Space Summary
The Twitter Space YOUR college football calls on /r/CFB Talk 208 hosted by RedditCFB. Delve into the world of college football through the informative and engaging discussions of /r/CFB Talk 208. Learn from experts and enthusiasts alike as they share valuable insights, analysis, and opinions on various aspects of the sport. Experience a sense of community and inclusivity while exploring diverse perspectives that enrich the college football conversation. Whether you are a seasoned fan or a newcomer, this space provides a platform for learning and engagement in the vibrant landscape of college football.
For more spaces, visit the Lifestyle page.
Questions
Q: How important is community engagement in college football discussions?
A: Community engagement fosters a sense of belonging and sharing of knowledge among fans.
Q: What makes /r/CFB Talk a valuable platform for college football enthusiasts?
A: The space offers expert insights, diverse perspectives, and informed discussions on college football.
Q: How do the experts contribute to the depth of college football analyses?
A: Experts provide valuable opinions and share knowledge on various aspects of the sport, enriching discussions.
Q: What role do diverse perspectives play in enhancing the college football conversation?
A: Diverse perspectives bring different insights and viewpoints, making the discussions more comprehensive and engaging.
Highlights
Time: 00:15:29
Community Engagement in College Football Highlighting the importance of engaging with the college football audience.
Time: 00:25:17
Expert Insights on the Game Experts sharing valuable opinions and knowledge about college football dynamics.
Time: 00:35:40
Diverse Discussions on /r/CFB Talk The space fostering diverse discussions and perspectives on college football.
Key Takeaways
- Engagement and community interaction are vital for the college football audience.
- Experts share valuable knowledge and opinions on various aspects of college football.
- The /r/CFB Talk space serves as an informative platform for college football enthusiasts.
- Diverse discussions and perspectives enrich the college football conversation.
- In-depth analysis and commentary enhance the understanding of college football dynamics.
Behind the Mic
Introduction to RCFB Talk 208
All right. Hi, everybody. It is RCFB talk 208. It is Tuesday night. This is when we like to talk to you. I know there's some other stuff going on tonight, but we are here and we just want to talk college football. Maybe we're a little bit of counter programming for you. So thank you for joining us. We do these every Tuesday night. It's when we get an opportunity to hear from your calls on all the things that have gone on. It has been an absolutely exciting week one or week two now. Goodness. And I'm going to go ahead and put how you can join the conversation. You could just hit request from the Twitter app. We'll let you up here and we'll talk about whatever you want to talk about in college football. I always like to just take a second to mention sort of losses in the sport.
Remembering James Earl Jones
This one isn't quite a player or a coach, but a voice that everyone knows. I just wanted to take a second to mourn the loss of James Earl Jones, who died at age 93. He, of course, was a proud Michigan alum, you know, and he did the voice for their highlight video and the video hype video going into the stadium. I thought that was really cool. If you've got the guy, why not? Actually, the funny thing is, I remember he, they used his voice briefly in a USC commercial, but that's because it was George Lucas and of course, Darth Vader. So they used a quote from there. But just wanted to say that. So I'll let whoever wants to come up if you want to join the conversation, hit request will let you up here. Lots of things to talk about.
Discussing Current College Football Season
Maybe what happened to Notre Dame. I mean, there's a lot of. I mean, we're two weeks in and honestly, it's interesting to see where teams are falling. It's still too early. The good news is, if you're a fan, at the very least of a p four team, you're still in the race. Because even Florida State, even the team that's lost two conference games can still fight its way in. Because with the new twelve team playoff, if you win your conference in the end, you get that automatic bid. I think any team winning in the ACC will get there. Although overall, right now, outside of Miami, I'm not sure who the next team would be. Clemson. You know, they recovered, could be Georgia was exceptional. But we'll get to all of that. We'll get to whatever you want to talk about.
Highlighting Unique Game Statistics
Whatever team. I mean, again, Boise state's looking exciting. You know that. That game against Oregon, I still can't get a fix on Oregon. I mean, close game to Idaho. Idaho went and beat Wyoming. So they're the better than normal FCS team. A little less than what we expected from Oregon, but it just. Who knows? Can't wait to see how this develops out. But let's see here. We got a couple of folks who wanted to join the conversation. Again. My name is Bob at Kairi. This is RCFB talk 208. Ben, what's going on? How are you doing? Quite well for now. We'll see how tomorrow goes as the former tropical storm, now Hurricane Francine is headed our way. We're pregnant. About that. How's everything?
Weather Concerns and Game Experiences
I mean, it's fine right now. It's expected to. So we are going to be getting hit by the nasty bit of it, which is the upper right quadrant. For those who aren't aware of how hurricanes work, the upper right quadrant tends to be a place where all the nastiness happens. However, it isn't supposed. It's going to be like a cat one when it hits. The current prediction is actually pretty good for what it could have been. So we take what we get whenever it comes to hurricanes. And if it's a cat one, hey, that's way better than anything else. So, it's supposed to make its way through all of tomorrow. Just have to deal with that nastiness and then by Thursday it's all about cleaning up. So first things first.
Discussion on College Games
I wanted to mention a very fun, a game that happened on Saturday that got overlooked was Simo versus Ut Martin, which ended 45 to 42 in overtime. One thing I wanted to mention about it was specifically the rushing statistics because, So Seema won with negative eleven rushing yards. What? Yeah, that's negative eleven. As a reminder, college statistics include sacks and rushing yards. So you can sometimes have that happen where. Yeah, okay, you only ran the ball a handful of times. You mainly threw the ball, but, yeah. So they got out gained by 204 rushing yards by a team that had 193 in a 45 to 42 overtime thriller.
Attending a Historic College Football Game
But that's not where I was this weekend as I got to take in. Oh, yeah, you went to centenary game? I went to centenary's first home on campus college football game since 1941 and it was interesting to be there. So they're a d three school, correct? Yes, they are a d three school. No scholarships they have. Everything is set up in this area. So first of all, if you all don't know the main architectural piece on centenaries campus, it's the gold dome, which is a geodesic dome structure where they have all of their indoor sports. And when you go inside. Yes. That structure, you see it. It's on the inside, too.
