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[♪ music ♪

0:52

Welcome to The Audible, presented by Trader

0:54

Joe's. I'm Stuart Mandell, joined as always

0:56

by Bruce Feldman for our Thanksgiving

0:59

week edition. Both

1:02

of us are

1:03

out traveling for Thanksgiving, coming

1:06

from our respective hotel rooms. We

1:08

are both in the Midwest

1:10

visiting families, and then we're both heading up to

1:12

Ann Arbor for the big game this

1:14

weekend.

1:16

We're going to talk about that in a second, but first, the playoff

1:19

rankings came out Tuesday night. The only real

1:21

change was, and

1:22

we kind of saw this coming, Washington and

1:24

Florida State swapped places

1:27

after Washington picked up its

1:30

fourth top 25 win, or I guess

1:32

now it's three because Utah dropped out.

1:34

It's funny how

1:35

your number of top 25 wins can change without

1:39

actually playing a game. Florida State picked one back

1:41

up with Clemson. Anything

1:43

to do with Jordan Travis not being

1:46

able to? Not yet. Not yet. I think they

1:48

said the boot carrier. First of all, Boot

1:50

Corgan has a weird quirk where if you look

1:52

at the transcripts, no matter what you ask

1:54

him, he always starts his answer by saying,

1:57

again, it

1:59

must be that he.

1:59

He's been talking about this stuff for two days

2:02

with his committee and he'll say, well again, it's like,

2:04

well, we haven't, this is the first time we're hearing you say it.

2:07

What does your weird quirks do?

2:09

You tell me, you hear me talk on

2:11

here all the time, you probably notice more than me. Is it um

2:13

or? No, I don't know

2:15

what it is. I mean, we go through some of them, you

2:18

know, at times you kind of, not you per

2:20

se, but like, there's been times I'm like, obviously

2:22

we'll come out and whatever. But I know just

2:25

when I coach my football kids,

2:27

it's like, I will start by saying real quick and

2:30

then it won't be real quick. It will be like real quick

2:32

and then I have like eight, then I just

2:34

kind of go on to them. I say literally

2:36

too much. Honestly, we could

2:40

go on and on about this, but so

2:42

it's not so much, look, Florida State, Washington,

2:45

either of them went out, they're going to the playoff. Obviously

2:47

we're starting to hone in on what happens

2:51

if somebody loses. One

2:54

that I find interesting is Oregon

2:56

has been right behind Washington from the

2:58

jump. We obviously saw that

3:01

game, close game, but

3:03

it hadn't occurred to me that

3:04

Oregon has

3:06

had several wins against teams that

3:08

were ranked at the time and they've all

3:10

fallen out, right? Colorado, USC, now

3:12

Utah. So

3:15

Alabama fans are sitting there going, what, they

3:18

have zero top 25 wins, we have three.

3:21

Why are they above us in

3:23

the pecking order? They may have another

3:25

one, Stu, that Oregon

3:27

may knock out themselves and that's Oregon

3:30

State. I don't think Oregon State's 16. Yeah,

3:33

I don't think they're going to fall all the way out. I don't think they're going to fall

3:35

out either, but if you notice, there's

3:38

only two teams that have four losses

3:40

in the top 25, Tennessee, who

3:42

I feel like, I'm surprised they're still in it,

3:44

to be honest, and Clemson, which has

3:47

gone on a little bit of a run since they

3:49

were four and four, is 24. I

3:53

mean, does it, I'm asking

3:55

you maybe a rhetorical question, but do you think it would matter

3:58

if Oregon State loses

4:00

and they go to eight and four and then they fall

4:02

out of the top. I mean, is that even, I

4:04

don't like it. I mean, we're at a point in the season that where

4:07

there just are going to be four loss teams in the rankings.

4:09

So if Oregon state 16th, unless

4:12

Oregon beats them a hundred to nothing, I don't think they're going

4:14

to fall out. The other thing is if Utah

4:16

beats Colorado, I would assume Utah is going to come

4:18

back in with four losses. Um,

4:21

my thing on Oregon though is, and

4:24

again, like this drives people crazy. If you don't

4:26

like when the committee says I test or whatever,

4:28

but they have been so dominant in

4:31

all, but the Washington game and even that one was

4:33

a draw, they have obviously

4:35

one of the two best quarterbacks this season

4:38

in BONIX, but they're also number two in the

4:40

country in rushing. And

4:43

I believe there's a, yeah, there

4:45

were top 20 defense. So

4:47

it's like, cause

4:49

they're really good, really good quarterbacks.

