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Off-Season Episode #5 - Defensive Backs · Talkin' Tech

• 0:39
  SPEAKER_04: Welcome in, everybody, to the Talk and Tech Podcast, powered by Guns Up Nation, part of the Guns Up Nation Podcast Network.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_04: I am your host, Steven Rodriguez, my co-host Tristan McGonagall.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_04: Tristan, how are you doing today, man?
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_05: I just waking up wondering if we're in the same reality as we were two weeks ago, because this stuff just keeps getting nuttier and nuttier with realignment.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_05: Whether it's the drama show that is the political hearing that happened a few nights ago, or this new pack merger that is on the horizon because this is a Pac-12 podcast, and that's all we care about.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_05: Always has been.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_05: But that's just what I'm I'm I just don't know if I've really woken up from a dream that we've been asleep with for over two weeks.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_04: It seems like the tides change every single day.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_04: I I don't know what to think anymore.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_04: I don't know what's a reality, I don't know what's fake.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_04: Um, but yeah, a lot of stuff going on with Texas Tech.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_04: Well, well, really with the Big 12 and the Pac-12.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_04: We'll get into that in just a second, but we need to talk some basketball first because we have some boys playing in the NBA summer league, which just started.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, we have a lot of red raiders on rosters this year, um, including our boy, the mackerel, Mac McClung, made his summer league debut last night for the Los Angeles Lakers.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_05: So basically, he's a uh LLA Lakers now.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, he's gonna be playing with LeBron Braun tomorrow, right?
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_05: Uh yeah.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, LeBron watches Mac McClung once and he's just like signed that guy.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_05: No, but I mean it was pretty it was pretty incredible watching those highlights.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_05: The guy was showing off his acrobatic moves that we're used to.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, it's really weird, but really cool seeing him in a Lakers jersey.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, it's just it's cool seeing the guys that we watched in the red and black because like I was flipping between channels yesterday and I saw Matt Mooney with the Utah Jazz summer league team, and then I flipped over and I saw Mac McClung with the Lakers summer league team.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_04: It's it's just cool seeing all these guys get an opportunity.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_05: And Steven, how was their defense?
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_05: Please, how how was that?
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_05: Mark Adams knows the grindstone defense.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_04: I tell you what, I watched a couple, I like when I'm watching these games, I'm not watching anybody else except for these guys.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_04: So Matt Moody played hella good defense.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, this dude didn't let anybody go by him.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_04: He's got those insanely long arms.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, he made a couple good finishes, and Mac McClung obviously had that steal and breakaway kind of acrobatic layup that we all saw on Twitter last night.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, so just big time, man.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_05: Good for Matt Moody.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_05: He he could a better guy couldn't have gotten another opportunity at this.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_05: I know he originally tried to do it with Cleveland out of the gate.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_05: Um, happy to hear he's moved on to the Utah Jazz for another shot.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_05: Um, so it's it's pretty cool watching them in the offseason here because we love these guys and they have the ability to make something special.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_05: So uh it's what they worked their whole lives for.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, man, no doubt.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_04: And then also Tariq Owens playing on what most of the listeners will love to hear the Mavericks summer league team this season.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_04: So that'll be cool.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_04: Watch some Summer League NBA basketball.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_04: See your boy Tariq Owens playing for the Mavs.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_04: So is that is that our boys got three in the summer league here?
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_04: Breaking news.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_04: We also have JJ Culver, Jared Culver's younger brother, who played at, I don't know if it was South Plains or it was Lubbock Christian or something.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_04: Uh one of those two.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_04: I think it was South Plains.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_04: It's South Plains.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_04: Um, dude is on the Minnesota Timberwolves Summer League squad.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_04: And obviously, you know, probably a little bit of a connection there with uh Jared being on the Timberwolves currently.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_04: But hey, JJ Culver playing for the Timberwolves Summer League team.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_05: Honorary legacy Red Raider.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_05: So I definitely rooting for him as well, South Plains Texans.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_05: So not too far off from our Texas Tech Red Raiders.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_05: So happy to see that as well.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, no doubt.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_04: And then we'll see on guys like Zaire Smith.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, I think Jamias Ramsey is gonna play for the Kings Summer League team.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_04: So we just have a plethora of former Red Raiders playing in the NBA Summer League this year.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_04: It's just uh if you have NBA TV, if it's on ESPN, go give it a watch, go see these boys play.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_05: I'm no expert, but if I was to guess, these Mark Adams touched players are the most we've ever seen on NBA organizations.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_04: Absolutely, and so uh so many different organizations.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_04: It's like you'll look down the list and you'll just see, oh, that guy's from Texas Tech.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, that guy's from Texas Tech.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_04: Like it's just really cool to see how our basketball program has grown.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_05: Absolutely, and we're only gonna see more and more names added to this list.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_05: But I really do hope these summer league guys aren't always gonna be playing summer league.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_05: I hope we get to see them in the big time show very soon.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, no doubt.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_04: So uh let's root for all these guys.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_04: Hopefully, they get their shot.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_04: Um, but staying on the basketball flow, Texas Tech back to our current Red Raiders.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_04: I have officially scheduled their matchup with Tennessee in the non-conference.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_04: They are playing again at Madison Square Garden against the Volunteers in the Jimmy V Classic this coming season.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_04: This is gonna be the third time in the last four years that Texas Tech is going to Madison Square Garden and playing against a strong non-conference opponent.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_05: I've always said that Manhattan is East Lubbock.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_05: Always, always you've never said anything different.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_05: The Red Raider influence in Manhattan overshadows literally anything else.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_05: So I'm glad to see that we're maintaining our territory.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_05: Let's go kick some ball, but you know, because that's a great basketball program as well.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_05: So talk about a true test on the road in a not so neutral zone.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_04: But no, this is yeah, this is insane.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_04: It's just really cool because it's such a huge market in the Jimmy V Classic, which is one of the most highlighted college basketball games of the year.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_04: And I mean to have three games, I mean, it was Duke in 2018-19 when we had the the Final Four team that played Zion Williamson, and then we had that 2020 team that played against Louisville when we upset number one Louisville first time.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_05: And now we're in program history.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, first time in program history.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and now we're playing a really good Tennessee team.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, this is just this just shows again how much our basketball program is on the rise.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_05: And I love that we have a brand to sell, you know, they wouldn't just be throwing willy-nilly teams again in there either.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_05: So I'm glad to see that we have a team that sells on the basketball court.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_05: I know we're we're probably the most exciting team out of the Lone Star State on the hardwood.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_05: So I'm glad to see us maintain that brand.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_05: And obviously, it's not going anywhere under Coach Adams.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_05: So, and again, we say this like every single episode.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_05: I really like seeing that we're not lifting the foot off the gas at all with Mark Adams.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_05: If anything, we're we're we're we're pushing it further through the floor.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_05: So glad to see we're not scared of competition, glad to see we're ready to meet any challenge that's presented to us, and I'm glad to see that eyes all across the country get to see the newer era of Texas Tech.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, no doubt.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_04: And then uh we can't even forget that we're playing Gonzaga in the non-conference this season as well.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_04: So we this might be our most loaded conference or non-conference schedule, probably of all time, maybe.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_04: So uh we'll give you those updates as they start rolling in, you know, game times and everything like that closer to basketball season.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_04: But moving on to some other Texas Tech news before we get into our defensive backs, because this is back to our regular flow, by the way, uh, of the offseason.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_04: We're gonna talk some Texas Tech defensive backs here in just a second, but we're gonna talk some Texas Tech soccer first because we are ranked fourth in the Big 12 in the preseason poll.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_04: We also have two ladies that made the all Big 12 preseason list in Kristen Davis and Madison White.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_04: So, man, Texas Tech Soccer, we're getting right back into the fall sports, man.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I mean, I really like this.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_05: It looks like it's gonna be a bit of a revenge tour.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, Coach Stone said that the team's really pissed off with the way uh the last season went.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_05: He used the words pissed off.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_05: And I understand it, it was completely under expectations for the girls last season.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_05: You know, we expect to be the best team in the Big 12 competing for a championship every single year.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_05: I'm glad to see that our preseason hype is putting us in that position, but it's up for the ladies to make sure they follow up on that.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_05: So it looks like they got a lot of uh juice in the locker room to go and fight for it.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_05: Cool to see that we have a forward and a goalkeeper on that uh all Big 12 list.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_05: So, I mean, two very important positions.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_05: So excited to see how this season unfolds.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_05: Like you said, we're getting back to the fall season, and I hope they televise plenty because I'm gonna want to watch.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_05: I'm gonna ready already see some pissed-off Red Raider ladies.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_04: As a former goalie in a sport, is the goalie the most important position in soccer?
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_05: Yes, absolutely.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_05: Well, uh, you know, it it really it's the backbone of the team, you know.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_05: They're the they're they're kind of like the quarterback in those kinds of sports, you know, they have to hold down the defense and you know, vocalize and everything.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_05: But yeah, it it's it's the most it's by far the most pressure of any position on the field.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_05: So it takes it takes somebody that's uh that got that's pretty strong in the mind, you know, to stand up to all that pressure.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_04: So would you compare yourself to Tom Brady of Texas Tech Lacrosse?
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_04: Is that what you were easily?
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, so and not you heard it here first from the Tom Brady of Texas Tech Lacrosse, Tristan McGonagall.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_05: And not at all, not at all Brock Osweiler.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_05: Uh no, yeah.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_04: You you were you were more like the Brock Lobster of Texas Tech Lacrosse.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_05: No, I was I was Vinny Testaverdi's son.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_04: Oh god, Vinny Testaverdi, the greatest red raider of all time.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_04: Absolutely, maybe he he didn't make our quarterbacks list for some reason.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_04: I don't know.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_04: But yeah, Texas Tech Soccer, ladies, let's do it.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_04: Let's uh let's bounce back and have a great season.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_04: You know, no more of this kind of un unknown COVID stuff.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_04: I know there's probably going to be some restrictions, but uh, you know, it's it's really back to normal.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_04: You have a full off season, a lot less is unknown.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_04: So uh let's get it going.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, and a revenge tour against the OU and UT in all sports.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_05: So make sure we go out on a big one on there.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, no doubt.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_04: So moving on once again.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_04: We okay, so big news happened this past week with uh in terms of realignment.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_04: Uh Bob Bolsby, who is the commissioner of the Big 12 conference, met with George Kleevkov of the Pac-12 conference.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, pretty big deal.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, they met apparently for about six hours uh together discussing who really knows.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_04: Nobody really talked about it, but you gotta think it's something in the in the realm of merger or scheduling alliance or something of that nature.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_04: But it's just cool to see that we're taking this first step in the process meeting with the Pac-12.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_05: You know, I'm not an expert on whatever these conferences can do with each other, but I feel like a merger is really the only thing that makes any sense because whenever people talk about like scheduling alliance, I don't really know what that means.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_05: Because does anybody have an issue scheduling great teams and they're out of conference?
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_05: And why would you just kind of lock yourself in with a uh with a single conference for that you're not a part of?
