
• 18:01
  of it. We'll move to 24, the Louisville
• 18:05
  Cardinals. Jeff Brom, one of the most
• 18:08
  underrated coaches in college football.
• 18:12
  This guy has been at LSU first, not LSU at Louisville for
• 18:18
  multiple seasons now. And he's continued to go through
• 18:20
  this kind of transfer portal quarterback wave where, you
• 18:25
  know, two or three years ago was Jack Plummer and then it was
• 18:29
  Tyler Shaw, and then this past year is Miller Moss.
• 18:32
  Well, he's going through it again with Lincoln King holes
• 18:36
  from Ohio State. Former highly recruited guy
• 18:40
  battled it out with Julian saying at Ohio State but was not
• 18:43
  able to win the job. And he's going to have the
• 18:46
  opportunity to establish himself in Louisville pretty quick
• 18:49
  because they brought him in to be the starting quarterback.
• 18:52
  So you're going to learn pretty quickly if this guy hits or not.
• 18:55
  But I trust Jeff Brom because he's done this time and time
• 18:58
  again the last three years. He's had a transfer quarterback
• 19:02
  come in, He's won 10 games, nine games and nine games.
• 19:07
  So that's still going to be a top 25 team at the end of the
• 19:10
  season and that's why they're going to get a nod here.
• 19:13
  I trust Jeff Brom. I like the opportunity with
• 19:16
  Keene Holtz, and this is a group that also returns running back
• 19:20
  Isaac Brown, one of the best running backs in the country
• 19:22
  last year. And on the defensive side of the
• 19:24
  ball, you got Antonio Watts back at linebacker.
• 19:26
  So I think this is a unique team, one to keep an eye out in
• 19:31
  the ACC because of the status of the ACC as we know it.
• 19:35
  But they're unique because they continue to go through this
• 19:38
  transfer portal process. And other teams that have done
• 19:41
  this haven't necessarily had that same success in terms of
• 19:44
  just, we're going to get a transfer and he's going to be
• 19:47
  our quarterback. And even if he hadn't been here
• 19:49
  for more than three to four months, that's who we're rolling
• 19:52
  with. Kind of the same philosophy this
• 19:53
  year. But Blom has proven to you that
• 19:56
  he can do it. 24, Louisville, All right, at 23, it's the
• 20:01
  Tennessee Volunteers here in my hometown.
• 20:04
  Current. Wait, wait a minute, Hometown is
• 20:07
  Memphis for me, Hometown is Memphis.
• 20:09
  I live in Knoxville now. I graduated from Tennessee.
• 20:12
  There's some Tennessee Knick knacks around.
• 20:15
  The studio, but 23 is as high as I can go for Tennessee, and it's
• 20:21
  a little bit of a stretch in itself to even include this
• 20:23
  group, but I'm going to because of a couple of different
• 20:27
  variables. Josh Hypo, whether you like him
• 20:29
  or not, has had Tennessee in the mix basically every season
• 20:34
  outside of his first year. In 2022, they were knocking on
• 20:37
  the door of the College Football Playoff, had a Heisman Trophy
• 20:39
  contender and Henan Hooker. 2023.
• 20:43
  They might not have been great, but they were still in the mix
• 20:46
  late in the season and if they did not lose to Georgia, they
• 20:50
  would have had the opportunity to maybe play for another
• 20:53
  College Football Playoff or sneak their way in to the SEC
• 20:56
  Championship. Regardless, they were still
• 20:58
  competitive that year. They lost some games, but they
• 21:00
  were competitive. 2024, they make the College Football
• 21:03
  Playoff this past season with Joey Aguilar, a guy that didn't
• 21:07
  get on campus until May. They're able to win, you know, a
• 21:12
  bunch of let me rephrase it. They didn't beat anyone.
• 21:18
  Tennessee to not beat anyone really the pulse last year.
• 21:20
  But they were in the game with Georgia.
• 21:22
  They were somewhat in the game against Alabama.
• 21:25
  They were in the game against Oklahoma.
• 21:27
  They were in the game against Vanderbilt, how they lost those
• 21:30
  games and had those games gone differently, maybe winning two
• 21:33
  out of the ten or two out of the four Tennessee's in the College
• 21:36
  Football Playoffs. Now, I did not like the way the
• 21:39
  year ended for him, and I think there are some question marks
• 21:41
  for this team, but they renovated everything on the
• 21:45
  defensive side of the ball. You bring in Jim Knowles, the
• 21:48
  former Penn State defensive coordinator and former Ohio
• 21:51
  State defensive coordinator that won the 2024 national title with
• 21:55
  the Buckeyes. And you bring in Derek Owings at
• 21:58
  strength and conditioning coach. And being here in Knoxville, I
• 22:02
  get to talk to a lot of the guys.
• 22:03
  I've got some connections inside the building and a lot of
• 22:06
  people. The moment Derek Owings was
• 22:08
  hired, they said that's going to change a lot of things.
• 22:11
  I think that's one of the biggest additions of the
• 22:15
  offseason. It is Derek Owings to Tennessee.
• 22:19
  He's going to change the culture there at the time and over the
• 22:24
  last couple of years it's been kind of laid back.
• 22:26
  Come in and get your work done. That's not going to be how it is
• 22:30
  under Derrick Owings. That's not.
• 22:33
  And actually, he's already changed a lot as a group, as a
• 22:36
  team. Tennessee's already added 864
• 22:40
  lbs of muscle this offseason. That's a guy that comes in and
• 22:43
  makes a direct impact. And for a team that struggled
• 22:46
  with tackling and tackling angles and fatigue late in
• 22:50
  games, that type of stuff is earned in the weight room.
• 22:54
  That type of stuff is mentally growing in the offseason.
• 22:59
  And if you don't have that type of stuff implemented, your guys
• 23:02
  are going to be weak, they're going to be weak minded, they're
• 23:05
  not going to be able to tackle. And that's exactly what it was
• 23:07
  last year for Tennessee's defense.
• 23:09
  They made a change on the defensive side at coordinator.
• 23:12
  They got the right strength and conditioning coach.
• 23:14
  And I really like the additions they made in the portal up and
• 23:17
  down. You know, whether it being Amari
• 23:19
  Campbell, a guy who had the green dot for the Nittany Lions
• 23:22
  last season, which I think is going to be really big in the
• 23:25
  communication aspect of Jim Noel's defense, which is
• 23:27
  predicated on a lot of communication, a lot of knowing
• 23:31
  where you are. Having a guy that was the
• 23:33
  quarterback of that defense last year for Penn State, I think
• 23:36
  it's going to be really beneficial.
• 23:38
  Jazz Coleman, he's come with a little bit of baggage in terms
• 23:41
  of drama, but he's a guy that's still really, really talented.
• 23:45
  Was one of the top players in the transfer portal.
• 23:48
  Kay and Lee at a cornerback position out of Auburn.
• 23:51
  TJ Metcalf out of Michigan, a safety.
• 23:54
  He's going to be really fun to watch.
• 23:56
  I like this Tennessee defense and I like parts of the
• 23:59
  Tennessee offense. Deshawn Bishop at running back.
• 24:03
  He's a returning starter. Mike Matthews, Braylon Staley, 2
• 24:06
  returning starters on the wide receiver.
• 24:10
  In the wide receiver room, I should say.
• 24:12
  You add in TK Keys. I've got a couple of young
• 24:15
  freshman last year that got to see a little bit of action in
• 24:18
  terms of receiver that are now going to be red shirt freshman
• 24:20
  and sophomores this year. I like the options, but I don't
• 24:25
  like the quarterback spot. I think George McIntyre and
• 24:28
  Faison Brandon both could be really, really good one day.
• 24:32
  But my philosophy with young quarterbacks is historically
• 24:36
  proven in college football currently.
• 24:38
  If you want to win, you've got to have experience.
• 24:41
  Look in the College Football Playoff, the teams that were
• 24:44
  there had experienced quarterbacks.
• 24:47
  Fernando Mendoza multiple years at Cal before transferring to
• 24:51
  Indiana. Dante Moore started at UCLA, was
• 24:55
  a disaster, sat out a season in Oregon, then gets an opportunity
• 25:00
  to start. He was much better.
• 25:02
  Ty Simpson sat four years at Alabama before getting his
• 25:06
  opportunity. He was a fourth year.
• 25:09
  What is it, a fifth year junior or a fourth year junior this
• 25:12
  past year? Yeah, fourth year junior, 4th
• 25:14
  year junior this past year for the Crimson Tide.
• 25:16
  He's got experience parsing back the same way.
• 25:19
  You can even go to the Jake Ratzlaf's of the world at
• 25:22
  Tulane. An experienced quarterback.
• 25:24
  That is what wins, and Tennessee's not going to have
• 25:27
  it. If I'm the Volunteers, I'm
• 25:29
  putting out the quarterback that I believe is going to be the
• 25:32
  best long term. If that's McIntyre, you start
• 25:36
  him Week 1. If that's Faison Brandon, a guy
• 25:39
  that I think fits the system a little bit better being an RPO
• 25:42
  and dual threat guy, then I would start him.
• 25:46
  But regardless, there is no point in starting one guy this
• 25:50
  year and then having a quarterback battle the next
• 25:52
  season and starting a different guy.
• 25:54
  Ultimately, you want to get the most wraps possible out of the
• 25:58
  guy that you believe is going to be the long term option.
• 26:01
  For me, that would be phase on Brandon, but we'll see where
• 26:04
  Tennessee goes #23 for the Volunteers.
• 26:09
  And while we record this somewhat live, I've still got to
• 26:12
  get my water. So give me a second if you can't
• 26:18
  see a March Madness cup that is. Now we're a little bit beyond
• 26:22
  March, but still a NCAA college athletics themed cup.
• 26:27
  I'll have to work on some Padifax mugs, but I will move to
• 26:31
  #22 And that is Washington. A lot of drama for them this
• 26:35
  offseason as well. I think the big question is can
• 26:39
  Washington navigate the Big 10 with an elite quarterback?
• 26:43
  Damon Williams, junior, despite him trying to get up and leave
• 26:46
  and had some really bad timing in his announcement.
• 26:49
  If you know, you know. But he is still a really good
• 26:52
  player and last year had 3065 yards, 25 touchdowns, 8
• 26:57
  interceptions and added in 611 yards and 10 scores.
• 27:01
  To me 6 scores on the ground and he can do it all.
• 27:05
  But if you go back and watch it, Washington's biggest games last
• 27:09
  year, the 4th down execution was poor, the 3rd and long execution
• 27:15
  was poor. And also their defense.
• 27:17
  They would fight, but they would end up letting you know, like an
• 27:20
  Ohio State drive down the field and take up a 6-7 minute drive
• 27:24
  or a ton of clock. Their defense would bend, but
• 27:28
  not break, but break at bad times.
• 27:29
  They didn't necessarily play great complimentary football in
• 27:32
  their big matchups last year. And that's not necessarily all
• 27:36
  on Damon Williams junior, but those third and longs and those
• 27:39
  fourth down conversions are on a Damon Williams junior.
• 27:42
  So when you're in the Big 10 and you've got to play 3 to 4 big
• 27:46
  games a year, you've got to win at least two of those if you
• 27:51
  play 4. You've got to win one of those
• 27:53
  if you play 3. And is Washington at that level
• 27:58
  under Jed Fish? Is he able to do that?
• 28:00
  Is he able to get that one or able to get that two to stay
• 28:03
  afloat? And I think that's the big
• 28:04
  question. But in terms of quarterback,
• 28:05
  we'll have one of the best in the country #21 Oklahoma State.
• 28:11
  The Pokes got a little Oklahoma State bobblehead up there.
• 28:14
  I don't know if you can see it. He's right behind the Penn State
• 28:17
  guy, but by Eric Morris stock. That is why I'm taking Oklahoma
• 28:23
  State to be a top 25 team. This guy's been a winner
• 28:27
  everywhere he has been. When he was at Texas Tech and
• 28:31
  the offensive coordinator for Patrick Mahomes, Texas Tech was
• 28:35
  pretty good when he was at Incarnate Word.
• 28:38
  As a coach, he recruited and developed Cam Ward and turn Cam
• 28:43
  Ward into a really good player. When he went to Washington State
• 28:46
  as an offensive coordinator, he brought over Cam Ward with him,
• 28:49
  he recruited John Mateer. When he got to North Texas, he
• 28:54
  brought in Chandler Morris, a guy that had bounced around from
• 28:57
  2:00 to 3:00 schools already and turned him into a really solid
• 29:02
  player. Ended up giving him the
• 29:03
  opportunity to go transfer to Virginia and have a good 2025
• 29:07
  season. And this Drew Mester Maker kid,
• 29:09
  well, where did he come from? Well, Mesta Maker didn't make
• 29:13
  his first football start. And I say football because this
• 29:17
  is a guy that did not start in high school.
• 29:20
  He made his first football start since his freshman year of high
• 29:23
  school in the Mean Greens bowl game back in 2025.
• 29:29
  I guess 2024 was still the count of the 2024 season, I should
• 29:33
  say, but that was his first start and he came into this
• 29:36
  season with that one start under his belt and was phenomenal.
• 29:41
  North Texas. Now we've had a couple of really
• 29:43
  nice contributors around him. A couple of them are coming
• 29:46
  along with him to Stillwater. But Drew Mestimaker is going to
• 29:49
  be a really good quarterback. I think he's going to be a first
• 29:52
  round pick and you're going to learn quickly why.
• 29:56
  But all of this is a product of Eric Morris.
• 29:59
  He's been a winner everywhere he's been and I know this is the
• 30:02
  tallest of the tasks that he has had in his coaching career, but
• 30:07
  I think he's going to do a really good job.
• 30:09
  And I mentioned Drew Mestemaker, he's got wide receiver Wyatt
• 30:12
  Young alongside him and running back Caleb Hawkins, both come
• 30:16
  over from North Texas. Highly coveted guys in the
• 30:19
  transfer portal. Those are impact players.
• 30:22
  I think Oklahoma State and a Big 12 that is going to be chaotic
• 30:26
  is going to have the opportunity to climb the ladder.
• 30:28
  And I'm trusting Eric Morris and I hope that you buy some stock
• 30:32
  in him and the Cowboys as well. We'll move to #20 as we kind of
• 30:37
  believe or continue the trend, I should say, continue the trend
• 30:41
  of believing in teams. Penn State at #20 here.
• 30:45
  This is a very interesting team because they are a power school.
• 30:49
  They are one of the biggest brands in college football.
• 30:52
  But they've had a lot of negativity over the last year.
• 30:56
  James Franklin gets fired in the middle of the season that year,
• 30:59
  quickly collapses after they lose to Oregon at home and the
• 31:03
  whiteout game against the Ducks at night.
• 31:06
  You lose to UCLA, you lose to Northwestern.
• 31:09
  Dreyler knocks himself out for the rest of the season.
• 31:11
  But hey, you won the Bad Boy Motors Bowl or your Pinstripe
• 31:15
  Bowl. You won that and against
• 31:17
  Clemson. So that was the game of two
• 31:19
  teams that were supposed to be maybe in the championship game
• 31:21
  that ended up in New York for a meaningless bowl game.