Personal Experience at Centenary
It throws you off. For me, I'm an acro. I'm acrophobic, so I'm afraid of heights. And it kind of got me. But I sat down for five minutes, and it was good. All of it's in the same area. They've done some work to it. They've put some money into it. It looks really nice over there for, you know, being a d three school. And so they hosted Hendrix. They. They lost. It was a pretty loss, 43 to 20. The funniest part was the fact that the first three touchdowns that they thought they had didn't happen, a holding on a kickoff return touchdown, then stepping out at the four on a fumble return touchdown, then thinking they got in on the next play, but it actually was at the two yard line.
Field Updates and Game Atmosphere
So that was a lot of celebrating for nothing. But, yeah, field was nice. It was. It's their soccer field. They've just done a little bit of upgrades. They added a video board to it. It's called Atkins Field. It's named after the family that donated the land where the university is. Actually. They've been consistent donors to the university ever since, for the last nearly two centuries. And, yeah, it was a really fun and interesting time. It was a sellout to the point where, like, students couldn't find seats in the stands. There were no seats. The entire bleachers were packed out. And it was just a good night of football in the state.
Sharing Impressions and Experiences
Weather was incredible, too. Sounds like an incredible experience. I really appreciate you. I went ahead and shared a picture of that dome. I think I did in the. In the replies, because I've seen this thing. It is kind of a. Is kind of a trip that they. Yeah, they've actually done. Let me post the picture I took. Sure. Why don't you do that? They've done, on the back of it is they've put some of their more legendary figures. So, you know, the famous one, of course, being actually got two. Couple famous ones because you have Seth Lugo. For some of y'all baseball fans, you might know that name. And then they also have, of course, Robert Parrish, famously, and just a bunch of them. And wasn't there when I was there six months ago, even.
Anticipating Future Events
But, hey, look what you got there. So I'm really happy for them, though, just to see. Well, I can't wait to hear what your next stop is. I want to give a chance for some of the other southeastern up here. It's southeastern Louisiana. They're playing eastern Washington. Oh, wow. That'll be a good one. Eastern Washington. Very good. Where they were years ago, but it's always exciting to see them. They lost to Drake over the weekend, which is, funnily, the first time someone on the west coast has taken a loss to Drake this year. That's great. Well, thanks so much, Ben. It's always great hearing from you.
Engaging with Callers and Discussions
Feel free to stick around if you want to add comments to any of the other stuff. Oh, I see someone who I'm absolutely looking forward to hearing from. In a moment. Our friend Mac, agenda pusher, cannot wait to hear that. But ski masks. Murphy, how are you doing? I'm doing all right tonight. Yeah, I can. I can hear you great. Yeah. So far so good. For the reason we say that is sometimes there's a quirk with the spaces. It's been like this for years, where sometimes I can't hear people talking, but I can hear you. And then the funny thing is everyone else can hear them. Everyone else can hear them.
Thursday's Upcoming Game and Takeover
You know, I just wanted to also mention, I forgot to mention this at the outset, but we're doing something probably pretty fun on Thursday. So Thursday's got one big game, and an unexpectedly good game. It's a Texas state from the Sunbelt. They're two and, oh, they just beat up UtSA last Saturday. They're one of the dark horse kind of g five candidates to make the playoff. And after app State got absolutely housed by Clemson. That's looking a little more realistic. They are the favorite to win their Sunbelt division. So anyway, 20, they're hosting Arizona State, who against all odds is also two and o. I think a lot of people, they were picked last in the big twelve, but they managed to really take care of Wyoming and then went on to UPS.
Exploring College Football Dynamics
No, I wouldn't say upset, but imagine they probably imagine they were able to defeat Mississippi State last Saturday. Well, in all of this, we are going to be taking over the Twitter account at RCFB. We're taking over the Twitter account for Texas State for their main athletics account, not their football account, the Texas State athletics account. So we're looking forward to that. I don't know. We're going to come up with some stuff came together at the last second, so just wanted to mention that. So if you're watching that game on Thursday and you see some funny stuff coming from the Texas State Twitter account. It's us.
Responding to Technical Issues
If you're seeing terrible stuff, we got hacked. I don't know. I just wanted to mention that before I forget, but scheme ask, how you doing, man? Sorry about that. I just, I totally forgot to mention that at the outset. Oh, no, man. Is your show, your rules, but I'm doing all right, I think. I just want to start off before we start slandering other schools that are worthy of slander, I think we got to talk about the one school who basically saved. If your school is getting slandered on Saturday, this school stopped it and it's not today.
Reflections on College Football Upsets
I don't know how they let this happen. I mean, northern Illinois, they do have a very good history. I remember Chandler Harness and Jordan Lynch, I believe, were the two quarterbacks for a while where they had a very good run, but they haven't been here in a very long time. And for them to come out and basically, well, they held nothing. Only sports team points, had a dominant defense and won it last second on a field goal. It's just crazy. But I think somebody put this win in the best way possible. I saw a tweet and someone said, the thing that makes college football so much more special than any other sport is that every week there's at least one team playing a game that they're going to run for the rest of their lives.
Impact of College Football Games on Teams
And I'm pretty sure, I think it was David oven who said that. Yeah, that was a great tweet. Yeah. I was like, that's a perfect encapsulation because this is a game they're going to remember for the rest of the last because a lot of other people had close calls and we're getting slandered. Once this went, once this went final and that they were going through the goalposts and slammed it for everybody else. I mean, even my Michigan team, people were kicking us down. They was like, well, you know, Texas ranked number three, so we're going to turn our attention to the person who's ranked number five.
Analyzing Team Performances
So. Oh, yeah. It, it, this is, I don't think anyone had this upset mark at all. And, you know, the other team that's really thankful is Penn State because they had their hands full for a while there with Bowling Green, so suddenly it's something to have your hands full with Bowling Green. It's another thing to straight up lose. And, yeah, they took a lot of the light off of the other teams. A lot of teams are thankful. They should, they should send the Irish a fruit basket or something kind of nice, but, yeah, I think coach Freeman said that they just were a little too believing their clippings, which is okay, but still, it's disappointing if you're a Notre Dame fan.
Looking Ahead for Notre Dame
This is supposed to be, you know, the important year three where the irish coaches tend to do their best. And this feels a lot like year one when they lost to Marshall and they lost to a pretty bad Stanford team in the middle of the season. So it's a little troubling for Notre Dame. I mean, they're not out of it. I know people pointed that out. If they managed to win out and that schedule is not bad, they would eventually play a Louisville team that could be okay, and the USC team, that's way better than I think people expected. But that's still a tall order. We'll see.
