Touchdowns, Tinsel, and Truth Bombs: A Hilarious Huddle on College Football Playoffs and Festivities!

This is episode number 241 of The Homeowner Show. Well, whether you're DIY or looking to hire, we're here to help you find the best information and options for you and your home. My name is Kevin Hackett, and here with me is Craig Williams.

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to The Homeowner Show. We're so glad that you could join us for another episode of the show. What's going on, Kev?

Oh, well, it's, uh, it's been cold.

It's been a little chilly.

Yeah.

Dipped down in the 20s last night.

It did. It was, uh, did it go to the 20s?

It did.

I didn't realize.

I mean, the high 20s, but it was, it was there. It's like 28, 29.

Okay. Well, yeah, it was a little chilly, but, uh, man, I, I don't know. It's, I, I love this season. I've said it multiple times over the years, over our 8 and a half, how many years we've been doing this? Like, I, I love Christmas. It is my favorite time of the year, uh, even despite all the traffic, which is insane right now. It is absolutely nutty. I, I, well, and on top of that, I mean, there's just so much of it that if you're not paying extra careful attention, then you wind up on your top, uh, like I saw today on, on 45 South.

Oh my gosh. Um, you saw, yeah, completely flipped over.

Yeah, completely flipped over on his top. Um, which, you know, who knows, anything could have happened. But, um, despite that, like, I don't know, for the most part, people are in a good mood. And I mean, I just, there's a spirit of giving and excitement and, you know, we got cool stuff happening at church and, you know, my son's going, I gotta buy stuff for my sis. And I mean, it's fun, you know, it's, it's, uh, it's exciting. So how you doing?

I'm doing good, man. Yeah. It's, uh, I'm, I'm excited. I mean, like Christmas for our family is, like a season of busy for sure. My wife, I mean, she works— I mean, for people that don't know, my wife is a pastor at our church. She's over all the nonprofit. She's called the Outside the Walls pastor. And so she works with 12 different nonprofits, and those are just the ones that she's officially partnered with.

Right.

Through her job at the church. But then there's a bunch of— and so I think she's doing 15 different Christmas parties, just in the next 2 weeks.

I mean, I guess they got end of year giving stuff that they're trying to give people opportunity for, but also benefits these nonprofits like crazy.

Well, yeah, but a lot of them that she works with are kids in foster care. And so she wants to jump in and make sure that they have fun Christmas parties for those kids and that they get to have a good Christmas and that they feel a part of the season. I mean, because that is a, let's just be honest, part of being a foster kid is sometimes you just get placed in a home and you're just neglected or overseen. And she will not stand for that.

Yeah, no, she will not.

So, I mean, her and my daughter, I think when I came home this afternoon, there were, I think, 15 girls in my house all up there wrapping presents.

That's awesome.

For kids.

I love it.

That they're throwing a Christmas party. I think it's tomorrow.

I don't know. Well, I can't keep up. We all know that your wife is way better than all of us combined. Like, if we took all of our best qualities and like put them together, we might come not even close, actually. She's just so much better than me.

She's better than me, that's for sure.

She's a great— I mean, this is something true to her heart for sure.

Oh yeah. She wouldn't be any other way.

No.

So it's good. It's also exhausting. Yeah, of course. But good exhausting.

Yeah.

So, you know, and just a season to be grateful. I mean, speaking of which, we need to thank our sponsor before we get too far down the road on this one. We need to give a shout out to True Texas Solar. Guys, the end of the year is upon us and it may be too late, but you need to give 'em a call and see if you can take advantage of those tax incentives on the solar systems because those are going away.

Yes.

The time is nigh. And if you wanna take advantage of the incentives that the government's gonna give you to, you know, get solar on your home and get those whole systems in place, now's the time.

Yeah, I mean, it's not just that the, I mean, this isn't the only time you can get solar.

No.

It's just that right now there's massive incentives to get it.

Right.

And if you're going to, then figure out a way to do it now. And I know it's a big decision and I know there's a lot of questions that are, that are, important to be asked.

Yes.

But I think you might be surprised at how quickly those questions can be answered.

Sure.

And, and Josh and his team are so knowledgeable. They've been through this, you know, hundreds and hundreds of times, and they can, they can help. And so, not just your, your solar, they can also help you with roofing. That's a, you know, another thing that you might need to get done before the end of the year.

It's a good time to get it done.

It's a great time to get it done. A lot of people aren't thinking about their roof right now. Uh, because we, we're not having like major storms or anything, but, um, I'll tell you this. I mean, if you got any issue, any issues with your roof, it can cause problems during the winter.

Mm-hmm.

So, uh, you know, get it checked out. They can do a, a free inspection, all that kind of stuff. They'll, they'll take it, they'll take a look at everything, make sure you're where you need to be. Uh, I would highly, highly recommend their, uh, their team. Uh, their number is 936-286- 8325. You can also get them at truetexasolar.com. Yep.

Um, yeah. And so, I mean, speaking of, of car wrecks, I mean, we went through a, just a horrific situation with my, my daughter. Um, and I know you know about it. Um, and I don't know if everybody else knows about it, but I mean, she was, she was involved in a really, really bad wreck.

Yeah.

Um, and if you saw pictures of the vehicle, I think everybody looks at it and it's just, how did she survive? And the crazy part is, is like, No injuries. There wasn't even any glass on her. And I say that without explaining the wreck. I mean, she got T-boned, thrown into another car that then spun her around 360 degrees and then flipped twice.

Yeah.

Side to side. And was suspended by her seatbelt in the air. It took, there was an off-duty, firewoman in the parking lot next to where the wreck happened, and she came over and popped off the windshield and then got 2 other guys to come over, and one laid underneath her while the other guy cut her out so that she could land on him. Unbelievable.

Look, I'm telling you right now, if you told me, hey, Kevin, go pop off the windshield, I wouldn't have a clue where to start.

Yeah.

The fact that those people were there and available is just one more testament to how she was being looked out for spiritually. Unbelievable.

It was absolutely insane. And so much so that the paramedics on the scene released her, right? And they wanted to take her in an ambulance, but they couldn't find anything wrong with her. And they said, well, we can't make you go in the ambulance, but she really seems okay, but you should take her to the hospital. And Part of the reason we didn't end up taking the ambulance was because of where the ambulance wanted to take her was a hospital we didn't want her to go to.

Sure.

So we found a better place to go and got them there. And it took us like an hour to get back to even see the doctor. And by the time she got back to see him, he was asking, hey, what's wrong? She's like, well, she was just in a really bad car wreck. We wanna come and get her checked out, make sure everything's okay. And he's like, oh, do you have any pictures of the wreck? Showed him pictures of the wreck. And he's like, what the hell is wrong with everyone there? Why didn't like, Dude, why didn't they bring her by ambulance? This is ridiculous. He was pissed. And we're like, no, they released her, but

they told us that we should still take her to the hospital. And he was just furious.

