Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Steven M. Sipple talks Nebraska football, Bill Bender talks College Football & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports

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Steven M. Sipple talks Nebraska football, Bill Bender talks College Football & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

0:03
It's time for SIP. Stephen M Simple talks with
0:08
myself and Penn on Nebraska football.
0:11
I mean, I have a radio show, we have callers.
0:13
I pay attention to my Twitter notifications and all that.
0:17
There's definitely some frustration.
0:18
We talk Cornhuskers, and you never know what else is going to
0:22
come up with 30 years on the Nebraska beat.
0:28
Here's Steven M Simple. As long as they're paying me to
0:30
talk, I'm just going to keep doing it.
0:33
I'm Melanie Condon. Welcome back into our number 2
0:36
Iowa Sports Radio Network. Trent Condon Kendaller until 2,
0:40
the drive coming up to until 5, Heather and Lucas.
0:43
No, it's not Heather. Today she did the morning show
0:45
Lucas and I think Bussy TuneIn too.
0:48
It is it that the that's the combo right now.
0:51
We got Stephen M simple Bill Bender coming up a little bit
0:53
later on in this hour. Good to talk to you, old friend.
0:56
How are you? Good, good to good to join the
1:01
Iowa Airway. I like Iowa.
1:04
I'm glad to glad to be on with both of you guys.
1:07
Absolutely look forward to it. Sip Well, I guess you know,
1:10
let's kind of take a from a 40,000 foot view of what lies
1:14
ahead, which starts I think Nebraska opens up on a Thursday,
1:18
if memory serves, coming up this year.
1:21
But just not, not the schedule per SE.
1:23
Just what where are these rules may be concerned?
1:27
Is there a, is there a position group that has the media and
1:32
maybe the coaching staff a little bit worrisome as to what
1:36
what they're going to see or if things been shored up?
1:40
Oh, no, there's like, I mean, I don't think, I don't think
1:45
there's a program in America that doesn't have some soft
1:49
spots, so to speak, right. Or some spots of concern be it
1:55
brought, you know, we're talking about position groups and
1:57
Nebraska's, you know, the pervasive narrative is do they
2:01
have enough upfront on defense? You know, is it they lost 3
2:05
starters, 3 good ones? I mean, Ty Robinson was a third
2:10
draft pick or third or fourth to the Eagles.
2:15
Nash Bakker was a veteran starter, plugger in the middle.
2:20
And they lost a kid, Jamari Butler to LSU transfer portal.
2:25
And when those guys came to the line of scrimmage, they meant
2:28
business and they were good. And Nebraska was tough up front.
2:33
All gone. And now you don't know it just
2:36
it's an unknown doesn't mean it. Hell, for all I know it'll be
2:40
better. But but it's hard to imagine
2:44
right now. Do they have, so do they have,
2:47
you know, will the starters play at a level that the former guys
2:52
did? And do they have enough depth?
2:54
And those are the questions. Do they have enough?
2:56
They have the bodies. I mean, of course they have guys
2:58
that I should say, do they have enough quality depth?
3:01
And again, they're just, they're unknowns.
3:06
But man, that's the place where I don't know, whenever I talk to
3:10
somebody from the opposing team, I just start the conversation
3:14
with how's your run game, you know?
3:17
Yeah. But I think that's, that's where
3:20
I, I wonder about Nebraska a little bit, how they're going to
3:22
hold up. Well, one of those guys said
3:24
been I think that he was able to solicit the most money from NIL.
3:31
Is the Missouri transfer his last time?
3:34
Is it Winery? How you see Winery, 6 foot 7 and
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a five star coming out of high school, went to Missouri, played
3:42
in a few games, obviously arrives with huge expectations,
3:47
4 years of eligibility. But you know you'd like to think
3:50
he's only good to be 3. They're three years.
3:52
If you've identified just how good you think he's going to be,
3:55
what can you tell us about Winery?
3:57
And is he legit? Oh, I mean, it's too, too early
4:01
to say quiet. Yeah, I'd say a quiet spring
4:05
there wasn't I Now listen, it's about.
4:08
I don't know. I don't know how it.
4:10
Works in Iowa. We don't.
4:11
See, we see, we saw parts of two practices, but you don't see any
4:16
live action like I didn't I didn't see any how he held up
4:20
against the run or anything like that.
4:21
What kind of what he looked like coming off the edge in a live
4:24
situation. He didn't you know, he didn't
4:27
play much at Missouri. I've watched this high school
4:29
film and he's one of those guys where I called him, Oh, damn,
4:34
guys, when you turn on the film, you're like, oh, damn.
4:37
I mean that that that him in high school.
4:40
But you know, you see a lot of that then it doesn't look like
4:44
that when they get to the big, when they get to the big league,
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the Big 10, whatever case may be quiet for him.
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I wouldn't say there was anything that he did this spring
4:56
that would make you think he's going to come in and make a huge
4:59
impact. Now he's got August.
5:02
He got August too, though. You know, he got August to come
5:05
around and, and, and get his, you know, get more firmly
5:09
planted in the program. There's some guys up front
5:13
though that have, there's a kid named Van Poppel.
5:16
You would, you would know his dad.
