2026-04-09 CFB Masters - Elite Coaches, QBs, Losers, and Schedule Gauntlets (raw)

Welcome to The Solid Verbal. The Solid Verbal. Come after me! I'm a man! I'm 40! I've heard so many players say, "Well, I want to be happy." You want to be happy for a day? Eat a steak. It's that whoop, whoop. And now, Dan and Ty.

Dan Rubenstein, we've got a big weekend in front of us, my friend, do we not? We do. Um, is Shingo Katayama going to be a factor? I don't follow golf. I don't think so. Okay. Hideki Matsuyama might be a factor, former champion playing this week. That's true. But I got that name right there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Shingo, did he wear like the cowboy hat? Was that my guy? I think you might be thinking of Jumbo Ozaki. Really? Oh, okay. I thought one of them wore one of the — one of the Japanese players wore a cool hat, but perhaps I'm mistaken. I always enjoy the Masters. I always enjoy The Masters, but I don't follow golf closely. I listen to a golf podcast sometimes, but I don't remember anything I hear. So I just enjoy the TV show spectacle of it all.

As do I, which is why we are fashioning today's show after the Masters, in some sense. We will get into that and what that means. You know, we like to try some stuff here on the show. We've been doing it all throughout the offseason. We're going to continue doing it today. Go back and listen to our episode from earlier this week, which we did with Coach Jerry Mack of Kennesaw State, who was very gracious with his time. Got a lot of great feedback from that interview. Hopefully, we can have him on again at some point in the very near future.

We are still getting feedback from the episode we did a week ago, the Secret Garbage Bracket Year of Our Lord 2026. So if you have thoughts on that, solidverbal@gmail.com, you can always reach out. We do also have a bracket — still have the bracket out there that you can fill out if you are so inclined at garbage.solidverbal.com, the most important URL right now on the interwebs. Of course, if you are here, if you're stopping back for more, if you just made it a few minutes in, if you like the cut of our jib, please hit follow. Please hit subscribe so that you do not miss any of our episodes.

I'm currently bombarding you with pictures of Shingo Katayama wearing dope cowboy hats. Oh, of course. Oh, you're right about that. Okay. Now I'm on, baby. I'm getting my Japanese players mixed up then. Okay. Yes. That's a very cool hat. He plays with flair, pants, hat, the whole thing. All right. Come on, Ty. I appreciate that. What is today's episode exactly?

Okay. So we are honoring the idea of exclusion, I guess? I don't know how to describe this. Because Augusta National appears to be one of the most exclusive clubs, yes? Correct. It's green jackets. That's what you're awarded when you become a member. That's how everybody — when they win, they get the green jacket and they become members. I don't know how any of that is. Coolest trophy in sports, don't you think? Uh, I like it. I don't know if we can call it a trophy, though. Is it? Really? It's a talisman of some sort. Sure. I'm always partial to the Stanley Cup, like a drinkable trophy. Okay. I like that it's passed around and you get your own turn with it. You go to your hometown with it. I always enjoy that. But I think it is cool. I think the idea of an honorary jacket, like you get when you're inducted in the Football Hall of Fame, you get the gold jacket. I like that kind of stuff. I'm down with it. So I do enjoy the green jacket.

Augusta National, very exclusive. So we wanted to come up with a number of categories dividing people. Teams, coaches, whatever it is — quarterbacks. Schedules. Schedules, both in terms of, I guess, the ease and difficulty of schedules. I have my official — I've called Hugh Freeze and Auburn this in recent years — I have a long list of elite losers that exist, mostly about the 2025 season, that need to sort of unspool their loserdom. Yeah. But I have a pretty long list because, and we'll get to this point of the episode, but I appreciate the different varieties of losing available in this sport. You know, whether it's losing a bunch in a row, whether it's losing a bunch in, you know, a calamity kind of fashion, whether it's, you know, always getting blown out and just being awful in every single facet. Like, I appreciate the spectrum of losing. And so, I want to honor the elite losers currently of this sport.

So what we're doing is we are deciding who belongs behind the velvet ropes, who deserves membership with the most elite of the elite, which I guess is how Augusta National fancies what their membership looks like. Sure. And we're doing it with coaches, current quarterbacks, losers, elite schedules coming up for 2026, and elite terrifying gauntlets of schedules coming up. Yeah, it's right. So, yes, I'm not much of a country club type person. I grew up — because I played junior tennis — playing at some of these clubs in Southern California. So, I think I have a good feel. Brag much. Ty, did you not work at a country club? I was a starter. I was a caddy at a country — exactly right. Yeah. So you were hobnobbing, Ty, with the elites of the Lehigh Valley, right? Sure. Yeah, I drove a golfer. I was great at that. Yes.

So I just — I think we should go behind the velvet rope to the manicured lawns of Sal Gusta National. Actual name pending. But that's what we're going to do this week. We got a little topiary out there, you know? Yeah. Just freshly cut. It is the reason for the season. It is a big weekend. I am excited for the Masters tournament.

Okay. We are going to do a college football spin on it here today, Dan. As you said, I've got a bunch of schedules. I went through every schedule for every Power 4 team. And I pulled out not just which teams have good schedules and don't have good schedules, but ones that have a particular gauntlet that I will refer to throughout the course of this episode as Amen Corner. Yes. So with that being said, I know you've got lists that are a little bit more specific to coaches and quarterbacks. And just losers. And losers. I didn't want to say it. You said it. I feel as if I — I'll speak for myself here. Nobody is more qualified to speak on being a top flight loser than an Oregon and Dan Rubenstein. Obviously, than an Oregon. Well, listen, does Oregon make the list? Stay tuned.

Why don't we start there? Let's start with the losers. Talk before. We're starting with losers? I want to start with the elite losers then. You've set this up so well. I think that's the natural starting spot.