Yeah.

I was like, I don't know the protocols. I mean, sure. So, you know, who knows?

But well, she was fortunate in every regard. And oh, by the way, the other person who hit her is fine as well.

Well, yeah, both of the people that she hit are fine.

But it's bad. It was bad. Right. Yeah.

So, and I know you and I didn't talk about this before the show, but I know that you're aware of this, but we definitely need to talk about it.

Okay.

Do you remember Alan, the solar guy?

I do.

That we had on the show?

Yes, I remember Alan.

Our name has been getting a little bit of attention as of late.

Yeah.

On YouTube. because of a guy named Don Shipley.

Don Shipley?

Yep. And Don Shipley is a former Navy SEAL.

Yeah.

And Don has spent, uh, from what I can tell— I've been watching lots of his videos— uh, a significant portion of his retirement career exposing fake Navy SEALs.

Yeah.

Which apparently this is a thing. I did not know that this was a thing.

Well, I didn't either. Why would it be a thing?

Right.

Wait, wait, we— Craig, we vastly underestimate how horrible people are.

Yeah.

You know, like, I generally think good about most people.

I assume good from just about everybody that I meet. It doesn't mean that I'm not suspicious. It doesn't mean that I'm, you know, that I can get bamboozled really easily. I just assume goodwill.

Sure.

And so, and I'm actually not like making any claims against Alan because I don't know. But apparently Don confronted Allen over the phone.

Yeah.

As being a fake.

Right.

And was using footage from our show to show that he was out in public claiming that he was a Navy SEAL when Don believes that he is not. And so we've been getting bombarded with comments on really old videos. I think both of them are more than 2 years old.

Yeah.

So I haven't thought about Allen in a long time. I mean, I'm not saying anything bad about him. It's just like, What is going on?

Well, and, and here's the thing, like, I, I, I want to be clear. So I watched some of the stuff as well, uh, some of the, some of the stuff from Don, and I, I don't know. I mean, I've not talked to Alan.

I haven't talked to Alan either.

So I'm— I'll just tell you right now, like, I'm, I'm not one to just go, oh, Don must be right, right? And therefore, you know, Alan, you know, how dare he? Because it could be Don who's I'm going, look, how dare you? You know?

I mean, here's the thing. All these people that have been reaching out to us on the show, by the way, thank you for your comments. No, we really do appreciate you, like, watching and looking out for us putting out misinformation if we are.

And if we are—

Which is not our intention whatsoever.

We will absolutely backtrack and apologize for it.

Well, I don't know that we have anything to apologize for.

Exactly.

Because here's the deal. Like when it comes to business, you and I know how to vet people.

Sure.

Like when it comes to their business credentials.

Sure. Right?

Yes. Like when someone comes in the studio and they start telling us a story about their backstory, their history, I have no reason to like Google that or like background check them or any of that kind of stuff because we're here to talk. In that instance, we were here to talk about solar.

Right. Right?

So that's number one.

Yeah.

Number two, I don't know Don.

Right.

I don't know where he's getting his information from. I have reached out to him. He has not reached back out. Like, look, he's a busy dude.

Sure.

Like, I'm not saying like he owes me a phone call, but like as soon as I found out, I reached out to Don.

Yeah.

I don't know him. He doesn't know me. But I wanted to like, I wanted to talk to him. I wanted to ask, hey, how are you getting this information? And if it's credible, like what do I need to do to respond?

Sure.

Like, I'm happy, like, because look, I come from a military family. I— that kind of stuff pisses me off.

Yeah, of course.

And, and if people are like— obviously people are doing it. I mean, like, people love to over-exaggerate.

Sure.

When they, when they think they can get away with it.

But, but it's one thing to over-exaggerate. It's another thing to completely claim that you were a Navy SEAL, which, I mean, like, now that's, that's like the highest Also, of officers, you know, like just a group of people you really don't wanna piss off. No, no, no. And so whenever you go in and act as if you know something, and if you've been doing, you've done something, and you are a brotherhood with these other people, right? Like that's pretty bad. Now, we don't know if that actually happened or not. We don't know if that's true.

No, it's not true. We don't know what it is, what it's like to become a Navy SEAL because I'm not one.

No.

You're not one.

Never been one.

Um, I've met a few.

Yeah.

At least I thought I had.

Yeah.

But that's here in life.

I mean, I watched Cuba Gooding Jr.

Like, I don't understand. I mean, like, if I'm Don and I'm a former Navy SEAL, I understand the suspicion. I understand the immediate move to question. Like, when somebody tells me that, like, what in my brain would have to be so wrong as to go, I need to investigate this claim.

Sure.

You know what I mean?

Yeah.

Like, that just seems so like out of the ordinary for like just general conversation out in the world.

Well, and part of it—

Or just because—

We assume the best.

Yeah.

And we assume that whenever someone tells us something and honestly they speak with authority on it, then you go, okay, well, that must have happened.

Yeah. I mean, I mean, look, confidence will get you a long way down the road.

Yeah.

I mean, because you and I don't know what we're talking about when it comes to like military service.

No, we don't.

So we respect those that have done incredible military service. But like, and here's the other thing is like, I watched a bunch of his stuff just to kind of see what his deal was. And most of the guys actually did serve in the Navy. And that was kind of the sad part about it. If what he's saying is true about these guys, what's really sad is that most of them served honorably in the Navy, in the service that they gave. They didn't need like all these—

Another story.

They didn't need this fake story.

They have a story.

They have—

And it's their story.

They have a great story.

Yeah, exactly.

So, I mean, one, I hope it's not true.

Yeah, me too.

If it is, Don, you know, would love to— I mean, really just need like a 5-minute conversation. Yeah, want to figure out what's going on. And then happy to respond however, like, honestly, however y'all feel would be best. And what everybody's saying is like, y'all need to change the title of this video. And part of me is like, okay, maybe. But like, at the same time, I'm a big believer in like sunlight is the best disinfectant. And so like, if, you know, right now all the comments on our video for, for that video with Alan is like, what a scumbag.

Sure.

You know, you guys need to change. And so like, you know, If it's true, you guys are already commenting on it. I mean, it's like people can look at the comments and—

Yeah, it's there.

It's there.

Yeah.

And also like, it's a pain in the butt to go. I mean, it's not difficult, but like, I don't wanna go digging back through all those files.

Exactly. We don't even edit these videos.

I mean, honestly, I'd rather just take the video down.

It'd be a lot easier.

Sure. So that's something that's been going on here lately.

Yeah.

But happy to respond however we can. But right now we're just not gonna do anything because we like, We can't confirm it. No, I don't have his, this guy's resources. I don't even know what his resources are.

No.

So until then, like feel free to leave comments, but I'm not changing anything. No, not at all. But so that's going on. But also the college football playoffs are upon us, my friend.

