Latest / You Don't Know Ball Podcast / Episode 108: Sleeper College Football Teams to pay attention to!

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Episode 108: Sleeper College Football Teams to pay attention to! · You Don't Know Ball Podcast

• Isaac Rowe: What's going on, you don't know about podcast nation? Welcome back to the show. There is not going to be that typical intro because obviously you see it's just Caleb and I today. And obviously it's not because of Jack because he's working, but this is a big week for my our co-host and my twin brother Alex Rowe. He is getting married on Saturday. Yes. So he's really busy. But we w we just wanna say congratulations to the new Rose, to Emma and Alex from from our show, our little show of two four friends that have grow grown up together pretty much. Yeah, yeah, I would say so. Congrats, Alex and Emma, you know, very happy for you guys. I'm looking forward to celebrating y'all. And happened to be on the week of my birthday, so that was cool. so yeah happy birthday. So we're celebrating two things. Yeah. Yeah. So we got Umk now. Rumbling up the Unk, you know, and to celebrate. It's been a while since we've had a beer on the pod, so we're we're doing it. Cheers. We're doing it today. Cheers. Well, that's to to care. Where's yours? I thought yours I thought you would I probably shouldn't have one. Okay. I probably shouldn't. That's fair. That's fair. I save I'll saving him. I'm saving I'll hold down the fort. Yeah, okay. Yeah, catch up. Yeah. But we're just saying that we love you guys and congrats again. So All right, that's not the entire episode, but Thanks for watching. Yeah, thanks for watching. And no, we are gonna follow the momentum from the last ep. Obviously you saw our cop top twenty five rankings last weekend, and a lot of you left some comments saying that you liked where Oklahoma was put, so shout out that penny or quarter, whatever we flipped. And a lot of you did not like our lists. So honestly I don't even think they were that far off. I think a lot of I think Tennessee we had was like far off. We had a couple that were probably like five. Louisville wasn't ranked. Five spots out of where they should have been. I boy, I told you Louisville wasn't gonna be ranked. I told you that. But to be honest, I think how we should have did it was we all should have did our own one through twenty five. It would have been a lot of work for all of us to do, but then we should have just done placed them in the average of where they were. 'Cause then we could that would have been a true you don't know ball like ranking. The average of where we all actually thought they were gonna go. 'Cause we were just kind of sp spouting out stuff time to time. I we I mean I said mine and then we kinda like argue about it for like ten minutes. I mean hell, it's great content, dude. I watched that last like twenty minutes of the five. It's so funny. Yeah, dude, that was good. But you know, I I was happy where some of the things went and to be honest, like no one's gonna be able to predict where everyone ends up perfectly, so You know, hate hate us cause you ain't us, bruh. Yeah. Yeah. We put our opinions out there. We're not afraid to show it. And Oregon, please get first place. Don't us. That's why he's wearing green, bro. That's why I'm not yet. He's a big ducks fan. Not not a big ducks fan. He loves Dante Moore. He likes Bear Alexander. He likes He likes Decorian Moore. Dylan Rayola. Wait, is that his name? No. The backup quarterbacks. Yeah. Decorian Moore is the receiver that they have in Ev Evan Stewart. Okay. No, not a big Oregon guy, but they were my number one ranked team. So Dude, did you see where the p coaches put Notre Dame? Five. Yeah, dude. I I knew we were I knew we were cooking by not putting them at two or three. The official top twenty five comes out sometime next week. So Well the coaches obviously think Like Jack and I do. So we must have been right. Okay, bro. They were super high on Clemson, and I'm not entirely sure why. Because they were we were super high on Clemson last year. We didn't even put Clemson down. I know, but Jack was arguing for him. I was arguing for Clemson too. But Jack brought him up first. So I don't know. I mean it's it's cool to see what the coaches think compared to what we think. Obviously, we have Louisville ranked higher than most. We have Washington right in the right spot. Yeah, Washington was right. Penn State. The right spot, Michigan in the right spot. we have SMU in the right spot. Also, I commented something rage baity. What did I say? You said that Indiana should have been below Georgia or something like that. what no? I I gotta find what I said because I know I said something more rage baity than that. I was surprised no one responded to me. I think I said someone should be higher who like shouldn't be. I thought it was I thought it was Indiana and Georgia, but maybe I'm wrong. Don't worry, I reposted it so I can find it. Alright, bro. Okay, dude, I I had to play that song. That was so funny. where does Jay at? Alright. I found it. I found it too. No, you said now that I think about Georgia should be over Indiana, I had it flipped. Grace okay Gracing was really unhappy with our rankings. He called me about it. And he said, Worse Florida. my god. Florida shouldn't even be mentioned yet. They haven't proven anything. Yeah. But they could they Ale Alex was the one who rage baited. He said Michigan should be higher. That's funny. I'm dude, we really reached on Ole Miss too. We put them high. Well, I mean they're they're our Dark Horse team that we're expecting to take a leap that, you know, I I think they could do it. Yeah. A any of these damn SEC teams could do it, bro. Like I don't