Okay, so first on my list has to be Auburn, okay? They helped me coin the phrase "elite loser." Now, that was because of Hugh Freeze. Nobody lost in the manner that they did, whether it was to a great team or a disappointing team, like Hugh Freeze and Auburn did. But the thing that made him not just a loser, but an elite loser, is he would then go into the press conference and just blame his players. Like, "Players just are not good enough to win games. I don't know what to tell you. They're not listening to me." So that was pretty — so that was what, a Payton Thorne era more than anything. But even when it was both Hugh Freeze and DJ Durkin last season and not a Payton Thorne season. Fun shootout loss to Vanderbilt. They lose six of seven during the season. Four straight close losses to decent teams. Can't get to 11 points against Kentucky. And they lose a winnable Iron Bowl. So I just feel like there's a great variety in this tasting menu of loserdom on the plains.

Well, and this is going to be a really interesting campaign for Auburn this year. Do they have an elite hard or easy schedule? I wouldn't say it's either, to be honest with you. It's somewhere in the middle relative to their peers in the SEC. And a trend for me as I went through schedules was, as I said, identifying the gauntlets and, in particular, identifying just schedules that were tough, even if there weren't a bunch of really difficult games back to back to back to back or anything crazy. There were just pockets. Ohio State would be a good example of one of those. And I'll get to that when we talk it through.

But Auburn's in a position here where, being in the SEC, they've got a nice little run of games, I would say, on the back half of their schedule. The one that comes to mind, or the spot on the schedule that comes to mind the most, is Georgia, LSU and Ole Miss — back-to-back-to-back games, which I would say by many measures qualifies as one of those gauntlets. It wasn't the one that I jotted down as the most difficult in the conference. There are a couple of other teams that I think rise to that level. But outside of those three games, they've also got an away spot against Tennessee. Kind of in the middle, amid all of that, before they get to the Iron Bowl at the end of the season, they've got a home game against Arkansas, which — who knows what to make of Arkansas. They've got an away tilt against Mississippi State. I don't know what to make of this version of Mississippi State, but given where Auburn is at right now, with so much that has been basically rebooted from the top on down, I don't know what to make of this team. I think the talent on hand is still encouraging. But given that this is in a completely new regime, given that this is a completely new roster, who knows what state they're going to be in. Not to mention they open up the year against Baylor at a neutral site in Atlanta. So it is not an easy schedule by any stretch of the imagination. Alex Golesh is going to have his work cut out for him.

I need you to talk more about them as a loser, Ty. Come on. This is the elite loser. Where would — the wall? Okay. Okay, so here's my question. Go ahead. Go ahead. If elite coaches, elite quarterbacks, elite programs, elite country club members, right, if they're meeting in very exclusive clubs. Okay. If they're meeting at Augusta National to have brunch before playing 18 — I don't know if Augusta National serves brunch. I have no idea. If they're meeting at — it's the New York Athletic Club where the Heisman's giving out, right? These types of nice spaces. I thought you were going to make a Mike Vrabel joke there. Continue. No, I don't know who that is. All right. Did you also canoodle with Mike Vrabel? Is that something you want to get off your chest? Yeah, nobody cares when Ty does it. Nobody cares about me. When Ty's in Cabo. There are no pictures when I'm alone with Mike Vrabel. Ty keeps it tight.

Where would — you can't have a nice place for people who lose in spectacular fashion? So, where would an elite loser meet? Like a group of losers coming together. Buffalo Wild Wings? Not a sponsor. Never will be. Probably won't be after that. Who? Like, what's the place? I don't know. Splash pad? Look. I don't know. Here's the thing with Auburn, okay? Bowling alley. I love a bowling alley.

Auburn wasn't like a bad team last year. They weren't a bad team. Look at the number — I got the numbers in front of me. They weren't a bad team. They just could not get over the hump. They were too inconsistent. They shot themselves in the foot far too much. They obviously had coaching strife. They got rid of Hugh Freeze. They're moving in a different direction now. But with the talent that they had on hand to just underperform in the manner that they did — and I don't know if they picked the wrong quarterback or if it ran deeper than that. My hunch is it did. The sentiment that we kept picking up from the Auburn people that listened to this show was, "Hey, like, there's a lot of talent here. The people who are running it just can't figure out how to assemble it in any way that we get consistency, and each week isn't a nail biter." And so, in that sense, they were elite something. They found a way to lose enough games to get the coach fired. And maybe that's a blessing in disguise. I don't know where the Auburn fans are at right now. I would say more than being an elite loser, they were just an elite team at constantly having you on the edge of your seat. And that as a fan sometimes is worse.

I was going to say that that makes them an elite loser because they're treating their fans in a particularly horrible way. They are. Right? Absolutely. They're just talented and competitive enough to be dangerous. And also, they will make your emotions fry in your brain every week. So that's worse. That makes them an elite loser because they make you feel feelings.

I've got 22 of these, Ty. 22 of them? Okay. All right. Well, we've got to go through these. Go ahead. Yes, I know. All of a sudden, you're going into like what they're going to do in November. I don't know what I'm doing for lunch. Okay, go ahead.

Arkansas loses 10 straight, in it close against all sorts of good teams, but can't close. Had a great offense, and defense was a huge liability for a couple of years running now. I loved it. I loved it. And just in terms of an elite loser, like you just can't talk about losing in college football, especially in 2025, without telling the Arkansas story. Isn't that what they say at the Hall of Fame? Like, you can't tell the story of baseball without Ty Cobb or whatever. Yeah. Yeah.

Oregon. If you're only losing to elite winners, what does that make you? Right? If you're only losing to teams playing for or winning national championships, you're the plus one of the elite winners. See, here's the problem that I have with this. All right. Let me, let me — I'm an Oregon fan. Let me play devil's advocate. Please. We talk about elite losers, and one that comes to mind that you didn't mention yet, but I know you're going to mention Maryland at some point. What comes to mind when I think of elite loser is a team that either can't get out of its own way or is constantly defined by program altering losses. Sure. Is that really the case with Oregon? They keep getting to the big games. It's not like this is a program defined by losing. I think the contrary is true. They're defined by what they're doing on the recruiting trail. They're defined by playing in a lot of these high-leverage moments. They have not gotten over the hump yet to the extent that I'm sure Oregon fans would like. But say that they're an elite loser. Yes. That's a good question.

