Latest / Cocaine Willie / Staff Updates, Transfer Portal Fallout & a Season-Changing Win vs Creighton? (S4//E40)

Transcript

Staff Updates, Transfer Portal Fallout & a Season-Changing Win vs Creighton? (S4//E40) · Cocaine Willie

0:00
Oh fuck. What's up everybody, you're
0:41
listening to yet another edition of Cocaine Willie, the official
0:45
K state representative on the college huddle.
0:47
I am your commissioner, Bob Trollsby, and as always, I'm
0:50
joined by my Co host. The good chef is not here.
0:53
He is out trudging through the snow doing Postal Service work,
0:58
whatever you want to call it, having to deal with some really
1:01
crappy stuff there and probably not feeling super well.
1:03
So send Chef some good good vibes like go, go tweet at him,
1:10
go tweet at him, mention him, do whatever you want.
1:12
Send some good vibes to Chef because our boys going through
1:15
it in peak season for the post office.
1:18
But I am joined by my Co host Fireball Matt Marcini tonight,
1:22
who joins me from somewhere in Iowa.
1:26
Everyone's favorite state, right?
1:30
Everyone's favorite state? The corn, Children of the corn,
1:33
right? Corn born.
1:35
Corn born. I do not envy you for that.
1:39
But before we get into the episode, we do have to give a
1:42
quick shout out to our sponsor, Auntie Maze Parlor, located at
1:46
616 N 12th St. in the heart of Aggieville.
1:49
If you're going to the K State. Gosh, who are we even playing
1:53
this weekend? I forgot who were even playing
1:54
in men's basketball this weekend.
1:56
Louisiana Monroe is. The Louisiana Monroe We are a
2:01
very prepared podcast tonight. All right, South Dakota.
2:06
South Dakota. Great faces, great places.
2:10
South Dakota. Yeah, If you're going to the K
2:11
State South Dakota game at Bramwich Coliseum this weekend,
2:15
stop by Auntie Maze, pick up the Wildcat Country.
2:18
Let's ride Koozies. We have plenty of them available
2:21
for you there at the bar. If you go to auntiemaze.com, you
2:25
can check out a full list of their upcoming events.
2:27
Looks like they they've revamped the website.
2:29
So last time we were on, I think we were having some web issues
2:32
or at least two weeks ago. We have a cocktail of the week
2:35
now. Cocktail of the week is what is
2:37
it? What is it?
2:37
The bees? It's bees kiss, not the bee's
2:42
knees. The bees kiss honey something.
2:44
It's 2 Hamilton rums, honey and heavy cream.
2:50
That'll run you 9 bucks. That'll run you 9 bucks, 9 bucks
2:54
down at the parlor. So check out their cocktail
2:56
menu, their signature cocktail of the week.
2:59
We also, we also have events. Grandpa Snazzy is playing at
3:04
Auntie Maze. That was last week.
3:06
So the the events are no longer valid.
3:09
Actually, just kidding. Just kidding.
3:11
It's the worst to have read of all time.
3:13
Jeff, I'm so sorry trivia smackdowns tonight as we're
3:17
recording this Wednesday, December 17th that happens
3:20
frequently there at ain't today's folk, Rock Revival
3:24
night. Folk and Rock Revival night
3:26
rather is featuring Jefferson, Fauna Steele and Tony Ledesitch.
3:32
That is happening on Saturday, December 20th.
3:35
So maybe do a little double whammy, go see the South Dakota
3:38
Game, go see Folk and Rock Revival Night at Auntie Maze,
3:42
and then long, long-awaited pie and cocktails with Therapy will
3:46
be Tuesday, January 13th. Therapy.
3:51
No. Therapy ads therapy, no free
3:53
ads. Can we go back to tribute to
3:55
Smackdown? I just want to make a quick note
3:59
because Chef's not on and he can't defend himself, so it's a
4:02
perfect opportunity. I'd like to mention a
4:05
highlighted comment by somebody very important at Debbie
4:10
Marchesini. Chef, don't go head to head with
4:13
Matt on trivia. He'll clean your clock, correct?
4:18
I will. 10 out of 10 No notes. Yeah, yeah.
4:21
That is a 10 out of 10 comment. Chef not here.
4:25
Shout out to Debbie. Shout out to Debbie.
4:27
She's. The best?
4:28
Shout out to Debbie tonight what what are we going to what are we
4:32
going to cover We've got things to cover football football side
4:35
staff updates reactions to that portal and trees.
4:39
And we also just kind of want to take a quick peek at the Texas
4:42
A&M and Miami matchup for the College Football Playoff this
4:45
week because it kind of has some implications for K State as far
4:49
as will we have our staff sooner rather than later?
4:52
Who from that staff should we be keeping our eyes on as far as
4:56
play calling, the defense, things like that?
4:59
Potentially men's basketball? We've got a Creighton win to
5:03
cover off on. I went to Omaha this past
5:06
weekend, so I'll share a little bit about my experience there,
5:09
how this maybe changes things or doesn't change anything at all
5:12
for the men's basketball season this year.
5:14
And then bowl pickums. We will highlight three matchups
5:18
on each of our each of our ends. We've done our pickums.
5:21
We've all except for chef picked every single bowl matchup that's
5:25
coming. So we won't, we won't go through
5:27
every single one. We're we're going to keep this a
5:29
relatively short pot for tonight, but we'll have 3
5:33
matchups and an honorable mention, perhaps maybe sicko
5:37
game that you're looking out for to get into the football side.
5:40
Matt, looking at the staff and, and some of the announcements
5:45
that have been made that are official, official, I think the
5:49
biggest, the biggest ones that, that stick out here are are Trey
5:52
Scott, Buddy Wyatt and and Stan Weber coming in.
5:57
Stan Weber has been talked about in K State circles for what I
6:02
mean, he's been involved with K State since he was born with his
6:06
dad being the color color commentary guy for K State
6:09
sports on the radio. Shout out to Stan Weber.
6:13
His you know, he played special teams at K State.
6:15
His brother played special teams at KA.
6:17
He coached best of the teams at K State.
6:20
So we've been aware of Stan Weber for a long time.
6:22
He went off and did his own thing for a couple years at
6:25
South Carolina as an analyst and then joined the Toledo Rockets
6:29
for a couple of years. Wendell's in Toledo, but had had
6:35
elevated Toledo to be one of, if not the best G5 units when it
6:41
comes to special teams, you know, starting field position,
6:44
all those stats that matter when it comes to special teams.
6:47
So Trey Scott comes in as GM experience with the Oakland
6:52
Raiders experience as an agent as well.
6:54
So he's got kind of seen both sides of the aisle.
6:57
Every podcast that covers K State's already talked about
7:00
him, so we don't have to talk about it too much.
7:02
And then the last one is the the retaining of Buddy Wyatt on
7:06
staff. So those those are kind of the
7:07
three big headliners. There are other guys that have
7:10
been chatted about publicly. We can mention Jordan Peterson
7:15
as potential defensive coordinator from Texas A&M,
7:18
currently the Co defensive coordinator, former defensive
7:21
defensive position coach at the University of Kansas.
7:26
So he has some familiarity with the region and, and has coached
7:29
up guys like Kobe Bryant. And you look at Christian
7:33
Ellsworth, who has experience being the quarterback for coach
7:37
Klein, also being following around at a lot of different
7:41
places, came to K State, was here for a little bit coached,
7:45
you know, has, has coached tight ends, quarterback.