Yes, they are.

So it's about to get interesting.

It is in a lot of ways because there's so much happening right now. with, with this. I mean, first of all, there's been a lot of drama this year in the college football playoff system because, you know, you've— we've— look, people can be upset all they want to about who made it to the college football playoffs and who didn't. Texas.

Yep.

And Notre Dame.

And Notre Dame.

Those are the two. Those are the two that are getting the most, like, exposure from this. Notre Dame's taking it a pretty far step and going, we're not gonna go to our bowl because of it.

Are they the only one doing that?

No, no, no, no, no. There are multiple teams.

I was gonna say, I thought there were multiple.

In fact, there's a couple 5-win teams that are going to bowls because—

What?

Yeah, because there's not enough 6-win teams that are willing to go.

I don't understand the— what's the endgame by not going to the bowl game?

I know exactly what it is.

Okay.

And I think this is going— I think it's going to demand a— some sort of an answer.

Uh-huh.

But this is exactly what I foresaw happening sometime in the future because of what has been created with the NIL and the portal. Because what's happened is these players are going, I don't want to play with the concern, legitimate concern that what if I get hurt? I've got a portal opportunity to make millions of dollars by transferring, and I don't want to play if I might get hurt.

Right.

And before the portal existed, that wasn't ever an issue. You have the rest of the season to recover. You'll be back and ready for next season. You're good to go. But what happens is if you get, you know, your top players, even if it's your top 4 or 5 players, they're going, we're not going to play. And, and, and you, you can't just force a kid to play. What are you gonna do? Just, I mean, what are you gonna do?

Yeah.

And they're saying they're not gonna play. Then at some point you gotta go, I don't even have a team to put out there. And so what's happened is these teams are going, we're not gonna play. We're gonna preserve our team and we're gonna start today planning for the future because we gotta do our portal research too. We gotta plan for next season. So I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna play. playing for this bowl anymore. Yeah, I'm gonna start on next season. Now there's a lot of weirdness happening with this because number one, uh, this is a weird thing that I don't know what to do with. Like, there's huge revenue sharing that happens with bowl games. Yep.

So what happens if you don't go to your bowl game, which means the other teams in your conference don't get revenue share from that? Uh, there's also like—

Well, it doesn't matter for Notre Dame, but that's—

No, it doesn't. It doesn't matter for them, but it matters for other For other teams, there's multiple other teams in conferences that are not going to bowls as well.

But bowls are conference-specific.

Well, kind of. Isn't that?

I mean, that's traditionally the way it's been, right?

So basically you'll have like, oh, the SEC is playing an ACC team or whatever.

Like Big 12 or yeah. Yes.

And there's a lot of stuff that goes along with that. I mean, it's— and here's the thing also that's crazy. And I get Notre Dame's position of, you know, we're going to prepare for next season. I kind of understand that. But here's the other thing that just— I— here's where it makes me just really angry. I'm angry for those seniors who—

Don't get another game.

Didn't know this was their last game.

Right.

Their parents didn't know it was the last game. Cheerleaders who didn't— them and their parents didn't know this was their last game. Band members. who them and their parents didn't know it was the last game.

Yeah.

So many situations where they were like, this, this, we thought we had another game coming. Whether it was a college football playoff or whether it was a bowl game, we thought we would have at least another game. So a lot of drama with all of that. And a lot of people frustrated that you've got a James Madison and a Tulane who make up the number 12 and 13 spot. and objectively, they're not the better teams, right? Objectively. However, and this is, this is the thing that I just fall back on, them's the rules, right? The rules are there. There is going to be a team from those 2 conferences in the college football playoffs, so they're naturally going to make it. They're— I mean,

someone in that conference is going to, so It's just the rules that are set up. If you want it different than that, then the rules are gonna have to change. And the only way the rules change is if the College Football Playoff Committee decides, eh, we want the best teams, not just these, these conference teams.

Right.

You know what I mean? So there's a lot of, there's a lot of weirdness that, that is happening with all that, just the drama of that itself. But, um, I don't know, like, I— and there's, there's another couple things I'll bring up here in a second, but I don't know, what's your take on all of it?

It just sounds like whiny crybaby crap.

Yeah.

I mean, really.

It does.

It's just so stupid. Well, like, this is— this is— if this is what people feared by NIL and the transfer portal and all this kind of stuff, then you shouldn't have done it in the first place.

Oh, yeah. Well, it's out of control now, too. It's— and I think we're getting—

You can't put the genie back in the bottle.

That's the problem. No, you're right. So the toothpaste is out of the tube.

Yeah.

Like, it's— it is where it is. But now you've got— and this is where the drama continues— is you've got, you know, Sarkisian out there saying, Texas coach, hey, we're, we're just going to stop scheduling difficult non-conference games if they are— if losing those are going to be a reason that we get not added to the college football playoff. then we're just gonna stop. We're gonna, you know, do these easy, easy non-conference games, like what they say everybody else does. Which is bullcrap. Which is everybody else doesn't do that. But I'll tell you right now, Texas Tech non-conference is stupid. It is awful. It was horrible. So simple.

They didn't play anybody of substance?

No, they didn't.

And it wasn't even like other Power 5 teams?

No, no, no. They played, they played But I mean, Arkansas Pine Bluff, like they played nobody.

My issue with people complaining about that is one, like we, like the schedules came out a long time ago.

Oh yeah, like 5 years ago. They scheduled these like 5 years ago. These are not like—

I mean, the SEC is a little, well, most conferences are a little bit different because we had a lot of realignment and things like that. So like they're going to change when you have some realignment.

Sure.

Naturally. But like this, this whole business of, well then we just, We're not gonna schedule hard teams. Well, like there's, you know, 2 easy solutions to this. One, win the hard non-conference games and then shut up.

That's true.

Because if you would've beat Ohio State, there would be no question as to whether or not you'd be in the playoffs right now.

Correct.

In Texas's situation.

Correct.

And so like, yeah, you can go play cupcakes, but like one of the things that the committee takes into account is strength of schedule. So knock yourself out.

Yep. I think, I think that, uh, when it comes to strength of schedule, if this is gonna be a metric, but you also allow the teams to create their own, Mm-hmm. I think that if this is a problem, then those people who are complaining about the strength of schedule situation, Mm-hmm. Uh, just why don't you vote or, or put a proposal out there that the committee chooses all of the strength of schedule. They schedule your games for you. And then it's even, or at least it's level on some, you know. Yeah.

I would think good teams would relish the opportunity to play difficult opponents outside of their conference.

Sure.

Right?

Sure.

I mean, it did, who was it this year? Florida State. I mean, Florida State looked incredible at the beginning of the season. Why? Because they whooped Alabama. Now, did they just fall all over themselves after that? 100%.

Of course. Yep, they did.

But like, who's in the playoffs? Alabama.

Yeah, exactly.

