Latest / Unicorn Football Talk / WCME: College
Transcript
- Emily: Hey, hey, hey, Unicorn Football Talk is back. Hi, Hillary. Hilary: Hey Emily, how are ya? Emily: Good. You know, you pointed out to me offline that we started a podcast about football, but we haven't talked about college very much at all. Almost not at all. And so it's time for us to talk a little college. And I'll just say for me, during the off season, I'm just not as I would say dialed into college stories. I'm little bit less engaged as a fan in this new era of NIL transfer portal. It's also really hard for me to keep up on all the nuances of all the things happening around like the Save College Sports Act or all the conversations happening about the playoff expansion. It's just kind of exhausting for me. So I check out, but the season's almost here. And I get very excited when the game starts. So I'm excited to talk college with you today. Hilary: Excited to talk college too. And so, hey, let's start with a fast fact. Do you know where the first game of the college season is and when it is? Emily: no I don't. No. Hilary: Okay, it's August twenty ninth in Dublin, TCU taking on North Carolina. So how's that? NCAA's going international right off the bat. Emily: Wow, I did not know that. I'll have to tune in, Dublin, huh? Hilary: Dublin. Yeah. I thought that was kind of fun. I had no idea, but you're right. The season's coming up. Most teams are starting on the Labor Day weekend with preseason matchups. So Emily: Pre season. Hilary: well, okay, you're right. It's not the preseason, but it's the start of their season, and they're usually not conference games. They are war warm-up games. Emily: Yeah. that's actually one of the t So for today, we each picked a few stories or topics out there and we're just gonna react and share. So let's start with you. What do you got for me today? Hilary: Okay, I want to talk about a couple of teams that I think have big expectations this year. and I'm gonna start with Texas AM. They went to their first CFP last season. They brought in 11 transfers in the off season who were all starters at their prior school. And they've had several years of excellent recruiting and another one, it looks like heading into this next recruitment cycle. And I just think they're on the edge of some really great things down there in college station. So I wanted to call them out a little bit. the other one is Ole Miss with Trinidad Chambliss back and Kewan Lacey as their running back. He's one of the best running backs in the country, by the way. They're expecting to compete for the SEC title, even though they're not necessarily ranked in some of the polls that way. Coach Pete Golding has a solid roster coming back and a much improved defense. The rank number 16, I think, that I saw in the last preseason poll, and they might be a bit salty about that. I think this team really has something to prove. And you and I have talked before about sometimes what's that extra little magic sauce or that extra emotion or something that's going to take this team over the edge. So I'm just gonna leave it with I have the old Miss LSU game on the nineteenth of September circled on my calendar as a must watch. Emily: I have that once circled too. I cannot wait for that game, revenge game. Hilary: Revenge for sure. And then once I've highlighted those teams, I realize that they're both SEC. So I bought I need to give a little love to another division. So I'm gonna go with the BYU Cougars in the Big 12. they have a really great head coach in Kalani Sataki. He's one of the most experienced coaches in the Big Twelve. They just missed qualifying for the CFP last year. They went 11 and 2. They need a pretty strong showing from their sophomore quarterback, Bear Bachmeyer. But they have running back LJ Martin, and he was the player of the year last year in the Big Twelve. They're returning I saw the rating and I don't quite know how to explain this, but they're the top three team returning their production from their offense. When you look at like their total yardage and everything in all of college football, and they've also got a super favorable schedule. So I think there's gonna be good things happening with that team this year too. got any takes on that? Emily: No, as I said, I'm sorta checked out on it's really hard for me to keep up on all the changes during the off season and I just generally check out. So I was that's really great to hear some some information and some things to watch out for. I Hilary: Okay, time to check in. Emily: I was yeah, I'm ready to check in. Okay, well, my first story I wanted to highlight, because you know I love drama and the Jaden Daniels story. he's a little bit salty and upset with LSU right now and their decision to give his number five jersey to cornerback DJ Pickett. Let's note the number is not retired. I don't know what promises have been made to Jaden, but I do know that LSU promised the number to the recruit last year. He didn't wear it last year, but the new coach, Lane Kiffin, who I loathe, by the way, in case you all didn't know that, is allowing Pickett to wear it. And I find this story fascinating. I think a lot of people are