5:18
His dad was the pitcher. Todd Van Poppel.
5:20
Yeah, his dad was a fireballing pitcher, Really good pitcher.
5:24
Now his Oakland. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
5:26
I had the baseball card. Did you?
5:29
Yeah. What's his dad's first name?
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Todd. Todd.
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OK, Now Van Poppel, this kid is he's young, he's going to
5:38
sophomore, but that's a lot of people think he could be like
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the next great one. His dad I think was the 15th
5:44
overall fix. And the kids got a lot of he's
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an he's an athletic big man, you know, and he'll he'll be in
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there. They got a kid named Fiona Davis
5:57
who's who can play. I think he played last year as a
6:00
freshman and was pretty good. But you know, 8 to 10 to 12 snap
6:04
type guy. But good.
6:06
He's good. I mean, I think he could be
6:07
really good. You just don't know.
6:11
They have a well, they got a kid named Kim Lenhart who's played
6:15
actually quite a bit, wasn't as good last year.
6:18
He had a really good freshman season then kind of dropped off.
6:21
They have some materials. What I'm trying to say here, but
6:24
the defense is interesting to me because they're really athletic
6:28
on the back end. I mean, and then I mean the back
6:31
step, they they've got some really athletic linebackers now.
6:36
It's they'll be a good looking team when they trot out there,
6:40
they're going to look like you should look probably, you know,
6:45
they're getting to the point, they're getting back to the
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point where they look more like more like Penn State and less
6:53
like Purdue. You know, I mean, this is
6:58
Nebraska's starting to look like it should.
7:01
Couple of new weapons coming in for Rayola.
7:04
Danky comes in from Kentucky and Isaiah Hunter from Cal.
7:07
So yeah, absolutely. Last year what we saw out of a a
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couple of young guys that are going to be at the wide receiver
7:13
group, however, is Rayola putting in the work.
7:17
I mean, we see this kid, it's not a talent problem.
7:20
You see the talent is absolutely there, but little thick through
7:23
the middle. Cosplaying, trying to be Patrick
7:26
Mahomes Is is he putting in the work or, or is he out there just
7:30
playing dress up? No, he's a you say, a little
7:35
thick through the middle. And somebody thick through the
7:37
middle, I can say that. No, he's not.
7:42
He got he's got himself in really good shape.
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Good. He's now there was some talk
7:47
over here of that in the winter time, but no, he's in great
7:51
shape. I always, the way I convey is
7:54
this. We did get a couple
7:55
opportunities to watch practice, early stages of practice.
8:00
And the way I always look at it is like if I was a guy that got
8:03
dropped into Lincoln or us coming through from Albuquerque,
8:07
and I said, hey, I'm going to go to the stadium and see what I
8:09
can see. You just.
8:10
Walked out there and watched the five or six quarterbacks It
8:15
would take you, Trent, someone who knows college football, it
8:18
would take you probably all of 40 seconds to say that must be
8:22
their starter. Yeah, because he's he just.
8:25
He's a great looking athlete. I mean, he's probably could be a
8:29
Major League Baseball catcher if he turns his attention to
8:31
baseball. He's a great baseball player.
8:33
He's just a big time athlete. And you see it like it's really
8:37
evident when you're watching him out there 63220 the way he
8:40
moves. And I'll tell you what what I
8:43
kind of chuckled when you're asked the question.
8:45
Will he put in the work? Oh God, no, he's, he is, he's
8:51
zealous about wanting to be an NFL player.
8:55
He he's So what he's all about. He wants to and they're not just
8:59
he wants to be great for Nebraska.
9:01
Dad played here, his his uncle, the offensive line coach.
9:05
He wants to resurrect this place.
9:07
But his, his, you know, he wants to go make a lot of money.
9:10
He's already making a lot of money.
9:11
He wants to go make more. And he's all about, he's all
9:14
he's all about. He's a millionaire at age 19 and
9:19
he's he's all about being a great quarterback.
9:22
I never the one thing is I chuckled because I, I stayed all
9:26
the time around here. I never worry about him working.
9:28
I mean, he's he's always working.
9:31
So that's not a problem. I love the line, but it's so
9:34
it's just it takes some still takes some getting used to.
9:37
He's already made him a lot of money.
9:39
Just wild. Except the schedule itself for
9:42
years of seemingly the Big 10 not doing Nebraska any favors
9:46
with the schedule. This might be a schedule that's
9:50
for the first time in a lot of years may be more workable than
9:53
some of the others. Yes, Michigan's on there.
9:54
You get them at home early in the year, first Big 10 game.
9:57
Penn State's the final Rd. game of the year before hosting Iowa
10:02
on Black Friday. But the schedule overall, as I
10:04
look at it, not the most difficult at Maryland, at
10:08
Minnesota, a part of it. Michigan State's on the list, of
10:11
course, UCLA and USC, but it's not brutal, I don't think.
10:15
No Oregon SIP. Nope, it's not.
10:18
It's not brutal, but refresh me on what's the last game in
10:23
October and what's the November schedule.
10:25
Home to Northwestern and then November the four games home to
10:30
USC at UCLA. So we've been the Rose Bowl at
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Penn State off a by, and then six days later you're hosting
10:38
Iowa on Black Friday. Really hard November.
