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The Top 5 Teams That Could Win the 2026 National Championship + Win Total Picks · Winning Cures Everything | College Football

0:00
Speaker 1: On today's show, we're gonna preview and give my win
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Speaker 1: total picks for my power rated teams number five through
0:06
Speaker 1: number one, and that would be Miami, Indiana, Oregon, Notre Dame,
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Speaker 1: and Ohio State for the twenty twenty six college football season.
0:18
Speaker 1: Welcome in. This is when it cures everything. It's a
0:21
Speaker 1: college football podcast. Of course. I am your host, Gary
0:25
Speaker 1: Seekers at Gary WCE on all the different socials. This
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Speaker 1: is the Monday, June fifteenth edition of the show. Today
0:31
Speaker 1: we are discussing the teams that I have power rated
0:34
Speaker 1: number five through number one for the twenty twenty six
0:37
Speaker 1: college football season. Now, next week we're jumping into conference
0:41
Speaker 1: previews with some G six to kick us off. So
0:44
Speaker 1: we're gonna have the MAC Conference USA and the Mountain West.
0:49
Speaker 1: So click the subscribe button like this video. Of course,
0:53
Speaker 1: jump into comments with your thoughts on these teams, and
0:55
Speaker 1: let's go ahead and get this thing started. Miami comes
0:59
Speaker 1: in at number fie. That's right. The Hurricanes might have
1:01
Speaker 1: the highest ceiling of any team headed into twenty twenty
1:05
Speaker 1: six for the ACC. And I don't think that's really
1:08
Speaker 1: a surprise. I mean, the ACC doesn't exactly have a
1:10
Speaker 1: plethora of super talented teams, and honestly, after we saw
1:14
Speaker 1: or after what we saw last season, it shouldn't surprise anybody.
1:18
Speaker 1: It's kind of been like that for a while with Miami,
1:20
Speaker 1: especially under Christaball. The Hurricanes went thirteen and three last year,
1:24
Speaker 1: made it all the way to the National Championship Game
1:26
Speaker 1: and looked like one of the premier teams in the country.
1:28
Speaker 1: And sure there were a couple of bumps along the way.
1:31
Speaker 1: They lost at home to Louisville, they dropped another game
1:33
Speaker 1: at SMU, both as favorites, but they still put together
1:37
Speaker 1: a season that kind of changed the conversation around the program.
1:40
Speaker 1: Some people will tell you that Miami's back, let's pump
1:43
Speaker 1: the brakes on. That they have still not won an
1:45
Speaker 1: ACC championship, but making it into the title game last
1:49
Speaker 1: year three playoff wins, that's a really big deal. Now
1:52
Speaker 1: the challenge becomes proving that last season's playoff run was
1:55
Speaker 1: not the high water mark, right. The challenge is proving
1:58
Speaker 1: that the program sustained championship level football year after year,
2:03
Speaker 1: and the good news for Mario Cristobal is that the
2:04
Speaker 1: pieces are still there for them. In fact, I think
2:10
Speaker 1: that it's a pretty reasonable argument that this offense could
2:13
Speaker 1: be more explosive than the one that reached the title
2:15
Speaker 1: game last year. Will the defense be as good We'll see.
2:18
Speaker 1: Obviously they're losing some pieces there. We'll talk about all that.
2:21
Speaker 1: We'll start with the quarterback because that's where the whole
2:23
Speaker 1: conversation starts. Carson Beck is gone, but Miami went out
2:27
Speaker 1: and got Darien Mensa from Duke, and I think it's
2:29
Speaker 1: one of the biggest portal editions in the country. We're
2:32
Speaker 1: not going to discuss maybe the shady nature with how
2:35
Speaker 1: they acquired him, well maybe not shady, but still, this
2:40
Speaker 1: is the guy that threw thirty four touchdown passes against
2:42
Speaker 1: only six interceptions. He protected the football, he pushed the
2:45
Speaker 1: ball down the field. He's got a ton of experience.
2:48
Speaker 1: He's won both at two lane and at Duke. He
2:51
Speaker 1: hasn't had the kind of talent around him that he's
2:54
Speaker 1: going to have. In South Beach. He showed you know
2:58
Speaker 1: that he could operate a high level lot of and
3:00
Speaker 1: now he steps into Shannon Dawson system surrounded by just
3:05
Speaker 1: so much more talent than he's ever had before, which
3:07
Speaker 1: is a scary thought for the rest of the acc
3:09
Speaker 1: and It's not just the quarterback, right you look at
3:11
Speaker 1: the skill talent around him. Mark Fletcher Junior's back in
3:14
Speaker 1: the backfield. That gives Miami a legitimate workhorse. Running Back
3:18
Speaker 1: Malachi Tony returns after showing he can be a thousand
3:22
Speaker 1: yard caliber playmaker, but beyond Adham and he is just
3:26
Speaker 1: one of the best playmakers in the country. There's a
3:28
Speaker 1: reason that he's on the cover of the new College
3:30
Speaker 1: Football video game. You had Cooper bar Kate from Duke,
3:33
Speaker 1: who was already he was the big receiver from Duke.
3:38
Speaker 1: He was the guy that had the chemistry with Mensa.
3:40
Speaker 1: And now you've suddenly got one of the deepest receiver
3:42
Speaker 1: groups in the conference. You've also got Josh Moore, you
3:46
Speaker 1: got several younger receivers that are ready to carve out rolls.
3:48
Speaker 1: So this offense has weapons everywhere. Now, Honestly, when I
3:52
Speaker 1: look at the ACC I'm not sure that there's another
3:55
Speaker 1: offense with this combination of quarterback, play, receiver talent, running back,
4:00
Speaker 1: et cetera. And that's a big reason why I think
4:02
Speaker 1: Miami enters the year is the favorite to win the league.
4:06
Speaker 1: There is one area that deserves a lot of attention
4:08
Speaker 1: and that is the offensive line. I mean, you don't
4:10
Speaker 1: just lose four starters up front and shrug it off, right.
4:13
Speaker 1: That is a massive amount of experiences walking out the door.
4:16
Speaker 1: Matthew McCoy is the loan returning cornerstone, while Christabaul has
4:21
Speaker 1: built his reputation around offensive line play. This group is
4:24
Speaker 1: going to have to come together pretty quickly. The offense
4:26
Speaker 1: can only be explosive as the production allows it to be. Now,
4:30
Speaker 1: if the line plays well, Mensa can absolutely carve defenses apart.
4:34
Speaker 1: If the line struggles, certainly, you know the margin ver
4:37
Speaker 1: er gets a lot smaller defensively. I think the conversation
4:40
Speaker 1: starts with what Miami has rather than what it lost.
4:43
Speaker 1: And it lost a bunch. They do have to replace
4:46
Speaker 1: the two elite edge rushers, right, Ruben Vain Junior and
4:49
Speaker 1: a Key Mesador a lot of production leaving the building.
4:53
Speaker 1: Replacing that is, I mean, that's never easy. But the
4:57
Speaker 1: back end of the defense might actually be the strength
4:59
Speaker 1: of the entire team. OJ Frederic Junior returns at corner,
5:03
Speaker 1: Xavier Lucas's back, Bryce Fitzgerald is back at safety, and
5:07
Speaker 1: then Miami went and added Omar Thornton from Boston College.
5:10
Speaker 1: And Conrad Hussey from Florida State. Through the portal. It
5:13
Speaker 1: gives Heatherman a lot of flexibility in the secondary. It
5:15
Speaker 1: allows him to continue running an aggressive attacking style that
5:19
Speaker 1: kind of fits well. It fit the roster really well
5:21
Speaker 1: last year. I think it also fits this roster really well. Also,
5:25
Speaker 1: like the interior defensive line right justin Scott Amud Moten,
5:29
Speaker 1: they have a chance to be one of the better
5:30
Speaker 1: defensive tackle combinations in the ACC If those two can
5:33
Speaker 1: consistently create pressure inside. It does take some of the
5:36
Speaker 1: burden off of having to replace Bain and Mesador on
5:38
Speaker 1: the edge. And there are still some legitimate concerns. The
5:41
Speaker 1: biggest one outside of the offensive line is whether Miami
5:45
Speaker 1: can generate you know, edge pressure without those two stars
5:49
Speaker 1: like it. The Hurricanes did bring in a pretty nice
5:52
Speaker 1: edge piece, Damon Wilson, the second from Missouri. He was
5:56
Speaker 1: at Georgia first, he went to Missouri. Now he's making
5:59
Speaker 1: a ton of money go down to Miami. I think
6:01
Speaker 1: he's got a chance to be a huge contributor. He
6:04
Speaker 1: is vital to this defense. It's still a question though,
6:09
Speaker 1: because obviously new place. Who knows. I also think that
6:13
Speaker 1: the depth at linebacker deserves a little attention. Starting group
6:16
Speaker 1: should be fine, But if you have to deal with injuries,
6:21
Speaker 1: I mean, that's a huge issue. Potentially it could it
6:25
Speaker 1: could be an issue over the long, over a long season, right,
6:28
Speaker 1: And while nobody wants to talk about it, backup quarterback
6:31
Speaker 1: depth this an ideal either. If MENSA misses any time,
6:34
Speaker 1: the entire outlook changes. One thing I do love, though,
6:38
Speaker 1: is the continuity. Like Crystal Ball, he kept Shaanning Dawson
6:41
Speaker 1: on offense, Corey Heatherman's background on the defense, you don't
6:44
Speaker 1: have any major coordinator changes, and for a team coming
6:47
Speaker 1: off a national championship appearance, that kind of matters, like
6:49
Speaker 1: you're not teaching a new system, you're building on one
6:51
Speaker 1: that has already worked. Right, Crystal Ball seems to have
6:56
Speaker 1: settled into a groove. The game management issues that haunted
6:59
Speaker 1: him earlier in his tenure, they haven't been nearly as noticeable,
7:02
Speaker 1: and the increased emphasis on analytics and situational football has
7:07
Speaker 1: helped the staff avoid really some of the mistakes that
7:10
Speaker 1: used to cost them games. And we talked forever about
7:13
Speaker 1: how Christa Ball's coaching would cost them games, and everybody
7:16
Speaker 1: remembers the Georgia Tech game from a few years ago
7:18
Speaker 1: and some of the stuff that he did when he
7:20
Speaker 1: was at Oregon. But I think he's wisened up a
7:25
Speaker 1: little bit. He's letting other people help him make critical,
7:29
Speaker 1: critical calls. I think that's a huge deal. All right,
7:32
Speaker 1: let's talk about the schedule. As you see on the
7:35
Speaker 1: screen here, this is where things really start lining up
7:38
Speaker 1: for Miami. The first month of the season is almost perfect.
