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Week 0 Tail the Tailgate Picks! MLB Scores and Biggest storylines heading into the SEC+B1G seasons · The Tailgate Cam Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: On this episode of the Tailgate podcast, we are proud to announce our new sponsor DeafCharts.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: The most innovative site to track player movements, ratings, where those NFL players stack up on their own teams.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: And they also have some pretty awesome custom team merch.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: I like to think of it as a PFF meeting our lads, but with a little bit more depth.
• 0:23
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• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: For a quick rundown of what to expect on the show today, I'm going to start off by going through some of the biggest storylines heading into the SEC in the Big Ten football seasons.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: I'll get to the ACC in the Big 12 as well as some of the highlights from the Group of Six next week.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: But we're starting out with the SEC in the Big Ten.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Then I'm going to go through some scores from around Major League Baseball.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Finally, I will get to the main story today, our first Tail the Tailgate segment, where I will be giving out picks for every game in week zero on the college football slate this coming Saturday.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get to it.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: So, some of the biggest storylines coming into this SEC season.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: I think first and foremost, it was the biggest talking point towards the last month of the season, especially at the early part of the playoffs.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the fact that Lane Kiffin is now at LSU who left his team during the season, during a playoff run at Old Miss.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Leads for a rival for a team that clearly shelled out a lot of money both to get rid of Brian Kelly and to spend on this new roster.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: He brings in star quarterback Sam Levitt from Arizona State.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: And the expectations are about as high as they could possibly be on a first-year head coach.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think it's unreasonable to say that if Lane Kiffin does not make the playoffs in his first year with LSU, that he could possibly be fired, or it's at least on the hot seat going into 2027.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's I think the biggest story in the in the conference heading into this year.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: But the next biggest story that I also want to brush on is the fact that this is the first year in the SEC where they're going to feature a nine-game conference schedule.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: So there's always been this debate about the Big Ten versus the SEC.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: And the SEC uses their arguments and the Big Ten uses theirs.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Ultimately, the real thing that people care about is who wins the title at the end of the year.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: That is the Trump card above everything else.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: And this is the first year that the SEC levels the playing field with the Big Ten and they enter in with a nine-game schedule.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: So there's no more excuses from either side.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: May the best team win.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: And the best teams in the SEC pretty clearly seem to be like Texas and Georgia this year.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: Texas returns star quarterback Arch Manning entering his last presumed year at Texas, and Georgia brings back Gunner Stockton.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Both of the two teams are clearly the two favorites to win the conference.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: Georgia and Texas have the shortest odds at two plus two eighty and plus three hundred, respectively.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: But personally, I like the taking a kind of a wild horse, dark horse shot on Texas AM plus 850.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: I've already talked about the Heisman Trophy odds on one of the first episodes on the Tailgate podcast, but I love Texas AM schedule this year.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: I love everything that they're doing there in College Station, Texas.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: I love Marcel Reed.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: I love this offense with Mario Kraver.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: I think that this team could be very good.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: I like Texas AM.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: If you're not going to take one of the top two teams, which I don't think plus 280 or plus 300 are good enough odds to do that.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: I like gambling a little bit on Texas AM or even a Florida with the upside of new coach John Sumerall in that elite receiver room, could be one of the best in the whole country from one through five, with new transfer Micah Mays, um, Georgia Tech transfer Bailey Stockton to go with two former five-star recruits, Dallas Wilson and Vernel Brown, who now enter their sophomore seasons at the University of Florida, as well as stud transfer from former Georgia Tech and former Auburn wide receiver Eric Singleton.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: So another thing that I want to touch on in this conference is that there are six brand new coaches.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: I just mentioned John Summerall, Pete.