coming off looking poorly for. I what I would think is kind of a silly reason, in my opinion. So one, LSU for promising it to two people, you know, if if they made promises to Jaden or implied that they would retire it and also promising it to this player, they don't come off looking good. Daniels doesn't come off looking good for making a stink over this. When I think it's even debatable whether the number should be retired anyway. Two years at LSU. Yes, he won the Heisman, no championships. Joe Burrow's number is not retired, by the way. yeah. Hilary: I was gonna say, right? There there's a there's not a tradition of retiring the number there, I don't think. Emily: I think there's implied that if you won the Heisman, they will retire your number, but it's not retired. So anyway, and I don't know about the kid. So he wore apparently number five his whole life, and it's a very meaningful number to him. And it was promised to him. So I guess I don't have a problem with him going, Hey, you did say I could wear it. And then there's Lane Kiffin. So when he was asked about it, he said, quote, when a kid is promised something to come to a school, he should wear it. This is coming from Lane Kiffin talking about promises, which just like is gross to me given what he just did to old Miss and walking out on them. So a lot of people are looking bad, in my opinion, and it's just over a number. Hilary: I agree. A lot of people are coming off looking really petty about something that maybe in the big context of sports is not a big deal. I don't know that I have a firm opinion on college numbers and whether they should even be retired or whether a certain player quote owns the rights to a number because they wore it and did well wearing it. I also wonder if this is a little different. Deeper than just the number. I do know that there's been some talk that LSU continues to use Jaden Daniels in their marketing materials, well beyond his agreed upon contractual nil deal with them. I think he's still on their season ticket package promotions and some other things. At least last I checked. I don't know about today. But so maybe it's deeper than that. And he just finally kind of said, hey. You know, I'm gonna make a stink about this, but it really it's about deeper issues? Don't know. Emily: Yeah, Hilary: need to do some more reading, I guess. Emily: Yeah, I did not say at the top that his attorney, Jane Daniels' attorney, has issued a cease and desist letter around using his name, image, and likeness for marketing. I mean, he has every right to tell them to stop using his name, image, and likeness. I don't have a problem with him doing that. I just think it's, you know, the over the number is just a little silly to me. Hilary: I agree. Let's be adults and move on, right? Emily: All right, let's we can move on too. What's your next topic? Hilary: My next topic is coaches on the hot seat. And there are multiple this season who have their contract extension is on the line, their win-loss record is on the line, their pride is on the line, a whole lot of things. But I'm gonna call out two in particular. And the first one is Lincoln Riley at USC. This is year five since he came over from Oklahoma. And his first year was the best. He brought a bunch of players with him, and that included Caleb Williams. And at that time, USC was still playing in the Pac-12 with a little bit different schedule configuration than now that they've moved over to the Big Ten. He is 35 and 18 with no playoff appearances. his win-loss record against Ranked teams is six and thirteen. So USC alumni boosters, the athletic department, they don't have a history of being very patient with their coaches to build a program over a long period of time. I think he's got to get it together this year. And they should. Have a good season. USC is returning more starters than any other team in college football. But I think it's a prove-it year for Lincoln Riley. Emily: That's a fun fact Hilary: Thoughts? Emily: I did not know that they were returning more starters than any other team. Hilary: Yeah. Yeah. And my other coach on the hot seat is down at Florida State, Mike Norville. he started last season off with a win over Alabama, and then the final record for them last season was five and seven. It was two and ten the year before. They haven't won a road game since November of twenty twenty three season, and they're three and thirteen in the ACC. my opinion is the only reason he's there is because the contract buyout for him is so huge. But again, I feel like his seat's kind of flaming down there. Thoughts on that? Emily: No thoughts except when you lay it out like that, I can understand why you're calling them out as being on the hot seat. So I'll be watching. Hilary: Yeah, right. and there are more coaches, of course, and that's just my opinion. but I think there's some coaches with some things to prove this season for sure. Emily: Okay, I am pivoting to a story about a dog. So so Kirk Herfstreet. I like Kirk Herfstreet. I don't know how you feel about him. Do you like him? Hilary: Don't love him neutral. Emily: I'm not saying he's the greatest ever or anything, but he just feels like college