7:41
Speaker 1: I mean, you got Stanford, Florida A, and m wake
7:44
Speaker 1: Forest Central Michigan. That is about as manageable as you
7:48
Speaker 1: can ask for while breaking in a new quarterback and
7:50
Speaker 1: rebuilding an offensive line, especially that Stanford game. That one
7:54
Speaker 1: being on the road, Like it's tough to go out
7:59
Speaker 1: to California and fly completely cross country. I mean, that's
8:02
Speaker 1: about as far of a trip as you can make.
8:05
Speaker 1: And they get to do it in week one, and
8:09
Speaker 1: then they come home and waiting for him is Florida
8:11
Speaker 1: A and m It's a little more difficult when it's
8:12
Speaker 1: in the middle of the season and you got to
8:14
Speaker 1: get back and you've only got so many days to
8:16
Speaker 1: prep and whatnot. Like Miami's second string could beat Florida
8:20
Speaker 1: A and m their third string could probably be Florida
8:22
Speaker 1: A and M. So this line's up well. Well, once
8:25
Speaker 1: you get to week five, that's when your first big
8:27
Speaker 1: challenge is that is a trip to Clemson. It's one
8:29
Speaker 1: of the games that's likely going to determine the ACC race.
8:32
Speaker 1: There's not a lot expected out of Clemson this season,
8:36
Speaker 1: but that's still gonna be a huge game. Later in
8:38
Speaker 1: the season, you got the huge road game against Notre
8:41
Speaker 1: Dame that's in Week ten. Those are clearly the two
8:44
Speaker 1: toughest matchups on the schedule. Florida State you get at home,
8:47
Speaker 1: pitt you get at home. Duke you get at home,
8:50
Speaker 1: Virginia Tech at home. Beyond I mean, things are set
8:56
Speaker 1: up insanely nicely, right. Miami avoids Louisville and SMUI, two
9:00
Speaker 1: of the better teams in the conference and the two
9:02
Speaker 1: teams that beat them a year ago. Florida State comes
9:05
Speaker 1: in town. North Carolina's on the road, but obviously, who
9:08
Speaker 1: knows what's going on with that Belichick bunch. The Hurricanes
9:10
Speaker 1: close the season with three straight home games against Duke,
9:13
Speaker 1: Virginia Tech, and Boston College. That is a great draw
9:17
Speaker 1: if you're trying to make another playoff run. When I
9:20
Speaker 1: look at the schedule, like Miami is favored by double
9:24
Speaker 1: digits in ten out of those eleven games. That's wild,
9:31
Speaker 1: Like that's a realistic path to another eleven win regular season,
9:34
Speaker 1: or not another, but a eleven win season. I don't
9:39
Speaker 1: know the last time they win eleven and one in
9:40
Speaker 1: regular season. All they got to do is take care
9:43
Speaker 1: of business, right The ceiling for the team is pretty obvious.
9:45
Speaker 1: If the offensive line develops faster than expected in the
9:48
Speaker 1: pass rushery loads, Miami can go twelve and zero like
9:51
Speaker 1: they can enter the playoff as one of the favorites
9:53
Speaker 1: to win the whole thing. And the floor for this
9:56
Speaker 1: team is pretty high too, even if the line struggles
9:58
Speaker 1: a bit and the defense loses some explosive this off
10:00
Speaker 1: the edge, it's hard to see this roster winning fewer
10:03
Speaker 1: than nine games. For me, the most likely outcome is
10:06
Speaker 1: eleven and one. Right The win total right now is
10:09
Speaker 1: set at ten and a half. The over is at
10:12
Speaker 1: minus one fifteen, the under is available at plus one ten.
10:15
Speaker 1: Those are the best odds available on it. And this
10:18
Speaker 1: is one of the situations where my lean is actually
10:20
Speaker 1: towards the under, not because I think Miami isn't good enough,
10:24
Speaker 1: but because of the price, like the amount of turnover
10:26
Speaker 1: on both lines of scrimmage, you lose mensa for a game.
10:30
Speaker 1: And frankly, I mean Miami's history of dropping a game
10:32
Speaker 1: or two that they probably shouldn't like ten and two
10:38
Speaker 1: is not outrageous. Like you're not expected to win at
10:42
Speaker 1: Notre Dame. That's a huge revenge game for the Irish.
10:45
Speaker 1: They're probably gonna win that one. So you've got eleven
10:49
Speaker 1: games that you should win. Yeah, plus one ten to
10:54
Speaker 1: the under. I'm not against that now. I do think
10:57
Speaker 1: this is a playoff team. I think they are the
10:59
Speaker 1: acc faith. I think it's one of the best ten
11:01
Speaker 1: teams in the country. I've got empower rated at number five.
11:05
Speaker 1: I just think asking any team to clear ten and
11:07
Speaker 1: a half wins when it's replacing four offensive linemen and
11:09
Speaker 1: two dominant edge rushers is a little dangerous, especially with
11:13
Speaker 1: the lack of quarterback debt. The best way to sum
11:16
Speaker 1: up Miami heading into twenty twenty six is I think
11:20
Speaker 1: this the Hurricanes have finally evolved from a roster that
11:24
Speaker 1: is full of talent into a roster that has built
11:27
Speaker 1: to win championships, and this year might be their best
11:30
Speaker 1: opportunity to take over the ACC and make another run
11:33
Speaker 1: at the CFP. What extra Winning Cures everything content and
11:38
Speaker 1: a way to support the show directly head over to
11:40
Speaker 1: buy me a coffee dot com slash Winning Cures and
11:43
Speaker 1: become part of the community today. I don't know if
11:48
Speaker 1: we have all fully wrapped our heads around what Indiana
11:51
Speaker 1: has become, right like, it's still a bit shocking to
11:55
Speaker 1: think about a couple of years ago. This is the
11:57
Speaker 1: best story in college football. They came out of nowhere,
11:59
Speaker 1: shocked everybody. People kept waiting for the magic to wear off.
12:02
Speaker 1: Last year, you know, they make a playoff appearance, they
12:07
Speaker 1: have to replace the quarterback, but they returned a lot
12:10
Speaker 1: of pieces and I think the win total was eight
12:13
Speaker 1: and a half. They were plus nine hundred just to
12:16
Speaker 1: make the Big Ten Championship game. At one point, what
12:21
Speaker 1: was it, they were two hundred to one to win
12:22
Speaker 1: the national Championship. I mean, everybody was expecting it to
12:25
Speaker 1: just drop back down. They followed that up by going
12:28
Speaker 1: sixteen to zero and winning the national Championship. I think
12:32
Speaker 1: at this point we can stop calling it a fluke.
12:34
Speaker 1: It's not a Cinderella run. You just have to acknowledge
12:38
Speaker 1: that Kurtz Signetti has built one of the best programs
12:40
Speaker 1: in the country in two years, and heading into twenty
12:43
Speaker 1: twenty six, that is exactly what Indiana is. They're not
12:45
Speaker 1: sneaking up on anybody anymore. This is the defending national champs.
12:49
Speaker 1: The expectations have completely changed, and now the challenge is
12:52
Speaker 1: proving that what happened last season is sustainable. Right, You've
12:56
Speaker 1: had two fantastic years, two playoff years. Now you got
13:01
Speaker 1: to keep it up. The good news for Indiana fans
13:03
Speaker 1: is that almost everything about the program screams sustainability. The
13:07
Speaker 1: coaching staff is still intact, the culture is established, the
13:10
Speaker 1: systems on both sides of the ball are proven, and
13:12
Speaker 1: even though they lost some absolute stars off that championship team,
13:15
Speaker 1: they have built enough depth that you can still look
13:18
Speaker 1: at this roster and see another playoff caliber squad. Now,
13:22
Speaker 1: let's be clear about this. Losing Fernando Mendoza is a
13:24
Speaker 1: massive deal. Heisman Trophy winner, number one NFL draft pick
13:29
Speaker 1: he is gone. Elijah Surratt wide receiver's gone, Omar Cooper
13:32
Speaker 1: wide receiver's gone, Tyson Lawton. Other key pieces out of
13:37
Speaker 1: the backfield are gone. Defensively, Aiden Fisher D'Angelo Pin's, Lewis Moore,
13:42
Speaker 1: they all move on. Those guys were foundational players for
13:44
Speaker 1: an Indian now accomplished. Normally, when you lose that much
13:48
Speaker 1: production after winning a national title, the expectation is a
13:51
Speaker 1: pretty significant step back. But Indiana didn't sit around hoping
13:55
Speaker 1: the next guy would magically be ready like they've been
13:59
Speaker 1: building their ross. But they also attack the portal again.