So exactly. I mean, like, you still look good winning that game.

Yep.

And and like, yeah.

So so let let let's talk about something else. Okay. Have you seen the situation in Utah? What's going on in Utah?

No.

So a private equity firm is basically giving Utah $500 million and infusing their system with NIL money and with cash to bolster their wins.

Right.

And now no longer do we have fundraising and alumni associations And single giving from people. Now we've got a private equity firm who has come in and said, well, we're gonna give you all this money.

But why?

That's a great question. And I think this is unprecedented yet. This hasn't happened yet.

Are they—

But this is where college football is going. Right? They're, um, well, they're, they're wanting to profit off of it, obviously.

Well, that's, that's kind of my question is because like private equity, I mean, that can still be a public company.

Yeah.

And if they're infusing money into something like that, they are then not operating in the best interest of their clients. I mean, they're, they're, it's fiduciary responsibility.

Sure.

You know? And so like, they can't, like, I, I don't know of anyone that gives money to an institution like that Just so that their team can win football games because they're not gonna get anything back from that other than just like, thank you for—

Well, it depends. It depends on what the agreement is. Oh, well, I think that's true. Because if they've got— I mean, if they've got agreement to where like you have to pay this money back, then, you know, then it's like, okay, well, that means that we've got that responsibility to make sure that our team is performing at a high level or whatever. But here's the crazy thing, 'cause when this first came out, I'm thinking, okay, When, when you've got an investment firm like that coming in, guess what? They've got expectations.

Sure.

They've got performance expectations. They've got money expectations. They probably want control over certain aspects. Yeah. Yeah. Over all kinds of things. Well, it did come out shortly after this, this broke last week that, um, they— that the school will still control all of the decisions for the football team.

Right.

Now, I'll be shocked if that's actually true, but—

Yeah, they want the volleyball team. Sure.

Well, yeah, no, but it's just like, what— then in what world do you know that to be true?

Yeah.

Where it's like, you know what, I'm gonna give you $500 million, half a billion dollars, And I'm just gonna let you do with it what you want.

Yeah, that's—

it doesn't make sense, right?

No, that doesn't ever happen.

Nope. There's, there's massive expectations. And on top of this, guess what happened? Uh, the coach, Utah coach, stepped down. Yeah. For— and not for retirement purposes. He'd been there for like 25 years.

Oh geez.

And not for retirement purposes. He's probably gonna get, he's probably gonna get hired somewhere else.

Mm-hmm. I'm like, mm, yeah, something, something wonky. Something fishy.

Something wonky. Anyway. So that's a weird, weird situation.

I mean, it is kind of similar to the thing at Tech. I mean, it's not like that guy didn't have any say in like—

Well, see, I don't know. I don't really know what, honestly, here's the difference though.

Money can tighten a lot of lips.

Well, of course it can. I mean, and he gets thanked. I mean, first of all, his name's on the field. It has been for years though. He gets thanked in every speech, right? Because he is a massive donor. to the program. He's also a football guy. Like, he played for Tech. So, so he is a football guy. So if he has certain advice, it wouldn't be unprecedented to, to ask him what he thinks in a certain situation.

Um, it wouldn't be unprecedented, but it, it would be like no one asked him before he gave the money.

Well, I—

you know what I mean?

No, I, I get it. No, I get it. And I don't know, I still don't know if that—

I don't, I don't know if there's— I don't know if that's the case.

Sure, I don't either.

I'm guessing that's the case.

No, no one knows. But at the same time, like, I— he, he's infused a ton of money, but he's a person, not an entity, you know what I mean? Like, and so I, I think that's where the lines become a little blurred, in my opinion, and, and how It, it just shows you that this whole system is gonna continue to change. Yeah. Gonna continue to evolve. We're not talking about the toothpaste outta the tube. We're talking about like massive things that can't be drawn back in. We're talking about minor league football here. It's, I mean, you know what I mean?

Look, I, I think, I think college football has the potential to become bigger than the NFL.

Well, it already, I mean, look, there's a reason that some of these guys, there's guys that are making more money right now and they will— this will continue to happen, then, then they would make it in the NFL. When the— I think the, uh, I don't remember, I think league minimum is like either $300,000 or $350,000 in, in the NFL. Well, these guys are making multiple millions every year.

Yeah, I can, I can almost promise you the next thing coming down the pipeline, because once you start paying players and then those players start making more money than they would Or that, you know, than, than a lot of guys in the NFL, you're gonna start seeing them have conversations about eligibility, extending eligibility.

Well, yeah, because for, for real, because there's a couple of things happening here. One is it's guaranteed money today. 'Cause what happens if you get hurt? Right. Right. So it's guaranteed money today. And if you're investing well, you could be set up for life. And so you're right. Extend it to where I've got more years of eligibility, which by the way, I still have 4. Um, but, um, there's that.

Isn't there like an age? Like, I don't know. I think, I think there's a, I think there's a, I'm not, I'm not making fun of you.

How old am I? I'm just saying.

I think there's an age in which they go, no, you can't.

Yeah, there should be. Uh, but I, there's, so there's that where they're, they're making more money than they would in the NFL, which is part of the reason that these guys are, are staying longer. But here's the other thing that is just mind-boggling when you think about it. You go to the NFL, you sign a contract.

Contract, yeah.

Right now, if you go in the transfer portal and you get signed, you're like, you get accepted to a university and they pay you for your name, image, and likeness, there's no contract tied to that.

Right.

The next year you can leave. So I think that's, to me, one of the most, like, ridiculous things about this right now is there's really no guardrails anywhere.

Yeah.

It's just like— it's like the Wild West, you know?

Yeah.

It's just bizarre. And we live in a world of contracts. We live in a world of guardrails. And somehow, this of all things has escaped all of that.

I mean, it does— there's an aspect of it that makes it kind of fun. Okay.

Right? I can— I mean, if you don't care, then yeah, absolutely.

But no, I mean, like, like, like right now, I mean, like, one of the ones I'm interested in is DJ Lagway.

Oh, yeah.

Just announced that he's, he's leaving Florida.

Which, before the portal leaves. He absolutely should.

Yeah.

Number one, he's got a change of coach. They didn't— he was underutilized. And why do we care about him? He's local.

He's local. He's a local kid. Well, he's, he's also good.

And he's good, and he's a good kid. He's, he's a really good kid. He's good family. And he's good.

Yeah.

And he's got three years of eligibility left on him.

Yep.

Like this isn't like us. Oh, a senior. You know. I think he's.

Do you have any any thoughts on where you think he's going to end up?

I have.

I have one big one in my head.

No. I I I don't. I do think that Tech will look at him.

I've heard. I've heard Tech mentioned. I mean, he is a Texas boy.

The thing he is. The thing is Tech is going to be looking for a quarterback. Uh huh. Right now today, as the recording of this is happening, Sorsby from Cincinnati is. the person that everybody is talking about at Tech right now.