Here's my definition. Here's my definition, right? If you're going to see somebody online, in person, whatever, talking about Oregon, they'll be like, "Yeah, they're really good, but they can't win the big one," right? They always seem to lose those biggest games, even if it's not fully true, even if they beat Ohio State last year once before losing to them or in 2024 in the College Football Playoff. There is something about Oregon in January that has come to define the program. They've lost two national championship games, right? Auburn and Ohio State. They lose to Ohio State in the manner they do in the Rose Bowl. They lose to Indiana in the manner they do this year in the playoffs, and Oregon fans can explain it away and explain circumstances. But like, if you look at like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, there's not just one type of inductee, right? It's a spectrum. Like people accomplish different things in different ways. Like Al Green is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Frank Zappa is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. U2 is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Like, Run-DMC is in the — like, there, you have to look at this as a world of losing, not just your narrow viewpoint.

Well, I'm just wanting — like, okay, so before Peyton Manning won a Super Bowl, was he an elite loser? Yes. Because, like, I tend to think more of the term "choke artist." In choke, you lose, right? You do, but I don't know if I'd say elite loser. Choke artist implies you get to the big game. Elite loser means that you're just dropping games needlessly, and you don't even get to a situation like that. In your view, my view of the list I made again of 22 teams is there a very specific way of losing that your fans immediately understand, and fans of college football understand. So, just because I consider Oregon to be an elite loser doesn't mean they're also not an elite winner. Again, it's a spectrum.

All right, who you got next? After Oregon, Boston College. They drive out their starting QB, lose their first 10 FBS games, beat the other quarterback disaster ACC team to finish the year in Syracuse. I just think that's a great, a great underdog loser story. Yeah.

Next, Air Force, five straight FBS losses to open the season. Three of those are winnable against pretty good teams, and then they lose tight to Army later. So they were like a lot of winnable losses at altitude. Elite loser. Okay.

Next, Colorado. Oh, man. They win the turnover margin 3-0 against Georgia Tech to start the season. They have three winnable games — excuse me, they blow a winnable game to BYU, who's on the fringe of the playoff, and then they just get absolutely blown out in their pseudo-rivalry against Utah. So just different ways, a different manner of losing, right? Okay.

Next. Yeah. Florida. I don't know how much I need to say here. They keep Texas out of the playoff with a win, but also lose to USF. Fire their coach after a win, which is weirdly loser behavior? I don't know. There was something about recent Florida that, I mean, just defines elite losers.

There's a parallel between Florida and Auburn. Sure. I think in the ability to very clearly demonstrate that you have the talent, but also not demonstrate the talent in any kind of like consistent way. And it's true for both of those teams, both Auburn and Florida. You could watch them on any given Saturday and feel like this team's got something. You can't really take them lightly. As you said, kept Texas out of the playoff. It's confounding more than it is just being like an Arkansas-level disaster. It's more just very confusing. They deserve to be on this list. I understand why you put them there, but it's — to your point, there are different classes here.

I have Clemson on here as an elite loser. Definitely. And it's, you know what? I would include it more from the coaching standpoint than I would from the — I'd go holistic. I've got a 360 degree view of this losing. Continue. All right. Keep going. We can get the Clemson. The Clemson thing I'm going to highlight just because they lose the winnable game to Georgia Tech. They have a season-altering loss to Duke, which changes the way the ACC championship unfolds. Obviously, Miami is still able to get to the championship game in the playoff, but that just loss just is weird and allows Duke to win the ACC, losing 46-45. In recent memory, they've lost to such a degree that their own fans are calling into local radio shows to yell at the coach. I mean, that's elite loserdom. That kind of culture is great.

Syracuse, I mean, they lose their actual pretty good quarterback who beats Clemson. Yep. And the season completely falls apart. I believe Rickie Collins, who was sort of the backup for at least for a hot minute to Steve Angeli, has now transferred to Kennesaw State. He is competing for the job. Yes.

Mizzou, they had the nice snip-snap thing over the course of the season. Beat a not-so-decent team, lose to a decent team. Beat a not-so-decent team, lose to a decent team. So they're an elite loser to me right now that they only lose to good teams. So that's a very specific path. Iowa only lost to really good teams close. Right. And Iowa State. I guess I wouldn't qualify them last year as an elite loser.

Isn't Iowa one of the unique cases that they can be an elite loser, but they're also an elite winner? They're an elite winner in that Kirk Ferentz has likely maximized what Iowa can be in the modern game. Like in the modern game, to win in a very specific, very traditional way, like he is winning and consistently winning like eight games a year. Right. To win in that fashion in this day and age is damn near impossible. It's really hard to win like that when you are just not modernizing the offense as quickly as many of your peers. And I know Tim Lester has helped kind of usher that through. You know, it's not exactly the same offense as it was three years ago. But even still, to win like this is really hard to do.

I'd like to go back to 2023 with Iowa just because they played three ranked teams in Penn State, Michigan, and Tennessee. Okay? That season, they played three ranked teams. They combined to score zero points in those three games. So, if you are going to give me Brian Ferentz brain trust recently, I reserve the right to call you an elite loser. Okay, fair enough. Okay.

Next up, Texas Tech. Biggest game in program history. They score zero points. That's — mm. That — it's an isolated, it's in a vacuum. That doesn't count. You cannot — I'm not saying, listen, Ty, that doesn't count. You can't count. We all exist in multitudes, okay? Texas Tech had the most successful season of their program. This is a very strange take. They just went and won the conference. Mm-hmm. Had a bad loss to your Oregon Ducks in the Orange Bowl, granted. But it was one game. I mean, they lost early in the game. I know they had an err. I totally agree. But one game, you're going to call him an elite loser for one game? I don't agree with that at all.

Ty, what happens with one-hit wonders? They still go to number one on the charts, right? That's still a number one hit. You can never take that away from Chumbawamba. Right? Are they number one? I don't know. But that was probably up there. Okay. What is your guess? What is your guess for "Tubthumping"? Where did it peak on the charts? I feel like we talked about this recently. Sixth. Sixth is correct. Yes. It is sixth? Globally, it peaked at number two on the UK singles chart and number one in Canada, Australia, Italy, and Ireland. If you go number one in four different major countries, I think that's a certified huge hit. Sure. So, if we're going to say that Chumbawamba is a hit maker, then you have to at least consider the loss that Texas Tech suffered in the biggest game in program history, scoring zero points. That's an elite loss. I mean, what would Chumbawamba have been if they had David Bailey on the front? I think just as big. I think even — I don't think he takes away anything. I don't think he adds a ton to the Chumbawamba one.

