Latest / The Jake Wimberly Podcast / Wednesday Edition of the Drive - Hour One

Transcript

Wednesday Edition of the Drive - Hour One · The Jake Wimberly Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: WRKS Pickens Jackson. Hey, what do you say we sing
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: a driving song? There's not going to be any singing
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: around here. Just real sports. On the Afternoon Drive with
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Jake Wimberly.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Oh, this is going to be sweet.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: And it's all right here, right now. On ESPN 105.9
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: The Zone and online at thezone1059. com.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: 30th day of September, 2026. Champ and the Chair Sportsman
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: on your radio. Glad to be with you on our
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: Wednesday location, Poncho's Cantina and Grill, because we will have
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: a coaches show tonight. For the Brandon Bulldogs, Eugene Clinton,
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: we're here for two hours to take you into the
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: afternoon of hump day. It is a whims winners Wednesday,
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: so we may give you a winner today. I know
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: JC has been texting the text line asking for a
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: winner for Wednesday, so we may do that. We're brought
• 1:09
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• 1:10
  Speaker 2: winners at Ameristar Casino. Get out to the Sportsbook in Ameristar.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: Use the kiosk, the counter, and more at Ameristar. Don't
• 1:17
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• 1:20
  Speaker 2: you get all four restaurants on the property at Ameristar Casino. 601-885-3776.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: That is the Cowboy Maloney's text line. The store that
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: gives you more Cowboy Maloney's. 13 locations around the state.
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: Online at CowboyMaloneys.com. And you can call us on the
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: Mississippi Sports Medicine call line. 601-897- 1-0-5-9. MississippiSportsMedicine.com is their
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: website to learn more. Walk-In Clinic in Flowood. And get
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: us on X. Brought to you by Clinton Body Shop.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: Clinton in Richland. OEM factory certified. All the manufacturers you
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: trust at Clinton Body Shop. Drew D'Armond will join us
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: at 3.30. We'll talk the Alabama side of the Mississippi
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: State Alabama game. Bill Bender talking college football at 4
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: o'clock with the sporting news. B, what's the time today?
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: How many minutes we get?
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: 42.
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: 42. How many steps do you think you've made this year?
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: Oh, you know, that'd be fun to go back and
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: look at. I get weekly emails from Google Health breaking
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: down steps every day. I'd have to go back months
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: worth to find that, but that'd be interesting.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: Think you're over 500,000? 500,000. Let's see.
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: I'd have to do math to figure what that average
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: would be.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: Well, We'd have to figure back into, when did you
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: start this venture?
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: I'd say back in March.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: March. So let's see here. March, April, May, June, July, August,
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: and September. So seven months. Oh, let's just go on
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: an average time. Seven, 500. Let's see. I don't think
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: you're there yet. Yeah, that felt like a big number.
• 3:04
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: We'll have to calculate that. Hey, here's some calculations for you.
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: Kamario Taylor has been awesome this season in general, but
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: he's been incredible in the biggest moments so far, one
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: month into the season. By the numbers in the fourth quarter,
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: his completion percentage, and this is brought to you by
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: Chris Marler, who is a friend of our show. We
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: get a chance to get him on every so often
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: at Vern Funquist, underscore Funquist, down in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: ESPN Radio down there. Fourth quarter completion percentage is 83%
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: for Kamario Taylor. Completion percentage when his team is tied
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: or trailing is at 80%. And interceptions in the red
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: zone this year, zero. He has not thrown a pick.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: Knock on wood if you're a Mississippi State fan. Interceptions
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: on the opponent's side of the 50, zero. So in
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: the biggest moments of Kamario Taylor in Mississippi State so
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: far through a month, no interceptions in the red zone,
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: no interceptions on the plus 50. In the fourth quarter,
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: he's completing an unbelievable number of 83% of his passes.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: and when his team was trailing or tied, 80% of
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: his passes, meaning you see why Mississippi State was able
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: to come back against South Carolina. Now, he's not the
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: only reason. Obviously, defense and full-team effort and all that stuff,
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: but then to get a lead on Missouri, lose the lead,
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: and then come back, this is a big part of it. Now,
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: Saturday could get a little weird just because we don't
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: know what the weather's going to do. I mean, I
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: know they're anticipating a lot of rain over the state
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: of Mississippi, and that will be interesting to see how
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: that game is played if they do, in fact, have
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: to play that game in a torrential downpour. Clemson is
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: a 16.5-point underdog to Miami this week, the biggest underdog
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: role in Dabo Swinney's 19-year coaching career. It's also only
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: the sixth time in 245 games the Tigers are double-digit underdogs.
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: Sixth time in 245 games. Clemson lost all five games
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: as a double-digit dog, and they're going to lose this weekend.