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_05: I just got it kind of confuses me.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_04: I just think it's like and I told you this pre-pod, uh, if the Big 12 does try to survive and add a couple more teams like a Cincy or a BYU in Houston or whatever, the Pac-12 and the Big 12 will clearly be the fourth and fifth best of the power five conferences.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_04: So maybe they're looking into this scheduling alliance as seeing an opportunity for the the remaining top dogs of the Big 12 to schedule, you know, the top dogs of the Pac-12 nearly every year and have that um uh just make the schedule a little more difficult and you know give them an opportunity for the playoff.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I was I was listening to some higher minds on it saying that maybe could lead to some broadcasting partnerships as well.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_05: That's true, that's true to share with revenue with each other, but at the same time, it's just like why not just you know uh conglomerate all the resources then.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_05: I also saw like Kleakov was saying that maybe we'll look at a football only thing.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_05: Again, that doesn't make a lot of sense because the Big 12 is amazing basketball and baseball.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, maybe he's talking about travel expenses only with that, not necessarily a competition level.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, it's just it's kind of up in the air, but I think we'd all like to see some sort of merge happen because I think we all want to see Texas Tech in the Pac-12 or at least that level of power conference.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I think it's definitely in the Pac-12's interest to expand and think about getting some more big-time teams in there.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_04: And obviously, it's in the Big 12's interest to get back and and start merging with with UT and OU leaving uh with another, you know, strong power conference.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_05: Absolutely.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_05: So if well, all right, well, let's go into merging mode.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_05: So I'm gonna ask you the most important question of the pot.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_05: What are you gonna name this conference?
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_04: Now, to me, I think you call it the whack pack.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_04: The whack pack.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_04: This is a whack conference, first off.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_04: This is not the whack.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_04: No, I'm not talking about the whack.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_05: I'm feeling trademark issues coming up.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_04: I'm talking about the wacky pack 12 conference.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_04: This is gonna be some weird California, Texas, possibly West Virginia conference out here.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_04: So I call it the whack pack.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_04: The whack pack.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_05: I I definitely see the whack suing the hell out of the whack pack.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, yeah.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_04: This is with a K.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_04: This isn't with a C.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_04: W A C K.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_04: That's a C.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_04: I'm smart over here.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_04: I know how to get around the bylines and everything.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_04: So tell Stephen F.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_04: Austin to pipe down.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, get him out of there.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_04: But what would you what would you call this weird merge packet 12, big 12 conference?
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_05: I like the big west.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_05: I like big west.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_05: I think that sounds cool.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_05: Um, or big pack or pac 20.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, I mean, I mean, I feel like pac 20 is the inevitable end of it, but I like big west or big pack.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_05: I feel like that kind of uh sound that's like because it really sounds like you're blending the two and making something totally new and crazy, like you're saying with the whackpack.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_04: Whack pack, whack pack conference.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_04: I'm telling you, embrace it, it's gonna happen.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_04: No, I don't know what it would be called, but I did I did want to talk to you about this, and we kind of had a little homework exercise.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_04: What would be our dream merged conference between the Pac-12 and the Big 12?
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_05: See, I read the homework wrong.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_05: I thought it was the what the what the reports were like what do you want to see out of pack 20, like scheduling and all that.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_05: But no, let's talk about what our dream thing would be.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, our dream conference for this merger.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_05: Well, I feel like we've discussed this before.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_05: I would go Texas Tech, Oklahoma State.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_05: Well, first off, first off, how many teams would you have?
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_05: Pack the Pac 16.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_04: Pac so you would choose 16.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, at least that's what I would choose.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_04: I would choose I I went with 16 teams straight up in my whack pack conference, and so that means, of course, four teams being left out of the current Pac-12 and Big 12 teams.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_04: To me, the four teams that get left out of this whole thing are if if I was choosing, and this is for my personal preference, I would kick Cal, TCU.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, you're kicking some out?
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, I'm not.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_04: I am because because if the pac 12 and the big 12 were to merge right now, it would be 20 teams.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_04: I'm saying Cal out.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I'm saying 16 teams, four of y'all get out.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_04: I'm saying Cal is out of here, TCU out of here, West Virginia out of here, and Kansas State, get out.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_05: Bro, why are you kicking Cal?
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_05: What over Oregon State and Washington State?
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_04: Are you crazy?
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_04: Cal does not seem exciting to me.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_04: Bro, it's the University of California.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_04: I know they yeah, Cal Berkeley.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_04: It's like saying University of Texas at Austin.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_04: Like I you know, I understand, but they're pretty big brands, like Oregon State, yes, they are a big brand.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_04: Oregon State has an elite baseball program, they do, they do.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_04: Cal has no elite athletic programs, but they've put together some strong football seasons, maybe.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_05: They've put together some all right, they have put together some all right football seasons, but at the end of you you're robbing Stanford of their biggest rival as well.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_04: See, I don't even know in the Pac-12.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_04: They're the Bears with who I know they're like the Bay Area or whatever, but no, I'm kicking Cal out.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_04: They have always seemed to me like the other team in California.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_05: I can't believe that they're the only team, not Stanford, huh?
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_05: No, not the tiny little elite ID league level school.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_04: Stanford is always competitive in almost every sport.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_04: They're way more competitive than they have any right being.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_04: They win the directors' cup in nearly every single year.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, don't bring that up.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_04: UT fans are bragging the hell out of that.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, okay, whatever.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_05: You still it's look at look at the past winners of the directors' cup.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_04: Stanford wins almost every single year.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, and they have a strong baseball tradition, and they're good at football.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, dude.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_04: Stan, I would not kick Stanford out.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_04: I would kick Cal out before Stanford, way out before Stanford.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_05: What about Washington State?
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_05: Like, where's that coming from?
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_04: Now, Wazoo, they were up there.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_04: Now, I'll tell you my iffy ones, which was on the chopping block right here.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_04: Arizona was on the chopping block.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_04: What?
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_04: Baylor was on the chopping block, um, Oregon State was on the chopping block, Washington State was on the chopping block, Utah was on the chopping block, and then Cal K State, TCU, and West Virginia.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_05: You're you're driving me crazy over here.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_05: You're you're just you're you're keeping Oregon State because of their baseball, but you're gonna chop or Arizona, who's great at baseball, and they have a great basketball program.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_05: I'm not chopping Arizona.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_05: I know, but like I I I just can't believe you're chopping Cal.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_05: That's that's crazy.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_04: Um chop uh what's the best Cal team that you've seen in the last 10 years?
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_04: That's what can you name one good Cal team?
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_05: Whenever Davis Webb is being in the pocket, that's that's what I'm talking about.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, all right, guy.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_04: Take it easy.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_04: No, I kicked I kicked Cal out because also you can't have three bear mascots in one conference.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_04: And the br it one's a Bruin, though.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_04: That's a bear.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_04: That is a bear, and it's a big one.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_04: And one's a golden bear.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, and one's a golden bear.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_04: And then I now listen, I had Baylor in over Cal.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_04: In my in my that's that's out of it.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, now I I'll go through I'll go through all of it here.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_04: In my pack 16, like I said earlier, Cal is out, K-State's out, TCU and West Virginia.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_04: K-State is out because we already get Kansas is in my top 16.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_04: So we already get Kansas.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_04: They have their blue blood in college basketball.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_04: I you can't kick out Kansas.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_04: K-State has never won a team sport championship.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_05: National championship.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, a national championship.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_04: K-State has never won that.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_04: They are clearly the worst of the Kansas options here.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_05: But whenever you're comparing Kansas football to K K-State football, bro, you're you're looking at like a Mercedes versus like a 92 Kia.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_04: Because before Bill Snyder, K-State was nothing.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_04: So they don't have this history of being awesome at football.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_05: I totally get that, but what they are now is not what they were then.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, they're also just not exciting.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_04: I don't get up for the K-State game.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_04: I really don't.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_04: This is my personal preference for this conference.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_04: You're right, but I'm gonna judge the heck out of you on it.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_04: Sure, sure.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_04: Sure.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_04: But hey, you try kicking out four teams.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_04: It's more difficult than what you think.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_05: Okay, all right.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, let's kick out four teams.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_05: All right.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_05: If I'm having to chop four teams in this hypothetical pack 16, I'm gonna chop West Virginia just for the good Mountaineer fans because I just want them to be happier somewhere else.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_05: Sure.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_05: And then I'm gonna chop, I'll go ahead and chop Baylor and TCU.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_05: Um, because I I if I'm kind of going off of like pack reality, is they don't like private schools, and plus state schools are more fun.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_05: Sorry, it's not a knock on Baylor and TCU, it's just state schools aren't nearly as fun.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, uh private schools aren't as fun as state schools, I'm sorry.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_05: Um, and I'll if I'm chopping one out west, I'll probably chop Wazoo.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_05: So okay.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_04: So I kept I don't know the the level of rivalry that Washington and Washington State have, but I feel like it's more of a rivalry than Kansas and Kansas State.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_04: I truly do.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_04: I feel like Kansas and Kansas State.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_04: Kansas State, they hardly call it a rivalry.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_05: Well, that's just because K-State wins every single year, but they don't like each other at all.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, that's that's but the thing.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_04: Are you sure?
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_04: I think it's more of they hate Missouri and Nebraska than they hate each other.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_05: They hate those teams too, but they're it's the sunflower showdown.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, they don't they don't like each other at all.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, okay, but I just I feel like the K-State Kansas game is never like a big deal.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_04: But is K Washington versus Wazoo a big deal?
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_04: I feel like it's a bigger deal.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, maybe, but it's kind of like all right, it's kind of like like the Red River, the Red River shootout.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_05: It's you know, uh OU versus UT, it's Washington versus Oregon over there.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_05: Um, that's the rivalry, but obviously there's the interstate rivals rivalries as well.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_05: Um the only reason why I'm chopping Wazoo is because I I just think that as an athletic department, they probably fall short to all the others.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_05: So I think that's probably why that may be true.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_04: And I have a hard time chopping K-State over KU in my head because oh no, I feel like that's an easy, easy answer.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_05: You take Kansas for the basketball.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_05: I understand that, but like during football season, do you it's like it's like having an FCS team on the schedule?
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_04: Sure, I'm not saying Kansas brings a lot with football.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_04: I I just don't think it can't taking in Kansas State doesn't justify leaving out a blue blood program a top five all-time in basketball.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_05: If I had to chop anybody out of the Big 12 outside the ones I mentioned, I'd I'd probably do K-State as well.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_05: But I really do like those teams though.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, here was my reasoning for putting Baylor over Cal.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_04: I won, I I this is my conference, this is my decision.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_04: I would like to keep another Texas team.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_04: Now I know that's not good for Texas Tech because we have to go against them in recruiting.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_04: I like playing Baylor.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_04: I I think, well, first off, the butt bowl would continue.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_04: Fantastic name, everything like that.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_04: We are dead even in the all-time football series right now with Baylor.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_04: 39, 39, and one is the current all-time record Texas Tech versus Baylor.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_04: I just think that game would be fun to keep doing.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_05: It's only even because of the the he shall not be named years, because before that, like we never lost a single game to them in the Big 12.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_05: Um, I okay, let's let's add another in the mix then.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_05: If you're like if you're worried about keeping Baylor, what about like adding Houston over them?
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_05: What about that?