7:47
So he's seen a lot of different phases of the offensive game.
7:51
So when you look at the at the announcements that have been
7:54
made, when you look at the guys who have more or less been
7:56
confirmed by the by the outside media, what are you, what are
8:00
your thoughts on the staff so far?
8:02
And what, what would you like to see as far as the staff
8:05
composition as it goes forward? Any other guys that you would
8:08
want to retain from the existing staff that haven't been
8:10
announced because those have been announced as well?
8:13
Yeah, I mean, it sounds like today Brian Lepak does look like
8:17
he is going to be returning and moving back to tight end coach,
8:22
which I am excited about. I think he's a guy that
8:25
especially with his experience working with Colin Klein, you
8:29
know, was really instrumental in being kind of the eyes of the
8:32
field with Colin, especially during the 2022 season.
8:36
So I'm excited that he is potentially, it sounds not just
8:42
potentially, but that he is going to be coming back.
8:45
But some of the names you've mentioned, obviously Buddy
8:48
Wyatt, I think has done a really good job in his tenure at K
8:52
State as a defensive line coach and do feel like he brings a
8:57
really veteran kind of aspects to this coaching staff that I
9:02
think is going to surprise a lot of people.
9:04
From an age perspective, this is going to be a younger coaching
9:09
staff than we've seen in the past.
9:11
And so I think Buddy Wyatt really does bring that kind of
9:15
veteran presence. That'll be very important.
9:18
It'll be very interesting to see on the offensive side if you
9:21
kind of see somebody kind of in that realm, maybe not
9:25
necessarily associated to K State, but somebody who may be a
9:29
little bit more of a veteran in the game that that maybe will
9:32
join the staff. I'm just kind of stating I don't
9:35
have any inside information obviously with that, But I will
9:38
mention a couple specific people that obviously have not been
9:42
confirmed yet, most likely because Texas A&M is in the
9:46
College Football Playoff preparing for the game against
9:48
Miami. But Christian Ellsworth and
9:51
Jordan Peterson, I imagine, you know, when A&M, if they lose
9:56
this weekend or, you know, whatever, potentially they lose
9:58
in the College Football Playoff, that's going to be kind of a
10:01
good indicator of what we would expect to hear about those two.
10:06
But again, you mentioned Christian Ellsworth's experience
10:08
working with Colin Klein and being associated with Klein.
10:11
It seemed like he was going to be kind of a natural fit and
10:14
asked to join the staff if Klein got the role head coach at K
10:18
State. So it'll be very exciting to see
10:21
kind of how he works, what works with this team, especially
10:26
because, you know, thinking about other guys that maybe, you
10:29
know, might be coming back or some names that we've heard in
10:32
the past, like Josh Buford potentially is an offensive
10:35
analyst. You know, he's somebody who's
10:37
been associated with the program in the past.
10:40
And then Sean McGuire, who obviously was with the team this
10:44
past year that's projected to be coming back.
10:45
So, you know, the staff is very interesting.
10:49
Again, I kind of mentioned that, you know, this is going to be a
10:51
little bit of a younger staff than, you know, what we've
10:54
obviously seen in the past and you're going to have some
10:57
growing pains with that. I would imagine, you know,
10:59
you're not expecting, you know, that these guys are going to
11:01
come in and you know, they don't have all necessarily the
11:03
experience in the world potentially and and maybe their
11:06
individual roles. But I am excited because I think
11:11
Colin, you know, is kind of understanding.
11:13
There's a good mix between, you know, maybe keeping some K state
11:18
blood in there with some coaches that have been with the program
11:22
with Chris Kleinman, but bringing in really kind of a new
11:25
freshness to of being at A&M and, you know, being with a
11:29
successful program in the SECI think it's important to to kind
11:33
of understand, you know, that aspect of it too.
11:36
So I, yeah, I, I think a lot of people are antsy, obviously
11:41
with, you know, not necessarily getting a lot of confirmations,
11:44
you know, that you would expect. But again, you have to remember
11:47
Colin Klein is also in another role right now.
11:50
I'm not necessarily 100%, you know, focused on K State because
11:54
A&M plays on Saturday, I believe Saturday night, right?
11:58
So I, I do imagine, you know, depending on the outcome of that
12:02
game on Saturday night that we hear a little bit more.
12:04
But I, I do like the staff that, you know, he's kind of composed
12:09
so far and, and very interested to see where, you know, some of
12:13
these holes, including offensive coordinator.
12:15
I think everybody's kind of, you know, wondering what's going to
12:17
happen with that. So it'd be very interesting to
12:20
see probably the next couple weeks really how this coaching
12:23
staff hopefully kind of comes to fruition.
12:27
The game between Miami and A&M is happening at 11:00 central on
12:32
Saturday, so they'll they'll no. 11 in the morning.
12:35
That's an 11 AM game, yeah. We'll know we'll know early on
12:39
early on what the impact will be for K state long term.
12:43
I guess so, or at least it will this be will this be belabored
12:47
for another week or or not looking at the transfer portal.
12:52
Do you want to do you want to chat about that real quick?
12:54
There have been it was kind of a quiet trickle to start out.
12:57
Obviously we had heard Dylan Edwards super early on, but
13:00
after that it was it was quiet until the season ended.
13:04
Kleiman announces his retirement and we we saw a couple of names
13:07
enter, but it really wasn't anybody that I was losing sleep
13:12
over. Obviously JB Price is talented
13:14
and more important Berry talented guys that that I think
13:18
we're we're showing bright futures.
13:20
Quay Moss as well. But then you see a couple a
13:23
couple wide receivers enter. You've got Jacquis Bradley.
13:27
Dems was kind of the first bigger name I would say just
13:29
because he was a highly recruited guy.
13:32
Jace Brown enters the portal yesterday and caused a meltdown,
13:37
I would say, for a lot of K State Twitter and then Donovan
13:40
Macintosh and Ryan Davis enter today.
13:43
Those are the most, the most recent announcements.
13:45
Colby and McAllister also announced yesterday.
13:47
So those are some of the bigger names that have entered the
13:51
portal here in the last two to three days.
13:56
I guess just to get into Jayce Brown, kind of the elephant in
13:59
the room. We've even said it on this pod.
14:02
I think last week we were talking, OK, you look at a Colin
14:05
Klein offense, you look at the schedule next year, if you've
14:07
got a healthy Jayce Brown and all these guys, you could be
14:12
looking at a pretty, pretty simple walk to to Arlington
14:15
potentially. Obviously depending on a lot of
14:17
things in the Big 12, as we know fluctuates year in and year out
14:21
in teams that are often towards the bottom of the conference
14:24
rise to the middle or the top. And that's that's just happened
14:27
every single year. Teams that are projected to be
14:30
at the bottom end up doing better than expected.
14:32
But who, who, who, who are you most concerned about the fact
14:41
that that we weren't able to keep on board?
14:43
Is it, is it Jace or did you see the writing on the wall with
14:45
that? Are you more worried that a guy
14:47
like Donovan McIntosh or Ryan Davis, who have shown flashes
14:51
and shown promise, but have also made some boneheaded plays this
14:55
past season? Who, who are you most just kind
14:58
of disappointed in in leaving and thinking, thinking more
15:04
broadly, who who do you think we need to retain the most with
15:09
with some of these departures that have already happened?
15:12
Well, ultimately, I think it's Jace Brown.