Uh-huh.

Um, but he's only got a year left. Uh, Sam Levitt's out there.

Mm-hmm.

He's got, from Arizona State, he's got 2 years left. He's probably the best one out there as far as, uh, that goes. Um, you've also got, um, oh, what's that guy from Nebraska?

Rio, uh, uh, I don't know his name.

Rio, Riota, Riota, Riota. Rio, something like that. Anyway, um, he also very good. But now you got DJ out there too. This is one of the biggest portal years already. Yeah, of, of quarterbacks moving around. Where do I think he lands? Um, I don't know. I really don't. I, I— there's honestly, I wish he would land at Tech. I wish they would take him just because I think he'd be a good fit at Tech because of 3 years. I think he would too. But I don't know, I'm curious what your thoughts are.

The big one I have in my head is LSU.

Hmm. Interesting.

I think one, he gets to stay in the SEC.

Yeah.

2, there's lots of money at LSU.

There is.

3, Kiffin just took the job.

He did.

And, you know, they don't have a quarterback.

Sure. And he's still close to mama. Yep.

He's close enough. I mean, he's closer in LSU than he would be in Lubbock.

He's closer to LSU than he is to Lubbock.

Yeah, for sure. Um, I mean, at least as far as where he's from.

Yeah.

Um, so I, I, and I think, you know, with 3 years eligibility, I mean, I think Kiffin could look at that and go like, I can build a program around this kid.

Yeah. Well, and he's— and again, I, I know people that know him. I don't know him personally, but I know people that know him who coached him. Uh, 2 people actually, very, very good friends of mine. He's the kind of kid that you could build a program around.

Yeah. Well, and like, like, I mean, Kiffin's an offensive guy.

Yeah.

I mean, considered the best.

Yeah.

I don't particularly care for him.

Sure.

I mean, just like, not, not because I think he's a bad coach. I mean, his, his personality and his lack of integrity.

He's a bit eccentric.

Well, not, not integrity. Lack of loyalty would be Which to me is a form of integrity.

Yeah, I was just gonna say, those are, those are thin lines sometimes.

So that, that kind of stuff just irritates me.

Yeah.

Um, I don't understand how you leave a team that made the playoffs.

I don't either.

I don't get it.

I mean, no, especially— and, and not only that, I mean, rumor is that they were willing to match what LSU was gonna pay him.

Well, I'm sure.

So, so now, now you're talking dollar for dollar. a team that's already there. You're already loved in that area. Yeah, it is a, it is a rich area. Yep. Uh, I've been there. It's, it's, it's nice. Um, not that LSU isn't. Um, it's different.

It's different.

It's different. Um, but I mean, he has his reasons and he, he laid them out.

I don't know. I don't know what he said. I mean, I, but I can imagine the bottom line is LSU's been to the show and Ole Miss has not.

Well, that's, That's basically it.

And he's been at Ole Miss for a while too, right?

Oh yeah, like 5 years. 5 years. The main thing he said is that I've got more backing here than I would've at Ole Miss. I have more opportunity here to make it to the big show than I do at Ole Miss.

Yeah.

Which I'm looking at it going, you got the opportunity this year and the one you moved to didn't.

Yeah, I mean, so. What irritates me about that whole move, because I know part of the calculus in that is LSU is a better brand. They've been to the big game.

Sure.

They've won the big game.

Yep.

And they've done it more than once. So I know that I can probably go and do it there. Yep.

That's exactly it.

If you would've stayed, there's a chance you could have become legend forever.

Uh-huh. Absolutely.

No matter what you do at LSU, you're still going to be in the shadow.

Yep.

Of your former boss. Like, no matter what.

Yep. In fact, he called him as soon as it happened, or probably before. I think he helped the— I mean, Coach O was, was calling him going, hey, you know, I mean, it's part of it. Uh, I don't know.

I meant Saban. Oh, well, I meant Saban. Yeah, okay, that's fair, because Saban won a title there.

He did, he did.

I don't— I mean, like, go do it, Kiffin, but like, your boss already did it once. Yeah, and he did it multiple times at another school. You're just going to be in his shadow. Yeah, you know where he never won one? Ole Miss.

Uh-huh, that's true.

You know who's never won one?

Ole Miss.

Ole Miss, that's right. I mean, you could like— look, and so like, to me, it's like they're not going to win this year either.

You don't Probably not.

Probably not.

Although they, they are playing Tulane the first game, so they're gonna make it to the quarterfinal.

LSU Junior.

Yeah, that's right.

That's right. Yeah, they're probably gonna make it to the, to the quarters. Yeah. Look, I mean, like, of, of the people in, in the first round, I think they have the best shot to make it all the way.

Okay. Well, yeah, I mean, well, I mean, I don't know.

Maybe we can get— maybe we can get into it. I like— I, I know why you're brushing up at me about that, but like, I— out of all of them, I think they have the easiest path, even more so than Oregon.

Well, I, I don't know, man. They got to play Georgia in the quarterfinals, maybe. Not maybe. If they win, they play Georgia in the quarterfinals.

Do they play Georgia? I thought they—

Yes.

I thought they played Indiana.

No, that's Oklahoma or Alabama. Or Alabama.

To me, that's the hardest road. Okay, so they got Georgia. I wasn't thinking they had— I was thinking they had Indiana. Yeah, I think they— I know that seems backwards because they're number 1, but sure.

And because they— and then, and then they've got to win against So, so if they went, let's say they beat Georgia.

Mm-hmm.

Which could happen, I guess.

Sure.

Um, then they have to beat either Miami, A&M, or Ohio State. Ohio State.

Yeah.

Which is a, I mean, that's gonna be a tough slog. I, I think that that section of the, of the, uh, college football playoff. Mm-hmm. Is the hardest section because The other section is James Madison, Oregon plays Tech, right? And then they would play Alabama, Alabama, Oklahoma, or Indiana. To me, that's, that's the easier path.

Okay.

In my opinion.

Well, let's, let's, let's take it, let's take it down to the 4.

Okay.

So, 'cause that's, that's the next time you and I are gonna be able to do an episode probably.

Sure.

Probably is after the new year. So let, so we, let's go top to bottom. So you've got, you've got Oregon, James Madison. I, I think you're, Where are you at on that?

Oh, Oregon wins.

Oregon wins. Okay.

Yeah.

So you got Oregon and then the next one is, is the next one Alabama and Oklahoma. Okay. Where are you? That one I think is a little tricky, but it, that one's trickier.

I, I just think that Oklahoma is, I think they're overrated this year. Not that I don't think they should be in the, in the playoffs.

They earned it.

They earned it. Yeah. I, I think they should be, but I, I think Alabama's a better team.

Okay.

So I think Alabama wins that.

Okay. So you got Oregon, Alabama.

Yep. And then Tulane, Ole Miss is next.