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_04: No, I didn't go into that.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_04: I didn't go into adding teams outside of either the Pac-12 and Big 12.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_04: If I had the choice, yeah, I'd probably won BYU and Houston over a lot of these teams, but I went with strictly the Pac-12 and the Big 12 merging, and I picked those four out of there.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_04: So let's let's go down the list with the schools that we haven't already talked about.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_04: Both Arizona schools are in.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_04: First off, Arizona State.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_04: I think Arizona State more so than Arizona.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_04: I would add in more of a lock.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_04: Arizona State's seventh biggest enrollment in the US, uh, of all you all universities, major moneymaker, competitive in several different sports.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_04: And I really feel like Arizona State could be a new rival for tech.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_04: I feel like both both schools are super similar.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_04: And I really enjoyed those out of conference games that we had with them a while ago.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_05: Me too.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_05: And we're not all that far from each other either.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_05: Like, honestly, you know, that's the beauty of Texas Tech being in the pack, is the Arizona schools in Colorado, all that, they aren't that far.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_05: Like it's really not much of a difference with the Big 12 schools and those pack schools.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, for sure.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_04: And then Arizona, like you said earlier, baseball, elite baseball program, elite basketball program.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_04: So they're in, and then you keep the Arizona, Arizona State rivalry.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_04: They're decent football programs for sure.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, well, okay, yeah.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_04: Decent, decent football programs.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_04: Um, Colorado was a lock for me.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_04: Former Big 12 school, Boulder would be a really, really fun road trip away game to go to.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_04: The Buffaloes, I I think we would be very competitive with them moving forward.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, I I would like to have them in the conference too.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_05: I agree.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_05: I I think that was a a no-brainer.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_04: I also thought Iowa State was a no-brainer.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, up-and-coming football program, obviously, they're going to be awesome this season.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_04: Matt Campbell has brought that program to insane heights.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, they also bring in the state of Iowa, which I think is a big deal for this merch conference.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_04: Having these separate states in your area is a big deal.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_04: That also adds with Colorado, too.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, and the only criticism with that is you know, you're giving K-State a hard time with the Bill Snyder years.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_05: The Matt Campbell years are even a smaller version of that.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_04: It's true, but they but but also, but also I already had Kansas in this conference, so that's true.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_04: I you know, I uh you you don't lose you don't really get anything by bringing in K-State, you do get a whole nother state in your market by bringing in Iowa State.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_04: True that.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, so I had Kansas as a lock.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_04: Uh we already talked about that.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_04: Blue blood in college basketball.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_04: Um, it just hits different when you're playing a conference game in the in the fog with the birds with shoes on their jerseys.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, I really get hyped up for those basketball games.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, yeah, they're one of the greatest teams to ever step on the hardwood.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, absolutely.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_04: So Oklahoma State, lock.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_04: They are our new biggest rival in this situation.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_05: Very competitive series.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_04: Literally, Texas Tech and Oklahoma, except they probably have a more storied athletic program, uh, in terms, you know, football and and I think so.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_04: I think they definitely do.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_04: They're definitely more consistent, they have more 10 plus win seasons than we do.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_05: Mike Gundy has done wonders for them.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_05: That's that's 100% the truth.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_05: Because I mean, the big eight, they weren't all that great, but Mike Gundy has done awesome for them.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_05: They are he was.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, he that could have been Mike Leach for us, but that's obviously a discussion for a different time.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_05: So uh where we continue on.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_04: But yeah, they are Oklahoma State's a lock.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, they would be the game I look forward to most in this weird, wacky pack conference.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and then moving on, Oregon's a lock, easy answer, one of the biggest brands, Nike Money, competitive and everything.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, Oregon State, like I said, was a tough ad uh between you know, kicking out Kansas State and all those, but they have such an elite baseball program.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, it's stupid, they're so good every single year in baseball.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, the Beavers, absolutely.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_05: The pack is stronger than people think in baseball.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_05: Like, there's a ton of great teams in baseball, it's one of the best.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_04: For sure.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_04: So I had them in it.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_04: UCLA, USC, both locks, LA market, blue bloods, and in college basketball and football, respectively.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, I if you don't have them in your conference, you're just uh it wouldn't be smart.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, Stanford's a lock.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_04: We already talked about that.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_05: I'm not gonna lie though, if if I was going on your logic over there, I think I'd swap Cal and Stanford.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_05: Really?
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, because I mean the the state school, big state school versus small private school.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_05: You know, who's gonna have more fans to interact with?
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_04: But who has a more elite athletic program?
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, by far.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_05: I I I know, I know.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_04: Cal brings nothing athletically.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_05: Um, what I'm gonna cover next isn't gonna leave anybody out.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_05: So we'll continue on with your your uh your kickball line over here.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_04: I'm including Texas Tech in this merged conference.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_04: You are this we got the cut.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_04: We got the cut.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_04: We are a Texas Tech podcast, so I felt yes, of course, Texas Tech is in the podcast.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, we're a Pac-12 podcast first, but we also cover Texas Tech.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_04: It's true.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_04: We are a Pac Pod first, first and foremost.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, Utah, they were on the chopping block for a little bit.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_04: I decided to add them because they bring in the Utah market.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_04: They are a big school, they bring in a lot of money.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_04: They uh they were really quick off the chopping block for me.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_04: Utah was in.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_05: I Utah's one of the like a a go for me.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_04: I feel like there's no scenario you cut you chop Utah, but but in this, okay, so if you're going and cutting four teams, you go down the list.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_04: Are you cutting Utah or Kansas State?
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_05: K-St.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_05: Is that an easy?
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_05: I think that's pretty easy, yeah.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, okay.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_04: Well, then it was a little easier for you than me.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_04: I just felt like Utah, for my personal reasons, what is that like Utah?
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, cool.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_05: I mean Salt Lake City is probably a very cool town.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_05: And the U the Utah have proven very solid in football.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_05: Hey, I included them, so they're in.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_04: They're in.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_04: They were just on the chopping block for a hot minute, they weren't in for very long.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, and then Washington and Washington State were my final two for the Pac-16.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, that was an interesting thought exercise.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, I definitely didn't set it up like that with my homework.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_05: I went off a true 20-team merge.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_05: So well, okay.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_04: Go in go into what you did.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_05: All right, so with mine, it was scheduling.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, with football in mind, but it could also work for basketball and baseball as well, as if you tweak it a bit.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_05: Um, so if you move to 20 teams, what do you do?
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_05: What do you do with scheduling?
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_05: Because obviously you're not gonna play 20 games in a single season, so that you have a few options.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_05: Option number one is the most traditional route you can go down, it's divisions.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_05: You can do two 10-team divisions.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_05: So, with that, you're doing nine divisional games.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_05: That fills up a normal conference slate in today's game.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_05: But with the the expansion of these super conferences, we're probably looking at less out-of-conference games and more conference games in the future.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_05: I don't know if people like that, whether or not, but there's a lot of things that people don't like that are happening in the sport.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_05: So if you do uh nine divisional games, you can add one or two cross-divisional games and then one or two out-of-conference uh games, respectively, with that.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_05: So with ours, we do East, you do the remaining Big Eight, and then you'd probably add Colorado and Utah.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_05: Um with uh the West, you do all the remaining Pac-12 teams.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_05: So what do you think about the visions in your head?
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_04: So you would choose Colorado and Utah over the Arizona schools.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, oh, you absolutely put Colorado in the big in the with the Big 12 teams because it used to be a Big 12 team, and it's it's it's bordered with Oklahoma and Kansas.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that's fair.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_04: That's fair.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_04: And you can't split the Arizona schools, yeah.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_05: You know, you know, and you might as well throw the other mountain.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, you don't want to split Arizona's, and you might as well throw the other mountain school in it too.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that's fair.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_04: I think uh yeah, I think your logic's right there with the nine conference games, and then the iffy thing would be what do you do after that with your non-con?
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_04: Right, and then what do you do?
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_04: Two non-con, one cross division.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_04: I I you know, I think that's that's where it gets dicey.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_04: That's why I hate that these conferences are getting so big.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, it's so stupid that the SEC currently with only 14 teams, they're about to go to 16 with only 14 teams.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_04: Uh these schools go 10 plus years without playing each other, and they're in the same freaking conference.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, especially if you're in in a 10-team division, it's gonna take a long time, even if you're cycling through two other ones to play everybody.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_05: So I'm not for the divisional idea, but the the advantage to a divisional idea is the travel cost is cut down big time because you're you you make these pretty regional, so the travel cost isn't a big as big of a deal as it would be if you're flying to Pullman uh from Lubbock every weekend, uh, you know, that kind of distance.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_05: So that's the advantage to it.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_05: And you can also apply that to basketball and baseball, um, where you play those teams the most.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_05: Um, but so the next one, and it's a pretty common thing to talk about.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_05: And the reason why I'm saying there's probably gonna be less out of conference games is we might be getting to the point where it's gonna be like a fox versus ESPN thing.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_05: Are you a fox school or an ESPN school?
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_05: Because God knows it kind of it kind of feels like we're going that way, right?
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_05: So if the pack is aligned with with Fox, which would probably be the case, then what if they don't want to work with each other in that sense?
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_05: So the next thing is probably pods.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_05: So the nice thing with pods is you can do five team pods, and that way you play everybody in your pod.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_05: That works really well baseball and basketball as well.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, it keeps travel to a small uh distance for the most part.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_05: So with the pods, I do like a south pod, which would be tech, Oklahoma State, Baylor, TCU, and Colorado.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_05: These are pretty like rough estimate here.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_05: Um, in the East UK, UK State, Iowa State, West Virginia, and Utah.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_05: Well, you West Virginia and Utah are kind of like the wild cards there, but you gotta put them somewhere.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_05: Um, with the West, I went USC, UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State, and Cal.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_05: I'm splitting up Cal and Stanford.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_05: That's probably not a good move, but it's it's really hard to make these.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_05: And the north you go Stanford, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, and Washington State.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_05: Um, that way you play you every single year in football, you play those four teams, and then you do you play five other games in a pot in the other pods, and you cycle through the pods each year.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_05: Um, so that's probably how I do it.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_05: Or you could play one team from each pod every year.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_05: So you kind of cycle through them that way, but it makes sense to kind of just pair a pod each season.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I guess.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_04: So wait, there's are there four or five California schools?
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_05: There's four California schools.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_04: Oh man.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_04: Then maybe you just do like you do one of Tech, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Iowa State.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, wait, you can't do that.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_05: Because California is a long state, and the Arizona schools are closer, probably closer to the Southern California ones than the it's true.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_04: I was I was I was trying to think of a scenario where you get the four California schools plus like Utah or something, and then you get like Arizona State mixed in with tech, uh TCU and Baylor, maybe, and then but that splits us up with uh this is just a whole big old thing, man.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_04: I think the pods is probably the best way to go if we do end up doing this.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_04: Um, but it would be weird, somebody would get left out in the grand scheme, exactly like of their of their normal rival or what what should happen, you know.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_04: But that's what you get when you get these super conferences, exactly.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_05: And I think the other system you can do is just like a complete cycle.