14:02
Speaker 1: Quarterback Josh Hoover comes in from TCU. He's expected to
14:04
Speaker 1: take over at quarterback. I think that's about as good
14:07
Speaker 1: of a replacement plan as you could reasonably have a
14:10
Speaker 1: quarterback with proven power forward experience, proven production, and a
14:14
Speaker 1: background that fits the RPO heavy concepts that Indiana likes
14:18
Speaker 1: to run. Now, is he Fernando Mendoza, No, not right now.
14:22
Speaker 1: But he doesn't have to be. He just has to
14:24
Speaker 1: keep the offense on schedule, make good decisions, and let
14:27
Speaker 1: the system work. Now. That is one of the questions
14:30
Speaker 1: about him is whether or not he'll turn the ball over.
14:33
Speaker 1: But with what he has around him, in the system
14:36
Speaker 1: that he's in, I would assume he's probably not gonna
14:39
Speaker 1: have to do that. He's not gonna have to sling
14:41
Speaker 1: it quite as much as he did at TCU. He's
14:43
Speaker 1: gonna have a lot of help around him. Charlie Becker's
14:45
Speaker 1: back Charlie b from Tennessee right. I think when you
14:50
Speaker 1: pair him with Michigan State transfer Nick Marsh, you got
14:53
Speaker 1: one of the better receiving tandems in the Big ten.
14:55
Speaker 1: Marsh is one of the portal additions that could end
14:58
Speaker 1: up changing the entire ceiling of an offense. You throw
15:00
Speaker 1: in Turbo Richard from Boston College at running back, Suddenly
15:03
Speaker 1: Indiana has reskilled or restocked the skill positions pretty quickly.
15:09
Speaker 1: I like what they've done up front as well. Carter
15:11
Speaker 1: Smith returns at left tackle. They bring in Joe Brunner
15:14
Speaker 1: from Wisconsin, gives him another experience piece on the offensive line,
15:18
Speaker 1: considering they had to replace the center Pat Coogan along
15:21
Speaker 1: with several other Championship contributors. Having veteran leadership upfront is huge. Like,
15:27
Speaker 1: this is a team that was built on old guys
15:31
Speaker 1: last year, and they brought in more experience. I think
15:34
Speaker 1: the offensive line has a chance to remain one of
15:36
Speaker 1: the strengths of this football team. And if that happens,
15:39
Speaker 1: Josh Hoover's walking into a pretty favorable situation. Defensively. This
15:42
Speaker 1: is where Indiana has They have become one of the
15:45
Speaker 1: most difficult teams in the country to prepare for. Brian
15:48
Speaker 1: Haynes is back at the defensive coordinator and boy, he's
15:50
Speaker 1: been talking a lot this offseason, but that matters, right.
15:54
Speaker 1: The continuity across the staff is one of the biggest
15:56
Speaker 1: reasons I trust them more than I probably should after
15:58
Speaker 1: they lose so many stars. They know exactly who they
16:01
Speaker 1: want to be, right, They like to create chaos, that
16:03
Speaker 1: is the identity. They want sacks, they want tackles for loss.
16:07
Speaker 1: They want to disguise coverages. They want to force quarterbacks
16:09
Speaker 1: into mistakes, and they did that better than almost anybody
16:12
Speaker 1: in the country last season. The really interesting part is
16:15
Speaker 1: that this defensive front might have more talent than the
16:18
Speaker 1: one that won the national title. Tyreek Tucker and Mario
16:22
Speaker 1: Landino they returned on the interior, while Elijah Hardy and
16:26
Speaker 1: Isaiah Jones are back at linebacker. Indiana went out and
16:30
Speaker 1: added two impact players from Kansas State. Toby Osu, Oshu
16:36
Speaker 1: Sun Me. You guys can correct me in the chat,
16:39
Speaker 1: Tidy Obiezer. Those guys are massive additions and they could
16:44
Speaker 1: help off set. You know, some of the losses from
16:47
Speaker 1: last season and keep that whole habit, creating identity intact.
16:52
Speaker 1: The secondary is where you start to have some questions. Right,
16:56
Speaker 1: Tamar Woodson sharp is back at corner a Mario Ferrell
16:59
Speaker 1: returns its safety, but it ain't gonna be easy to
17:03
Speaker 1: replace Dangelo Pons and Lewis Moore. Right, Indiana did land
17:06
Speaker 1: A J. Harris from Penn State and Preston Zachman from Wisconsin.
17:11
Speaker 1: So there's answers on paper, but we've seen enough college footballer. No,
17:17
Speaker 1: when you replace elite defensive backs, I don't think it's automatic.
17:21
Speaker 1: That's probably the biggest concern I've got with this team.
17:24
Speaker 1: It's not the offense, it's not the quarterback. It's whether
17:26
Speaker 1: the secondary can hold up against better passing attacks they're
17:28
Speaker 1: going to see in the Big Ten. Because if there's
17:31
Speaker 1: one thing that could pull Indiana back towards the back,
17:33
Speaker 1: it's losing some of the consistency on the back end.
17:35
Speaker 1: I think the other minor concern is tight end. Right now,
17:38
Speaker 1: that room doesn't have a lot of proven upperclassmen, and
17:42
Speaker 1: in this offense that likes to be multiple, create matchup problems,
17:44
Speaker 1: et cetera. Having a dependable tight end can be a
17:46
Speaker 1: pretty important piece. Overall, though, I think the stability of
17:50
Speaker 1: the coaching staff outweighs a lot of those concerns. Like
17:52
Speaker 1: I said, Signetti, Shanahan, Bryant, Haynes, they're all rolling right
17:59
Speaker 1: along and with no major coaching changes, no philosophical shifts,
18:08
Speaker 1: no learning curve like for defending a national champ. Trying
18:13
Speaker 1: to stay intact, I guess would be the right way.
18:18
Speaker 1: That's as valuable as anything that it's value. Its been
18:25
Speaker 1: something that you can have there. Right. There is one
18:29
Speaker 1: thing I do want to talk about, and one thing
18:31
Speaker 1: that you might notice a difference in, and that is
18:34
Speaker 1: the strengthened the strength and conditioning staff. The head guy
18:41
Speaker 1: left and joined Tennessee. We'll see what kind of impact
18:45
Speaker 1: that has. Believe he promoted somebody from within. So it's
18:49
Speaker 1: not like you're changing philosophy there either. Let's talk about
18:53
Speaker 1: the schedule, I mean not. The schedule sets up insanely well.
18:57
Speaker 1: Indiana opens with North Texas, Western, Kentucky, Northwestern, and Rutgers.
19:07
Speaker 1: That's I mean, that's five games that they should feel
19:11
Speaker 1: really good about before going to Nebraska. It gives Josh
19:16
Speaker 1: Hoover time to settle into his new role before the
19:18
Speaker 1: bigger tests arrive. The schedule does start to tighten up
19:22
Speaker 1: a little bit. That game against Ohio State in week
19:24
Speaker 1: seven where they come into Bloomington, it's gonna be one
19:27
Speaker 1: of the marquee games of the entire season. And the
19:29
Speaker 1: week before that you have to play at Nebraska. Can
19:34
Speaker 1: you keep the guys focused enough? Because they should beat Nebraska.
19:38
Speaker 1: I've got him as a fifteen point eight point favorite
19:41
Speaker 1: in that game. Can you keep them focused? Right? Matt
19:46
Speaker 1: Rule loves and it's not that he's great against top
19:49
Speaker 1: twenty five teams, So I don't think that they're gonna
19:52
Speaker 1: win that game, but it's not outside the realm with
19:54
Speaker 1: possibilities along with that. Right after the Ohio State game,
19:59
Speaker 1: you've got a trip to Misis, USC comes to town
20:02
Speaker 1: after a bye week, and they come in in week eleven,
20:07
Speaker 1: and then you've got a game at Washington right after that.
20:09
Speaker 1: Those four games are really what the season comes down to. Like.
20:12
Speaker 1: If you take care of business against the teams that
20:14
Speaker 1: you're supposed to beat, and that's what this program has
20:17
Speaker 1: done under signety, then they're likely going to hit November
20:19
Speaker 1: squarely in the CFP conversation once again. The nice part
20:23
Speaker 1: is they get Ohio State and USC at home. They
20:25
Speaker 1: finish the regular season against Purdue before what they hope
20:27
Speaker 1: is another appearance in the Big Ten Championship game. Like,
20:30
Speaker 1: the schedule isn't easy, the front half is. But you know,
20:37
Speaker 1: some of the other national title contenders have got to
20:39
Speaker 1: navigate things way more difficult than this, And you know
20:46
Speaker 1: this definitely it gives Indiana a path And I think
20:52
Speaker 1: that's all you can ask for when you are shifting
20:56
Speaker 1: things over as much as they are because they lost
20:58
Speaker 1: so many pieces, so many guys. All right, So where
21:02
Speaker 1: do I land with this team? I think the ceiling
21:05
Speaker 1: is pretty obvious. If Josh Hoover clicks, If the offensive line,
21:11
Speaker 1: which I think is going to be a strength, if
21:12
Speaker 1: they are as good as I expect them to be,
21:14
Speaker 1: if the defense, you know, the secondary comes together quickly,
21:20
Speaker 1: they can go twelve and zero again. They can play
21:23
Speaker 1: for all the marbles again, like, this is a coaching
21:26
Speaker 1: staff and a team with an identity that can absolutely
21:31
Speaker 1: play for a CFP. Now the floor might be a
21:34
Speaker 1: little different. The floor maybe nine to three. I think
21:43
Speaker 1: I'm trying to think, like, if the quarterback play isn't
21:46
Speaker 1: efficient and they turn the ball over too many times.