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: I mean, it would be the biggest upset of the
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: weekend if Clemson was to upset Miami. And just a
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: few short years ago, Miami was the underdog in this,
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: and Clemson was the favorite, and Clemson was expected to
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: win this game. Tennessee is moving two games to open
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: the next two seasons. On August 28, 2027, Georgia Tech
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: will be at Tennessee. Also, August 26, 2028, Tennessee versus
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: West Virginia in Charlotte. Also, we'll get into Ross Dellinger's
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: piece on Yahoo Sports buyouts for fired head coaches could
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: approach last year's record $ 220 million. As week five arrives,
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: the hot seat is starting to burn. And remember, this
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: thing burns quicker. Everything's quicker. Recruits commit quicker. Teams are
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: built quicker. Coaches are fired quicker. So we'll get into
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: what this is starting to look like as far as
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: coaching hot seats. And, of course, we told you yesterday
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: the college football playoff committee would meet today And after
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: the latest rounds in Chicago, CFP executive director Rich Clark says,
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: of course, there's no decision made on expansion, but talks
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: continue on expansion. The 30-day ESPN negotiating window closes on
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: October the 9th, which that will be next Friday. And
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: also Clark says the eight-game second round of a 2014
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: playoff will most likely be played on campus off the
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: better seed. quote, ideally there would be an off week
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: after the regular season before the playoffs would start. So
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: at least they're giving you some nuggets on this thing
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: of kind of where their headspace is in that the
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: conference championships would go away. You would play the last
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: week of the regular season, which is our Thanksgiving, you know, brouhaha,
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: where everybody eats and has a good time and starts,
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: you know, really hits the gas on Christmas shopping. You
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: play the Egg Bowl, you play the Iron Bowl, you
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: play all the bowls or the rivalry games. And then
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: you take a week off. You play the first-round games
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: at home, and then you would play the second-round games
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: at home. And the higher seed in the second round
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: would get that home game, which would tell you they're
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: not planning on leveraging any of the bowl games for
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: any of the playoff stuff. So we've talked about how
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: this could affect the bowl situation as well. Also, the
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: expansion provision caps in this House bill, which– Everybody in D.C.
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: is going home until after the November election, it looks like.
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: Just their normal, you know, hey, we're going to take
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: off the next month. So it doesn't look like they're
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: going to vote in on this thing before the November
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: elections around the country. The expansion provision caps power league
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: members at 20 schools and requires a three-year independent probationary
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: period before a school can move leagues. The provision stands
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: as one of the most difficult hurdles for the P.C. S.A.
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: in the House because this is a big battle about,
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: you know, hey, can they expand? Can conferences expand? What
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: would that look like? And a draft of a two-page
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: letter I have shared, courtesy of Ross Dellinger, on X
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: at Jake Wim, courtesy of Clinton Body Shop, intended to
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: be sent to House leadership, encourages elimination of the expansion
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: provision of the Protect College Sports Act. More than a
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: dozen House lawmakers have committed to signing, most in Florida
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  Speaker 2: and the Carolinas. Now, they've got to have a lot
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: of people. Again, I don't think they're going to sign
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: this because there's too many hurdles, again, with this. Having
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: said that, if it was to be signed, a lot
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: of people feel like expansion would happen pretty quickly. And
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: we'll get into a piece on On3. com from Will Alexander.
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: He projects conference realignment hypotheticals if the bill passes to
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: a 20-team cap if that becomes into law. What would
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: that look like? We'll get into that as well. 601-885-3776.
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: That is the Cabo Maloney's text line. Shoot us a text.
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: Drew D'Armond will join us in about 20 minutes. We'll
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: talk Alabama side of Mississippi State and Alabama. Bill Bender
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: at 4 o'clock. We're brought to you by A1 Gear
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• 9:11
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• 9:13
  Speaker 2: take a timeout. More coming your way in a bit.
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• 9:46
  Speaker 1: We got that. And a whole lot more around here.
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: It's the Afternoon Drive with Jake Wimberly. What's the score?
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: He's got that. Along with the hottest sports stories of
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: the day. On ESPN 105.9 The Zone and online at thezone1059. com.
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: Checking you through your Tuesday. No, it's Wednesday. Trying to
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: take you back a day. Brought to you by Vans Outdoors.
• 10:27
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• 10:51
  Speaker 2: to vansoutdoors.com. All right, a little TV numbers from this
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: past weekend. As we look at the numbers here, let
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: me pull this up real quick. There we go. All right,
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: Texas and Tennessee, to no surprise, was the most watched
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: game in week four. It drew 9.8 million people. Eyeballs
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: at its highest point, courtesy of Nielsen. Nielsen big data
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: plus panel data. 9.8 million on ABC. Ole Miss, Florida, 8.3
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: million at its highest point, number two. Texas A & M, LSU, 5.7
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: million on ABC. Oregon, USC on NBC, 4.6. Iowa, Michigan
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: on CBS drew 4.5 million. Northwestern, excuse me, in Indiana
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: drew 3.9 million on Fox. Illinois, Ohio State drew 3.7
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: million on Fox. ESPN with a couple ballgames in here.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: South Carolina and... Alabama, 2.9 million. Oklahoma, Georgia, 2.6. I
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: can't believe 2.6 million people watched that game. Seriously. 2.6
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: million people watched an absolute disaster of a train wreck.
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: And Utah versus Iowa State drew 1.3 million on Fox.
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: That's some TV numbers from this past week. Also on
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: the public markets like Polymarket, South Carolina gained in steam
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: over Kentucky, at least by the public, 57%. favor Carolina
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: over Kentucky in their matchup coming up this weekend. And
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: let's see, where did that go? Why did that do that?
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: Hold on. Let me get back down here in the notes.
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: There we go. Amazon Prime Video has agreed to an
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: extension with Kirk Herbstreit to remain as its NFL game
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: analyst on Thursday Night Football. Sources said the new deal
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: is shorter. than the initial five-year contract, and is worth
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: eight figures per year, courtesy of The Athletic. And this
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: was reported by Sports Business Journal. I have no idea
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: if his dog had to sign a contract, but Kurt
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: Herbstreit is going to be there for a bit. Also,
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: Kenneth Walker III in the NFL with the Kansas City
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: Chiefs has been running through everybody since joining the Chiefs.