Okay. So, and you think Ole Miss is handling that one pretty easily?

I would hope so. Not, not, not, nothing is Tulane, honestly.

Okay. So of the 2 from the Gang of Five, who do you think has the better chance for an upset? James Madison or Tulane?

I think James Madison has the—

Oh really?

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah. Only, only because I think Oregon is, Oregon's not played the harder teams to prove themselves.

Okay.

Oregon has one of the best defenses in the country without question, and they've got a high-powered offense. But I just think— I think they're more susceptible to being beat than Ole Miss does. And just in general, like, I think that anyway, it's going to play into what I'm going to say later too. But I just think I think Oregon has been exposed a little bit this year in that they've, they've only played like one difficult team, in my opinion. And so that's my thoughts on that.

So we got Oregon, Alabama, Ole Miss, and then Miami. The toughest matchup that I think is Miami-A&M. Yeah.

Of the, of the, the first round, I think Miami-A&M is probably the toughest game. I think, I think A&M handles them though.

Really?

I do.

I think it's home field. Is that what it is?

No, I think if they played in Miami, I think Texas A&M would still beat them. I still, I still think that A&M has been fortunate in some of their wins. They've been— oh, obviously they've, they've, they've, they've come out on the winning end of games that they shouldn't have won, in my opinion. But they've won. Like, that's the thing. Like, they've, they've done what they have to to win, right? They are a dogfight team.

Yeah.

And they will punch you until the very end. And I think that Miami is, uh, I think they're gonna— honestly, I think it's— I think that it will be a 2-score game.

Okay.

I think—

I, I mean, I've, I've heard a lot of people talking about it, how, you know, Beck's been really good down the stretch.

He has.

Um, but that it's also not been difficult teams that they've been playing.

Sure.

So, but I mean, like, I'll give him credit. I mean, he's throwing like 75% right now.

Well, he's good.

I mean, he is good. But, you know, I think what it's gonna come down to is when you start looking, when you start matching up, you know, and not necessarily offense against defense, but like just put offense against offense. Like there's just too many weapons on A&M's side to contend with.

Yeah, they're, I mean, if you look at the 2, the weak part is Reed. in comparison to Beck. However, both of them are really good.

They're both really good.

They're different types of quarterbacks for sure.

And, and, and Beck can't run.

That's what I'm saying.

He's not mobile.

No. And Reed is highly mobile.

Very mobile.

Yeah.

When, but like hasn't been as much this year, but like has been when he needed to be.

Yeah.

Um, but then like, you know, yeah, they, Miami has an incredible wide receiver.

Yeah.

They have one incredible wide receiver.

They do.

A&M probably has 4 top-tier receivers, but like they always talk about the pair of Concepcion and Craver, but the other 2 behind them, I mean, like they would start on any, just about any SEC team.

Right.

So, and I was, man, I was looking at how many receivers have touchdowns on A&M's and it's like 12.

Wow.

That's impressive. And so it's not like, Like, yeah, those guys are, you know, beasts, but like, they put the ball around.

They're spraying it around.

Yeah. Which is a problem. I think that's one of the biggest problems.

Well, because who you covering?

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I was actually listening to a guy talk about it today. He goes, Miami's only chance is they got to double team Concepcion. And I was like, do it.

Well, yeah, because if you do that, just throw it to somebody else. I mean, that's the thing. Anytime you double someone, this is true in any sport. Basketball's maybe the worst. You double team, you throw out of it and you're exposed.

Right.

But football, it's similar. Once you start double teaming, it happens a lot, especially in the NFL. You see it a lot in the NFL where you start double teaming. But the problem is like in the NFL, they still throw it to those guys. Yeah. And some of those guys still catch the ball.

And they still catch the ball. Yeah.

So, but Concepcion, he's good.

He is.

There's no doubt.

But like, what's— it's just weird 'cause he's not very big.

No, he's a little skinny dude.

Yeah. I actually think, I think the thing that will make the biggest difference in this game is whether or not Le'Veon Moss is available.

Okay.

If he is—

That's fair.

If he is, I think it's game over for Miami.

Yeah.

If he's back and he's healthy.

Yeah.

I mean, he's just, he's just a wrecking ball, man. And they haven't had him for most of the season. I think if Moss had been available, the Texas game would've gone completely different. Maybe. Just, yep, you know. And again, that's not to like downplay the other running backs that they have. They, again, like they have some good ones.

Yep.

Um, that have all handled the ball. But, you know, so I, I'm, yeah, I'll, I mean, I'll, I'll go with you on that one. I, I, I think, I think A&M is going to do it. I don't know that it's going to be a 2-score game.

Um, I mean, we'll see. I hope. Sure.

I hope it is.

Sure.

I hope it is. All right.

So, but I'll tell, I'll tell you where, I'll tell you where everything changes for A&M. Mm-hmm. Is how they play in the first half.

Oh yeah.

Because their first half play for the majority of the season has been pretty sh— it's been slow.

Yeah.

That's what I would say. They come out slow.

Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, which was weird in the Texas game because like they were up. They were, but like it still wasn't a great half. No, it was not a great half at all. And I think you're right.

But that's the one game that I would say truly they didn't start slow on. The rest of the games, it was like, man, what's going on? What's going on?

Yeah. And then second half, they just—

South Carolina. What?

I mean, like, I don't even know. Like, that one shouldn't even be like considered like when you're talking about them because it's such an anomaly.

Well, it is.

I mean, it happened. How many teams come back from that far behind?

Nobody does.

It's stupid.

Yeah.

Um, and it's like, I don't even like to like think about that one. It's, I'm happy that they won, but it was like, dude, I was so pissed off after the first half.

Well, I texted you and I, if you remember, my text was like, spoiler, this is the spoiler team. That's what they do. South Carolina is a spoiler team. And I thought that that was gonna be the game that they lost and it wasn't. Yeah, it wasn't.

So, but anyway. All right. So I'm with you on all of those. I'm, I'm, I'm picking Oregon. Okay. I think, um, I wouldn't be shocked if Oklahoma—

I wouldn't either.

Pulled, pulled an upset on Alabama. Sure. Just because their defense is so good. Yeah. And Alabama struck— has struggled this year on offense. It's fair. It's, it's a good matchup.

Yeah.

Um, but I do think you're right. I think Alabama is the better team. And is Alabama at home or is Oklahoma at home?

Uh, Oklahoma's at home.

Oklahoma's at home. That could be like a significant factor in this one.

Yeah, it could be.

But I'll pick Alabama.

Yeah.

Just 'cause OU sucks.

We want them to.

Yeah. Yeah, right down the line, I'll go with you on that one. And so then we would have Oregon Tech and then Alabama and Indiana.

And Indiana.

And then—

Georgia and Ole Miss.

Georgia, Ole Miss, and A&M, Ohio State.

That's right.

All right, so let's go from the bottom then. So A&M, Ohio State.