• 31:24
  But regardless, you know, they didn't handle that hiring
• 31:28
  particularly well. They waited until the very, very
• 31:32
  end and they almost kind of had to panic because they missed out
• 31:35
  on every other guy. And they get Matt Campbell.
• 31:38
  And I will say for Penn State, getting Matt Campbell was like
• 31:43
  finding a girl at 3:00 AM and she ends up being a 10.
• 31:46
  You need to take her home and you have a great night.
• 31:48
  You know, they got really lucky here because they waited until
• 31:51
  the very, very end to find a coach.
• 31:54
  And thankfully, Matt Campbell has done a hell of a job in his
• 31:57
  career to where it might end off, you know, end up being a
• 32:01
  really good addition for him. So Campbell was 72 and 55 and 10
• 32:06
  seasons with Iowa State. Turn that program completely
• 32:10
  around, made them a team you had to think about each week.
• 32:14
  But they're only 67th and return production.
• 32:16
  That transition from Franklin to Campbell was really interesting.
• 32:20
  The timing of it. They missed out on a lot of high
• 32:22
  school recruits. They were a little bit late in
• 32:24
  the transfer portal. But this is basically the Penn
• 32:26
  State Cyclones. They bring over a ton of Iowa
• 32:30
  State players. Rocco backs going to start at
• 32:32
  quarterback if he's able to fully recover from his offseason
• 32:35
  surgery. You got Ben Brahmer, a tight end
• 32:39
  who was really good last season, Chase Sewell at wide receiver.
• 32:43
  You got James Peoples, a transfer from Ohio State at
• 32:46
  running back. And then you got Jeremiah
• 32:48
  Cooper. He was a top ten player in the
• 32:50
  class for a majority of the time at cornerback.
• 32:53
  He comes from Iowa State too, and then Marcus Neal at safety.
• 32:57
  So Iowa State was good last year, but they were not great.
• 33:02
  And I thought they were kind of one of those teams that it was a
• 33:06
  big let down or was a little bit more propped up and they should
• 33:09
  have been that Kansas State. Iowa State game to begin the
• 33:13
  season in Dublin and Week Zero was kind of kind of what kept
• 33:19
  them afloat in the top 25 for a minute because Kansas State, a
• 33:22
  lot of people still presume was a good team and they quickly
• 33:24
  realized that they were not. But I think it was against
• 33:28
  Cincinnati. I think Cincinnati was Iowa
• 33:30
  State's first like big loss. They barely beat Iowa because I
• 33:33
  remember having that on the paddle locks and we had the 3
• 33:36
  1/2. So we still covered.
• 33:38
  But I think it was Cincinnati was their first loss of the
• 33:42
  season and things kind of trickled down from there.
• 33:44
  But who knows? Penn State could be good this
• 33:46
  year and they still have to give them credit because they are a
• 33:50
  power school. They play in the Big 10, they've
• 33:52
  got a big funding base, they have an established quarterback
• 33:55
  and Rocco backed if he's able to go.
• 33:57
  And I do like a lot of the Iowa State players they bring in.
• 33:59
  But we'll see if this is the James Franklin regime where
• 34:03
  they're still able to have an elite talent, but they might
• 34:05
  have a better coach this time. So we'll see if they do
• 34:08
  something with it. We'll move to number 19 and that
• 34:13
  is going to be the SMU Mustangs. SMU got a lot of SMU friends out
• 34:20
  there. So I put them in this time
• 34:24
  because last year I did not have SMU in my top 25 teams and some
• 34:27
  people got mad about that. But now I've got SMU in there
• 34:30
  because I do like the way they ended the season.
• 34:33
  They strung together a couple of wins.
• 34:35
  There were a couple of games last year that just went against
• 34:39
  them. I mean, go back to that Baylor
• 34:40
  SMU game that was all over the place.
• 34:44
  That was kind of how some of these teams were in both the ACC
• 34:47
  and the Big 12. Some middle of the pack teams
• 34:49
  that are probably better than their record says, but they
• 34:53
  can't finish games or they are they're incomplete in some
• 34:56
  facets. But give SMU credit.
• 34:58
  They pulled off one of the best wins of the season last year
• 35:00
  hosting Miami and beat the Hurricanes at A12O clock spot on
• 35:07
  a Saturday. And you know, Miami ended up
• 35:09
  playing in the national championship game.
• 35:11
  Not many people. How many teams got a chunk of
• 35:13
  Miami like SMU did? But a lot of this is going to be
• 35:17
  believing in Kevin Jennings. Jennings threw for 3641 total
• 35:22
  yards or something, just not total yards, but threw for 3641
• 35:27
  yards, which was third in the ACC, 7th in the FBS, 26 passing
• 35:32
  touchdowns, ranked third in the ACC, 16th in the FBS and had a
• 35:37
  passer rating of 146.6. That was fifth.
• 35:40
  And the ACC, and I do like the addition they made out of the
• 35:43
  transfer portal and Yannick Smith out of East Carolina, He's
• 35:47
  a wide receiver. Jennings is kind of one of these
• 35:51
  prototypical senior quarterbacks coming in to his final year of
• 35:55
  college eligibility that could go off.
• 35:57
  And I think SMU has got a great coach.
• 35:59
  I think they're in a manageable conference.
• 36:01
  I think the thing with Jennings that you have to watch for is
• 36:05
  sometimes he does a little bit too much, which reminds me of,
• 36:09
  you know, sometimes we'll see a quarterback maybe in the NFL or
• 36:12
  college that is so immensely talented, can make a bunch of
• 36:15
  big plays. But sometimes it's like a little
• 36:17
  much like he maybe takes a 20 yard sack or maybe tries to
• 36:22
  fight for an extra yard, but is a little loose with the football
• 36:24
  and fumbles. So you have to take a gamble on
• 36:28
  a guy like that because of his talent.
• 36:30
  But I think if he's able to hone in and you know, be a little bit
• 36:34
  more disciplined with some of the some of his decisions, I
• 36:37
  think SMU could be a really competitive team once again in
• 36:40
  the ACC wide open. I'll have a or I'll have SMU and
• 36:44
  contention for sure. Next up, let's go to the 713.
• 36:49
  We got Houston. And you might be saying Houston
• 36:54
  18. Is that a typo?
• 36:55
  That's not the Houston Texans. This is college football.
• 36:59
  Houston the Cougars. Yes, yes, Houston, the Cougars,
• 37:05
  non traditional football school that's got a squad this year.
• 37:09
  They are 17th in return production percentage at 65%.
• 37:13
  And you got three key contributors coming back from a
• 37:17
  team that won 10 games last year, including knocking off LSU
• 37:23
  in the Texas Bowl. I know that LSU team wasn't that
• 37:25
  good. And I know it was more of like
• 37:27
  an event for Lane Kiffin to attend.
• 37:29
  And everyone gets to wave and say hello.
• 37:31
  But Houston did their job in that game.
• 37:33
  And those are still SEC level players on that roster.
• 37:37
  And Houston got the win. And they've got a quarterback
• 37:39
  with some SEC experience since Connor Wegman.
• 37:41
  He's coming back. Yes, the former Texas A&M
• 37:44
  quarterback Connor Wegman had a really, really good year last
• 37:48
  year, Set career highs with 2711 passing yards, 25 touchdowns and
• 37:54
  700 rushing yards while adding in 11 scores on the ground.
• 37:59
  He's coming back for his final year of college eligibility and
• 38:02
  wide receiver Amari Thomas doing so as well.
• 38:06
  And they also bring back Khalil Khalil Lufafu, who also resigned
• 38:13
  for the 2020 sixth season. He's a defensive end, so there
• 38:16
  are three big players from last year all coming back.
• 38:20
  You've got an established quarterback who's got a ton of
• 38:22
  experience. You've got a really nice piece
• 38:25
  and Amore Thomas that can cut up any defense.
• 38:28
  And you look at the schedule, it's manageable.
• 38:31
  And I really think that Houston, TX Tech game is going to be very
• 38:37
  interesting. I know Texas Tech's got a lot
• 38:40
  going on and they still got a really, really talented roster.
• 38:42
  We'll talk more about them here in a moment, but I think that
• 38:45
  Houston, TX Tech game could maybe be the Red Raiders first
• 38:49
  upset of the season because the Cougars have a good group and
• 38:53
  you need to know about them. Next up, we'll go to #17.
• 38:58
  We got Utah and this is kind of another trust thing.
• 39:01
  I'm trusting Devin Dampier, who is returning at quarterback for
• 39:06
  the utes and he was an All Big 12 player last year.
• 39:09
  The centerpiece of this offense had a couple of injuries, but he
• 39:13
  battled throughout the season. But but he's at his best as he
• 39:17
  saw in the Las Vegas Bowl against Nebraska.
• 39:21
  He's one of the best quarterbacks in college
• 39:22
  football. Morgan Scully takes over as the
• 39:26
  ute's head coach this season. He was with the team for the
• 39:30
  last 19 years. This is his 19th with Utah and
• 39:35
  he was the defensive coordinator dating back to the 2016 season.
• 39:39
  Obviously Kyle Whittingham decided to step down.
• 39:42
  He is now at Michigan. Was kind of the anti Lane Kiffin
• 39:46
  divorce, you know utes Fans were very respective of Whittingham's
• 39:51
  time. And he coached all the way
• 39:54
  through. He made the final decision.
• 39:56
  He actually even before the season said there's a chance I
• 39:59
  can leave. This would be the guy that I
• 40:01
  would hire as head coach. And they already started acting
• 40:04
  that way. So I know Utah fans are probably
• 40:07
  going to be a little bit upset while Winningham is still
• 40:10
  coaching. But he did a ton for that
• 40:11
  program and at least left it off in better hands than what you
• 40:15
  saw go down and Oxford, Ms. back in December when it was like a
• 40:20
  episode of, you know, LA Housewives.
• 40:23
  It was, it was horrible. But going back to Dan Pierre, he
• 40:30
  had 2490 passing yards, 24 touchdowns, added an 835 on the
• 40:36
  ground with 10 more scores with his legs.
• 40:39
  This is a do it all guy can do it both in the passing game, can
• 40:43
  do it with his legs. My big question with him is I
• 40:46
  want to see it in the big games because against BYU last year,
• 40:51
  that was not his best performance.
• 40:53
  I'll give it to him against Cincinnati.
• 40:55
  I thought he was much more polished than that one.
• 40:57
  But you know, even the Texas Tech game, and I know we got
• 41:01
  banged up in that one, but Texas Tech up against the backup
• 41:04
  quarterback, it was pretty bad too.
• 41:06
  So I think with Damn Pure, it's putting it together and being
• 41:09
  composed against the big teams. He's a really good quarterback.
• 41:13
  Utah is going to be an interesting group.
• 41:16
  Keeping your defensive coordinator I think is huge.
• 41:18
  And that's a defense that has been really good under a scaly.
• 41:23
  So you have to trust in that or scaly, I should say.
• 41:27
  And and I'm going to continue to trust in that because of the
• 41:30
  quarterback and defensive pairing.
• 41:32
  But I think Dan Pierce got to clean it up in those big games.
• 41:36
  We'll move to another Big 12 team at #16 and this is again
• 41:42
  part of this kind of now I've got some questions group.
• 41:45
  I really say Houston is the spot where I say this is kind of like
• 41:50
  the believing spot now at 17 with Utah or more in the I've
• 41:55
  got some questions area. That question for Utah.
• 41:59
  What does it look like without Kyle Weddingham?
• 42:01
  Can Devon Dampier be better and more polished and cleaner in
• 42:05
  those big matchups? But now we'll go to the 16th
• 42:08
  team, just one spot ahead of the utes because they played in the
• 42:13
  Holy War last year and BYU got the best of them.
• 42:15
  It's the Cougars at #16 And I think my big question here is,
• 42:21
  does this offense become multi dimensional?
• 42:24
  I was not a believer of BYU throughout last season.
• 42:28
  I thought they were one of two frauds throughout the season.
• 42:32
  I thought BYU and Georgia Tech were those two teams, and it
• 42:35
  kind of evened out that way. And I thought it was funny.
• 42:37
  They both played in the Pop Tarts Bowl.
• 42:39
  I called it the Fraud Bowl. But regardless, Bear Bach Meyer,
• 42:44
  true freshman quarterback, steps in for Jake Retzloff, who got in
• 42:48
  trouble with the student council there.
• 42:50
  We'll just phrase it that way. Had to leave in the summer, goes
• 42:53
  to Tulane. That whole debacle happens.
• 42:55
  But Bear Bach Meyer, a guy that wears 47 and plays quarterback,
• 42:59
  stepped in. It did a pretty good job.
• 43:01
  I'll give him credit for a young guy and a young quarterback who
• 43:05
  I usually don't put trust in. He did a good job.
• 43:08
  But this is a BYU team that still reached the 12 win mark
• 43:12
  for only the fifth time in school history last year, the
• 43:15
  first time since 2001. And Kalani Sataki got a ton of
• 43:21
  recognition in the in the coaching carousel.
• 43:23
  He could have gone anywhere, but he decided to stay in Provo with
• 43:29
  the Cougars. And now I'm looking for them to
• 43:32
  take the next level and that's make the College Football
• 43:35
  Playoff because they were right there on the doorstep.
• 43:38
  But they had two losses last year and both of them were to
• 43:40
  Texas Tech in the final four weeks of the season.
• 43:43
  And both of them were blowouts. Both of them were not close.
• 43:47
  BYU did not deserve to make the College Football Playoff, and
• 43:50
  I'm glad they didn't. But Bachmeier was one of 37
• 43:55
  quarterbacks to throw for 3000 yards and one of four freshmen
• 43:58
  to hit that mark. He was good last year.
• 44:01
  Once again, he was a good quarterback.
• 44:03
  He's the only true freshman to lead a program at 12 wins in
• 44:06
  2025. You know, as a true freshman
• 44:09
  guy, a lot of credit, but I thought they were too 1
• 44:13
  dimensional in big games. Now they had LJ Martin at
• 44:16
  running back and obviously that's a guy you want to get the
• 44:18
  ball to. But their pass play percentage
• 44:21
  was only 45%. I thought they were kind of
• 44:24
  predictable in the big game. And when teams like Texas Tech
• 44:29
  forced BYU to have to air it out multiple times, they were not
• 44:32
  comfortable. When you shut down BYU's run
• 44:35
  game, they were not comfortable. So that's my question for BYU
• 44:39
  this year. Can they be multi dimensional
• 44:41
  offensively against the good teams?
• 44:45
  You know, I, I think these numbers are sometimes skewed
• 44:47
  because you'll see, OK, BYU put up 300 yards in in the air, you
• 44:53
  know, averaged 300 yards in the air this season.
• 44:55
  But like, if you take that average and really dissect it,
• 44:58
  it's like, OK, against Texas Tech, a lot of this was garbage
• 45:00
  time. And when it was really
• 45:02
  mattering, you could barely move the football.
• 45:03
  Go back to that game in Lubbock, it was, it was ugly.
• 45:06
  And Texas Tech dominated, BYU could barely move the chains,
• 45:10
  let alone score. So it's got to be more multi
• 45:15
  dimensional. That's my big thing for BYU.
• 45:17
  Bachmeier enters into a second season.
• 45:19
  You've got some new changes on both sides of the ball with a
• 45:22
  lot of new faces. But Kalani Sataki decided to
• 45:26
  stay because he believes in this group.