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_05: Maybe you make one or two permanent games per per team and just cycle completely through everybody else.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_05: But I think the pod thing probably makes the most sense because you're gonna be worried about travel.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_05: And if you can limit trap for like the non-revenue sports like football, um, you're gonna want to limit travel.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_05: Like with basketball and baseball, you want them probably to stay pretty close by.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_05: So, yeah.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_04: I hate I dude, I hate that the sport is turning into this.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_04: It's so ridiculous.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, it's just it it like all geography goes out the window.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, I mean, I I would be pretty happy in that pod, like with with Baylor TCU, Oklahoma State, and Colorado.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_05: I think I'd be pretty happy there.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I'm happy playing those teams every year, that'd be fine.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_04: And then, you know, mix in a USC Oregon every once in a while, you know, cool.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_04: But uh, I I don't know.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_04: This is just wild to think about a 20-team conference.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_04: Holy moly.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_05: I don't know if this this would have any legs.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_05: Uh it but six hours is a long time.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_05: I feel like maybe something will come of it.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_05: I hope the pack guy is forward-thinking enough to understand that the pack is in big trouble to be left behind.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_05: Um, if they want to stay competitive, we're their best option.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_05: Because I don't see them like poaching anything else because the Big Ten is too powerful to want to mess with the pack, in my opinion.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_05: Um, so let's just be like the bet the best of the rest, you know, like let's combine forces and be like the the third or fourth best league.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_04: Or they could just add four Big 12 teams, aka Tech, Oklahoma State, uh maybe uh K State and Baylor.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_04: And then the Big Ten adds Iowa State and Kansas, and West Virginia goes to the ACC and TCU gets left in the dust.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_04: I think that works fine.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_05: You know, I that that's obviously another reality that can happen.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_05: But I I think another kind of crazy thing that people are aren't talking about, like Travis and Joe on their uh Telegate Society episode, shout out to both of them.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_05: Um, Travis brought up a good point that I've I've spoken with you before is what if the Big Ten gets proactive and wants to start poaching some Pac-12 teams?
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_05: I think that might be a good thing for the Big 12.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_05: Like if the Big Ten wants to go grab like California schools or Oregon and stuff, and the rest of them are like, what do we do now?
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_05: I don't, I think combining forces with them wouldn't be the worst thing in the world either.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I guess that would clearly be if they're gonna start doing that, it's clearly gonna be basically we're gonna be the lower division of the division one.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I know there's already a lower division of the division one right now, talking about like G5 and stuff like that, but there's clearly gonna be a difference between that SEC conference, that Big Ten that poached the two or three or four top Pac-12 teams, and then wherever we are, we're gonna be clearly a step below them, which I don't really like.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_04: I'd like us to be at the same level that those SEC teams are gonna be and those Big Ten teams are gonna be.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_04: So I wouldn't really like that for Texas Tech.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_05: I agree.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_05: I I think a full merger slash pack picks their favorites is probably the best way to go.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_05: Um because I mean that that probably puts us in the best position to, yeah, we'll always be tailing on the SEC and maybe the Big Ten, but uh at least we'll be in a in a in a high echelon and be able to just come up and punch above our weight.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, for sure.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_04: I want to stay at the top level, I don't want to be uh looked at as a lower tier program.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_05: Agreed.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_04: So, all right, man.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_04: Well, we'll see what comes of it of the Pac-12 and the Big 12.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_04: It is good that we're meeting with um, you know, it's good that Bullsby's meeting with Kleevkoff and they're actually talking about possible options.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_05: I feel like Bullsby is so pissed off that like he's just gonna be trying his best to like do what's best for everybody else.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_05: That's his job.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_05: People are giving Bob a hard time.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_05: I've been a Bob fan kind of since this has gone down because I feel like the man's going and getting his money.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_04: So yeah, I mean, I don't know if I'm a Bob fan necessarily.
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_04: Uh he could have he could have done a better job in terms of expanding this conference when we had the opportunity.
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_05: Uh it's not necessarily just up to him, though.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_04: I know, but he's a he's the commissioner, he's the part, he's the head of it.
• 40:29
  SPEAKER_04: So, you know, he's he's the guy to blame the most when it comes to this stuff, right?
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and I know, like you said on last week's pod, U T and O, you were being super sketchy and low-key about this whole situation, but you as the commissioner need to realize that they're not happy and do something about that and be proactive, which he I think he was more uh kind of settled into his ways than being proactive about the situation.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_05: Well, I'm ready to see him come from the Raptors and just pile drive a great deal for the rest of us.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_05: I hope so, man.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_04: I hope so.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_04: But let's move on because this is the meat of the episode right now.
• 41:06
  SPEAKER_04: We're back to our offseason series.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_04: Football season is only a month away.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_04: We are talking about Texas Tech defensive backs.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_04: This is not the position that we are known for at Texas Tech, but it was fun going back and seeing some of the really good defensive backs in Texas Tech history.
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, we're on the side of the ball, but we haven't exactly been glorified with this century, I'd say.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_04: No, no, no, no, not really at all.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_04: So, but we do have some good players in the past.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_04: We're gonna break down our top five Texas Tech defensive backs of all time here soon, but we're gonna talk about the 2021 season first, how Texas Tech's defensive backs compare to the rest of the Big 12.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_04: And we're gonna do our famous talking tech tiers right now.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_05: Roger that.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, it's it's the Big 12, has gotten a lot of flack in the past.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_05: I feel like the defenses have gotten much better as we've gone on here.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_05: I don't think we necessarily deserve the flack we get uh on the uh national media, but um, let's see where Tex Tech lands.
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_05: I trust your ranking, so let's hear them.
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_04: Tier one TCU on their own.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_04: Not surprising of their own.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_04: TCU always has a really good defense.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_04: Um, they uh clearly to me, their defensive backs, their corners and safeties are the best combined of the Big 12.
• 42:28
  SPEAKER_04: Their corners are by far the best.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, uh Trevi Travius, Travis?
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_04: I don't know.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_04: Travis Hodges Tomlinson and Noah Daniels are two insanely talented corners.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_04: Daniels just needs to stay healthy after a couple injury-riddled seasons.
• 42:45
  SPEAKER_04: But Tomlinson, who is the I think nephew of Ladanian Tomlinson, uh, he's by far the best corner in the Big 12.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_05: Sweaty G-Pat never puts a bad defense on the field.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, that's what he's known for.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, so I'm not at all surprised with this one.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_04: No doubt.
• 43:03
  SPEAKER_04: And then their safeties are always solid.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_04: They do lose uh Trevon Morig, who, by the way, went to our high school alma mater up Smithson Valley.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, we lost him, or lot they lost him to the NFL and our Darius Washington as well.
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, but you can always, like I said, you can always count on TCU having solid safeties for sure.
• 43:22
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, and go to that ranger.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_05: Let's go.
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_05: I didn't know that.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, we have another uh Smithson Valley Ranger in the NFL, man.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_05: Another?
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_05: We talked about what we talked about before.
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_04: We have another one.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_04: Um, uh Sendeho, Andrew Sendejo, who played for the Vikings for a while.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_04: I think he was on a different team last year, but uh yeah, we got two guys now, man.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_04: Guns up, baby.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_04: Big time.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_04: Um, tier two is three teams.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_04: It is Baylor, it is Oklahoma State, and it is Iowa State.
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_04: Iowa State keeps making uh tier one or tier two on every single list.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_04: They're gonna be awesome this year.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_04: But let's talk about Baylor first.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_04: Raleigh Texada is one is the guy to watch on the corners for Baylor.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_04: He's a really good tackler, should be one of the best in the Big 12.
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_04: The other corner's kind of up in the air, but having Texada there for Baylor is a major plus.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_04: But their safeties, Jalen Petrie is elite.
• 44:19
  SPEAKER_04: Baylor returns all five starters, including JT Woods and Christian Morgan.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_04: They just have a really solid unit in that backfield.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, they hired a defensive mind.
• 44:29
  SPEAKER_05: So again, I'm not surprised with this one with Dave Aranda, a red raider, unfortunately.
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_05: So it's gonna be interesting to see him in year two because that's when things kind of start coming together a bit more than their first year.
• 44:40
  SPEAKER_05: First year things were kind of shaky for Baylor.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_05: We somehow edged him out, but uh looking forward to a bigger matchup this year.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_04: So for sure.
• 44:48
  SPEAKER_04: And then let's go to Oklahoma State.
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, now Oklahoma State would have been a tier one if it wasn't for their cornerbacks.
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_04: Their safety unit might be the best in the Big 12 this season.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_04: Trey Sterling and Colby Harvel Peel are as good of a tandem as you can find at the safety unit.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, it's just the corners, it's the position that just kind of puts them below TCU.
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_04: They lose Rodarius Williams, uh, and they just don't know who's gonna make up that production at the cornerback unit.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, I know I speak for the remaining big eight fans when we say please intercept every single Spencer Rattler throw in Bedlam.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_05: So definitely champ from there.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_04: Maybe the last Bedlam game for a long time.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_04: So I mean, go crazy.
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_04: I hope everybody beats OU and UC this year.
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_04: Oh man, this is just a crazy, crazy year coming up.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_04: But uh moving on, Iowa State.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_04: Their corners and their safeties are solid.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_04: Anthony Johnson at the cornerback, really good.
• 45:47
  SPEAKER_04: Datron Young, awesome.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, they're gonna have a really good defensive back unit.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_05: For sure.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_05: And we need them to be as bolstered as possible.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_05: I'm gonna take something kind of out there right now with Iowa State.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_05: You know, with everything that's going down, I want them to win the Big 12.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_05: Like, obviously, I want it to be Texas Tech, but like, you know, obviously that's not the realistic expectation at this point for the program.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_05: But with Matt Gamble, I I want them to win it all.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_05: So it's not OU this time.
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_05: That's the way I'm saying if this is gonna be OU's last season.
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_05: I hope Iowa State does it.
• 46:17
  SPEAKER_04: I've wanted that for a while.
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I mean, I would I'm I would rather anybody but OU UT.
• 46:23
  SPEAKER_04: I I really wouldn't like to see Baylor TCU win.
• 46:26
  SPEAKER_04: So yeah, Iowa State, I'm with you.
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_04: If it's not Texas Tech, sure.
• 46:29
  SPEAKER_04: Go on.
• 46:29
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I'm I'm I'm down with being like they're one L, of course.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_05: But but um it's uh like like I said, like it was it's kind of changed up heart of what I want to happen.
• 46:39
  SPEAKER_05: Normally I'm pretty neutral on it, uh, except for I mean, I don't really want OU to do it, but you know, if it's not tech, I'm like, well, I don't really care, but I want Iowa State to do it this year.
• 46:48
  SPEAKER_04: So well they have a really good shot at it.
• 46:49
  SPEAKER_04: So they do they have they have a solid group at literally every single position.
• 46:54
  SPEAKER_04: We're gonna talk about linebackers and defensive line here in the coming weeks, but Iowa State, again, is gonna be near the top in these tier lists.
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_04: So I they have a they have a whole lot to look forward to this season.
• 47:05
  SPEAKER_05: I am green with envy for Iowa State to be peaking right now.
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_05: I wish it was us.
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_05: Yes, absolutely.
• 47:11
  SPEAKER_04: So tier three of Big 12 defensive back units, Texas.
• 47:17
  SPEAKER_04: Uh corners, really good.
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_04: Uh Deshaun Jameson, Josh Thompson, pretty good duo, but they definitely showed their weak points last season at that position.
• 47:26
  SPEAKER_04: Safeties, BJ Foster is a really good option at safety.
• 47:29
  SPEAKER_04: They're also having Brendan Schooler, who is Collins' brother.
• 47:33
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, he's moving to safety this season after being a wide receiver last year.
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_04: And the thing that worries me for UT is this guy's being talked about a lot.
• 47:43
  SPEAKER_04: Like he's gonna get a lot of snaps at safety, and he was just a wide receiver last season.
• 47:48
  SPEAKER_04: So if you're having that at your safety unit, how good can it really be?
