00:00We are gearing up for college football season. We're hanging out circa in Las Vegas for their sign-up weekend,
00:06and this is the time of year where we make our college football playoff picks. John, you're first.
00:11And famously, last year was the year that you picked Clemson to go all the way.
00:17Is that a good pick?
00:18Well, it didn't work out last year. We'll see if your picks are better this year.
00:21We'll see if mine are any good either, because we're somewhat going off of what we think we know,
00:27and what we know is that almost all of the teams that I'm talking about here
00:33don't have a quarterback that started at the university they're currently playing for,
00:39which is absolutely no surprise, right?
00:41I mean, the movement of college football players, but especially at the quarterback position, is unbelievable.
00:47So how I did this is I came up with my top 11 ranked teams,
00:53and then obviously you get the gold star for Notre Dame
00:57because I do believe that they'll get 10 wins, and as we all know,
01:00hey, if you get 10 wins, they get the automatic bid to the college football playoffs.
01:04So they get the free space.
01:06They're in the college football playoffs.
01:08So then it really came down to 10 because that 12th one goes to the group of six,
01:13and who is the top team there?
01:16I'll get to them in just a moment because the Pac-12 is back,
01:21and the Pac-12 may actually get a team in the college football playoffs, finally.
01:28All right, so my number one ranked team is Oregon.
01:32I've talked about them, and I've talked about the fact that Dante Moore is the frontrunner for me
01:38for the Heisman Trophy throughout the course of this season,
01:40certainly to start the season.
01:42A grown-up decision to come back, continue to work on his game.
01:45They've got talent literally everywhere.
01:49Speed on defense that you think about the Georgia teams when it was just, you know,
01:55hey, Jalen Carter and all those guys that were being taken off of Georgia's defense.
02:00That's the type of team speed, and I believe the defense that we're going to be looking at for Oregon.
02:06And one of the better offensive lines may be the Joe Moore award-winning offensive line this year
02:11in college football.
02:12So they're my number one team.
02:13I've got Georgia at two.
02:16They win the SEC.
02:19I've got Notre Dame at three, so a legitimate bid to the college football playoffs.
02:24Ohio State at four.
02:25Texas at five.
02:27Oklahoma at – I'm sorry, Miami at six.
02:30Oklahoma at seven.
02:32Indiana at eight.
02:33LSU makes it in at nine.
02:36I've got USC at 10.
02:38BYU at 11.
02:39And then my team, out of the Pac-12, we're actually going to see in week zero, Fresno State.
02:48What?
02:49Fresno State.
02:50So tell me if this sounds like a really good Pac-12.
02:55You've got Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Oregon State, San Diego State, Texas State.
03:00You've got all the states.
03:01Utah State and Washington State.
03:03Literally every single state.
03:05I think they get Boise State at home because I think a lot of people will think Boise State is
03:11kind of that –
03:11Yes, that's a popular pick.
03:12Yeah, that free space there in the college football playoffs.
03:14They get them at home, and this is a team that is continuing to lay in the weeds.
03:20And I think if you're looking for value –
03:22Value.
03:23Value.
03:24This is the pick that you want to try and make.
03:25All right.
03:26So having said that, going through the seating, in the first round of the college football playoffs, you've got 12
03:32versus five.
03:33I don't want to skip over.
03:34Michigan didn't make the playoff?
03:35No, Michigan did not make the playoff.
03:36Sorry.
03:38So the team that I think would be a little bit of a surprise is USC jumping into the college
03:42football playoffs.
03:43And I talked a little bit about them, new defensive coordinator, and it's can – the question I have for
03:48them is can they have a legitimate, consistent run game?
03:52We obviously saw what they can do against Michigan last year, but can they do that 12 weeks out of
03:58the season?
03:58I think this year they'll be able to do that.
04:00But the 12th seed is Fresno State against the 5th seed Texas, and then you've got 9 and 8.
04:08That's LSU and Indiana.
04:10Great game.
04:11I think it's going to be a great matchup.
04:1311 and 6 is BYU and Miami, USC and Oklahoma.
04:19All right, how about this, the 10 and 7?
04:22And I did not go for matchups.
04:25I just wanted to see who it was going to be.
04:27And now all of a sudden, former Oklahoma coach who takes his quarterback, Caleb Williams, to USC, doesn't find a
04:33way to get it done until this year because his job is 100% on the line.
04:38I think if they don't make the college football playoffs, he's looking for a new job.
04:41And a quick note, that is Oklahoma, the 7th seed.
04:45That game is in, Norman.
04:48Woo, buddy.
04:49Oh, yeah.
04:50That's going to be a great matchup.
04:51So my winners out of that first round is Texas, Indiana, Miami taking down BYU, the big power from the
04:58Big 12.
04:58And Oklahoma beating USC.
05:02All right, so that gets to our second round of the college football playoffs.
05:06And the free spaces were Ohio State, Oregon, Notre Dame, and Georgia.
05:13So we've got a Texas-Ohio State matchup.