• 45:28
  And if they can be better than 95th and college football and
• 45:31
  pass play percentage, they might not be as predictable.
• 45:34
  So I'll have BYU at 16 and #15 it is Michigan.
• 45:40
  The Wolverines, they got a new coach and Kyle Whittingham, who
• 45:44
  comes over from Utah. Obviously, they had a very
• 45:47
  interesting end to their season with everything that went down
• 45:50
  with Sharon Moore. But the big thing I'm watching
• 45:53
  for for the Wolverines is Bryce Underwood in Year 2.
• 45:58
  Can he take that jump? One of the most interesting
• 46:01
  storylines of the offseason when Kyle Winningham took the job was
• 46:06
  he came out and said that Michigan did not have a
• 46:09
  designated quarterbacks coach for Bryce Underwood last year.
• 46:13
  I thought that was ridiculous. But you go back and watch the
• 46:15
  tape and you can tell he's off platform.
• 46:19
  He's kind of all over the place. The technique and the
• 46:21
  fundamentals of dropping back and throwing the ball, we're not
• 46:25
  there and Cal Winningham said that is something that was going
• 46:28
  to change immediately. So to my understanding, he has
• 46:31
  had a quarterbacks coach throughout spring and heading
• 46:34
  into the summer I think he'll be more polished in that way.
• 46:37
  He's obviously an incredible player and still showcase that
• 46:41
  as a true freshman with his legs and had a couple of nice throws
• 46:45
  here and there, but a lot of it was against inferior opponents.
• 46:48
  Again, going back to Tennessee, that's what I was talking about.
• 46:51
  I don't care if you're a five star out of high school, you've
• 46:54
  got to take time to progress and there's so many examples.
• 46:57
  Dante Moore was terrible at UCLA, took him two years.
• 47:00
  Oregon much better. Dylan Rayola, 2 years at
• 47:03
  Nebraska, didn't beat a team with a pulse, does not get a
• 47:07
  ranked win and is now the backup for Dante Moore this season.
• 47:10
  Doing that same plan. You know, you go up and down the
• 47:13
  list 5 star quarterbacks that aren't playing with The Avengers
• 47:17
  alongside them like a Julian Sand at Ohio State.
• 47:20
  It's harder to win and Michigan still had a really talented
• 47:23
  roster. But the way their play style is
• 47:27
  either you've got to have a really good running back and a
• 47:31
  serviceable quarterback. And Underwood was that.
• 47:33
  But he wasn't serviceable enough in the big games like against
• 47:37
  Ohio State. Just was completely off his
• 47:39
  game. And again, he's young.
• 47:41
  I'm not bashing him for it. But my question for this
• 47:44
  upcoming season and the reason why I have Michigan at 15 is
• 47:48
  because I trust Winningham. I like the roster, but mice
• 47:51
  Underwood is ultimately what dictates how far this team goes.
• 47:55
  And two guys that I think could play a role in this is Utah
• 48:00
  transfer wide receiver, wide receiver JJ Buchanan.
• 48:04
  And then Selise Moa, who was a Utah signee at a high school
• 48:07
  high, highly regarded player, one of the top players in the
• 48:11
  state of Utah. He decided to switch to Michigan
• 48:13
  as well. So two guys there that could
• 48:15
  possibly help out and making this receiving core a little bit
• 48:19
  better for Underwood. But that's my big question.
• 48:24
  Does Underwood take that jump in Year 2?
• 48:26
  Does that coaching help him? And I still think Michigan
• 48:30
  deserves some credit for the type of program they have and
• 48:33
  the coach they now have and Kyle Winningham.
• 48:35
  So they land at 15, at 14. The final team in the I've got
• 48:42
  some questions area is USC. And they're pretty fitting for a
• 48:48
  team that you'd have questions for because Lincoln Riley
• 48:51
  recently came out and said that he believes USC has entered a
• 48:57
  championship window. Some pretty big words from
• 49:01
  Lincoln Riley, a guy that hasn't really done anything since
• 49:05
  arriving at USC. Yeah.
• 49:06
  Yeah. And a Heisman Trophy
• 49:07
  quarterback. But his biggest accomplishment
• 49:11
  is making the Cotton Bowl, in which they lost to two lane.
• 49:14
  So, you know, how big of an accomplishment is it?
• 49:18
  What has he really done with the Trojans?
• 49:21
  And I know making it to the Big 10 has made things a little bit
• 49:23
  more interesting, but hey, if you're going to hold some of
• 49:27
  these SEC coaches to the standards you do, then you need
• 49:31
  to hold Lincoln Riley do the same thing.
• 49:33
  Them losing in the Alamo Bowl to TCU with a backup quarterback
• 49:37
  was ridiculous. I don't care if Jacoby Lane.
• 49:41
  And what was the other cat's name?
• 49:47
  Blanket. Blanket, Makai Lemon, you know,
• 49:50
  Jacoby Lane and Makai Lemon. I don't care if those guys are
• 49:52
  not available. You still had Jay Maiaba, you
• 49:55
  still had your running back, still had a ton of guys, and you
• 49:57
  lost the guy that was crazy, That was crazy.
• 50:03
  And for that, I have a lot of questions because I buy it from
• 50:10
  Lincoln Riley when he says we're in a championship window based
• 50:14
  off the recruiting, because USC has done a hell of a job in
• 50:17
  recruiting. High school classes are coming
• 50:19
  in. They're doing a solid job in the
• 50:21
  transfer portal, getting a couple of big name guys.
• 50:24
  But I just, I need to see more. I need to see more on the field
• 50:30
  now they're 13th in return production.
• 50:32
  They're 45th in the transfer portal rankings.
• 50:35
  And I say that because they do have a couple of key guys, but
• 50:38
  when they recruit so well, there are a lot of guys that get up
• 50:41
  and enter the portal. So that's kind of where they
• 50:43
  fall victim on that 45th ranking on the transfer portal sites and
• 50:48
  that comes from on three. But John Tez, Williams, transfer
• 50:52
  from Iowa State and Terrell Anderson, a wide receiver from
• 50:56
  NC State, I think are two really nice additions.
• 50:58
  Williams is a quarterback, but where I think USC has to improve
• 51:03
  the most is on the defensive front.
• 51:07
  Now a couple of years ago, Alex Grinch was the defensive
• 51:11
  coordinator and I called it the Grinch that stole USC season
• 51:15
  because they were horrible. Defensively, they have been
• 51:19
  better after they have made some changes and I like them.
• 51:23
  They play with a little bit more physicality now, but the
• 51:25
  defensive line really hurt them in big spots last year,
• 51:29
  especially when they when they went up against better offenses
• 51:33
  and more sophisticated offenses like an Oregon that could do a
• 51:38
  lot of different things when they were not able to get
• 51:41
  pressure. Opposing teams had a heyday and
• 51:44
  they were allowed to do whatever they wanted and USC can play
• 51:47
  that way. They can play in a shootout, but
• 51:51
  it's easier when you can put up points and kind of sit back and
• 51:55
  relax. So that defensive front is
• 51:57
  something I'm looking for. They were 132nd in the country
• 52:01
  and yards allowed per carry last season.
• 52:04
  But I want to key in on two guys.
• 52:06
  Jaquim Stewart, he was a freshman last year.
• 52:10
  He had a lot of great success, 18 tackles, 7 1/2 tackles for
• 52:13
  loss, 1 1/2 sacks, 1 interception, one forced fumble.
• 52:17
  He's a guy to watch for. And then in addition on the
• 52:20
  defensive line is a true freshman named Luke Waffle.
• 52:24
  And this guy's pretty interesting too.
• 52:25
  He's huge. I don't know if you've seen any
• 52:27
  videos online of him, but he's a big guy.
• 52:30
  And as a senior in high school, he had 99 tackles, 37 tackles
• 52:34
  for loss and 23 sacks. He stands at six foot 6265 S.
• 52:42
  That stuff is good for Lincoln Riley.
• 52:44
  That's the type of championship stuff you need now.
• 52:48
  He's obviously a freshman, but I still think he'll be able to
• 52:50
  develop right away and be of use.
• 52:54
  But they've got to be better on that defensive line.
• 52:56
  They've got to get more pressure because they can score with the
• 52:59
  best, but they can't necessarily stop it.
• 53:02
  And there were times last year where they had some really bad
• 53:04
  defensive lapses, whether it be in Illinois or in Oregon or even
• 53:08
  in Michigan. They've got to be better in that
• 53:10
  facet. But USC, the final team, I've
• 53:13
  got some questions about. They're at #14 We'll flip into
• 53:18
  my top 13 now. And these are the teams that I
• 53:23
  have got labeled as fringe top ten.
• 53:28
  We'll begin with one of the most popular fringe teams in the
• 53:32
  country, especially when your coach is able to give a new
• 53:37
  sound bite each week and sometimes make it even more
• 53:41
  controversial than the last one. That's Lane Kiffin's LSU Tigers.
• 53:45
  They come in at #13 for me. Last year, they were seven and
• 53:48
  six. They lose in the Texas Bowl, but
• 53:52
  this is obviously a different group.
• 53:53
  This isn't Brian Kelly and company any longer.
• 53:56
  This is Lane Kiffin, the one that made a full Netflix
• 53:59
  documentary. In terms of everything that went
• 54:03
  down before we decided to leave Oxford, a one of the craziest
• 54:08
  college football stories I've ever watched.
• 54:10
  I, I truly mean it. It's the only time college
• 54:13
  football has been a constant discussion every day of
• 54:16
  Thanksgiving break. Like, I go home in Memphis for
• 54:19
  Thanksgiving, my mom's an Ole Miss fan, went to Ole Miss and
• 54:22
  that's all anyone wanted to know.
• 54:25
  The high school reunion night, the Thanksgiving table, you
• 54:29
  know, going out for Blackout Wednesday, all anyone wanted to
• 54:33
  know, William, what do you know about Lane Kiffin?
• 54:35
  Is Lane Kiffin going to stay? Is Lane Kiffin going to leave?
• 54:37
  So now that we're gone from that, let's talk about this
• 54:41
  group because they did rank 5th in the transfer portal rankings
• 54:44
  this year did a hell of a job there a ton of really good
• 54:47
  players. I'll name them off here in a
• 54:49
  moment, but in terms of return production, they ranked 61st,
• 54:53
  which is 30th or excuse me, they have a 61% return production
• 54:58
  rank, which is 30th in college football.
• 55:01
  Got it right that time, and I name off these transfers, you'll
• 55:04
  immediately see why. They're supposed to be a good
• 55:07
  team. Jordan Seton.
• 55:09
  We talked about him out of Colorado, an offensive tackle,
• 55:12
  quarterback. Sam Levitt, a guy I love out of
• 55:15
  Arizona State. Edge Prince.
• 55:17
  Will Uman Miellen out of Ole Miss, a guy that re signed with
• 55:20
  the Rebels after the Fiesta Bowl but then hopped in the portal
• 55:24
  right before it closed. Lane Kiffin got a stud and Iman
• 55:27
  Miellen nonetheless. Fahim Delane, a cornerback out
• 55:32
  of Ohio State, His brother Monsoor Dillane was a star for
• 55:35
  the Tigers this past season, was a first round pick in the NFL
• 55:38
  draft. Is he going to translate that
• 55:41
  way as well? Jordan Ross, an edge out of
• 55:43
  Tennessee, former five star player Eugene Wilson and Jace
• 55:48
  Brown, wide receivers from Florida and Kansas State
• 55:51
  respectively. Like both of those kids, Eugene
• 55:55
  Wilson, I think, just needs to stay healthy.
• 55:56
  But Jace Brown, he's a hell of a player and was a big reason why
• 56:00
  Kansas State was of any pulse at any time.
• 56:03
  He was there because he's truly a speedster.
• 56:06
  If you watch that game last year against Iowa State and Dublin,
• 56:09
  he had a couple of big catches. Ty Benefield out of Boise State,
• 56:14
  he's a safety, another top player in the transfer portal,
• 56:17
  wide receiver Jackson Harris out of Hawaii.
• 56:20
  You've also got Winston Watkins out of Ole Miss, another
• 56:23
  receiver. There's still more, Devin Harper
• 56:28
  in the offensive guard position out of Ole Miss.
• 56:31
  TJ Goddery, A linebacker from Ole Miss.
• 56:34
  And you got the two quarterbacks in addition to Sam Levitt this
• 56:38
  on Longstreet out of USC and then Landon Clark out of Elon.
• 56:44
  So a ton of transfer portal names right there.
• 56:47
  I know. And they're actually more than I
• 56:49
  read off, but I tried to get the best ones or the ones that I
• 56:53
  think are going to have the most immediate impact.
• 56:56
  But then you've still got both your running backs and Harlem
• 56:59
  Berry and Katum Durin. You've got trade as Green, the
• 57:03
  6-7 tight end that's kind of like a Kyle Pitts type player.
• 57:06
  Just throw it up and go make a play.
• 57:09
  Yeah, wit Weeks at linebacker is dating Landry Chiffin.
• 57:12
  Of course he was coming back and sticking around.
• 57:14
  You've got DJ Pickett, 66, cornerback, so rare you see
• 57:20
  something like that. But he had a strong, strong.
• 57:22
  He had a good season last year, had some strong moments.
• 57:26
  I wouldn't say it was strong all the way around, but he had a
• 57:27
  good season, some strong moments and his freshman year going to
• 57:30
  be back this season. And then you got DeMarcus Cooley
• 57:33
  and PJ Woodland as as two guys in the secondary as well.
• 57:38
  So I name off all of those players, very, very talented
• 57:41
  team, no way around it. But my my main question with my
• 57:48
  guys in the Bayou, I can find my notes once again.
• 57:53
  I guess I don't because I don't have it.
• 57:55
  OK, whatever. My big question is how do these
• 57:58
  guys gel and how available is Sam Levitt?
• 58:03
  So Sam Levitt last year at Arizona State dealt with some
• 58:06
  injuries and his foot was up and down.
• 58:09
  They had that really ugly game against Mississippi State early
• 58:11
  in the season in which they lose and then they knock off Texas
• 58:15
  Tech and the regular season 1 of the only teams to knock off the
• 58:18
  Red Raiders last year. There were some moments.
• 58:21
  And Sam Levitt, when he is at his best, he is a joy to watch.
• 58:25
  Dual threat guy, can make plays in the backfield, spin moves,
• 58:29
  eluding tackles, all of it. But he's got to stay healthy.
• 58:33
  And, you know, he played a big role in taking Arizona State to
• 58:36
  the College Football Playoff in knocking 24.
• 58:40
  And I had high expectations for Arizona State last year.
• 58:43
  They weren't able to necessarily meet them.
• 58:45
  But a lot of that is due to the inconsistencies of Levitz
• 58:49
  health, which I also kind of worry about for the Tigers
• 58:53
  because he's supposed to be fully ready to go.
• 58:55
  He's been practicing. He's been moving as of late.
• 58:59
  But that's still something to think about.
• 59:02
  Leighton Clark, Landon Clark, I should say Landon Clark and
• 59:07
  Hassan Longstreet would be the two backup options.
• 59:10
  Longstreet's a former five star that went to USC.
• 59:14
  He's now the backup for this team.