• 47:52
  SPEAKER_04: That guy should have gone to tech, but he should have.
• 47:54
  SPEAKER_05: But Colorman's shocked that a guy's getting way too much credit on UT.
• 47:58
  SPEAKER_05: Wow, what this is a surprise.
• 48:00
  SPEAKER_04: And I don't know if it's really too much credit, I think it's more of a must that they need to play him at safety because they don't really have a lot of better options, and that's weird for a UT team, you know, not having a lot of at least five-star, four-star options.
• 48:15
  SPEAKER_04: So uh we'll see how it goes.
• 48:17
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, I don't think Texas defensive backs have been nearly as good as what they've said uh in the past, you know, calling themselves DBU and everything like that.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, just not it, just not working out for Texas.
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_04: Not not a great unit over there.
• 48:30
  SPEAKER_05: They've gotten burned all decade, they've gotten burned for like two decades.
• 48:34
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, what are they talking about with DBU?
• 48:37
  SPEAKER_05: Come on.
• 48:37
  SPEAKER_04: I don't know.
• 48:38
  SPEAKER_04: That whole thing was so weird.
• 48:39
  SPEAKER_04: It is it doesn't make any sense, including uh talking of trash universities.
• 48:44
  SPEAKER_04: Oklahoma is also in the tier three list.
• 48:47
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, corners, they're really young uh at cornerback, lots of talent, but can they really put it together?
• 48:52
  SPEAKER_04: Uh safeties, they have a lot of unknowns after losing Robert Barnes and Trey Norwood, Pat Fields, and Delaran Turner Yells should be solid at that position, though.
• 49:02
  SPEAKER_04: So uh OU.
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_04: I put them just below tier two, but they're right on the line there.
• 49:07
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, it having one hole in that in that team is not a bad thing.
• 49:11
  SPEAKER_05: Alex Grinch has done a great job with their defense.
• 49:13
  SPEAKER_05: He's a Q is a good hire for them um because they're favorites to win the national championship.
• 49:17
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, if that's if that's their one issue.
• 49:19
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, it's not a great issue to have, but at the same time, I'm sure they can make up for it, which is unfortunate.
• 49:25
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, it's definitely their weakest position, but saying that about OU is yeah, it doesn't say a lot.
• 49:30
  SPEAKER_04: Doesn't say a lot.
• 49:31
  SPEAKER_04: So uh I also had Kansas State in tier three.
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_04: Uh corners, they have Echo Boido coming in and Justin Gardner.
• 49:38
  SPEAKER_04: They're really solid options at cornerback.
• 49:40
  SPEAKER_04: They also have Iowa transfer Julius Brent coming in, who has great size for the position.
• 49:45
  SPEAKER_04: I think he's about 6'3, 205.
• 49:47
  SPEAKER_04: Uh safeties, Jeron McPherson, the worst McPherson, uh, is coming back, but he is a really solid safety.
• 49:56
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, should be a pretty deep unit for Kansas State.
• 49:58
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, I'll my trademark with K-State.
• 50:00
  SPEAKER_05: They're gonna be solid at everything, they're gonna be decent at everything.
• 50:03
  SPEAKER_05: What else can you say?
• 50:04
  SPEAKER_04: They were they were really bad at defensive back last year, but they had a lot of injuries.
• 50:08
  SPEAKER_04: They had some COVID stuff, so I think they're gonna bounce back.
• 50:10
  SPEAKER_04: They're gonna be a pretty solid unit.
• 50:12
  SPEAKER_04: Not quite what Oklahoma State, Iowa State, and Baylor are gonna be, though, in my opinion.
• 50:17
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, for sure.
• 50:17
  SPEAKER_05: But I mean, it's it's K-State's a team you can ever sleep on, no matter on either side of the ball.
• 50:22
  SPEAKER_04: So yeah, and then here we go.
• 50:24
  SPEAKER_04: Tier four.
• 50:25
  SPEAKER_04: I have our beloved Texas Tech Red Raiders at tier four.
• 50:29
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, it's just something that I can't have a lot of faith in uh because they have not shown me much these last couple seasons.
• 50:36
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, the good news is they don't have a guy that I am 100% in on hating.
• 50:43
  SPEAKER_04: When was the last time we had one, though?
• 50:45
  SPEAKER_04: I it it was about halfway through last season where that tradition stopped.
• 50:50
  SPEAKER_04: But it went from Justice Nelson to uh oh god, no, Des Smith.
• 50:55
  SPEAKER_04: It went from Justice Nelson to Des Smith to uh Zach McPherson for about half a season, which was stupid, and I I've already said that.
• 51:04
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, so we don't have a lot of players that I'm 100% in on just being bad.
• 51:09
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, a lot a lot a lot of our fans have given Eric Monroe a tough time.
• 51:14
  SPEAKER_04: He uh yeah, okay.
• 51:15
  SPEAKER_04: If anybody, it's gonna be Eric Monroe this season.
• 51:18
  SPEAKER_04: But I I hope he improves.
• 51:20
  SPEAKER_04: So the good news about that safety unit is we have Marquise Waters coming in, and I am a firm.
• 51:26
  SPEAKER_04: I'm a firm believer that Marquise Waters is gonna be a really, really good player for Texas Tech.
• 51:32
  SPEAKER_04: He brings experience, he was a multi-year starter at Duke.
• 51:35
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, he's a leader.
• 51:36
  SPEAKER_04: He's been everything that Matt Wells and all the coaches have said since he got on campus is that he has been a leader on this team and for this program.
• 51:45
  SPEAKER_04: So I am 100% in on Marquise Waters.
• 51:48
  SPEAKER_05: Some people are saying that's our best transfer, like even better than Tyler.
• 51:51
  SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
• 51:52
  SPEAKER_04: I I mean we'll see how Shuck does, but I think Marquise Waters is definitely gonna be one of the leaders of this whole defense.
• 52:00
  SPEAKER_05: For sure.
• 52:00
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, we definitely need some of the some backfield support there.
• 52:03
  SPEAKER_05: So that's that's great, man.
• 52:04
  SPEAKER_05: So I mean, tier four.
• 52:06
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, I'm not too happy to be there, but uh, it's what we're used to.
• 52:10
  SPEAKER_05: And if we don't have a player that we're really, really concerned about, that's a great sign.
• 52:14
  SPEAKER_05: So uh, because that's the one position group.
• 52:16
  SPEAKER_05: Boy, could we remember some names?
• 52:18
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, for sure.
• 52:19
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, cornerback, we're losing Zach McPherson.
• 52:21
  SPEAKER_04: That's a big loss.
• 52:22
  SPEAKER_04: No, no way around it.
• 52:24
  SPEAKER_04: He was uh fantastic player for us last season.
• 52:26
  SPEAKER_04: The good news is we do have DeMarcus Fields, who is gonna be our number one option at corner, uh, experienced guy.
• 52:33
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, he's he's been awesome.
• 52:34
  SPEAKER_04: He's shown really good signs in the past.
• 52:36
  SPEAKER_04: The problem is who's gonna be that second corner?
• 52:39
  SPEAKER_04: Is it gonna be Adrian Fry, who has really disappointed these last couple seasons after a really solid freshman year?
• 52:46
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, you know, who's it gonna be?
• 52:47
  SPEAKER_04: Is it gonna be one of the transfers, Malik Dunlap from NC State, Ray Shad Williams from UCLA?
• 52:52
  SPEAKER_04: We have a couple guys that could potentially break in and be a really solid second option at that cornerback position.
• 52:58
  SPEAKER_05: Wow.
• 52:59
  SPEAKER_05: So this is like a true test group with uh Wells's leaning into the transfer portal.
• 53:04
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, no doubt.
• 53:05
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, it could be Dadrian Taylor Demerson.
• 53:07
  SPEAKER_04: He's another guy who was with the who was with Texas Tech last year, who could be that number two corner.
• 53:12
  SPEAKER_04: We could switch a lot between that position.
• 53:14
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, it's just really unknown after Demarcus Fields.
• 53:17
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, well, I mean, hopefully the experience we're bringing in fills it in and uh can take it up right away.
• 53:22
  SPEAKER_05: So, because that's one thing we need, especially against some of the quarterbacks we're going against the season.
• 53:27
  SPEAKER_04: For sure.
• 53:27
  SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
• 53:28
  SPEAKER_04: So uh they are tier four, but also joining us in tier four is West Virginia.
• 53:33
  SPEAKER_04: The Mountaineers, uh, they just lost a lot and they don't there a lot of unknowns.
• 53:39
  SPEAKER_04: We don't know who's gonna take over for the production that they had last season.
• 53:43
  SPEAKER_04: They do retain Alonzo Adai, who was a really solid safety for them last year.
• 53:48
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, but uh you know, uh everybody else is pretty much an unknown on this team.
• 53:53
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, absolutely.
• 53:54
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, I I can definitely see that with them.
• 53:57
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, no doubt.
• 53:58
  SPEAKER_04: So uh West Virginia and Tech are making up tier four, and then of course, returning after a long hiatus is tier Kansas.
• 54:06
  SPEAKER_04: It is the Kansas, Kansas is in Tier Kansas, huh?
• 54:11
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, Kansas is the only remaining team in Tier Kansas.
• 54:15
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, those poor Jayhawks, man.
• 54:17
  SPEAKER_04: They actually had some solid players last season at defensive back, but they all transferred.
• 54:23
  SPEAKER_04: So uh Kansas, again, it's gonna be another freshman sophomore bunch, young group of guys that are unproven by all accounts.
• 54:32
  SPEAKER_04: So Kansas is far and away the worst offensive back unit in the Big 12.
• 54:36
  SPEAKER_05: It'll be interesting to see how Leopold develops these guys, though.
• 54:40
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, he people are giving him a lot of praise, so maybe he can inject some sort of life into it, but I don't see it in year one.
• 54:46
  SPEAKER_05: And that guy, that guy needs like at least three mulligans.
• 54:49
  SPEAKER_04: So everybody that coaches Kansas needs three mulligans.
• 54:53
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, there it's it's gonna take a miracle to turn that program around.
• 54:57
  SPEAKER_05: Absolutely.
• 54:58
  SPEAKER_04: I don't know.
• 54:59
  SPEAKER_04: I'm not, I mean, I'm not putting it, you know, I'm not saying it's impossible.
• 55:02
  SPEAKER_04: They're still a massive university, but you know, they have some resources to be better, and they've had some decent teams, you know, in the past, but I don't know.
• 55:11
  SPEAKER_05: The school doesn't back it up at all, though.
• 55:13
  SPEAKER_05: Like, I mean, I'm in the administration, like they played in basically a Texas high school stadium equivalent, like it's old as heck, and they just they just now removed the track around it.
• 55:24
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, and I've heard their their training facilities are no good.
• 55:27
  SPEAKER_05: It's just they they put no love into it, man.
• 55:30
  SPEAKER_05: It's it's it's it's sad.
• 55:32
  SPEAKER_05: Like, you can't just lean on basketball the whole time.
• 55:34
  SPEAKER_05: Don't you want everything to be good?
• 55:35
  SPEAKER_04: You know, well, well, you this whole realignment talk is showing us that basketball doesn't matter.
• 55:40
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, it matters, it doesn't matter nearly as much as football.
• 55:43
  SPEAKER_04: So I don't know if they're really making the right decisions here.