football to me. So when he's on I know he does some pro as well, but he it just feels like college when he's in the booth or on game day. And he has a dog named Peter I'm I'm on TikTok and like I see a ton of Peter videos and I love dogs. I know you love dogs too. And Peter's just Amazing. Like people love Peter. He's become this superstar because Kirk takes him on the road with him, takes him to game day. He's in the booth with him, he's everywhere. So Peter just landed an NIL deal, is how they're branding it. Hilary: No way, really? Emily: Yes, with Hertz. will pick up the title of College Football Prognosticator. Beginning September 1st, Peter will predict one week's marquee matchup during Peter's golden picks using a canine friendly method each week. So I don't really mean to be advertising for Hertz, but I really like Peter a lot. He brings me a lot of joy when he shows up in my social media feeds. So I'm getting excited about that. Hilary: I think that's hilarious. We have a nil dog now. Okay. Emily: Yeah. I think that they branded it as N I L. I don't know if that's really the right term for what they've engaged in with this dog, but just thought it was cute and funny. All right, what's next? Hilary: my gosh. Okay, NCAA. We could go on forever and ever, but I'm gonna give you a little bit of a hot mess take on the NCAA this morning. And I wanna qualify, this is as of recording today, I Friday, the fourteenth of August. because things are rapidly changing. But I want to talk a little bit about the new eligibility rules, which are loosely called the five on five eligibility. In June, the NCAA established a new eligibility rule set based on age, and it replaces the existing rules and it centers on the student's athlete age and when they enroll full time in college. It doesn't guarantee five years for the athletes, especially if they delay enrolling or if there are other reasons why they're not eligible, for example, academic reasons or personal conduct reasons or things like that. The concept here is that the five years of eligibility are continuous. Continuous. There's no pausing for transfers, for sit outs. If the athlete didn't compete, it doesn't matter. The eligibility is still rolling. There's no waivers for medical hardships, for delayed enrollment, extension of eligibility. It's just trying to streamline the process of how long students compete across both division one and two. And all sports, by the way, this applies to everything, not just football. And there are a couple of limited exceptions of when the eligibility rules would be eligible for a waiver, and that be might be like military service, religious missions, other service commitments, things like that. as long as they don't participate during their service, and athletes can also pause their eligibility during pregnancy if they need to. But it applies a consistent framework across D1 and D2. The eligibility window starts at the moment of full-time enrollment at any college, university, whether it's domestic or international, or a two-year college. So that means that even if someone chooses to go the JUCO route first, junior college first, their eligibility window starts the minute they enroll there. So you're not gonna have two years at junior college and then transfer to a college and then another window of three to four years there. And it's gonna keep the eligibility age of players condensed. the second thing that triggers that eligibility window has to do with if you turn 19 because some athletes write their 19th birthday might be later in the year. I think September one is the cutoff on that. But then it's the next academic year, unless they enroll beforehand in school. And most of those athletes will anyway. So I'm not sure that's as big a factor. Emily: So the reason you were calling out the full time enrollment, I think, is because Hilary: Mm-hmm. Emily: often high school seniors will leave high school early and show up at the university in the spring. Is that what you're alluding to? Hilary: Cor correct. That Emily: So Hilary: is what I'm alluding to. So Emily: so Hilary: it's when their five-year window starts rolling. Emily: Okay. Hilary: And there's a nuance there too. That only applies if the high school senior graduates from their high school and enrolls. Some athletes choose to dual enroll in that they're still in high school and they start attending the college so they can attend practices. That's okay. It's when they have full time enrollment. And so I think it's a good idea, but here's where things got a little crazy. When they laid out how this would affect people, the NCAA stated that athletes who had used their last year of eligibility in the 2025 6 season were no longer eligible. So that would be incoming class of freshman 2022. And then people who are still in the system now have the choice to use either the prior rules, which includes redshirting and deferments for injuries and things like that, or the new age-based system, which is whichever is more beneficial to the student. And then prospects who are going to enroll in fall of 2027 or later, it would be the age-based rules only. So it seems reasonable and it seems fairly