00:00The Big Ten race is going to be interesting.
00:03At the moment, obviously, there's a lot of love coming in here for Ohio State.
00:08But Oregon's right behind them, Indiana right behind them,
00:12and then a little bit of a jump to USC and to Michigan.
00:15Let's start with Ohio State and just how good this Buckeye roster might wind up being.
00:20Obviously, they have the best wide receiver in college football.
00:23They have one of the best quarterbacks in college football,
00:25but that defense for the Buckeyes might be the best as well.
00:28Where are you on Ohio State?
00:30I mean, it's run like an NFL operation.
00:32I'm not saying they could beat an NFL team.
00:35I hate that argument.
00:36Whenever people get into that, it gets weird.
00:39But, you know, you said it, Jeremiah Smith, best player in college football.
00:44The quarterback, Julian Sayan, an undersold Heisman finalist from last year.
00:50They bring back Bo Jackson.
00:51The offensive line should be better.
00:53The defense, they have a knack for picking up the right transfers at the right time,
00:57like James Smith, Allegro, Earl Little.
01:00They brought in some guys that are going to play right away for Matt Patricia.
01:04And when I say NFL operation, I went to practice last, what I guess had been the week before,
01:09went out to practice.
01:10And when you see Matt Patricia on the sideline and Arthur Smith and the back and forth when they're
01:14going through team, it's like, yeah, that's kind of like going to the Browns or the Bengals
01:19or the Steelers.
01:19That's what it feels like when you go to those places.
01:22And so the talents there, they're the safe pick.
01:24They're the ultimate safe pick because nobody's going to jump out of their chair if Ohio State
01:28goes out and wins the Big Ten and the national championship this year.
01:31It's become the expectation.
01:34Where are you on Indiana?
01:36Because Hoosier fans, if you talk negatively about their team, they will jump down your throat
01:41pretty fast and say, we are the defending champs.
01:44I don't care what happened with Mendoza leaving and whatnot.
01:47But what is your outlook for Kirk Cignetti's club?
01:50Because there's a lot of pressure, and I'll call it pressure, on them to showcase that
01:54last year was not a fluke.
01:56Well, I think they did that last year.
01:58I was one of the guys, I may have come on your show and said, hey, they're not going to
02:03win at Iowa.
02:03They're not going to win at Oregon.
02:04They're not going to win at Penn State.
02:06And they went and won at all those places.
02:08I think what I really like about Indiana is the strength of their lines.
02:12The offensive line is going to be really good around Carter Smith.
02:15A defensive line around Tyreek Tucker, Mario Landino, both linebackers in the middle back.
02:21They're really good defensively.
02:23That's what really stands out.
02:24So I don't think the pressure necessarily resides there.
02:28There's something to that, what you're saying.
02:31Yeah, they got to prove it all over again.
02:32But to me, what's that mean?
02:34Like, do they have to go 16-0 again?
02:36Does Josh Hoover have to be Mendoza?
02:38Do they have to win every game?
02:39They have a tough schedule, but as long as Kurt Cignetti's there, I think they're going
02:44to compete for the Big Ten.
02:46I think they're going to compete for the college football playoff.
02:48Sporting News has them number one in our preseason pool, and it's a little bit of, hey, returning
02:53national champion.
02:54But I can do Ohio State, Indiana, one and two in any order.
02:59And I also really, you know, Matt, you can sit here and make a case from anybody down through
03:03seven and say, here's my national championship pick, and I'll hear it.
03:07You know, all the way down to Miami.
03:09After that, it gets a little weird.
03:10Right.
03:11In the Big Ten, I know Ohio State's got a ton of talent, and obviously Oregon and Indiana
03:18are going to be there.
03:19But is there anybody that you're looking at or anybody that you have heard, whether it
03:23be Penn State with Matt Campbell's first year at Penn State in their schedule, which
03:28is going to be really easy, or someone like, I don't know, a USC as to what they might
03:33be able to accomplish this year.
03:34Is there anyone that's not of those top three teams that you like a lot in the Big Ten?
03:38Well, I think there'll be a lot of discussion around that second tier of USC, Michigan, and
03:43Penn State.
03:43And there's reasons to like each one of them for different reasons.
03:47I suppose, Penn State, you mentioned the schedule.
03:49I think I haven't gone a hit or an interview or everybody knows about that schedule, right?
03:55That they're going to play, not play Oregon, Indiana, Ohio State.
03:59So how do they take advantage of that in year one with a lot of Iowa State transfers, including
04:03I like that Rocco Beck has played a lot of football, you know?
04:06So that will help Campbell make the transition with, I guess it's Iowa State East trying
04:12to spit that out correctly.
04:13Michigan, nine-win team last year, may win less games than this year, but may feel better
04:19about it because they don't have things going on off the field with Kyle Whittingham.
04:24I think they will get more development out of Bryce Underwood.
04:26Savion Hitter is a, I mean, he's going to be a player, this freshman running back.
04:33I don't, but when you, you have to temper expectations for freshman running backs, right?
04:38Like they're, he's part of a tag team with Jordan Marshall.
04:41They should be better.
04:42USC is the one generating the most, most buzz though, around that offense with Jaden
04:46Maiava, two-headed running game.
04:49We know they're going to score.
04:50If Gary Patterson, who's is who Lincoln Riley says he is, a defensive coordinator, they're
04:55probably the one.
04:57I think they're going to get to the playoff.
04:58Maybe they have to beat one of, who'd we just say, Oregon, Ohio state and Indiana.
05:05I like USC to make the playoffs as well.
05:07I bet that I like their year.
05:09I like what they've got.
05:10It's time for Lincoln Riley to finally put this all together and go and make a big splash
05:15and a big run with USC.
05:17I like what they're going to say.
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