• 55:46
  SPEAKER_05: And you have no excuse to be like the worst P5 in like arguably one of the worst FPS teams.
• 55:52
  SPEAKER_05: You know, you're you're in Lawrence, Kansas, which isn't that far from KC, and you have Oklahoma right below you.
• 55:58
  SPEAKER_05: You know, there's not there's not it's not like you're in a talent absolute desert, so and you're a big brand.
• 56:04
  SPEAKER_05: It's it just shouldn't be like this, but it is yeah, no doubt.
• 56:08
  SPEAKER_04: Uh Kansas has some work to be done, but that is not news by any means.
• 56:13
  SPEAKER_04: No, everybody knows that.
• 56:15
  SPEAKER_04: So uh man, that's my tiers.
• 56:17
  SPEAKER_04: I just think uh I think tech this is the lowest I put them so far on a positional tier.
• 56:22
  SPEAKER_04: Um that's okay, and that's okay because I really don't think, and I'll I'll have to do research on the D line, but definitely with the linebacking and special team score, we will not be this low again.
• 56:32
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, for sure.
• 56:33
  SPEAKER_05: This I mean, no one is at all surprised that this is probably the weakest they're gonna hear.
• 56:37
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, for sure.
• 56:38
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, I I don't know how you can be a realist or realistic person and not put tech at least in one of the bottom tiers, you know.
• 56:45
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I mean, I know I know we're a homer pac-12 Texas Tech podcast.
• 56:50
  SPEAKER_04: Pac-12 first.
• 56:51
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, you gotta put some realism in their in your pod.
• 56:55
  SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
• 56:56
  SPEAKER_04: So let's move on to the good parts of Texas Tech defensive backs, the top five Texas Tech defensive backs of all time.
• 57:07
  SPEAKER_04: And let me tell you, Tristan, this was the hardest one to do so far.
• 57:11
  SPEAKER_04: O-line was difficult, but they still had some standouts.
• 57:14
  SPEAKER_04: This one is all over the place because if you didn't watch them, you really don't know how good or how bad they were.
• 57:21
  SPEAKER_04: Stats can only tell you so much when it comes to this position, these two positions.
• 57:25
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, it's it's hard to look at documentation and get the full story, like insane with stats.
• 57:31
  SPEAKER_05: So, I mean, I just did my bit best digging into some of the record books and articles um and went from there.
• 57:37
  SPEAKER_05: But like he said, this wasn't very easy.
• 57:40
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, so people listening that watch tech in the 70s, 80s, 90s, but gosh dang it.
• 57:48
  SPEAKER_06: Red Raider McGee.
• 57:50
  SPEAKER_04: Red Raider McGee didn't make my list.
• 57:53
  SPEAKER_04: I'm sorry.
• 57:54
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, so sorry if we forgot anybody.
• 57:57
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, but we're gonna go down with our top five.
• 57:59
  SPEAKER_04: Tristan, number five all-time defensive back for Texas Tech.
• 58:03
  SPEAKER_04: Who you got?
• 58:04
  SPEAKER_05: Number five.
• 58:05
  SPEAKER_05: I have our guy.
• 58:07
  SPEAKER_05: I have the one that Steven hated on every single podcast.
• 58:11
  SPEAKER_05: It was not reason.
• 58:12
  SPEAKER_04: It was not every single one.
• 58:14
  SPEAKER_04: I gave up on that whole thing.
• 58:16
  SPEAKER_04: I did it for like the first five weeks, and then I was like, okay, Zach's great.
• 58:20
  SPEAKER_05: I have Zach McPherson at number five.
• 58:22
  SPEAKER_05: You know, on our list, we have to include one of our boys.
• 58:25
  SPEAKER_05: He was 2020, all Big 12.
• 58:27
  SPEAKER_05: He was drafted in the round four of the NFL draft.
• 58:30
  SPEAKER_05: I'm looking forward to see how he does in his professional career.
• 58:33
  SPEAKER_05: But the guy, like, really was one of the first best backs we've had, and God knows as long as we've been a fan.
• 58:41
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, he really was a surprise last season.
• 58:43
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, coming out of Penn State, we had you know big hopes for him.
• 58:47
  SPEAKER_04: You see Penn State uh transfer, you're like, Oh, okay, you know, Big Ten, they always have really solid uh units back there on defense, and uh he really showed that he was elite.
• 58:58
  SPEAKER_04: And I mean, it he's showing in the NFL right now.
• 59:00
  SPEAKER_04: Or I I mean, he hasn't shown it yet in the NFL, but he's getting a lot of praise right now for the Eagles organization.
• 59:06
  SPEAKER_05: He is, he's getting praise for getting onto the starting.
• 59:08
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, maybe not starting role, but getting onto the to the game day roster, correct?
• 59:12
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, yeah, definitely.
• 59:13
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, he was looking at potentially being that starter opposite Darius Slay.
• 59:18
  SPEAKER_04: So I don't know, man.
• 59:19
  SPEAKER_04: He could he could potentially break into that.
• 59:22
  SPEAKER_05: Let's go.
• 59:22
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, I'd love to see it.
• 59:23
  SPEAKER_05: It'd be great to see some some guy just break the absolute Texas Tech mold and be a great TP in the NFL.
• 59:31
  SPEAKER_05: That's wild.
• 59:32
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, absolutely.
• 59:33
  SPEAKER_04: So I did not have Zach on my list.
• 59:35
  SPEAKER_04: Uh listen, he only started one season at Texas Tech.
• 59:40
  SPEAKER_05: I needed to put one of our guys on there.
• 59:42
  SPEAKER_04: I know, I know you did.
• 59:43
  SPEAKER_04: And I I respect it, man.
• 59:44
  SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
• 59:45
  SPEAKER_04: Go put Zach McPherson all you want.
• 59:47
  SPEAKER_04: I don't care.
• 59:48
  SPEAKER_04: Put Des Smith number one.
• 59:49
  SPEAKER_04: That's when I'll judge you.
• 59:50
  SPEAKER_05: Well, you're gonna say that's gonna trigger you.
• 59:53
  SPEAKER_04: No, that would absolutely trigger me.
• 59:55
  SPEAKER_04: But uh, number five, I have Dwayne Slay.
• 59:59
  SPEAKER_04: He is he uh okay.
• 1:00:00
  SPEAKER_04: Now I'm kind of contradicting myself because he only did play one year at Texas Tech, but he set a Big 12 record for force fumbles in a season with eight of them.
• 1:00:10
  SPEAKER_04: He was also the Big 12 defensive player of the year, so you have to give him a little bit of a nod for that because I'm sure we don't get a lot of Big 12 defensive player of the year coming from Texas Tech.
• 1:00:21
  SPEAKER_05: For sure.
• 1:00:21
  SPEAKER_05: He was a JUCO transfer, correct?
• 1:00:23
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I believe so.
• 1:00:24
  SPEAKER_04: Only, I mean, he only played one year at Tech, so he had something going on prior to that.
• 1:00:28
  SPEAKER_05: And Sports Illustrated naming named him to their personal all-american as well.
• 1:00:32
  SPEAKER_05: So yeah, he was on my heels on my honorable mentions.
• 1:00:35
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, so I have him in number five.
• 1:00:37
  SPEAKER_04: The one season puts him in number five.
• 1:00:39
  SPEAKER_04: I'm sure if he spent longer, he would be much higher on this list.
• 1:00:43
  SPEAKER_05: For sure, man.
• 1:00:44
  SPEAKER_05: All right, so number four, I have Ted Watts.
• 1:00:47
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, yeah.
• 1:00:49
  SPEAKER_05: So old boy.
• 1:00:50
  SPEAKER_05: Oh I I it's a lot of old boys from here, yeah, for sure.
• 1:00:54
  SPEAKER_05: So he was all Southwest and 79, and he played seven seasons in the NFL.
• 1:01:00
  SPEAKER_05: So he even got a Super Bowl ring in '84.
• 1:01:02
  SPEAKER_05: So whenever whenever it's hard to judge guys, it's easier to look at professional careers combined with their college ones.
• 1:01:09
  SPEAKER_05: So since he went and was so so successful at all levels, I had to give him the nod for number four.
• 1:01:14
  SPEAKER_04: I had him on my honorable mentions, Ted Watts.
• 1:01:18
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, so my yeah, that's a good pick.
• 1:01:20
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, the again, these old guys are really hard to determine.
• 1:01:24
  SPEAKER_04: You kind of, yeah, I kind of went off of professional career plus, you know, accolades and all that kind of stuff.
• 1:01:31
  SPEAKER_04: So uh my number four, though, is Cody Davis.
• 1:01:34
  SPEAKER_04: Uh spent time at Texas Tech from 2009 to 2012, first team All-American and a second team all Big 12 in 2012.
• 1:01:41
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, freshman All-American in 2009, finished Texas Tech career with 49 starts, and he's still currently making it on NFL rosters.
• 1:01:50
  SPEAKER_04: He's currently on the Patriots, started as an undrafted free agent in 2012 and has managed to stay in the league for this long.
• 1:01:58
  SPEAKER_04: So Cody Davis is my number four.
• 1:02:00
  SPEAKER_05: Let's go.
• 1:02:01
  SPEAKER_05: Way to pick a guy that's kind of in the modern sphere, too.
• 1:02:03
  SPEAKER_05: So I guess all I have here is old boys.
• 1:02:05
  SPEAKER_05: So good job.
• 1:02:06
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, that's and that I've never heard of it.
• 1:02:07
  SPEAKER_05: So interesting pick.
• 1:02:08
  SPEAKER_04: Absolutely, man.
• 1:02:09
  SPEAKER_04: So uh do do some Cody Davis research.
• 1:02:12
  SPEAKER_04: He's he was solid for Texas Tech.
• 1:02:14
  SPEAKER_05: All right, absolutely.
• 1:02:15
  SPEAKER_05: So for number three, I have Marcus Coleman.
• 1:02:18
  SPEAKER_05: He uh he played, he uh he is a not all-American 95, he was drafted in 96.
• 1:02:24
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, I mean, with accolades like that, you gotta throw an all-American on there because they're not unbelievably common at Texas Tech.
• 1:02:31
  SPEAKER_05: So whenever you have an All-American, you guys just gotta pop them in.
• 1:02:34
  SPEAKER_05: So that was a pretty that was a pretty easy plug and play for me for number three.
• 1:02:37
  SPEAKER_04: Set the Texas Tech and Southwest Conference record with four interception returns for touchdowns while he was here.
• 1:02:44
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, also had a 10-year career in the NFL with the Jets, the Texans, and the Cowboys.
• 1:02:49
  SPEAKER_04: So uh he's number three for me as well.
• 1:02:51
  SPEAKER_05: Not a bad pick for number three.
• 1:02:53
  SPEAKER_05: So let's see if we're matching up now.
• 1:02:55
  SPEAKER_04: We probably are at number two.
• 1:02:58
  SPEAKER_05: I have Tracy Saul.
• 1:02:59
  SPEAKER_05: Yep, absolutely.
• 1:03:00
  SPEAKER_05: All right, so we're on the same pace again.
• 1:03:01
  SPEAKER_05: We've done this a lot, huh?
• 1:03:03
  SPEAKER_05: In 2015, he was inducted into the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame.
• 1:03:07
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, he is number two in total uh uh interceptions at Texas Tech University.