10:42
That's what it's all about to me.
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I I'm. Always a little bit.
10:47
I feel a little discomfort sometimes when I when I hear the
10:51
question you just ask, we get asked that a lot Is schedule
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stiff? Is it manageable, more
10:58
manageable? I don't know.
10:59
November is really hard and November is what it's all about.
11:02
I mean, that's that's where you're going to find you kind of
11:05
the way I look at it, you're kind of going to have to wait to
11:08
find out if this program is really, really taking another
11:12
step. You're going to have to wait
11:14
till for those games. UCLA, say what you want, they
11:18
came in Nebraska and beat up Nebraska last year.
11:20
They're there. The Sean Foster means business
11:23
now. They're not great.
11:24
I don't want to act like that. But that was a tough team that
11:28
came in here and you know, UCLA got some things done last year.
11:32
If you could look back, they weren't too bad.
11:35
And US CS got to win. They got to win, man.
11:39
I mean, got it. They got to and you know they'll
11:42
have Astra, you know, especially you know, they're there's
11:47
receivers and the skill guys. He's got to get bigger, better
11:51
up front. But.
11:53
Come on, man. Finn State and Iowa, those are
11:55
just got to be you. Play those games.
11:57
That last six days apart. Yeah, yeah, you're a little beat
12:01
up. Oh, man, that's rough.
12:05
That's rough, dude. That's rough sled.
12:07
In both cases. I, I have great, great respect
12:11
for both those programs. That scene in Iowa City last
12:15
year, people get sick of me talking about it over here.
12:18
But that, that, that the way that game transpired and the
12:22
feeling in that stadium when, when those fans in Iowa got, you
12:26
know, they started getting that feel like, oh, we got this.
12:29
You know, you're down 10 and you're like, yo, we got this.
12:32
And then that they start that let's go Hawks chant.
12:36
It's blood curdling. And it's like, it's like, oh,
12:39
God, this is rough. I mean, I, I that that let's go
12:43
Hawks chant freaks me out. I mean, that is, there's some
12:47
anger in that, in those horses now.
12:50
Yeah. Especially when Nebraska is on
12:52
those Love the game. I love it.
12:54
I love it. I do, too.
12:55
I love it when they come here and I love it when Nebraska's
12:57
there. It feels like a rivalry to me.
12:59
It's not debatable, but it feels like.
13:04
Zip. I got a question for you a
13:06
little bit off the beaten path, but Jack Tamala, kid from over
13:10
there in Omaha, Millard South committed to Iowa State, he
13:14
bent, went to Nebraska Bunch, never got an offer.
13:17
Is it as simple as they got the little Rayola kid that is
13:20
committed and they're only going to take one quarterback because
13:22
when Alabama starts sniffing around, you got a kid in Omaha
13:26
and he doesn't have a Nebraska offer certainly raises some
13:29
eyebrows. Is that been a conversation
13:30
piece over there? Yeah, it is.
13:33
It's an ongoing conversation, especially when when the Alabama
13:37
offer news broke. Yeah, it's a conversation piece,
13:42
but people understand it. The Rayola family is loyalty
13:46
here. I mean, it's not just Dylan,
13:49
it's it's Donovan who's the offensive line coach and it's
13:53
Dominic who's one of he's the, I think he's the second best
13:57
center to ever play here at Nebraska.
14:00
Remington. Yeah, Remington.
14:02
He's got the award, David after. That, Yeah.
14:04
And Dominic won the award. Dominic's one of the most
14:08
vicious competitors I've ever, ever covered.
14:12
So, and he's very the Dominic just loves the program.
14:16
I mean, they they're all about Nebraska.
14:18
So I think there's some grace is what I'm telling you.
14:22
I don't know. I mean, here's the thing, I
14:24
don't ordain tomorrow. I mean, it's, yeah, he's a good
14:27
quarterback, but I think people conjure up a lot of images in
14:32
their head. You just don't really know how
14:35
how it's going to look. So I don't get too wound up
14:37
about it. You know, back to Penn State for
14:39
just a second. Where are you on Drew Aller?
14:41
I mean, he's getting a ton of accolades.
14:43
Second quarterback that's going to be drafted.
14:45
Sip. I've watched him and and he's a
14:47
good quarterback. Don't get me wrong.
14:50
I'm not sure he's a great quarterback.
14:51
Obviously he's got he's got to take a step and maybe there's a
14:54
step there for him to take. What's When you watch Drew Aller
14:57
play What do you see? It's really interesting that
15:00
you're asking me that because I spend a serious amount of time
15:03
on the radio over here wondering the same thing that you like.
15:07
I've never, I've never quite understood it.
15:10
Now the thing that you have to acknowledge though, was what he
15:15
had around him wasn't great at not not from a receiver
15:18
standpoint. They didn't have much at
15:20
receiver at all. Yeah, tight ended excluded, they
15:23
had no receiver receptions against Notre Dame, which is
15:27
basically unheard of. Now they did it.
