00:00Good morning! On a Wednesday, Jim Costa, John Jansen, Heather Park, Gov, and Greg behind the glass.
00:05Wednesday means the power surge. Will the Lions crack John Jansen's top teams in football?
00:11We'll get to that at 635. John, good morning!
00:13Good morning! We shall see! Who knows? A lot happened over the weekend.
00:18A lot of teams in the top six from last week took an L.
00:21Kansas City lost. It bounces them.
00:23Minnesota lost. Interesting. You got a little work cut out for you.
00:27The Lions in there as well, so there'll be some new representatives. Let's just say that.
00:31Yeah, the college football playoff rankings come out last night, and I can't be the only one that was oblivious
00:37that they were even out last night.
00:39They happened. I saw them. I put them in the email. I've prepared things to say about them, but it
00:43was not on my radar.
00:45You didn't. I mean, I think I even mentioned it, I don't know, Monday, or I know I mentioned it
00:49last week.
00:50Yeah, but I don't really listen to you, so.
00:51So, understandable. But yeah, they came out last night, and some interesting, interesting numbers in front of teams' names.
01:01Okay, so the obvious thing is Notre Dame, right?
01:03Yeah, that's the most obvious. They come in at number 11.
01:06They were number four in, like, the AP or the coaches' pool, and the committee has made a statement putting
01:11them at 11.
01:12And part of that statement is, first of all, you've only played one good team. You lost to them. That
01:16was BYU.
01:16They didn't really follow the same statement with Miami, because Miami's played nobody, but they haven't lost either.
01:23So, and again, the first rankings that come out, but it does matter what position you are in.
01:30So Notre Dame has their special circumstances carved out.
01:34Yes, the memorandum of understanding.
01:36That your special amendment.
01:37Right.
01:38That says, if you're in the top 12, we have to put you in.
01:41Right. So they start out at 11.
01:43So the committee basically put them in the hot seat Saturday night and says, win the game or else.
01:50Win the game or you fall out and you don't play anybody to win your way back in.
01:55So we're going to put you right on the bubble on the outside looking in if you can't win this
02:00game on Saturday.
02:01And the interesting thing about it is, if you look at some of the other polls, you have Notre Dame,
02:09as you mentioned,
02:11at four in the AP poll and in the coaches poll, Notre Dame was at six.
02:17Okay.
02:18BYU, who they lost to in the coaches poll, I just said they were at six.
02:22BYU, eight.
02:23Stupid.
02:24And I mean, if they only televise that game.
02:26AP top 25, Notre Dame at four.
02:29BYU at seven.
02:30Ridiculous.
02:31Which is why I was curious because we've got BYU, Utah this weekend.
02:36We've got Miami, Notre Dame.
02:37We have seven ranked on ranked games this weekend.
02:39So if you're going to win, you have the chance to win and get in.
02:43Be rewarded.
02:43Yes.
02:44But if Notre Dame were to lose, if it happened in one of the other two polls, how do they
02:51accommodate for a BYU loss,
02:53even though there was a Notre Dame win and a loss to BYU?
02:57Like, this is why it's important where everyone is slated to start things off.
03:02Because you go back to last year, Notre Dame was in, Miami was out, and then all of a sudden
03:05there was a big controversy
03:06because they jumped Miami over Notre Dame.
03:09It's so tough.
03:10Maybe part of the reason it's not, it wasn't on my radar, that like theatrics of they twist themselves into
03:16a pretzel
03:17trying to explain why they rank teams where they do.
03:20And it feels like all for show until we get to the very end.
03:24But I thought Notre Dame was intentional.
03:26Sure.
03:26And obviously, you know, Ohio State, if the college football playoffs were to start today, they would be out.
03:33They're at six and two.
03:34They're at 12.
03:35And that would be the spot for the highest ranked group of six team, which would be Boise State.
03:40Boise State.
03:41Now, New Mexico is ranked in one of the coaches polls or AP polls, but they are New Mexico is
03:46not in the correct committee's playoff top 25.
03:49But they are a team that could also grab that bid, depending on how the season finishes.