• 59:15
  But Landon Clark out of Elon, he's got a rocket of an arm.
• 59:19
  He had a couple of big throws last year when he was at that
• 59:23
  level and he can put it up from him 60 something 65 yards in the
• 59:27
  air. I think he could be kind of one
• 59:29
  of those Trinidad Chambliss players who's on the depth
• 59:32
  chart. Might not start the season, but
• 59:33
  if things go awry, he could be a player that kind of comes out of
• 59:37
  the woodwork and is really impressive.
• 59:39
  So keep an eye on him. But outside the quarterback
• 59:42
  play, I think the other question is just how this group gels.
• 59:46
  The players are really excited for this season, obviously, but
• 59:49
  they're kind of the ones pushing the narrative of this is a
• 59:52
  championship team more than Lane Kiffin.
• 59:55
  This because Lane Kiffin in his press conference is kind of
• 59:59
  like, you know, this is just year one.
• 1:00:01
  This is a part of the build. I think he feels the pressure.
• 1:00:04
  Because his exit from Old Miss was dramatic as can be, but now
• 1:00:09
  the spotlights a little bit brighter on him.
• 1:00:11
  He just did an interview with Vanity Fair.
• 1:00:14
  Well, when does Vanity Fair interview college coaches?
• 1:00:18
  The spotlights on him? I think he understands that and
• 1:00:21
  he's trying to kind of push away some of that pressure.
• 1:00:23
  I don't think he's going to be able to do so because the
• 1:00:25
  expectations are going to be there.
• 1:00:28
  And it gives me a little bit of concern that he's not kind of
• 1:00:31
  riding with the momentum of, yeah, this is a group we're
• 1:00:34
  trying to, you know, win a national championship with this
• 1:00:37
  year. I've got to trust Tiffin,
• 1:00:38
  though, with Ole Miss. He was able to do it.
• 1:00:40
  He's got a really talented roster.
• 1:00:41
  Fucking the benefit of the doubt this year as well.
• 1:00:45
  We'll move to number 12. That's Alabama, The Crimson Tide
• 1:00:50
  slowly, slowly kind of trickling down top 20 fives as we progress
• 1:00:56
  post Nick Saban. But that's not a jab that I'm
• 1:01:00
  going to carry on the rest of the way for my analysis here.
• 1:01:04
  But it is something about. But Alabama last year went 11
• 1:01:08
  and four losing the College Football Playoff quarterfinals
• 1:01:12
  to Indiana. That was an ugly 1:38 to 3:00.
• 1:01:15
  One of my biggest bets of the year was Indiana 7 1/2.
• 1:01:18
  So I kind of loved it when I was I watched that game in Atlanta.
• 1:01:23
  I was loving it. Kind of one of those things you
• 1:01:25
  cash it, go and party after. But regardless, I don't love
• 1:01:32
  where Alabama ended last year. And and that's not just a Rose
• 1:01:36
  Bowl, but that goes about a month before the end of the
• 1:01:39
  season. They played really bad football
• 1:01:41
  from the LSU game on for LSU. They didn't move the ball that
• 1:01:46
  well offensively. Eastern Michigan, I know when
• 1:01:50
  Eastern Michigan it was. It's one of those directional
• 1:01:53
  schools. They played late in the year.
• 1:01:56
  Ty Simpson had two interceptions.
• 1:01:58
  They didn't really move the ball well against Auburn.
• 1:02:00
  I know it's the Iron Bowl. And against Oklahoma it wasn't
• 1:02:04
  that great either. The second-half they turned
• 1:02:06
  things around, but they got quickly in a divot because they
• 1:02:09
  just were not ready. Got punched in the mouth.
• 1:02:11
  Then against Indiana, they got punched into the oblivion.
• 1:02:15
  But I think for Alabama, it's going to be can you get the the
• 1:02:21
  quarterback play that you got with Simpson in moments last
• 1:02:25
  year? Can you get it this year?
• 1:02:26
  Because you do have really good wide receivers and Ryan Williams
• 1:02:30
  and name off a couple of returners here in a moment.
• 1:02:34
  You do lose a guy in Isaiah Horton, which I thought would
• 1:02:36
  have been valuable to return this year.
• 1:02:37
  But you know, they they recruit well.
• 1:02:39
  They've still got players at their disposal.
• 1:02:42
  But is Alabama a team that is going to be a true contender
• 1:02:47
  under Kaitlin de Boer? Can they win the games they're
• 1:02:50
  supposed to and can they win a couple of the big ones?
• 1:02:55
  That's what Nick Saban did. Nick Saban either won them all
• 1:02:59
  or he won the ones he was supposed to and then would lose
• 1:03:03
  1 big game but then make it up. Alabama is now in this Kalin De
• 1:03:08
  Boer era where they're losing games they're supposed to win.
• 1:03:10
  Florida State to open the season that very easily could have
• 1:03:14
  derailed their entire year had things gone differently the year
• 1:03:17
  before that. Vanderbilt.
• 1:03:19
  When does Alabama lose to Vanderbilt?
• 1:03:21
  They now consistently lose to Tennessee under Kalin De Boer as
• 1:03:25
  well, at least on the road. So my thing with Alabama is can
• 1:03:30
  you be consistent? Can you beat the teams you're
• 1:03:33
  supposed to? Can you be competitive against
• 1:03:35
  the ones that you're kind of on the same level with?
• 1:03:38
  SEC championship against Georgia, one of the worst
• 1:03:41
  performances I've ever seen from an Alabama team.
• 1:03:43
  Didn't cross the 50 yard line till the second-half.
• 1:03:45
  It was ugly. That cannot be the case, but
• 1:03:49
  they were 40th in the transfer portal.
• 1:03:52
  They have a 35% return production rank, which was 90th.
• 1:03:56
  And college football, they bring back Austin Mack and Keylawn
• 1:04:00
  Russell. That's the quarterback.
• 1:04:01
  The situation we'll discuss here in a moment, but they also
• 1:04:05
  return Ryan Williams last year, Brooks, he had two touchdowns,
• 1:04:09
  79 yards against Oklahoma in the College Football Playoff, was a
• 1:04:12
  true freshman last season, former three star, believe it or
• 1:04:16
  not, out of New Jersey. He's really impressive.
• 1:04:19
  I think he takes a step up this season and then you bring Caleb
• 1:04:23
  Edwards back into the mix. He's a 6-7 tight end.
• 1:04:26
  You've got Edra Kill, Yonsei, Pierre, Xabian Brown, Dijon Lee,
• 1:04:31
  Keon Saab, all those guys on the defensive side of the ball,
• 1:04:34
  really impressive. And out of the transfer portal,
• 1:04:37
  you bring in Devin Tompkins out of USC, Noah Rogers from NC
• 1:04:41
  State, Terrance Green from Alabama, Ty Haywood from
• 1:04:45
  Michigan and Nick Brooks from Texas.
• 1:04:48
  Brooks, Haywood Green all excuse me, Haywood and Brooks offensive
• 1:04:53
  lineman. Green is a defensive lineman
• 1:04:56
  that transfers in from Oregon. But you know, I, I thought
• 1:05:01
  Alabama did their job in terms of plugging the holes of guys
• 1:05:05
  that left last year and then, you know, you, you trust in a
• 1:05:09
  guy like lots of your Brooks to go up the next level.
• 1:05:12
  I like Noah Rogers. He's a former Ohio State player
• 1:05:15
  as well. So I I like this Alabama team,
• 1:05:19
  but they were so one-dimensional offensively last year.
• 1:05:22
  It was gross. They cannot run the ball worth a
• 1:05:25
  damn. And now the quarterback play
• 1:05:28
  gets interesting. Austin Mack is a fourth year
• 1:05:30
  junior, same thing as Ty Simpson.
• 1:05:33
  He's only 20, but this is going to be his fourth year of college
• 1:05:35
  football. Began his career at Washington,
• 1:05:37
  followed over to bore to Alabama.
• 1:05:41
  I like him, but if I'm Alabama, I go Kelon Russell.
• 1:05:45
  Kelon Russell was really good at the A day, I think it was 21 of
• 1:05:49
  33 was his passing numbers and had just around 300 yards,
• 1:05:53
  couple touchdowns. I like the running ability you
• 1:05:56
  get with him as well. And this is kind of the same
• 1:05:59
  thing as Tennessee. Sorry, I don't know why I keep
• 1:06:00
  on doing that. This is kind of the same thing
• 1:06:03
  as Tennessee now. Mack is older, so it's a little
• 1:06:07
  bit different as opposed to Tennessee pumping out a freshman
• 1:06:10
  and a red shirt freshman as their two options.
• 1:06:12
  But it's the same for Alabama here.
• 1:06:14
  I think you've got to play the guy that you believe is going to
• 1:06:17
  be better long term. It's Keylon Russell.
• 1:06:19
  Because Austin Mack, you're probably going to have some
• 1:06:21
  growing pains with Keylon Russell you're going to have
• 1:06:24
  growing pains with. But I rather get it with Keylon
• 1:06:27
  Russell where you can go make a play that not many other players
• 1:06:30
  or other quarterbacks in college football can make than Austin
• 1:06:33
  Mack. A guy that has been here for
• 1:06:35
  four years, hasn't won the job for a reason and is now still
• 1:06:38
  trying to get a shot. I would go the Keylon Russell
• 1:06:41
  route. Last year I called him the
• 1:06:44
  Lamborghini inside the dusty garage, and I still kind of feel
• 1:06:48
  the same way because I think he is really good #12 Alabama for
• 1:06:51
  me #10 or excuse me #11 I should say #11 is one of the more
• 1:06:59
  interesting ones. Because if not for something
• 1:07:02
  that happened two or three weeks ago, this is probably a top four
• 1:07:06
  or five team. And you can probably guess it is
• 1:07:09
  Texas Tech. Last year they were 12 and 2.
• 1:07:11
  They lose in the College Football Playoff quarter finals
• 1:07:14
  to Oregon and that Orange Bowl game that was a defensive
• 1:07:19
  slugfest. Both offenses struggled with.
• 1:07:22
  The defense for Texas Tech did their job that offense did not
• 1:07:26
  Baron Morton finding Oregon receivers more often than he
• 1:07:30
  could his own. But this is the Texas Tech team
• 1:07:34
  that is now becoming a fixture in college football.
• 1:07:37
  Really good in the transfer portal, they ranked second
• 1:07:39
  overall. Their return production
• 1:07:41
  percentage 65%. That's 12th best in college
• 1:07:45
  football. When you look at the transfer
• 1:07:47
  editions, you can see why this team is supposed to be good or
• 1:07:52
  was supposed to be good. I still think they can be.
• 1:07:56
  But Brendan Sorsby, the quarterback transfer from
• 1:07:59
  Cincinnati, was a big reason why a $5,000,000 guy could have gone
• 1:08:03
  to the NFL, decided to stay. He was supposed to be the guy,
• 1:08:08
  and now he's the poster child for what not to do on gambling
• 1:08:13
  sites. So that's a big deal.
• 1:08:17
  We'll discuss what Texas Tech will look like a quarterback
• 1:08:19
  moving forward. But outside of Swordsman, they
• 1:08:22
  still really did a good job. Wide receiver Malcolm Simmons
• 1:08:25
  from Auburn, wide receiver Kenny Johnson from Pittsburgh, like
• 1:08:29
  both those guys, what they can bring to the table.
• 1:08:31
  You got a guard and Jordan Church out of Florida Atlantic,
• 1:08:35
  he was another highly regarded transfer portal player.
• 1:08:38
  Mateen Igboragba from Wake Forest, he was one of the top
• 1:08:41
  guys in the portal at the defensive tackle position.
• 1:08:45
  Adam Trick and Edge from Miami, Ohio was as well.
• 1:08:49
  Really liked some of his tape for the RedHawks this past
• 1:08:52
  season. I watched a couple of those
• 1:08:54
  games. Don't ask me why, but I love
• 1:08:57
  watching college football on Wednesday night.
• 1:08:59
  I don't care if it's Toledo, Miami, Ohio.
• 1:09:01
  I don't care if it's New Mexico State versus Liberty.
• 1:09:03
  I'm watching that on the CBS Sports Network.
• 1:09:06
  And I watched a couple of these from Miami of Ohio this past
• 1:09:09
  year. But Adam Trick, a really good
• 1:09:11
  player, Boston Romaine and a Kansas State.
• 1:09:15
  I talked a lot about him last offseason, so I remember him
• 1:09:17
  from my notes and he reminds me a lot of Jacob Rodriguez.
• 1:09:21
  Going to be very tough and a tall task to meet those
• 1:09:24
  expectations because he was awesome this past year.
• 1:09:27
  I love Hot Rod, but Austin Romaine, a guy that I think
• 1:09:30
  could fill that role pretty nicely and finally got Trey
• 1:09:33
  White off the edge from San Diego State.
• 1:09:37
  They did a lot in the defensive side of the ball.
• 1:09:39
  They added a couple of key pieces offensively in the
• 1:09:42
  portal, but they also return on the on the offensive side of the
• 1:09:46
  ball. Cameron Dickey, Coy Eakin, Micah
• 1:09:49
  Hudson, Terrence Carter, that's a running back, couple of wide
• 1:09:53
  receivers, Terrence Carter, kind of one of those tight end
• 1:09:55
  fullback hybrids. And then you've also got Howard
• 1:09:58
  Sampson on the offensive line, he's a tackle.
• 1:10:01
  And then on the defensive side, Bryce Pollock, an All Big 12 guy
• 1:10:04
  last year and AJ Holmes, a guy I believe is going to be one of
• 1:10:08
  the top defensive tackles this season.
• 1:10:10
  So you like all of that. This is a really good Texas Tech
• 1:10:13
  team. Schedule is a joke.
• 1:10:16
  Abilene Christian, Oregon State at Houston game kind of circle
• 1:10:20
  that one a little bit. But outside of it, it's a very
• 1:10:23
  manageable schedule. The Texas Tech's win record or
• 1:10:26
  or or win total on Fanduel's 11 1/2 for a good reason.
• 1:10:30
  But the quarterback position is such such a chaotic situation.
• 1:10:36
  I hate it because I, I didn't want to see Brendan Sores be
• 1:10:39
  this year. I didn't love him at Cincinnati.
• 1:10:41
  I thought he was a little bit overrated out of the portal
• 1:10:45
  because there were moments where you really liked what you saw
• 1:10:49
  from him. There were others or it's like
• 1:10:51
  like, you know, I, I covered Tennessee here in Knoxville for,
• 1:10:54
  for my time at Fox and Tennessee was eyeing in on Brendan Soarsby
• 1:10:58
  a little bit. So a lot of my friends would ask
• 1:11:00
  me, William, what do you think of Soresby?
• 1:11:01
  And I was like, well, I like sores me, but it depends.
• 1:11:06
  It depends on which which game you've watched.
• 1:11:09
  If you watch them against, you know, like BYU, it's like they
• 1:11:12
  can maybe see it. If you watch them against Utah,
• 1:11:14
  it's like this guy sucks. He watched in the 1st 3/4
• 1:11:18
  against Nebraska in the season opener.
• 1:11:20
  That guy sucks. You watch them in the final
• 1:11:22
  fourth quarter, they they can do something.