4:52

This is not, you know, no offense on all the

4:54

big 10 teams. The big 10 does not

4:56

have the depth of quarterbacks and

4:58

offense that the PAC 12 does. The

5:01

only, so I guess the question would be if

5:03

Oregon beats Washington in the PAC 12 title

5:06

game and Alabama beats

5:08

Georgia, like this may be moot, right? Don't

5:10

you think Alabama would pass them in that center? Well,

5:13

I think the, yeah, yes,

5:15

I do think they would. You're not. So this

5:17

is the issue that I've had with you. I've

5:20

changed my mind. Okay. You just,

5:22

the idea of like, you can have an SEC

5:25

champ that actually would have beaten Georgia

5:28

and undefeated Georgia, which would have the best win in

5:30

the country for the, this year by far.

5:33

Um, I get it. They lost really early in the

5:35

season to me. Alabama

5:37

would feel a little bit like, you know, Ervin

5:39

Meyer had a couple of teams that stubbed their toe earlier

5:41

in the year and then ended up in the playoff. Well,

5:44

when I said that I couldn't see them, that

5:46

I thought it would be absurd if they didn't reward

5:49

Texas for the head to head, in my mind, I was thinking.

5:52

If they came, if it came down to Alabama

5:55

and Texas for the fourth spot, like

5:57

if they're number four and number five, then

5:59

you got to. I go by the head by head, but as I look

6:01

at it now, if Alabama beats Georgia, they

6:04

would jump all the way up to number two,

6:06

probably behind the Ohio State Michigan winner.

6:09

So they wouldn't be particularly close. So then the committee

6:11

would say the tiring doesn't apply. They

6:13

probably wouldn't jump to two, Stu, as

6:15

I think of Washington beats Oregon

6:18

again. I think so, though

6:20

that Georgia win. They

6:23

would be third. Wait, Washington.

6:26

No, they would if by the championship

6:28

Saturday, they would be second

6:31

because you have two wins over,

6:33

you would have two wins over really good Oregon

6:36

team. And then

6:38

you're going to have either wins over at Oregon

6:40

State or Utah, who's like you pointed out

6:43

is going to be ranked because you both are going to be ranked.

6:45

You have a win at Arizona, which now looks way

6:47

better. But

6:50

then there is a scenario where Alabama could

6:52

be like. Well,

6:56

first of all, they might both get in, right? It could be Alabama. You

6:58

got one big 10 champ, an SEC champ,

7:01

and what we think will be a Pac-12 champ. So the

7:03

issue then here is assuming

7:05

Florida State, and I do think this is a

7:08

fairly, this is a bigger assumption.

7:10

Florida State would beat a good Louisville team. Then

7:13

you got Florida State there. Committee's

7:16

life would be a lot easier if Florida State loses. That's

7:19

for sure. If they don't,

7:22

and then you're saying you have an undefeated Big 10 team,

7:25

an undefeated Pac-12 team,

7:27

an undefeated ACC

7:30

team. Well now we are

7:32

talking about one loss, Alabama

7:34

versus one loss, Texas. Are we? Yeah.

7:38

Unless the committee. Alabama's going. I think

7:40

Alabama is going. No, but here's what I think they would

7:42

do just to cover themselves. Alabama

7:45

would move up to three. Georgia would fall

7:47

to four. They'd put both of them

7:49

in then. What?

7:53

I'm sorry, Alabama would fall to four, right?

7:55

Behind the three undefeated teams. Although

7:57

honestly, they could justify moving them

7:59

ahead of. Florida State, you know,

8:02

like, well, that's let's say that's what they do. Alabama

8:04

three with one loss undefeated

8:06

Florida State four, which is like a little bit

8:09

of a nod to know

8:11

Jordan Travis, but they don't miss the playoff because

8:13

of it Georgia five

8:16

Texas six so they'll say well,

8:18

they weren't particularly close to each other. So we didn't have to

8:20

use the sidebreaker If

8:23

you're Texas you need Well,

8:26

obviously Alabama to leave your Texas. This is exactly

8:28

this is the other reason why you left the big 12 because

8:31

yeah I Would

8:34

also say that if you if that happens there's

8:36

gonna be a lot of people who say well Why should you schedule tough

8:38

out of conference? You're not gonna get reward like they

8:40

did exactly what we want people to do. They scheduled

8:43

a really tough home-at-home They won

8:45

it by 10 and

8:47

they could still get left out while the team they beat goes

8:49

in That we had a very conversation

8:52

last week in the studio with Mike killing

8:54

petros about what are you doing? You're

8:56

exactly that point you're

8:59

doing what everybody wants you

9:01

to do and It's

9:04

it doesn't matter, you know, you're this

9:06

is technically a power five conference

9:08

that they're in It's not their fault that

9:11

Oklahoma started stumbling and

9:13

Oklahoma State is it wasn't very it wasn't all that

9:15

good. Anyway, it's not their fault The

9:19

other thing that's worked against the big 12 is you

9:21

know for years. It's been a 10 team

9:23

round-robin Very smooth

9:26

very clean with the new teams

9:28

this year None of whom are good

9:31

You got some really, you know, you've got

9:33

teams playing a bunch of direct,

9:35

right? So In Texas

9:39

and Texas lost Oklahoma. So in their best-case

9:41

scenario, they're gonna have beaten What

9:43

Kansas State and maybe Oklahoma State

9:45

in conference and then played

9:48

a bunch of games against the New

9:50

teams and the the kind

9:53

of mediocre So they

9:55

well, it's your own fault because you lost to

9:57

an Oklahoma team. That's not a top 10 team

10:00

on anyway. Well,

10:04

Oklahoma will be a three loss team, but Alabama

10:06

lost to them. So it's whatever

10:11

happens half the country will be ticked off about

10:14

it. I do think that there's a lot of people who think

10:16

head to head should Trump everything. I disagree.