Challenges Ahead for Notre Dame
Frankly, you know, they obviously, there's a deal with the ACC in Notre Dame, so they play some ACC teams. They missed Miami, which is obviously the right now, so far, the stronger team looking right now in the ACC, but they get the other Miami of Ohio in a couple of weeks, which, you know what? Wouldn't that be something? They could, they could have the funniest thing happen if that Miami decides to step up because northern Illinois just gave a. It's, it's colleagues a route through that. I want to give a couple of other folks a chance to kind of chime in, and then we'll get to. I promise. I try to get to everyone and allow people to come back up and just raise your hands when we get to that.
Engaging the Audience with Insights
But let's see here. Nate, you were next. And we'll go to our friend Mac, agenda pusher, Mage, Ingrid. And then I also see the Max Sports Connection podcast. I'll try to get to everybody, I promise. Nate, how are you doing? I'm doing good. Yeah, absolutely. Loud and clear. All right, ski mask. Don't worry, I'm not here to slander. If anything, the exact opposite. So maybe like Thursday afternoon, my friends that were ready going to Ann Arbor for the game, long story, but make it short, I got convinced to go.
Experience in Ann Arbor
I ended up in Ann Arbor first time in Michigan for that game. It was an incredible experience. And I have to say, Michigan fans are probably some of the nicest and most welcoming people I've ever met. Ohio State probably also Michigan State people probably don't agree with that statement, but just very welcoming, fun to tailgate with. It was an incredible experience. I think my only two complaints are the bathroom situation is not the best for stadium as big as that. Spent a lot of time waiting to go and then there's no tvs in the terminal to watch the game while you're waiting.
Reflections on Texas Performance
But that stadium is incredible and I encourage anybody to go there if you ever get a chance. Now from the football side, really happy with how Texas played. But I listened to Sark's press conference on Monday and one of the big things that he talked about was 60 minutes of hell. That's the kind of a quote that me and my friends are using going forward for the season because we don't think it was still a complete game. There were still opportunities to better. One of the biggest ones that I noticed was through two games we only have one sack. Granted, were able to force Michigan into two interceptions and another turnover, which I think was from a rushed pass.
Looking Ahead for Texas Football
But I mean, it's a lot of good things, a lot of positive things, but I'm still looking forward to Texas playing better and hopefully getting some more sacks, getting people in the backfield. And I think I mentioned to you last week, I'm not going to get too crazy yet until I think we have to go unscathed all the way to week since six against Oklahoma. And, you know, if that happens, I think we'll be looking really good right before we play Georgia. Yeah. Right now, Texas definitely put itself in a position where they feel like one of the teams that genuinely is a title contender.
Evaluating College Teams
I mean, and it's consensus now, and I am not one to shake the rock that boat because, I mean, Georgia and Texas have the most impressive wins. Ohio State as well. They just, you know, again, when you play two Mac teams, you can't quite put them right now at the same echelon as Texas and Georgia. But I. I'm looking forward to seeing who else rises. This has been absolutely a fascinating period of time. Let's see here. Ski mask. And then we'll get to our friend Mac agenda Pusher.
Agreeing on Team Appearances
Yeah. Just a quick rebuttal for Nate. I mean, you don't want to get too high on early, but now's the time to start as a Texas fan. Now's the time to start saying your shit tastes like sugar. You guys have earned the right to do it. So, hey, celebrate because, I mean, I said it last week, Quinn news is the truth. And he went out there and showed it. So you got you guys. You guys should be in the twelve team playoff again, less something. Unless the SEC does SEC stuff.
Open Discussion and Thoughts
You guys are good. All right, let's see here. Well, Nate, I'll let you get the rebuttal in and we'll go to Mac agenda pusher. Yeah, no, I agree. I don't know. It's just, you know, all the years watching college football and another thing that Stark mentioned on Monday was, you know, what happened in other game. It's a. Yeah, it's two games. It's a big game. But, you know, it's a long season and a lot can happen. You know, even if it's not an injury, a lot can happen in a season.
Closing Thoughts
So I'm still going to wait. Gonna wait. Absolutely. All right. Mac agenda pusher, how are you doing? I'm doing pretty good, I imagine. Big weekend for the Mac. Yeah, that was that. Go ahead, please. Go ahead. Actually. Go ahead and. Well, no, I. What was fascinating to me, because the moment that game went final with Notre Dame, I immediately looked at what's going on within IU and I think, and it's interesting, like, okay, if you were to put me in the spot, which at this point in time, which g five team do, I think if they made the twelve team playoff would really be a terror?
The MAC Football Landscape
The Mac teams will come out of there beaten up because they're playing the best teams in the nation. NiU finally plays a real team two weeks from Saturday, or I guess a week from this Saturday against Buffalo. They're done with the cupcakes. They beat their FCS schools. They're off to play Buffalo Mac football. That's where real football happens. Will they love it? I think they should, but it is a Mac team. You never know what's going to happen. Buffalo currently sits at one and one, so, you know, not the squeaky clean record NiU has or to lead. They don't got mo linguists right now, so that we'll see if that's an impact on them. But I love it. Man, I'm glad. I was so glad when I saw you were here for this. You have no idea. When I saw you raise your hand, I'm like, all right, okay. This is the first time I ever, like, set aside schedule. Like, I gotta be here. Yeah. Oh, no, trust me. I was like, man, if he's not here, I don't even know. I was gonna speak on your behalf or something.
Thoughts on Notre Dame
I don't know. I'm like, well, he didn't make it, but here's what he's probably going to say. It was Notre Dame. What did you expect? You know, that being said, I do think Notre Dame's getting a lot of hate. A lot of people are like, oh, they shouldn't even be ranked on. Notre Dame's a fraud. No, they're not. They played a very good, they played a national championship contender. They can't all, you know what I mean? Like, nobody faults teams for getting blown out by Georgia or Michigan at 21 through 23 because it's expected. Same way losing to a Mac team should be expected. It's just part of like Penn State. They got lucky. Bowling Green had them dead to rights. Penn State should have lost that game. They didn't. They squeaked one out. That's the upset. Everybody should be talking about Penn State over Bowling Green. Oh, man, I love it. I love it. You know, I'm going to.