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: He leads the NFL in scrimmage yards after contact by
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: a wide margin through three games. You know, most scrimmage
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: yards after contact this season, Kenneth Walker III, 255, Bijan Robinson,
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: next man up at 190, followed by Jameer Gibbs with
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: the Detroit Lions at 167, DeAndre Swift, 154, and Derrick
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: Henry at 152. That's your top five. And, of course,
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: there's some more on here, like Cam Scadaboo at the
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: bottom at 126. And I say the bottom. That's one, two, three, four, five. Yeah,
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: top ten there. Also, Patrick Mahomes staying with the Chiefs.
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: And as things are starting to open up for Mahomes,
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: Mahomes leads the NFL in completions and ranks five. Second
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: in touchdown passes off play action this season. Play action
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: for Patrick Mahomes has been really good this year. Completions, 30.
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: That's first in the NFL. Touchdowns, four. That's second in
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: the NFL. Yards per attempt, 8.9. That's good for ninth
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: in the National Football League. Also, a team to keep
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: your eye on, at least in the group of six,
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: is New Mexico. The Lobos have yet to turn the
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: ball over this season. The Lobos are the only FBS
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: team without a turnover. And their plus 14 turnover margin
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: leads the nation by four. And to keep this in perspective,
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: I mean, Indiana that won the national championship last year,
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: I'm going to have to go back and pull the numbers.
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: I think they had a turnover margin of like plus 32.
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: It was some stupid number. I mean, it's just an
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: unbelievable number. They're at plus 14. They also have a
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: 7% chance to make the college football playoff, third highest
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: among a group of six teams, according to the all-state
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: playoff predictor. And, you know, I can't imagine more than
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: two people watching New Mexico football over here. But let's
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: just take a look at the logos with this fast start.
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: They're averaging 39 a game. They're giving up 12 a game.
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: They do have a loss. They lost at Oklahoma 14-6.
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: But they have just run everybody else out of the building.
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: Central Michigan, Mercyhurst, and also New Mexico State. And they're
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: liable to run away with this conference. UTEP at Hawaii,
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: North Dakota State at San Jose State, Nevada UNLV at
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: Wyoming and Air Force. And You know, being in a
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: different league than Boise, Boise would probably still get the
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: nod at the playoff just because they played Oregon really
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: close and they play a little tougher strength of schedule.
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: Now what would be really bad is if the college
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: football playoff committee decided that two teams in the group
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: of six needed to go and then, you know, this team,
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: New Mexico, would go and then they would get destroyed
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: like James Madison did. And courtesy of ESPN Insights, as
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: they call him, Super Camario, and I know Beaver loves
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: these nicknames that we put on players, is putting up
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: video game numbers, more numbers on Kamario Taylor. He is
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: the first Mississippi State quarterback to throw three touchdown passes
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: in four straight games in a single season. So the
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: first time in the history of the program, three touchdowns
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: per game for four straight games. Taylor is tied for
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: the FBS in touchdown passes, including 10 against zone coverage,
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: three more than any other player. So Camario Taylor again
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: with just eye-popping numbers through the first four games. And
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: the beginning of a seven-time Super Bowl winning career on
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: this date in 2001, Tom Brady made his first NFL record,
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: 333 career starts in the Patriots, 44-13 win over the Colts.
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: So today is that day back in 2001 when Tom
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: Brady made that very first start. And most people didn't
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: know Tom Brady from anybody. He was a Michigan quarterback.
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: Made it to the NFL. Got a chance to come
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: off the bench. Drew Bledsoe was hurt. And the rest
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: is absolute history. And speaking of making history, Jeremiah Smith,
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: the very talented wide receiver for the Ohio State Buckeyes,
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: leads the FBS in receiving, averaging over 150 yards per game,
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: and is on pace to break Jackson Smith, Geneva's Ohio
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: State record of 1,606 receiving yards set back in 2021.
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: And some shakeup as far as, you know, we talked
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: yesterday a little bit about playoff percentages and a chance
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: to make the playoff. Mississippi State's moved into that 25%
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: range to make the playoff. You know, obviously if they
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: beat Alabama or could beat Alabama this weekend, that number
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: would move probably in the 30s or 40% mark. But
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: some biggest risers and biggest drop, you know, fallers, I
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: guess you could say. Florida with the biggest rise, they
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: rose 23% to 49% to make the playoff. with a victory.
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: Oregon moved from 20% up to 41% with a victory
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: over USC. Alabama continues to climb with a victory over
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: South Carolina, up 15% more, up to 73%. Boise State
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: moved 13% up to 33%, and Utah moved 13% up
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: to 49%. Biggest drops of the week. Penn State, with
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: a loss to Wisconsin, dropped 29% to only a 9%
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: chance to make the playoffs. which means they're going to
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: have to run the table and probably win the Big
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: Ten because their strength of schedule is not very good.
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: Ole Miss dropped 23% down to 17% chance to make
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: the playoff. And that means there's not a lot of
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: room for error for Ole Miss. They're going to have
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: to win probably every game except one moving forward. Two
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: might get you in again. We don't know how, with
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: a nine-game schedule in the SEC, a nine-and-three team is
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: going to look. And we're going to have, I think,
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: a couple of those– A couple plus two more, maybe
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: four or five teams that's going to be there. Michigan
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: dropped 18% to 6% at 3-1. Michigan was never a
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: playoff team this year anyway. They just have not looked
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: the part. And that Oklahoma win, if Oklahoma continues to
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: fall off, will look less and less impressive to the committee.