21:49
Speaker 1: If the defensive backfield takes a step back, that's probably
21:51
Speaker 1: where a couple of those swing games get away from them.
21:54
Speaker 1: And that would be either losing at Nebraska the week
21:56
Speaker 1: before Ohio State or losing at Michigan the week after
21:59
Speaker 1: a close loss, or you beat USC at home, but
22:02
Speaker 1: then it's tough to win at Washington the week after
22:07
Speaker 1: that kind of stuff. My most likely outcome for this
22:09
Speaker 1: team is I think I'll go eleven and one. Like
22:14
Speaker 1: this team has found a way to stay focused all
22:17
Speaker 1: the time, so I don't expect anything like. You know,
22:21
Speaker 1: Signetti was on that two thousand and nine Alabama coaching
22:24
Speaker 1: staff and in twenty ten they were significantly more talented,
22:30
Speaker 1: but finding a way to keep everybody focused that was
22:34
Speaker 1: kind of tough. The win total sits at ten and
22:36
Speaker 1: a half. The over is about plus one thirty. The
22:41
Speaker 1: under sits at roughly best odds or minus one h two.
22:45
Speaker 1: Every fiber of my being says that Indiana should regress
22:49
Speaker 1: after losing a Heisman quarterback and so many championship pieces.
22:53
Speaker 1: But when you go game by game, I keep landing
22:55
Speaker 1: on this same conclusion, right the non conference schedule is
22:58
Speaker 1: insanely manageable, and outside of Ohio State, Indiana might legitimately
23:03
Speaker 1: be the better team in almost every matchup that they play.
23:07
Speaker 1: I eleven and one feels like the most likely for me,
23:12
Speaker 1: So that's the direction that I'm going to go. As
23:15
Speaker 1: far as I mean, I've got a better than sixty
23:20
Speaker 1: five percent chance or a sixty seven percent chance, or no, sorry,
23:24
Speaker 1: better than sixty five percent chance to win eleven of
23:28
Speaker 1: their twelve regular season games. So my lean is slightly
23:30
Speaker 1: to the over, and that's only because I trust Signetty
23:34
Speaker 1: Right now, my final thoughts the way to sum up
23:39
Speaker 1: Indiana heading into twenty twenty six. This isn't a feel
23:43
Speaker 1: good story anymore. They are one of the sports most
23:46
Speaker 1: reliable winners. They've got the coaching staff and the acumen
23:49
Speaker 1: to prove it. They've got the talent there, They've got
23:53
Speaker 1: the fan backing. This team is going to be around
23:56
Speaker 1: for a long time. So even though my projected win
24:00
Speaker 1: has nine point seventy four, I think this is probably
24:04
Speaker 1: an eleven win football team in Indiana's going to be
24:07
Speaker 1: around to stay. I think, are you tired of sore
24:11
Speaker 1: knees or joints slowing you down. Ghost Leaves uses built
24:15
Speaker 1: in kinesiology tape technology to give you support, reduce pain,
24:19
Speaker 1: and help you recover faster. Use codewce for fifteen percent
24:23
Speaker 1: off over at ghost leaves dot com. I think it's
24:27
Speaker 1: pretty fair to say that Oregon has reached a different
24:30
Speaker 1: level as a program under Dan Lanning. A few years ago,
24:32
Speaker 1: the conversation was always about potential. They had talent, they
24:35
Speaker 1: recruited well, they did that under Willie Taggert. They did
24:38
Speaker 1: that under Mario Cristobal. Dan Lanning looked like the right guy,
24:45
Speaker 1: but there was always that lingering question of whether or
24:47
Speaker 1: not Oregon can actually get over the hump and win
24:48
Speaker 1: the whole thing. After last season, it's not that the
24:55
Speaker 1: question changed. I mean, they won the Big Ten. The
24:58
Speaker 1: year before, they won eleven regular Last year they made
25:00
Speaker 1: the eleven regular season games. Last year they made the CFP.
25:04
Speaker 1: They got all the way to the National semifinals. They
25:08
Speaker 1: looked like one of the teams, one of a handful
25:11
Speaker 1: of teams that was capable of winning a national championship
25:13
Speaker 1: and obviously dealt with a lot of injuries towards the
25:15
Speaker 1: end of the season, had no healthy running backs against
25:18
Speaker 1: Indiana and got absolutely demolished by the best team in
25:22
Speaker 1: the country two times. Last year they were the team
25:26
Speaker 1: that had to play Indiana twice. And now they come
25:29
Speaker 1: into twenty twenty six with what I believe is the
25:31
Speaker 1: most talented roster of the Dan Lanning era. The expectation
25:35
Speaker 1: is not to make the playoff anymore, the expectations to
25:37
Speaker 1: finish the job, and it feels like a national championship
25:40
Speaker 1: or bust kind of season. This is the year that
25:43
Speaker 1: they have been building up too. Dante Moore probably could
25:46
Speaker 1: have been the second quarterback taken in the NFL draft
25:49
Speaker 1: last year, and he chose to came back to school
25:52
Speaker 1: or come back to school. Had a lot of guys
25:55
Speaker 1: that could have gone in the draft that chose to
25:57
Speaker 1: come back to school. The biggest re that it feels
26:01
Speaker 1: national title or bust is Dante Moore. Right now. You
26:06
Speaker 1: do have you do have the kid coming over from Nebraska,
26:11
Speaker 1: and we'll talk about him in a minute, But in
26:16
Speaker 1: modern college football, if you've got an elite quarterback play,
26:19
Speaker 1: you always got a chance. You add an NFL caliber
26:24
Speaker 1: roster around him and you're talking about a legitimate title contender.
26:27
Speaker 1: And that's what Oregon has more is back. He's surrounded
26:30
Speaker 1: by one of the deepest collections of skill talent anywhere
26:32
Speaker 1: in the country. Jordan Davison and Deer Hill Junior. They
26:36
Speaker 1: give the Ducks a dynamic one two punch in the backfield.
26:38
Speaker 1: Out Wide, you got to Corean Moore back, you got
26:41
Speaker 1: Jeremiah McClelland Evan Stewart, and Oregon went it out or
26:44
Speaker 1: went out and added iverson hooks from UAB through the portal,
26:48
Speaker 1: just to add even more depth. You start looking across
26:50
Speaker 1: the offense, there really isn't an obvious weakness at the
26:53
Speaker 1: skill positions. They got speed, they got size, they got explosiveness.
26:58
Speaker 1: They've got a quarterback who is capable of take advantage
27:00
Speaker 1: of all of it if he takes that next step up.
27:02
Speaker 1: The only thing standing between this offense and being one
27:05
Speaker 1: of the nation's best is the offensive line. And I
27:06
Speaker 1: think that's probably the biggest question on the roster. The
27:09
Speaker 1: Ducks lost multiple starting offensive linemen, and while they do
27:12
Speaker 1: return I pani le luis you guess correct me in
27:19
Speaker 1: the chat. I am terrible at this. They lost him
27:23
Speaker 1: at center, or sorry, they get him back at center.
27:26
Speaker 1: You've still got a lot of experience walking out the door. Like,
27:28
Speaker 1: if you're trying to compete for a national championship, you
27:30
Speaker 1: don't just replace veteran offensive lineman overnight. But that seems
27:33
Speaker 1: to be the thing with almost every team this year
27:37
Speaker 1: is trying to figure out what the offensive line chemistry
27:39
Speaker 1: is going to be. Oregon has recruited at any elite level,
27:42
Speaker 1: so there is talent waiting in the wings. But there's
27:45
Speaker 1: a difference between having talent and having a group that's
27:47
Speaker 1: ready to handle the the week grind of a big
27:49
Speaker 1: ten schedule. And maybe that might be the biggest storyline
27:53
Speaker 1: of the whole season for the Ducks here, because if
27:55
Speaker 1: the offensive line comes together quickly, I don't know many
27:58
Speaker 1: defenses in the country that are going to consistently or
28:01
Speaker 1: consistently slow this offense down. But if they struggle, it
28:04
Speaker 1: puts a little more pressure on Dante more to create
28:06
Speaker 1: outside of the structure of the offense. That's where things
28:09
Speaker 1: get interesting. The other interesting thing about Oregon is they
28:12
Speaker 1: lost both coordinators on both sides of the ball. Right
28:17
Speaker 1: I'm not sure the overall outlook for the program changed
28:21
Speaker 1: all that much because they hired from within. Will Stein
28:24
Speaker 1: is gone. He took the Kentucky head coaching job, but
28:26
Speaker 1: Drew Meringer gets promoted from within, and he already played
28:30
Speaker 1: a major role in game planning, So there's continuity there.
28:33
Speaker 1: It's not like Oregon went outside the building and hit
28:35
Speaker 1: the reset button defensively toash Loopoy moves on. He is
28:38
Speaker 1: now the head coach at cal Chris Hampton steps in.
28:41
Speaker 1: There again, not a total philosophical overhaul. The personnel already
28:46
Speaker 1: fits an aggressive attacking style. Hampton inherits one of the
28:49
Speaker 1: most talented defenses in the country. I think you can
28:52
Speaker 1: make a really strong argument that Oregon has the best
28:54
Speaker 1: defensive line in college football. And you can just look
28:57
Speaker 1: at the names Matteo Tatum, to Atoi Bear, Alexander Amari Washington.
29:06
Speaker 1: All four are projected NFL caliber starters and they're all back.