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I'm already talked about Lane Kiffon, who's now at LSU, Pete Golding, who takes Lane Kiffen's job at Ole Miss, who took over during the playoff run that they went on.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Alec Golish, who leaves from South Florida and moves to Auburn.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: Ryan Silverfield, who leaves from Memphis, who we will talk about in our Tail the Tailgate segment, and he takes over at Arkansas.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: And then Will Stein coming over as he was the offensive coordinator at the University of Oregon, and he is now the head coach at the University of Kentucky.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: A couple quarterback notes that I also want to talk about before we move on to the Big Ten.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: There are only six schools that return their starting quarterback from last year in the entire SEC.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: So six out of 16 schools can confidently say they know who their starting quarterback is, and decently can say they know what they can expect.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: That's Texas with Arch Manning, Georgia with Gunnar Stockson, both of who I've already mentioned.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: South Carolina brings back uh quarterback Lenore Sellers as well as um head coach Shane Beamer.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: Texas AM, as I talked about, brings back Marcel Reed.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: Ole Miss, even though they lost Lane Kiffin, they did hang on to star quarterback Trinidad Chambliss.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: And then Oklahoma brings back their playoff route quarterback John Mateir.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: I touched on Sam Levitt transferring from Arizona State to LSU, but there was another quarterback that transferred within the SEC following Lane Kivan's departure, and that was new Mizzou quarterback Austin Simmons, who was injured last year during the 2025 season and ended up losing his job to aforementioned Trinidad Chambliss.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: And now he takes over as a starting quarterback at Mizzou.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: He's a left-handed quarterback with a big arm, pretty mobile outside of the pocket, but not really a runner.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, a guy that can really stretch the ball downfield and make some pretty beautiful deep passes.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: So it'll be exciting to see if Eli Drinkowitz can really elevate and get the most out of a guy like Austin Simmons.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: And then another guy that I also want to touch on is Byron Brown, a guy who is a thousand-yard rusher as a quarterback, an elite runner with the football, elite size.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: He's at least 240 pounds on every game day.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: He's a big running physical quarterback.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that that already gives Auburn a leg up in their first season with new head coach Alec Golish, who follows his coach coming over from Tampa at the University of South Florida.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: And then lastly in the SEC is Dylan Stewart.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: We talked about South Carolina with Lenore Sellers, but Dylan Stewart, who is one of their premier pass rushers, had a bit of a down year in 2025, but you could honestly say that for all of South Carolina's football team, he is a guy that is talked about as a projected top 10 pick.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: Will he live up to the hype this year?
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: Will South Carolina save Shane Beamer's job realistically?
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: What to ex see from Dylan Stewart only to be seen in the upcoming weeks?
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's switch gears and go over to the Big Ten.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: First question: How does Indiana look without Fernando Mendoza and many others?
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: Calen Black, who's now with the 49ers, Omar Cooper Jr.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: with the Jets.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um I'm I I mean just a laundry list, uh, D'Angelo Pons.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, a ton of guys who are no longer Elijah Surratt, a ton of guys who are no longer with this Indiana team, but they still have the man up top, and that's Kurt Signetti.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: And he's you know what he says.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: Google me, I win.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: And so far that's always been the case with Kurt Signetti, but now he has to replace Fernando Mendozi, his for Fernando Mendoza, his Heisman-winning quarterback, with former TCU quarterback Josh Hoover.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: So the question's out there.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: I have faith in Kurt Signetti that this team will not have a significant drop-off.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: Do I think they're gonna go undefeated throughout the entire season?
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: I do not.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: But I do think that this team will be in playoff contention.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: I think they are too well coached, they're too uh well scouted, they get the guys that they want at Indiana, and now they have some more money flowing in.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: They can really pay for some of the top talented guys that fit their scheme and fit their system.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: My next question about the Big Ten is does Michigan remain a contender with new head coach Kyle Whittingham?