10:18

Those people. Yeah,

10:21

I don't necessarily disagree. But I'm just I'm projecting

10:24

it. First of all, this already happened to Texas once. They're

10:26

gonna be so ticked. This already happened to them. They're

10:28

going to be at Oklahoma year.

10:31

But I'm just projecting what

10:33

the committee is going to do if Alabama and

10:35

Georgia's 29 game winning streak, which by the way, I don't

10:38

think they will. I think Georgia is

10:40

better than them. We'll see if it

10:42

resolves itself smoothly. So we're both going

10:45

to the Ohio State Michigan game. Oh, I should mention

10:47

right now that one question on this,

10:49

what do you think is a better chance of happening? Alabama

10:51

beating Georgia, or Louisville

10:55

knocking Florida State from the unranked Louisville

10:58

because just because Florida State doesn't have their

11:00

quarterback, and Louisville is pretty

11:02

good. I don't want to like them. I don't think they're a fluke.

11:06

I don't

11:08

think Florida State loses to Florida. Do you

11:10

know Florida? I was just doing my pick. So this is on

11:12

my mind. Do you Florida has the

11:15

129th ranked defense in the country? Like

11:18

we talked about USC

11:20

bad LSU bad. This is even

11:23

worse. So I think with or

11:25

without Jordan Travis, they're going to score

11:27

some points on on Florida. Yeah,

11:31

I definitely would have I would definitely say better chance of

11:33

Louisville.

11:34

I would agree with that.

11:35

Now, Alabama going into the game

11:37

two years ago, nobody gave them a prayer. If you

11:39

remember, they had just come off the iron ball where

11:42

they were losing what 10 to three down to the

11:44

final seconds and then Bryce Young led them down the

11:46

field. And Georgia had been dominant

11:49

all year. So the thought was Georgia was gonna

11:51

crush them and was the exact opposite. So

11:54

I'm never going to totally write off Nick Saban, but

11:56

I do think like he is getting the absolute

11:59

most out of this team. but their

12:01

max scenario, their max

12:04

team is still like you're

12:06

still putting a lot of faith that Jalen Milrow has

12:08

gotten so much better that

12:10

he can do what he did to LSU and

12:13

Tennessee against Georgia

12:16

and I don't I don't have much confidence in that. The

12:18

only part of that stew that I would

12:21

be like you know I wouldn't

12:23

rule it out is that you

12:26

know Auburn with a much less

12:28

athletic quarterback ran all over

12:32

Georgia and that

12:35

was not it

12:38

was mid-season but

12:40

I was like that was a long time ago for Jordan Milrow

12:42

too. You know

12:44

I wouldn't put it past them to give them a lot

12:46

of problems I mean you

12:49

know they've given up a bunch of

12:51

yards on the ground like they gave up a lot

12:54

you know Mississippi was a was a blowout

12:56

but they still ran for almost 200 yards on

12:58

them you know Tennessee you know

13:01

had one big run early which I think probably

13:03

skewed the stats but still

13:05

like

13:06

I don't

13:07

think this defense which

13:09

I had heard was supposed to be you

13:11

know so fantastic hasn't

13:14

been that it's been good but

13:16

it's not you know like again I'm I

13:19

don't think it's gonna be fluky if Alabama

13:23

beats them just because they have a running quarterback

13:25

who's super dynamic you know and

13:27

we'll see we can talk about that next week.

13:30

Okay so this week we've got the big game

13:32

in Ann Arbor number it's the second I mean it's

13:35

crazy it's second year in a row their meeting is

13:37

number two versus number three eleven and oh versus

13:40

eleven and oh and I just

13:42

wanted to talk for a second about rivalries

13:45

and rivalry weekend and all

13:47

the you know I've had the good fortune to cover

13:49

some of some I think we were both at

13:51

the 2006 one versus two game which

13:54

as big as last year in this year feel like

13:57

I don't know that it will ever get bigger than that

14:00

They were one and two pretty much the whole kidding.

14:03

Are you that was big? This

14:05

has the nastiest part

14:07

part of a rivalry Beyond

14:09

I was gonna say Henry up there hardy up

14:12

died that I can think Like

14:14

this is so much nastier

14:16

than that was well Yeah,

14:19

remember with it wasn't Michigan

14:21

Back then yes.