03:53So I did what I think a lot of people did.
03:55I tried to take inventory.
03:56There's only two Big Ten teams in the college football playoff right now.
04:00You mentioned Ohio State's just on the outside.
04:01The two that are in are Indiana and UCLA.
04:04There's only two from the Big 12, and they're going to play each other this week, Utah and BYU.
04:10You've got Notre Dame.
04:11You've got one ACC team, Miami, who's number one.
04:14You have the group of five spot and the rest of the field.
04:16Five are from the SEC.
04:20The SEC has more than the Big Ten and the Big 12 combined.
04:23They have the same as the other power conferences combined.
04:27Now, some of this will sort itself out because I mentioned all these ranked games.
04:31You have four SEC ranked head-to-head showdowns this week.
04:36So like Kentucky, Tennessee, someone's going to lose the game.
04:39LSU, Alabama, someone's going to...
04:41You're going to start to kick these teams further down the rankings.
04:45Right.
04:45And so, yeah, you've got teams with one loss.
04:49Somebody's going to take another one this weekend.
04:51And now, all of a sudden, the debate is going to be, how do you measure them along with Ohio
04:56State?
04:57How do you measure them along with some of these other Big Ten teams that are two-loss teams
05:01that are currently on the outside looking in?
05:02Or what do you do with Wake Forest and Texas Tech who are on the outside with one loss?
05:07Right.
05:08And if they win their games and they're an 11-win football team and you have three SEC losses,
05:13it's going to be interesting to see how they end up juggling all of it.
05:17Yeah.
05:17So, it'll sort itself out, but it is interesting where they placed everybody to start.
05:23Tom, did you have a big takeaway?
05:24I feel like Notre Dame is the thing everyone's going to focus on.
05:28That is the big one.
05:29I mean, if you go back to a few years ago, you know, when you were arguing for the ACC
05:35and the Big 12,
05:36well, they got kind of screwed again.
05:37I mean...
05:38Big 12 got two right now.
05:39Right.
05:40But do you want Wake Forest in it instead of, what is it, Ole Miss is the last SEC team?
05:45With two losses, yes.
05:47I mean, that was old Costa.
05:49I don't know if, does that argument still exist?
05:51Yeah.
05:51I want the SEC to be punished if they lose football games.
05:54I think winning matters and losing should be punished.
05:57I'm in favor of a system where we reward results on the field.
06:00That's still me.
06:00So then, you would then believe that Kentucky should be above Alabama.
06:06Kentucky is at 7-1.
06:09Alabama is at 6-2.
06:11See, that's the challenge.
06:12Like, I love going head-to-head with the same record.
06:14I know.
06:14And they don't have the same record.
06:16I think the other takeaway was Indiana being as high as four, when they've had two straight
06:22overtime losses to teams that aren't ranked.
06:24Yeah.
06:25And then also their only loss is a team that's technically not in the field.
06:28Right.
06:28And I think it's an old bet to a degree, but I mean, if I'm an Ohio State fan, my
06:33team's
06:34not better than Boise.
06:35The fact that we're putting those teams in when they've showed no proof in the playoff
06:38era that they're worth being in it.
06:40Yeah.
06:41We've also seen big schools get blown out in the playoff, too.
06:43And if Ohio State doesn't have a quarterback, they would be susceptible to the same thing.
06:46I'm trying to light the fuse, John.
06:48I'm trying to get on.
06:48Oh, I know.
06:49I know.
06:50I have no sympathy for, like, three lost teams.
06:53I never will.
06:54They played better competition.
06:55And they lost.
06:56They didn't measure up.
06:57Who'd Boise beat?
06:59Can I ask you a question?
07:00Yeah.
07:01Who should have made the 2026 NCAA basketball tournament?
07:05Tennessee State or Auburn?
07:09There's way more teams in the field.
07:10The magic of March is different, I would argue.
07:12I would argue that as well, but I would much rather see.
07:16Okay.
07:17My point is, Tennessee State got an automatic bid for what they accomplished.
07:22Auburn did not.