I don't agree with this at all. I think this is a mindless take by you, but okay. I'm not saying they are only a loser. I'm saying they belong on this list because of how they lost that one big game. Okay. Yes. If I'm going to include Oregon, right? But Oregon's got a track record for this. Texas Tech just got here either because of the coaching or because of the NIL span or because of how they're building the program. Like, I don't want to say it's just one thing, but it — they were, I think, very limited and very much more defined by losing big games to better teams. Five years ago, that's not the case now. They've obviously gone all in.

So, this is mind-blowingly stupid to me. But I will give you the benefit of the doubt. I love you like father. Please continue. Let me be clear. Everything that you are saying is correct about Texas Tech's current semi-excellence. Do you know the messages we're going to get from Texas Tech people upon hearing this? I know. You saw the messages we got when we were blaming Cody Campbell for all their success. So this is really going to set off — now we have a Cody Campbell, Brett Yormark, Brett Yormark sort of weird Cold War where Brett Yormark is saying, "I assure you, Cody Campbell's not in charge of the Big 12." And Cody Campbell's like, "Mozzie." And we're going to get like Cody Campbell's root and toot and Big 12, right? The official name of the conference soon. And then, before you know it, we're going to get a picture in the New York Post, and they're going to be at some sort of retreat in Arizona anyway. Of course, canoodling. Continue.

I am not — look, when I call you an elite loser as a program, I'm not saying you're a loser program and that's all you're defined by. I'm just saying right now, a part of the Texas Tech conversation is 2025's ending left a pretty sour taste in everyone's mouth. How many teams have been shut out in the 12-team playoff era? One, right? Yeah. Only one. I get it. Okay, I'm just making sure. I don't agree with it. They're an elite company because they're only in company with themselves.

You are not going to be able to get through all 22 of these because I got things to talk about, too. I know you do, but I'm trying to go, but I can't. So then go. Come on. Let's go. Let's go. Come on.

I appreciate UCLA firing a coach in his second year for too much losing, starting the season terribly, firing him, winning games with Rick Neuheisel's son calling the shots. Getting another coach fired, basically, in Penn State. Right. And then having all of the vibes disappear before losing a bunch of games once again. I appreciate the winning island in the elite loser sea. And that's what UCLA did for me. And I didn't intend that to be a poem. Yeah.

I have Virginia Tech here. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. So not just losing the games, but firing the loser and bringing back the loser in a different role is such dedication to the cause of losing. Well, and also hiring James Franklin, who in his own right, you could define maybe if you want to, I don't know, as an elite loser. He is an elite loser. Absolutely is. Maybe he's also not an elite coach. Exactly right. I know Texas Tech people are going to get mad at me. You have to understand the definition that I am creating on the fly here. I was going to say, I don't even know if I understand it.

Next up, Oklahoma State. I'm sorry, you go 0-18 over the past two seasons in the Big 12 with the greatest coach in the history of your program. The heel turn to losing has to be commended. You're coming to my Buffalo Wild Wings.

Can I add something here real quick on that? Please do. I think I've made it known here on the show over the last couple of weeks that I've been trying to start the process a little bit earlier so I'm not cramming this summer during the World Cup, whatever. When I want to go golfing, I'm not cramming then for all of the previews that we start up at the beginning of July. Yeah. So I've been reading up right now. I'm on a Big 12 kick. I've been going through it. Just this week, I went through Oklahoma State. I think it's one thing to have lived through the end of the Gundy era and to cover it as we do on a weekly basis and to preview games, and suddenly Oklahoma State is not a team really worth talking a whole lot about because they're terrible. But to go back now with the benefit of hindsight and read back through all that has transpired over the last couple years of Oklahoma State football, it is mind-blowing how quickly that went sideways. Yes. It blew my mind going back through. And again, we lived it. We were both high on Oklahoma State a couple of times over the last few seasons. The fact that that went off the rails in the manner that it did to me is — upon the sort of, let's say, rereading of recent Oklahoma State history, it's kind of mind bending.

Yeah, I totally agree. And I think it's going to similarly blow your mind or people's minds if and when Eric Morris and Drew Mestemaker and a totally rebuilt roster are pretty good immediately. I think they're good. I actually think they're good. But it's going to be weird because they've been a doormat. I think they're going to be pretty good this year, and I wouldn't sleep on them. I mentioned that a couple of episodes ago. I think they're going to be good. Once again, the Foo Fighters and Carole King are both in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. There are places for different kinds of elite losers. Sure.

Next, I'm going to go with Maryland. Yeah. That's it. Just because they're elite September winners, and then you know what's coming. Yeah. You know what's coming. Maryland doesn't win in November. Full stop. They get hopes up internally. They get the hopes up of their fans when they're going toe to toe with Texas way back when. I think those were Tom Herman Texas teams that they come out of the gate and they are competitive. They are. This is, by the way, this is what their November looks like this year. They're at Purdue, home against Wisconsin, on the road at USC. They close out their year home against Penn State. Depending on what you make of Wisconsin, that's at a minimum two really tough games to close out their season. Purdue will probably be a little bit better. Wisconsin hopefully will be a little bit better if Luke Fickell is still playing in this game or still coaching in this game on November 14th. So yeah, it doesn't appear as if Maryland has any shortcuts this November either.

I have a friend, Ty. You know this friend. And I'm not going to say his name, but everything worked out really well for his relationship. But he went on like the second date with his now wife. I think he Ubered to the restaurant, and it was going great. The first date went great. Second date was going great. And then all of a sudden, he had a moment where he had to tell her, "I think I'm going to shit my pants." And I think that's the Maryland football experience. I'll tell you who I'm talking about after. I think everything was narrowly avoided. But it all worked out anyway.