Okay, what do you think? Or what I think?

Yeah, what do you think?

Uh, I think, I think A&M loses that game.

You think A&M loses that game?

And, and it— and, and here's why. Ohio State is not going to be slow. They're not going to come out slow. They just don't. They haven't. They haven't yet.

Um, well, I know one game, but one game.

Yeah, one game. But I think, I think, like, point taken. I think if— and, and I don't think they do what South Carolina does, and I don't think they roll over. Um, I think they're going to hit and hit and hit. Now, I will tell you that, that, that Indiana game, that, that was a— that was interesting.

Mhm.

It was, it was— that, that game was so boring to me because nothing really happened. I mean, it was just kind of like, it was, it was boring to me, but I just, I don't know. I think that's where A&M faults is in, I honestly, I think if they get past that game, they have a better shot even then further down the line.

Okay.

Just because I don't think they've faced a team like Ohio State yet. I think they faced a team like Miami before. I think once they come out to Ohio State, I think it's gonna be a game changer for them. That's my opinion.

Okay.

What do you think?

On that one?

Yeah. I mean, the, and I, and now look, I fully understand. Let's let everybody know, you know, you're an A&M fan. I'm a Tech fan.

We're homers, man. Like you're, you're an alumni.

Yeah. Yeah. We're, we're, we're talking about like deep, difficult conversations here.

Yeah.

We, we're homers. Yeah. We're, yeah, we have to be.

Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, like, I'll pick A&M and not because I necessarily think that they're the more complete team. For a couple reasons. One, I think it's gonna be a dogfight. I don't know.

They have an X factor here that we haven't talked about that I think is gonna be in their favor. You may bring it up.

Ohio State or A&M? A&M. I think the big thing for A&M is I don't know that anybody's been able to get after their quarterback like A&M could get after their quarterback.

Okay.

Um, or their defense, because it's A&M— like, Ohio State just doesn't seem like they're going to be like just a pummel you with the running game kind of a team. No, like, like they've got—

they're gonna throw the ball.

They're gonna throw the ball.

Yeah.

Um, and if A&M gets them in 3rd and anything more than 5, it's gonna be just a mudfest of getting to the quarterback. I mean, they're going to get to him.

Sure. And we saw within the Indiana game that when he got— when Sain got— was gotten to, he made mistakes.

Made mistakes.

Yeah.

And I think that's kind of Elko's specialty is creating opportunities for quarterbacks to make mistakes.

Sure.

The crazy statistic about that is while A&M is like the best 3rd down team in the country, they only had 3 interceptions the entire year.

Oh my goodness.

So I mean, like, that's an—

Jacob Rodriguez had more than that. Right?

But like, it's an interesting statistic to think about that, like, they've only, that's not the number of turnovers they've had.

Sure.

But still, they haven't had that many fumbles.

Interceptions.

Or interceptions.

Okay.

They've just really been able to hold teams physically.

Yeah.

And I don't know that Ohio State has seen that yet.

Sure.

I think, so I think that—

I don't think that Ohio State has had a very difficult run so far. I mean, again, the Big Ten's difficult on some level. They've got their difficult teams. But again, it's not— it's just—

It's not the same.

It's not the same. It's just not.

And like everyone keeps dogging A&M about their schedule.

Their schedule has been light.

So many of the teams that they played were good until A&M played them.

Okay.

But— You know what I mean?

Yes, but they're— but again, they didn't play Their schedule wasn't as difficult as Texas' schedule.

No. So, which is—

I think that's— but I think that's the comparison. Right, wrong, or indifferent, I think that's the comparison.

It wasn't as difficult in the sense that more teams were ranked at the end of the season than Texas had played.

Sure.

But like, you look at like an LSU. There are some absolute animals on that team.

Sure.

Physical people on that team. Missouri.

Missouri, Missouri's one of those teams that's shocking every year. They're, they're like, they're always gonna be somewhat good.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And then I think they ended up with like the best running back in the SEC.

Oh, really? Yeah.

I mean, it was like, like they, again, strong team.

Sure.

Just didn't perform through. I mean, so like, and that's the, that's the problem is like a lot of the teams that they played, they just like, I, I kept referring to A&M as the coach killer this year. I mean, they got 3 guys fired.

It's true.

You know, and it's like, okay, like I, and so like when those coaches got fired is when those teams just went—

They did.

They went down, which that's what happens.

That does, yeah, for sure.

So it's not an excuse, it's just like, it's not a fair comparison, I don't think.

Okay.

But anyway, my 2 advantages for A&M in the game and why I would pick them would be, getting to the quarterback. And even though I know that they played Texas in Arlington last year, it's gonna be a home field advantage even though—

That's the X factor I'm talking about.

Yeah. And not just like in the sense that it's in Texas, but like A&M has dominated in that stadium for like 8 years now.

Yeah.

I mean, like Arkansas couldn't beat them.

No.

Ever in that field.

Well, they came close.

Like 6 times. Like 6 times. It's— it—

in one game, they've—

that has been a home field for them for a long time, for sure. Um, so it didn't— it didn't go in Texas's favor last year.

No.

Um, but I think it— I think it will for A&M.

Yeah.

So— so you've got Ohio, I've got A&M. Okay, so now we've got Ole Miss and Georgia.

Yeah, and Georgia wins.

I think Georgia wins it as well.

Yeah, I don't think that's even a question. I think Georgia just slaughters them.

So I mean, like, and like, the only reason, like, It's not even, I don't even give it a second of thought is because of exactly what I just said. The coach isn't there.

Sure.

Like the guy that got them there is not there.

Yeah.

So yeah, good luck.

Yeah.

You're going against like one of the, one of the, if not the best coaches in all of college football.

Oh yeah, he's so good. So yeah, what he's done in those years.

Enjoy your frolic with Tulane.

Yeah. Well, what he's done the past, like what, 6, 7, 8 years?

Yeah.

He's so good.

Yeah, he's dominant.

Yeah, for sure.

Okay, so then we've got Alabama and Indiana.

Alabama and Indiana, and I think Indiana wins that game. Here's the thing. I think, first of all, I don't like Mendoza.

You don't like him?

No.

Why?

I just don't wanna ever hear him talk again. Like, he's good. He's a good quarterback, but then he opens his mouth and he's like a 7th grader. Have you heard him talk?

No.

He just drives me baddie.

Uh-huh.

Like, he, yes, he sounds like a 7th grader.

Mm-hmm.

Um, he, yeah, it sounds like he just made an A on his math test. Um, it, and, uh, anyway, but, uh, but I just think, I think they get outcoached. I think that's where it comes down to.

Oh.

What, what the—

You're, you're a believer in the coach?

I, I really like their coach. I think he's, what he's done there in 2 years.

I mean, it's, it's, it's really impressive.