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I mean, I think the the short answer is for this year, yeah, I think that they will be in good position to still contend and you know make a run for the Big Ten championship game.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: I again, I think a lot of what Michigan's season looks like depends and hinges on Bryce Underwood, who struggled at many different times during his freshman season and in Arbor.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: But given all the ruckus that came out with Sharon Moore and that whole internal investigation, it's kind of hard to blame him.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: It seemed like there was a lot more going on behind the scenes at Michigan than anybody could have ever guessed.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: So I like the getting, you know, an adult in the room like Kyle Wettingham, who can really write this ship and put this very talented roster on the right course with good leadership and get them contending for the Big Ten Championship this year.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: Next is the fact that we get Julian Sand and Jeremiah Smith back together again for another full season.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, Julian Sand was his uh initial season as a starter last year, and this is now Jeremiah Smith's presumably last year in college football, his third season at Ohio State.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: I think you could expect to see electric numbers.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: Jeremiah Smith will be poised and motivated to lock in a top five draft slot, much like his former college teammate Carnell Tate just did with the Tennessee Titans.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: I expect monster numbers week in and week out from Jeremiah Smith.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think it's really going to matter how he's covered.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's going to have monster numbers all season long.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, another head coach that I want to mention in the Big Ten that moves from long time, uh his longtime home in Ames, Iowa, and that's Matt Campbell.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: So he takes over for James Franklin, who was fired in the middle of the season last year.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: And if you followed this coaching carousel last year, you know that Penn State took a long time to come to this decision.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: They had seemingly been bypassed by candidate after candidate, even almost getting to the finish line um with BYU's head coach.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: But then after that deal fell through, they settled seemingly on Matt Campbell.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: And Matt Campbell, a guy that only really seems like he would have left Iowa State for the right job, seems like he got one.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: I do like this fit.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: I think the culture works in Penn State.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I think after this first year, when he's still going to be, you know, rolling out basically a Big 12 roster, I think that Penn State will be in good hands with Matt Campbell.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: Similar to the SEC, there are 10 new quarterbacks in the Big Ten, including Indiana, as I mentioned, Penn State, who brings over former Iowa State Cyclone Rocco Becht, Iowa, who's in a bit of a quarterback battle, Minnesota and Northwestern, just to name a few.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: And speaking of Northwestern, their former head coach, Pat Fitzgerald, he begins his new reign at Michigan State in East Lansing, Michigan.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: So that is going to be a storyline to watch all year.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: How Pat Fitzgerald looks in his first year as head coach at Michigan State.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: And then ultimately, the question about the Big Ten.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: They've won three straight titles from three different schools, Michigan, Ohio State, and then Indiana of 2025.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: Will they do a fourth straight year?
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: We got to stick around to find out.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: Got to listen to it all on the Tailgate Cam podcast.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: And then lastly, from the Big Ten is Ohio State and Oregon the best game of the year.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: I think if you put Dante Moore and Julian Sand, Jeremiah Smith, and all of the other receivers, Bo Jackson, Evan Stewart, I think if you line up all of the talent that will be on this field when Oregon takes on Ohio State this year, it will be the premier game in all of college football this year.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: Two of the best five teams, without a doubt, that will be ranked in the top five all season long.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: This is a game that you must circle on your calendars.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's get to some scores and series updates from the midweek series that have already wrapped up or had a winner occur.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: First off, the Raves continue to climb through the AL.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: They take two out of three from the Detroit Tigers on the road in Detroit after getting two strong pitching performances from Drew Rasmussen and Freddie Peralta as they continue to pace the AL East.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: The Boston Red Sox, they take two out of three on the road in Miami, including 11 an 11-inning win on Tuesday night against the Marlins.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: Eduardo Rodriguez delivers seven shutout innings Wednesday to take the rubber match for the Diamondbacks, who take two out of three from the Cubs.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: And Pittsburgh takes the first two on the road in San Diego to end up taking a series against the Padres, thanks to six shutout innings from Paul Skeens on Tuesday night.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: The Braves walk off on the road on Wednesday, or at home, excuse me, to be able to take the first two games from the Dodgers and go ahead and wrap that series up.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: And finally, the White Sox take two out of three from the Rangers after scoring 21 total runs in the final two games on Tuesday and Wednesday.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: So a couple quick playoff seed roundups that I want to mention.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: First, the Rays remain up three and a half games on the Yankees in their lead in the AL East, while the White Sox move up to two and a half games above the Cleveland Guardians.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: While finally the Cubs, the Phillies, the Padres hold down the top three spots in the three current NL wild card spots.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: But the Diamondbacks and Marlins only slightly behind what that uh those five teams are only separated by about eight games in total.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: So very interesting to watch these final races between the Cubs, Phillies, Padres, Diamondbacks, and Marlins.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: Who ends up getting those three spots from those five teams?