UMass, I don't know how you include a list like this without UMass. They've been a master of the art form. Oregon State last year. Master of the art form, just how they were getting injured and just, it was just a mess. Paying premium money for a quarterback and having where they go 2 and 10. The defense was horrible. The defense was horrible. Defense was real bad. Yeah.

Washington State elite loser in that they were gumpy with their losing last year, losing to the revelation that was North Texas, playoff team James Madison, playoff team Ole Miss, near playoff team Virginia, and competitive in all those games except for the North Texas game. That they were giving playoff teams all they could handle, but losing or near playoff teams.

Georgia State was so, so, so, so, so bad last year. An absolute elite loser, but had that island where they also almost beat James Madison last year.

And then I think the biggest elite loser of the 2025 season — you win the turnover advantage 5-0 and lose a game. You're Northwestern, and you are an elite loser. Right?

Can we — all, is that's a pretty good list. It went longer than you thought it would. That was a lot longer than I expected. But okay, fair enough. I mean, they won seven games last year, Northwestern. They did. I have also been reading a lot about what David Braun did this offseason. I mean, the way they are trying to retool the offense is kind of interesting. They're going to get a new stadium, which is going to open on a Friday night. I still haven't decided if I'm coming out for that or not, but it's at home against Penn State on a Friday night. I think October 2nd, somewhere in the early part of October. So the vibes are high. You know, the vibes are high. And he's now going into, I think, year four and seemingly taking a much more aggressive approach to try and retool the offense, which has desperately needed it. But there have definitely been some of those games. I'm looking at the SP+ last year, ninetieth best offense. Last year's 30th best defense. So the defense is all right. The offense needs to improve. And you can't lose a turnover battle 5 to zip. You just can't.

Dave Matthews Band and Nine Inch Nails are both in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Cyndi Lauper is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Someday, we'll sit down and I'll outline to you my vision for the Buffalo — Buffalo Mild Wings, maybe? I don't know.

Okay, where are we going next? Let's talk a little bit about Amen Corner. Oh, my goodness. So, Amen Corner, do you know what that is relative to? Vaguely. And I have a story about it, too. Continue, though.

Amen Corner is the 11th, 12th, and 13th holes at Augusta National. It is a very pivotal part of the golf round where many championship rounds have gone to die. You may have heard of Rae's Creek, sort of the iconic creek that flows through the golf course. All three of those are Rae's Creek holes. So if you watch the Masters, if you care about golf at all, especially on Sunday, that is where some stuff can kind of go sideways. Totally. Amen Corner.

What I did here, and it's not exactly in groups of three, but I went through a variety of team schedules this season, and I picked out the specific week to week to week spots where it is basically going to define a team's season. So we talked through Auburn a moment ago, right? They come off a bye October the 10th. They jump into a three week stretch where they're at Georgia, home against LSU, on the road at Ole Miss. Now I don't know what Auburn's season is going to look like before that. There's a lot changing. But you can make a pretty good case that that three game stretch is going to define a large chunk of the Auburn season and how Auburn fans feel about the season. So I picked out a bunch of these spots for prominent teams that I would define as an Amen Corner. Again, it's not always just three games. Sometimes there's a bye mixed in, but I've got a couple here to read off for you.

What is your story about Amen Corner, though? So, okay, when I was at SB Nation and Vox Media had, or has, I don't know how it works now, some sort of partnership with NBC, like NBC Universal invested in Vox Media. Right. And so we got asked to go on NBC shows as part of that like corporate partnership. And there used to be a rotation of us that would go on Squawk Box on CNBC. I know this story. You got to tell people this story. Their host is, I think his name is Joe Kernen. Yeah, yeah. He — fantastic toupee, by the way, in person, could not be cooler. Um, he asked me — I was on to talk about Kobe Bryant's final game. He dropped like how many, 60 points or something like that in his final game before he retired. And they were like, "Oh, we know that this is going to be his final game. We'd love to have you on to talk about the game." So I stayed up, watched the game, and like have thoughts prepared. So I'm sitting on live TV in the middle of New York City. And I guess Joe Kernen is a member at Augusta. Oh, did not know that. I believe that's the case. And the Masters, it was — I don't know if it was Masters Week or if the Masters had just happened as well, because the NBA season ends in April, so it was right around the same time. And he's basically said something like, "You know, everybody says like Amen Corner, Amen Corner is the hardest stretch at the Masters at Augusta National. To you, though, what's the hardest hole?" So he puts me on the spot on live TV. I'm not a golf fan. So, like, my initial like fumbling around is like, "Well, I mean, it's Augusta, everything, so, you know." I'm doing like the book report thing. Like, "This is a course defined by difficulty." I fumbled and stumbled for a second, and I think I said something like, "No matter how hard or easy you think 18 is, like mentally, right? That's got to be the most difficult, right? As you're closing." And he was like, "That's a good point." And I think I got out of it like — I think I saved par, golf term, with my answer. But like I was like in my head, I'm like, "You're such a fuck. What are you doing, dude?" So that was my story. Oh, gosh. Yeah, sometimes.

All right. Texas A&M. Texas A&M has a tough schedule overall this year, but the definition for me of their season is at the very end. Of the teams that I pulled out here, A&M was the one I kept coming back to as maybe having the most Amen of Amen Corners. And it's not even a corner. It's the close of the year. They're home against Tennessee on November the 14th. The following week, they are on the road at Oklahoma, and that is a week before they come back home on a short week to play a rivalry game against Texas on Black Friday. Whatever you think of Texas A&M, and I happen to think they'll be very good again, there's no reason to think otherwise. That is a tough stretch for even the best teams in college football. I don't care who you are. That's a tough stretch for Ohio State, a tough stretch for Texas, for Georgia, you name it. That is a very, very difficult slate.

Tennessee was one of these teams that kept popping up as well. Not so much in terms of they have a gauntlet of their own, but Tennessee's very gumpy this year in terms of they just find themselves into these gauntlets for other teams, which I think makes them inherently kind of interesting. That is what we would define as a gumpy team here, right? They're sandwiched between tough games. Tennessee is themselves the meat in a difficulty sandwich, or they are a look ahead spot for a number of teams or a letdown spot for a number of teams. So, like another example, I mentioned Texas A&M. You would agree that's a very difficult way to close out the year, yeah? Elite Gauntlet, yes.