• 1:11:25
  So it's all about what you saw from him, but he's likely not
• 1:11:28
  going to be able to play. I don't care what these Texas
• 1:11:30
  Tech fans say. I, I don't see Brandon Sores me
• 1:11:33
  being available. So here's where they could go at
• 1:11:36
  quarterback. They've got two options really,
• 1:11:38
  maybe three if you want to get all the way down the list.
• 1:11:41
  Will Hammond right now is their plan A for Plan B Will Hammond
• 1:11:48
  played last year in relief of Baron Morton, who had a couple
• 1:11:53
  of injuries himself. And Hammond came in that Utah
• 1:11:56
  game and helped Texas Tech finish it out with a win, won a
• 1:12:00
  couple of games for him. Then he got an ACL injury and
• 1:12:03
  they had to rush Baron Morton back.
• 1:12:06
  But now this year, Will Hammonds back, he's available, had 680
• 1:12:10
  yards, 7 touchdowns and rushed for five more scores last year
• 1:12:14
  when he was filling in for injury.
• 1:12:15
  And he's more than capable. I don't think he's an elite guy.
• 1:12:19
  He's not going to raise a sailing like a Brendan Sorsbe
• 1:12:21
  can. But he can keep you on track to
• 1:12:23
  win 11 games and still make the Big 12 championship in the
• 1:12:25
  College Football Playoff. And that's what Texas Tech is in
• 1:12:28
  for. That's still a really good
• 1:12:30
  season, but in terms of an elevator, a guy that's going to
• 1:12:33
  take you to that championship level, I don't think that's Will
• 1:12:36
  Hammond and I don't think they have it on the roster.
• 1:12:38
  They need Brennan Sarsby to be that for him, but again, I don't
• 1:12:42
  anticipate him playing. So here are the options.
• 1:12:44
  Will Hammond's one of them. He's supposed to be ready really
• 1:12:48
  by Week 2. He's been rehabbing, he's been
• 1:12:50
  throwing, but now this whole Sarsby process is kind of
• 1:12:54
  expediting his return. Does that affect his health long
• 1:12:57
  term is a question. And then you've got a a transfer
• 1:13:01
  from Tulsa and Kirk Francis. Kirk Francis probably going to
• 1:13:06
  be the starter for the Red Raiders week one against Abilene
• 1:13:09
  Christian. He's a guy that's got 7 career
• 1:13:12
  college sharks. So you can throw them out
• 1:13:15
  against Abilene Christian. You can throw them out against
• 1:13:17
  Oregon State and be fine. But you're going to need Will
• 1:13:19
  Hammond to be back for the meat of your season.
• 1:13:23
  And that's really where they stand right now.
• 1:13:24
  Lloyd Jones, the 3rd, is a former 4 star recruit at the
• 1:13:28
  high school ranks, was injured all of last year, so he hadn't
• 1:13:31
  really had an opportunity to do anything.
• 1:13:33
  But that's a name to know about as well.
• 1:13:36
  But overall, man, Texas Tech really could have used Brendan
• 1:13:41
  Sorsby this year. I hate it for him.
• 1:13:42
  But a really good team, really good team, they're at #11 I just
• 1:13:46
  got a big question mark at that quarterback position.
• 1:13:48
  If they had a quarterback, they'd easily be a top five.
• 1:13:50
  Top 16. We'll continue into the top ten.
• 1:13:55
  And I know like, you know, top 10 is a little bit more dramatic
• 1:13:57
  than the rest, but this is still part of the fringe top ten
• 1:14:00
  group. So until we get out of this,
• 1:14:03
  I'll set the table for the the big ones.
• 1:14:05
  Right? So the fringe top ten at #10 is
• 1:14:10
  going to be Ole Miss Ole Miss was 13 and two last year.
• 1:14:14
  They lost in the College Football Playoff semifinals to
• 1:14:17
  Miami in the Fiesta Bowl, an incredible game.
• 1:14:20
  The Rebels just fall up a possession short, but they're
• 1:14:23
  ranked 23rd in the portal. They had a 65% return production
• 1:14:28
  rank, which was 16th in college football.
• 1:14:31
  And they added a lot of nice pieces despite losing some big
• 1:14:34
  contributors like a Caden Lee, like a Prince, Will Uman
• 1:14:38
  Miellen. They lost those guys, but they
• 1:14:39
  retained some key ones. And they also brought some good
• 1:14:41
  ones in wide receiver Trail Harris from Virginia.
• 1:14:46
  You've also got excuse me, not that was troll Harris's for
• 1:14:49
  Oklahoma. Excuse me, you've got ratio
• 1:14:52
  fields from Auburn and I messed those.
• 1:14:55
  I messed those numbers up. I'm sorry.
• 1:14:57
  I was looking at the wrong 1. So 23rd and the transfer portal
• 1:15:02
  rankings. I think that's wrong too,
• 1:15:04
  though, because I believe they're I think I'm looking at
• 1:15:06
  Oklahoma's numbers. Ole Miss was top ten in the
• 1:15:09
  transfer. Wait, let me change that.
• 1:15:13
  But they had a a 61% return production rank, which is 28th.
• 1:15:17
  So that's correct. And they added Deuce Knight at
• 1:15:20
  quarterback. He's from Auburn, likely going
• 1:15:22
  to be the backup this year as Trinidad Chambliss does return.
• 1:15:25
  Horatio Fields out of Auburn, a wide receiver, was a highly
• 1:15:29
  coveted transfer portal player last offseason out of Wake
• 1:15:32
  Forest. Interested to see what he does
• 1:15:35
  in a Rebels uniform. You've also got Jante Cook, the
• 1:15:38
  second, the former Texas and now Syracuse transfer.
• 1:15:43
  Mackay Frazier, one of the top running backs in the transfer
• 1:15:45
  portal at a Michigan State. You've got Darrell Gill at a
• 1:15:49
  Syracuse. I really like the addition of
• 1:15:51
  him. I think he'll have an immediate
• 1:15:52
  impact. Jay Crawford, one of the top
• 1:15:55
  corners in the country out of the portal in Auburn.
• 1:16:00
  Linebacker King Thomas, really like him too.
• 1:16:02
  He comes by way of Baylor, 100 tackles and back-to-back seasons
• 1:16:07
  for the Bears. He's really impressive.
• 1:16:10
  Michael Borio, a defensive lineman from Florida, he was a
• 1:16:14
  player that was always up in backfields.
• 1:16:17
  Jonelle Aguiaro from Georgia, he's a corner.
• 1:16:22
  Luke Ferrelli, you might remember him.
• 1:16:24
  That was the guy that was committed to Clemson, signed to
• 1:16:27
  Clemson, attended meetings at Clemson, and then transferred
• 1:16:31
  Ole Miss after being tampered with.
• 1:16:33
  He was originally from California, so that that name
• 1:16:36
  might sound familiar to some people.
• 1:16:38
  And then, you know, Blake Purchase on the edge, Jordan
• 1:16:41
  Renaud from Alabama on the defensive line, Edwin Joseph
• 1:16:45
  from Florida State. They've got so many damn
• 1:16:46
  transfers, man, but they're they're good players.
• 1:16:49
  Karius Kern, the offensive tackle from LSU.
• 1:16:52
  He's he's an immediate starter as well.
• 1:16:55
  So all of this is good, especially when you turn
• 1:16:59
  Trinidad Chambliss and Kiwan Lacely or Lacey Winery, reduce
• 1:17:03
  Alexander on the defensive side of the ball.
• 1:17:06
  You got Will Echols, A defensive tackle, certain Perkins at
• 1:17:09
  linebacker, some key players last season.
• 1:17:12
  All of that is great. But I think my big question with
• 1:17:15
  all this is how does this group gel and is Pete Golding a good
• 1:17:19
  enough head football coach for a contending team?
• 1:17:23
  I loved what they did in the in the playoff.
• 1:17:26
  You know, they continue to compete.
• 1:17:27
  They won games. They all, I mean, damn near
• 1:17:29
  managed in the national title without Lane Kiffin, but a lot
• 1:17:32
  of that was because of Charlie Weis Junior.
• 1:17:34
  I thought Charlie Weis junior was one of the most important
• 1:17:38
  guys on that roster last year for Ole Miss and he wasn't even
• 1:17:41
  a player. An incredible coach learned from
• 1:17:44
  his father. Young Smart did a great job with
• 1:17:47
  the Rebels. Now he's gone.
• 1:17:50
  What does that offense look like under Joe Judge?
• 1:17:52
  And is Pete Golding a good enough game manager?
• 1:17:57
  And the big games, I don't love the way Kiffin manages big
• 1:17:59
  games. He's kind of got that aggressive
• 1:18:01
  mentality. I thought it.
• 1:18:02
  I think it bites them in some spots and give credit to to
• 1:18:08
  coach Golding because he settled a couple of times.
• 1:18:11
  He'd settled for field goals and the Sugar Bowl and it ended up
• 1:18:14
  being a big reason why they won those games.
• 1:18:16
  So I liked what I saw in the post season out of a Pete
• 1:18:20
  Golding LED team. But do we get that for an entire
• 1:18:22
  year? And how does this group gel,
• 1:18:25
  move to #9 the final team on my fringe top ten list, and this
• 1:18:30
  was Oklahoma last season, 13 and three.
• 1:18:34
  They lost in the College Football Playoff first round.
• 1:18:40
  They hosted that game against Alabama, an ugly one and an ugly
• 1:18:43
  loss. They should have won.
• 1:18:45
  Oh gosh, it was bad. And I had Oklahoma pretty big on
• 1:18:48
  the paddle locks, so I was really frustrated.
• 1:18:52
  But they've we've got a good group again.
• 1:18:56
  I've got a good group again. Key transfer editions Trell
• 1:18:59
  Harris from Virginia, Parker Livingstone from Texas, Amarian
• 1:19:04
  Harris from Arkansas. He's an offensive tackle.
• 1:19:07
  Hayden Hanson comes over from Florida.
• 1:19:10
  He's a big target. Tight end Rocky Beers from
• 1:19:13
  Colorado State, a hell of a name.
• 1:19:15
  And then Cole Sullivan, a Michigan transfer at linebacker.
• 1:19:18
  He was kind of a big defensive piece, they added.
• 1:19:21
  But you talk about these returning players, this is what
• 1:19:24
  makes Oklahoma a top ten team right now in my eyes.
• 1:19:28
  John Mateer, quarterback, wide receiver Isaiah Santanga,
• 1:19:34
  linebacker Kip Lewis, defensive lineman David Stone, D BS Peyton
• 1:19:39
  and Eli Bowen. And you got a kicker in Tate
• 1:19:42
  Sandahl who does a great job too outside of the College Football
• 1:19:45
  Playoff when you really need them.
• 1:19:46
  But he was one of the best kickers in college football last
• 1:19:48
  season. And Owen Heineke's coming back.
• 1:19:52
  How about that? I'm so I'm, I'm really am
• 1:19:54
  excited for him because I was pissed off, pissed off and they
• 1:19:58
  would not give him eligibility and to give you a crash course
• 1:20:01
  real quick. He was ruled ineligible for this
• 1:20:05
  upcoming season by the NCA because of three games he played
• 1:20:09
  in lacrosse as a Ohio State lacrosse player back in 2021.
• 1:20:14
  They were not going to give him eligibility.
• 1:20:15
  He fought it in court. He thankfully got it.
• 1:20:17
  Excited for him and excited for this Oklahoma team.
• 1:20:21
  But my big question is, can John Metir become a better
• 1:20:26
  quarterback? And I say that because at his
• 1:20:30
  best early in the season, Oklahoma was a damn good team
• 1:20:35
  because John Mateer was doing John Mateer things.
• 1:20:37
  Go back to that Michigan game. At that point in the season,
• 1:20:40
  both teams undefeated. It's a prime time match up.
• 1:20:43
  John Mateer made a number of big plays, but after that thumb
• 1:20:46
  injury, he was really never the same.
• 1:20:49
  And I thought the Oklahoma match up against Alabama in the first
• 1:20:53
  round, the College Football Playoff, was almost a microcosm
• 1:20:56
  of what John Mateer was last year.
• 1:20:58
  A really strong start comes out of the gates, man, This is a
• 1:21:02
  really impressive guy. This is a really impressive
• 1:21:05
  start. And then adversity hits the
• 1:21:10
  thumb surgery in the season, the interception in the game, and it
• 1:21:16
  was never the same. It's never the same.
• 1:21:20
  So my challenge for Oklahoma is if John Metier is a better
• 1:21:24
  quarterback and is more consistent than Oklahoma's going
• 1:21:27
  to be a damn good football team. This is what John Metier had to
• 1:21:30
  say when asked about how he's a different quarterback between
• 1:21:34
  then and now. Quote hanging out in the pocket,
• 1:21:38
  getting through my progression, pocket movement better and just
• 1:21:42
  being able to put the ball where I want to see the game with more
• 1:21:46
  anticipation and more knowledge pre snap.
• 1:21:49
  That's what Mateer had to say. I'd love to see it this year
• 1:21:51
  because I do think Oklahoma's got a good group.
• 1:21:54
  They've got a lot of key pieces returning defensively, a defense
• 1:21:57
  that was one of the best in the country.
• 1:21:59
  I think Brent Venables has really honed in on that side of
• 1:22:02
  the football, has given most of that attention on the offensive
• 1:22:05
  side have been Arbuckle and it's kind of let him take it.
• 1:22:09
  I think the running back position is also kind of
• 1:22:11
  something to watch for as well as they were inconsistent in
• 1:22:13
  that facet last year. But overall, it's all John
• 1:22:16
  Matier for me. If John Matier is a good player,
• 1:22:19
  then I think Oklahoma will be as well.
• 1:22:23
  All right, Next up we got Texas A&M and this officially enters
• 1:22:27
  my fringe elite teams. My fringe elite teams as the
• 1:22:34
  Aggies went thirteen and three last year.
• 1:22:36
  They lost in the College Football Playoff first round to
• 1:22:40
  Miami. They hosted that one.
• 1:22:43
  Back and forth. Honestly, it was a great game.
• 1:22:45
  I know a lot of people are like, oh, what a snooze.
• 1:22:47
  It was a great game. Back and forth, Defense makes a
• 1:22:50
  play. The next possession, the defense
• 1:22:53
  makes a play again, the offense gets stalled out.
• 1:22:55
  The next possession, the offense stalls out.
• 1:22:57
  It's back and forth. Great game.
• 1:22:59
  But Marcel Reed drives all the way down the field, throws an
• 1:23:01
  interception kind of on par for him and how that season went
• 1:23:05
  where he was really good against that inferior opponents, but
• 1:23:09
  against some of the better teams wasn't as polished.
• 1:23:11
  So kind of the same thing for Texas A&M.
• 1:23:14
  Can they get better quarterback play?
• 1:23:16
  But I did like what I saw read throughout the season.
• 1:23:18
  So I'm not going to completely dock him for that.
• 1:23:20
  And I'll go a different route in terms of my question.
• 1:23:23
  But they ranked third in the transfer portal.
• 1:23:26
  They ranked 14th in return production at a 65% rate.
• 1:23:31
  And then they had a lot of transfers.
• 1:23:33
  Isaiah Horton from Alabama, a wide receiver, Wilkin Formby,
• 1:23:37
  another Alabama player, this guy an offensive tackle.