I don't know, dude. These conferences are getting so good. It's like it makes it so much harder. Yeah, the SEC is really deep. The Big Ten's getting there as they're pretty deep as well. Yeah. Shout out Daniel Ray 120 for saying this is the top three absolute worst lists I've seen as preseason. Shout out you, bro. I would love to see your list too, but how many lists is he looking at? I don't I'm like, I don't even know. He's got top three worst lists he's ever seen. I hopefully were three. I don't I don't I wouldn't say we're a one. Who do you have? Who do who is your top three? I I don't even know what you say. Dude, I should just upload like on my personal account, like my own rage bait list with like Notre Dame at one. Like Ole Miss two, Michigan Michigan three. Tennessee at six. Michigan State at twenty five. SMU top ten. Yeah. Yeah, I should really rage bait these people. You know what I did see actually did not see that list is a group of five team ranked in the top twenty five. So Jack can kiss my ass on that one. Well, yeah. That was I think he was thinking like the end of the season 'cause yeah. This isn't a reaction video of what we did last week. This is a following the momentum. Yes. So this week Caleb and I are gonna dive into who our dark horse slash underrated teams are going into this season and who who we think can make a playoff run and you know just teams like that. So I don't know if you have one at the top of your head that I have one. I think we should break the ice with your first memory of college football to break the ice and then we get into it. All right. Break the ice first memory god. I think I know what mine is, but my first memory of a college football game was going to watch Notre Dame, Michigan State at Notre Dame. And the guy ahead of us shit his pants. I'm dead serious. And so it was like a guy shit his pants and like left the stadium and then a guy with two like moms was who was hitting on them both sat in front of us after he left. wow. Yeah, so it was weird. How old were you? I was like I had to be like eleven, twelve. Was this pre Levi? Pre Levi. Wow. Yeah, I was that's you know I was young. Wow. That's crazy. Yeah, that that's my first memory that like Dude, what a first memory to get introduced. So is that why you like Notre Dame? No, it's just my family always likes Notre Dame and Tailgate. So you're grandfathered into this fandom. I see. I think my first memory of a college football game, I was at shout out Anthony Semme. I was at his house. And I think he we just we just had like a game on upstairs and it was it was like some ACC matchup, but that's what I remember 'cause I think it was Trevor Lawrence playing at the time. 'Cause I didn't really watch too much college football. Like you could say like the the Michigan State catch or the Michigan State like punt retard. yeah. Or whatever. Like that that I'm not counting that as my first memory 'cause I wasn't actually watching the game, but I think we did watch Trevor my first memory actually watching a game all the way through was Trevor Lawrence just eating up even up people. Some some team. so like that's crazy to think about like that time frame college football too. College football was good at that time. It was good and then You know, I I don't I don't hate what a position is that now, but like it it was so much better, I feel like, when we were growing up compared to what these kids are gonna be growing up. Well it's definitely just more balanced. Yeah. You know, you could have a team like Purdue is just never gonna be any w they're never gonna win a game in the Big Ten again. Like literally never. I think Purdue needs to change like to the Mac or some shit, dude. If they're gonna ever win like How do you even rebuild? I don't even look at how do you even rebuild now? I don't know. You don't even look at him as like the spoiler makers anymore. No. You look at him like d I don't even know if you saw this today, but the Indiana no, sorry, the Purdue head coach. Yeah, he comes out, he's like, We're here to win national championships at Purdue. If you don't want to do that, go to Indiana. Indiana is coming off a national championship, so I I don't get your logic there. But he he he shot for the stars with that with that jab at Indiana and he landed in the grass. So I I don't know. I see like i if I'm a head coach and my it's my dream to coach like D one football, if the Purdue job is open, I might say no. Because I don't e that just doesn't even seem fun. That doesn't seem rewarding. You just know your players aren't gonna be bought in by the time you're and six, like man, it's gonna be a lot of work to rebuild that program, but you know, I could say the same thing about, you know, UCLA's program. So they just came off a bad year. You can't really say the same thing about UCLA season because they have they're in the they're out west. True. The better o area. They got a lot of momentum in the recruiting trail compared to Purdue who's got Barry Odom and I mean he's a good coach, but They've Purdue's won two games no three games total in the last two years. God. So I mean, it's really hard to look at Purdue and be like, damn. Yeah, you could say the same thing too about like Rutgers, too. They're just gonna be stuck stuck winning what one game a year for a while. Like the Big Ten seriously might need to consider dropping some of these teams at this point because I what are they gonna do? Yeah. What are they gonna do? I know it's historic 'cause Rutgers been there a while. I'm assuming Purdue's probably been there a while. I don't know who started in the OG Big Ten, but I mean Purdue basketball is worth it. I mean they should Yeah, yeah, the football team might just have to suffer