15:14
I mean, he's been, I mean, you could argue maybe that he's been
15:20
the best wide receiver we've had the past two years.
15:23
You know, I don't know if there's much of an argument
15:25
there. I think he's been the most
15:27
dynamic playmaker that we've had and he's he's a loss.
15:31
I mean, he's a guy that is going to go, you know, maybe who
15:37
knows? I don't, you know, I don't know
15:38
who where potentially he may be looking, but he's a guy that is
15:42
a standout wide receiver. He's a guy that, you know, has
15:46
shown the talent level and, you know, and has has really put it
15:52
out there in a lot of the games. And and quite frankly, he's a
15:55
huge loss for this offense compared to, you know, I'm not
15:59
downplaying any of the other transfers.
16:01
I mean, you know, guys that you mentioned they're you know, they
16:05
they showed some flashes in games this season, but
16:10
ultimately they felt it was, you know, this is the right time
16:13
with a new coaching staff to potentially explore options and
16:16
move in in another direction. I'll be interested to see where
16:20
Jace goes. I mean, I, I really will it he
16:24
he's I feel like he's a guy who may go into the SEC and you
16:28
know, a Florida or, you know, ACC Florida State, like, you
16:34
know, school like that, that, you know, I'll just be very
16:38
interested to to see kind of where he ends up.
16:41
But I think from a retention perspective, like I, I believe
16:46
I've kind of like, I feel like I understand this process for
16:50
myself and maybe others don't, but it's quite frankly like
16:55
there's going to be a ton of turnover on this team and there
16:57
are going to be guys who individuals like fans like that
17:03
are going to leave. And I understand the process.
17:09
I can be disappointed, but I understand the process.
17:13
But fans need to understand there's a highly, there's a high
17:17
likelihood that players that we enjoy watching play football are
17:21
not going to be in AK State uniform next year.
17:23
One of those like Avery Johnson, I think is the one that a lot of
17:27
fans are really like on and antsy about because, you know, I
17:33
don't think necessarily Jace Brown is like a kicker, but I
17:36
have to think it's in the back of his mind.
17:37
Like, you know, with Jace going, you know, is being a part of
17:42
this program where I want to be, I need to be and and going from
17:48
there. So I think for a good portion of
17:51
our fan base, we're like really kind of waiting to see, you
17:54
know, is there a confirmation that Avery's staying or if he's
17:57
going to enter the portal? But in general, I mean, this is
18:00
just going to be a way different team next year.
18:02
And that's why that's why like, you know, you bring up the
18:07
schedule for next year and you look and you're like, oh man,
18:10
you know, you have these schools that have lost their coach and,
18:13
you know, rebuilding this and that.
18:15
We're one of those schools. Like other fan bases are looking
18:18
at their schedule and they see K State and they're thinking the
18:22
exact same thing. Like this is a team that could,
18:25
you know, I don't necessarily have high expectations for in
18:29
year 1, but I also don't know necessarily who's going to be
18:32
here yet. But it's quite, you know, it's
18:35
quite possible that, hey, you lose Avery Johnson and then you
18:38
lose this and that and the other thing and you're truly
18:40
rebuilding. And it we go six and six again
18:43
next year. And that that's OK because, you
18:46
know, this is just it's going to be a different team.
18:48
And we have players who have this uncertainty about who their
18:52
coaching staff's going to be, you know, who's going to be my
18:55
defensive coordinator, who's going to be my offensive
18:57
coordinator, all this stuff. So I, you know, the portal is
19:01
this is how college football is. And you know, for people like
19:07
it's everyone has the rightful opinion to be disappointed that
19:10
Jace Brown is leaving the program.
19:12
And, and I am as well, because I think he would have been a
19:15
really good piece for next season that, you know, as a
19:19
number one wide receiver for Avery and senior seasons and
19:22
this and that, you know, it would have been a really
19:25
interesting kind of situation to see.
19:28
But then I also look at it from Jace Brown's perspective.
19:30
It's like, hey, like I've had two different offensive
19:34
coordinators already. I'm on #3 I'm not going to have
19:37
the wide receiver coach that I've been working with.
19:40
It really like the program's going to be different for me.
19:42
So this is a good opportunity to shop around and, and find a
19:47
place to play, you know, that that fits what I may be looking
19:51
for for my last year. So you know, it's, it's, it's,
19:57
it's obviously an interesting time.
19:59
I think, you know, I don't want to speak for fans, You know, I'm
20:01
speaking for myself. I've I've taken this as an
20:05
opportunity to, to really like, you know, really level set on
20:10
what my expectations are for K state next year.
20:13
I understand that this team is going to look a lot different.
20:16
We don't know what the transfer portal is going to hold for for
20:18
us and we don't know what the coaching staff is going to look
20:21
like. So you just have to kind of go
20:24
through and and wait, wait our turn a little bit and you know,
20:28
until we really see kind of a final, always close to a final
20:32
program where we know guys that are staying versus leaving.
20:36
You know, that gives you kind of the ability to really, you know,
20:38
make a determination as to how maybe we truly feel.
20:42
Yeah, I, I, it's, it's, it's also different.
20:46
I feel like when, when we look back at the portal era in the
20:48
last few years, having the extended window, having the
20:52
multiple windows, it, it makes this whole portal experience
20:55
very different than it is right now.
20:57
I mean, in the past we had portal was open, you could
21:01
enter, people were doing visits. Think I saw on time hop Adrian
21:05
Martinez committed three years ago to the day or four years ago
21:09
to the day. So it's, it's very different
21:11
now. Like the portal won't
21:13
technically open until January 2nd.
21:15
And so we're not going to be able to have excitement about a
21:19
commitment until two weeks from now, three weeks from now when
21:24
when we start to see some of those commitments come in.
21:28
I'm also curious, I mean, since, since since players aren't
21:31
allowed to enter the portal, technically they can declare
21:35
their intent to enter the portal.
21:37
I mean, I guess technically if they're chatting or if an agent
21:40
is chatting back, channeling with a school and they commit on
21:43
January 2nd. And I guess technically
21:46
everybody's tampering and being tampered with as well.
21:49
So I'm very, I'm curious to see how many, if any, the
21:54
commitments will K State have on January 2nd or January 3rd?
21:58
Because what that would mean to me is that Klein and his
22:02
recruiting staff are willing to go outside the bounds of what is
22:06
considered legal, so to speak. And, and I think he mentioned
22:11
or, or we've talked about, you know, in his, in his
22:14
introductory press conference, he kind of talked about wanting
22:18
to toe the line a little bit on some of the edges of, of things
22:21
that we need to do in order to be competitive in the current
22:24
landscape. And whether that's with revenue
22:26
sharing and some of the true NIL that exists outside of revenue
22:30
sharing, or if that's with the recruiting process and going
22:33
outside the bounds of, well, I guess technically it's not
22:36
illegal if the guy's already declared his intent to, to enter
22:40
the portal. He has an agent and the agent's
22:42
the one doing talking. I'm curious to see how this all
22:46
pans out compared to to other schools.
22:48
Because Lord knows we're probably going to see a flurry
22:51
of commitments from the Oregon's or the Texas's or the A&M's of
22:55
the world who are very clearly doing a lot of this stuff out in
23:00
the open. So that I think that that part
23:03
of it's going to be interesting to me to see how that how that
23:06
plays out. But yeah, curious to see how the
23:09
curious to see how the rest of the staff develops.