• 1:23:41
  Tyree Adams out of LSU, an offensive tackle.
• 1:23:44
  Ricky Gibson, the third out of Tennessee, another cornerback
• 1:23:49
  edge on Tosaka from Northwestern.
• 1:23:52
  He was actually really highly regarded guy off that defensive
• 1:23:56
  side of the ball. Tawfiq Byard out of South
• 1:23:59
  Florida, a safety, I think he's going to be a really nice piece
• 1:24:02
  for this team. CJ Mims comes in from North
• 1:24:05
  Carolina. He's a defensive lineman, so a
• 1:24:07
  couple of nice pieces there. I look at Byard, Gibson and Saka
• 1:24:12
  as three big defensive additions and Horton as a really nice wide
• 1:24:17
  receiver weapon for the Aggies because Marcel Reed,
• 1:24:21
  quarterback, is coming back, Ruben Owens, the second, is
• 1:24:25
  coming back at running back. And then Mario Craver, the
• 1:24:28
  former Mississippi State transfer, He had a really nice
• 1:24:30
  season alongside Casey Concepcion.
• 1:24:33
  I think the pairing of Horton and Craver is going to be really
• 1:24:36
  good to see this upcoming season.
• 1:24:38
  And when you got Mark, now Blue junior at that on the offensive
• 1:24:43
  line returning, that's a big key because last year with guys like
• 1:24:48
  Trey Zoom and trying to think of a couple of other offensive
• 1:24:53
  lineman, if you're a Texas A&M fan, you know who I'm referring
• 1:24:56
  to. But a really good offensive line
• 1:24:57
  last year allowed them to have success running the ball and
• 1:25:00
  gave Marcel Reed a lot of time to make plays down the field.
• 1:25:04
  Going to need that again. But having Martin Albu Junior
• 1:25:07
  coming back is big and on that defensive side of the ball,
• 1:25:10
  safety Marcus Ratcliffe and Bryce Anderson, two guys to
• 1:25:14
  watch for, and DJ Hicks as well, should be a good defensive unit.
• 1:25:19
  But there are a lot of questions and that's what I'll get into
• 1:25:22
  for my main piece for the Aggies and it's in the Aggies defense.
• 1:25:30
  Reload what was a big success last year, he had a number of
• 1:25:36
  guys drafted or assigned to teams in the NFL. 7 defensive
• 1:25:41
  players gone from last year's group, including a guy in
• 1:25:44
  Cassius Howell that was incredible throughout the
• 1:25:47
  season. So I think upfront Texas A&M has
• 1:25:51
  continued to recruit at a high level under Mike Elko.
• 1:25:54
  You like a couple of pieces, they return in a DJ Hicks and
• 1:25:57
  you like the addition of ACJ Mims, but can that group get
• 1:26:00
  that type of pressure once again?
• 1:26:02
  Can that defense make the type of plays they did throughout
• 1:26:06
  last year to keep opposing teams on their toes at all times?
• 1:26:11
  That's the big thing with Texas A and MI think Marcel Reed needs
• 1:26:15
  to kind of be honed in. And I've said that for a couple
• 1:26:20
  of guys, but it really is true. Like some of these more gadget
• 1:26:25
  type quarterbacks where they're dual threat, they can run, they
• 1:26:28
  can throw, they can do a lot of, you know, really great thing.
• 1:26:31
  Some of those gadget guys you got to kind of hone in a little
• 1:26:34
  bit because when they're going and making those plays, no, I
• 1:26:38
  mean, no one else can stop them in the country right there.
• 1:26:40
  There are a few amount of guys that can do that, but sometimes
• 1:26:44
  you get a little bit too ahead of yourself.
• 1:26:45
  You turn the ball over, you throw it into double coverage,
• 1:26:47
  you drive all the way down the field on your own own 10 yard
• 1:26:52
  line, Miami's 10 yard line. You're about to come back and
• 1:26:55
  win the game. You throw a costly interception.
• 1:26:57
  So stuff like that. He's got to hone that back in.
• 1:27:00
  But I also look at that defense as a big question mark.
• 1:27:03
  Are they able to replicate the type of success they had last
• 1:27:06
  year despite 7 departures from that group?
• 1:27:10
  We'll move to #7 it's the Miami Hurricanes, the team that took
• 1:27:15
  down the Aggies last year in the College Football Playoffs.
• 1:27:19
  They've finished out at 13 and three and lost in the national
• 1:27:23
  title to the Indiana Hoosiers. But Miami still did put a lot of
• 1:27:27
  work in this offseason, some of which was probably not ethical.
• 1:27:31
  But that's not really what the sport has become these days.
• 1:27:34
  And I'll refer to that ethicalness here in a moment.
• 1:27:37
  But 16th in the transfer portal, 49th.
• 1:27:41
  There's going to be 49% in terms of the return production rate at
• 1:27:45
  78th and college football. But the star of the show is
• 1:27:49
  going to be this transfer portal class led by none other than
• 1:27:52
  Darien Mensa, the quarterback from Duke who entered into the
• 1:27:56
  transfer portal just hours before it closed and magically
• 1:28:00
  ended up choosing Miami pretty quickly.
• 1:28:04
  Now the ethicalness of that process is still, you know, like
• 1:28:10
  honestly now I think dude just said, screw it, we're we're
• 1:28:13
  moving on. But the ethicalness of that was
• 1:28:16
  was not very high. But regardless, he's still a
• 1:28:20
  hell of a player. And Miami's got a quarterback
• 1:28:23
  after losing Carson back this past year, and he's going to
• 1:28:25
  have help around him too. Cooper Marcate, a wide receiver
• 1:28:31
  from Duke, also joins him. Vandarius Jacobs from South
• 1:28:35
  Carolina is another wide receiver addition.
• 1:28:37
  And on the defensive side of the ball, a couple of really strong
• 1:28:40
  ads. Damon Wilson, the second out of
• 1:28:42
  Missouri off the edge. He's going to be a first round
• 1:28:45
  pick in the NFL draft this upcoming season like Kiona
• 1:28:48
  Davis, another defensive lineman like him and then Omar Thornton
• 1:28:53
  from Boston College. He's a safety, kind of a guy
• 1:28:55
  that goes under the radar, but a really nice pick up.
• 1:28:58
  And you saw the type of impact they had it safety last year
• 1:29:01
  with a guy like Jacoby Thomas, the former Tennessee transfer
• 1:29:04
  that was so big for that run. It shows you the type of power a
• 1:29:08
  player like that can have. So watch him.
• 1:29:11
  And then returning, you got Mark Fletcher at running back, you
• 1:29:15
  got Malachi Tony at wide receiver.
• 1:29:17
  He's going to be one of the best in college football once again.
• 1:29:19
  But more so going back to that defense, it's Xavier Lucas.
• 1:29:23
  It's Muhammad Torre, who enters his eighth year of college
• 1:29:26
  football this season, Justin Scott and Ahmad Moton.
• 1:29:31
  And Moton's a guy that missed the spring, but still I got a
• 1:29:34
  Note 2 defensive tackles. This is still a really good
• 1:29:37
  Miami team and they're in a bad conference, but can Miami
• 1:29:41
  replace that type of production on the offensive line and
• 1:29:44
  defensive line they had last year?
• 1:29:46
  They had big dudes like a Mark Bell on the offensive tackle
• 1:29:50
  spot, 6/7. He was huge on the defensive
• 1:29:54
  line. Hakeem Mazidor and Ruben Bayne,
• 1:29:56
  one of the most difficult defensive fronts to defend in
• 1:29:59
  all college football. That had an immediate impact on
• 1:30:02
  those linebackers. Abilities to make plays on the
• 1:30:05
  corners, being able to jump routes because of the
• 1:30:07
  anticipation and timing of those routes.
• 1:30:11
  I think all of that is what made Miami such a good team last
• 1:30:15
  year. And when they got a good version
• 1:30:16
  of Carson back, they usually won games and when they got bad
• 1:30:19
  version, they lost. But outside of that, for this
• 1:30:23
  year, can they replace that production on both sides of the
• 1:30:26
  line of scrimmage? It's what wins big games.
• 1:30:30
  The line of scrimmage, can you control it?
• 1:30:33
  Indiana and it's going to be Indiana and Alabama and the Rose
• 1:30:35
  Bowl who control the line of scrimmage.
• 1:30:36
  In that one, it was Indiana dominantly in the score was
• 1:30:39
  reflective of it. So for Miami, can they control
• 1:30:43
  that line of scrimmage without all those pieces that were so
• 1:30:46
  fascinating last year? My big question number six,
• 1:30:51
  Indiana, the Hoosiers 16 and O last year the national
• 1:30:55
  champions, the 1st 16 and O team since Yale back in the nineteen
• 1:31:01
  14818 something. It was a long, long time ago
• 1:31:05
  folks. First national championship for
• 1:31:08
  the Hoosiers as well, but they ranked first in the transfer
• 1:31:12
  portal. Kirk Signetti and company got
• 1:31:13
  straight to work after hoisting the trophy. 56% return
• 1:31:18
  production rate, 52nd best in the country.
• 1:31:21
  But they're going to be reliant on proven talent they acquired
• 1:31:25
  and the transfer portal, beginning with quarterback Josh
• 1:31:28
  Hoover out of TCU, one of the leaders in college football
• 1:31:32
  heading into the season in terms of total yards accounted for.
• 1:31:36
  And he's a gunslinger now. He makes some bad decisions
• 1:31:38
  sometimes, but, but he's a gunslinger.
• 1:31:41
  And if you put him in the right system with Curt Zunetti, things
• 1:31:44
  could be different. So we'll see.
• 1:31:46
  But a really good quarterback and Josh Hoover get Nick Marsh
• 1:31:49
  out of Michigan State, one of the top players in the portal at
• 1:31:52
  wide receiver. Shaz Preston out of Tulane, a
• 1:31:57
  former five star recruit that went to Alabama and transferred
• 1:32:00
  to Tulane, was a part of that Green Wave group that made it
• 1:32:03
  through the College Football Playoff this past season.
• 1:32:06
  I'm watching for Shaz Preston because he had a couple of nice
• 1:32:08
  plays in that game against the Rebels back in December.
• 1:32:13
  Turbo Richard at running back from Boston College, another guy
• 1:32:16
  to note. And then Joe Brunner from
• 1:32:18
  Wisconsin, a really nice offensive tackle addition to on
• 1:32:22
  that defensive side of the ball that was so strong for Indiana
• 1:32:25
  last year. It's Toby Osunsami from Kansas
• 1:32:29
  State. He was a really highly regarded
• 1:32:31
  transfer as well. Did a great job for the Wildcats
• 1:32:34
  last year being disruptive. But again, you know, these are
• 1:32:39
  guys that you have to have take that next jump, that next level,
• 1:32:42
  Big 10 a little bit better than the Big 12 and in particular
• 1:32:45
  those big games. So can Usunsami level up is a
• 1:32:49
  big question. Can Joshua Burnham from Notre
• 1:32:53
  Dame a fun edge as well? Can he level up?
• 1:32:56
  I like him too. And then AJ Harris out of Penn
• 1:32:59
  State to former Georgia and Penn State transfer, rounding out his
• 1:33:03
  college football career with the Hoosiers.
• 1:33:06
  I like the experience he has, but he was kind of disappointing
• 1:33:09
  last year for the new Lions. Very easily could have gone to
• 1:33:12
  the draft if he had a better year.
• 1:33:14
  So something to watch there. Now, the key retainees.
• 1:33:17
  Carter Smith is going to be one of the best offensive tackles in
• 1:33:19
  college football. That's a big plus for having a
• 1:33:23
  new quarterback and Josh Hoover for having a different look on
• 1:33:27
  that side of the ball. Charlie Becker is going to be a
• 1:33:29
  really nice receiver for Josh Hoover to hook up with because
• 1:33:33
  he was really big down the stretch of the season last year.
• 1:33:36
  Tyreke Tucker on the defensive line, a tackle, he's a really
• 1:33:40
  big piece returning and Rely or Elijah Hardy as well at
• 1:33:44
  linebacker, a leader of that group last year was heavily
• 1:33:47
  involved game in and game out, play in and play out and their
• 1:33:51
  defensive scheme. He returns.
• 1:33:52
  So I like the additions, I like Kurt Zinnetti, I like the
• 1:33:57
  momentum, the writing in with. But I think the big question for
• 1:34:01
  Indiana this year is, is Kurt Zinnetti truly one of the best
• 1:34:08
  coaches in college football now? I believe it right now that he
• 1:34:12
  is. But if he is truly one of the
• 1:34:15
  best coaches in college football, he can take this
• 1:34:17
  number one transfer portal class or yeah #1 transfer portal
• 1:34:22
  class. He can take this group and turn
• 1:34:24
  it into a really successful season.
• 1:34:26
  Once again, this is like what Nick Saban would do.
• 1:34:29
  Nick Saban would go get the best recruits in the country and they
• 1:34:33
  would pump out national championship years.
• 1:34:36
  I have no doubt that Signetti has the the the arm power to do
• 1:34:40
  this. But I think that's what the big
• 1:34:44
  question is for this team because you lost Mendoza, you
• 1:34:47
  lost all the players that made such a big impact.
• 1:34:50
  And Elijah Serrat, wide receiver James Joel Ponds at corner, lost
• 1:34:53
  all those guys, But you still added through the portal
• 1:34:56
  experienced players. Can Indiana continue to be a
• 1:34:59
  contender? Can Curt Signetti take that jump
• 1:35:03
  to like that one? Just a one off?
• 1:35:06
  This is who I am. That's what I'm watching for
• 1:35:08
  this year. All right, at #5 it's the
• 1:35:13
  Georgia Bulldogs. The Georgia Bulldogs at #5 they
• 1:35:16
  are not in my elite category. They're only four teams that
• 1:35:20
  made the elite category. But for the Bulldogs, it's #5
• 1:35:24
  and last year they were 12 and 2.
• 1:35:27
  They made the College Football Playoff, one the SEC
• 1:35:29
  championship, but lost in the Sugar Bowl to the Rebels, the
• 1:35:34
  Ole Miss Rebels, that is a team that they had beaten earlier in
• 1:35:37
  the season in Athens, a hell of a game.
• 1:35:40
  And they ranked 46th in the transfer portal, 68% in return
• 1:35:45
  production rate. And that was 8th in college
• 1:35:48
  football. So you like the the guys are
• 1:35:50
  returning and that's Gunner Stockton, that's Nate Frazier
• 1:35:54
  and Chauncey Bowens, 2 running backs, tight end, lost and
• 1:35:57
  lucky. You got Ernest Green at
• 1:36:00
  offensive tackle, Chris Cole at linebacker, Ellis Robinson the
• 1:36:04
  4th. That's a first round pick in
• 1:36:05
  next year's draft. And you got KJ Bolden the
• 1:36:07
  defensive back as well. So you like the pieces on both
• 1:36:10
  sides, defense and offense that come back.
• 1:36:13
  The transfer additions. Isaiah Canyon from Georgia Tech,
• 1:36:18
  he's a sneaky receiver that I think could have a big impact
• 1:36:20
  right away. Dante Dattle, a multi time
• 1:36:23
  transfer who comes over from Kentucky.
• 1:36:26
  I think he had some depth to that position.