Discussion on Changes in the MAC
Hey, major, give me 1 second. I'm actually going to go to our, another person, the MACD Sports connection podcast, because I feel like I got, this is a perfect handoff to what you're going to add to this conversation. Hey, first off, thanks for letting me in on here. I appreciate it. My, my good counterpart here in the mid american conference brings some great points up about how great this league is. But I, but I do want to be realistic. We just saw Kent State lose to St. Francis. If we're going to be really honest, the parody in the Mac is, I think it's getting wider even within the conference. You see the Toledos, the bowling greens, the northern Illinois, they're rising back up. Sorry, I'm racing a train right now. No, let me be honest with you. A Mac fan having a train in the background sounds so on point. You have no idea, having lived in the upper midwest like that, just, that actually is perfect.
Concerns about the Future of the MAC
Thank you. That's living in Tiffin, Ohio right now seems to be the train capital of the world. But, but going back to my point, you know, you've got the Akrons and you've got the Kent states right now, and I love those programs. I think Pete Lambeau is going to do great things over at Buffalo. I think Joe Moorehead, I mean, the last two years, they've lost five games apiece by ones who are less. They're figuring it out in Akron. Alex Adams is suiting up for the first time this season against Colgate. That's going to be huge for that wide receiving core. But I think we're starting to see the parity within the conference. We're starting to see that gap kind of grow again. We're seeing Bowling Green, Toledo, Miami, Northern Illinois really start to separate themselves from the pack. Kent State and Akron haven't won conference games in a couple of years unless they've been against each other.
Current State of G5 Football
So I think as much as I want to agree with everything Mac agenda pusher is saying, and that the Mac deserves all twelve College Football playoff bids, I want to pump the brakes when we still have Kent State dropping games to St. Francis because that shows that the entire league isn't taking that step forward. And I don't know what it is. I don't know if it's nil, I don't know if it's, you know, recruiting. Kenny Burns is doing what he can over there. I'm actually starting to buy into the Kent grit thing. I think he's going to do a great job there. But it's. There's so many other factors. Yes, you can almost expect Bowling Green, Niu, Toledo to knock off a power opponent any given time. They match up with them. But I think until we start to see the bottom of the league pull their weight, I mean, we just saw Akron lose, I think, 17 to 49 against Rutgers this weekend. There's a lot of weight that the rest of the conference has to pull in order for us to get taken serious.
NCAA Transfer Portal Discussion
And I think that's why the national media is so shocked by this upset because we just saw Kent State drop that St. Francis game. You know, it's interesting you bring that up because, I mean, for those who may not be aware, and I know you two are definitely aware of this, but the last g five player to make the Heisman kind of finalist was actually Jordan lynch of Niu, as I recall. Am I right? At least the last Mac one? Yeah. Yeah. No, and I think he was the last g five at all. We haven't had. And at this point, honestly, Ashton, it came up only because everyone's talking about the Boise state running back who looks ridiculously good. He's just the best player on the field whenever he gets on the field. They just did that to Oregon, which is a great statement for him. But yeah. So the Mac has that ability.
The Sunbelt Game Prep
But to be fair, I just want to say Rutgers is actually quietly great, good this season. I'm not saying they're going to win it all, but they are my dark horse. Like, oh, wouldn't it be funny if they made it to the big ten championship? Because they got, they literally have the easiest schedule in the conference. They, they. All of those, all of that decade lost decade where they were stuck in the same division as Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State. They don't have to play him this year. It was like their we're sorry, Rutgers season. And so now they're there free. And who knows at this rate that Nebraska Rutgers game actually looks like it's going to be good. Like, how weird is that? I really hope that somehow gets game day because that's, I was going to say, isn't Nebraska and USC, like the toughest opponents on their schedule this year?
Looking Ahead in G5 Football
Yeah. Yeah. And no one guessed Nebraska was going to be it, so. Right. Let alone USC would have a defense. So it's fascinating. Yeah. So there's no shame in losing the Rutgers. We got it. We got it. We got to freshen up our stuff there because it's not the same. Oh, my goodness. But thank you, guys. It's great. I'm going to stick around. I just want to allow a couple of other folks in mage. Ingrid, what's going on? It's been a little while. I've been thinking about you because I had some friends who were in, I had a friend who was covering the Georgia Clemson game when there was a big conference going on at the same time. And I know you the one who once mentioned it on our, one of our shows.
Insights from the Fan Perspective
I think that there's a big one that happens around the same time. Oh, yeah. Actually it was several events going on August 31. There was black pride going on and on. Dragon Con as well. That was a dragon con. Yeah. I didn't see no one surprisingly well. Casey on Georgia Tech game. That's not me, but I can see larger question fans out there. Tech game. Cuz people can call, get martaball on Twitter. You can get to go to both schools on Marta. I think so. That was fun. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The marta, the public transportation system down in Atlanta. So what's on your mind this week, though? Two things actually. Well, that was actually, that's one. And I saw the 49 ers last night. I'm glad they won.
Thoughts on Game Day Experiences
They saw New York. Yes. Really? Could they have an undrafted person? He did good on the running back last night, so that was good for him. Then also, of course, Texas and Michigan game. I'm happy anyway because one of my teams was going to win anyway because I like both of them. So it just wasn't as close as I thought. That's it absolutely was great hearing from you. Thanks for giving your thoughts. Let's see here. I've got a couple people I'm going to try to get through everyone, and I know we've got a little bit of backup. I apologize for that. Let's see here. Cajun killer 94. What's on your mind? Check, one, two.
Exciting Conversations in College Football
But again, that's an exciting one. Maybe Willie Fritz actually has, you know, Houston looking better, faster. I also have Texas State, and I joke my fifth. My, it's always going to be my fifth team. Although they almost got knocked out by New Mexico State, Liberty is the equivalent of the price is right. You know, when they're doing, everyone's at their initial thing and they're guessing the price of stuff. Like, you know, they put up a table and everyone was like, yeah, $7.99, $4.99. The last person says $1. Like, liberty is the $1 guy. Like, if everyone goes over, it's gonna be Liberty. And that's how they're playing this. They're like, the lowest bid it was last year, so we're gonna keep beating the lowest possible teams. And eventually they're hoping they'll be the last one standing. But I don't know. New Mexico State almost finally ended that conversation this past week, even without everybody who now plays for Vanderbilt, so.