29:10
Speaker 1: Are not starters, but they're all NFL caliber players and
29:13
Speaker 1: they're all back. It's almost impossible to overstate how valuable
29:18
Speaker 1: that is. Today late most teams are scrambling to replace
29:21
Speaker 1: one or two stars in the trenches, and Oregon brings
29:23
Speaker 1: back the entire front four. That's before you even factor
29:26
Speaker 1: in the addition of Deontay Robinson from North Carolina and
29:29
Speaker 1: He's going to strengthen that rotation. If you're trying to
29:32
Speaker 1: figure out why Oregon is a legit championship contender, that's
29:36
Speaker 1: going to be your answer. They can dominate the line
29:38
Speaker 1: of scrimmage behind that front. I like what they got
29:41
Speaker 1: there as well. Jerry Mixon leads the running back room.
29:43
Speaker 1: Devin Jackson gives him another experienced athlete in the middle
29:45
Speaker 1: of that defense in the secondary, Brandon Finney junior. He
29:49
Speaker 1: looks like the next star, and Oregon supplemented that group
29:52
Speaker 1: with a couple of really interesting portal additions Kobe Perrich
29:56
Speaker 1: from Minnesota and Carl Williams, the fourth from Baylor. The
29:59
Speaker 1: defen has the talent to be outstanding, just like the offense,
30:04
Speaker 1: though there's still a couple of questions right The coordinator
30:06
Speaker 1: transition matters. It may not be a complete schematic overhaul,
30:09
Speaker 1: but anytime you lose both coordinators from a playoff team,
30:12
Speaker 1: I think there's at least some adjustment period and then
30:15
Speaker 1: they're special teams and they know this ain't the most
30:18
Speaker 1: exciting thing to talk about, but Oregon is replacing its
30:21
Speaker 1: kicking operation, and we've seen college football enough over the
30:24
Speaker 1: years to know that an unproven kicker can absolutely cost
30:27
Speaker 1: you a game. When you're playing at championship level, when
30:29
Speaker 1: your goals are this high, every little weakness gets magnified.
30:34
Speaker 1: So let's get to the schedule, because I think it
30:37
Speaker 1: sets up really well for Oregon, even if it isn't easy.
30:40
Speaker 1: The Ducks open with Boise State, Oklahoma State, and USC
30:45
Speaker 1: All in the first month of the season. That's not
30:49
Speaker 1: exactly easy, but it they should absolutely win those games.
30:55
Speaker 1: Boise State, they're favored by more than twenty at home
30:58
Speaker 1: at Oklahoma State, I've got him favored by more than seventeen.
31:03
Speaker 1: But that is gonna be an interesting one, right because
31:08
Speaker 1: you don't know what to expect from a new coaching staff,
31:11
Speaker 1: et cetera. When Eric Morris is coming over from North
31:13
Speaker 1: Texas and he brings Drew Mestemaker with him, so that
31:16
Speaker 1: you know. But Oregon's strength is on defense, really and
31:21
Speaker 1: then you got Portland State in week three before a
31:23
Speaker 1: game at usc That is a good setup. Like Boise
31:27
Speaker 1: State over those should the first three game should all
31:30
Speaker 1: be wins. Then you catch a bye in week five,
31:36
Speaker 1: and that's it's pretty early in the schedule. You're gonna
31:39
Speaker 1: have to go eight straight weeks after that, but the
31:43
Speaker 1: bias before Ucla at home and Nebraska at home and
31:48
Speaker 1: the Nebraska thing. We haven't talked really about Dylan Rayola
31:50
Speaker 1: coming in. He's coming off of an injury, so he's
31:53
Speaker 1: probably not gonna play much this year. But Raila sets
31:57
Speaker 1: them up beautifully going into the next season after Dante
32:02
Speaker 1: More is gone, as far as the schedule will continue
32:05
Speaker 1: that they avoid a truly brutal gaunlet until later in
32:08
Speaker 1: the season. The game everybody circling is that trip to
32:12
Speaker 1: Ohio State in Week ten. It's one of the marquie
32:15
Speaker 1: matchups in college football, I think, and if Oregon walks
32:18
Speaker 1: into Columbus and comes out with a win, you're probably
32:20
Speaker 1: talking about the Ducks as the national title favorite. But
32:24
Speaker 1: the way it sets up, you play at Illinois, you
32:26
Speaker 1: come back and host Northwestern, you play at Ohio State,
32:29
Speaker 1: you come back and host Michigan, You play at Michigan State,
32:32
Speaker 1: you come back and host Washington. It's tricky, right. The
32:37
Speaker 1: road trip to USC is tricky, like travel is part
32:43
Speaker 1: of the equation for Big Ten teams. Now, that trip
32:46
Speaker 1: to us C is not that far, but the rest
32:49
Speaker 1: of it that I was just talking about going out
32:52
Speaker 1: east like that at Illinois, at Ohio State, at Michigan State,
32:55
Speaker 1: and doing it weekend week out. There's multip long cross
33:01
Speaker 1: country trips on the schedule. That's something to watch over
33:03
Speaker 1: the course of a long season. If there's any kind
33:07
Speaker 1: of injury stuff, it could be interesting. Now they do
33:11
Speaker 1: have They've got a good roster, so it's not like
33:15
Speaker 1: they don't have players that can step up. But uh,
33:19
Speaker 1: but that travel is certainly something to watch for. I've
33:22
Speaker 1: got them favored by double digits in ten games, the
33:28
Speaker 1: only ones that they are not. I've got them a
33:32
Speaker 1: nine point dog at Ohio State. I've got them a
33:36
Speaker 1: three point seven to three point favorite over to USC,
33:42
Speaker 1: So that is something to pay attention to. Now, the
33:58
Speaker 1: good news is they don't have to play and they
34:00
Speaker 1: get Michigan and Washington at home. I think those are
34:03
Speaker 1: advantages obviously, the travel notwithstanding, but when you look at
34:06
Speaker 1: the schedule as a whole, I think Oregon has enough
34:09
Speaker 1: room to lose one game, maybe even two, and still
34:11
Speaker 1: be right in the middle of the college football playoff conversation.
34:14
Speaker 1: And that's what makes the team so dangerous, because the
34:16
Speaker 1: ceiling is obvious. If the offensive line develops quickly, and
34:21
Speaker 1: the coordinator changes are as seamless as I expect. This
34:23
Speaker 1: team can go twelve and zero. They can win the
34:24
Speaker 1: Big Ten, they can learn the top seed in the playoff.
34:27
Speaker 1: They can compete for the first national championship in program history.
34:31
Speaker 1: And the floor is still incredibly high. Even if the
34:34
Speaker 1: offensive line takes longer than expected or they stumble in
34:36
Speaker 1: one or two of those difficult road games. It's hard
34:39
Speaker 1: to see this roster winning fewer than nine games. So
34:43
Speaker 1: my most likely outcome here is eleven and one. The
34:46
Speaker 1: win total is set at ten and a half. The
34:48
Speaker 1: over is plus one fifteen, the under is minus one
34:52
Speaker 1: twenty and I do like the over. The value I
34:56
Speaker 1: think is on that plus money number. And when I
34:59
Speaker 1: stack Oregon against the rest of the country, I see
35:01
Speaker 1: a team that returns to the starting quarterback, brings back some
35:04
Speaker 1: elite skill talent. It might have the best defensive front
35:07
Speaker 1: college football. You talks in the fact this group feels
35:10
Speaker 1: like it left something on the table after reaching a
35:12
Speaker 1: semi final year ago, and it's a raw show that's
35:15
Speaker 1: going to be playing with a little bit of an edge.
35:17
Speaker 1: The only games that really worry me are road trips
35:22
Speaker 1: to USC and Ohio State, and then that home game
35:25
Speaker 1: against Michigan the week after Ohio State, because I don't
35:28
Speaker 1: know what to expect out of Kyle Whittingham's bunch, but
35:32
Speaker 1: Kyle Whittingham had Oregon's number for a few years in
35:35
Speaker 1: the Pac twelve. Outside of that, I think Oregon's better
35:38
Speaker 1: than everybody else that they line up against, significantly better.
35:42
Speaker 1: Best way to describe the Ducks. My final thought here,
35:47
Speaker 1: Landing has already built Oregon into a playoff powerhouse. The
35:51
Speaker 1: only thing left is proving that the program can take
35:54
Speaker 1: that final step and bring home that first national championship
35:57
Speaker 1: trophy back to Ugit. Hit that button and make sure
36:01
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Speaker 1: of course, make sure and visit Winning Cures Everything on
36:07
Speaker 1: YouTube at YouTube dot com slash Winning Cures Everything, so
36:10
Speaker 1: you don't miss any of our college football coverage this season.
36:15
Speaker 1: I think Notre Dame is one of the most fascinating
36:18
Speaker 1: teams in college football heading into twenty twenty six, because
36:21
Speaker 1: this feels like the year where all the pieces finally
36:23
Speaker 1: line up. I've got them at number two in my
36:27
Speaker 1: power ratings, but the Irish have the roster there the
36:30
Speaker 1: quarterback is there, The defense might be one of the
36:32
Speaker 1: best defenses in the country, and maybe most importantly, the
36:37
Speaker 1: schedule sets up a lot in Heiser this year than
36:40
Speaker 1: it did last year. Last season, the Irish went ten
36:42
Speaker 1: and two, just barely missed out on the CFP, and boy,
36:46
Speaker 1: you want to get Irish fans talking, get them to
36:49
Speaker 1: start talking about the CFP decision towards the end of
36:51
Speaker 1: the year. But it was another really good year. But
36:55
Speaker 1: around South Bend, really good doesn't exactly move the legal anymore. Right,
36:58
Speaker 1: They felt like they had a playoff caliber team that
37:01
Speaker 1: could have competed for the national championship and they didn't
37:03
Speaker 1: get the opportunity to prove it. So now the mentality
37:06
Speaker 1: around the program has It's become pretty simple. You got
37:10
Speaker 1: to leave no doubt and when you look at this roster,
37:13
Speaker 1: you can absolutely understand why the expectations are so high.