14:23

Yeah. Oh, it was Lloyd Carr against Jim

14:25

Cressy boy card. Yeah Coaches

14:28

hate each other. They were both asked this week

14:31

some version of you How much do you respect and

14:33

they both wouldn't go there like

14:36

they hate each other and that's great. That's great

14:38

for content I'm like they need each other. This is

14:40

so much nastier than that. Yeah, but

14:43

you're okay. Yes, it is nastier

14:45

but I'm saying bigger like

14:48

One there, you know you've talked about how

14:51

the number in front of the team matters in the TV

14:53

rankings TV ratings There

14:56

that was a one versus two games

14:58

this and where they were both hold

15:01

on they were both They

15:03

were one and two. I think pretty much the whole season Ohio

15:06

State was definitely one and this

15:08

seems silly now with the SEC being what the

15:10

SEC is but Like

15:12

I feel like it was two months of well if it's a close

15:14

game Well, Michigan Michigan loses could they still

15:17

go to the championship? There was no regard given

15:19

to Florida who ended up crushing

15:21

Ohio State that year So it just felt

15:23

like we spent the entire season building

15:26

that up This year

15:28

it's a huge game, but

15:30

it feels like you know To

15:33

Georgia still Georgia, right? So it so

15:35

they're still number one that being said

15:38

I cannot remember any Lead

15:41

up to any game much less Ohio State, Michigan Like

15:44

this where that's where one team

15:46

has been caught Let's

15:49

say it cheating a Lot

15:51

of the fan base thinks that the team they're about

15:53

to play turned them in or had something

15:55

to do with it They definitely know that they were

15:57

probably stealing their signs the

16:01

coach is suspended like this is

16:03

an extremely unique backdrop and I'm

16:07

bracing for like fights

16:09

in the stands fights between

16:11

the players Coaches getting

16:13

like the press box media members throwing

16:16

down now I don't know about that but like

16:19

keep an eye I mean you'll be down the field but keep an eye

16:21

out just like when the teams come out for warm-ups You

16:24

might I mean you might you it's

16:26

not unusual to see like before a big rivalry game The

16:28

players get into it. I could see the coaches getting

16:30

into it So I'm

16:33

glad I threw this at you because

16:35

it surprises me and it maybe it's a different

16:37

era that it was because we're talking About 2006 versus 2023

16:40

the TV rating

16:43

for that game, which was on ABC almost 22

16:47

million viewers I Believe

16:50

it. I get since the 93 Yes,

16:53

they've not now this this

16:56

is not NFL numbers like NFL numbers are

16:58

insane what they do, but I'd be

17:01

shocked not shocked I'd be

17:03

quite surprised if This

17:05

game got 20 million viewers. I

17:08

got asked that exact question in my mailbag

17:10

this week What did I think the rating was gonna be I

17:13

didn't go quite that high Last

17:15

year's game was seventeen point

17:18

one million and that was the most

17:20

since The 2011

17:23

LSU Alabama game which

17:25

what and that one was 20 million again. That was

17:27

a one versus two game So

17:29

I think this will be somewhere. I

17:31

honestly don't think it matters one versus two two versus

17:34

three so So

17:36

I said 18 million

17:39

you're saying 20 I'm

17:42

I'm guessing that it looks we place a bet

17:44

on it No, we shouldn't because I don't know like

17:47

what goes into this Get a TV the

17:49

TV network showing the game you might have more audience

17:51

insight than I do I would if I maybe

17:53

I knocked on the right doors I don't care that

17:56

much about maybe I should cuz of my bosses But

17:58

like I don't care that much whether it does does 20 million

18:00

or 18. It's just hard, those

18:07

18, 19, these are all numbers

18:09

for college football regulars. Those are better than I

18:13

believe the semi-final, college football semi-finals

18:15

do. It's

18:18

also like, I

18:20

mean, Ohio State, Michigan, I think depending

18:22

on what part of the country you're from, where you've grown up, that

18:24

might influence what you think the biggest rivalry is. The

18:27

Iron Bowl is obviously huge, but

18:29

for my money, it's Ohio State, Michigan. And

18:33

there was a period there where it just wasn't that

18:36

good. It was very lopsided,

18:38

Michigan wasn't that great. And the Iron

18:40

Bowl was the rivalry, starting

18:42

in, what Harvey Updike was

18:44

what, the 2010 game, the Cam Newton game.

18:47

So if you start with that one and go through

18:50

the

18:50

kick six,

18:53

I was there in 2017 when Auburn

18:55

beat undefeated Alabama to

18:57

go the SEC Championship game. Like

18:59

that was the rivalry in the sport for a good

19:01

seven, eight years. And the last couple, Ohio

19:04

State, Michigan is kind of taking the spotlight back.

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21:26

top

22:00

memories, to be honest. Really? It's

22:03

just not. Funny,

22:05

I just think of it as like the pinnacle of Cam

22:08

leading. Now again, there's

22:10

some definite biases here for me because,

22:13

you know, I work with Joe Tess on

22:15

the Roll Tide War Eagle documentary

22:17

and so much of it was revisiting that.