The Impact of the Transfer Portal
Oh, my goodness. Yeah. And I fully agree with you as well. I think the portal, both, you know, having both the winner and the spring really helps the parody of the game. I think it helps even spread out a lot of talent, especially down to the group of five schools. It makes college football more exciting for me. I hate the idea of forcing an athlete to choose between, you know, a potential being with his team in a playoff run or a bowl or having to go into the portal and not play at all. I think that puts a lot of people in a tough spot, and I think it puts the fans in a potentially tough spot as well, too. A lot of guys do. Some guys don't want to, you know, what is declare? Not declare, but want to announce ourselves to the portal. But I think some guys do still like playing their bowl games and then going into the spring and, you know, and, you know, transfer now from there. I just think it would put us in a lot of awkward spots if we eliminate the spring portal.
Reflecting on USF and Alabama
Absolutely. Hey, Mac, what's going on? Yeah, I sure can. So far so good. This has been a good one. We haven't had some really. Some awkward moments where I have to have, like, somebody like, listen for me and then relay the question, but, how you doing? I'm well. Yourself? Good, good. So I just want to say I wanted to get on here, like a few months ago. I was talking trash about how, possibly USF could be Alabama. I was totally wrong. I want to come back and admit that I was wrong. They survived us. However, that won't be so lucky for Miami in a few weeks. Man, I forgot that game is also coming up. No one wants to play USF right now. They've got an exciting quarterback and Alex goal is just got them in a place that looks great. I mean, I don't know what else was going on. I mean, Alabama was like a penalty fest. I mean, both teams were. It was like 24, I believe, total penalties before between them all.
Considerations for the Season Ahead
And, yeah, I mean, for those who saw the final score, they don't know how close that game was. Alabama had like three explosive plays in the final few minutes to really kind of make that lead look a little bit bigger. But anyone who saw that game, saw, well, first of all, saw that again. It helped parse it out. You have the three teams that look more undefeatable and then you have the rest. And Alabama is kind of in the rest, like probably competing for tie for the. At least in that large spot. But you have a team like Tennessee that completely looks legit like Tennessee. The two teams in my mind that I think are the most impressive so far, just because based on expectations that are also in the kind of like the playoff race, in my mind, they both had questions that needed to be answered. First of all, Tennessee, we knew the defense was going to be good and holy cow, was it good.
Tennessee and USC Performance
The question was, you got a freshman quarterback with Nico Imali Lava? You know, I think I did okay with that. And, you know, yeah, he's doing well. He still had a couple of picks, but you expect that he's a true freshman. You know, I are. At least he's a freshman. Pardon me, freshman quarterback. I thought that, Richard, but I think the question with him is, you know, give them a year. I think Tennessee is going to be even better next year. Of course, they've got some amazing, you know, James Pierce, they've got a defensive line at that. I mean, just ask NC State. But the other one's USC only because, wow, that defense suddenly, wow again. I'll give it another week. I, for another year I was thinking, great, but man, those two teams. But all that said, max, sorry to barge in there, but you got me thinking on that one and I just wanted touch on that.
Analyzing Alabama and Syracuse
Especially after Alabama looked a little bit mortal against USF. Yeah. I mean, missing a star linebacker because he got hurt in the Bethune game, kind of hurt. But the passing from QB, I'm like, think of his name. Oh, the USF quarterback Brian Brown. Yeah. Yeah. He's absolutely fantastic. Yeah. But like just missing a few passes and like it felt like he was doing a little too much on Saturday. It's tough for, I think it's tough when you're a quarterback in that situation you feel like you got to do everything and sometimes it's possible do a little too. I mean, it happens to some incredible. I mean, that's what happened to Caleb Williams. You could argue that last season he was just looking like he was trying to do make plays out of everything, you know, hit on home run balls every play and it just didn't work.
Looking Ahead to Future Games
And then the rest of the team just couldn't keep up with it. So that's a tricky thing when you have a talented and a bold, bold player like that. Yeah, my problem is like that three stretch Miami, then at Tulane and then at Memphis. Back to back could pretty much make or break our season. If they get through it, though. Imagine if they upset Miami and they take care two lane, you know, we'll see. I mean, they obviously gave k state a heck of a scare this past week. And Memphis, my goodness. The thing is, losing that way to Alabama, even though the final score, you know, 40 216, looks far worse than that game was like, USF is absolutely able to play itself into that twelve team spot. It would not be unreasonable if they were to finish that schedule because again, we have all these teams where if they were to finish their schedule either undefeated or with one loss, that would be potentially the twelve, the g five representative.
Texas A&M and Boston College Matchups
But that's demanding a lot. Only probably one of those teams will do it. And USF is, I think, definitely a candidate. They could do it. They always, they were before the season, but it only was, I think, confirmed watching that game of Bama. But, yeah, that's true. Well, thanks for joining us, Mac. I really appreciate. I just want to get to a couple more people and stick around. If you'd like to add to the conversation. Just raise your hand. We'd love to hear from you. Let's see here. Cody, what's going on? Hey. Good afternoon, guys. Hope everyone's being safe and having a good night. not going to talk about USC for the first time. I feel like in forever. I'm. I just. I'm just so happy with them. I don't really need to bring them up right now.
Conference Champions and the G5
We could see a two loss, three loss conference champion and then they would be forced to give that to the g five? One of those. Oh, it's absolutely. The example of that is Cincinnati. A few years ago, they would have been that team. They would have been the conference champ that would have crowded into the four seeds. And I don't know if the, whoever, the fifth team would have been the fifth conference champ, that p four would have necessarily been the twelve seed, but they probably wouldn't have been the fifth seed either, and they wouldn't have got the buy, so wouldn't have even really had much benefit for them. But that's certainly possible. There is a path where a team could, like, let's say, heck, if Boise State had managed to not lose on a walk off field goal, that game was so dang close with Oregon, if they managed to win there, suddenly there's a real open question like, okay, are we having another Cincinnati situation where if the ACC continues to beat itself up at the rate it's going, you know, if there is a conference right now that seems to be down that path, it would be the ACC, at least at this point.