23:12
Speaking of the rest of the staff, obviously some of those
23:14
names that we mentioned with Christian Ellsworth and Jordan
23:17
Peterson are guys that are that are part of this current A&M
23:20
staff. They're playing that that game
23:23
against Miami. I guess what are some of the
23:25
things that you're going to be looking for in that game?
23:27
Is it going to be laser focused on the scheme and seeing what
23:30
Klein is is dialing up in the matchup?
23:33
Is it going to be more of a focus on some of the defense?
23:36
Because I, I feel like the, the A&M defense is more intriguing
23:39
to me now, given that if Jordan Peterson's going to be taking on
23:42
this DC role, you know, I'm not as familiar with him.
23:46
I'm not sure where his specialty area has been, if it's been
23:48
defensive backs or what. But I am curious to see just how
23:52
the defense takes out because I've watched 1A and M game all
23:55
season, to be honest with the, with the audience here.
23:58
And you can probably guess which one it is if you know who I am
24:01
and who I'm married to. But that's the only A&M game
24:05
I've seen this season. So I'm, I'm curious to see how
24:09
this game goes on on Saturday, but curious what some of the
24:12
things are that you're going to be looking for in that matchup
24:14
specifically. Well, I think I think from a
24:19
case tape perspective, like we're in between a rock and a
24:21
hard place because I think we would really like to see A&M
24:25
lose so that you can kind of start building your your staff
24:32
and like really like starting to put, you know, early kind of
24:36
stages on your program. But I'm also intrigued because I
24:41
think A&M is a really good matchup for Miami to where they
24:48
could win. And you then go to the Cotton
24:51
Bowl and where I think that there's a good potential that
24:55
you're going to, you're not going to be favored in that
24:58
game, but you're going to be, I mean, you're going to have
25:03
probably a a really good crowd advantage in that game against
25:09
Ohio State. I think it's Ohio State.
25:13
Who? Triple check that I'm pretty.
25:16
Yeah. Ohio State, Yeah, it's.
25:19
And you know, that that kind of turns it into a very intriguing
25:22
like matchup of, you know, two teams that, you know, it'll be
25:26
very interesting. But, you know, I, I've watched
25:30
more than 1A and M game this year.
25:32
You know, the Notre Dame game, I think was like, obviously like
25:35
an early on game that was a really good litmus test to kind
25:40
of see how good A&M was because you're on the road at A&M.
25:44
But even like the LSU game this year where the offense, you
25:46
know, just kind of came back in the second quarter or the
25:50
second-half and like, you know, really did some really good
25:53
things. You know, at the end of the day,
25:57
there's nothing we can do, right?
25:58
You know, all we're going to do is just watch and, and kind of
26:01
see. And I, I think we, I, I don't
26:07
want to say we, I think from my perspective, like I am cool with
26:11
seeing A&M move forward in the playoffs because it does, in my
26:17
opinion, it brings Colin in and it gives the coaching staff, you
26:21
know, that potentially could be coming and joining like these,
26:23
you know, a really good opportunity to showcase
26:27
themselves. You know, if A&M wins 4541, a
26:32
lot of people are going to talk about how A&M offense scored 45
26:35
points, you know, in this game against Miami, defence that
26:39
through the year has been pretty solid.
26:40
Like it's been a pretty good defence.
26:44
But then, yeah, they, you know, A&M gives up 41 points and
26:47
you're like, Oh my God, You know.
26:49
So I think, you know, for, for my perspective, like I hope that
26:55
A&M kind of, you know, has, you know, maybe they win the first
26:58
game, lose the second, you know, something like that where, where
27:01
that happens. But, you know, if A&M loses,
27:03
then yeah, you know, it gives Colin, you know, he will
27:07
probably be on the jet over the next day and he'll be doing, you
27:10
know, you know, getting that staff finalized and and whatnot.
27:14
But again, this is just how college football is now.
27:17
You know, if you're in a position where you are hiring a
27:20
coach from a sitting playoff team, you are going to be in
27:23
this position. And you see, you know, other
27:26
schools are going to be kind of in that same same boat.
27:29
So it's, it's one of those deals where, you know, I, I am, I'm
27:36
what I'm going to watch the game because obviously it's, you
27:39
know, College Football Playoff game very exciting.
27:42
You know, someday maybe we'll be able to be doing the same thing.
27:45
But I, I, I think just from my perspective, I think we want to
27:50
see our coaching Staffs continue to have success.
27:53
You know, it does bring a positive energy towards the
27:56
program. You know, when they do finally
27:58
join us and you know, it provides more experience, you
28:01
know, it provides more experience playing teams and
28:03
other call, you know, conferences playing, you know,
28:07
the potential to play Ohio State in a in a Cotton Bowl would be,
28:12
you know, very exciting to kind of see some of that.
28:16
Yeah, I'll, I'll be watching. I think we all will.
28:18
It's, it's, it's the, it's the first time we've really had any
28:22
true stake in a College Football Playoff game just from a, from a
28:26
coaching perspective. And, and you bring up a great
28:29
point too. It's, it's not really a position
28:31
we've been in where we've had to deal with this before.
28:34
We've never hired away a a head coach from a sitting Power 5,
28:39
Power 4 program where they were coaching in a playoff or
28:44
coaching for a national championship.
28:46
And, and that being on the line. I mean, technically Climbin was,
28:49
but that's the FCS that ends far sooner in the year than and the
28:54
CFP goes, CFP goes till January 19th.
28:56
So we better hope that A&M doesn't make it to the
28:58
championship in that regard. But yeah, it's it's going to be
29:02
a fun watch. I'm looking forward to the game.
29:05
It it would, it would I feel weird even feeling like I have
29:09
to cheer for A&M in in any kind of sport because I hate them
29:13
with an immense amount of of energy.
29:16
But you know, I want Klein. I want Klein to put up 506070
29:21
points and the other team to maybe beat them.
29:25
I don't know. I don't know.
29:26
But then the Jordan Peterson part and I'm like, I don't know.
29:30
So my brain is is going to short circuit.
29:32
But anything else on football? Anything else you want to chat
29:36
through there? No, I mean, the next, you know,
29:38
few weeks are really going to kind of solidify what we're, you
29:41
know, going to be seeing from a coaching staff.
29:42
And but I, I, I for me, the transfer portal was one of these
29:49
things that it's going to affect this program very heavily this
29:53
year. If you have an expectation that
29:56
Colin Klein's going to be able to hold a majority of this
29:59
program together, like majority of these players together, in my
30:04
opinion, I think that's a sorely mistaken thought.
30:08
And you know, you're going to have individual guys that you
30:11
want to keep and will you be successful in those?
30:15
Hopefully. You know, you hear, you know,
30:17
some of you know, Joe Jackson obviously is coming back.
30:21
You know, I saw some something about Tobios and Sami that's,
30:25
you know, he's bought in and coming back.
30:29
You know, I think the big one's Avery, you know, are you going
30:31
to be rebuilding next year with a new quarterback, you know,
30:33
potentially a portal quarterback or with Blake Barnett or are you
30:37
going to be Yeah. Or are you going to be running
30:40
with Avery? You know, I in my opinion, I
30:43
think it is the best move for the program to be trying to keep
30:48
Avery Johnson here. And you know, you find these
30:53
skill players around and and and you know, do your best in the
30:57
portal to to get there and hopefully Tib stays.