22:20

But like, the comeback, what it

22:22

was, Cam being in the room

22:24

when Cam was talking about that

22:27

comeback and all of it where

22:29

you're sitting there and he is, you know,

22:33

it just was like, it

22:36

felt very all theatrical

22:39

in how it was. You know,

22:41

you can still hear like Eli Gold's calls

22:43

on this and different parts

22:45

of it. And because it was so

22:47

nasty, you know, of Cam,

22:49

it has some

22:53

similar feeling to me of

22:55

this year with Michigan. Yeah, well,

22:57

it's very similar with the accusations.

22:59

Yeah, the rest of the league

23:02

is, it just wasn't as vocal as this.

23:04

But to me, that was there. I mean,

23:07

I'm not surprised you would say that was number, you're number

23:09

one. I'm just surprised you said Ohio State Michigan wasn't like,

23:12

what else? It's just not

23:15

like, I remember being

23:17

at the Orange Bowl for some wild Miami

23:20

Florida State games. And those are the two best programs in

23:22

college football. And you just had larger

23:24

than life people out there, you know,

23:27

with it.

23:29

I was at the second wide right game in

23:32

our third wide, it was wide right three in 2000. And

23:36

I was very new to the profession. And

23:38

I don't think I quite grasped

23:40

or appreciated what I was witnessing at the old Orange

23:42

Bowl. But yeah, that that I

23:44

guess that goes number two on my list. Last

23:47

year in Columbus was one

23:50

of the will be one of the most memorable

23:52

games I've ever been in, you

23:54

know, when I say a part of it, I mean, like I'm on the field.

23:58

And to be there where I It

24:00

blew my mind about what was

24:02

happening about, you know, it

24:04

was going to be the revenge game for Ohio State. It was in

24:06

Columbus. You know, there are people there saying

24:09

it was going to be a fluke and then

24:11

Going up to the game. I remember talking to Michigan

24:14

staffers on the field about

24:16

just how banged up They were like horns really

24:18

not going to be able to give them anything Donovan

24:20

Edwards has got to do a soft cast on his hand.

24:22

He probably can't catch the ball You know, there's

24:24

this guy who's banged up that guy who's banged

24:27

up When for the first half

24:29

it felt like they were teetering on getting blown out of the building

24:32

And then in the second half it was like

24:34

yeah, we're tougher than them These guys are going to

24:36

quit and they're telling all their you know, I can

24:39

still remember being around that you know,

24:41

like Sainer still had two

24:43

picks last week against Maryland

24:46

and throughout it the one thing I know I

24:48

know from him Is seeing

24:51

the smallest guy in the field standing above his bench

24:53

pointing at Ohio State's bench Talking

24:55

about how we know they're going to quit. We know

24:58

who they are Like it's such a visceral

25:00

thing And then you know,

25:02

tom ronalding I were working and he was the

25:04

sideline reporter of the game I said to him just turn

25:07

around and look at this and it was just

25:09

total like disbelief

25:13

in the fans of all the Ohio State fans

25:16

and then You know Jake bud

25:18

who's now in the media as a announcer but used to be

25:20

in a really good Michigan tight end I saw him on the field

25:23

after the first ottoman I was long run and

25:26

you know, I Think he believed it

25:28

was coming But like we're standing

25:30

there and it was almost like you're looking at

25:32

the wreckage and then all of a sudden He busts like another 80

25:35

yard run, you know. Oh my god.

25:37

This is like just

25:40

I cannot remember a game where I was

25:42

just like It

25:45

just is just a different that's why I like

25:48

You know and the the game where you were talking

25:50

about before you don't normally, you know, all these famous

25:52

games You didn't splotch them from the sideline You

25:55

know, you had a vantage point. Yeah,

25:58

I actually did have I actually was on the sideline

26:00

for the 2006 game because

26:03

that was in the middle. And I think you'll remember

26:05

when I say this in the middle of ESPN magazine

26:07

was, was, was persona

26:10

non grata with Ohio state at

26:12

that point. It had to do with

26:14

one of my former coworkers had

26:16

done a story about, it

26:19

was just compilare. Yeah. Yeah.

26:21

And, Oh, wait, I think I remember this thing. We're going

26:23

to give you a credential. Yeah. I booked

26:25

in and then all of a sudden we found out, yeah. And so the

26:28

college game day guys were like, here, we'll get you a sideline

26:30

path. And I remember going to like some sporting goods service.

26:32

I'm like, man, cause I think it was a three 30 kick. And

26:35

I remember thinking, yeah, I better, I need to

26:37

have more warm clothes. Cause I'm outside,

26:39

you know, just standing there. So,

26:42

but I don't, you know, I don't remember

26:44

it the way I remember granted. That was almost 20

26:47

years ago, but. You

26:49

know, thinking about like the iron bowl with

26:51

cam was different. Like I

26:53

remember, you know, some

26:56

of those, like the Florida state, Miami

26:58

games, cause it was the orange bowl was so nasty.