37:16
Speaker 1: I actually think Notre Dame has evolved over the last
37:19
Speaker 1: couple of years. For a long time, you thought about
37:21
Speaker 1: the Iris as a team that wanted to win with defense,
37:24
Speaker 1: offensive line play, physical rushing attack. They still want to
37:28
Speaker 1: be physical, don't get me wrong, but this offense now
37:31
Speaker 1: revolves around the quarterback. I think this is CJ. Carr's team,
37:35
Speaker 1: and that's a really good place to start. Carr came
37:37
Speaker 1: in last season three for two thy seven hundred plus yards,
37:41
Speaker 1: posted a twenty four to six touchdown interception ratio, and
37:44
Speaker 1: looked every bit like the future of the program. Now
37:47
Speaker 1: he enters twenty twenty six not as the new guy
37:49
Speaker 1: that's trying to earn the job, but as the unquestioned
37:52
Speaker 1: leader of the offense, and I think that's a huge deal.
37:55
Speaker 1: Quarterback continuity matters, especially in college football, where so many
37:58
Speaker 1: programs are rebuilding that position every single offseason. Notre Dame
38:03
Speaker 1: doesn't have to do that. Mike Denbrock is back as
38:06
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator for his third season. Car knows the system
38:10
Speaker 1: and now the entire offense can build around what he
38:12
Speaker 1: does best. The really interesting part is that I think
38:16
Speaker 1: the wide receiver room might actually be one of the
38:18
Speaker 1: strengths of the team. Jordan Fazon is back. He's already
38:21
Speaker 1: proven he can be a go to target. Jaden great
38:23
Speaker 1: House returns, Micah Gilbert is back, and then Notre Dame
38:26
Speaker 1: went to the portal grab Mylin Graham and Quincy Porter
38:29
Speaker 1: from Ohio State. That is a pretty impressive collection of talent.
38:35
Speaker 1: Their speed, there their size, there's depth, and if Carr
38:38
Speaker 1: takes another step forward, this could be a passing game
38:41
Speaker 1: that could be one of the better units in the country.
38:43
Speaker 1: The offensive line should obviously help with that too. Will
38:45
Speaker 1: Black returns at left tackle, Anthony Knapp is back, and
38:49
Speaker 1: despite losing a few pieces, it's a group that still
38:51
Speaker 1: brings back some pretty good experience. I don't know that
38:54
Speaker 1: it'll be the dominant offensive line Notre Dame has had
38:57
Speaker 1: in some seasons, but it should still be good enough
39:00
Speaker 1: to keep the offense balanced and allow Car to operate comfortably. Now,
39:04
Speaker 1: there is one glaring question on offense, and that's how
39:07
Speaker 1: do you replace Jeremiah Love and Jenerium Price like that
39:10
Speaker 1: That's not a small issue. Those two guys were the
39:12
Speaker 1: engine of the running game. Replacing that kind of production
39:15
Speaker 1: is not easy, and if the ground game takes a
39:18
Speaker 1: noticeable step back, then all of a sudden, you're asking CJ.
39:20
Speaker 1: Car to carry more of the load and can he
39:22
Speaker 1: do that? Maybe? I think in today's football it's a
39:27
Speaker 1: little bit easier to replace running backs. That's not to
39:30
Speaker 1: say that you don't have game changers sometimes, and that's
39:32
Speaker 1: certainly what they had, But you know, I think Notre
39:36
Speaker 1: Dame would much rather maintain the balance that made them
39:40
Speaker 1: so effective here ago. And that's really the biggest concern.
39:43
Speaker 1: On offense. The quarterback situation is solid, the receiver rooms deep,
39:46
Speaker 1: the offensive line has experienced. It's just whether they can generate,
39:49
Speaker 1: you know, close to the same production in the backfield
39:52
Speaker 1: without two major stars. Defensively, this team has a chance
39:56
Speaker 1: to be absolutely loaded. I think the secondary may be
39:59
Speaker 1: the best position group on the entire roster. Leonard Moore
40:02
Speaker 1: looks like an All American caliber corner. You got Aiden
40:05
Speaker 1: Schuler back at safety, Bronte Jones, he returns. That group
40:10
Speaker 1: has experience, they've got talent, and they've got plenty of
40:13
Speaker 1: playmaking ability or playmaking play making ability talk Gary to
40:18
Speaker 1: completely change games. You look at the linebacker room, Drake
40:22
Speaker 1: Brown is back, Kingston viliamu Asa returns. I mean those
40:27
Speaker 1: are veteran guys. They understand the system. They give Chris
40:29
Speaker 1: ashes defense a really high floor. And that was a
40:32
Speaker 1: question early last year with Chris Ash's defense, but it
40:35
Speaker 1: they got things righted. Remember Marcus Freeman is still the
40:38
Speaker 1: defensive guru there. He's the guy and Chris ash is
40:43
Speaker 1: running what he wants, but Marcus Freeman wants him to run.
40:47
Speaker 1: So I think the defense is fine. While Notre Dame
40:50
Speaker 1: did lose some veteran contributors, they attack the portal, they
40:53
Speaker 1: reinforced the defensive front. Francis Brewu comes in from pitt
40:58
Speaker 1: Tian Gray arrives from Oregon. K Keighley came in from Alabama.
41:02
Speaker 1: All talented editions that should help offset some of the
41:05
Speaker 1: departures from recent playoff teams. The defense finished tenth nationally
41:10
Speaker 1: in scoring defense last season. I don't think it's crazy
41:13
Speaker 1: to believe they could be just as good, or maybe
41:15
Speaker 1: even a little better this year, especially against this schedule.
41:19
Speaker 1: The only real concerns I have revolve around health and
41:22
Speaker 1: maybe offensive explosiveness, but I feel like that's been a
41:25
Speaker 1: thing in South Bend for years and years. There's already
41:29
Speaker 1: some questions surrounding key pieces like Charles Jackison, Jaden, great House, Kingston,
41:36
Speaker 1: villiamu Asa. Right. If those guys stay healthy, Notre Dame's
41:39
Speaker 1: got enough depth to compete with anybody. But if injuries
41:42
Speaker 1: start piling up, especially on offense, the margin for air
41:44
Speaker 1: shrinks pretty quickly. I also think that it's fair to
41:47
Speaker 1: wonder whether there's a true elite game breaker outside of
41:52
Speaker 1: Jordan Faison. Right, They've got a lot of really good receivers.
41:55
Speaker 1: They brought in talent through the portal, but when you're
41:57
Speaker 1: talking about winning a national championship, you kind of need
42:01
Speaker 1: somebody that can completely take over a game. And maybe
42:03
Speaker 1: that's a great house. Maybe it's one of the Ohio
42:05
Speaker 1: state transfers. Maybe it's Michael Gilbert, you know, but it's
42:08
Speaker 1: still a question right now. From a coaching standpoint, I
42:11
Speaker 1: love where Notre Dame is right now. Den brock enters
42:14
Speaker 1: year three. He's running the offense. That means both he
42:16
Speaker 1: and CJ. Carr should be operating at a much higher
42:18
Speaker 1: comfort level. Chris ash is back for his second season
42:21
Speaker 1: on defense, and last year was his first in a
42:24
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator role in what five years, So another year
42:29
Speaker 1: under the belt. Like, I think we're gonna be good there.
42:33
Speaker 1: The one noticeable loss is the cornerbacks coach, and that's
42:36
Speaker 1: Mike Mickens. He did an incredible job developing talent there
42:39
Speaker 1: in the secondary and that's not an insignificant loss. But
42:43
Speaker 1: when you look at the players returning in the room,
42:45
Speaker 1: I think Notre Dame has enough talent to remain one
42:48
Speaker 1: of the nation's elite passing defenses. Let's talk about what
42:51
Speaker 1: might be the biggest advantage of this team has, and
42:53
Speaker 1: that's the schedule. Honestly, national title contender. This is about
42:57
Speaker 1: as favorable as you can reasonably ask for. Right the
43:00
Speaker 1: first six opponents all coming too the year with pretty
43:03
Speaker 1: modest expectations, and that's maybe putting it mildly. That gives
43:08
Speaker 1: Notre Dame a chance to build some confidence developed chemistry.
43:10
Speaker 1: Let CJ. Car settle into this role as the unquestioned
43:12
Speaker 1: leader before the games really start to matter, which is
43:15
Speaker 1: way different than last year when CJ. Carr was the
43:17
Speaker 1: first time starter and he had to play at Miami
43:21
Speaker 1: and he had to play Texas A and m I
43:22
Speaker 1: mean it was rough early. Their first major road test
43:27
Speaker 1: is at BYU, and that's not until week seven of
43:30
Speaker 1: the season. You've got Miami coming to South Bend in
43:33
Speaker 1: a revenge spot that should be one of the marquee
43:35
Speaker 1: games of the season. That's going to be the week
43:39
Speaker 1: after you face Navy, and they have been killing Navy lately.
43:43
Speaker 1: SMU does show up later in the year, that could
43:46
Speaker 1: have major playoff implications for both sides. But again, you
43:50
Speaker 1: get them at home the week after you play Boston College.