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: Louisville lost, and now they sit at 2-2. They dropped 18%,
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: only a 4% chance to make the playoff. And then
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: Kansas State dropped 12% after a loss. only a 4% chance.
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: So some of the biggest swings as far as playoff
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: predictions over the weekend. Also, a little nugget here before
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: we take a timeout in the NFL. Teams who started
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: in the NFL so far this year, teams who have
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: started their non-week one quarterback this season, meaning your week
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: one quarterback was hurt, something happened, they couldn't play, you
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: had to play your backup. Those teams are 6-0 this season.
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: Teams who started their non-week one quarterback are 6-0 this season.
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: That's the most teams to win without their week one
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: starting quarterback through three weeks since 1970, which was the
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: merger of the AFL and NFL. So, I mean, that's
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: a record. This excludes the 1987 strike year, but that's
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: pretty impressive, you know, to see that these teams are
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: 6-0 collectively with the backup quarterbacks. 601-885-3776. That is the
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: Cowboy Maloney's text line. And, of course, we're brought to
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: you by our friends at Vans Outdoors in Brandon and
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: our friends at Live Oaks. Get out and play some
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: golf at Live Oaks. Go to liveoaksgc.com. To learn more today,
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: get your membership. Ask about daily rates. Eat at Roosevelt's,
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: a fantastic restaurant there, redone, reestablished on the property. Go
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: to LiveOaksGC.com for more information. We'll be visiting with Drew
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: DeArmond on Alabama football as they're coming to Starkville this weekend.
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: Back in a moment.
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: Learning to sports. With Jake Wimberly on the afternoon drive.
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: One of the last pure pleasures I have left in
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: my life.
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah, maybe you ought to get a life first, okay?
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: On ESPN 105.9 The Zone and online at TheZone1059. com.
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: Taking you through your Wednesday. Brought to you by friends
• 20:59
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• 21:01
  Speaker 2: the way through football season, all the way to the
• 21:04
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• 21:07
  Speaker 2: with you to the tailgate. Take it with you to church.
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: Take it to your office and more. Give it to
• 21:10
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• 21:12
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• 21:14
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• 21:18
  Speaker 2: Fill out all the information. You'll be registered for a
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: chance to win tickets. to the college football playoff and
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: the national championship. And go to X and give our
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: good friend Drew DeArmond a follow at DrewD977ESPN, part of 97.7
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: ESPN in Huntsville, Alabama. He has the morning drive 7
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: to 10 a.m. And, of course, a part of TiderInsider.com.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: Alabama heads to Starville this weekend. Drew, welcome in, brother.
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: How are you doing?
• 21:44
  Speaker 5: I'm doing well, Jake. How are you?
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: Man, we're doing good. Um, you know, Mississippi state and
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: Alabama have played a number of years and most of
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: those times it's been, you know, in favor of the tide.
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: And now obviously with the, uh, you know, the changing
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: of the guard, the way the sec, no divisions didn't
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: play one, uh, last year, but now Alabama will make
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: that short trick, uh, back across, uh, highway 82, which selfishly,
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: I think everybody hopes the rain would, would stay out,
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: but it looks like it's going to be a wet
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: Saturday coming up this weekend.
• 22:11
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it does.
• 22:12
  Speaker 5: It's a little bit unfortunate. Uh, it really makes things
• 22:16
  Speaker 5: interesting because, you know, we haven't seen either young quarterback
• 22:22
  Speaker 5: Camario Taylor or, you know, Keelan Russell deal with a
• 22:28
  Speaker 5: wet football. And I was on another podcast earlier today
• 22:33
  Speaker 5: and we were talking about that. I still think John
• 22:35
  Speaker 5: Elway is one of the greatest quarterbacks, maybe top five ever.
• 22:39
  Speaker 5: He always talks about how he couldn't throw a wet
• 22:41
  Speaker 5: football and, We've never seen either one of these, I think,
• 22:45
  Speaker 5: generational talents, both of them have to go through a
• 22:49
  Speaker 5: weather like that. So it's going to be really, really
• 22:53
  Speaker 5: interesting to see if the weather turns out to be
• 22:56
  Speaker 5: a factor like we think, which team kind of, you know,
• 23:01
  Speaker 5: deals with that precipitation the best.
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely. And, you know, hopefully, you know, the rain
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: will come in spurts and we'll get to see both
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: of these teams, you know, do what they do on
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: what we've seen the first four weeks. Speaking of Keelan Russell,
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: in this state and nationally, it's been all about Kamario Taylor,
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: but Keelan Russell, man, what a start he's had. He's
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: second on the team in rushing, three touchdowns. He's a
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: true dual-threat quarterback. He can get away from you pretty quickly.
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: Eight touchdowns, two interceptions, 1,129 yards, and completing right at
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: 71% of his passes. This is a guy, talk a
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: little more about what he means to Alabama, and I
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: think he's tailor-fit for what Kalen DeBoer wants to do offensively.
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I.