for the basketball team to be worth it. But I remember Kirk Hurd Street thought like Rutgers would be a sleeper playoff team. In football. Dead serious. He thought they were gonna run the table and make the playoffs. Which year? it was two years ago. Yeah. I mean, were the Scarlet Knights that good two years ago? They were not. Yeah, I remember the one Rutgers game I've ever watched, Michigan went in there. It was a night game. I was like, okay, you know, Rutgers atmosphere is actually pretty cool. It is pretty cool. But they got stomped. Yeah, they get stomped. They throttled. The J.J. McCarthy Wolverines like killed him. They raped him. Nice. So. No, but. All right, speaking of sleeper teams, let's get into our let's get into our kind of list. But I mean I don't want to have Go ahead, lead us off, kid. But you know, I'm gonna go with a team that, you know, we fought forever. I'm gonna start with like a a well known team that we fought forever on the last episode to get ranked. P I got a lot of shit from my three co-hosts for even saying this team. But I'm gonna go with TCU, man. I thought okay, that's not who I thought you were gonna say. I didn't think you were gonna say Louisville either. Who do you think I was gonna say? I thought you were gonna just go. All right. I I think TCU's gonna be in for a sleeper season. I mean obviously they lost Josh Hoover. That's a big loss, but they brought in this Harvard quarterback who was actually a a baller at Harvard. I don't know his name off the top of my head, but his stat line he he doesn't turn the ball over. He had like 30 touchdowns to like five interceptions last year. Yeah. And I think bringing him in, he's gonna like shock a lot of people next season. And I think Sonny I think it's Sonny Dyke or whatever his name is, coach he's gonna he's gonna obviously gonna get that defense back where it needs to be. But I think they could scare a lot of people, especially with the Big 12 being like a kind of an even level playing field right now. Even Texas I would say it's relatively even. Yeah. I think TCU might be on that three four. You know, three four five cusp. they're gonna have to win some tough games though for sure. Are you saying they're sleepers in terms of like, this team could make the playoffs? Yeah, okay. Could make the playoffs or could scare like have a Saturday scary night in their in their in their arsenal. Okay, 'cause maybe Texas Tech, I don't know if they play but they roll up in a Saturday night and it TCU's just got their number. Yeah. night. So I guess we'll see. I don't I'm not sure what the they're gonna finish like, but I I think they're pretty dangerous all in all. I I like I like the pick. I like their jerseys, you know, the Hornfrogs, they are cool. Like you said, it'll be interesting to see how all these new quarterbacks do and their new teams. I think by week four we'll have a really good look as to what a lot of these teams are gonna look like with their new their new offenses. I might get this guy's name because Alex sent that reel into the group chat the other day. Yeah. Saying like, Isaac, this is who you thought was gonna take over Josh Hoover's spot. I'm like, All right. Whatever, dog. here it is. Jaden Craig. Jaden Craig. Jaden Craig. Dude's got a 4.5. Dude, he's gonna he's gonna shock a lot of people. Just wait. I have I have hope. Fair enough. Fair enough. I think for with my team, my first team, this is probably my least like sleeper of them all. or my most like obvious pick, but I'm gonna go. I did one per like power four conference. Okay. Penn State is gonna be mine for a Big Ten. And let me tell you why. Their schedule might be the easiest in the Big Ten this year. I would say they only have two hard games. They have some scary ones, like away games come but they they dodged a ho No. They dodged Ohio State. They dodged Indiana. They dodged Oregon. Yeah, that's the top three teams that come to the So all they have to do to really make the Big Ten championship is not lose both games they play against Washington and Michigan. Michigan. No, no, no, no. No, they play Michigan. It's US C and Michigan. Yes. So Penn State, I think obviously they still have a lot of talent. They're still slated to do really, really well this year in terms of the Big Ten. I think they just really have to upset Michigan or USC. And luckily they play US C coming from the West Coast to their white out game. I think they can win that. And, you know, it's gonna be this is not the same old Penn State. They have a new head coach. I think there's gonna be a lot of new hype around the team and a new vibe around the team. And led by a new man at the forefront, I think that could lead to different outcomes and games they lost l last year that they could have easily won. So yeah, I'm going Penn State as my sleeper team. I do genuinely think they could make the Big Ten championship and the playoffs. So maybe not much of a sleeper there, but I do think they're the third third best team in the Big Ten, especially with that easy ass schedule. Yeah, I mean even with the What's his name? Coach Matt Campbell. Matt Campbell, brought a lot of his like Players from Iowa State and they saw a lot of success there in Iowa State. I think Rocco Beck's an absolute beast. I think he's gonna he's gonna light it up on the scorecard. I mean he's gonna be a really good quarterback you could rely on to win some games. Yes, they have those two tricky games with USC and Michigan, but even if they go and two, you could still see him finishing ten and two. Yeah. And fringe playoff team or in the playoffs. So we just gotta trust them to not do what they did last year and slip up on like a random award. but I I trust in this team to do it. They're gonna take