27:01

You know, the environment, like it just,

27:03

you had, it was just kind of wild. The orange bowl

27:05

was as loud as could be. I think that

27:07

was part of it. I'll tell you a game I remember

27:10

and I wasn't there for it. And I had

27:12

such a weird perspective on it

27:14

because I was in Oklahoma. I

27:17

was, my crew is about to do, I want to say Oklahoma,

27:19

Iowa state. And I'm watching LSU

27:22

against Alabama.

27:24

And it's really the, like, this is the Joe burrow

27:27

team and I'm watching it with Barrett

27:29

Jones, you know, former, you know, all American

27:31

offensive lineman. We're like in the press

27:33

box where they're the only two people watching it. And

27:37

just to see that go on, you know,

27:39

like this was a. Breakthrough

27:42

moment for that LSU team. You know, they were, I think

27:44

they were the better team anyway, but at that point we

27:46

weren't sure of it. And just to kind of see that

27:48

and listen, you know, watch Barrett's roller coaster

27:50

emotions as LSU jumps out to

27:53

this, this big lead, I think

27:55

sometimes the rivalries are made when

27:57

the team you don't think is going to

27:59

win. And you're the

28:01

only ones who think they're really gonna win as that team.

28:03

I think that's what does it, you know to be

28:05

honest All right. I want to give my vantage

28:08

points for several of those the 2010

28:11

iron Bowl Will be good boys.

28:14

Yes. I was flying from

28:16

st. Louis, which is actually where I am right

28:19

now for Thanksgiving to Reno

28:22

through LAX and You

28:25

know, this is I don't remember if there was even Wi-Fi

28:27

in the fun time I watched the beginning

28:30

of the iron Bowl at an airport bar then

28:32

I'm getting updates on it I don't

28:34

remember for it. I think I actually went through the

28:37

plane. I just was in the dark But

28:40

I remember when we left Alabama

28:42

was up did they get up 21 nothing or

28:44

was it 17? Yes, that's what

28:46

it was when I got on the plane And

28:48

then when I got off the plane Auburn was

28:50

winning and I was able to catch the end of

28:52

it at the hotel but you know And

28:55

then by the way, the Boise State Nevada game is one of the

28:57

absolute most memorable I've ever covered But

28:59

that's not I don't think of that as a rivalry

29:01

game kick six The

29:03

last time I was at an Ohio State, Michigan

29:05

game was a 2013 game It

29:07

doesn't really get mentioned among the greats, but it

29:10

was crazy It was the game where their

29:12

offensive lineman got ejected and

29:14

gave the double bird

29:16

okay, and

29:17

The game came down

29:20

to Michigan scores a touchdown To

29:22

get it was like 42 41 and Brady Hope goes

29:24

for two with Devin Gardner and Tyvis

29:27

Powell intercepts it Yeah,

29:29

if if it if they get the two-point conversion,

29:31

Michigan, Ohio State was undefeated if they get the two-point conversion

29:34

They knock Ohio State out of the championship

29:37

race right there So then you know,

29:39

we're up writing our stories and the iron Bowl is

29:41

going on on the TVs And

29:43

I start to realize that there's no

29:45

point in me turning in this story without knowing

29:47

what's happening in that game So directly affects Ohio

29:49

State's chances. So we're just kind of waiting

29:51

for it. And when he turns the corner on

29:53

the kick six The entire

29:56

press box lost their mind So

29:58

that was my vantage point on that one And then the 2019

30:02

Burrow versus Tua game, I was at

30:04

that game. It was amazing. It's

30:06

everybody, you know, now it's like, well, duh,

30:09

that was one of the greatest offensive of all time. People

30:11

forget that like I was at the LSU

30:13

Alabama game the year before that when Alabama shut

30:15

them out. For much of that, I'd say

30:17

for the first two thirds of that season, there

30:20

was a feeling of like, this is too good to be true.

30:22

Like how could LSU go from years

30:24

and years of miserable offenses

30:27

to this machine? But

30:29

when they put up 46 on Alabama,

30:31

that was the moment of, okay, okay. You know,

30:33

like this is real. This

30:35

is happening. And so that

30:37

was a little bit surreal to be had. I remember actually asking Nick

30:39

Saban at the press conference, like

30:42

what changed for last year and he's like, this

30:46

isn't completely different offense

30:48

than what they were running last year. Like there's literally

30:50

nothing similar about it. And

30:53

you know, that, that game goes down

30:55

in the history books as I think like kind

30:58

of the defining Joe burrow moment

31:00

in college.

31:02

Um,

31:03

so I had

31:06

to get a new computer cause

31:08

of some issues with my other one and I'm locked

31:11

out of our audible pod at gmail.com address.