• 23:42
  Speaker 5: Think when Caelan DeBoer came to Alabama, when they recruited
• 23:46
  Speaker 5: and flipped Keelan Russell from SMU, I think they had
• 23:50
  Speaker 5: this kind of, you know, vision for the program in
• 23:55
  Speaker 5: the future. I mean, I have heard that he told
• 23:57
  Speaker 5: people privately that Keelan was as good a high school
• 24:00
  Speaker 5: quarterback as he'd ever evaluated, and certainly he seems to
• 24:04
  Speaker 5: be a perfect fit. Certainly you saw what Michael Penix
• 24:07
  Speaker 5: did in this offense for Washington last But he didn't
• 24:10
  Speaker 5: bring the level of twitchiness and athleticism that Keelan Russell
• 24:14
  Speaker 5: has brought to the table. I mean, we've seen some
• 24:16
  Speaker 5: great quarterbacks at Alabama. Alabama was blessed with Nick Saban
• 24:19
  Speaker 5: for 17 years. I mean, all his starters ended up
• 24:25
  Speaker 5: getting a look in the NFL except for Jake Coker
• 24:27
  Speaker 5: and Blake Sims. And both of them, you know, Jake
• 24:32
  Speaker 5: Coker guided the team to a national championship, had a
• 24:35
  Speaker 5: really good year. And then Blake Sims is SEC Offensive
• 24:38
  Speaker 5: Player of the Year. and did just, you know, amazing
• 24:42
  Speaker 5: things for a guy that was a one-year starter. But
• 24:44
  Speaker 5: all the others were NFL guys, starting with A.J. McCarron.
• 24:50
  Speaker 5: You know, he played a long time in the league
• 24:52
  Speaker 5: before going into coaching. And then the superstars started to arrive,
• 24:56
  Speaker 5: the ones with the great individual talent, you know, the
• 25:00
  Speaker 5: two Otunga Valoas, even Jalen Hurts. He developed more as
• 25:04
  Speaker 5: a backup at Alabama than at Oklahoma, but he got
• 25:06
  Speaker 5: his start at Alabama. Tua Tungvaloa, as mentioned, and then,
• 25:11
  Speaker 5: you know, Mack Jones and Bryce Young. It was just
• 25:14
  Speaker 5: quite a procession of QBs. And Ty Simpson had a
• 25:17
  Speaker 5: good year last year, but none of them. And the
• 25:22
  Speaker 5: way I rate quarterbacks, I think Tua is the best
• 25:24
  Speaker 5: pure passer in national talent I've ever seen. But the
• 25:27
  Speaker 5: best quarterback I've seen in Alabama during my time all
• 25:30
  Speaker 5: around is Bryce Young. But, you know, if Q and
• 25:34
  Speaker 5: Russell stay healthy and hungry– and works at it, he
• 25:37
  Speaker 5: can be the best of them all because he has
• 25:40
  Speaker 5: the size, an unbelievable arm, unbelievable twitchiness and speed, and
• 25:47
  Speaker 5: by twitchy I mean can move laterally, and then has
• 25:51
  Speaker 5: great pocket presence and can also throw with touch, short
• 25:56
  Speaker 5: and intermediate. He can throw off of platform. He can
• 25:59
  Speaker 5: just do it all, but you have to stay hungry
• 26:01
  Speaker 5: and you have to be blessed to stay healthy. But
• 26:04
  Speaker 5: if he does, he can absolutely be the best of
• 26:06
  Speaker 5: them all. And the cool thing about this matchup is,
• 26:09
  Speaker 5: and I don't think you'd mind me saying this, but
• 26:12
  Speaker 5: if Kamario Taylor stays healthy, Dak Prescott certainly sets the standard.
• 26:16
  Speaker 5: But Kamario Taylor can be the greatest Mississippi State quarterback
• 26:20
  Speaker 5: of all time. And this is what these kind of
• 26:22
  Speaker 5: games are made for, these kind of matchups. And that's
• 26:25
  Speaker 5: what makes it so highly anticipated and so special.
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: We're visiting with Drew DeArmond out of the state of Alabama.
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: He covers Alabama football and the SEC for Tider Insider. And,
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: of course, I've got the morning drive in Huntsville, Alabama,
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: Wednesday edition of the program. I totally agree with you
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: on Kamario Taylor and the trajectory that he is on
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: and if he can stay healthy, what he can achieve.
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: One of the questions for Alabama coming into the season
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: was running the football. The tide right now averaging around 4.8
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: yards per carry. Talk a little bit about the run game,
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: which looks like it's been revived to a bit. Daniel Hill,
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: who played at Meridian High School, a lot of people
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: here in this state remember him, leads the tide with
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: 225 yards and four touchdowns.
• 27:03
  Speaker 5: Yeah, he does. I think Daniel Hill's done a nice job.
• 27:06
  Speaker 5: He's certainly reshaped his body. He's not the explosive back
• 27:10
  Speaker 5: of the rest of these guys. Even Kevin Rowley has
• 27:13
  Speaker 5: great speed. We've seen Treshawn Brown, and we've seen certainly
• 27:18
  Speaker 5: these guys.
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: E.J.
• 27:22
  Speaker 5: Crowell makes a huge impact. But Daniel Hill's the most
• 27:25
  Speaker 5: consistent right now. He's done a really nice job. We'll
• 27:29
  Speaker 5: see A.K. Deer some more. He finally got a carry
• 27:31
  Speaker 5: last week. He'll probably have a role for this game. But, yeah,
• 27:34
  Speaker 5: there's much more explosiveness in the room this year, and
• 27:37
  Speaker 5: I think they're a lot healthier as well. And, you know,
• 27:41
  Speaker 5: I'm really looking forward to seeing how they match up
• 27:43
  Speaker 5: with Zach Arnett, who I have so much respect for.