it all seriously. This new head coach, he's coming in with the expectation to push the needle and do better than they did last year. That's why they fired James Franklin. So they're not hiring this guy to only come in and win nine games. They're gonna be going for it all. Just like all these other teams are. I just think Penn State could really sleep or a lot of people really sleep on Penn State and only think of Oregon, Indiana, and Ohio State when all three of those teams all like play each other and there there's so much competition in this conference and Penn State managed to dodge them all. It's really just the schedule is why I picked them. So Yeah. We'll see if it it works out in their favor. I I I hope it does for my sake in this pick, but yeah, we'll see. I could see them being one of those schedule playoff teams, but they win all the games they need to win and they compared and they're standing up compared next to some other team. I think they're gonna have to win the big time conference to or to the championship game to get in. They would have to play in it, I think, is what you would have to say. But I don't know. True. Ten and two is a really good record and you could get in there as like an eight or nine seed. True, true. So I don't know. It's it's it's tough to say, but I I do see a lot of year one success with the schedule that you're obviously talking about and Matt Campbell doing what he usually does, Mr. Consistent. So No, I I don't hate that pick at all. are you are you good to go? Go ahead. All right. So my next team is gonna be Arizona. This is this is where you're gonna see my another big twelve team obviously, but I do think I do think Noah Fafita and the gang could get could be a pretty scary team. Obviously their schedule, they have three tough games. They got BYU, Texas Tech, and they got a I think they have that game at the end of the year against Arizona State and Kenny Dillingham. So those are their three trip ups. They're they have West Virginia on there. They have Cincinnati. They have the rebuilt Iowa State team. They have Utah who's also being rebuilt after Whittingham left. Yeah. But I think I think it's They're gonna have to prove themselves. Yes. Relatively favorable schedule and they bring back their quarterback and that's a huge, huge step for that a huge piece for that team. So I think I think Arizona could be pretty scary. I mean, they're thirty second in returning production, so they have brought back sixty percent of their team sixty percent of their production from last season, so I think they could be a really scary team in that big twelve, especially with how even that conference is. So Yeah, I could see them making the championship game. They have to win. See the thing is with a lot of these sleeper teams, it's like, yeah, if they win this, if they win that, but I do think Arizona is one of those teams that's on the cusp of being like ranked in the top twenty five right away too. So there's a good reason for it. I did like their quarterback play a lot last year. He seems like a very Josh Hoover type to though. Like a lot of interceptions, but very high risk, high reward quarterback. And who knows, maybe this Yeah. I I mean we'll we will see. I thought they were ranked at the top twenty five last year or just twenty. I think they might have been, yeah. But I don't see them on here, so whatever. But I know they absolutely shit kicked Arizona State at the end of the year last year. So Yeah, and I picked Arizona State. I remember that. But yes, Arizona's one of sleeper teams going into next season. I like it. I'll do my big twelve team. Mine's an interesting one. I'm going with UCF. Okay. Let me tell you why. So historically their coach, his name is Scott Frost. he had he's in his second tenure there right now. And during his first tenure, he his first year of coaching there was twenty sixteen. They went five and seven. And then the next year they went 13-0. Yeah. And Scott Foster coached both of those seasons. Last year, started his second tenure there. They went like 6-6. So this year, based off his history, their record is going to be better. Yeah. and also they have JMU transfer quarterback. I wrote down his name here. You have Alonza Barnett the third. And I think hell of a name. We need him. What UCF really is depending on is him to elevate their offense. Their defense is gonna be fine. They have a great trio of cornerbacks and a safety that Is really highly rated back there that they're bringing back. They had a lot of really solid sunbelt tran like group of five transfers that are gonna beef up their defense. And who knows, maybe with this new quarterback from JMU, we've seen it before with like Mendoza going to a bigger school and you know, we've seen we've seen it a million times. we'll see if Alonza Bur Burnett is able to elevate the Knights offense to what it needs to be to win some of these tough games. And I'm not saying these guys are gonna make the playoffs, but I do think they can be better than like tenth place in the Big Twelve is what they're like you know, predicted to be. I think this could be a top half of the Big Twelve team. And honestly, I think they could spoil some some games for some people in the Big Twelve as well. So I do think it'd be really cool to see like the UCF, McKenzie Milton like level kind of teams come back and that bounce house is getting all rowdy and getting going. I mean honestly that'd be this could be the start of like a this they could have a lot, a lot of excitement this year for sure. be good to have a really good UCF team back. Yeah. Because that just brings back all that nostalgia from like that year they went undefeated. They beat Auburn in the I and the Sugar Bowl, I think. And