15:30
They have Tyler Warren, but no, I don't see it with Al or I
15:34
don't see the big hit factor. I see Platt ranked in fifth of
15:39
all quarterback, which I guess I I mean, I can live with, but I'm
15:47
with you. I've never he doesn't push the
15:49
ball down the field very well in my opinion.
15:52
But again, hey, hey, Kenny, we have to be fair.
15:54
He didn't have much at receiver. Now he does.
15:56
It looks fun. It looks like they they went and
15:59
got three guys in the portal that I think can play.
16:02
They get a they got a kick from Syracuse is really good.
16:04
So let's see what it looks like when he has a better receiving
16:08
core. Last Nebraska football question
16:11
for me, Sip Looking through now, it's a depth chart from over our
16:16
land, so I don't know how up to date this actually is, but I
16:19
took a peek down to special teams and there I see Tristan
16:22
Alvano and John Hole back in the place, kicking from an Iowa
16:27
perspective. Sure, Running back with those
16:29
two guys, that's what they're going to do.
16:30
They're not going to bring anybody else in after the
16:32
kicking woes that we saw last year.
16:35
They did bring somebody else. They did OK.
16:37
Yeah. They brought in a kid named Kyle
16:40
Cunanan from Cal. Now, he didn't kick.
16:43
He's only at Cal for a spring. He kicked at Charlotte.
16:47
It's a kid that Mike Eckler, who's a new special teams coach
16:51
here, had recruited out of Sunny Slope, Arizona, Sunny Slope High
16:56
School, very familiar with him. He kicked at Charlotte for a
17:00
season, parts a season and parts of a second season.
17:04
Numbers weren't great. I think I'm going to say 19 for
17:06
25 field, which is very similar to Hole in Albano, but they
17:11
brought in here. Here's the thing about Nebraska,
17:14
or maybe it's the same with Iowa.
17:16
I don't know how the wind swirls there, but the wind really
17:18
swirls in the more memorial stain.
17:20
It's an odd place to kick, something we've talked about
17:23
over the years here a lot. Just a hard place to kick
17:26
because it's the winds kind of unpredictable and you need
17:30
somebody that that their technique is sound and
17:35
consistent. Even if they don't, even if they
17:38
don't hit the home run, even if they they don't really
17:41
necessarily hit a 55 yard as long as they can, they can drive
17:45
those 4045 yarders through. That's what they're looking for.
17:49
And I think that's what they found in Kunan and someone they
17:52
see with a consistent technique that's not kind of all over the
17:56
place. Nothing.
17:58
I mean, Alvano was a little like that.
18:01
I'm not going to be honest. And I don't think Alvano, I
18:05
don't think Alvano will be in the picture.
18:07
It'll be a race between John Hole, who was pretty good last
18:10
year. I think he made his last nine or
18:11
ninth versus last 10 missed. One against island.
18:16
Yeah, did he miss one? OK, yeah, I can't remember that,
18:20
but yeah, Cunanan an hole will probably be battling for it.
18:24
The big news too is they're going to rugby style punting,
18:27
which Nebraska's never done. In the time I've been covering,
18:30
30 years, they've done it in spots, you know, they'll do it
18:34
sometimes, but they're going to a rugby scheme and they're
18:38
bringing in a kid that will punt left and right footed and he'll
18:42
get, yeah, it'll be interesting. Yeah, correct me if I'm wrong
18:46
Sir, but I want to just follow up 1 basketball one, but wasn't
18:50
it more of AI mean it was a part and parcel right?
18:53
Sure, the kicker missed some, but if I recall there was some
18:55
bad snaps, some bad holds, right?
18:58
Yeah. Oh God, it was a nightmare
19:00
there. Got 10 kicks blocked last year.
19:02
I mean, now I want you to think about that number.
19:05
I don't know if I ever had anything like that.
19:08
I, I, there was, I, I went through seasons after seasons
19:11
after season cover Nebraska where they didn't get kicks
19:14
blocked and they got 10 blocked last year.
19:17
And the whole, the, the snaps were the major issue.
19:20
The major issue there was there was some old issues, but no,
19:25
they had, they had two, you know, a nightmare.
19:28
There's a nightmare. Get you out of here on this
19:30
Brother Hoiberg. All good.
19:33
Any pressure on him this coming year?
19:35
I know that they've like, everybody's at the transfer
19:37
portal. Hard.
19:39
Does Hoyburg is there, you know, Is his seat hot?
19:44
No, I wouldn't say that he's beloved.
19:48
I mean, there's no listen, I got careful because there'll be some
19:50
fans who say simple, it's crazy. He's got a crazy viewpoint of
19:55
Nebraska basketball, which I kind of do.
19:58
I in one breath I will tell you that his seat's not hot.
20:02
And in the next breath, I'll tell you that the expectations
20:06
here are so exceedingly low that I barely can pay attention to
20:09
the program anymore. I mean, it's just they just
20:13
don't expect anything. I mean, now again, I just, I get
20:17
a lot of heat for that cake here.
20:19
A lot. But listen, he's going to his
20:23
7th year and he's never won an NCAA tournament game.
20:25
He's only made it once and there's no heat on him.
20:27
So what else do I need to say? Isn't that?
20:31
Isn't that pretty much argument once?