• 1:03:12
  SPEAKER_05: He had two single seasons with eight interceptions, and that's tied for two and like in all-time single seasons.
• 1:03:19
  SPEAKER_05: So he did it twice.
• 1:03:21
  SPEAKER_05: Um, and he was named to all conference teams in all four of his years.
• 1:03:26
  SPEAKER_04: That's incredible.
• 1:03:28
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, he was big time.
• 1:03:29
  SPEAKER_04: He's actually number one all time in interceptions at Texas Tech.
• 1:03:32
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, I apologize.
• 1:03:33
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, but but definitely, I mean, those are extremely impressive, two different eight interception seasons.
• 1:03:40
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, elite, he was there from 89 to 92.
• 1:03:43
  SPEAKER_04: He was a fantastic defensive back for Texas Tech.
• 1:03:46
  SPEAKER_04: Tracy Saul was also my number two.
• 1:03:50
  SPEAKER_05: All right.
• 1:03:50
  SPEAKER_05: Well, we had the most coincidental episode of all time.
• 1:03:54
  SPEAKER_04: Seriously, this was insane.
• 1:03:55
  SPEAKER_04: When I saw this on Twitter, I flipped.
• 1:03:58
  SPEAKER_04: I was like, no way! Yes, this is perfect timing.
• 1:04:02
  SPEAKER_05: So, y'all, I don't if if y'all did not hear, the newest inductee into the Texas Tech Ring of Honor was announced to be matched with Michael Crabtree this upcoming season.
• 1:04:13
  SPEAKER_05: It is Elmer Tarbox.
• 1:04:16
  SPEAKER_05: He is a Wex West Texas boy himself, and the man was absolutely ballistic.
• 1:04:22
  SPEAKER_05: The guy, the guy played a game that was way ahead of his time.
• 1:04:26
  SPEAKER_04: Dude, I mean, in a time he played he was in Texas Tech from 1936 to 1938, before the World War II even started.
• 1:04:35
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, just uh when they didn't even throw the ball forward very much in the state of what football was.
• 1:04:43
  SPEAKER_05: Texas Tech was a football team for maximum 10 years at that point.
• 1:04:48
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I mean, just and and I don't know what it says to us to have our best defensive back of all time be a guy that played in the 1930s, but this dude had accolade upon accolade, and like we just mentioned, the newest member of the Ring of Honor, which is a very, very small group of players.
• 1:05:07
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, I mean, his name is gonna be up in Jones ATT Stadium.
• 1:05:11
  SPEAKER_05: It's as high as it gets for a Texas Tech football player, Barnon.
• 1:05:15
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, no doubt.
• 1:05:16
  SPEAKER_04: Dude played basketball, football, and ran track for Texas Tech, the co-outstanding player of the year in the 1939 Cotton Bowl Classic.
• 1:05:25
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, again, despite playing in the 1930s, uh, when they didn't throw a lot of forward passes, he's second all-time in interceptions in Texas Tech history, including 11 interceptions in the 1938 season alone, which is still a Texas Tech record.
• 1:05:41
  SPEAKER_05: That is unbelievable.
• 1:05:43
  SPEAKER_05: They I can't imagine them throwing it forward, and this man is just nabbing every single one that leaves their hands.
• 1:05:50
  SPEAKER_04: 1938 football was a whole different game, man.
• 1:05:54
  SPEAKER_05: Animal.
• 1:05:55
  SPEAKER_05: And they went on to play in the cotton bowl, one of the few cotton bowls Texas Tech has played.
• 1:06:00
  SPEAKER_05: In uh, that's that back then.
• 1:06:01
  SPEAKER_05: That's like playing in the Rose Bowl in the Orange Bowl.
• 1:06:04
  SPEAKER_05: Like, that's a huge deal.
• 1:06:05
  SPEAKER_05: Um, and the guy was drafted back in the NFL.
• 1:06:09
  SPEAKER_05: Like, if you can barely even call it the NFL, the man was drafted 18th overall in the 39 NFL drafts of the Cleveland Rams.
• 1:06:16
  SPEAKER_05: Um, but he turned it down, said no way.
• 1:06:19
  SPEAKER_04: And this is what speaks to it being the 1930s.
• 1:06:22
  SPEAKER_04: He said, No, I'm not gonna play professional football, I'm gonna join the Army Air Corps where he piloted B-25 bombers for the first American volunteer group, nicknamed the Flying Tigers.
• 1:06:37
  SPEAKER_04: He was awarded an air medal, a silver star, and a purple heart in the military.
• 1:06:41
  SPEAKER_04: Seriously, I'd watch a movie on this guy.
• 1:06:44
  SPEAKER_05: For sure.
• 1:06:45
  SPEAKER_05: The guy gave up an illustrious career as a professional athlete to go serve his country in World War II.
• 1:06:50
  SPEAKER_05: The man was shot through both of his legs while uh while flying through the airs of hostile territory.
• 1:06:55
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, so just talk about you know, a service heart and ready to just serve his country.
• 1:06:59
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, you couldn't ask for a better representative of Texas Tech.
• 1:07:03
  SPEAKER_04: Well, speaking of representatives, he was also elected into the Texas House of Representatives and was a part of the legislature that established the Texas Tech Law School and the Health Sciences Center at the university.
• 1:07:15
  SPEAKER_04: So this dude goes way beyond just football at Texas Tech.
• 1:07:19
  SPEAKER_05: This man was bigger than life.
• 1:07:21
  SPEAKER_05: We talk about one of the most influential alumnus of all time.
• 1:07:24
  SPEAKER_05: And I'm ashamed to say this is the first I've ever heard of him.
• 1:07:27
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, no doubt.
• 1:07:28
  SPEAKER_04: And he also served as the alumni association president in 46 and 47.
• 1:07:34
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, he I mean, he's basically as old as Bill Dean, but no, no, I love Bill Dean.
• 1:07:40
  SPEAKER_04: We love this is a Bill Dean podcast right after a Pac-12 podcast.
• 1:07:45
  SPEAKER_04: So this guy, Elmer, was unbelievable, one of the greatest red raiders of all time, and that's not even any stretch.
• 1:07:53
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, he he truly was passed away in 1987 after a battle with Parkinson's and was buried in Lubbock, Texas.
• 1:07:59
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, he's number one for defensive backs.
• 1:08:02
  SPEAKER_04: He is going up into Jones ATZ Stadium.
• 1:08:05
  SPEAKER_04: He is forever going to be one of the best red raiders of all time.
• 1:08:08
  SPEAKER_05: And the there's probably not a single more deserving man up there, to be honest, after reading off all of that.
• 1:08:13
  SPEAKER_05: Hats off to the uh Ring of Honor committee for uh uh recognizing a very, very old player and and and person in the history compared to the others up there on the wall.
• 1:08:25
  SPEAKER_05: So that is that is just an amazing story, and I loved learning all about it.
• 1:08:29
  SPEAKER_05: And geez, wreck them tech.
• 1:08:31
  SPEAKER_04: Let's roll down some honorable mentions before we move on uh to our next segment.
• 1:08:36
  SPEAKER_04: Uh we I had a lot of names on this honorable mentions and and guys from our time mostly.
• 1:08:41
  SPEAKER_05: Uh yeah, for sure.
• 1:08:42
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, I the can I kick it off of the honorable mentions though?
• 1:08:45
  SPEAKER_05: Do it, do it.
• 1:08:46
  SPEAKER_05: All right, so I'm a bit of a legacy, and if it wasn't for Elmer Tro Tarbox, I'm sorry, Elmer Tarbox, it would have been David McFarland, my uncle.
• 1:09:02
  SPEAKER_05: All American Bowl champion where they crushed Duke.
• 1:09:05
  SPEAKER_05: Um, yeah, I had to give him a shout out.
• 1:09:07
  SPEAKER_05: He's one of the best red raiders I know.
• 1:09:08
  SPEAKER_05: Um, and he he's uh he played with Anthony Lynn.
• 1:09:11
  SPEAKER_05: That's probably one of the coolest facts about it.
• 1:09:13
  SPEAKER_05: So he was on the same team as him.
• 1:09:14
  SPEAKER_05: So uh that I had to give him a shout-out.
• 1:09:16
  SPEAKER_05: Who you got?
• 1:09:17
  SPEAKER_04: That is pretty cool uh to have your uncle be a former red raider.
• 1:09:22
  SPEAKER_04: Um, but my he was he didn't make my list.
• 1:09:25
  SPEAKER_04: I'm sorry.
• 1:09:25
  SPEAKER_04: Oh what?
• 1:09:26
  SPEAKER_04: I know he didn't make my list.
• 1:09:28
  SPEAKER_04: Speak for themselves.
• 1:09:30
  SPEAKER_04: No, he wasn't on there.
• 1:09:32
  SPEAKER_04: I did have a few guys, Denton Fox, Ted Watts, like you mentioned earlier, some older names, but I also had Zach McPherson, who had a fantastic season last year.
• 1:09:41
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, one of the best DBs at Texas Tech, or one of the best seasons of a Texas Tech DB.
• 1:09:47
  SPEAKER_04: And then guys that were there in the rough times.
• 1:09:50
  SPEAKER_04: Douglas Coleman uh was a guy I put up there uh in an honorable mention because he he was one of the really only bright spots during some of those years.
• 1:10:00
  SPEAKER_04: And then Jashawn Johnson as well, one of uh you know, a four-year guy.
• 1:10:04
  SPEAKER_04: He felt like he was on Texas Tech's roster forever.
• 1:10:07
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, he was small in stature, but man, he got the job done.
• 1:10:10
  SPEAKER_04: And he was uh he was there for the Patrick Mahomes years, so you're not gonna think of the defensive guys during those seasons, but Jason was always solid, always brought it every night, even if the unit itself wasn't fantastic.
• 1:10:22
  SPEAKER_05: Great picks, man.
• 1:10:23
  SPEAKER_05: Way to give uh credit to where I forgot.
• 1:10:25
  SPEAKER_05: And again, great to giving the uh the credit to the guys that we we saw.
• 1:10:29
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, no doubt.
• 1:10:30
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, again, this is such a hard thing to do when you did not watch the it is, but yeah, those are my honorable mentions, man.
• 1:10:37
  SPEAKER_04: So uh you had something you wanted to bring up before we get to song of the week.
• 1:10:41
  SPEAKER_04: What was that?
• 1:10:41
  SPEAKER_05: I did, man.
• 1:10:42
  SPEAKER_05: So we're in just such a tumultuous time in college sports.
• 1:10:46
  SPEAKER_05: Like, like we never no one's ever seen anything like the situation we're in.
• 1:10:49
  SPEAKER_05: And I'm not talking about super conferences right now.
• 1:10:52
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, can't believe that this happened earlier in the summer as NIL was approved for the for the athletes, so they can make some money on the side.
• 1:10:59
  SPEAKER_05: And the way this is getting even crazier is that Sout Lake Carroll, their their starting quarterback, a senior, is foregoing his senior year of football to go make moolah at Ohio State.
• 1:11:12
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, for one, I hate that he's going to Ohio State.
• 1:11:15
  SPEAKER_05: Texas players need to stay in Texas like that, but I mean, especially if they're going to Texas.
• 1:11:20
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, come on.
• 1:11:20
  SPEAKER_05: Anyway, but um, so Quinn Ewers is foregoing his senior year of high school, the pinnacle of the high school experience, especially if you're playing sports.