they were part of the AAC at the time. Yeah. So I didn't know that. I didn't I didn't know they weren't in the Big Twelve all this time. So that's that's another big thing. It's like we can't just trust history to repeat itself. But Scott Frost, he came in, did better than they did the year before. And yeah, like you're saying the bounce house would be cool to get that back on the map. So yeah, I mean if that happens, that's just nostalgic at that point. Because that I remember watching USF and UCF go at it. Like at the latest possible game when I was studying for my Spanish exam. Yeah and I'm like I can't learn Spanish and also watch Mackenzie Millen just dice up this USF defense and I obviously just failed the exam. So I I mean to see a U UCF team kind of perform in that way again would be n really nice. I I watched one UCF game last year. I've I think it was at the very beginning of the year though. But their team was not Not that great. I mean they were kind they were pretty mid, so yeah, they're f I've remember seeing TikToks like week one last year, like we almost lost to a gr like not a group of five, but a FCS team. I was like, god. Well they had a shit ton of injuries last year. They did. Is what I is what I remember. Their quarterback was playing injured the whole year. So again, the injury bug too is a big thing in college football. Like I don't I don't think we see it a lot. Probably not as much as we should see it. Like a lot of these guys are probably going out there, you know, at like eighty percent, seventy percent. Yeah. So we'll we'll see what happens too. Injuries could happen. For sure. And make teams turn into sleeper teams. So For sure. All right, go ahead, man. All right. My next team is gonna be the Virginia Tech Hokies. Really? Yes. I I Okay, no, this is your first like this is my stretch one, I think. I think obviously they brought in James Franklin. You not a big fan of him, I know, but I I don't I I thought he was a fine coach. To be honest, I don't know if the problems in Penn State were James Franklin's fault. At the end of the day, you can go two ways with it. You can say, we've lose we've lost all these close games because of the players, or you can blame James Franklin. You can blame the play calling. I think everyone's at fault. yeah. James Franklin's just the head guy the guy at the top so he gets both. I just think he needed a clean slate. I think in this Virginia Tech is definitely the place to end up at. So they bring James Franklin in. They br they keep Brent Fry as the defensive coordinator. He's a former head coach of the Virginia Tech Hokies. They bring in this loaded recruiting class and transfer portal classes last offseason. Their schedule is not that scary. So obviously they have their ACC schedule, but they dodge They dodge a lot of those like top teams, but the ones that they do play are Miami and Clemson. So Miami's a tough one. You that's a tough little swallow. I mean, obviously you got to look at them and be like, damn, like we're not we're probably not that that Do they at least get at home? no, they're away. But maybe maybe they could scare I'm not saying they can't win that game, but it's pretty likely that Miami's gonna win that one. But I do think James Franklin will have this team pretty competitive with all the with the schedule I see. They play SMU. Granted, they are going to be ranked at the beginning of the season, but that's November 5th. By the November 6th, by the time they play that game. So I I look at it as like James Franklin couldn't beat two teams. They couldn't he couldn't beat Michigan and he couldn't beat Ohio State. Yeah. So He's not in the Big Ten anymore. There's no Michigan. There's no Ohio State. I feel like with knowing that he just wins ten games every year, mainly every year. And with a new fresh start, I feel like he's gonna have that Virginia Tech team ready to roll and pretty competitive throughout this whole season. I'm not saying they're gonna make the playoffs. No, I I don't think they will. I but I do think they're gonna be pretty competitive. I could see them being like that eight to nine win team that just like you do not wanna play on a Saturday before the playoffs start or your before your conference championship or before a big game or before a ranked contest. They're not they're not in a they're not a stadium. you're gonna want to go play in, you know, if if you're an SMU. Like that SMU game, I think they should probably be pretty afraid of Virginia Tech. We'll see though how we'll see how they are. Like I'm so excited to see mid season how like all these picks are stacking up. Like seeing where Penn State was at the middle of the season last year, like who the hell would have predicted that? No. Nobody. I mean seeing where California was at at the middle of the season last year, like no one thought they were gonna be that good. No, no one did. I mean obviously I think I just think they're gonna be solid. I really like the pick, yeah. Yeah, I just think they're gonna be solid. I and they have their rival game of the week week ten or week whatever it is against Virginia. That pick gives me like UN C vibes. Like I think you say the same thing about UNC, like, they have Bill Belichick, it's his what, third year there now? Second year. Second, okay. So yeah, it's like they you know, they have big Bill Belichick, they're gonna you know Like, you could say that about any of these teams with great coaches and great pedigrees and they know what they're doing. We'll just see what we'll see what happens when they're on the field. But I do like the Virginia Tech pick. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Who do you got? for my ACC team, I did pick California. Nice. they're slated to go like five and seven, six and six season. And my my thing is I'm banking on their quarterback JSN for short. wait, no, not JSN. JKS is what is what his acronyms are. Saga Poo Sagapulu Tele is his last name, but he's a sophomore. He's a stud too. Yeah, he he's he's one of the best quarterbacks in the conference. And I think that play people aren't gonna be ready for. I think you know, I think who did they just get? So The the problem with California is they're they've always been mid. And again, people are predicting them to be six and six, have another mid season. Over the past two seasons, they're thirteen to thirteen. Over the past when was this? I saw a stat earlier and it was like over the past t 15 seasons, they're one forty nine and one forty three or something like that. So just extremely five hundred. Right. I and they did just hire a new coach and I think with doing that You don't hire a new coach just to come be mid again. I think this is a year where they could really use their quarterback play while they have him before he inevitably transfers somewhere else unless he really likes California. but we saw Mendoza transfer and look what happened. So JSN or JKS might be on that type of timing. But I think this is the year California jumps up to winning like eight games. I yeah. I don't I don't think they're gonna make the playoffs, but I do think they're better than six and six. I think they can be better than six and six. They have a somewhat tough out of conference schedule to start the year. I think they play UCLA Syracuse, I think they play I they have I don't know, they have four games where we can really see their talent on the field. I think if they win get out of those four games two and two or three and one, they got a really good shot to win seven, eight games and really improve and get Califor get this California program gr going in the right direction to Be where they want to be with a Miami or an SMU in the ACC. So I like California as my sleeper team. No one's gonna want to play JKS and the boys. So yeah, they got a coach that wants to push the needle, and I'm excited to see if he does. Definitely a team. California's like my third favorite college football team. So definitely a team that you wouldn't want to see like going into. So let's say you are I don't even know who. To be honest you, I think they're in the Big 12 now. Or are they in the ACC? They're in the ACC. ACC. Okay. So definitely like Miami has struggled there multiple times over the last couple years. Like Cam Ward damn near lost to Cal. And we had had it took Michael Irvin getting in a four-point stamp for them to to win that game. really? Dead serious. Look up the meme. It's ridiculous. But I think Cal's got like that sleeper, like can bite your ankles at any moment kind of build. And I think obviously they have the quarterback to do it. He's a stud. He's one of the best freshmen in the country last year. We had a bunch of fr good freshman cunt quarterbacks in the country last year, and he was definitely one of them. So I'm looking forward to see what they can do. This team dodges Miami. That's pretty sweet. They have Clemson at home, Virginia Tech at home. They play they go to SMU, but the California's warm. SMU's b warm. Shouldn't be that much of a difference weather wise. Virginia They play away. That's a decently tough game. And they host Pitt at home. They have Pitt at home. Nice to end the season. I think their schedule is very favorable, to be honest. Their first four games, UCLA at home. They go to Syracuse, but it's still going to be warm out. Wagner at home, Clemson at home, UNLV at UNLV. I think those are all winnable games. Yeah. Besides maybe Clemson, that'll be really close. And UCLA will be close too, but they have them at home. And to start the year, I think that aids a lot. So It'll be interesting to see what this California team does, or they come out of that stretch two and three and look stupid. So right back where we started. We'll see. I I just I I like this California team. I'm a little biased, but I think with the new head coach they can really they can really j take the jump. All right. I'm do an SE C team now. Yeah, that's my last one. That's your last one. All right. So this w this could be I think this could be our last one. All right, let's do it. I'm gonna say Kentucky. Wow. That is not the I'm gonna say Kentucky. That is that is a sleepy. I think Will's I just listening to Will Stein talk about how much confidence he has in his team right now, it's kinda firing me the up right now. So I think I think Kentucky could sh be like not obviously not a playoff team. I wouldn't say that. But I would say Better than like two and seven. Yeah, they can be that team where they you do not want to play going into like the Georgia week or the Alabama week or any other like I think this team could really come up and bite you. I they have Ken they brought in Kenny Minchie from Notre Dame. He was a he was giving CJ Carr a run for his money for that starting spot back in last fall camp. And I think Will Stein has a lot of confidence in his team right now because he Yeah, I think he genuinely just believes in So I he's kinda talked me into it and looking at their schedule, yes, they play Alabama, yes, they play A and They play L S U, they play Oklahoma, they play Tennessee. They have every possibility of finishing like like three and whatever. Mm-hmm. But they also I also see them being pretty competitive in a lot of these games. Bowl eligible. Yeah, I I that would be I think that's their ceiling for this season. Yeah. Obviously. But I wouldn't be shocked if they're we're going to to like LSU and they're five and two or four and three. I I mean I don't know. I mean th