20:33
All you need to know the defense of the Crown Championship isn't
20:37
going to cut it next year. I would.
20:39
I'll do it with some people here.
20:41
I'll get the YABBA tip, tip, tip, tip.
20:43
They won the crown, man. You get that and this is legit.
20:46
They will use that. I mean this is amazing.
20:49
Hey here. We've got you on.
20:52
Well, we've got you on the air. We're having a little get
20:54
together for the Big 10 media big and you know, but Nebraska
20:57
goes Tuesday right of of Big 10 media week, I think.
21:03
Is it Tuesday? I think it's Tuesday.
21:05
It's early in the week anyways, but good, so are we and we're
21:08
going to have a media get together at Circa on Tuesday
21:11
night. We're going to buy some beers
21:12
and get you over to Circa and watch in the world's largest
21:16
sports book. It'll blow you away.
21:17
I've. Got to go there.
21:18
No, you have to go there. I'll be disappointed if you
21:21
don't. I've known you for 35 years.
21:23
More than. That Yeah, we're going.
21:25
OK, I'm going. You got my word.
21:27
I'll be there. If I have to move heaven and
21:29
earth to do it, I'll do. I'll do.
21:32
And bring your belt. Yes, I will.
21:36
We'll talk to you. We'll talk to you before that
21:38
belt. Good to talk to you.
21:39
Sip. Have a great rest of your
21:40
summer. OK.
21:41
Thanks for jumping on good to talk to you Stephen M simple
21:46
part of on three media huskerillustrator.com does
21:49
morning radio over in Lincoln and for years wrote for the
21:52
Lincoln Journal Star and a good dude.
21:53
Yes, he really is one of my favorite people and I love to
21:57
flip a little crap at him every once in a while too.
21:59
Yeah, there's not an appearance that goes by.
22:02
And he joins us. If you're new, the show every,
22:05
well, once a week during the college football season.
22:07
But right now, it's time to head to break.
22:09
But before we do so, let's give somebody a chance here to win
22:12
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Suntan City. Suntan City location throughout
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central Iowa. Bill Bender joins us next.
22:32
Miller and Condon, Iowa Sports Radio Network.
22:38
I just passed 130. Welcome back Miller and Condon
22:40
on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
22:42
Coming up top of the hour, the drive, Lucas and Alec Bussey
22:46
today take you until 5:00 and then overtime Iowa from 5:00
22:50
until 6. Let's get our friend Bill
22:52
Bender. And here he writes for THE
22:54
Sporting News. Mostly covers football, but
22:57
deputized last night to cover that basketball game.
23:01
Well, yo-yo, Bill, as you wrote, maybe one of the greatest
23:04
comebacks ever in that building, Madison Square Garden.
23:07
We've seen some what a game. I know the latest is always the
23:10
greatest, but in this case, it might just be correct.
23:13
Bill Bender. Yeah, I think that game was a
23:16
little, I mean, I remember the original and I think last night
23:20
was a little bit of a hybrid of that game where Reggie Miller
23:24
scored 25 points and 1/4 and the one where he scored, what was
23:29
it, 8 points and 9 seconds? And it was kind of that ruled
23:31
into one. I know from my end, I was
23:35
getting ready to watch the Untold, Brett Barb.
23:38
And then somebody texted me. He's like, he's like, you're
23:40
watching this, right? Because it was starting to get
23:42
good in the fourth quarter. But so I made sure I saw that
23:45
finish. It was amazing.
23:46
Absolutely was. Well, did you get to Brett
23:48
Farve? We know you're a Packer fan.
23:50
To watch it. Only now.
23:52
I had I did not last night, but I you know, I it's on the you
23:56
know what they call it the queue or whatever and that we'll get
23:59
to that, but not until after I read about this breaking news
24:02
about the college. How about that?
24:04
Some common sense wins today, it sounds.
24:06
Like, yeah, and everybody's on the same page, Bill, and you
24:09
cover this sport as long as you have, you know how difficult
24:12
that is. But for everybody to
24:14
unanimously, and that's what it took to get this right, which
24:18
which what Bill's referring to is it's now straight seating.
24:21
No more of those automatic buys into one 2-3 and four.
24:24
It's one through 12 and away we go.
24:27
They got it right, Bill Bender, as you said.
24:30
It did, and I thought. It was a.
24:33
Lot of fun to see you know, I've I've argued that I thought that
24:37
was one of the flaws in the Death Star, so to speak.
24:39
And now, you know, like I was saying, if you looked at last
24:42
year, the 8-9 game should have been Boise State in Indiana.
24:46
And you can't tell me it would awesome to watch like Ash Denti
24:50
and Kurt Signeti and you know, one of those that win and you
24:54
know, this is I you know, it just makes sense.
25:01
And finally. I know how many.
25:03
For something that makes sense and feels really good.
25:08
Cutting out a little bit there Bill and hopefully we can get
25:11
you locked and loaded here. So we in the interim have the 12
25:15
team playoff for one more year. Is it heading to 16?
25:18
I mean is, is it just need to be rubber stamp that we're going to
25:21
16 starting after this season? I yeah.
