00:00So I will read off people the 12 college football playoff rankings
00:03that were announced on Tuesday night.
00:07Miami's obviously first.
00:08They were number one in the nation.
00:10You have Georgia, Utah, Indiana.
00:12Indiana went to four.
00:14They're the reigning champ.
00:15They're seven and one.
00:16Then you have Alabama at five, Kentucky at six, Texas at seven, UCLA at eight.
00:22Now, UCLA is ranked.
00:23I mean, they were ranked fifth, so they were in the top five.
00:26They were unranked a couple weeks ago.
00:29Right.
00:29BYU, Ole Miss, Notre Dame, Ohio State.
00:33So that is the group of 12.
00:35John, your thoughts on that group of 12.
00:37So you don't believe that UCLA, everyone's up in arms about this SEC bias
00:41that has been going on because UCLA was fifth in the country.
00:46I mean, they deserve to be fifth in the country,
00:48and now they're eighth in the college football playoff rankings.
00:50You don't think that's crazy?
00:53No.
00:54No, because these other teams have been knee-deep in it from day one.
00:58People expected them to be here.
01:00They've played better opponents.
01:02They've lost more games because they've played better opponents.
01:05Let's see UCLA get to the point where they've gone through an entire season and they've stayed in the top
01:11ten.
01:11Then I will start to give them some respect.
01:13Until then, miss me with this UCLA talk, okay?
01:16Like, sometimes you go full UFC, okay?
01:20Not the fighting, the University of South Florida, and you win a bunch of games, and you end up in
01:27the top five.
01:28It happens.
01:29It happens all the time.
01:31Show me at the end of the season what it looks like.
01:33Like, that's what I'm more concerned about.
01:35What they're doing is awesome.
01:37I take my hat off to them.
01:38But for people now trying to dismiss USC because UCLA is finally doing something, it's laughable to me.
01:45It's just utterly laughable to me.
01:47So I wanted to get to USC because USC is now ranked again.
01:52They are number 20.
01:54And the teams.
01:55I thought they were in the teams.
01:56Well, I'm talking about, like, people have the college football playoff rankings, and it's the top 25 of that.
02:02So they're outside of the college.
02:03But you're right.
02:04They are inside the top 20 in rankings.
02:07So you've been higher on USC than, I think, everybody that's come on this show.
02:13And listen, I will say this.
02:15Awesome win to beat Ohio State.
02:16It really was.
02:17It was an awesome win to beat Ohio State.
02:19They basically controlled that whole game on a rainy day on Halloween at the Coliseum.
02:24Obviously, Ohio State was starting a freshman quarterback.
02:27That makes it a lot easier.
02:28But USC's offense was good, and their defense was good, and they showed up for the first time ever, Lincoln
02:33Riley.
02:34And Lincoln Riley, with this prepared statement, dude, just, okay, whatever.
02:38See what you're doing?
02:40See?
02:40Here it is.
02:40Here it comes.
02:41Here it comes.
02:42What?
02:43You just don't like him.
02:44You guys don't.
02:45You just don't like him.
02:47And by the way, why would I have any reason to like what he's done at USC so far, John?
02:51Give me one good reason.
02:52I'm not.
02:54Listen to me.
02:55Because what you're doing is you are allowing your dislike for the man to overshadow the performance that he's giving
03:04you right now.
03:06They're 7-2, and they lost to an Oregon team that was playing a backup, and that sucks.
03:11Okay?
03:11And they're going to have to beat Indiana and UCLA to even have a conversation at the college football playoff.
03:16You think they're going to beat Indiana.
03:18I don't think it's going to be that easy.
03:20Absolutely.
03:20Absolutely.
03:21Look, see.
03:22Are they going to go 2-0?
03:23So do you think they're going to win out?
03:26What did I tell you when we had this conversation before?
03:28Because you were saying, oh, if he loses to both of them, he's fired.
03:30And I agreed to that.
03:32But now you beat one.
03:33And if you've watched Indiana play the last three weeks, they haven't been good.
03:37They needed a 60-yard field goal just to get into overtime.
03:42And it's not like, oh, it was 35-35.
03:44It was like 16-16 with the 60-yarder.
03:47So I have not been impressed with what I've seen from Indiana.
03:51You win the games.
03:52You win the games.
03:52You can only beat the teams in front of you.
03:54Indiana has done that.
03:57But if it doesn't look good, that goes down on the committee's list, too.
04:01And so if USC can go in there and beat them after no one else has been able to figure
04:06out the puzzle,
04:07you've got to take your hat off to them because now you've got back-to-back top 10 wins.
04:13Listen, yeah, if they win out, I think they deserve it.
04:17But do you believe in this team to compete for a national championship?
04:21Because I don't.
04:22No, no, no, no.
04:23That's a different conversation.
04:24That's a different conversation.
04:26I want Lincoln Wright to win these games so people can stop talking about firing him.
04:29Because what he's doing is not easy.
04:33USC was in the dumpster.
04:35It was literally in the dumpster.
04:37He came here.
04:38He raised the profile.
04:39He had the number one recruiting class in the country.
04:41I don't know what that's worth in the days of NIL now because guys just packed their bags and leave.
04:45But it seems like some of those signings are now paying off.
04:50And if he can matriculate that into back-to-back wins against top 10 teams,
04:55and by the time you get to the end of the season, if UCLA remains without a defeat,
05:00they'll be a top five team, too.
05:02And if you beat three top five teams in a single season, you're going to get in the CFP.
05:08What do you think they would be ranked if they did that, like at the end of those?
05:11Like, what do you think they would be?
05:13Would they be top?
05:13Five.
05:14They'd be five.
05:15That's insane.
05:16They were just unranked like last week, and they'll be five.
05:20It's just crazy how college football works now.
05:24Because everybody knew they always had the talent.
05:26They just never were able to put it together.
05:28They have a Heisman-threaded quarterback, and they have a well-known head coach,
05:31and they got the brand name of USC.
05:33That's all you need.
05:35This is going to be so fun.
05:37You're going to be so fun.