31:01
And, you know, obviously Lincoln cures, you know, said positively
31:06
or he said some positive things about staying, you know, so you
31:08
have guys, but it's it's just going to be a rebuild.
31:12
And, you know, this offense is going to look different this
31:15
deep. Well, this offense has a
31:17
potential to look different. I think the defense is going to
31:20
look relatively different, you know, in a lot of ways, whether
31:24
positive or negative. But, you know, I, I think just
31:27
for everybody, like we have to keep an open mind through a lot
31:29
of this process. And you and you have to
31:31
understand that, you know, in the way college football is
31:33
nowadays, a coaching change is going to bring on change in a
31:37
lot of other ways too. And we just have to kind of wait
31:40
and see. Yeah, defensive coaching staff
31:44
in large, large part is gone. Tui Tui Klanerman's going to
31:49
Baylor. You've got, I mean, Dan Malone
31:53
taking a head coaching position at the FCS level at an HBCU,
31:56
which is awesome to see for him. But it's a lot of the guys that
32:00
were integral in the in the day-to-day coaching and a lot of
32:03
the guys that were integral in the recruiting process for for a
32:06
lot of the athletes we have on the roster right now, they're
32:09
going to be gone. And I think a large part of why
32:12
Coach Climb would have retained a guy like Brian Lepak or Buddy
32:16
Wyatt is to try to keep as much of the culture as you can, to
32:22
try to keep, you know, one of those familiar faces that that
32:25
recruited you diligently, Taylor Bratz, another one that's part
32:28
of that mix too. I think if you're going to try
32:30
to retain as much of the existing roster as you can, he's
32:34
done a pretty good job of hand picking the guys that you would
32:37
want to keep around from the previous staff to try to try to
32:41
keep as much of this together as possible.
32:43
So we'll see how it pans out, obviously, but I would say early
32:47
phases, Kudos to Coach Klein on his approach there.
32:50
We'll see. We'll see how it ends up panning
32:52
out. Moving over to the men's
32:54
basketball side and women's, I'll share that that the men's
32:57
and women's side, both teams swept Creighton and Omaha this
33:01
past weekend. If you did the double dip, shout
33:03
out to you. I know a few people that did.
33:06
I had to get out of there a little bit early, early, so I
33:08
wasn't able to make it for the woman's game.
33:10
But I was at the men's game my first time going to CHI Health
33:15
Center as a as a non Creighton fan, which was a little bit of a
33:18
weird experience for me, but it was it was a blast.
33:21
I I had a lot of fun. There was a good amount of
33:23
purple in the arena. K State gets the win 83 to 76.
33:28
I mean, it was a lot more fun in the first half though, than the
33:31
second-half. K State had multiple times
33:34
pulling out to like a 20 point lead and look like they were
33:38
dominating to the point where when we left after halftime to
33:42
go get some drinks and and, you know, meet up with some people
33:45
that we knew there, we stayed a little bit longer because we we
33:49
felt like the game was out of hand at that point.
33:51
But sure, surely enough, Jerome Tang teams never disappoint,
33:55
always have to make make things interesting when they don't
33:59
intend to or or shouldn't be. But Abdi Bashir lights out
34:04
shooting it from three in the first half.
34:06
As we are all on the record of saying so far this season, he
34:10
should not be shooting it from 20 feet or less at this point.
34:14
I think he's only made like two of those shots the entire
34:16
season, which is insane to think about.
34:20
David Castillo was an absolute stud on Saturday coming off the
34:23
bench. I think playing 23 minutes, he
34:26
was just as someone who was there and, and cheering on the
34:31
team and, and being pretty vocal.
34:33
David Castillo was the guy that was the most exciting guy on the
34:36
court and it, and it wasn't even really close for me.
34:39
He's a high energy guy. You can tell that the team plays
34:42
differently when he's on the court then they do when he's off
34:45
the court. And I, I understand that he's
34:49
trying to take some of this leadership and, and try to lead
34:53
from the bench, so to speak, and, and going out publicly and
34:56
saying, look, I want to be that energy guy.
34:59
And, and obviously the team was playing a lot better when I was
35:02
coming off the bench. So Coach Tang put me back on the
35:05
bench. I think I don't think he should
35:09
be the one saying that. I don't think he should be the
35:11
one making that decision for Coach Tang.
35:14
I think Coach Tang should have the foresight to know that and,
35:17
and analyze and understand his team and the chemistry and the
35:20
makeup and the flow of the game better to to be able to make
35:23
those decisions on in his own right.
35:27
But it's clear that the team plays different when when
35:31
Castillo's on the court. I think if we can move him from
35:33
being a 20 to 23 minute of a game guy to being 29 minutes off
35:39
the bench, that would he'd still be the 6th man, whatever.
35:43
Like if that's the energy, the spark that you need that you're
35:46
trying to get out of them, I would say play him more.
35:49
Dorian Buca. I was surprised by he had some
35:53
flashes in the game as as he's had all season.
35:57
It's been, it's been funny to see some of those blocks and
36:00
he's just, he cracks me up watching him.
36:03
He's funny to watch. He's he's fun.
36:08
And yeah, I mean, the defense is still just, it's, it's brutal.
36:12
This the defense is atrocious, especially in that second-half.
36:14
You can't let it get, you can't let A-Team come back into it
36:18
when, when leading for, for, you know, 20 plus points multiple
36:22
times throughout the game. So, yeah, but that was my
36:25
assessment. Just going to the game, seeing
36:26
it, seeing everybody in action. My dad was heckling.
36:30
Matthew Driscoll said. He looked like Jerome's little
36:33
elf on the sidelines. So that was just a ridiculous,
36:38
ridiculous moment from Todd. Todd Wenberg there the the the
36:43
father. But yeah, thoughts on the game?
36:46
Thoughts on the the outcome? Players that stood out to you,
36:49
what were your thoughts on the great game?
36:51
Well, I echo your sentiment with David Castillo.
36:54
I mean, it was pretty evident for a majority of the crane
36:57
game, he was the best player on the floor on both sides.
37:00
You know, he, I, I think for a lot of, you know, negativity we
37:05
can push towards Jerome Tang and kind of some of the
37:08
mismanagement that we've seen from a coaching perspective and,
37:11
and this and that. David Castillo has been really
37:16
good this year and his improvement has to you.
37:19
If you talk about the negativity, there has to be at
37:24
least a little bit of semblance of positivity for how Jerome
37:28
Tang and, you know, his new coaching staff have gotten David
37:33
Castillo to the point where we are talking about him needing to
37:37
be on the floor for 30 minutes again.
37:40
He played 23 minutes in that Creighton game and that was not
37:42
enough. I mean, he was out there just
37:45
really controlling, you know, in a lot of different ways, making
37:51
big plays. In a lot of ways.
37:54
I'd like to think that the Creighton game was almost like
37:56
this, like coming out party for David Castillo, despite the fact
38:01
he's been really good this year, like of showing, hey, this guy
38:07
is somebody that needs to be on the floor to make big plays or
38:11
have the potential to make big plays.
38:14
I was very impressed with that. Now you look at the second-half,
38:17
obviously, you know, the first half was so good that the
38:22
second-half was again kind of showing the the volatility of
38:28
this K State team a a team that when they shoot the lights off,
38:34
they're going to look really, really good.
38:36
And we know that I mean, they're this is a team that at the half
38:40
at a 51 points, you know, again, about to average 100 in the
38:44
game. We've seen this in multiple
38:46
games through the year. And then you hit a wall in the
38:49
second-half hitting shots. Creighton was, you know, you
38:53
were struggling on offense, Creighton was hitting shots.