43:53
Speaker 1: Don't overlook the trip to Syracuse. Weird things can happen
43:56
Speaker 1: on the road late in the season, and of course
43:58
Speaker 1: Syracuse has a former Notre Dame quarterback there. You know,
44:01
Speaker 1: maybe it's weird, but we'll see. The biggest thing that
44:05
Speaker 1: stands out to me isn't who is on the schedule,
44:08
Speaker 1: like USC is gone, et cetera. It's it's the fact
44:13
Speaker 1: that you have to go to BYU in week seven,
44:18
Speaker 1: and you get a bye week and Navy before you
44:21
Speaker 1: have to face Notre Dame or before you have to
44:22
Speaker 1: face Miami. Like, there isn't a gauntlet of traditional heavyweights
44:25
Speaker 1: waiting around every corner. I think Notre Dame is going
44:28
Speaker 1: to be a double digit favorite in eleven out of
44:30
Speaker 1: the twelve games here, and a twenty plus point favorite
44:34
Speaker 1: in what eight of them? I think that's right. I mean,
44:39
Speaker 1: that's I've got them favored by more than a touchdown
44:41
Speaker 1: at home against Miami. Like. That's why I think this
44:44
Speaker 1: path sets up so well if Notre Dame simply avoids
44:48
Speaker 1: a bad upset, which has been a question in Freeman's
44:51
Speaker 1: Tenure right, everybody remembers Northern Illinois, everybody remembers Marshall. But
44:55
Speaker 1: if they avoid that bad upset, they're gonna be right
44:57
Speaker 1: in the middle of the CFP conversation all season long.
45:00
Speaker 1: So where do I land here? I think the ceiling
45:02
Speaker 1: is obvious, Like, if car develops into a legit Heisman
45:05
Speaker 1: contender and the defense remains one of the nation's best,
45:08
Speaker 1: this team can go twelve and zero. They'll earn a
45:10
Speaker 1: top four seed in the playoff. It'll be great. The
45:13
Speaker 1: floor is probably nine and three, and that's I mean,
45:17
Speaker 1: everything would have to go wrong for them to hit
45:19
Speaker 1: nine and three. The running game falls off without Love
45:22
Speaker 1: and Price, injuries hit some of those key offensive pieces,
45:26
Speaker 1: defense doesn't gel. Something happens there. You deal with injuries.
45:30
Speaker 1: Maybe they drop a couple of games that they probably shouldn't.
45:34
Speaker 1: My most likely outcome is eleven and one. The win
45:37
Speaker 1: total sits at eleven and a half. The over pays
45:41
Speaker 1: plus one seventy two, and the under is carrying some
45:44
Speaker 1: pretty heavy juice at minus two hundred, and I lean
45:48
Speaker 1: to the over. I mean it should we be expecting
45:52
Speaker 1: teams to go twelve and zero. No, But when you've
45:54
Speaker 1: got a schedule that sets up this favorably with a
45:57
Speaker 1: team that returns this much and has this much talent. Yeah,
46:03
Speaker 1: I like the over part of that's the schedule, part
46:05
Speaker 1: of that's the price, a huge part of it. I
46:09
Speaker 1: really think this is at most a two or three
46:13
Speaker 1: game schedule, and the difficult games are spaced out well
46:15
Speaker 1: enough that Notre Dames should have time to recover and
46:17
Speaker 1: tojust throughout the season. The roster is good enough to
46:19
Speaker 1: go undefeated, the quarterback is good enough to go undefeated.
46:23
Speaker 1: The defense is absolutely good enough. I mean, this would
46:28
Speaker 1: be a twenty two game winning streak if they go
46:30
Speaker 1: twelve to zero. So we'll see the best way to
46:34
Speaker 1: sum up Notre Dame heading into this twenty twenty six
46:36
Speaker 1: sees the Irish finally have both the roster and the
46:40
Speaker 1: path to make a pretty serious playoff run. The only
46:43
Speaker 1: question left is whether CJ. Carr can turn from a
46:46
Speaker 1: very good or turn them from a really good team
46:50
Speaker 1: into like a true national championship threat. And I mean,
46:54
Speaker 1: Freeman's aready gotten them to the title game once. At
46:57
Speaker 1: this point, I'm starting to have a lot of faith
46:59
Speaker 1: in that coaching. Shirts, hoodies, hats, and more. The latest
47:04
Speaker 1: WCEE merch is now available. Support and rep your favorite
47:08
Speaker 1: college football show today. Just visit Winnie Curesfverything dot com
47:12
Speaker 1: a slash a store. If you can't watch the show live,
47:15
Speaker 1: no problem. Subscribe to the Winning Cures Everything Audio podcast
47:19
Speaker 1: and never miss an episode. Of course, make sure that
47:21
Speaker 1: you leave a five star review and don't forget it's
47:24
Speaker 1: available everywhere you give podcasts. Let's talk about Ohio State
47:31
Speaker 1: because this is one of those teams where the expectations
47:34
Speaker 1: never really change, Like it doesn't matter who leaves for
47:36
Speaker 1: the NFL, who transfers out, how many assistant coaches move around.
47:41
Speaker 1: The standard in Columbus is pretty simple, right, beat Michigan,
47:45
Speaker 1: win the Big Ten, compete for a national championship. This
47:47
Speaker 1: is a team that's had double digit wins in every
47:50
Speaker 1: regular season dating back to twenty eleven, and before that
47:55
Speaker 1: it was two thousand and four. Twenty eleven was the
47:58
Speaker 1: Luke Fickle year, right, so weird things had to align
48:03
Speaker 1: for Ohio State not to hit ten wins, and honestly,
48:07
Speaker 1: looking at this twenty twenty six roster, there's no reason
48:09
Speaker 1: to think that that's changing. Buckeyes are coming off of
48:12
Speaker 1: a twelve and two season that on paper looks fan
48:15
Speaker 1: you know, fantastic. They went undefeated in the regular season,
48:18
Speaker 1: that made another CFP run. They were right there in
48:21
Speaker 1: the mix until the very end. But if you watch
48:25
Speaker 1: those two final games, the Big Ten Championship lost to
48:28
Speaker 1: Indiana and the CFP semi final against Miami, we all
48:32
Speaker 1: probably came away with the same thought, right, which is
48:35
Speaker 1: Ohio State kind of got whipped at the line of
48:38
Speaker 1: scrimmage and that's not something we're used to saying about
48:41
Speaker 1: this program. I think it's going to be the biggest
48:44
Speaker 1: point of emphasis for Ryan Day heading into year eight,
48:47
Speaker 1: and it's getting back to that same thing a few
48:49
Speaker 1: years ago when they faced Notre Dame and it was
48:51
Speaker 1: low Holt saying they're not man enough and whatever, and
48:53
Speaker 1: Ryan Day wanted to come out and bash a little bit. Right.
48:59
Speaker 1: The buck guy still had elite athletes everywhere. But this
49:02
Speaker 1: season is about proving they can win big boy football
49:04
Speaker 1: games against teams that can match them physically. Last year's
49:07
Speaker 1: schedule didn't provide that until late in the year. The
49:10
Speaker 1: good news, the pieces are absolutely there and they are
49:14
Speaker 1: gonna have plenty of opportunities to do that. It starts
49:18
Speaker 1: with Julian saying, I think he's got a real chance
49:21
Speaker 1: to be one of the best quarterbacks in the country.
49:22
Speaker 1: He was a Heisman finalist last year, threw for over
49:24
Speaker 1: thirty six hundred yards, completed seventy seven percent of his passes,
49:28
Speaker 1: and he threw thirty two touchdowns. Now he gets the
49:31
Speaker 1: benefit of another offseason as the guy, and Ohio State
49:35
Speaker 1: can build the entire offense around him. And I mean,
49:38
Speaker 1: let's be honest, having Jeremiah Smith here helps. I don't
49:41
Speaker 1: know that there's a more dangerous player in college football.
49:43
Speaker 1: Every defense that lines up against Ohio State has to
49:46
Speaker 1: account for him on every single play. The crazy part
49:49
Speaker 1: is that he doesn't have to do it by himself.
49:51
Speaker 1: Brandon Innis is back. The Buckeye supplemented the room with
49:54
Speaker 1: some transfer additions. They brought in Devin McEwan from UTSA.
49:58
Speaker 1: They brought in Kyle Parker from LSU. I think the
50:02
Speaker 1: offense actually has a chance to be better than the
50:04
Speaker 1: one that won a national championship just two seasons ago.
50:08
Speaker 1: And a huge reason for that is upfront, you got
50:10
Speaker 1: four starters returning on the offensive line. They bring back
50:13
Speaker 1: a let's say, ninety one career starts back to Columbus.