• 27:46
  Speaker 5: And I just think overall it's going to be– because
• 27:50
  Speaker 5: that's another big key to this game because– I mean,
• 27:55
  Speaker 5: I think, honestly, Zach Arnett can make a big difference.
• 27:59
  Speaker 5: Mississippi State was so bad defensively under Coleman Hutch for
• 28:02
  Speaker 5: the last two years. They're so much better now. They'll
• 28:05
  Speaker 5: be even better in the future as Zach gets his
• 28:07
  Speaker 5: guys and reestablishes the culture. But it's going to be
• 28:11
  Speaker 5: much more difficult for Alabama. But they're going to have
• 28:14
  Speaker 5: to be able to create some semblance of balance because
• 28:17
  Speaker 5: I'm just telling you, I know Mississippi State's going to score.
• 28:21
  Speaker 5: Alabama's going to have to score. I think Alabama needs
• 28:23
  Speaker 5: to get in the high 30s to do this, and
• 28:26
  Speaker 5: Keelan Russell certainly is the key to this offense, and
• 28:30
  Speaker 5: he's an outstanding player, and he's going to have to
• 28:34
  Speaker 5: play well like he has the last two weeks, but
• 28:36
  Speaker 5: they're going to need something from the running game. It
• 28:38
  Speaker 5: wasn't quite as good last week as it was the
• 28:40
  Speaker 5: two weeks before, but Daniel Hill will be a key.
• 28:43
  Speaker 5: They have to control the ball. They have to, in
• 28:46
  Speaker 5: my opinion, get off to a good start, make Mississippi
• 28:48
  Speaker 5: State chase them, Because if you let this crowd get
• 28:51
  Speaker 5: really involved and you start slowly, it's not going to
• 28:54
  Speaker 5: be easy to come back because of the environment. And then,
• 28:57
  Speaker 5: like I said, you have to be balanced. And I
• 28:59
  Speaker 5: think they need at least 150 yards rushing out of
• 29:02
  Speaker 5: these four guys, and they need to create some big plays,
• 29:05
  Speaker 5: maybe an explosive play or two. And if they do that,
• 29:08
  Speaker 5: then they can win the game if they take care
• 29:10
  Speaker 5: of the football, because that, you know, whoever, you know,
• 29:13
  Speaker 5: wins the turnover battle and makes the most explosive plays
• 29:17
  Speaker 5: to me is going to win it. I don't think,
• 29:19
  Speaker 5: you know, and I think whichever defense can get four
• 29:22
  Speaker 5: or five stops, whether that's turnovers, turnovers on down, or,
• 29:26
  Speaker 5: you know, or just a clean making a team punt,
• 29:30
  Speaker 5: I think you've got to get four or five stops
• 29:32
  Speaker 5: total in the game if you want to win it.
• 29:35
  Speaker 5: My pick is 37-28 Alabama, and I certainly respect the
• 29:38
  Speaker 5: heck out of what Jeff Levy's done. And I think
• 29:41
  Speaker 5: Zach Selman showing the patience with him has really paid off.
• 29:47
  Speaker 5: And then their commitment to Kamario Taylor, this is going
• 29:49
  Speaker 5: to be a heck of a ball game.
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: Make sure to get him on exit, DrewD977ESPN. And, of course,
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: you can get him at tighterinsider.com. You can stream their
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: station at 977ESPN. com. Drew, appreciate you, brother. Be safe coming
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: over to Starkville on Saturday, and enjoy the ballgame. We'll
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: talk soon.
• 30:05
  Speaker 5: Thank you, Jake.
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: Thanks so much. Drew DeArmond on your radio. Make sure
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: to get him on X, and if you want more
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: on the Alabama side of things, they can provide that
• 30:13
  Speaker 2: for you. Again, we're brought to you by Dr. Pepper.
• 30:15
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• 30:18
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• 30:22
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• 30:24
  Speaker 2: to win tickets to the national championship and the college
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: football playoff. We'll take a timeout. More coming up in
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: a bit.
• 30:30
  Speaker 4: Do you stay up at night thinking about the lack
• 30:32
  Speaker 4: of push from your team's offensive line? Do you spill
• 30:34
  Speaker 4: your Dr. Pepper arguing with your TV because pundits are
• 30:37
  Speaker 4: torching your defense?
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: You're not crazy.
• 30:40
  Speaker 4: You're a fan, and no college football fan can fan
• 30:42
  Speaker 4: to their fullest without the bold, one-of-a-kind.
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: Taste of Dr. Pepper.
• 30:46
  Speaker 4: It won't fix any of the problems we previously stated,
• 30:49
  Speaker 4: but it's delicious, and drinking it at a tailgate will
• 30:52
  Speaker 4: make you look like a ball knower. which is a
• 30:54
  Speaker 4: great consolation prize for the lack of push your offensive
• 30:57
  Speaker 4: line gets. College football, it's a pepper thing.
• 31:00
  Speaker 2: It's time to get back in the game with Jake
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: Wimberly and the Afternoon Drive.
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: That's entertainment. On the station that specializes in the Mississippi
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: sports you love. Now we're talking. Live and local on
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: ESPN 105.9 The Zone and online at TheZone1059. com.