Alabama. Alabama has a gauntlet where they are home against Georgia October the 10th. The following week, they go to Tennessee for their rivalry game. And then Alabama comes back home the following week to square off against Texas A&M, another Texas A&M game here, which isn't even in the gauntlet that I read off. And the other thing worth noting on the Alabama side is they go on a bye after that A&M game, but then they come back and they, I believe, have to go on the road to square off against LSU like that first week of November, November the 7th, whatever it is. Yeah. That historic sort of date for that rivalry matchup. So there is a gauntlet towards the like middle to latter portion of October for the Crimson Tide. That definitely rises to this level.

And I'll stay in the SEC here because I got a bunch of other ones. Another Elite Gauntlet. Mississippi State. Mississippi State has like a five-week Amen Corner. They've got Alabama to start things off in October. Then they're on bye before they go on the road against LSU. The following week they come back home against Oklahoma, and then after that they are on the road on Halloween against Texas. That is a rough stretch, if I've ever heard one. Elite Gauntlet. Welcome. Extremely elite gauntlet.

Let's talk about Texas. Texas doesn't have what I would consider like a crazy three-game gauntlet, but they have two distinct gauntlets, each of which has an interesting sandwich game in there. Okay? So we're not rattling off a Texas A&M, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Texas style type thing, but the first one for Texas is neutral site game against Oklahoma. They've got Florida at home in between. And then the following week, they are home against Ole Miss, who should be pretty good. But you could definitely see Florida sort of sneaking their way in there and maybe being a bit under the radar, because who knows?

Well, here's — and here's the disclaimer about gauntlets. We don't actually know if any of these are actual gauntlets until like October 14th or something.

The second stretch for Texas is at the end of the season, so they're at LSU, November the 14th. In between is Arkansas at home. What do we make of Arkansas? You know, like I've been reading a lot about Arkansas and like the quarterback thing's up in the air, and there's good vibes because it's a new direction, but big old shrug. I don't know. Right. Probably won't be worse on defense, but probably is the only word I can use. And then they close out the year, as I mentioned earlier. They've got that Texas A&M game. They're on the road against Texas A&M on Black Friday for the rivalry game. So two for Texas, two very distinct sandwich games or sandwich spots — be it Florida on one side, be it maybe Arkansas on the other, where you could see some weird stuff going on.

Yeah. Also, every year, especially in these huge conferences, somebody's got to be disappointing. So, what looks like a gauntlet right now — you're just like, every year, just mathematically speaking, somebody's going to be way worse. Somebody's going to be way better. Somebody is going to have big, in big time injuries. Somebody is going to coast because of like a weirdly great schedule, as it turns out, and somebody is going to be terrible because of a weirdly brutal schedule that was unexpected. But yes, I agree with you.

And then there's LSU. There are two stretches on this LSU schedule that I think are very much worth flagging. They're early. Obviously, they got the early game against Ole Miss on September the 19th, which is going to be prime time everywhere. The narratives surrounding that game are going to be monstrous. And then the week after that, they come back home, square off against Texas A&M. So that's a rough two-game stretch there. But the main gauntlet for LSU closes out the year. It's the Alabama game that I mentioned earlier on November the 7th. The following week, they are also at home, this time against Texas. So Bama and Texas, both home, but back to back. And then they close out the year going on the road again to Tennessee. Tennessee. I guess it's not their final game of the year, but it's the week before rivalry week, on the road at Tennessee. That's their like toughest stretch, in my view.

So a lot's been made about Lane Kiffin and the way he's been able to infuse the roster with talent. Obviously, the Portal King was making some hay and was able to assemble the pieces there very quickly. But it's going to be an uphill climb here. I think any implication that, or insinuation, I should say, that it's just going to be smooth sailing for LSU and he's been able to build this quickly — they're going to be back in the playoff. There are a bunch of losable games on this thing, man. Right. I mean, you could very easily put together a four-loss LSU in 2026 based on what I'm seeing here.

What I'm hearing from you talking about all these teams is the road to nearly making the College Football Playoff championship game is going to be very difficult for the SEC this year. Their annual road to nearly making the championship game. Right. But it'd be very, very challenging. But the gauntlet chatter will be more intense than ever. Of course.

Okay. I will say this, okay? In the SEC's defense, I went through — I did this this morning at 8:30. I went through every Power 4 team. I looked at every single schedule. I jotted down notes on the ones that jumped out to me. Yes. The gauntlets, whatever you want to call it, in the SEC are definitely more intense than we see elsewhere around college football. Yes. No disrespect to the ACC, not seeing the same level gauntlet. No disrespect to the Big 12, not seeing the same level gauntlet. The Big Ten is a little bit closer, but just because there are more teams. I still think the gauntlets I'm seeing in the SEC are much more Amen Corner than anywhere else around college football. But you can be the judge because I've got a couple here that I wanted to relay.

Okay, who do you think — which college football personality will use the word "gauntlet" in defending the SEC at the most efficient rate? If there were advanced stats, so like gauntlet-plus, adjusted gauntlet-plus, who is going to use that word the most? I mean, you got to go SEC Network first, right? Sure, of course. So, like, or SEC Network adjacent. So, are you talking about the actual SEC Network or are you talking about ESPN proper? Because those — that term is interchangeable. I was going to say they're kind of one and the same, right? Yeah. I've got McElroy going off as a favorite. He might not even believe in the College Football National Championship game. If the SEC is not there, he's like, "I don't know. I don't believe it exists. You can't convince me that the College Football Playoff National Championship game exists." Yeah. Anyway, I have McElroy going off as plus 240. If a two to one favorite? Yeah. I don't know. No doubt about it.

All right. Some other ones here. I'll go over the Big Ten. I'm not going to read off all of them, but just some things to flag here if you are doing some advanced studies. Yeah. Iowa has a very early gauntlet that I think will define its season. In September, starting at the end of September, they're at Michigan. The following week, they're home against Ohio State. And then the week after that, they are on the road at Washington. I don't think Iowa has got the offense to make it through that gauntlet. But they certainly have a defense that'll make it interesting, at least for some portion of it. I can see the Washington game getting away from them, though, because I happen to think Washington's going to be pretty good. Okay. But that in the Big Ten, that one jumps out to me almost immediately.