Upcoming Games and Season Highlights
And that assumes Miami gets tripped up, which I'm not saying is a guarantee by any stretch. Cam Ward to Xavier Restrepo. And that defense is one hell of a combo they got going over there. But, yeah, it's a great question, man. Thank you. All right, so let's see. Rocky, how you doing? No, that's fine. So, first off, I was going to say, actually, there is a couple good games going on this weekend. It's a big twelve little brother rivalry weekend. I don't know if they actually plan this, but let me give you some example. You got Oklahoma State at Tulsa, you got Cincinnati at Miami, Ohio uNt at Texas Tech, Utah at Utah State, Colorado at Colorado State, Rice at Houston. And then, of course, the best big brother at little brother. I mean, you got West Virginia at Pitt. I mean, that's so. I mean, you do actually have some pretty good games going on.
Neil Brown and Alabama Series
But one thing I did want to bring up that I think is really interesting is Neil Brown has actually got himself on the hot seat again, and now it has nothing to do with his performance. It has to do with the fact that he's talking about trying to end the Alabama series that West Virginia has in two years with. They have a home and home with Alabama that was scheduled years ago. And he's basically like trying to back out of it. And he's, and granted, Neil Brown, I give him a little bit of credit. He is right on some things because he's been mad that, like, you know, West Virginia plays eleven power four comp teams ever for five years. They've had two out of conference power fours every year. And now he's basically saying, oh, yeah, we got to fix our schedule. And Alabama, that ain't fixed. And people are like, what? I mean, like, this is a crazy thing that he's even considering canceling this. Because to put this into perspective, the only other team in the entire big twelve that has ever hosted Alabama at home on their field, not at an NFL stadium. Like, they actually came and visited and went to their stadium, is TCU, and it was in 1956.
Risks of Canceling the Series
Like, it's just kind of crazy. That is incredible when you think about it. I mean, technically Texas did, but, yeah, now they're obviously in the same conference. But that is fascinating. That's a fascinating fact to it, too. I mean, I hope they don't. Oh, no, I really hope that a lot of these pissed at him right now because, well, not the whole, there's some, they're like, no, I'd take the easy win. But it's like the thing he's complaining about, the worst part is hedgesthem. He was saying that, you know, he doesn't want to play two power four every year and out of conference. And people are, yeah, that's fine. We get that. I mean, there's very few coaches who've had to deal with two out of conference power four teams for five years straight. Next year will be the first year since 2018 that West Virginia hasn't had two power four out of conferences. But the problem is, his argument goes to, you know, it goes to crap when you look at the fact that, yeah, but the two years you're playing Alabama, you have a group of five at Double A and just Alabama for your outer conference.
Big Matchups and Competitive Landscape
So you just kind of look like a whiny, you know, weakling if you're just complaining. I don't want to play Alabama. Yeah, I agree with you. I think that I, I'd like to see more of those games. Stay. I know there's been more than a few coaches like Lincoln Riley has been kind of quoted as wanting to get rid of some of his tougher games. But honestly, with this twelve team playoff, I'm hoping they realize in a couple of years that these games won't wreck your schedule like they would in the BCS or 14 playoff era. Like you can lose one of those games and still make it in at this point. As were just saying, like you can, your p four team, you can afford to lose a game or two and still make it in. And there's some. There's some potentially there's some potential there. I think so. Yeah. I hope they keep it. I think that's gonna be an exciting series for sure. All right. That's all. Let's see.
Looking Forward to the Weekend's Games
So I'd like to go ahead and give a couple other folks a chance to get in on this. Let's see here. College football lounge, what's going on? We got some others we'll get to as well. I promise. Hey Bobak, first of all, I just want to make sure you can hear me this week. Sure can. Awesome. Yeah, I remember last week. Yeah, we had to have a ski bass. Give me your words. Everybody gets the x bug eventually. Yeah. But yeah. So just talking about games coming up this week, I haven't heard him mentioned yet. I did come in late but might be flying under the radar for some folks. And I've said on here before, no Cloma fan. I went to school there. Follow them really closely. Tulane comes to Norman this week and the depth chart on offense for Oklahoma at offensive line and wide receiver is an absolute bloodbath right now.
Oklahoma Struggles and Game Predictions
Oklahoma is down to their fourth strength center who is playing hurt. It is a really bad situation. Obviously some folks may have seen the game last weekend's Houston, which was an absolutely dreadful game to watch. I mean, it's Oklahoma's. Literally. We're Crimson Iowa now. I mean, it's 16 to twelve. I think it was the final score. And, you know, you could look at it and say were kind of fortunate to win the game, honestly. And, you know, I think coming into that game a lot of people would have rated Houston is one of the worst power conference teams that there is. So the point spread hovering around 14 right now, which to me seems kind of crazy. Obviously Tulane gave Kansas State all they wanted. Honestly, there's a Tulane plus 450 money line out there that, you know, if I was in a legal state, I might throw $20 at or something because, I mean, I think I. Oklahoma is just holding on for dear life right now.
High-Stakes Match-ups Ahead
Just try to get some bodies back. I think it's going to, you know, I think it's going to be a game that is going to at least be competitive. And maybe, you know, Oklahoma might just have to win, try to win it again with their defense. But keep an eye on that 230 in the middle of the game, in the middle of the day on Saturday. That could get interesting. Yeah. And I mean, Oklahoma, if they get past two lane, then they host Tennessee as they're welcome to the SEC conference game. And man, is that game looking scarier and scarier as each week passes. I'm not, I. That's something I really don't even want to think about right now. Yeah, because I mean, Tennessee ain't going to be taking a loss this week. All respects to Kent State, but as were just talking about, they're not the, they're not the.
Historical Context and Coaches' Rivalries
The banner carry of the Mac right now. There, there's some history there. Josh Hypel, the head coach at Tennessee, won the national title as a player at Oklahoma, was in the offensive coordinator under Bob Stoops and was fired. And you know, the story is that the manner in which he was fired he really did not appreciate. I mean, nobody likes to had fired, but he felt, I think that it was, you know, not handled well. And I. I'm not. It's sad, honestly, I'm not sure Bob and, Josh really have much of relationship to this day. After that. I wish it, you know, I wish that's something they could patch up, but I don't think he's going to be coming into Norman, you know, looking to hand out any favors. So. Yeah, I. That's looking pretty bleak in my mind. Well, first things first, Tulane, that's going to be a heck of a game.