• 1:36:29
  I think Bowens and Frasier are good.
• 1:36:31
  Yeah. Dattle into the mix.
• 1:36:32
  You've really got a strong three back group there.
• 1:36:35
  A Morris Williams, a defensive lineman from Auburn, a highly
• 1:36:38
  recruited guy next to Gentry Williams, a safety out of
• 1:36:42
  Oklahoma, Really like the way he flies to the ball.
• 1:36:45
  And then Khalil Barnes from Clemson safety, A lot of Clemson
• 1:36:50
  guys were upset that he left. So I think Georgia made the
• 1:36:53
  right additions. But I think the big question now
• 1:36:57
  is can this team put it together in the postseason?
• 1:37:00
  I mean, this is a group that won back-to-back national titles and
• 1:37:03
  since then has gone now three straight years without even
• 1:37:07
  being one of the final four teams in the field.
• 1:37:09
  So I still trust Kirby Smart, but and it's a little concerning
• 1:37:13
  that they can't even win these one off games.
• 1:37:16
  Obviously the loss to Notre Dame and the Sugar Bowl.
• 1:37:18
  I give a little bit of a excerpt mark too, because Carson back
• 1:37:23
  got injured in the in the SEC championship just two to three
• 1:37:26
  weeks before that game. But they still have plenty of
• 1:37:28
  time to prep with Conner Stockton.
• 1:37:30
  But again, excerpt mark. This past year, though, there
• 1:37:34
  was no excuse. They were leading in the
• 1:37:36
  second-half. They were the better coach team,
• 1:37:40
  less drama coach team at least and they lose.
• 1:37:43
  So my thing with Georgia, really talented team, but can they
• 1:37:49
  excel in the postseason this year?
• 1:37:52
  I think is the big question. And and Kirby Smart, obviously
• 1:37:54
  he's not on the hot seat by any means, but he's going to face
• 1:37:57
  some gripes. So they have another year where
• 1:37:58
  they can't win a College Football Playoff game.
• 1:38:02
  All right, well, now enter into my elite teams.
• 1:38:05
  There are four of them, and these are what I believe to be
• 1:38:08
  the best four teams in college football this season.
• 1:38:12
  We'll begin at #4 and it's Ohio State.
• 1:38:15
  Last season, 12 and 2, they made the College Football Playoff.
• 1:38:18
  They lost in the Cotton Bowl. They ranked 39th in the transfer
• 1:38:22
  portal. The return production percentage
• 1:38:24
  was 60th and or a 60%, I should say.
• 1:38:28
  They ranked 31st overall. They had a slow start to the
• 1:38:32
  transfer portal. Some teams did.
• 1:38:34
  They had a slow start to the transfer portal.
• 1:38:35
  But I do like their additions. Devin McEwen, a wide receiver
• 1:38:39
  out of UTSA, is going to be a really interesting player
• 1:38:42
  speedster for the Roadrunners this past year.
• 1:38:44
  Maybe no pun intended coming from the Roadrunners, but I like
• 1:38:49
  McEwan a lot. I think he's a player that can
• 1:38:50
  fit right away in as a little bit of a smaller speedy gadget
• 1:38:54
  receiver alongside of a Jeremiah Smith and Brandon Ennis and
• 1:38:57
  Chris Henry junior. Really talented group.
• 1:38:59
  You know, they've got McEwan slides right into that.
• 1:39:02
  In a different facet, Hunter Welking from Northwestern, a
• 1:39:06
  tight end safety, Earl Little Junior from Florida State,
• 1:39:10
  originally from Alabama, former highly recruited guy at a high
• 1:39:13
  school, lost his black stripe 5 games or five practices in.
• 1:39:18
  And for those that don't know what the black stripe is, it's a
• 1:39:20
  traditional Ohio State does that for every new player or freshman
• 1:39:25
  that comes in, they have a black stripe they've got to earn.
• 1:39:28
  So that's an interesting tidbit about Earl Little Junior.
• 1:39:33
  Some of the Florida State fans were saying he was trash, but
• 1:39:36
  that's how every fan base is when someone leaves.
• 1:39:38
  He sucked, He was this, he's that.
• 1:39:40
  Ohio State fans have seemed to like him and he's impressed so
• 1:39:43
  far in camp. Had Terry Moore, another safety
• 1:39:46
  they added. And then you've got James Smith
• 1:39:48
  from Alabama, as long as Quay Rusol from Alabama.
• 1:39:52
  Rusol being a linebacker, Smith a defensive lineman.
• 1:39:54
  It was kind of a package duo and the transfer portal.
• 1:39:58
  Kind of odd that they did it, but whatever. 2 highly recruited
• 1:40:01
  guys nonetheless. And then Dominic Kelly out of
• 1:40:04
  Georgia, a defensive back has some promise as well.
• 1:40:07
  The returners, well, you got quarterback Julian saying.
• 1:40:11
  You got wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, running back Bo Jackson.
• 1:40:14
  You've got 4 offensive lineman returning and then Jermaine
• 1:40:18
  Matthews at corner want to be going to be one of the best in
• 1:40:21
  the country. Kenyatta Jackson on the
• 1:40:23
  defensive line and they've got a couple of impact freshmen too.
• 1:40:26
  Wide receiver Chris Henry junior, a five star out of
• 1:40:29
  matter day committed to the Buckeyes after debating maybe
• 1:40:33
  switching to Oregon following the departure of Brian Hartline
• 1:40:36
  for offensive coordinator. Slash wide receivers coach for
• 1:40:40
  the Buckeyes that went to South Florida.
• 1:40:42
  They've also got this other cat and he was lowly rated, wasn't
• 1:40:46
  like the crown jewel, the clasp, but it's Brock Boyd, another
• 1:40:50
  wide receiver, Brock Borden, the Brock boy they love at Ohio
• 1:40:55
  State. And I think he could have the
• 1:40:57
  opportunity to be one of those under the radar freshmen that
• 1:41:01
  makes an impact in year 1. Like earlier we were talking
• 1:41:04
  about Alabama and we were discussing what's that kid's
• 1:41:09
  name? We were we were talking Latzier
• 1:41:13
  Brooks. Latzier Brooks was a three star.
• 1:41:16
  I mean, Alabama can play a three star year one usually, but if
• 1:41:20
  you're pretty damn good, you can play right away.
• 1:41:22
  Malachi Tony was the same way. Malachi Tony was one of the best
• 1:41:25
  players in college football. He was a guy that enrolled early
• 1:41:27
  and was a three star. So I look at Brock Boyd as a
• 1:41:30
  name to know if you're a Buckeyes fan this upcoming
• 1:41:33
  season. And even if you're not, if
• 1:41:34
  you're an opposing fan, just keep Brock Boyd in mind.
• 1:41:37
  You might hear about him more in the in the later portion of the
• 1:41:40
  season, but the big question for Ohio State to me is can this
• 1:41:47
  offensive line support this talented cash?
• 1:41:50
  Because you do have returning starters, as I mentioned.
• 1:41:54
  But some of these guys have been trickled in and out due to
• 1:41:57
  injury. And the end of spring practice
• 1:42:00
  finished up with last year's starting offensive tackle Austin
• 1:42:04
  Seiberfeld and Phillip Daniels both healing from offseason
• 1:42:08
  injuries. So those are two to note.
• 1:42:10
  Ohio State played Ian Moore and Carter Love in those spots and
• 1:42:14
  Moore has a chance to keep that spot in 2026.
• 1:42:17
  It would be a starter for a third season for more if he were
• 1:42:22
  to keep that. But it does open the door for
• 1:42:24
  other guys to take it. But there's also another guy and
• 1:42:30
  and let's see. And actually, this is more on
• 1:42:33
  more, I should say 6 foot 6312. I like that size, like those
• 1:42:37
  dimensions you have experience on the online, but can you get
• 1:42:41
  all that group to mesh together? Can all of those guys get fully
• 1:42:45
  healthy and available by the start of the season?
• 1:42:47
  Because Bo Jackson's a hell of a running back.
• 1:42:49
  You saw that in Year 1. Julian saying I think he needs
• 1:42:52
  to use his legs more, which is something he has discussed this
• 1:42:55
  off season, said he's going to do it, did so in the spring game
• 1:42:58
  for the Buckeyes. But also he's going to make a
• 1:43:01
  couple more plays. Like I thought last year was a
• 1:43:04
  little bit too scripted, just kind of like, OK, this, this,
• 1:43:06
  this, this, use those legs, get out of the pocket, extend plays,
• 1:43:10
  make plays. And when you've got Jeremiah
• 1:43:13
  Smith and Chris Henry Junior and all these talented guys around
• 1:43:16
  you, you're going to have success.
• 1:43:17
  But can that offensive line hold up and allow a love to do some
• 1:43:21
  of those type of things? But you've got guys returning,
• 1:43:24
  but can that offensive line put it all together?
• 1:43:26
  Can they figure out some of those injury situations ahead of
• 1:43:29
  the season? But an elite team to me, the 4th
• 1:43:33
  best in the country at #3 we got the Oregon Ducks, Oregon just
• 1:43:39
  one spot ahead of Ohio State. I know these two teams have met
• 1:43:44
  up before and they will meet this year as well.
• 1:43:48
  But Oregon lasted a little bit longer than Ohio State did last
• 1:43:52
  season. And the bones of this team are
• 1:43:53
  still there. And they've added some new
• 1:43:55
  additions too. So we're going to have them at
• 1:43:57
  3:00. And they were 13 and two lost in
• 1:44:01
  the College Football Playoff semifinals to Indiana.
• 1:44:04
  It was an ugly game from the jump.
• 1:44:06
  And if you had Oregon, you were quickly regretting that
• 1:44:09
  decision. That's who had Oregon.
• 1:44:14
  Me. But that's OK.
• 1:44:16
  We can't hand them all. And I had a lot of other ones
• 1:44:19
  that I nailed, so it's OK. They were 31st in the transfer
• 1:44:23
  portal, 66% return production rate and that that ranks 11th
• 1:44:28
  overall in college football transfer portal.
• 1:44:32
  Start with Dylan Rayola because he's got a red shirt this year.
• 1:44:35
  And I really like the plan for him because it's very
• 1:44:38
  reminiscent of what Dante Moore did.
• 1:44:40
  Everyone's so fascinated and the five star freshman needs to play
• 1:44:44
  right away. I think it's terrible because
• 1:44:46
  you've seen time and time again it just doesn't work.
• 1:44:49
  Joan Rayola played two years in Nebraska, did not beat a ranked
• 1:44:52
  team, beat a couple of OK teams, but didn't really move up the
• 1:44:56
  ladder. Dante Moore started his career
• 1:44:58
  at UCLA. He was a disaster.
• 1:45:01
  Sits out a year at Oregon, then gets his opportunity the next
• 1:45:05
  season and was great, a much better season.
• 1:45:08
  You know, everyone's so fixated on the five star guy.
• 1:45:11
  DJ Lagway was horrible and I liked it Lagway, but DJ Lagway
• 1:45:17
  had bad coaching. Was told against LSU on the road
• 1:45:20
  to throw it 49 times and threw 5 picks.
• 1:45:23
  It's all about the situation. It's all about you know how many
• 1:45:27
  reps you have gotten in order to get ready for that spot and I
• 1:45:31
  just don't think it works. I think sitting behind a guy for
• 1:45:34
  two years and learning the system and being able to go out
• 1:45:37
  the next year and be a full ready to go is a much better
• 1:45:41
  plan. But for Dylan Rayola, I think
• 1:45:43
  it's a good idea for him to sit out this season, learn, and get
• 1:45:46
  ready for his fourth year of college football.
• 1:45:48
  As a third year player. I think it will work out for
• 1:45:50
  him, but he is on this list as one of their big transfer portal
• 1:45:54
  additions. But not a guy that I believe is
• 1:45:55
  going to have an immediate impact this year, barring a
• 1:45:58
  significant injury from a Dante Moore.
• 1:46:01
  But outside of Rayola, you've got Andrew Olesh and tied in
• 1:46:05
  from Penn State. Yet Iverson hooks at a U A/B, a
• 1:46:08
  really interesting target that I think can mix in with this
• 1:46:10
  current group well. Coy Parrish or Parrish out of
• 1:46:14
  Minnesota, a safety, kind of the white version of Travis Hunter,
• 1:46:19
  At least that's what a lot of people were talking about last
• 1:46:21
  offseason. Really talented player.
• 1:46:23
  I think he's going to have a lot of success the same way a Dylan
• 1:46:26
  Feneman had when he transferred in from Purdue last year.
• 1:46:29
  And Feneman was one of the best safeties, best defensive backs
• 1:46:32
  in the country for the Ducks this past year.
• 1:46:35
  Aaron Scott, junior, he comes in from Ohio State, he's a corner.
• 1:46:39
  And then Dantre Robinson out of North Carolina on the defensive
• 1:46:42
  line. But I circle Iverson hooks, I
• 1:46:44
  circle Coy Parish as two guys to watch for for Oregon this
• 1:46:49
  upcoming year. But they've got a lot of guys
• 1:46:51
  returning. And as we said, they rank 11th.
• 1:46:53
  This is a positive. Dante Moore comes back.
• 1:46:56
  I think he's going to be better in his third full year as a
• 1:46:59
  starter. Decided to not go to the New
• 1:47:01
  York Jets and did not want to sign his life away.
• 1:47:04
  Comes back to Oregon, makes a lot of money.
• 1:47:05
  Pretty good deal to Corian Moore.
• 1:47:08
  Freshman 5 star phenom last year at wide receiver.
• 1:47:11
  He's back for his sophomore campaign.
• 1:47:13
  Evan Stewart. A former five star that you
• 1:47:16
  might remember. Began his career at Texas A&M.
• 1:47:18
  Missed all of last year due to injury.
• 1:47:20
  He's back this year. Jeremiah McClellan, another
• 1:47:24
  really talented receiver, made a couple of big catches throughout
• 1:47:27
  the season for the Ducks last year.
• 1:47:30
  I like this receiving core a lot.
• 1:47:32
  And it goes next to Jamari Johnson, a tight end.
• 1:47:35
  Kenyan Sadiq, he was awesome at tight end this past year for
• 1:47:38
  Oregon. Kind of one of these like, whoa,
• 1:47:41
  where this guy come from type of deal.
• 1:47:42
  Jamari Johnson has that potential, too.
• 1:47:44
  He's really impressive. Bear Alexander on the defensive
• 1:47:48
  line, he's back. Matteo Yuengele, he's back on
• 1:47:51
  the defensive line. Tatum, Tatum Tutti on that
• 1:47:55
  defensive line as well. All three of those guys were
• 1:47:58
  turning pieces. The defensive line is going to
• 1:48:00
  be really solid. And then Brandon Finney, junior,
• 1:48:02
  one of my favorite players. Last year, it was a true
• 1:48:05
  freshman back this season, a defensive back that made a lot
• 1:48:08
  of plays. My big question with Oregon is
• 1:48:12
  can they take the big ones on the road?
• 1:48:15
  Because they've got two big ones, USC and Week 4, Ohio State
• 1:48:19
  and Week 10, and they host Michigan and Week 11.
• 1:48:22
  You've got to win 10 games to make the College Football
• 1:48:25
  Playoff in this conference, right?