38:55
You weren't playing good defense.
38:57
And you get to a point where the game is really close at the end.
39:00
And then again, David Castillo comes in, makes a huge play, you
39:05
know, especially with the alley oop to Kamari McGriff towards
39:07
the end to really kind of ice the game.
39:10
This is a big win for K State. And I say that not necessarily
39:13
looking at Creighton's, you know, record, but this is a team
39:18
that I look at last year, you know, really like outside of a
39:23
few games on the road, did not look good, You know, outside of
39:27
the Iowa State game last year, which seemed like an anomaly
39:30
when you think about it. But this is it.
39:32
This is a team that just has not been good on the road.
39:35
And the Indiana game was really the 1st Rd. game.
39:38
And you kind of saw that where you don't shoot the ball well,
39:42
you're not going to be in the game if you're not playing
39:44
defense. And, you know, meaningly like I
39:48
thought we were going to kind of see a similar kind of situation
39:50
despite the fact that Creighton hasn't necessarily been very
39:52
good this year and K State comes out and just shoots lights out.
39:56
You know, Beshear was huge in the first half.
39:59
You know, just it was it was a team that I think really fought,
40:03
you know, even though offensively they didn't
40:06
necessarily look great in the second-half and defensively they
40:09
struggled a little bit the last four minutes to that game.
40:13
They. Really put it together to where
40:16
they put themselves in a position to win.
40:19
You know, it's does it help your NCAA tournament resume?
40:22
I mean, it's a road win against maybe a probably quad two team,
40:25
whatever. But I think it gets you in the
40:28
right mindset going through into Christmas break where you're
40:31
going to be playing a couple of you know, not necessarily great
40:34
teams and getting yourself ready for Big 12 play.
40:39
This is a basketball team that, you know, I, I think a couple
40:42
like the Bowling Green loss is going to really haunt this team
40:47
just from a, you know, I mean, who knows what that's going to
40:51
be from a quad perspective towards the end of the year.
40:55
But I I think ultimately all of us know when we watch K State
40:59
basketball this year, if they're shooting the ball really well in
41:01
the game, they're going to be in it.
41:03
Like at the end of the day, they shoot themselves in games.
41:08
It's their defense that really holds this team back.
41:10
Like you have a semblance of a quality defense.
41:12
We would not be talking about, you know, this team maybe in
41:16
such a negative way that most of the fan bases, but this is what
41:20
the team has kind of put themselves into at this point.
41:23
So it was a fun, you know, it was a fun game to watch, I think
41:26
from an offensive perspective. But to win on the road against
41:29
the Big East team and have specific guys really kind of
41:33
show show their mettle in this game outside of David Castillo,
41:38
like Kamari McGriff played the most minutes in this game, 28
41:41
minutes in this game. You know, you mentioned Dorm
41:44
Buka, you know, played. I I thought in his, you know,
41:47
the minutes that he put out there, he was aggressive.
41:50
He has a good defensive mindset most of the time.
41:54
You know, he he can be a presence out there.
41:57
Taj Manning, a guy who like has been, you know, kind of not a
42:02
joke, but like people have been talking about how Taj, you know,
42:06
Jerome Tang talked about Taj Manning and all of this and that
42:09
he's putting out some really good minutes out there for when
42:11
he's out there. I mean, he is showing like a
42:14
passion for being out there on the floor with his team and
42:17
putting good minutes together. And, you know, it just makes
42:22
you, you know, kind of wonder where this team going into Big
42:26
12 play, what this is going to look like because you're going
42:28
to start right off the bat playing a top ten team in BYU.
42:33
You know, is this a team that, you know, for 9 games during Big
42:38
12 play at home, you know, is going to shoot it really well
42:41
and and be in those games, but you know, on the road they're
42:45
going to suck. Well, this creating game, I
42:46
think kind of shows, hey, they won a game on the road.
42:51
They fought, you know, they had adversity in the game.
42:55
They didn't, you know, bow down to that.
42:59
And they had somebody in the end who made big plays, especially
43:03
with PJ Haggerty not necessarily being at the level that he was
43:07
earlier on the season. So not like, you know, my
43:11
optimism level hasn't gone extremely high, right?
43:14
Like we're going to have two games coming up here.
43:17
The BYU game I think is a really good litmus test because number
43:20
one, it's at home, but #2 you're playing one of the top teams in
43:24
the country. If we like, I think if we expect
43:29
K State to potentially make the NCAA tournament, these are going
43:33
to be games that they are probably going to have to win to
43:36
build the resume and to start off with potentially ABYU team
43:40
that could be top ten. You know, if BYU kind of wins
43:43
out in their games, could be big, But I'm not.
43:47
My optimism level is not there yet.
43:50
We have to rattle off a couple of big victories in Big 12, I
43:53
would say in the first five or six games of, of Big 12
43:56
conference play, because you're going to have, if I remember
43:59
right, you're going to have Arizona pretty early on.
44:01
Arizona State, which I'm not going to say the Arizona State's
44:04
great or anything, but they've, they've been, they've, they've
44:07
looked better this year than they did last year or, or a
44:10
couple of years past. Yeah, BYU and Arizona
44:14
back-to-back games, January 3rd, January 7th, both on the road or
44:18
well, BYU at home, Arizona and Arizona State at the on the
44:22
road. So gonna be gonna be fun.
44:25
Arizona is not. Arizona, I think, is going to
44:28
win the national championship, I'm convinced.
44:31
Of our They looked really good on Saturday.
44:33
They look, I mean they look really good.
44:36
I would. I am on the train at this point.
44:40
Yeah. What was that?
44:40
That that Alabama that they played and they ran them out of
44:43
the gym in Birmingham. And ineffective.
44:45
Bradley, Jane. Bradley looks incredible as a
44:48
point guard, which I thought last year he was really good and
44:51
unheralded because not many people talked about him.
44:53
But like that Arizona team just looks really good.
44:57
Iowa State looks good this conference.
45:01
You know, you have four teams in the top ten in the from the Big
45:04
12 and you play BYU at home, Iowa State at home.
45:11
You get Arizona on the road, you get Houston on the road.
45:15
These are. I mean, it's it's going to be
45:17
really tough, you know, for K State to be in these games.
45:21
They're going to have to shoot it really well.
45:23
And yeah, because their defense just isn't there.
45:27
And so I I don't know, I thought this Creighton game was a really
45:32
a good a good opportunity to try and steal one on the road
45:36
against a team that wasn't necessarily showing a lot
45:38
earlier on this season. But K State, you know, just
45:43
recent history, they've not been great on the road.
45:45
So this is a really good one to to get.
45:48
Yeah, yeah. Not, not good on the road.
45:50
We that that goes back to last year.
45:53
So yeah, we'll see if we'll see if they can continue this trend
45:56
of of Rd. wins, starting with starting with the win at
46:00
Creighton, who won tonight by 41 points over an 8 and three
46:05
Xavier team on the road in Cincinnati.
46:08
So go go Jays baby. They won by 41 tonight.
46:12
So that win may end up looking better and better as they are
46:15
now tied for first in the Big East.
46:17
We'll see how long they hang on to that one.
46:20
Getting into bowl season bowl pickums we've gone through.
46:24
We've done our whole bowl pick em sheet for tonight.