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: Appreciate Drew DeArmond jumping on your radio. We're brought to
• 31:47
  Speaker 2: you by Sound and Communications online at soundcomav.com. Collaborate, design,
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• 32:01
  Speaker 2: Bender will join us in the next segment. Courtesy of
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: the Sporting News, we'll get his takes on all the
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: games coming up this weekend. And, you know, I really
• 32:08
  Speaker 2: do hope, I mean, I know it's supposed to rain.
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: It rained a lot this weekend. I hope the rain will,
• 32:14
  Speaker 2: you know, there'll be breaks in the rain that it
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: won't just be this torrential downpour in Starkville on Saturday
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: to where, you know, it's just a sloppy mess and
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: both teams are, you know, falling all over each other.
• 32:26
  Speaker 2: You know, I would tell you this from a sports
• 32:28
  Speaker 2: gaming side of things. Let's look at an update on
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: this game and get the total between Alabama and Mississippi State.
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: Let me hit this refresh button to make sure that
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: I get the up-to-date numbers on this that I would
• 32:40
  Speaker 2: probably look at the under. just because wet conditions. Obviously,
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: with wet conditions, a lot of funny things can happen.
• 32:47
  Speaker 2: You can have some scooping scores, all fumbles. You can
• 32:50
  Speaker 2: have a pick six. You can have a fumble inside
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: the 20 on a punt. This totals at 60.5. If
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: it's going to rain the way a lot of models
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: are predicting, you're talking about a game right at 60.5,
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: that's 31 to 30. I don't know that this game
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: hits 30. Maybe it does, but I would be very
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: hesitant to even play the under. This line is set
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: at six points over the last few days, Alabama minus
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: six over Mississippi State. And, again, you know, that's basically
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: a touchdown favorite for the Alabama Crimson Tide. 601-897-1059 if
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: you want to call us on the Mississippi Sports Medicine
• 33:34
  Speaker 2: caller line. Let me look right here before I get
• 33:37
  Speaker 2: into this story here.
• 33:41
  Speaker 5: Okay.
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: Let me move over here. All right. Projecting the potential
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: conference realignment, the College Sports Act bill was to pass. And, again,
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: I don't think it's going to pass. A lot of
• 33:52
  Speaker 2: people don't think it's going to pass. But if it
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: does pass, there will be a cap on conference expansion
• 33:59
  Speaker 2: at 20 teams. And some believe that that expansion would
• 34:03
  Speaker 2: happen pretty quickly and you would start to see teams
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: kind of maneuver a little bit. So what would that
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: look like? Wilson, Alexander. with On3, has brought this kind of,
• 34:13
  Speaker 2: you know, at least his thoughts on this. He says,
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: if the Protect College Sports Act becomes law, as it
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: currently is written, it would shape the next round of
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: conference realignment. Before the Senate passed the bipartisan bill Monday,
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: it adopted a provision that would cap all the Power
• 34:27
  Speaker 2: 4 conferences at 20 teams. Within the first six years
• 34:31
  Speaker 2: of the bill's implementation, it would also require any schools
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: in the Big 10, the SEC, the ACC, or the
• 34:36
  Speaker 2: Big 12 that want to move to another major league
• 34:40
  Speaker 2: to spend three years as an independent before becoming a member. Now,
• 34:44
  Speaker 2: I don't pretend to even know. They don't tell you
• 34:46
  Speaker 2: why they put this provision in there, which, again, I
• 34:50
  Speaker 2: think is stupid. So, I mean, is it a penalty?
• 34:54
  Speaker 2: I don't know. Maybe it's to try to detour you
• 34:58
  Speaker 2: from transferring out of your, you know, moving out of
• 35:01
  Speaker 2: your conference into another conference, but just to put you
• 35:03
  Speaker 2: as an independent for three years. How do I want
• 35:05
  Speaker 2: to transfer? Okay, you've got three years to sit as
• 35:07
  Speaker 2: an independent. But that's in the bill. It says after
• 35:10
  Speaker 2: that six year waiting period ends around 2030, schools will
• 35:15
  Speaker 2: be free to change conferences without spending three years as
• 35:18
  Speaker 2: an independent. So, you know, after six years, then you're
• 35:22
  Speaker 2: free to do whatever you want to do. Again, the
• 35:24
  Speaker 2: people that come up with these things are dumb as hell.
• 35:27
  Speaker 2: I mean, this makes zero sense. It's just like the
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: NCAA when they were going to charge teams, you know,
• 35:33
  Speaker 2: 15 million to move from Division 1AA to Division 1.
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: And you've got to be on a probation period as well.
• 35:42
  Speaker 2: It makes zero sense. That selection of the bill has
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: undergone several changes since it was first introduced, so there
• 35:49
  Speaker 2: could be more alterations in the House of Representatives. Initially,
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: the provision blocked further expansion of the SEC and the
• 35:56
  Speaker 2: Big Ten. And what they're trying to do is limit
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: what the SEC and Big Ten can do, is what
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: they're really trying to do with all of this. If
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: you get out of brass taxis, They don't want the
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: SEC and the Big Ten to become any bigger than
• 36:08
  Speaker 2: they are. They have this pipe dream that they're going
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: to suppress college football. They're going to take the rules
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: and make everybody equal in 20 years, and that way
• 36:19
  Speaker 2: Cornell or Brown or Navy is the same as Bama,
• 36:25
  Speaker 2: Ohio State, and Oregon. And it's just not going to happen,
• 36:28
  Speaker 2: but that's the pipe dream. It then limited the power
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: conferences to 19 teams before the amendment happened when a
• 36:37
  Speaker 2: couple of Senators, Moody and Blumenthal, raised the cap. SEC
• 36:42
  Speaker 2: Commissioner Greg Sankey and Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti have
• 36:46
  Speaker 2: expressed satisfaction with their current membership. Sankey said earlier this
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: summer he would, quote, love everybody to stay where they are,
• 36:52
  Speaker 2: but many believe the next wave of conference realignment will
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: take place in the early 2030s as TV rights deals
• 36:59
  Speaker 2: expire and teams jockey for spots. with the richest leagues.