07:24Boise State would get a bid for being the highest ranked group of six champion.
07:28So we can, we're debating something that's not debatable.
07:32They get in.
07:34Because of the structure.
07:35Yes.
07:36But I would argue the structure, Stu.
07:37Yeah.
07:37Everybody hates that structure.
07:38Yeah.
07:39But also, together, we'd put probably six SEC, six Big Ten teams.
07:43Right.
07:43We're just like the big schools.
07:45Yeah.
07:46That's a good impression of the two of them combined.
07:48That was good.
07:50But the bigger question is, as we're looking at, you know, these teams and we're talking
07:55about Miami is at number one.
07:56And if you look at, they're going to play Notre Dame this weekend.
08:00That is the only opportunity for them to stake a claim to anything.
08:06Because they played Stanford, Florida, A&M, Wake Forest, Central Michigan.
08:09Sorry, they're fire up chips.
08:11Clemson.
08:12And then they played Florida State.
08:13Not a ranked team, but had to take them into overtime.
08:16Pitt, North Carolina.
08:17And again, not a ranked team and no rivalry.
08:20And it took a field goal to be able to win against the fighting Bill Belichick's.
08:25And now they're going to play Notre Dame.
08:27After this, it's Duke, Virginia Tech, and Boston College.
08:30The ACC is real weak.
08:32Like, even I was looking at Wake Forest.
08:33Can they have a big win at some point so I can feel good about putting them?
08:35They really don't have any big games on the schedule moving forward.
08:38So let me ask you this.
08:40If they're going to put Notre Dame at 11 with the one loss to BYU, if Notre Dame wins
08:47this game, where do they put Miami next week?
08:51Because they will have lost to the only, it's not even a top 10 matchup.
08:56I mean, if you look at the other polls.
08:57I guess Notre Dame would then be a top 10 team.
08:59Right, but then what do you do with Miami?
09:00Do you drop Miami out?
09:03See, I guess the difference is.
09:04They can go from 1 to 12.
09:06Oh, I get what you're saying.
09:07And again, the committee never has consistency on this.
09:09That's why it's hard.
09:11They try to pin the guy down, the spokesperson, the member of the panel.
09:15And they always sidestep and dodge.
09:18The difference would be, obviously, Miami can win their way in with a conference title
09:22and Notre Dame can't.
09:23Right.
09:252-4-8-5-3-9-97-97.
09:27And then I would ask the question, what's the quality of football that we're debating here?
09:33Well, I'm glad you brought that up because I think we're going to be scraping the barrel
09:37for the final teams in a 12-team playoff.
09:40Can you imagine what it's going to be like next year with a 2014 playoff?
09:45Well, because we're looking at an Indiana team that's ranked four.
09:49And you mentioned it, right?
09:50They go to overtime with Minnesota.
09:52And it takes a 60-yard kick just to get them there.
09:55They went to OT with Michigan.
09:56Right.
09:57And then you think about what that looks like.
10:00They benched their quarterback.
10:03And what type of football are we watching?
10:08And what's the quality of it?
10:09Because of, hey, you could say, well, there's more parity because NIL, Transfer Portal, has
10:16spread everything out.
10:17And that ultimately should be a good thing.
10:20It's a good thing in the NFL.
10:21But it's a good thing in the NFL because you're talking about the best individuals at what
10:26they do.
10:26And even at that, it's hard to fill 32 rosters with good football players.
10:30Now you spread that talent over 100.
10:32What is it?
10:32136?
10:33138?
10:34Sure.
10:35I mean, I just think you're spreading out the talent too thin.
10:40And this is what you're going to get is not great football.
10:43So, again, part of going to the 12 team is like, again, I don't have the sympathy for
10:47the three-loss team and whether they should get in or not.
10:49You're going to have several three-loss teams that make it in the 2014 playoff.
10:53You may even have a four-loss team.
10:54Tom did the exercise for us.
10:56What the 2014 college football playoff bracket would look like starting next year.
11:01Yikes.
11:02We'll go through some of that next.
11:03The power surge is coming up at 635.
11:06It's 97.1.