straightforward once we get to 2027, right? Okay, not so fast. So when the NCAA passed the new rules, they decided that players who entered college in 2022 and had already completed their four seasons, they would not be granted a fifth year. Lawsuits, a flood of them, including a class action lawsuit in Colorado asking for an injunction to allow fifth year for all D one athletes from the twenty twenty two freshman class. A Colorado district judge granted that decision on July thirty first and that instantly made thousands of players re-eligible overnight. Emily: wow. Hilary: Okay. So all these players who thought they were done, then there's the injunction. Now can they go back? Can they transfer? Football season is coming. Basketball will be another winter sports. There'll be a little more time to sort things out. So anyway, absolute chaos. And the judge did say that the NCAA could still enforce some of the rules like roster limits or what are called ghost transfers that kids couldn't just transfer if they hadn't put their name in the transfer portal last spring. But you could still return to your existing school. Okay, and so at this point, the NCAA obviously has appealed. the judge declined the appeal on Monday of this week and gave both sides a chance to argue their positions, and those briefings have to wrap up next week. So we need to stay tuned, but for right now, there's a whole bunch of student athletes for fall sports practicing as if they're gonna get a fifth year of eligibility. And they may or may not. There's a whole bunch of athletes who have tried to find ways to transfer to other schools, especially for basketball, is what I've been reading. and that's all in limbo too. It it's just kind of a mess. And sadly, it's another example of how the court system has overridden the NCAA's ability to govern itself. Emily: Mean this is kind of why I've checked out a little bit. Like it's just Hilary: Right. Emily: so messy. Everything is so messy. Hilary: It's really messy. Emily: And it's like exhausting for me to try to keep up on all of it, to be honest. But thank you for giving me the overview. Hilary: It take I I yeah, and I hope I presented that cleanly. I tried. I it is confusing. I spent a lot of time reading and rereading my notes last night to make sure I got it right. And I'm pretty sure I've got it right as of today, but I'm expecting more changes next week, so I'll keep following. Emily: Okay. Thanks for doing that. you can come back and share updates. Hilary: Okay. Emily: I appreciate that you're the one doing that. All right. we're down to one last what caught my eye, and then we'll wrap up. one story that piqued my interest that I clicked on was about Texas Tech. there's a story saying they were having trouble scheduling non-conference games out in the future. They specifically called out USC And they said that NC State pulled out of a game in 2027. I don't know if this is about Brendan Soresby and people boycotting Texas Tech. but I think it kind of goes back to what you were saying earlier about non-conference and calling those pre-season. it's something I've always complained about. is just how poor those early games are and what is the upside for teams to schedule a team like Texas Tech. Texas Tech is, a good team So like why would teams schedule as a non conference? although I do think the Brendan Soresby thing is part of it. Hilary: Well, I guess if you think you have a contender team, you want those three wins in the early season to give you time to get better, improve your game and have your win loss record be strong going into the latter part of the season would be my part of it. Emily: Yeah, it's just not good for fans. Fans aren't winning. I had hoped, when the college football playoffs expanded and we believe that they're gonna expand again, that teams would be more willing to schedule those better games because a loss or two does not keep you out. I understand why they do that. They want that three and record. Heading into conference play, but I mean, it's not it's not great football. Hilary: Agree. Emily: All right. So that was all I had on that. But I thought I'd just wrap up with a little positive. I saw preseason rankings, which are always kind of a joke, 'cause, you know, how do you know? You they never look the same at the end of the season. But I will say it was nice to see both of our teams ranked after I feel like both of our teams have had some positives the last, you know, 10, 15 years, but some negatives, and we're both hoping for big things, in the USA Today poll, Tennessee's ranked eighteen and Washington nineteen. Hilary: I saw that and I think that's the appropriate place for the Huskies to start the season. I'm happy with that ranking for us. Emily: Yeah, I feel good about being in the top twenty. It means that someone thinks we're relevant, which I love, and gives us a lot of room to move up, which I hope for. So I'm getting excited. This episode was fun. It got me thinking a little bit more about college, which is right around the corner. That Dublin game is coming up. So I guess expect more college chat from us. Hilary: Okay, good to chat with you as always, Emily. Catch you soon.