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: Coming up next, our first Tail the Tailgate segment.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: Follow along, see what games and bets I have picked out for week zero.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: Stick around.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: Alright, it is time for a new segment, one that I am very, very excited about, and that is Tail the Tailgate.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'll be giving out picks all season long for college football and the NFL during the week so you can get your picks in ahead of that weekend set of games.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, normally I will not be able to do the entire college football slate in a normal week, but with week zero being a reduced sample of games, we're only having eight FPS matchups this week.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: I figured why not start the tail the tailgate segment covering the entire slate of games during week zero.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: So let's get into it.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: One of the first games of the season, the first game that kicks off at noon Eastern Time on Saturday is North Carolina and head coach Bill Belichick taking on TCU and the Horn Frogs.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: North Carolina features new quarterback Billy Edwards Jr., who formerly was at Wisconsin and Maryland.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: He takes over for former North Carolina quarterback Gio Lopez.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: North Carolina also brings in 40 total true freshmen.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: So this is an incredibly young roster.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: And TCU, on the other hand, they bring in the Harvard transfer, who was the all-time passing yards leader and passing touchdowns leader at Harvard, Jaden Craig.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: There is quite a bit of drama going on with the Horn Frogs as one of their starting safeties, uh, Jacob Fields actually got kicked off the team and dismissed from the program uh about a week ago.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: He assaulted a teammate in the locker room, one of their starting wide receivers, and that teammate is actually in the hospital.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: So they're out without two of their key contributors, and one of them, Jacob Fields, they will be he will be missing from the entire season now.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um this game, as I probably should have mentioned right from the jump, is taking place in Dublin, Ireland for the annual Air Lingus Classic.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: That we've seen several pretty interesting matchups.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: The Iowa State game a couple years ago against Kansas State, um, Northwestern.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um we we've seen some interesting matchups kind of take an interesting turn while they've gone overseas for that early season kickoff in Ireland.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: I think we kind of see a slow start for both of these offenses here in Dublin, which also is supposed to get some less than ideal weather conditions.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm taking the under 47 and a half for this game between UNC and TCU, under 47 and a half is the tailgate pick.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: Let's move on to another ACC team facing off against a conference opponent.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, that's right.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: We have conference matchups in week zero, North Carolina State versus Virginia.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: Virginia favored coming into this game, five and a half on the spread, and the total sits at 53 and a half.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: Virginia, they were the ACC runner-up in 2025.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: They also had the second best defense in the ACC.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: They turned to former Mizzou quarterback Bo Perbula, which, if you had to ask me last year what I thought about Bo Perbula, I was very excited to see him as a Mizzou Tiger, as a Mizzou alum.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I was very excited to see Bo Perbula take over for the Tigers.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: But it turned out more often than not that Bo Perbula, yes, he did deal with some injuries, but his real strong suit was in his legs, not really in his arm.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that showed as the competition stiffened up and they started playing harder teams later on in the season, your Alabamas, your Oklahoma's, his passing efficiency really started to drop.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: And with North Carolina State, they bring back quarterback CJ Bailey, who Darien Mintz is most likely the class of quarterbacks in the ACC, but CJ Bailey is an absolute freak.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: He's 6'6, he's a fast runner, he has a cannon for an arm.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: CJ Bailey, I think, is the difference maker in this game.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: And for me, in a week zero conference game, I think five and a half points is way too many.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: I know North Carolina State lost their running back, Hollywood Smothers.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: I know they lost their tight end, Terrell Anderson.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I just don't think it matters.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: I think CJ Bailey is one of the best quarterbacks in the ACC.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: He's so dynamic.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: Then college football, the margins are so thin that a real game changer like CJ Bailey can make the difference from covering or not covering a spread.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_00: Give me the Wolf Pack plus five and a half.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: Now to the West Coast.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: San Jose State, the Spartans take on the USC Fighting Trojans.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: USC is favored on the line, minus 38.5, with a total for the game set at 60 and a half.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: First game for USC defensive coordinator Gary Patterson, who takes over at DC in Los Angeles.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: Speaking of North Carolina State, who we just talked about in the last game, USC will be breaking out their brand new weapon, Terrell Anderson, at tight end.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: And historically, Lincoln Riley has been tremendous in their first opening games as head coach since he's been at Southern Cal.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: So far, in the last four years, he scored 73, 48, 56, and 66 points in each of their opening games, respectively.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: Now on the other side, San Jose State, they are led by third-year head coach Kenny Amantalolo, formerly head coach at the at the Naval Academy, but they lost a ton to the portal and a ton to graduation.