this this is how they start the season. So they're gonna start against Young Sun State, so that's that's one and Then they play Alabama. They play Alabama at home. A week two game or dude, wait what? Conferen we're getting conference games in week two in the SEC? Yeah, so week two That'll be one to watch out for. We're gonna have to predict that one. and then they got then they're on the road at A and so there's another tough game. Yeah, they could be looking at one and two or two and one. Yeah or two or three and at that point. Then they got South Alabama as a little break, and then they're at South Carolina. Okay then they host L S U. Okay. They're getting a lot of these these big games at home. Yeah. Except A and But Yeah, and then they play Oklahoma, who I think is gonna be pretty solid this year. Yeah, Oklahoma. And then they've got Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Florida, and Missouri and Louisville to finish out the season. So obviously it's a tough schedule. That's really tough. It's really tough. But if they play their cards right and Kenny's Minchie and Will Stein are everything they keep talking up to be, I could see this team pretty being pretty damn competitive. Yeah. And I think Kentucky's got a lot to look forward to. So That's all I gotta say. Yeah, I do think they could sneak two of those for sure. Especially if they're at home. Like at least take one of those teams to overtime. Especially week two. That Bama game, Bama better watch the hell out. I mean I didn't know they were playing week two, dude. They're both gonna be coming in off wins. I'm sure that Kentucky team's gonna be fired up. That crowd is gonna be going crazy to host Alabama. They got a gift with that one. They could really put themselves on the map with that. So It's a three thirty kickoff, so that's kinda I wish it w It's pretty fine. Yeah. Not time for the students to tailgate, get all rowdy. I remember a like two maybe it was no last year they took Ole Miss to the wire. The year before that they took Georgia Georgia to the wire at home. Wow. Both of those teams both those games were at home and they took to the absolute wire. Yeah. So it shows you like they have the potential to do it, and now they got a coach that genuinely believes in and it's like revamped that whole entire program. I think they could do it. I think they could be a a fringe bowl team, but really competitive. This is another team I think could be I think they'll I think right now their their aim, like where a lot of people are putting them is bowl eligible. I think they can be a little bit more scary than that. And I was I was making my case for this team. Obviously they're not gonna be ranked ranked at the start of the season, but I'm going Auburn as my sleeper team in the SEC. I am biased because I like Byron Brown a lot. I believe in Byron Brown. I think what he's a senior now, so he's ready to lead this school, lead this team. Better than what's the name, Jackson Arnold? it was yeah, it was Jackson Arnold was one of them and then it was Ashton Daniels as one of them. Okay. They're both transferred out now. See my thing with this team is they lost a lot of one score games last year. I think they could have won and they got derailed by injuries from what I remember last year about this team. Is no one could take really that seriously because they were injured. But they were also very close to winning so many games, even with all those injuries. And But the coach that wasn't even like all there. Like he was not he did not have his entire like Professional like focus on Auburn last year. And they were still pretty competitive. Yeah. Like yeah, we had a we watched a lot of great Auburn games last year. So with a new quarterback who had shot the lights out last year at USF, he was such a fun watch. Now at Auburn, like one of the most prestigious, you know, schools you can be at for football. It's a match made in heaven. To make the playoffs, I doubt it. I think this team can go eight and four though and be a sleeper team and be a team that a lot of other SEC teams are gonna fear, especially going in to the Tiger Den, whatever you call it. Yeah. I mean So yeah, I I don't know. I just like the look of Auburn and they have a new head coach too, so kind of the same reason, like I picked Penn State and California and UCF, all these guys got relatively new new coaches or flat out new coaches that we're saying. So, you know. Lot of hype around these schools being sleeper teams, but you know, you gotta give a reason why they're a sleeper team. So that's kinda my reason. I think Alex Golish is a really good coach. He's obviously from USF. Yes, Auburn lost Cam Williams to Texas. Yes, they lost Jackson Arnold, yes, they lost a couple of pieces from last year's team. But I think they replaced him with people that could re kind of like replicate that like s yardage or stats in a in a s production in a spot. Like obviously Byron Brown is gonna Jackson Jackson Arnold ran a lot. He ran a lot. And Byron Brown is a better runner. Yeah. He might not be a better passer, but I think he Hopefully he worked on it. Yeah. Yeah. He does a lot of that his damage on the ground. I mean, if you watch that Florida game when USF played walked into the swamp and Alex Golish absolutely just grinded out that win against Florida with with a team that was significantly less talented. my god, you just unlocked a memory for me. Dude That game was insane. It was nuts. Like I don't even know how they won that game, but Byron Brown put his team on his back and he absolutely carried them with a win. Yes, Florida ended up falling apart after that point. But that was when they were ranked, like fourteen, thirteen. I think this Auburn team is gonna be really competitive. I I think Alex Golish is a good coach. I think Byron Brown's a a really good playmaker. Obviously he's not the best passer, but he does a lot of the damage with his legs and if they could run the ball, I think this team could be really pretty dangerous. So if it's definitely like one of those g Auburn teams where Alabama I think do they play in the Iron Bowl at Bama or do they play at Auburn? 