25:24
And now I'm curious to see what the automatic qualifiers will
25:28
be. Are we?
25:30
I would ditch those two. By the way, if we're actually
25:33
going to do this by seating, can't we just take the top 16
25:36
teams and on any given year, the Big 10 might have five and then
25:41
six and on another year they might have two.
25:44
And if that's the way it is, then so be it.
25:47
So I think we need to put the right 16 teams in the playoff.
25:51
I, I've never asked you guys, I don't know how you do like the
25:54
playoff pairings in Ohio or Iowa high school football.
25:57
We have a computer system in Ohio and I'll explain it to you
26:00
in full sometime. I'm telling you it works.
26:03
It it puts the teams in the correct order and the teams that
26:07
get in get in and and the formats pretty good.
26:11
We use the RPI and we need to advance past that, but it was a
26:15
step in the right direction, so beggars can't be choosers.
26:18
We're trending positive. I'll have the boys and Boo make
26:21
a phone call out to their Ohio, and if you guys got it done
26:23
right, we need to get there with you.
26:25
Well, the way we used to do it is, and I still think this is
26:28
right and it would be good for a 16 team model was we had four
26:32
regions in the state and the top four teams in each region went
26:36
and there was a computer system behind it, so you had to beat
26:39
one. It's very comparable to what
26:41
we're dealing with now. Like you could be a eight and
26:43
two team to play the ridiculous schedule and maybe you get in
26:48
over that nine and one team and there was some controversies
26:50
there. But in general, if you had to be
26:53
good to get in, and I think that's what the College Football
26:57
Playoff needs to be. We can debate the regular season
27:00
all we want, but to me, the sport in its current state, why
27:05
don't we protect the playoff? I think that's the best bet for
27:08
the future. Let's protect the OR perfect and
27:10
protect the playoff and this is a way of doing it.
27:14
I couldn't agree with you more, Bill.
27:15
I read your list of top quarterbacks, boy.
27:18
Arch Manning, right, sits behind Quinn Ewers.
27:21
Who was he a seventh round pick this year?
27:23
And wasn't he for a lot of time projected to be the number one
27:26
overall pick? Am I making that up?
27:28
I thought he was projected to be, you know, pre season last
27:32
year. This is going to be the guy and
27:33
he goes in the seventh round. So Arch Manning waited his turn
27:37
behind a 7th rounder. Are we convinced that Arch is
27:40
going to take college football by Stormy?
27:43
Certainly got an unbelievable team around him.
27:45
He's got more athleticism than his two uncles who played in the
27:48
NFL. Obviously Arch Manning.
27:52
Are we certain? I'm the way I put it in the
27:57
article is if you're going to go in, in the hype, go all the way
28:00
in. There's no reason for me to say
28:02
he's going to be everything that we think he's going to be and
28:04
then rank him like 11. It's not going to get as many
28:08
clicks. Come on.
28:10
I do believe in the skill set. I think in that setup, he's
28:12
going to be really good. And I'm a big proponent of
28:15
whether it's him or, you know, Julian saying that Ohio State,
28:19
there's others waiting your turn.
28:22
I'm a fan. And I saw that with Garrett.
28:24
Nuffmeyer last year that. That guy waited his turn at LSU
28:28
and he's #4 on that list. If Archie is who we think he's
28:33
going to be, it's going to be a lot of fun to watch.
28:37
And #2 as far as the hype goes, 10 if they beat Ohio State 1.
28:43
You know, I live right here in, right?
28:46
We're not going to be able to contain that height.
28:47
If it comes up here and wins, go away.
28:50
Totally weird question. It's still cold in Ohio.
28:52
Where is same awful brutal. I have a sweatshirt.
28:56
On yes, Ditto. And a stocking cap.
28:58
It's unbelievable. Not fun.
29:00
Yeah, no, it's not. Boy, you mentioned it.
29:02
Ohio State and Texas to lift the curtain.
29:05
While it's sad, it's week 1, but my God, Bill.
29:08
I mean, I know there's been great games in week one in the
29:10
past, but this one has to be on any list, does it not?
29:16
I mean, Week 1 is awesome. It's that one.
29:18
And there's, you know, LSU and Clemson and Death Valley at
29:21
night. Some consternation up here in
29:23
Buckeye land about the noon start.
29:27
Because I and I see that Ohio State's become a big new state
29:32
and a lot of their games, that should be a prime time.
29:36
Game. Yeah, they're doing Miami
29:39
Carolina debut with Belichick. I I think this week 1 some years
29:43
we were worried about that in the 12 feet playoff set up.
29:45
Will the will the games live up? Will these games great but we
29:49
we've got a load of 1. Where's where's game day going
29:52
to be? Where?
29:52
Where? Where's Corso going to a bit of
29:54
you. It's got to be the Florida State
29:55
game, right? Yeah.
29:57
So yeah. So Alabama, Florida State would
30:00
make sense for that game and for Corso and what he's been able to
30:04
accomplish. I just don't think it can be
30:07
understated what he means like in college football to me, Like
30:11
I, I mean, he's part of my growing up with the sport and
30:15
just a passionate guy about it. And, you know, we looked back at
30:18
this, we're working on something Sporting News about it.