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: Additionally, San Jose State was also second in the nation in turnovers last year, but they turned to Luke Weaver, their new quarterback who transferred from Hawaii after backing up Micah Alejado, another quarterback we will talk about here shortly.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and he comes in to take over for um San Jose State in an offense that always seems to be able to put up good numbers at the end of the season, but that doesn't always correlate to winning games.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: My take here is that Jaden Maeva is two.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Good.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: USC dominates these early season games, as I just mentioned.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I think they come out with their foot on the pedal to establish some early season momentum.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: I like the USC team total over 48 and a half.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: Get those points going, fight on Trojans.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: Now to a newcomer to the FBS, North Dakota State.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: They may be new to the FBS, but they are not new to Jacksonville State.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: These two teams faced off in the FCS National Championship game back in 2015.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: And North Dakota State obviously was a perennial FCS championship contender, always in the playoffs, always involved in the championship or the quarterfinals or the semifinals in the FCS ranks, but now they get their chance to step up.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: But I don't think that this season will be as difficult as it normally would be for a team moving up to the FBS.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: They're favored in every game that they play this year because they have an established culture of winning games.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: New quarterback Nathan Hayes takes over for former uh Bison quarterback Cole Payton.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: And on the other side for Jacksonville State, Charles Kelly comes back for his second year at the helm for the Game Cox.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_00: Jacksonville State, much like their coach, identifies with a strong run defense and a lot of forced turnovers last year.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: And they have a pretty dynamic quarterback in Caden Creel.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: He ran for almost 1,100 yards last year, but nonetheless, the Fargo Dome home crowd against a team that they have beaten previously for a title and have had several other intense matchups with.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: I like the bison to jump out early on the game, Cox.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna get a little sneaky first quarter.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: North Dakota State first quarter minus one and a half.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_00: I like the energy for the bison in the Fargo dome.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_00: Give me the bison first quarter.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go! All right.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's move on to another team making their FBS debut.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: That is Sacramento State.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: They take on Eastern Michigan.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: They have to travel about 2,300 miles for this game.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: And guess what?
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's a conference game.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, that's right.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: With conference realignment, Sacramento State is in the Mac.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: Doesn't make sense to me.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: Shouldn't make sense to anybody, but that's the way it is in college football in 2026.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: This is their first game with new head coach Alonzo Carter.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: And as I mentioned, their first game at the FBS level as well.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: On the other hand, Eastern Michigan returns fifth-year quarterback former Michigan State Spartan, Noah Kim, almost their entire offensive line and almost all of their starting wide receivers to a MAC team that led their conference in passing yards and efficiency in 2025.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: I think the travel's too much and Sacramento State, unlike their counterparts that I just mentioned in North Dakota State, I do not believe that they are ready to jump to the FBS.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: I think they will be outmatched even by a lowly team like the Eastern Michigan Eagles.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: I like to parlay the North Dakota State money line with Eastern Michigan.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: Give me Eastern Michigan on the money line.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: Now to the West Coast again.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: Let's take it back.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_00: We are traveling all over the country for these first tail-the-tailgate picks, and that is Hawaii and Stanford.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_00: The Cardinal come into this game, minus four on the spread and a total set at 48.5.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_00: Hawaii brings back fifth-year head coach, former warrior Timmy Chang.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: They could really look to contend in the Mountain West Conference this year.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_00: Their biggest key is their quarterback, who we talked about when we mentioned San Jose State.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's quarterback Micah Alejado, who threw for 3,100 yards and 24 touchdowns and just nine interceptions in 2025.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: Stanford, however, introduces first year, first-time head coach, former Cardinal player Tavita Pritchard.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: And Andrew Luck is very involved with the organization and the coaching of this team.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um after to and Tevita Pritchard himself, very established assistant coach, has really worked his way up the ranks.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_00: He spent the last two years as an assistant coach with the Washington Commanders, helping out with Jaden Daniels.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: Stanford, however, was 125th in offense.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: So they're going to need some help from you, Tavita.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_00: They were also one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL, allowing 200 or in college football, excuse me, allowing 289 yards per game and only taking in three interceptions in all of 2025.