• 1:11:30
  SPEAKER_05: He's he's leaving all that behind to go make money.
• 1:11:32
  SPEAKER_05: He's he's gonna make some good money.
• 1:11:34
  SPEAKER_05: People are talking about he's gonna make like upwards of a million dollars in NIL deals.
• 1:11:38
  SPEAKER_05: And I just I just couldn't believe it.
• 1:11:40
  SPEAKER_05: I thought it was worth bringing it up on the podcast because that's kind of gonna be the result of what we're gonna see moving forward as these top high school players.
• 1:11:49
  SPEAKER_05: We might even see them skipping their junior year.
• 1:11:51
  SPEAKER_05: Like this, this is just the beginning.
• 1:11:54
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, yeah, no doubt.
• 1:11:55
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, and this was an NIL decision.
• 1:11:57
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, he went to the went to the legislature or whatever, talked about Texas possibly giving him, you know, NIL money for his senior year, and they said no way.
• 1:12:07
  SPEAKER_04: So that's why he's foregoing his senior year and and enrolling into Ohio State early.
• 1:12:12
  SPEAKER_04: Um, this is just what it's turning into, man.
• 1:12:14
  SPEAKER_04: This is um, I'm not I'm not about to say that uh I'm I'm against these guys going and and getting what they deserve and making money off of their name, image, and likeness, but it's just an insane thing to talk about, uh, especially when you're 17, 18, making money, and and you really haven't even shown that you can be a good college football player yet, you know.
• 1:12:37
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, just for signing up for a big name team, they're getting oogles amounts of cash.
• 1:12:43
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, it's it's obviously if the player can go make a million dollars, who in the right mind isn't gonna just gonna go make the million dollars immediately, even if you're 17.
• 1:12:51
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, people begin their careers at 18.
• 1:12:53
  SPEAKER_05: That's always the uh you know comparison, which I understand.
• 1:12:56
  SPEAKER_05: Um, but it's just it's gonna be kind of sad to see high school football take a hit like that.
• 1:13:01
  SPEAKER_05: You know, high school football is an important thing too, and just you know, the high school experience is just it's one of those big moments in your life, you know, that you'll remember forever.
• 1:13:09
  SPEAKER_05: And you just forget forgoing that, just get there, make his money, you know, play sports.
• 1:13:13
  SPEAKER_05: I'm not giving him a hard time, it's just it's just crazy about the world we're living in and how it's gonna look nothing like we've seen before.
• 1:13:19
  SPEAKER_05: Thankfully, I think this is really only gonna apply to like the five stars.
• 1:13:23
  SPEAKER_05: I think it's really gonna only apply to the guys that are going to Alabama, Ohio State, Texas, Oklahoma.
• 1:13:28
  SPEAKER_05: I think that's really the only way we're gonna see that.
• 1:13:30
  SPEAKER_05: I think most players are gonna stick to with with playing.
• 1:13:33
  SPEAKER_05: I guess the way to look at it is who's up next for South Lake Carroll, right?
• 1:13:37
  SPEAKER_05: So it I just thought it was worth bringing up because we're gonna be living in a new reality, and this isn't gonna be the last guy we see do this.
• 1:13:43
  SPEAKER_04: No doubt.
• 1:13:43
  SPEAKER_04: And it's it's an insane time we're living in, but really a million dollars is life-changing money, and especially for some of these guys that didn't grow up in great situations, you know, grew up poor, didn't have a uh a great background or anything like that.
• 1:13:57
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, uh, you're gonna see more and more of these dudes.
• 1:14:00
  SPEAKER_04: I I'm not saying that this for even a middle class family, that's life-changing money.
• 1:14:06
  SPEAKER_04: No doubt, but you're getting you're getting some of these athletes that grew up with absolutely nothing in their life, and if they're told at 17 years old they can make a million dollars, uh, they're gonna take that 10 times out of 10.
• 1:14:16
  SPEAKER_04: And I don't blame that kid for doing that.
• 1:14:18
  SPEAKER_04: It it it does, it's gonna hurt the overall uh product of the sport, especially for high school football.
• 1:14:24
  SPEAKER_04: But uh, like you said, it's gonna be next guy up.
• 1:14:26
  SPEAKER_04: South Lake Carroll is not gonna have an issue finding another really good quarterback.
• 1:14:30
  SPEAKER_04: They've had plenty go through that.
• 1:14:32
  SPEAKER_04: So uh I don't think it's gonna be a big enough issue to really warrant any like uh panic or anything like that for the product of the sport and what it offers, but you know, I I good for this kid.
• 1:14:44
  SPEAKER_04: I I'm I'm happy that he's gonna be uh making money off of his name and doing that sort of stuff.
• 1:14:50
  SPEAKER_05: Absolutely, it just kind of comes back to us being a little bummed out about the death of tradition.
• 1:14:54
  SPEAKER_05: Um, yeah, so because that's just absolutely death of tradition right there.
• 1:14:58
  SPEAKER_05: So um, but good for him.
• 1:15:00
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, and if if you can do it, go do it.
• 1:15:03
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, because it's almost foolish not to.
• 1:15:06
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, absolutely.
• 1:15:07
  SPEAKER_04: Why would why wouldn't you do that?
• 1:15:09
  SPEAKER_04: So um, but yeah, that's uh that that was definitely an interesting thing to bring up.
• 1:15:13
  SPEAKER_04: It's it's definitely the sport is changing dramatically in multiple ways, and this is just one of them.
• 1:15:20
  SPEAKER_05: Absolutely.
• 1:15:21
  SPEAKER_05: Uh he's a Texas kid too, so that's why I was also like, you know, this is nuts.
• 1:15:27
  SPEAKER_05: Texas football's losing players now early.
• 1:15:30
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, yeah, oh yeah, it's it's insane.
• 1:15:32
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, and it's just gonna keep happening more.
• 1:15:34
  SPEAKER_04: But let's move on to Ender off this pod.
• 1:15:38
  SPEAKER_04: It was a pretty long episode.
• 1:15:40
  SPEAKER_04: It was.
• 1:15:40
  SPEAKER_04: We are going to end off like we always do with Song of the Week since we we've been doing these themes with Song of the Week, and I'm really having a good time with it.
• 1:15:48
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, you brought up this theme because we're talking about Pac-12, Big 12 possible merger.
• 1:15:55
  SPEAKER_04: Who's in the Pac 12?
• 1:15:56
  SPEAKER_04: But California.
• 1:15:58
  SPEAKER_04: We're gonna be doing some California songs of the week here on the Talking Tech Pod.
• 1:16:03
  SPEAKER_04: Tristan, what is your California song of the week?
• 1:16:06
  SPEAKER_05: So, with my California song of the week, I'm going with arguably the most famous California band of all time, the Eagles.
• 1:16:15
  SPEAKER_05: So I'm gonna go with my favorite Eagle song, which is more of a country song than anything, in my opinion.
• 1:16:20
  SPEAKER_05: It's tequila sunrise.
• 1:16:22
  SPEAKER_05: It's an unskippable song for me, and it just sets the vibe right where you're it's just you're taking it easy, you're just listening to good music, and I think that's my favorite Eagle song of all time.
• 1:16:31
  SPEAKER_05: It's tequila sunrise.
• 1:16:32
  SPEAKER_09: It's another tequila sunrise.
• 1:16:37
  SPEAKER_09: This soul world still looks the same.
• 1:16:43
  SPEAKER_04: Another phrase.
• 1:16:47
  SPEAKER_04: There you go, man.
• 1:16:48
  SPEAKER_04: The Eagles is never a bad pick, they are a band that will last forever with just solid jams, no doubt.
• 1:16:55
  SPEAKER_04: My my song that meets a little different, you'll definitely never have heard of them.
• 1:16:59
  SPEAKER_04: Um, I'm going a little hipster uh with this pick.
• 1:17:04
  SPEAKER_04: Um, it's a band called Laney.
• 1:17:06
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, they've gotten a little big over the last couple years.
• 1:17:09
  SPEAKER_04: My sister introduced them to me.
• 1:17:11
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, they have a lot of good, really solid jams, a lot of smooth stuff.
• 1:17:15
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, the song I have chosen for my California song of the week is Malibu Nights by Laney.
• 1:17:21
  SPEAKER_04: It's a really good jam, really just something to vibe with, just super smooth.
• 1:17:26
  SPEAKER_04: Um, that's my song of the week.
• 1:17:28
  SPEAKER_07: So I drop chasing about the boo.
• 1:17:33
  SPEAKER_07: Nights, nothing seems to heal my mind, I can't fungi.
• 1:17:40
  SPEAKER_05: Wow, hipster music, huh?
• 1:17:42
  SPEAKER_04: A little bit, a little hipster.
• 1:17:43
  SPEAKER_04: Not not normally what I listen to, but definitely something to put on a chill out playlist.
• 1:17:48
  SPEAKER_05: Well, I'll be looking forward to hearing that one.
• 1:17:49
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, here I am.
• 1:17:50
  SPEAKER_05: I'm pretty hipster with my country music, so if you can even use those words together, so I'll excuse it.
• 1:17:55
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, this was definitely not country music, so it'll be a little different.
• 1:17:59
  SPEAKER_04: Definitely not something you'd listen to.
• 1:18:02
  SPEAKER_05: Well, I mean, that's a great way to end it off, as always.
• 1:18:05
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, no doubt.
• 1:18:06
  SPEAKER_04: So we are going to end it off with some plugs like we always do.
• 1:18:10
  SPEAKER_04: You can follow me and Tristan on Twitter.
• 1:18:12
  SPEAKER_04: Tristan is at Tristy Mick.
• 1:18:13
  SPEAKER_04: I'm at L underscore S underscore Rodriguez.
• 1:18:16
  SPEAKER_04: Follow the pod on Twitter at talking tech pod.
• 1:18:18
  SPEAKER_04: We are almost at 700 followers.
• 1:18:20
  SPEAKER_04: Give that a follow if you can.
• 1:18:23
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, you can uh listen to our songs of the week playlist.
• 1:18:27
  SPEAKER_04: It is on Spotify and Apple Music.
• 1:18:29
  SPEAKER_04: And uh man, we just appreciate all y'all listening.
• 1:18:32
  SPEAKER_04: Um, always Wreck Em Tech.
• 1:18:34
  SPEAKER_02: Wreck'em Tech.
• 1:18:36
  SPEAKER_02: Uh wow.
• 1:18:37
  SPEAKER_02: First of all, uh got a lot of respect for Steven and Tristan.
• 1:18:42
  SPEAKER_02: Uh their program, tough guys, just uh a lot of fun.
• 1:18:46
  SPEAKER_00: I love the game of basketball, but also love West Texas, and I love Steven and Tristan.
• 1:18:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'm extremely proud.
• 1:18:53
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I don't know where we go from here.
• 1:18:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm thinking I'm just gonna sit back down.
• 1:18:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's just not getting better than this.
• 1:18:58
  SPEAKER_01: I just want to tell Steven and Tristan, thanks for coming out.
• 1:19:02
  SPEAKER_03: The energy uh was really, really good in there today.
• 1:19:05
  SPEAKER_03: Uh we fed off of it.
• 1:19:06
  SPEAKER_03: I think it goes back and forth tremendous.
• 1:19:09
  SPEAKER_03: Uh great job, and um, you know, just just proud of our guys for the way they responded, it