30:20
In 1999, he had a perfect season with the helmet gear.
30:26
Did he? I didn't remember that.
30:28
So and it was a wild college football season, so you
30:31
appreciate everything he's done for the sport, there's no
30:33
question. All right, Kim brought up your
30:35
list, top 25 quarterbacks and I got a bone to pick with you #14
30:42
is Hoover, Josh Hoover good quarterback, Big numbers last
30:45
year at TCU and TCU was probably better because they kind of fell
30:49
off the mat with those back-to-back losses in September
30:52
for a lot of people. However, you put him at 14 and
30:55
you got Rocco back at 16. Come on.
30:58
Come on, Bill Bender. People wanted Rocco back lower.
31:01
I'm getting I I love Rocco. Yeah.
31:04
Because what does Rocco do? He wins.
31:05
He does wins games. He throws touchdowns and he
31:09
doesn't turn the ball over and he's not fancy about it.
31:12
And he sounds an awful lot like the guy that puts the 49ers that
31:16
played there. So Hoover did have a strong
31:20
stretch there, kind of like them.
31:24
You know, when you're filling in the Big 12 sleeper team, some
31:27
people like TCU, you know, I didn't even have Baron Morton on
31:30
that list and I feel terrible about it because he had a good
31:33
team. So Big 12's got a lot of
31:36
quarterbacks that are hard to sort.
31:37
And we're Robertson, the other one.
31:40
That's the guy that he's a dude. I've seen list where he's like 8
31:46
so maybe we're too low on him. My last thing for you, Bill, and
31:51
it's Clemson and I think they're a major player this year.
31:54
I really do. I would be not be shocked if a
31:57
dabble's on the podium that Monday night in January once we
32:01
get to there and he's the one that's accepting the trophy are
32:04
certainly part of it. I I think Clemson's got a big
32:06
chance to, you know, get back to where they were and kind of fell
32:09
off of that level of of play over the last couple years.
32:14
I think they're all the way back.
32:16
Obviously, as you mentioned, the game against LSU week #1 is
32:19
going to go a long way to determining if we're right about
32:21
Clemson. I love him, Bill.
32:23
Am I crazy? Five players in the top 50 Big
32:27
board, big test early against an SEC team, Dabo.
32:33
And we're, you know, next week, maybe you guys can ask me back.
32:36
I'm speaking an invitation to the working on working on them
32:39
coach rankings now, and that's the one that really gets people
32:44
going and Dabo playing and make fun and pick at his convictions
32:50
all we want. Guess what?
32:51
I'll give you an early spoiler. He's going to be in the top
32:54
three because that guy just continues to win.
32:56
Yeah. And I bet you Matt Campbell's
32:58
probably higher ranked than a lot of people would believe.
33:01
But we'll see. And I and we will.
33:03
What? So what day is it coming out,
33:04
Bill? Next Wednesday, I believe,
33:07
here's one thing I I will, I'll believe you on this one, Bill
33:11
Belichick. And the answer is no matter
33:14
where we put him. Yeah.
33:16
Either right or we're wrong, because it's just so hard to
33:19
rank the greatest NFL coach of all time.
33:21
No question could be fascinating.
33:23
We'll talk to you on Thursday. I'll reach out next week.
33:25
Thank you, Bill Bender. Enjoy the weekend.
33:27
And no problem. Happy, happy Memorial Day
33:28
weekend. Have a good one.
33:30
Yeah, good to talk to you, Bill Bender from The Sporting News.
33:32
It's list season and Bill's as good as they are at these.
33:35
He puts a lot of weight for effort into him.
33:36
He does and and. He knows I would.
33:38
Just of course he was. He's got our #3.
33:41
And I I think that's fair though.
33:43
Why don't I like him? I don't know.
33:45
He throws it. Well, is it?
33:49
That's right, he. Hasn't he had nobody around him
33:50
with the exception of Tyler Tyler Warren which was held
33:53
weapon? 23 and 6 record as a starter. 53
33:56
touchdowns, 10 interceptions. Numbers are there.
33:59
Improved immensely last year with Koden Eckley coming in.
34:03
There's another jump, an improved wider Sievert group
34:06
and. Do they do?
34:08
They're the most talented team this year in the big.
34:09
I was going to say, does this the year they finally get over
34:11
the hump? They're the most talented team
34:13
in the Big 10. They didn't say they're.
34:15
Getting over the hump. Because they're not the most.
34:16
Well coached team in the Big 10. You're saying, oh God, I can't
34:19
believe we're talking football. I'm so pumped up.
34:22
I will take the time. I'll come back and finish out
34:23
the program. Miller and Condon on the Iowa
34:26
Sports Radio Network. Trent's plays of the day or
34:28
next. Circus sports sponsors.
34:30
Those. I'm Miller and Condon, Welcome
34:34
back. Final few minutes here on a
34:37
Thursday. The drive is coming up next to
34:39
until 5 Alec Bussey and for Heather Lucas Alec till 5:00 and
34:45
then five to six overtime Iowa. So Oklahoma City, Minnesota
34:49
Timberwolves tonight. Will the whistle go SG as way
34:56
like it seemingly did in game number one or because we've
34:59
heard nothing but complaints about it?