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: It goes on to say, there's a widespread skepticism that
• 37:08
  Speaker 2: the PCSA, the bill, will pass the House so the
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: 20-team cap may never become a part of the equation.
• 37:17
  Speaker 2: Yahoo Sports reported Wednesday that lawmakers drafted a letter to
• 37:20
  Speaker 2: the House leadership suggesting an elimination of the expansion provision,
• 37:23
  Speaker 2: meaning let's just get rid of it. We don't need it.
• 37:25
  Speaker 2: If you want to expand, expand. But what if that
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: section of the bill remains intact and And it does
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: eventually pass. It says, let's game out what the 20-team
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: power leagues look like. So if you look at the
• 37:37
  Speaker 2: Big Ten, they're currently sitting at 18 teams. They have
• 37:40
  Speaker 2: two available spots. Let's say the bill passes. People fall
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: asleep at the wheel. They pass this thing, and you're
• 37:47
  Speaker 2: capped at 20. Well, there's several considerations for those two spots.
• 37:51
  Speaker 2: Cal is one. And again, for the Big Ten, you
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: get into the prestigious Association of American Universities. That's that's
• 38:00
  Speaker 2: a cornerstone to what the big 10 wants out of
• 38:02
  Speaker 2: their universities. And not every university is a part of
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: the association of American universities. And they want those teams
• 38:10
  Speaker 2: that are associated with those universities to be a part
• 38:12
  Speaker 2: of their conference. So you, you have only a certain
• 38:15
  Speaker 2: amount of teams that can do that. Cal is one Clemson, Duke,
• 38:18
  Speaker 2: Florida state, Miami, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Stanford, and Virginia. And, uh,
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: you know, the big 10 is already essentially a coast
• 38:25
  Speaker 2: to coast league. So geography doesn't matter. Um, All but
• 38:29
  Speaker 2: one of the schools in the conference is a member
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: of the AAU. That's the American Association of Universities, and
• 38:36
  Speaker 2: the league has shown that being a part of the
• 38:38
  Speaker 2: AAU is an extremely important part of that equation. With
• 38:43
  Speaker 2: that in mind, Miami would give the Big Ten another
• 38:46
  Speaker 2: major television market and a foothold in talent-rich South Florida.
• 38:50
  Speaker 2: The Hurricanes won five national championships from 83 to 2001,
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: and while they slipped from those highs... uh, for the
• 38:57
  Speaker 2: next two decades, the program has experienced a resurgence in
• 38:59
  Speaker 2: the now transfer portal NIL era, and they joined the
• 39:04
  Speaker 2: AAU three years ago. So a lot of people would wonder,
• 39:08
  Speaker 2: did they, I do, did they join this for a
• 39:11
  Speaker 2: potential move to the big 10? Um, as much as
• 39:15
  Speaker 2: the big 10 would probably like to bring Notre Dame
• 39:17
  Speaker 2: into the fold, the fighting Irish have staunchly maintained their
• 39:20
  Speaker 2: football independence. That would hold up. They would hold onto
• 39:23
  Speaker 2: that as long as they could, uh, as they have
• 39:26
  Speaker 2: a path to the college football playoff and build a
• 39:29
  Speaker 2: competitive schedule. Because of that, these spots could go to
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: Miami and Virginia. The Cavaliers have been an AAU member
• 39:36
  Speaker 2: for more than a century, and while they do not
• 39:38
  Speaker 2: have the football pedigree, they are considered an attractive expansion candidate,
• 39:42
  Speaker 2: plus when you look at TV market as well. So,
• 39:45
  Speaker 2: you know, kind of calling the shots here, it looks
• 39:47
  Speaker 2: like if the Big Ten was to expand, It would
• 39:50
  Speaker 2: be Virginia, and it would be Miami. Two big TV markets,
• 39:55
  Speaker 2: and then you're talking about both teams and programs and
• 39:57
  Speaker 2: universities that are under the umbrella of the AAU, the
• 40:01
  Speaker 2: Association of American Universities, and that would give the Big
• 40:04
  Speaker 2: Ten their 20 teams. We'll get into the SEC, which
• 40:07
  Speaker 2: sizes 16. They would have four spots where they could
• 40:10
  Speaker 2: advance to 20. We'll also get into more on Mississippi
• 40:14
  Speaker 2: State and Alabama. Bill Bender will join us next. We'll
• 40:17
  Speaker 2: get his thoughts on that game and others. We're brought
• 40:20
  Speaker 2: to you by the Westin & Jackson. Go to westinjackson.com.
• 40:22
  Speaker 2: Dine at Estelle Southern Table. Learn more today at westinjackson.com.
• 40:26
  Speaker 2: Call 601-968-8200. Hour 2 coming up next.
• 40:54
  Speaker 3: Bye.