The other one that jumps out is USC because USC has two very distinct gauntlets on their schedule. They've got one early where they're brutal, yeah. Yeah, I mean, it's a tough schedule across the board. But the one early that jumps out is home against Oregon, end of September. The following week, home against Washington, and then on the road at Penn State. So you get Oregon, you got a Washington team that, again, I think will be pretty good. In a sandwich spot before you're traveling cross-country to play Penn State. A Penn State — I don't know what to make of Penn State right now because Penn State's — of the people that they brought in from Iowa State, of the players that they brought in, they're still kind of dealing with some injuries and still trying to feel their way through the spring. So it's going to come together at some point for this team, but it's going to be later on because of injuries and guys recovering, and in general, just trying to mesh with the new system. But that game will certainly be a pretty big deal for USC traveling cross country.

Then later in the year, Halloween weekend, home against Ohio State. A bye after that, then they go to Indiana. So even if you're not keeping track of when these games occur on the calendar for USC. Right. Just listen to the teams that I mentioned. And there are others, too, for sure, that make this schedule legitimately very difficult. But the teams that I mentioned were Oregon, Washington, Penn State, Ohio State, and Indiana. Those are five very losable games. Sure. For even really good teams, and I think USC to their credit should be pretty good again. But those are losable games by any measure, and it makes it really tough for the Trojans to, I don't know, come out of this thing with like nine or more wins. Just seems like a tall order to me.

Yeah, they might be a team — look, we're five months out from the season, but they might be a team where like you're really going to parse how those games went when talking about USC in a playoff conversation. I think that's all right. The only thing that I would add to your Big Ten discussion of these teams and these gauntlets is I think I was almost close to fully forgetting your 2025 preseason Mark Gronowski takes. Oh, God. No. Just when you were talking about, "I don't know if Iowa has the offense." Yeah. I was so close. And you just bring that, it just triggered something in my head where I was like, "Wait, Iowa's offense. Who's Porter?" We took those takes and we launched them along with Artemis. Artemis II? Into the abyss. Does Greg McElroy believe that those takes are actually in the abyss? Unclear. He needs to see more evidence. It's a lot of CGI, man.

I just had to look it up just now. You saying, "I've watched a lot of tape. I'm in on this guy." I was. And then he went — he went 8 of 15 for 44 yards against the Great Danes of Albany to open the season. Now, let's be clear. I have launched so many bad takes along with Artemis II into space. I am not throwing stones. I exist in a glass house. But I am saying the timing of your confidence and then 8 of 15 for 44 yards was amazing. As the year went on, as they started to realize that this wasn't so much like a passing quarterback. Yes. I kind of feel like they wanted him to be something different than he was. And at some point, they came to the conclusion that he wasn't, and then they were better. Yes. But no, those takes aged like milk. It was not good. It was not good. I'm going to remember it forever. Good. Now that I've reminded myself. It's on the Rushmore for me, alongside that one year I picked Arizona State to go to like the College Football Playoff. But the specificity of like, "This guy." And then to come out and throw for two yards per attempt against Albany. I think I didn't — we go on Pate's show, and I said he's going to be the best Iowa quarterback since Brad Banks. Yeah, it's possible. I said something like that, and thankfully, it seems like people forgot about it. I mean, Iowa had a recent quarterback who drilled Ohio State. I know. Yeah.

Okay. All right. So, two — I'll just mention two other ones here, real quick. Your Oregon Ducks, they close out the year. Well, they don't close out the year, but they start off the final month of the year with games on the road at Ohio State on November the 7th, and they come back home and square off against Michigan on November the 14th. I don't know what to make of Michigan. Okay. I don't — sure. I have no idea what to expect of the new version now that we're going to see. But in terms of significant games, yes, that's pretty significant.

And on the topic of Michigan, home against Penn State, middle of October. The following week, home against Indiana. Then there's another tough stretch to close out the year with a really interesting sandwich spot at Oregon. Home against UCLA, on the road at Ohio State to close out the year. UCLA, very quietly, in a sandwich spot here, a very obvious one for Michigan, the week before they're going on the road to play Ohio State. Okay. But don't sleep on UCLA. One of the more favorable schedules in the conference. They do have an earlier test, maybe like week four or five or six against your Oregon Ducks on the road. And they do have that game at Michigan. They, of course, play USC in the rivalry, but it's very quietly a very favorable schedule for Bob Chesney in year one.

I'm so in on Bob Chesney just as like the figurehead for UCLA right now. I've been so impressed with him. I love — I love everything that he has said publicly. I love just sort of the persona that he has given the program. And they're getting money behind the scenes. They're getting the random money behind the scenes, which I know you've talked about before. Like it's just — it's going to take a special personality to kind of like unlock that. I just — I'm not saying nine wins. I'm not saying playoff. I'm not saying anything. I'm just saying don't sleep on UCLA because I look at this team and I look at the schedule and I'm like, "I could make some pretty bold takes about this."

UCLA, by the way, this is sort of a sidebar, but they have like an elite bad stadium situation. Like they just don't have a home stadium. Like they — they don't want to be at the Rose Bowl. SoFi would be a disaster, right? That it's just like the — it's not a college character home stadium. And I just — I feel like they're homeless in this sport. Like at least Northwestern found the temp stadium and they're going to be back in Ryan Field this season, hopefully. I don't know. I just kind of feel bad that UCLA is sort of wandering in the abyss, stadium-wise. And I hope if the Bob Chesney era works out, that they can figure out some kind of solution. But yeah, I don't know. I always think about that.

I'm going to give you two other teams and then we got to move on. Please. Okay. Because I know you got a bunch of other lists. We're coming up on an hour here. I want to hear more of what you have to say about some other categories. Okay. Yeah. But let me give you one or two teams from the other conferences rapid fire.