'Cause if it's at Auburn It's could be it's could be scary for that Bama team going into if they're if they have playoff aspirations and they are they're going into the SEC championship or they're whatever they're going into and they have to play at Auburn. I could see Byron Brown and the boys like taking one. Yeah. I could see them taking no my bad. sorry. I still can see them taking one. They play ba Bama's at home at the end of the season. I still think they I could see them like getting a win and stealing one from them. But I don't know. We'll see what they they turn out to be. But I think Auburn's gonna have to win a tough game on the road. They have they have Georgia on the road, Tennessee on the road, Ole Miss on the road, Mississippi State on the road. They're gonna have to win at least one of those. Yeah. Like it if they're gonna be a sleeper team, they're gonna have to upset somebody at home. I could see Tennessee. If I'm honest, I think Auburn and Tennessee are on the same level. But that's that's just me. We'll just we'll see after a couple of weeks of And a and a in thirty days actually from kickoff. So we're almost to prediction season. I already have week zero picked out. You do? We'll see who could bring home the prediction championship. So damn close last year. I can't believe Jack beat us last year, dude. We gotta get like a an actual like official trophy. So we can start having it like in our garage or in the set somewhere. But I would throw in Mississippi State as a sleeper team too, but I think we'll save that one for another day. But any team in the SEC could be a sleeper team, bro. Honestly, honestly, if you want to say this, Louisville's going to be a fringe playoff team. They will be. If you look at their schedule, not that difficult. And there's a lot of people saying that Legan Keyholtz is gonna be a Heisman finalist. That's not true at all. So don't believe into that. But believe that they're gonna be a ten win team. That's what I'm gonna say. I think they're pretty scary. Jeff Brahm and the boys have had nine wins straight nine win three straight nine win seasons last year, the last three years. So I think Jeff Brahm's gonna put something magical together this year. Hawaii is my other sleeper team. I think they could go undefeated this year. I think I think they're pretty decent too. I think I think they brought better. Holy shit. They're only losing to Arizona State, dude. You think they're losing to Stanford, New Mexico, Wyoming? Okay, keep going until I see her lost and then I lost. San Jose State? No. Arizona State. We know they're losing to them. New Mexico? Northern Illinois. No. UTEP? No. North Dakota State? Come on, dude. They're not beating they have to go to Hawaii for that one. No. Nevada? No. SAC State? That's our last game of the season. my god. They might are they gonna go eleven and one? I think so. There's no way. Hawaii is my final sleeper team. They're making the playoffs. I think they could be a group of five. Imagine they upset Arizona State and go twelve and I would be what the hell. We we gotta keep tabs on Hawaii. They got the most cupcake schedule I think I've ever seen in my life. Right behind Neurodames. But we'll leave that for another episode. All right, I think that's gonna end this one. Lot of fun. I we'll try to have three of the four hosts as Alex is on his honeymoon. Yeah. next week, but Let us know what you wanna us to talk about. We're getting to that point where we're getting to prediction season and we're starting to get some fall camp intel. So if you want us to do put some more lists together, we'll do we could do tiers, we could do players to look f to watch out for, Heisman finalist c tier ranking, all that good stuff. So just let us know. Let us know in the comments that aren't feat comments. Brother from another. all right. Yeah, any thoughts left? no, that's about it. I think my favorite of all my picks though, the one I'm most confident in is definitely Penn State. I think Penn State's my realest sleeper pick of them all. Or Hawaii, to be honest. But I like I really like Penn State's odds this year to do something. So even not not to say they didn't do anything two years ago 'cause they did make the playoffs but they just kinda got stomped. But yeah, with the yeah, just their their schedule they gotta be able to take advantage of that. Yeah, I I think my two favorites right now. I have two favorites. I obviously like TCU, but I really do like that Virginia Tech pick. I think I think there's gonna be some someone to look out for. It's kinda funny how I pick I pick Penn State as my favorite, and then yours is Virginia Tech. They're kinda connected in that way. Connected, yeah. So All right. Big episode for this week. Obviously, thank you, Caleb, for coming out. So that's good. Yep, yep. All right. So We'll see you next week. Congrats to Emma and Alex again. So we'll look forward to maybe maybe providing some content at the wedding wedding. We'll see. Yeah, we'll see. it'll be there. It'll be low on the priority list. But we get some clips, if we get some clips, we can throw like a little vlog together. That would be funny. That would be funny. All right. We'll see you in the next up episode. Remember, we don't know ball, you don't know ball, we all don't know ball. We'll see you later. Bye. Peace.