35:02
I'm wondering if that means anything and and resonates at
35:05
all in the officials room. Well, and I wonder for Game 2,
35:08
is there going to be one of the guys that we seem to know from
35:11
time to time who the officials going to be?
35:13
So I'm going to take a peek at that right now and see the game
35:17
detail and see nba.com and see who these officials are going to
35:21
be for tonight because there are certain names that seem to kind
35:26
of pop to the front, right? And we get them.
35:30
Don't see who the officials are though listed here as of yet, at
35:34
least where I'm looking. But something keep it on.
35:36
I like the Timberwolves. You can grab the seven and a
35:39
half. Do you like them out right?
35:40
No Nas read. Has to shoot better than one for
35:44
11 Dante likewise, he was 3 or 12 from 3, three or fourteen
35:48
overall. You look at the final score, it
35:50
was not indicative of what that game was close 2 1/2 quarters
35:54
and then exactly and then it fell apart.
35:56
That's going to happen. OK, C is going to do that, but
35:58
I'll go back to the well again, more than anything, as I said
36:01
after the game, need to see that swag.
36:03
Anthony, let's go. Edwards needs to go out there.
36:07
He's got more than 18. Does he need to have 30?
36:09
Maybe, but I think more importantly, he's got to bring
36:13
that. He's got to bring.
36:14
I'm the best player on the floor.
36:15
Yes, put SGA in his place, talking trash, doing his thing,
36:21
that technical, I think it was impactful the other night.
36:24
So that's what I'm looking for on that front.
36:26
And yes, I will be grabbing the points in that.
36:29
Does Randall need to carry him again if.
36:32
No, no I don't. Think not, because I'm not sure
36:34
that it's sustainable. Right.
36:36
Yeah, I I don't think he can. And because that, let's hope
36:39
that it doesn't turn out to be that I'm going to play more
36:42
basketball tonight. Oh, the WS on Prime.
36:46
So it's the rematch, it's the dream, it's the fever.
36:50
When Atlanta's way on Tuesday, what's the point spread on that
36:53
one Indiana favorite on the road?
36:55
They are up to a 4 1/2 point favorite.
36:57
They didn't open it that. It was 3 1/2 when it opened.
37:00
So we saw the steam in Atlanta back on Tuesday night.
37:03
Now we're seeing the steam come back the other way on the Fever.
37:06
I'm going to jump on that steam this time and lay it.
37:09
They played so poorly defensively in that first
37:11
quarter. They gave a 31 points and a W
37:13
NBA 10 minute quarters, right? That's unthinkable.
37:16
Just terrible defense there. I think they'll be ready.
37:20
And one thing that we've seen in the past, Caitlin's teams, they
37:23
seem to bounce back after a performance like that and I
37:26
think that'll happen here. I'll lay the forward.
37:28
What? What are her props?
37:30
Have you found her props for tonight's?
37:32
Oh, they're out. There, I know they're out there.
37:34
I don't have them in front of me, but let's see what we can
37:36
find. Perhaps 22 1/2 the number of
37:40
points. And she had 27 in the game on
37:44
Tuesday night. 9 1/2 in terms of assists.
37:48
So really close to a double double again. 3 1/2 is the
37:51
three-point total that she has. She had five in the game on
37:55
Tuesday. And her rebounds you get at.
37:59
The four and a half, Five and a half, 5 1/2.
38:01
The over heavily juiced, at least the spot that I'm looking
38:04
at here on the action nap. So -4 1/2 in that one.
38:08
It's a six. O'clock tip 630 Yeah what it
38:11
like 6? Yeah, me too.
38:12
Beggars can't be be choosers. Baseball a America.
38:17
Late slate tonight. Late games anyways.
38:19
Guardians Tigers. Good one in the sense.
38:22
Yeah, it is. By be against Flaherty, I'll
38:25
take Flaherty. Lay the -126 in that one with
38:29
the Tigers. One play in Major League
38:31
Baseball. But we're not done with
38:32
baseball. I'm taking the Indiana Hoosiers.
38:35
Are you tonight at 9:00? Against Iowa you can find it on
38:39
DraftKings. I've searched other places, I
38:41
have not seen it listed. FanDuel didn't have it listed.
38:43
Bet Rivers didn't have it. Circa didn't have it.
38:46
Because Iowa is not going to be pitching their best.
38:49
They have punched their ticket already.
38:50
It is a meaningless game for the Iowa Hawkeyes.
38:54
Well this could be a money making.
38:55
Opportunity. So it's all about Saturday and
38:57
you're going to go against the Hawks here tonight.
38:59
I I kind of like the strategy. I just won 34 the price there.
39:03
All right, that's going to do it for us.
39:05
Enjoy all the games tonight, don't think they're quite come
39:09
quite as close to the dramas we saw last night, but here's open
39:12
and it's sports and you never know.
39:15
Drive is coming up next. Heather's back in tomorrow
39:18
morning. She kicks things off at 6:00.
39:20
Trent and I are with you every Monday through Friday from noon
39:23
until 2 talking sports with you. Will speak with you tomorrow.
39:26
Enjoy the rest of your day.