46:27
Before we get out of here. We're just going to highlight,
46:29
you know, 3-3 games that we have our eyes on that are most
46:33
intriguing to us. I went with the approach of not
46:36
looking at the CFP game. So just strictly looking at the
46:39
bowl games. If we want to talk CFP, we can
46:41
talk CFP. But and then I have kind of just
46:44
like a sleeper pick of a kind of a sicko game or, or maybe even
46:48
more so of a sicko situation that I'm going to be watching
46:51
for as well. But how about you kick us off
46:54
with with your first game you're going to be watching?
46:57
Yeah, the first game ultimately obviously includes a Big 12
47:01
team. I have to start with that.
47:02
But I think the Pop Tarts Bowl is a really intriguing game to
47:07
give a good idea as to how good BYU is this year.
47:11
It sounds like Georgia Tech is going to be a mostly full
47:14
strength for that game, Hans King said.
47:16
He's going to be, you know, playing in the bowl game And I,
47:20
you know, Georgia Tech kind of had an off and on year, but in
47:22
the grand scheme of things, they were a very, very good ACC team.
47:26
You know, this was a team that was, you know, in the running to
47:30
get to the ACC championship game close towards the end of the
47:33
year. Tiebreakers.
47:35
These conferences are too fucking.
47:37
And all that stuff. So I think this game is a really
47:41
good opportunity for BYU to prove should I have been talked
47:47
about more in the College Football Playoff selection
47:50
process or not. And so I am excited for this
47:55
game. I mean, obviously it's also the
47:56
Pop Tart Bowl, but I think it's going to be a great atmosphere.
48:00
You're going to see, you know, BYU obviously travels really
48:02
well, but Georgia Tech, I mean, it's a it's a relatively close
48:08
travel, you know, from Atlanta to get to Orlando for that game.
48:12
So I think it's going to be a really good atmosphere for that
48:14
game, especially because it does sound like a majority of the
48:18
teams are going to have their roster from from the season.
48:23
It should be a really good battle of head coaches with
48:25
Sitake and and Brett Key. So I think it's an extremely
48:32
intriguing game. I believe BYU's favored by 4
48:36
1/2. I think BYU wins by touchdown.
48:39
So I was going to take BYU in that game, but I am excited for
48:43
that one. My first one is Cal against
48:46
Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl. I just I love the story about
48:51
the kicker for Hawaii who's from Japan who learned how to kick.
48:55
Watching YouTube videos and and just looking at the game itself.
48:58
You've got 2 offenses that have been pretty prolific this
49:02
season. Both quarterbacks for throw are
49:04
throwing for more than 2800 yards on the season.
49:08
Rushing yards, at least on the Cal side of things are, are much
49:12
higher. So they they feel like kind of a
49:14
well-rounded offense. Maybe Hawaii, more of the
49:17
running gun type of type of air raid, maybe higher flying
49:21
offense over there. But Hawaii team coming off of a
49:23
year last year where they were off your abysmal last year and
49:27
then this year really exceeded expectations with an 8 and 4
49:30
record. So I'm kind of just excited to
49:32
watch this game. Not not for any particular
49:34
reason. I just think it'll be a fun
49:36
matchup between two offenses that that appear to be pretty
49:39
good, at least on paper. Second matchup.
49:43
What what's like Snake draft style?
49:45
So I'll do I'll do my second matchup.
49:46
My second one is is Arizona and SMU.
49:50
This is a weird Arizona team and people have been saying it all
49:52
year. K state obviously loses that non
49:55
conference game to Arizona and at the time we all just burn it
50:00
down like this is a horrible loss, horrible Arizona team.
50:03
Brent Brennan sucks. Brent Brennan was what second to
50:05
last or last on our power head coach power rankings before the
50:09
season and then he goes out and and wins, wins 9 games right
50:13
nine and three and is is near the top of the Big 12 this
50:17
season. So just kind of a weird, weird
50:20
season. I I, and I don't know, I haven't
50:22
seen is is Noah Fafida going to be playing in that game?
50:25
Has he announced if he's opting out or?
50:28
Not yeah, I don't know that's. Good.
50:30
I would I would imagine he probably would play in that
50:33
game. But if he's playing kind of his
50:36
his swan song, it would be great to see him play one final
50:38
college game before before he exits.
50:41
Because I've had a lot of fun watching watching Noah Fafida
50:43
for the last three years. And then SMUI don't really have
50:48
any particular like or dislike for SMUI.
50:51
Just think they're, they're fine.
50:53
They're ACC team that bought their way in the ACC and you
50:56
know, whatever they had a good season last year, but not as
50:59
good this year. So yeah, just don't really have
51:03
any feelings, strong feelings towards.
51:06
No feelings towards SMU. That's fair.
51:09
My next game is the Reliquist Bowl, Iowa and Vanderbilt.
51:16
I am very intrigued by this matchup #1 because you have
51:21
Iowa, you know, is Iowa going to be a classic Iowa?
51:25
But then you have the Diego Pavia experience at Vanderbilt,
51:31
especially with kind of some of the media stuff after the
51:36
Heisman voting. I think Vanderbilt in this game
51:41
and Diego Pavia is going to have a lot to prove.
51:44
And it's going to be happening against an Iowa team that
51:47
historically great defenses like how I, I just, it's going to be
51:52
like a very interesting, I think match up of 2 completely
51:57
different styles. And so I just have a, the fact
52:04
that I'm choosing like a Vanderbilt football game as an
52:07
intriguing bowl matchup. But it really is, I mean, it's
52:11
just, it's a matchup of two teams with different styles of
52:14
play. And Vanderbilt's going to, you
52:17
know, I, I think there's going to be a lot of excitement from
52:19
this Vanderbilt side of like trying to come through and, you
52:22
know, win a bowl game and, and, and whatnot.
52:25
But it's really the Diego Pavia situation that is just very
52:29
funny to me and kind of how he does like track with a Johnny
52:34
Manziel track. I was talking to somebody about
52:37
this earlier, but I think about like the NFL draft and who's
52:41
going to be a quarterback that I think is going to get drafted
52:44
unnecessarily high, very similar and manner to Johnny Manziel.
52:49
I think it's going to be Diego Pavia.
52:50
I think this guy is going to go through the combine.
52:53
He's going to go through everything and he's gonna be
52:55
like late 1st, early second round quarterback.
53:00
I just, I just think that's how this is gonna match up probably
53:06
to the Raiders or something. He fits there, but that's my
53:10
second one. I think a really interesting
53:12
game that's going to happen there.
53:15
God, he would be perfect as a Las Vegas Raider.
53:18
I hate to admit, but if it's, I mean, he's from New Mexico, the
53:22
dude's from New Mexico. I think that's the closest
53:24
professional team to where he's from.
53:26
Unless you're looking at Broncos or Cowboys.
53:28
It's like Broncos, Cowboys, Raiders, I guess Cardinals too.
53:32
Anyway not to believe the point there.
53:35
My last matchup I'm going to be looking at is going to be the
53:38
Cheez it Citrus Bowl between Michigan and Texas strictly
53:43
because of the Sharon Moore situation.
53:46
And how is Michigan going to respond to their coach having a
53:53
an affair with an EA in the building, getting arrested,
53:58
breaking and entering, doing all sorts of crazy stuff?
54:01
I think it's going to be fascinating to see if they can
54:05
set that aside and rally around interim head coach Biff Poggy,
54:09
which is the most bizarre name I've ever heard in my life.