Tulane's Performance and Future Outlook
I can't wait. After that, after that Kansas State game that Tulane had. And again, you know, that was they reloaded with Sumrall after Fritz went to, went over to Houston and. Yeah, no, this is interesting. It's funny that they get those teams back to back midwest as well. I can't wait. Everyone remembers that wild game two a dad, where they left it all on the field a couple of seasons ago and then the rest of their season kind of went to hell. That's always fascinating when you see those kinds of matchups. Let's see here, RJ, even super patient. What's on your mind, friend? Hello as I join you guys live from noted ACC Capital of the world, Dallas, Texas. I was hoping you're going to say Berkeley, but that works. Can't win a ball. I'm not in Palo Alto, unfortunately.
Anticipating Weird Results in the Upcoming Games
I'm glad we talked about the Oakland game just before because I believe. I don't know if this weekend slate is good or bad, but it has certainly got the chance for a lot of weird and funny results. No one will overreact to or cause any monumental Twitter space disasters. If you are someone who, like me, may or may not enjoy a game with potential to get real weird, I would tell you, don't look at the that LSU South Carolina game that has real late stage Spurrier Hey, South Carolina might have one of the nation's best defenses very quietly opportunities in a year where LSU may or may not have had expectations going in, and Brian Kelly could very quickly find himself on the hot seat once again.
Realignment and Rivalry Highlights
If you want a weird game, maybe take a little peek over there. Another one I would highlight is for those of you, I'm glad to hear we had some Mac representation, but I would also like to shave a shout out to my friends from the mountain west, from the american conference, the AAC, and all my FCS friends out there because we've got a realignment. We've got a realignment bowl day coming up with our friends in the Apple cup and the whatever Oregon's calling it now. Yeah, civil war, but I don't know what they renamed that to. But, I could only imagine, particularly the Apple cup, where, let's remember, not only did Washington play a large part in the demise of the Pac twelve, they also left taking Wazoo's ad. That's a thing that happened.
Expectations from Oregon Teams
Yep. That was who's ad on the way out. So I can only imagine the Apple cup, which I believe is in Pullman this year. Like, it's at Wazoo. No, it's actually in Seattle. It's. It's gonna be at chaos if we got that game in Pullman, but I know the civil war is at Oregon State. Granted, not quite the same. Although once again, Oregon has been real. Don't look at me. These past few weeks. They'll be on Fox. Oregon, you're on Fox this time. You can't hide. Oregon's in a really funny position. They are now the big team that everyone's watching every week just to see when they stumble. I never thought that's where they would be this season, but we are all just every week.
Notre Dame and Ole Miss Expectations
Is this going to be the especially, you know, Idaho. Okay. Boise State strong. But still, they were the four. They were like the consensus top three, top four team. And now it's like we're watching the team somehow. Win their way out of the top ten. Yes. Although also, thank you, Notre Dame, for getting yourself out of that mix very early. Just that the habitual Notre Dame Penn state slot. Notre Dame made it very clear that, I mean, they'll be fine, but they've made it very clear we don't have to worry about them going a real flimsy twelve and, oh, but the game I want to highlight for real weird potential, it would be very ole Miss to lose to Ole Miss private this week, wouldn't it?
Analyzing Matchups and Predictions
Oh, that would be a stretch. It would. I don't think it will happen, but, man, it would be real Ole Miss to just go and lay a dud at Wake Forest for no reason other than y'all just woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. It's so funny, too. I've heard, like, oh, how's Ole Miss gonna look against Wake Forest? I'm like, what season of Wake Forest are we talking about the people? Like, I mean, Virginia took him out by a point. They, they're, I don't know. I mean, crazier things have happened. I mean, live through. I live through watching the full 2007 USC Stanford game, which if you were, I mean, my gosh, that was so weirder things have happened. I will just say that, but I'm doubtful at this point.
Coaching Perspectives and Wrap-up
But still, who knows? Crazy. We can all agree Dave Claussen is unfirable and. Yeah, agree 100% agree. Cool. Him and Dave Dorn, they'll live forever and, you know, and some Kirk barons. But yeah, no, that is my contribution today's football weekend. Will it get weird? Probably. And I'm sure it'll be one of those weird games. Like, what do you mean? Well, actually, no, I'm not saying that Georgia's gonna hang about 5011 points on Kentucky Saturday night. Like, guys, that's gonna be bad, but no, be prepared for some real weird results. And if. I'm gonna say if at halftime, Memphis is beating Florida state. All we ask is whoever finds that fire Mike Norvell Twitter space, just go ahead and tweet that link because it's going to be there. And we remember what happened last time we got a fire Norville Twitter space.
Anticipating Reactions and Future Discussions
Oh, my goodness. Yeah. Oh, it's gonna be, I, it's going to be rational and I'm sure, very rational discussion. Very erode for all these analytics. We'll have numbers and we'll have, you know, monocles as we look over. Yeah. Oh, my goodness. Thank you, man. That was great. I love that. Let's see. I see one hand up and we'll probably start wrapping this up because we can go in over about an hour, but a level up. Luke, I saw your hand up. Yeah, yeah. Hey, that was a good conversation. I very much enjoyed that. Oklahoma. I didn't realize they were hurting so much. And I know Alabama has them coming up soon, but I did notice the Alabama Wisconsin game is at Camp Randall on Fox.
Television and Game Predictions
And I had to think, I don't remember the last time Alabama played a game on Fox, so that's going to be interesting for me. But, yeah, this week, Ole Miss is going to smash Wake Forest. I mean, Ole Miss is putting up 60 points against them. So Wake Forest is certainly not going to show up to attract me. That's a safe game, and Florida State could be in trouble for sure. We had an interesting conversation earlier with some SEC fans talking about LSU being not so confident in Brian Kelly. I pointed out Brian Kelly is a CEO style coach, whereas there are some coaches out there that are the, you know, the ideal kind of FFCs, if you know that abbreviation.
Coaching Styles and Debates
And I was kind of wondering, we had the political debate tonight. Who would you pick in a debate between football coaches? You know, your modern CEO style coach versus a traditional FFC coach? Because you got like, Nick Saban is like now the Cadillac, the Rolls Royce, however you want to say, the model of it. So I, I think the idea of having a coach who is willing to be a bit more of a CEO, at least in the sense of trusting the people he hires and, but putting pressure on them, not like totally hands off because you can be a little too hands on. I mean, I think. I'm not sure I'm the jury's a little out right now, I think, on James Franklin andy Kotlinki in terms of allowing that offense.