• 1:48:28
  So USC and Week four. I think that's a real litmus
• 1:48:31
  test to Lincoln Riley and what he was, what he's saying right
• 1:48:35
  now and that this is the championship window.
• 1:48:37
  If USC is legit, they'll beat Oregon in that US in that Week 4
• 1:48:41
  matchup. If they don't, then Oregon
• 1:48:44
  knocks off a big check on their list for what they've got to do
• 1:48:47
  to make it back to the CFP. Ohio State week 10, that's going
• 1:48:51
  to be a really tall task. Michigan the following week,
• 1:48:54
  that's going to be a tall task. But if you go, if you go one and
• 1:48:57
  two in that stretch and you win all your other games, you're
• 1:48:59
  still in the College Football Playoff.
• 1:49:01
  That's the life of playing in the Big 10.
• 1:49:03
  That's the life of having the opportunity to go play
• 1:49:05
  Northwestern and Rutgers and all these other groups outside of,
• 1:49:08
  you know, your two or three big games.
• 1:49:10
  Oregon's got to use it to their advantage.
• 1:49:12
  But if they drop all three of those games, that's a really bad
• 1:49:15
  season and a let down from what they were supposed to be.
• 1:49:19
  So Oregon at #3 all right, coming up from about two hours.
• 1:49:25
  So I will, I will try to speed this up, but appreciate you
• 1:49:29
  listening along with us, however you may be doing so.
• 1:49:32
  And happy Memorial Day week, cut it to the lake here soon.
• 1:49:37
  Haven't had a vacation in months.
• 1:49:40
  Early years. I have a couple of 1 offs every
• 1:49:44
  now and then. Jacksonville was a lot of fun,
• 1:49:46
  Chicago with a lot of fun. But I need a beach.
• 1:49:49
  I'm not going to beach, but the lake's close enough.
• 1:49:52
  Regardless. Let's get through the rest of
• 1:49:53
  this. Number 2, Notre Dame, and I'd
• 1:49:57
  really fought #1 on this, but I went #2 for the Fighting Irish
• 1:50:01
  because they were snubbed from the College Football Playoff.
• 1:50:05
  And yes, I said they were snubbed.
• 1:50:06
  They were snubbed from the College Football Playoff.
• 1:50:08
  We can debate that at a different time.
• 1:50:10
  They were ten and two last year. They're right there.
• 1:50:12
  They've met that. They met the criteria that fit
• 1:50:14
  everything. They were not selected.
• 1:50:15
  It is what it is. Transfer portal, rank 9th in the
• 1:50:20
  country, 72% return production rate.
• 1:50:24
  That's the best in college football.
• 1:50:26
  They added a couple of nice transfer portal additions and
• 1:50:29
  Quincy Porter, a wide receiver from Ohio State, Mylan Graham, a
• 1:50:33
  wide receiver from Ohio State as well.
• 1:50:36
  And then Francis Baru at a Pittsburgh.
• 1:50:38
  I really like Baru. He was a freak athlete at
• 1:50:42
  Pittsburgh, was an all freshman team member in 2024, was a freak
• 1:50:49
  list guy for Bruce Feldman last year.
• 1:50:53
  I freak list freak. He was on the freak list for
• 1:50:56
  Bruce Feldman last year. That's a better way to say it.
• 1:50:58
  And he really is a fascinating player.
• 1:51:01
  Defensive lineman gets up right there on that line of scrimmage
• 1:51:05
  and causes a ruckus, is able to get in the backfield, cause
• 1:51:08
  sacks, force fumbles. That's the type of player that
• 1:51:11
  Notre Dame really wanted. And he had a ton of of interest
• 1:51:15
  across the country. I, I, I discussed, I talked with
• 1:51:19
  him during the weeks of his recruitment.
• 1:51:21
  He had Ohio State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Notre Dame,
• 1:51:25
  all of these teams and he had more adding to it.
• 1:51:28
  You know, he was adding visits as we talked.
• 1:51:30
  But really impressive player and I think he's going to have a big
• 1:51:33
  season. You've also got a lot of key
• 1:51:36
  retainees. CJ Park quarterback, I believe
• 1:51:39
  is going to be a first round pick here eventually.
• 1:51:41
  Leonard Moore, ADB, It's going to be one of the best players in
• 1:51:46
  college football. If you don't know Leonard Moore
• 1:51:48
  Junior, you need to know pretty quick.
• 1:51:50
  And this is a guy that in his freshman year that came onto the
• 1:51:53
  scene really strong, matched up one-on-one with Jeremiah Smith a
• 1:51:57
  couple of times in that national championship game and when he
• 1:52:00
  was the primary defender one-on-one, only allowed one
• 1:52:04
  catch, 2 targets, 7 yards. This guy is a baller.
• 1:52:09
  And then Kingston, Villamu, OSU at linebacker as well.
• 1:52:13
  He's going to be a first round pick.
• 1:52:15
  So they got a couple of guys that are first rounders.
• 1:52:17
  And you know, Notre Dame's obviously going to have the
• 1:52:20
  benefit of the doubt with their schedule.
• 1:52:23
  It's not going to be difficult. But again, I think Notre Dame is
• 1:52:26
  a team where they're so polarizing.
• 1:52:29
  People are already going to have an opinion about them before
• 1:52:31
  they even play football, but last year I thought they were
• 1:52:34
  one of the best teams in the country.
• 1:52:36
  At the end of the season. They were unfortunately not
• 1:52:39
  granted the opportunity to showcase that in the College
• 1:52:42
  Football Playoff. I think that hunger is still in
• 1:52:44
  the back of the mind of Marcus Freeman and a lot of this, a lot
• 1:52:48
  of these guys on this team are are, are working to get back to
• 1:52:51
  the College Football Playoff. And I think they're going to be
• 1:52:53
  one of the best in the country because they've got a mix of
• 1:52:56
  really good transfers, a mix of returning talent, a great coach
• 1:53:00
  and Marcus Freeman and a manageable schedule.
• 1:53:03
  My big question for Notre Dame is what is that running back
• 1:53:07
  position look like? You know, Jeremiah Smith and
• 1:53:09
  Jadarian Price, they were so fun to watch and my favorite players
• 1:53:12
  in college football. It's why I've got a Jeremiah
• 1:53:15
  Love helmet sitting to the left of me.
• 1:53:18
  But those guys combined for 2046 yards on the ground last year.
• 1:53:23
  Love finished his career with an astounding 3476 all-purpose
• 1:53:28
  yards, 42 total touchdowns in just three seasons.
• 1:53:32
  Became Notre Dame's first Heisman Trophy finalist since
• 1:53:35
  Manti Te'o in 2012. The only Irish player with two
• 1:53:39
  rushes of 90 plus yards in his career.
• 1:53:42
  He was fascinating engineering. Price doesn't get enough credit
• 1:53:45
  either. He took running back two role
• 1:53:48
  when he could have been running back one at 137 other teams in
• 1:53:51
  college football. So it's going to be really
• 1:53:54
  difficult to replace that production.
• 1:53:56
  But you got five guys on the roster that are going to be
• 1:54:00
  vying for that spot. I've got a couple of them that
• 1:54:01
  stick out more than others, but Anais Williams is the oldest.
• 1:54:05
  He's a junior and he got Ken or Kendron Young.
• 1:54:09
  And then you got 3 freshmen, Nolan James junior, Jonas Walton
• 1:54:12
  and Javion Osbourne. If I'm you, I'm circling Anais
• 1:54:15
  Williams and I'm circling Nolan James junior.
• 1:54:19
  Nolan James junior to me does not look like a freshman.
• 1:54:23
  He looks big, He looks big and really this Notre Dame team
• 1:54:26
  period looks big. They're doing a great job with
• 1:54:29
  the strength and conditioning in the offseason, but I look at a
• 1:54:33
  Nolan James junior. Really impressive big guy.
• 1:54:38
  I think he could possibly be in this mix.
• 1:54:40
  But Anais Williams with that experience is going to be at the
• 1:54:43
  top of the list. But Notre Dame can figure out
• 1:54:45
  that running back position. Going to be a good team all
• 1:54:49
  right and #1 the top of the chain in the elite category.
• 1:54:54
  The Texas Longhorns are my number one team post spring in
• 1:54:59
  the top 25. Last year they were 10 and 3 did
• 1:55:02
  not make the College Football Playoff.
• 1:55:04
  They were a pretty heavy favorite against Michigan in the
• 1:55:08
  Citrus Bowl, and they did so with flying colors.
• 1:55:11
  Nice win for them. They ranked 10th in the transfer
• 1:55:14
  portal. They had a return production
• 1:55:15
  rank of 6th at a 68% clip, and they got a ton of transfers and
• 1:55:21
  they got a ton of really good players returning.
• 1:55:23
  This is really good Texas team, folks.
• 1:55:26
  This is Steve Sarkisian's chance to hoist the national
• 1:55:29
  championship. You get the best quarterback in
• 1:55:31
  the country. You get a number of really,
• 1:55:33
  really good wide receivers and options offensively.
• 1:55:37
  You've got a defense that you reloaded both in the portal and
• 1:55:39
  also have a couple of returning players that are of substance
• 1:55:42
  and first round pick substance. I mean, and Colin Simmons.
• 1:55:46
  This is a really good team. Cam Coleman, wide receiver
• 1:55:50
  edition out of Auburn Hollywood smothers a running back at an NC
• 1:55:54
  State. Relief Brown, my guy.
• 1:55:56
  Relief Brown. Shout out to relief Brown.
• 1:55:58
  Glazer, one of my favorite followers of the Paddafax, been
• 1:56:04
  with me since like day one, always interacting with the
• 1:56:06
  stuff. Really, that whole Glazers
• 1:56:07
  community for Arizona State last year was very interactive with
• 1:56:11
  our content. But he got a hell of a running
• 1:56:14
  back duo, really good wide receiver duo.
• 1:56:17
  OT Melvin Siani from Wake Forest comes in a highly recruited guy,
• 1:56:21
  Rasheem Biles out of Pittsburgh, an incredible linebacker
• 1:56:26
  edition, and Beau Masco from Rutgers, a highly recruited
• 1:56:30
  cornerback. So you match all of that with
• 1:56:33
  Arch Manning at quarterback, Ryan Wingo, a wide receiver,
• 1:56:37
  Emmett Mosley, the 5th, a wide receiver transferred in from
• 1:56:40
  Stanford the year before, Coleman, Wingo, Mosley the 5th,
• 1:56:45
  that's a really strong group. Smothers and Brown in the
• 1:56:49
  backfield, that's a really strong group.
• 1:56:51
  Quarterback Manning, that's a really good group.
• 1:56:54
  Trevor Goosby on the line of scrimmage, he's going to be a
• 1:56:57
  top ten pick in the draft. And you've got returning
• 1:57:00
  starters for this Texas team. That offense has gotten
• 1:57:03
  everything, everything you need on the offense.
• 1:57:06
  And then you match the likes of the Rashim Biles at linebacker
• 1:57:09
  with returners edge Colin Simmons and defensive back
• 1:57:14
  Jelani McDonald. Texas is a damn good football
• 1:57:17
  team, man. They really are.
• 1:57:19
  This is the group that Steve Sarkusian has been waiting for.
• 1:57:23
  And I think my biggest question with this team is, can Texas
• 1:57:28
  climb through the SEC 9 game schedule?
• 1:57:33
  Can Texas climb through the likes of Tennessee and Oklahoma
• 1:57:40
  and you know, LSU, Texas A&M, Can they get through that in
• 1:57:46
  Texas, climb through the SEC 9 game schedule?
• 1:57:50
  They're going to host Ohio State in Week 2.
• 1:57:53
  They travel to Tennessee, Missouri, LSU, Texas A&M.
• 1:57:58
  In addition to facing Oklahoma and the Red River Rivalry, they
• 1:58:01
  host Florida, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Arkansas.
• 1:58:06
  Not a great home slate, tough games on the road, Tennessee,
• 1:58:10
  LSU, Tex A&M, those are really tough Rd. games.
• 1:58:15
  Ohio State a big game. Missouri could be good.
• 1:58:20
  Ole Miss in your own building, Florida could be good Oklahoma
• 1:58:25
  neutral site. This is a really tough schedule.
• 1:58:27
  So yes, this is the best team in the country in terms of roster,
• 1:58:32
  but they're going to have a lot of wear and tear and that's the
• 1:58:35
  big question right now for me. But it's a good group and I'm
• 1:58:40
  I'm buying the stock in Arch Manning.
• 1:58:41
  I'm buying in Texas. I know a lot of people are going
• 1:58:44
  to have them. I really easily could have had
• 1:58:45
  Notre Dame at one too, but I went Texas.
• 1:58:49
  Just I like the return production a little bit better
• 1:58:51
  and I like the running back situation better.
• 1:58:55
  But that's not to say that Notre Dame can't figure things out.
• 1:58:58
  All right, let's wrap it up with a quick rundown.
• 1:59:01
  I'll go top to bottom of what we got and I appreciate you
• 1:59:05
  listening along with us. Almost a 2 hour edition of the
• 1:59:08
  pad of facts. So if you made it this long,
• 1:59:11
  man, props to you put in the comments section, whatever it
• 1:59:13
  may be. I'll I'll hit you up and and
• 1:59:16
  give your thanks or give my thanks to you because that's
• 1:59:18
  that's great. But really want to get this
• 1:59:20
  thing off of the bang. And when you got all these
• 1:59:23
  notes, man, you got to hit everything right.
• 1:59:25
  So mapping it up my fringe teams and catch that at the beginning
• 1:59:29
  of the show. But 25 Florida, 24 Louisville,
• 1:59:33
  23 Tennessee, 22 Washington, 21 Oklahoma State, 20 Penn State,
• 1:59:39
  19 SMU 18 Houston, 17 Utah, 16 BYU, 15 Michigan, 14 USC, 13
• 1:59:53
  LSU, 12 Alabama, 11 Texas Tech, 10 Ole Miss, 9 Oklahoma, 8 Texas
• 2:00:03
  A and M7 Miami, 6 Indiana, 5 Georgia And then my elite teens,
• 2:00:10
  just four of them, Ohio State, Oregon, Notre Dame and Texas.
• 2:00:19
  What about that? That's two hours of talking to a
• 2:00:24
  camera and that was pretty good. Good stuff.
• 2:00:26
  Good way to start the college football Bush because we still
• 2:00:31
  got a little bit of time. But in the coming weeks, make
• 2:00:33
  sure you're following, make sure you're subscribing because we
• 2:00:37
  don't. We got a lot more content coming
• 2:00:39
  where we've got Tuesday trivia continuing.
• 2:00:40
  We're going to do Mailbag, Mailbag podcast, really getting
• 2:00:43
  that going this summer. Instagram Live as well and then
• 2:00:47
  you're going to see the player in coach's interviews.
• 2:00:49
  So really working on lining all this stuff up.
• 2:00:52
  But man, great stuff. First episode on camera.
• 2:00:55
  Think it went well. Let us know if it did or didn't
• 2:00:58
  in the comments. And that's going to wrap it up
• 2:01:01
  for a May 18th, 2026 edition of the Padfax.
• 2:01:05
  I'm William Patterson. I appreciate you listening along
• 2:01:08
  with us signing out. The.