05:16Rematch.
05:17A rematch of what we're going to see early in the college football season.
05:20Indiana and Oregon.
05:21A rematch of Indiana going to Oregon last year and blowing the doors off of Dan Lanning and the Ducks.
05:28And then I've got Miami and Notre Dame.
05:31Which would be a rematch.
05:31A rematch as well.
05:32Yep.
05:33And I swear, I did not put this.
05:35I literally went 1 through 12, and then I just plugged it into the format that college football playoffs has.
05:42And we're coming up with some of these great matchups.
05:44Oklahoma and Georgia rounding out the game.
05:48And so I've got Texas taking down Ohio State.
05:51I've got Oregon with the rematch, taking down Indiana.
05:56No back-to-back champs for the Hoosiers.
06:00Notre Dame taking down Miami.
06:02C.J. Carr, one of the few quarterbacks that started at his school, taking down Miami, who now has Darian
06:10Mensah,
06:10who's been at, what, three different schools now?
06:13It's hard to keep up.
06:14Dwayne, Duke, and now, yeah.
06:14Yeah.
06:15And so I've got Georgia taking down Oklahoma.
06:19Okay.
06:19And that is Gunnar Stockton, also a quarterback that started at Georgia.
06:24And we remember him coming in, was it two years ago, and getting absolutely knocked out.
06:29But coming back in the game.
06:31Kind of played tough, though.
06:32Yeah, played tough.
06:33And you know how I like tough guys.
06:34So the final four is Texas, Oregon, Notre Dame, and Georgia.
06:42And so it brings up the Texas-Oregon matchup.
06:45So we've got Dante Moore, and we've got Arch Manning.
06:49Real quick, you like, all your teams left are quarterbacks who are coming back.
06:54Yes, they're coming back, but that didn't necessarily start where they, you know, obviously Dante Moore started at UCLA.
07:00Arch Manning didn't start at Texas.
07:02Right, but from last year as a starter, being able to build on it, continuity.
07:05Right.
07:05And I think that plays a huge part in the success of what we'll see moving forward is that second
07:11year that a quarterback is at a spot.
07:13I've got Oregon taking down Texas.
07:16Texas is not back.
07:18And Miami is not back because obviously they lost to Notre Dame.
07:21I've got Notre Dame beating Georgia.
07:23And here's why I think Notre Dame ends up beating Georgia, and they get a chance at a national championship.
07:28Notre Dame, their offensive line.
07:30We talked about it a little bit last year.
07:32They underperformed.
07:33And we know that they stepped away from playing football because they got overlooked for the college football playoffs.
07:39They're playing with a chip on their shoulder, and you guys know how much I love C.J. Carr, the
07:43quarterback of Notre Dame.
07:44And you would have probably one and two in the Heisman race in the national title game.
07:48That's Dante Moore against C.J. Carr.
07:51And sorry, coach, I hate to do this.
07:54I would love to see C.J. Carr win a national championship.
07:57I wouldn't love to see Notre Dame win one, but I would love to see C.J. Carr win one.
08:01I think Oregon is the ultimate national champion this year, and it's because of all those things I said at
08:07the beginning of this.
08:08It's Dante Moore.
08:09It's speed, talent, receiver, a dominant offensive line, and the defense.
08:13When you look back at the dominance of Georgia when they were in their heyday, it is the fact that
08:20that defense, the speed, they could match up with any style.
08:25They could match up with any team that came into their house.
08:29And I think that's what it is for Oregon.
08:31We're going to talk a lot, as we do.
08:33Like, offenses dominate the conversation.
08:36I think what is not being talked about enough is Oregon's defense.
08:42I agree with you.
08:43So I think this is fascinating to sit back because I did the same exercise last night.
08:48Yeah.
08:48And we'll do that later in the show.
08:50But seeing where we are aligned and seeing some of the disagreements, some of the sleepers, there's about seven or
08:58eight teams that everybody has making the playoff.
08:59But how you arrive at that final and who sneaks in and some of the matchups along the way, the
09:05question for Oregon is going to be this.
09:06Two new coordinators.
09:08And can they get over the hump?
09:09But the talent's there on that football team.
09:11And it's a chance for Dan Lanning to get over, you know, is – can he win big games?
09:21Well, he's going to have to win in Columbus or in the Big Ten title or both for them to
09:25be the one seed.
09:26And then all these wins along the way.
09:28Yes.
09:29To be the one seed, you are correct.
09:31You're going to have to get some of those big wins.
09:32Or is he just going to be the next James Franklin where he can't make those big moments happen with
09:38such a talented team?
09:39And this is, I think, the most talented team in college football from top to bottom.
09:47Well, later in the show, I'll give my champion, which is the ultimate kiss of death.
09:50But we want feedback on your bracket, 248-539-9797.
09:55We also have a Lions question that we are going to get into as the hour ends.
10:00We're in Sin City, the deal with the devil.
10:03Would you take this?
10:04We'll do that coming up next.
10:06It's 97.1.