31:14

I can't remember the password cause it was, you

31:16

know, saved on my other one for years

31:19

and of course you don't know what it is. You probably haven't opened that email

31:21

since like 2015 or something.

31:24

I've never opened that email. You've never once opened it.

31:27

Let me tell you something. It's a lot of spam and

31:30

David Eisen, he's in there every week, Jason Garluski,

31:33

you know, all our regulars. So

31:35

I'm really sorry guys, but I'm not able to

31:37

retrieve those emails right now to do a mailbag

31:40

section. I promise I'll have

31:42

it resolved by next week. Enjoy

31:44

your holiday. Enjoy all the football.

31:46

Oh, wait, should we give our ISA Michigan prediction?

31:49

Sure. Why don't you go first? I was certain

31:51

about Michigan up until last week. The Maryland

31:54

gave me a game, gave me a little bit of pause.

31:57

Mostly because of JJ McCarthy. Like all

31:59

along I've been thinking. they've got this big advantage at

32:01

quarterback. And now I'm like, do

32:03

they? But I'll stick with Michigan,

32:05

they're in Ann Arbor. I just,

32:08

my concern for Ohio State is the offensive line. I

32:11

don't know how it'll hold up against Michigan.

32:13

So I think I'm taking Michigan in a

32:15

low scoring 17-13 kind of game. I

32:20

am with you on that. I have a little bit of concern.

32:24

Colin McQuirt has played well in some

32:26

tough environments. I don't think he's going to have

32:28

seen anything quite like this. And

32:31

the one thing that gave me pause happened last

32:33

week and it didn't have to do with Michigan Maryland. It actually

32:35

happened to do with Minnesota, Ohio State.

32:38

And it's something I already knew, but maybe had a reminder.

32:40

And sitting in studio all day, you see a lot

32:42

of the same highlights. And I was like,

32:45

yeah, Trevion is probably the most talented running

32:47

back in college football. He's not always

32:49

healthy and he wasn't for much of the year.

32:51

But if he's rolling, he's the guy

32:53

who turns things into touchdowns.

32:56

And it

32:57

wouldn't surprise me if he busted a 75 yard

32:59

run to break the game open or put them ahead.

33:01

But

33:02

I'm still thinking Michigan

33:05

is convinced it's the tougher team. And what you

33:07

said, I do agree with. And

33:09

I don't think it's a point that gets made enough is

33:11

that, you know, Ohio State lost a

33:13

bunch of really good offensive linemen, including a couple

33:15

NFL guys up front.

33:18

And I think their guys are still pretty talented,

33:21

but I don't think they're as good as they were

33:23

last year. And whereas I think the Michigan

33:26

defensive line, actually, I think it's better.

33:29

And I think the Michigan front is better. So I'm

33:32

listening to Michigan to do a three Pete. I

33:35

would wonder in this regard, and we've talked

33:37

about this a little here and there, but like, how

33:39

much different do you think it is? If you're

33:42

Ryan day and you lose a third time, but

33:44

then you lose this game, it's

33:46

not to Jim Harbaugh, it is to

33:48

Sharon Moore. I

33:51

mean, what would be the fallout of that?

33:54

First of all, the fact that we both pick Michigan, despite

33:57

having almost talked ourselves into Ohio State. is

34:00

a good sign for Ohio State. I'm

34:03

sure there will be like a lot of angst and

34:06

uproar, but like the guy has

34:08

a 900 winning percentage. He

34:11

is 38 and two in the Big Ten. Obviously

34:14

you don't wanna lose three straight to Michigan, Jim

34:17

Harbaugh or not. But what I would say

34:19

is, given what's going on at Michigan,

34:23

I don't know if Harbaugh's gonna still be there, I don't know what kind

34:25

of punishments they're gonna be facing. Like

34:27

this might be the end of that window. You're

34:29

gonna lose your third straight, everybody's

34:31

gonna be mad at you, but

34:34

then I don't know that Michigan's gonna still

34:36

be at this level come next year, and

34:38

the rivalry might swing back. I

34:41

think that's a very reasonable assessment.

34:43

I don't think Michigan- I know fans won't be

34:45

reasonable about it, but that's my

34:47

reasonable assessment. Yeah, I don't

34:50

think Michigan's gonna be the same. They're gonna lose, maybe

34:52

it's not 20 NFL draft picks, maybe it's 17. Whatever

34:56

it is- By the way, you're the one who put the 20 draft

34:58

picks idea out into

35:00

the world, and now I know it's back. I

35:03

know, because, well, I mean, Harbaugh

35:05

told me it. That's why when

35:08

I saw him at Big Ten Media Days and we were

35:10

all walking around, he said it, he basically

35:12

rattled off all the guys who were, and

35:15

that has ended up getting a... And

35:18

for whatever, say whatever you want about

35:20

the Connor

35:22

Stallions scandal, as it were. If

35:25

they have 15 or 20 players drafted,

35:28

that is because the NFL thinks those guys

35:31

are really talented players, and have been developed,

35:35

not related to whether they

35:37

had advanced scouting or not. So I guess what

35:39

I'm saying is, Michigan

35:42

has been the better team the last two years, and they may well be

35:45

the better team again this year, and

35:47

that's a total swing from where it used to be, and

35:50

Ohio State fans have a reason to be pissed about that. But

35:53

I'm more bullish on Ohio State's

35:55

future than I am Michigan's. So

35:58

if they could just try to not panic. I

36:00

mean the guy what's gonna happen? He's got 900 winning percentage.