50:17
Speaker 1: Carson Hensman anchors things at center, Austin Sireveld is back
50:23
Speaker 1: at left tackle, and there's finally some real continuity in
50:27
Speaker 1: a position group that's kind of shuffled around over the
50:30
Speaker 1: last few years. And you know, I'm sure that sounds
50:36
Speaker 1: a little contradictory, right, probably thinking if the offensive line
50:39
Speaker 1: is so good, how they get pushed around by or
50:41
Speaker 1: Indiana Miami. And that's a fair point. It's honestly one
50:45
Speaker 1: of the biggest questions facing the team. Returning experience is great,
50:48
Speaker 1: but eventually you got to prove it against the elite
50:50
Speaker 1: defensive fronts. Ohio State has to be better in short
50:54
Speaker 1: yardage situations, better in the red zone, better at imposing
50:57
Speaker 1: its will when everybody in the stadium knows that is
51:00
Speaker 1: going to be running the football. And that's part of
51:02
Speaker 1: the reason why I think the biggest offseason edition might
51:04
Speaker 1: actually be on the coaching staff. Arthur Smith comes over
51:07
Speaker 1: from the NFL to take over as offensive coordinator. That
51:10
Speaker 1: allows Ryan Day to step back into more of a
51:12
Speaker 1: CEO role like he had when Chip Kelly was there,
51:15
Speaker 1: and I think it's a really interesting move. Smith's offenses
51:18
Speaker 1: have always emphasized efficiency, right, physical running game, put the
51:21
Speaker 1: quarterback in federal positions, and he's the kind of guy
51:25
Speaker 1: that whatever you don't do well, we're gonna keep doing that. So, yeah,
51:32
Speaker 1: you got Jeremiah Smith on the roster, But if the
51:34
Speaker 1: other team can't stop the run, they're probably gonna run
51:36
Speaker 1: fifty times a game. Right. If he can improve Ohio
51:39
Speaker 1: State's ability to stay on schedule right on first and
51:43
Speaker 1: second down, this offense can be terrifying. Now the defense
51:48
Speaker 1: is where things get pretty interesting. They lost a ton
51:50
Speaker 1: of star power right, Caleb Downs has gone Sunny Styles,
51:54
Speaker 1: rvl Reees, Kateen McDonald, all those guys. Multiple NFL caliber
51:58
Speaker 1: players that have to be replaced here. But it's not
52:01
Speaker 1: exactly a program that struggles to recruit talent. Kenyata Jackson
52:04
Speaker 1: Junior is back on the defensive line, Jermaine Matthews Junior,
52:07
Speaker 1: Devin Sanchez the headline, a loaded young secondary, and Terry
52:11
Speaker 1: Moore comes in after transferring over from Duke. They also
52:14
Speaker 1: went out and attacked the portal for help upfront. Right,
52:17
Speaker 1: They brought in James Smith and Kuay Russoff from Alabama,
52:20
Speaker 1: along with linebacker Christian Allegro from Wisconsin. I mean, these
52:25
Speaker 1: are all guys that are going to play. I don't
52:27
Speaker 1: think the defensive front is going to take a huge
52:29
Speaker 1: step backwards. In fact, it might actually be deeper than
52:32
Speaker 1: it was last season. The concern is replacing the elite
52:37
Speaker 1: difference makers, right, the guys who completely change games. And
52:40
Speaker 1: that's where I think the coaching staff matters. Matt Patricia
52:43
Speaker 1: comes back for his second season as defensive coordinator, and
52:47
Speaker 1: they had the top defense a year ago. Larry Johnson
52:49
Speaker 1: is still coaching the defensive line, James Laurnidis is he
52:53
Speaker 1: continues to work with the linebackers. Tim Walton still developing
52:57
Speaker 1: defensive backs. Lovemer hate him. Has assembled one of the
53:01
Speaker 1: best coaching staffs in college football, and I think that's
53:03
Speaker 1: a big reason why Ohio State consistently reloads instead of rebuilding. Now,
53:09
Speaker 1: as far as red flags, they're pretty straightforward, right. We
53:12
Speaker 1: already talked about the offensive line. Can they stand up
53:14
Speaker 1: against elite competition after what we saw at the end
53:17
Speaker 1: of last year. Can the defense replace that much NFL
53:20
Speaker 1: talent without slipping a little bit right? And the offense,
53:25
Speaker 1: can they improve their efficiency in the red zone and
53:27
Speaker 1: on third and short? If those issues linger This schedule
53:31
Speaker 1: is beyond difficult enough to expose them, and this is
53:34
Speaker 1: a good time to probably talk about the schedule. This
53:36
Speaker 1: is not one of those years where Ohio State can
53:38
Speaker 1: just sleepwalk to eleven wins. Right Week two they play
53:41
Speaker 1: at Texas, so you open up a ball. State should
53:44
Speaker 1: be an easy win. Week two at Texas. I mean,
53:48
Speaker 1: that could be a national championship preview. They got to
53:51
Speaker 1: travel to Iowa. Let's say they got to travel to Indiana,
53:55
Speaker 1: they got to travel to usc and Oregon then comes
54:01
Speaker 1: into the Shoe and then of course at the end
54:03
Speaker 1: of the year Michigan. I mean, it's a rivalry game
54:07
Speaker 1: that always seems to have a life of its own
54:10
Speaker 1: regardless of records. And seeing two guys that used to
54:16
Speaker 1: be affiliated with Urban Meyer coaching in this game is
54:19
Speaker 1: going to be interesting with winning Ham and Ryan Day,
54:22
Speaker 1: so I'm curious to see what the relationship is like there.
54:25
Speaker 1: This might be the toughest schedule Ohio State has faced
54:28
Speaker 1: in forever. I mean, there really isn't a stretch where
54:32
Speaker 1: you can relax here. Once Big ten starts, It's just
54:34
Speaker 1: one challenge after the other. But the thing about it
54:38
Speaker 1: is the roster is absolutely built for it right like
54:44
Speaker 1: this is this is the most talented team in the country,
54:48
Speaker 1: and I don't think that's a stretch. I think that's
54:51
Speaker 1: absolutely the easiest thing you can say about this and
54:56
Speaker 1: the way that the schedule sets up. I mean, they
55:00
Speaker 1: are a huge favorite in a ton of games. Even
55:02
Speaker 1: against Oregon. I've got them a nine point favorite on
55:04
Speaker 1: the road. At USC I've got him a nine and
55:06
Speaker 1: a half point favorite at Iowa, who knows what I
55:10
Speaker 1: was going to be this year, I've got him a
55:12
Speaker 1: twelve and a half point favorite there. At Texas, I've
55:16
Speaker 1: got him a five point favorite. I mean that's the
55:19
Speaker 1: line opened up as Texas a two and a half
55:21
Speaker 1: point favorite, and it has come back. I mean, it's
55:23
Speaker 1: an even at some of these books. The ceiling for
55:27
Speaker 1: this team is pretty obvious. If Julian Saying takes the
55:29
Speaker 1: leap that I think he's capable of taking, and if
55:32
Speaker 1: the defense reloads without missing a beat, this is absolutely
55:37
Speaker 1: a team that can go twelve to zero and a
55:41
Speaker 1: legit national title threat. I mean, they went twelve to
55:43
Speaker 1: oh last year. Granted, schedule was not quite as difficult,
55:47
Speaker 1: but the floor for this thing for this team, excuse me,
55:53
Speaker 1: I think it's nine to three, and that's if the
55:56
Speaker 1: offensive line issues show up again against top tier pass
55:59
Speaker 1: rush and maybe the defense loses just a little too
56:02
Speaker 1: much from that Championship Corps. The schedule is set up
56:06
Speaker 1: where they could absolutely drop a few games against a
56:10
Speaker 1: really brutal schedule. My most likely projection here is eleven
56:14
Speaker 1: and one. The regular season win total is. The odds
56:18
Speaker 1: are at nine and a half, with the over sitting
56:20
Speaker 1: at minus one sixty four the under at plus one forty,
56:24
Speaker 1: and those are the best odds. Right again, this team
56:28
Speaker 1: has not They have failed to hit ten wins in
56:32
Speaker 1: the regular season the only time since two thousand and
56:36
Speaker 1: four was back in twenty eleven. I think it's one
56:39
Speaker 1: of the easier bets on the board. That's why the
56:40
Speaker 1: over is just so high at minus one sixty four.
56:44
Speaker 1: But you had to set it at nine and a
56:45
Speaker 1: half with Texas, Oregon, Indiana, USC, Iowa and Illinois back
56:53
Speaker 1: to back. I mean those kind of things, you know,
56:55
Speaker 1: it's it's there. I don't think we're gonna get a
56:59
Speaker 1: nine three Ohio state team. I just don't think that's
57:03
Speaker 1: going to happen. The book guys may not have the
57:06
Speaker 1: exact same veteran nucleus that won a national title, but
57:09
Speaker 1: the overall talent level is still ridiculous. They've still got
57:12
Speaker 1: one of the best quarterback receiver combinations in the country,
57:15
Speaker 1: a veteran offensive line, a defensive staff that knows exactly
57:19
Speaker 1: what it's doing, and more than enough blue chip talent
57:22
Speaker 1: across the roster to survive even one of the tough
57:24
Speaker 1: schedules in America. Best way to put it is this, right,
57:28
Speaker 1: Ohio State may have lost the stars that anchored last
57:31
Speaker 1: year's championship calimber defense, but if Julian Sayan becomes the
57:34
Speaker 1: player everyone thinks he can be, this team may actually
57:38
Speaker 1: be more dangerous than the two that came before it,
57:41
Speaker 1: and that includes the national championship winning one. All right,
57:45
Speaker 1: if you hadn't already liked the video, of course, subscribe
57:48
Speaker 1: to Winning Cures Everything, whether that's on podcast or on YouTube,
57:51
Speaker 1: and make sure and comment with your thoughts on these
57:53
Speaker 1: teams or honestly any other that you feel like discussing.
57:57
Speaker 1: As you all know, I love talking ball, y'all. That's
58:01
Speaker 1: what I want to talk about is football. There's too
58:03
Speaker 1: much going on with politics and judges and CFP, whether
58:10
Speaker 1: it's going to expand or not. All this kind of like,
58:13
Speaker 1: let's focus on ball, right all right, til next time,
58:17
Speaker 1: take care of yourself, take care of each other. God
58:19
Speaker 1: bless college football, and hopefully all of your tickets cash
58:23
Speaker 1: this week. Thanks for listening to Winning Cures Everything, Subscribe,
58:27
Speaker 1: leave a review or comment, follow at Gary WC on x,
58:32
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