2026-08-22 - Fantasy Things 2026

Ty and Dan bring back their annual Fantasy Things draft, selecting the strange situations, broadcast oddities, clichés, and college-football moments they expect to encounter during the 2026 season. The format is intentionally unserious and has no formal scoring system: the reward is giving listeners a watchlist of weirdness, from passive-aggressive James Franklin and AI-assisted coaching jokes to Akron's fan-designed opening drive, the Ball-Sac GameDay awkwardness, excessive wind, Arch Manning commercials, Nick Saban's high horse, and the inevitable folk-hero backup quarterback.

Key Takes

• Fantasy Things Is a Watchlist, Not a Scoreboard. 2026-08-22 Fantasy Things Is a Watchlist Not a Scoreboard
• A Coach Will Joke About Asking AI for Help After a Bad Loss. 2026-08-22 Coach Jokes About Asking AI for Help After a Bad Loss
• Passive-Aggressive James Franklin Remains Draftable. 2026-08-22 Passive-Aggressive James Franklin Remains Draftable
• Political Ads Will Invade College Football Broadcasts. 2026-08-22 Political Ads Will Invade College Football Broadcasts
• Akron's Fan-Designed Opening Drive Is Must-Watch. 2026-08-22 Akron Fan-Designed Opening Drive Is Must-Watch
• A Rugby-Style Punter Will See Free Yards and Keep Running. 2026-08-22 Rugby-Style Punter Will See Free Yards and Keep Running
• The Ball-Sac Game Will Make College GameDay Awkward. 2026-08-22 Ball-Sac Game Will Make College GameDay Awkward
• A Wire Cam Incident Will Become Broadcast Theater. 2026-08-22 Wire Cam Incident Will Become Broadcast Theater
• An Alternate Uniform Will Make a Game Unwatchable. 2026-08-22 Alternate Uniform Will Make a Game Unwatchable
• An Excessively Windy Game Will Create Beautiful Football Nonsense. 2026-08-22 Excessively Windy Game Will Create Beautiful Football Nonsense
• Anthony Becht Will Be a Premier Crowd-Shot Parent. 2026-08-22 Anthony Becht Will Be a Premier Crowd-Shot Parent
• Arch Manning Will Star in Another Understated Commercial. 2026-08-22 Arch Manning Will Star in Another Understated Commercial
• SEC Playoff Arguments Will Cite NFL Draft Picks. 2026-08-22 SEC Playoff Arguments Will Cite NFL Draft Picks
• A Backup Quarterback Will Become a Folk Hero. 2026-08-22 Backup Quarterback Will Become a Folk Hero
• Nick Saban's High Horse Will Return to GameDay. 2026-08-22 Nick Sabans High Horse Will Return to GameDay

Segment Breakdown

1. What Fantasy Things Is

Ty and Dan explain that Fantasy Things drafts situations, tropes, clichés, and rare college-football moments rather than players, teams, or winners. They revisit the format's roots around 2015, note that it still has no scoring system, and frame the episode as a way for listeners to notice the sport's specific brand of absurdity.

2. The Main Draft

Dan starts with a coach joking about asking AI for coaching advice after an embarrassing loss, while Ty takes passive-aggressive James Franklin. Political ads, Akron's fan-designed opening drive, a rugby-style punter who keeps running, and the Ball-Sac GameDay moment follow. The hosts then add a wire cam incident, an alternate-uniform disaster, an excessively windy game, Anthony Becht crowd shots, an Arch Manning commercial, SEC draft-pick arguments, a folk-hero backup quarterback, and Nick Saban's high horse.

3. Penny Stocks and Season Watchlist

The hosts read long-shot possibilities including Alabama running the ball, Northwestern scoring 30-plus points twice in Big Ten play, Curt Cignetti getting “milkshake-ducked,” Notre Dame's schedule turning out to be tricky, and a new fast-casual booster saving a coach. They close by asking listeners to send in their own Fantasy Things and return to the emotional anticipation of the season.

Members Heard From

• None — host-only recurring segment.

Teams Discussed

• Akron — the fan promotion to design the opening drive of the home opener.
• Ball State and Sacramento State — the Ball-Sac GameDay setup.
• Virginia Tech and Penn State — James Franklin's new job and old relationship.
• Missouri and Arizona State — candidates for the AI-coaching-advice joke.
• Notre Dame, Alabama, Northwestern, Indiana, Texas, and Oregon — long-shot or situational Fantasy Things examples.
• Texas A&M, Miami, Virginia, and Duke — wind-game examples and hypotheticals.

People Discussed

• James Franklin, Eli Drinkwitz, Kenny Dillingham, Jon Sumrall, and Dabo Swinney — coaching personalities attached to Fantasy Things scenarios.
• Pat McAfee and Desmond Howard — the GameDay cast expected to sell the Ball-Sac bit.
• Anthony Becht, Cooper Manning, and Arch Manning — recurring crowd-shot and commercial subjects.
• Nick Saban, Brian Kelly, Curt Cignetti, Billy Napier, and Bill Belichick — long-shot scenarios and GameDay personalities.
• Joe Moorhead, Avery Johnson, Pat Fitzgerald, and other drive-by mentions remain unresolved because they are not direct take subjects.

Segments

• Fantasy Things 2026 draft
• Fantasy Things penny stocks
• Verballers.com and season kickoff outro

Running Threads

• College football's quirks, broadcast failures, and odd personalities are part of the sport's cultural infrastructure, not distractions from it.
• Fantasy Things turns preseason weirdness into a falsifiable watchlist without pretending to predict winners.
• The hosts continue to use the pre-kickoff window to celebrate the strange pleasures that make the sport worth returning to.

Open Questions

• Which Fantasy Things pick becomes the defining weird moment of the 2026 season?
• Does Akron score on its fan-designed opening drive against Robert Morris?
• Which backup quarterback becomes the season's unexpected folk hero?
• Can any of the penny stocks — especially Alabama's run game or Northwestern's 30-point games — cash?