Analyzing Game Performances
Although Drew Allard, he wasn't the reason why that bowling Green game looked ugly, it was because, inexplicably, that, except usually great defense, just kind of had an off game. The tackling was a little off, a little odds and ends, and it added up real quick. But that's where I'm on that. I'd like to slowly start kind of wrapping this up, but I see a couple hands up. So I'll give you all your last chances here. So, Nate, I see your hand up and then we'll go to ski masks. Murphy, I believe the last time Alabama played on Fox was 2022, when they played at Texas. I believe that was a big new kickoff game.
Game Reflections
That makes sense. Yeah, I was at that game. Was fun. Yeah. Because I think it's usually whoever's hosting that makes a lot of sense. That's why Wisconsin with the Big Ten and Fox ski mask. What's up? Oh, yeah, I had two topics to discuss. I guess the first one will be discussing probably your favorite entity within college football, which is billable hours, because earlier today, four guys from my alma mater decided they wanted to sue not just the NCAA, but specifically they call it the Big ten Network for monetizing players to basically get everyone who wouldn't be a luck.
Legalities in College Sports
Well, this is just for everyone who. Everyone who's played sports for the University of Michigan prior to 2016, but during existence at a big city network, they're trying to get $50 million in a settlement for all of those guys, which I think is a. Is a very interesting move because they basically say that they just keep replaying all of our old games and highlights and they make money off the ad revenue because people, you know, pay to put ad spaces while these games are being replayed. So I think it's a very interesting move for older players to use against NCAA because they only allow nil earnings to go back to 2016 in the current case. So, yeah, I want to do.
Current Legal Cases
Yeah, it's an interesting case. I looked at it briefly. There's a couple of things going on there. One of the, I mean, I get why they filed it at this point. The NCAA has been getting beaten up left and right, so why not try to get a stake in this they're hooking into, because they are anticipating the potential statute of limitations and how long you have to file a suit. But there is a doctrine that sometimes lets you get past it, which is a continuing violations doctrine, which basically extends the time by saying there's a continuing or persistent.
Implications of Continuing Violations
Unlawful, not illegal. We're not talking like criminal law here, unlawful conduct or harm, therefore, because it's ongoing, it's never really stopped. So they're saying, like, they still have standing the suit. I'm not sure. There's been some interesting analysis there. Basically, while the NCAA has lost quite a few cases, they have won a couple where basically the NCAA was able to convince, I believe it was a 6th circuit, that college players were arguing that they were tv, was misappropriating the rights of publicity. They're kind of going on all this and that they. They should have been, if they're featured in games, they should be played. And the reason the judge rejected it is they were like, this could be taken to a situation where you can't even show a game without getting every player in the game to sign off on it.
Future of Legal Challenges
And that's where, I'm not saying that would be the winning argument, but there, it's not a settled case. It could go, it could be interesting. I'm not sure where it's going to go. I know those players are trying to get class action standing, but that's what everyone should do in that situation because it can get a bigger, you know, payout and all of that. If you're a lawyer, it's wonderful. We're talking about Bill Bells here. There's also an interesting case, although I'm not. I'm curious to see where it goes. And he'd been threatening this. The South Dakota attorney general has sued the NCAA over the house settlement, which, by the way, has not been settled, as I warned, for months, you know, it had to be agreed to by the judge.
Ongoing Legal Negotiations
And the judge said, I don't know if I agree to this. So they're kind of back to the drawing board, that settlement. All I know is if we get to a, a revenue sharing agreement, it's going to be a couple of seasons from now at the late, at the soonest. Pardon me, but yeah, they're back to the drawing board on that. We didn't get a chance to really talk about it, but I broke it down on our CFB and kind of looking at what's going on there. But the South Dakota case, honestly, it's very political in nature. I don't know if he has a standing mass sue, especially since we don't even know.
Legal Outcomes and Impacts
The judge rejected the initial house settlement draft, so we haven't even got to the point where. What are you suing about? South Carolina? Pardon me? South Dakota attorney general. We haven't even got, like, the papers haven't even been agreed to. Basically, the judge didn't like the fact that this settlement would take away potential nil opportunities for athletes. They're looking. The judge is very athlete centered. And the settlement that the conferences and the plaintiffs in that case, the players were not apparently sufficient to convince them. So I don't want to bore you guys with all those details. It's pretty long legal questions.
Conclusion of the Discussion
All I got to say is it's going to go on for a while now. we're not near the end of that. but those are the two, legal actions that were kind of filed today. The, the ex Michigan players seeing the NCAA and Big Ten Network over unpaid nil TBD and then the South Dakota attorney general filing a suit over a house settlement that hasn't even reached the end. So seems awfully early. And I can totally see the judge saying like, first of all, I don't know if you have standing the sue. This has nothing to do with the state. Second of all, you're. We haven't even got settlement papers that have been tentatively agreed to yet.
Final Reflections on NCAA Legal Challenges
You pulled the trigger too early, buddy. I know it's an election year. You pull the trigger too early. but, But yeah, so all that said, we've been going on for quite some time now. We've been going on for an hour and 20 minutes. Generally I am a little over an hour and change, so we're going to slowly start wrapping this up. I know we got to a lot of conversation. I wanted to thank everyone who joined us. Lots of great conversation. I think every caller was fantastic. If you missed the beginning of this automatically turns into recording once it wraps up.
Looking Ahead to This Week in College Football
I want to remind everybody we have a really exciting game on Thursday for a couple of reasons. Texas State, undefeated g five contender for that twelve team spot is hosting an undefeated, surprisingly undefeated Arizona state team. You know, RCFB. We're going to be taking over the Texas State Bobcats, their main athletic account, not the football account. We're going to have some fun with it. So if you're watching the game, see what Texas State is tweeting. If it's funny, it's us. If it's not funny, as I said, we probably got hacked. We'll just blame that. But it should be good. It should be something funny and silly to do. It's something we enjoy doing when we get that opportunity. But on behalf of all of us here at RCFP, I'm Bob Ekarye.
Closing Thoughts
If again this turns into a recording, I'll try and get this recorded. At least the audio portion to wherever you get your podcast is RCFB talk. If you like my voice, I'm part of a podcast called the College Football Survivor show I do for advanced sports media, along with CB's sports national reporter Shawn Jayaraja. Find that where you get your podcast as well. I'm looking forward to this week is going to be a fun week of college football.