It's, It's really impressive, and I just think they get outcoached. I think that it— that Alabama has the ability to come out and, and knock them in their teeth. I absolutely do. I think this is a close game. I think that it could go either way. I just think Indiana pulls it out.

So I, I mean, just for like my, my home, home team, I, I actually would— so I would rather play Indiana than I would Alabama.

Oh, okay.

You see what I'm saying?

Oh, well, I do for you, for A&M. I absolutely do.

Yeah. Because I think, I think that, um, I think if I'm Tech, well, I think, you know what I mean? I think if I'm Tech, I'd rather play Indiana than I would Alabama.

I, well, yeah, yeah, I would too. Well, and we'll get the chance, but, um, but I, no, I agree with you. I, I would, I— there is something about Alabama.

Mhm.

In the playoffs.

Yep.

They step up differently. I know they just do. I, I just think they get outcoached in this game. Yeah, that's the only thing. I, I'm— look, I'm, I'm happy to be like— for you to disagree with me on this one.

I, I actually think Alabama pulls it off.

Okay.

If it was Oklahoma, I think different. If Oklahoma wins, I don't think they beat Indiana.

No, I don't think so either.

But if Alabama goes in—

It's a different game.

I think Alabama pulls it off, honestly.

Okay.

And I don't even think— who's the guy coaching Alabama?

I forget his name. Let me go look, 'cause I'm really bad with names whenever it comes to that.

Same.

So their coach is DeBoer.

DeBoer.

Yeah.

I actually don't think he's that great of a coach.

Well, I, I, I, that's why I'm saying I think that they get outcoached. That's the reason.

I, I think Alabama has such athletic studs that they could pull it off.

Yeah.

Um, I don't know that I want them to.

You don't know? I know I don't want them to.

But, but I, but I think, I think they do it.

Okay.

I do.

I'm— look, I, I may be wrong. I, I, I think, I think that if any—

but like, here's, here's my, like, my greatest fear, okay, in, in, in even suggesting that, is that once again we end up with an Alabama-Georgia national championship.

Not gonna happen. But no, no one wants that.

No one wants that.

No one wants that.

But it is a Complete possibility.

It's a possibility. There's no, no doubt that it's a possibility. And they set it up to where it's a possibility.

It's— anyway, so I— yeah, I'm, I'm going Alabama. I don't want them to, but I think they will. Sure. Okay. So, and then you got Oregon and Oregon, your homeboys.

Yeah. And I just— I mean, I don't, I don't think that this is going to be an easy game for Tech. I think that I think Oregon, like I said, Oregon has one of the best defenses in the nation. They've got a high-powered offense. I think it's gonna be a difficult game. This is nowhere near a home game for anybody. We're playing in Miami.

Yeah.

I mean, it is as far away from Oregon as it could possibly be almost. And it's still a— it's crazy. Although I will tell you that interestingly enough, they are creating a nonstop flight from Lubbock to Miami for that day.

There and back. There and back? Yeah, yeah.

Uh, which I think is, is hilarious. Um, but I, I, I think at the end of the day, I, I think that Tech's defense kills them. I, I think they stop their, their high-powered offense. What's interesting to me about Tech—

I mean, but like, they— Oregon hasn't been as high-powered as they've been in the past.

No, no, no, no, no, no. But I, I think—

What I mean by that is like they just haven't scored as many points. No, they haven't. As they usually do.

They haven't. And I, I think that I think that Tech just holds them, period. I, I think that, um, it is Tech in the Big 12 Championship was scored on in their first, uh, on in the opening drive of their opponent for the first time all season. Um, their, their defense is just different. Uh, it's, it's, it's unbelievable what kind of defense Tech, Tech has. And I don't think, I don't think there's another defense in the playoffs that comes close to what they, what they have.

Yeah.

Um, Jacob Rodriguez ran the gamut on the defensive, uh, awards that he was eligible for. It's the only time in history that one player has gotten all 4. So, um, there— and he's just one guy. If Skylar Gill Howard comes back, which I don't I don't think he's even an option until semifinals, maybe the national championship. He's been out since week 3.

Yeah.

With a, with a bad injury. Then their defense is even stronger than what they currently are. But I, I just think that the thing that's weird to me is I still do not believe that Tech has performed well on offense. And yet they have won every game by more than 22 points. Every game, all season. That's, that's a, that's a staggering number, especially whenever I don't think that their, their offense has been very good. We've kicked a lot of field goals.

Oh, okay. Yeah.

Which means— They have like a really good field goal— They, they're— the field goal kicker is good. I— there's no doubt about that. But the fact that we're having to kick a lot of field goals tells me that we're not getting in the end zone, and that is concerning to me. It is going to be the one thing that I think we're going to have to just— something's got to happen in these next, you know, few weeks, right, leading up to this, uh, the game on, on January 1st. Uh, their offense has got to figure some things out. Now, that being said, um, a lot of things have happened that are weird this season because they have been up by so many points in so many games. A lot of times they're

bringing in their 2nd and 3rd QB to preserve the starter, who by the way also got hurt, missed 2 games.

Yeah.

And was questionable on every game since then. The 2nd string quarterback got hurt, out for the season with an ACL. So now we've got, we're, we've got our 2nd guy is our 3rd guy.

Yeah.

And then we've got a 4th guy too.

Mm-hmm.

Um, and if we— I think our starter's made of glass. I've said it all season. I think he is our weak link on the entire team, is our starting quarterback. I like him. I want the guy to be successful. Um, but I think these, these weeks leading up to this game, him being healthy is going to be really, really important.

Yeah.

And if he can get healthy, then I think it's going to be— I don't think it's going to be a contest. I think that that Tech wins pretty handily on this game personally. What do you think?

I agree. My, my only hesitation in— and I've talked to you about this before— my only hesitation in picking Tech is that Oregon gets a cupcake in the first game as a warm-up. Sure. And that Tech will be kind of cold.

That's fair.

Coming into the end of the game and, you know, Oregon will just be kind of ready to go. I was just going to look through Oregon's schedule real quick.

They played in— they played Indiana and it was not—

it wasn't a blowout by any stretch of the imagination. They were ranked higher than Indiana at the time.

They were.

Yeah. Yeah. The only time they really blew anybody out was— was— I mean, the biggest one was Oklahoma State, but like, who didn't blow them out this year?

Right. Everybody did. That's, that's the thing. I just don't— I don't think that there's much comparison.

Yeah. Because when they played tough teams, the score has been really low.

Been low. Yeah. I just don't— I don't think there's a lot of comparison here. To me, the fact that Oregon's ranked number 5 is a travesty. I think that they should be down where like Oklahoma or Alabama is, personally. But I know that record dictates them being higher.

It does.

That's the reason.

Yeah.

And I get that. And so I'm, you know, it is what it is.

Yeah. 'Cause they're, they have one loss, right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

To Indiana.

To Indiana. And it was, and it was a somewhat close game.