36:03

He's not gonna get fired for losing three

36:05

straight to Michigan He's

36:08

gonna come back next year and do it again, so Before

36:11

we go one last question for you. What

36:13

is the other game you're most interested about this

36:16

Thanksgiving weekend? Yeah, I would say the

36:18

other one is actually as Florida State, Florida, even

36:20

though I said earlier I don't see how Florida can win it

36:22

just the unknown of seeing Florida

36:25

State without Jordan Travis Florida's

36:28

gonna be without Graham Mertz that can't bode

36:30

well, but who knows and There's

36:33

you know, just the stakes like obviously

36:35

Florida State cannot afford to lose that game I'm

36:39

like, you know Oregon Oregon State will be fun on Friday

36:41

night. It's in its own window But I

36:44

don't really see a path for the beavers there LSU

36:47

A&M we're not gonna get to see because we're gonna be at Ohio State,

36:49

Michigan But that's like the last

36:52

you know Heisman showcase opportunity for Jayden

36:54

Daniels. What about you? I

36:56

would probably say it's the front of that game of Oregon

36:59

and Oregon State. I think I

37:02

just feel like everybody's so Almost

37:04

everyone I was so been worked themselves

37:07

up and believe being that Oregon can

37:09

win the national title you know,

37:11

I don't think they would stumble here, but

37:14

it is a rivalry game and You

37:16

know, it's not in Corvallis That's the only difference

37:18

a rivalry game and like we said a lot of the kind

37:21

of statement win like Oregon's big statement

37:23

Lynn was that was that Utah and

37:25

Utah has slipped back So

37:28

this may well be or be you know,

37:30

the best team Oregon's played so far this

37:32

year But

37:34

to lay bow next this plump, you know bow nicks right

37:37

now if the season ended today would have the Would

37:40

break Colt McCoy's all-time completion percent

37:42

record. I know that because our

37:44

researchers at Fox talked about it on Saturday

37:47

It's not like the guy only throws, you know

37:49

screen passes like every time you watch him Throwing

37:52

the ball downfield to wide open

37:55

Troy Franklin or Taz Johnson.

37:57

So

37:59

It's

37:59

remarkable but so is Jayden Daniels and I'm

38:02

sure you have the like the Bizarro

38:05

flip I cannot right it's just crazy

38:07

to me that both of those guys who I feel

38:09

like we're kind of under like written off

38:11

at the previous place is you know

38:14

one of them is probably gonna win the Heisman well the funny

38:16

thing is that the LSU fans who

38:18

are like indignant that we haven't already handed Jayden

38:20

Daniels a trophy still look at Bo Nix's

38:23

Auburn Bo Nix and the Oregon

38:25

fan Auburn Bo Nix beat them Auburn

38:27

Bo Nix I had a crazy third down

38:30

conversion that kind of broke their back well in Arizona

38:32

State Jayden Daniels as a freshman ruined

38:35

Oregon's playoff hopes but

38:37

Oregon people and John

38:39

Conzano did not I

38:42

can't imagine what his mentions were like where he just kind of flippantly

38:45

said on Twitter this week Jayden Daniels

38:47

wouldn't even start at Oregon he'd be on the

38:49

bench he said no he said Jayden Daniels be holding a clipboard at

38:51

Oregon or Washington so that didn't

38:53

go over well like both fan bases see

38:55

the guy for what they were at their

38:57

previous stops and can't accept that

38:59

they're so much better than they

39:02

were then all right for the second

39:04

time I'm gonna say have a great Thanksgiving enjoy the

39:06

games we'll see you next time

39:20

I gave my brother a New York Times

39:23

subscription cheap setting your

39:25

year-long subscription so I have access to all the games

39:27

we'll do word old mini spelling

39:29

B it has given us a personal

39:32

connection we change articles

39:34

and so having read the same article we can

39:36

discuss it the coverage the option

39:39

it's not just news

39:40

such a diversified bit I

39:42

was really excited to give him a New

39:44

York Times cooking subscription so that we could

39:46

share recipes and we even just shared a

39:48

recipe the other day the New

39:50

York Times contributes

39:51

to our quality time together you

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have all of that information at your fingertips

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it enriches our relationship broadening

39:58

our horizons it was such a It's just a cool

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and thoughtful gift. We're

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reading the same stuff. We're making the

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