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_00: I believe that Stanford is in a pretty rough spot, roster-wise.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: Even lost to Hawaii in the opener last year.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_00: I like Alejado, and I think the wrong team is favored in this game.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_00: Give me the Warriors plus four on the road.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: Now to FSU.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: Take it back to my home state in Florida.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: On the other side in Tallahassee, Mike Norvell returns after a very noisy offseason, filled with job security questions and fans questioning the direction of the program.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: Former Stanford and Auburn quarterback Ashton Daniels takes over for Thomas Castellanos.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_00: Their big playmakers, though, this year for FSU are their two receivers, Micah Danzi and Deuce Robinson, who should be one of the best duos of receivers in all of college football, but especially within the ACC.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_00: On the other side, Tony Sanchez returns for his third year as head coach, and he brings in new quarterback, Trey Hedden, who was the starting quarterback at Furman for the last two years.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_00: New Mexico State is led by star wide receiver TK King, who is a former All-Mountain West first teamer with Wyoming.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: But ultimately, this is one of FSU's very few winnable games.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: And honestly, they have to impress uh for the sake of Mike Norvell, for the sake of this fan base to stay engaged.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_00: While I'm not high on the Knolls this year, I definitely think they exercise some demons and quiet, some chatter.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_00: I like FSU minus 30 and a half.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: If you also want to take an alternate approach to this game, I do think that the over will be in play at 52 and a half, but I feel much more confident taking FSU minus 30 and a half against New Mexico State.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_00: And now our last game of week zero, Memphis versus UNLV.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: UNLV comes into this game on the favorite minus four and a half.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_00: The total set at 56 and a half.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_00: This, simply put, is a fantastic game.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_00: One of the best uh matchups that we'll see this weekend, two of the best teams in the group of six.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: Memphis returns or replaces, excuse me, head coach Ryan Silverfield, who is now at Arkansas with former Southern Miss and Marshall head coach Charles Huff.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_00: Memphis has not had a losing season since 2013, and they bring in 12 players from Charles Huff's Southern Miss roster.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_00: Marcus Stokes Jr.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: transfers in from former Division II school and now FCS School, University of West Florida, and Air Nolan Jr., formerly of Ohio State, compete for the job, but everything sounds like Marcus Stokes will be the starter for the Tigers this year.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_00: UNLV led in their second year by head coach Dan Mullen.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: They have newcomer, former Oklahoma, former Auburn quarterback.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's a theme.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_00: We can see it in every game we're talking about.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: Former so-and-so, former so-and-so quarterback.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of transfer quarterbacks, especially on display here in week zero.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_00: But they are led by former Oklahoma, former Auburn quarterback Jackson Arnold, who is in a quarterback competition with Anthony Orgy.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_00: But don't put it past Dan Mullen to rock two quarterbacks in this game, or even you know, two quarterbacks on the field at the same time.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_00: Dan Mullen, not the most conventional of offensive approaches, who and it works.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they led the Mountain West in total yards and total points in 2025.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_00: But ultimately, much like the NC State Virginia game, much like the Hawaii Stanford game, I think this game is just too close in terms of the talent differential between Memphis and UNLV.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I think it's too close on paper, I think it's too close on the field, and four and a half feels like too much for a week zero game.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna take Memphis plus four and a half.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_00: So to recap, we have TCU versus UNC under 47.5, NC State plus five and a half, USC team total over 48.5, Eastern Michigan, North Dakota State Parlay, Hawaii plus four, North Dakota State first quarter, FSU minus 30 and a half, and Memphis plus four and a half.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for following along this tail the tailgate segment.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_00: That was so much fun getting out and doing our first tail the tailgate segment.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_00: Now it's time to wrap us up for the day.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_00: Our gold star goes to Dutch forward and current Roma forward Danielle Malon, who dropped not one, not two, but three goals in the Roma opener against Fiorentina for Serie A opening match day.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_00: A hat trick, Danielle Mallen?
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_00: What a performance.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_00: You are the gold star.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_00: And my what to watch for.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's a game we just talked about on Tale the Tailgate, and that is NC State in Virginia, Saturday, 3 30 Eastern on ESPN.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's a big week zero matchup here with the former runner-up in the ACC last year and a team that hopes to be in Charlotte at the end of this season, NC State, Virginia, Saturday, 3 30 Eastern.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_00: That is my what to watch for this weekend.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_00: Please rate, review, and comment on the Tailgate podcast.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_00: I am your host, Cameron Clark.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for listening.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_00: See ya.