54:13
And and Texas has some notable opt outs.
54:15
Anthony Hill is opting out of that game.
54:18
He's their stud star guy on defense.
54:21
But yeah, you know, Arch Manning and all the ballyhoo about him.
54:25
And I think that I think that's just going to be a good a good
54:28
game between two good teams. But the coaching on the Michigan
54:31
side is going to be interesting to watch and and see how the
54:34
team responds to that adversity, which is a lot of adversity off
54:38
the field. Like the interim coach this week
54:40
is saying the players feel betrayed.
54:42
It's like it sounds like a total shit show of a situation.
54:46
So just watching that mostly from a from a sicko perspective.
54:51
My honorable mention, my sicko game, future PAC 12 matchup
54:56
between Washington State, who just lost their head coach
55:00
Jeremy Rogers or Jimmy, Jimmy Rogers to Iowa State and then
55:05
the Utah State Aggies, the other Aggies that I'm going to be
55:08
watching this full season. Yeah, just curious to see how
55:12
how 2PAC12 teams, future PAC 12 teams match up against one
55:15
another, Two middling teams at that.
55:18
So yeah, not, not actually excited for that game.
55:22
That's just my my honorable mention sicko pick.
55:27
You're on mute. I like how the snake draft went.
55:31
You did a really good job of doing that and not letting me do
55:35
my third pick. Oh, you did?
55:37
I thought you did. I've only picked 2 games.
55:42
I thought you did that well anyway.
55:44
Wow. Anyway, my third, my third pick.
55:48
This is an interesting one for me just because I'm curious as
55:55
to how US CS gonna fare against TCU, who I didn't think was very
56:01
good this necessarily this year. I mean, obviously they're better
56:04
in K state, but we beat TCU. Does Lincoln Riley care about
56:09
the Alamo Bowl to beat a TCU team that I think is probably
56:15
not as good as USC. But if TCU beats USC, that
56:22
really I feel like kind of resets the sunny Dykes clock a
56:25
little bit because it's like we beat USC in the Alamo Bowl.
56:31
But if TCU loses, like, is it matter?
56:37
Like I, I don't know, like I, I think you go in, you're playing
56:42
with like house money if you're TCU fan.
56:44
I, I just, I'm intrigued by the game because number one, I don't
56:49
think it's an interesting game because I don't think USC cares
56:54
about being in the Alamo Bowl and I don't think TCU cares
56:58
about being in the Alamo bowl. But for the Big 12, like we kind
57:04
of want TCU to win if we think Sonny Dykes isn't a very good
57:08
head coach 'cause I think this kind of resets the clock a
57:11
little bit with TCU. So I mean, I think it's quite
57:18
possible that USC beats TCU by like 21 points in this game, but
57:22
it's also Lincoln Riley and I think he could also not care
57:27
about this game. And ECU beats USC kind of like
57:32
the Cotton Bowl with Tulane. Like USC didn't make the College
57:38
Football Playoff and so they had to play Tulane in the Cotton
57:41
Bowl. So I don't care about this game,
57:43
and obviously they didn't because they lost.
57:46
It kind of has that same energy and that's why I'm like so
57:50
interested in it. That's a good shout.
57:53
That's a good shout. I I hope that the the sunny
57:56
dykes clock does reset. I kind of do.
57:59
I kind of do. And then my sicko game, sicko
58:03
game. Maybe it's not a sicko game, but
58:08
I think it's very funny if I think about these two teams and
58:11
how they were supposed to be in the College Football Playoff
58:13
this year, the Pinstripe Bowl. Penn State, Clemson.
58:23
Like to think that at the beginning of the season, Penn
58:27
State was #2 in the country. Clemson was top 10.
58:32
They're up there. And they are playing in the
58:34
Pinstripe Bowl, a bowl game in a baseball stadium.
58:40
Who would have thought? And Matt Campbell is the head
58:44
coach at Penn State now. Oh my God.
58:47
Oh my God. That is my sicko game because I
58:50
just think it's absolutely wild that these two teams were ranked
58:55
so high, expected to do, you know, whatever and are playing
58:58
in a very meaningless game in a, in a baseball stadium.
59:03
Penn State, Clemson Go Tigers. Back-to-back picks with with
59:10
Riley brothers in them with Lincoln and Garrett Riley.
59:15
Yeah. If Garrett Riley were still at
59:17
TCU, you guarantee, I guarantee you Lincoln Riley would be would
59:20
be getting up for that game. But last, that's not the case.
59:24
And Kendall Briles is gone. So that that era is over at TCU.
59:29
So it's going to be that's going to be a fun one to watch.
59:31
All right. I mean, I think that's all,
59:33
that's all I've got. That's all I've got.
59:36
Anything, any parting words? This might be our last pod of
59:39
2020 so. Well, if it is our last pod of
59:43
2025, Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah to Z,
59:53
my buddy Z. You know, 2025 was an
59:58
interesting year in a lot of ways for all of us if we think
1:00:02
about K State sports. So I think for everybody, a New
1:00:08
Year's resolution is to pray for K State more than we did last
1:00:15
year. I don't know if you pray if you
1:00:19
don't, you know, figure you know, everybody just just put in
1:00:24
a prayer for K State like 2026 has to go better than 2025.
1:00:28
Yeah, line of voting candle. Yeah, it's not about nil.
1:00:32
It's about just a prayer. It's.
1:00:37
A prayer. It's a hoe.
1:00:38
Just a prayer. It's a wanting.
1:00:41
Yeah. But I I think we can all say we
1:00:45
miss Chef. We wish he was here today.
1:00:48
We hope that 2026 is better for Chef compared to December of
1:00:56
2025. I mean it's been touch and go
1:00:59
for him from a from a work standpoint for I know it's about
1:01:03
January 20th. Of Postal Service Postal Service
1:01:06
got to give our boy a big raise. Postmaster, Who's the Who's the
1:01:11
Postmaster General right now? Everybody, Everybody tweet at
1:01:15
the Postmaster General of the United States.
1:01:18
Yeah, I. Louis de Joy.
1:01:21
Oh, he's still it. It's still, it's still him,
1:01:23
yeah. But yeah, I think forever, all
1:01:27
our listeners, I think Bob and Chef and I, we, we appreciate
1:01:31
everybody. We hope everybody has a safe
1:01:33
holiday and a safe new year, and we will be back in 2026 to talk
1:01:41
about whether the Cats beat BYU or not.
1:01:44
Yes, yes, we will. That game is on the third.
1:01:48
Who knows when we're going to have our next spot.
1:01:50
It's definitely going to be at some point.
1:01:52
I don't know. Or after that game.
1:01:54
But until then, until then, happy holidays, Merry Christmas,
1:01:58
Happy New Year, all the things. Happy Hanukkah if you celebrate.
1:02:02
Yeah. All those all that good stuff.
1:02:05
Yeah. We are the K state
1:02:07
representative on the college huddle.
1:02:09
We are on social media at Cocaine Willy.
1:02:12
You can follow us individually. I'm at Bob Trollsby.
1:02:14
Chef's at Chef Andre Napier, Fireball mats at Matt
1:02:17
Marchisini. Chef is not here, but Matt, we
1:02:22
are. A drunk baby, yes.
1:02:25
We are all a joke and no joke. It's been a it's been a rough,
1:02:30
it's been a rough day, brother. Wildcat country that's.
1:02:37
Right.