Florida State has a punishing schedule this year. I have no idea how Mike Norvell is making it out of this alive. Yeah, I mean, it's brutal. He has a huge buyout, no matter what the game is. They've got SMU, Alabama, Louisville, Miami, and Clemson all on this thing. Not all back-to-back-to-back, mind you, but that's a tough slate.

The one that I look at and I'm really interested in is Virginia Tech. Because for as bullish as I think I am on the Hokies, they've got a backloaded schedule. Second half of the year that takes them to Clemson before a bye. Then they're at SMU to close out the season. That is a really, really difficult stretch. I think any way you want to slice it, at SMU. And then, oh, the one that I didn't mention is they also have a road game at Miami after that. So it's a tough way to close out the year basically from like week seven on on the Virginia Tech side of things.

And on the Big 12 side, there are two teams to me that I'm real interested in. The first one is Arizona, because Arizona had a bit of a rebirth last year, right? It took Brent Brennan a year to get things figured out. They've got a closing stretch where they're at Texas Tech on Halloween, come back home against TCU, and then stay at home November the 14th against Utah. That's going to be sort of a season-defining stretch, an Amen Corner for Arizona State, if you will.

The other one to me that's very interesting is BYU. BYU's got a four-game gauntlet where they're home against Notre Dame in that monster matchup that we've talked about a lot, middle of October. Then there's a sandwich game. They're on the road at UCF. So traveling cross country against the UCF team that, if nothing more, last year we saw that they're plucky. Then they come back home to square off against Arizona State. And then the very next week, they're on the road at Utah. That is a really, really difficult stretch for a BYU squad that I think has a lot to prove this year.

Look, I've got like 15 other teams here that we don't have time to get through. Certainly, those are not only — or not the only teams that have really interesting gauntlets. Gauntlets. Yeah. But to say the least, it's going to be kind of where my attention goes first when I'm talking about schedules this year.

Where do you want to go next? I don't know. What other lists do you feel confident about? So I've got elite semi-losers. No. I've got — I've got coaches and quarterbacks. Give me something good. Quarterback. Give me something good because I'm talking about tough schedules and you're talking about losers. But let's close this thing out on a high note. Okay. Well, do you want to go quarterbacks? Do you want to go coaches? Which do you feel more confident in? I don't care. I don't feel confident in anything. We could have a literal Mendoza line. Give me coaches. Give me quarterbacks. Let's talk coaches. Let's start quarterbacks.

Here — do you want to know my gap where between like the elite country club members exist? Or do you want to just hear who my members definitively are? Who are your definitive elite quarterbacks in 2026?

Okay. So I'm defining this by, these are the guys I think are the best. These are the guys that I think have what's necessary around them in terms of other offensive players, coordinator, head coach, system, whatever, that they could potentially be considered the best quarterback in the game. As of April. Okay. Right. Season starts, everything's thrown out the window. But in my mind, I look at these guys and I say to myself, "Yes, I understand a world in which we are saying this guy had the best season of any quarterback in the country" — based on what we've seen and what we could see and the factors around them.

So CJ Carr, this is kind of in no particular order. CJ Carr is on that list. Trinidad Chambliss is on that list. I don't think there's an argument against either of those two. Nope. I have Drew Mestemaker on this list. Yep. Now, he's a little bit of a wild card because we haven't seen him at the top level of the sport. But because he's moving with his head coach and with offensive players around him, I project him as having the potential to be one of the best or the best, whatever. Because he'll have the opportunity to play against teams in a power conference every week.

Julian Sayin. Yep. I don't think that's a take. Nope.

Jaden Maiava. Don't think that's a take. Now, questions about his receivers and who steps up and, you know, whatever. But he has shown enough to say, "Okay, with another offseason as the number one guy, and this is obviously a quarterback-friendly system, and it's a Heisman and top-flight first-round quarterback-friendly head coach. Quarterbacks thrive."

Dante Moore. Now, was not good against the best of his schedule last year. But the best of him, the best of his ability, the receivers around him, which should be another good offensive line, new coordinator, but has been — you know, it was just a promotion within the system. I don't think it's crazy to say he could be the best quarterback in the game.

Arch Manning. No. Not a take. I don't think — well, I don't think it's a no-brainer. Had some low lights last year, but physical ability, quarterback-friendly system, have an opportunity to prove it against the best of the sport. I think it's — and he has the opportunity to do it right away, right? That's what we talk about. That we get that early September huge matchup. You're setting your own narrative. Arch has that opportunity against Ohio State.

Gunner Stockton, one of the best absolute quarterbacks in the country against good teams. I think against ranked teams, he had a touchdown interception ratio of 13 to 1. Now, in terms of his own ability and what Georgia's offense will provide for him and won't provide for him, sure, there's a conversation. I think — have him in that top grouping. I think he's probably the cutoff. He's the cutoff. I think, in my opinion, he would be the cut line. Yes. He is my cut line.

I would include Darian Mensah. Mensah is just after, but in that class. We haven't seen him in the system. Haven't seen him in the system. We haven't seen him. He has one of, if not — probably not the best, because Jeremiah Smith exists, but maybe the second best receiver in the country in Malachi Toney. Very quarterback-friendly system. It's just a new place, and he didn't thrive last year against the best teams Duke played against. So that's the only thing that gets him below the cut line.

Also below the cut line for me, quickly in this conversation to me, it's Devon Dampier. Yep. Josh Hoover. Yep. If he can be a little cleaner, but we know he's going to develop — he should develop nicely. New receivers in Indiana, there's a lot new, but should develop nicely at Indiana. Sam Leavitt, that's an injury thing. That's a new system thing. He is a playoff quarterback. I do expect him, if he's healthy, to have a successful season with Lane. Bear Bachmeier, I can't foresee a world in which we're having a conversation about him among the best. But we'll see how he develops as a passer. We'll see what that looks like. But the opening stance as a true freshman was great. Yeah, it was incredible. It was incredible.

I think Kevin Jennings is disrespected in some of these conversations. There is so much Kevin Jennings disrespect out there. Yes. He's a really good player. And just from a pure ability and ceiling, and I just don't really love the inconsistency, and I don't love the roster around him. I don't love where the offensive minds have been around him. LaNorris Sellers. And my final quarterback here is whoever wins the Bama job.

Oh. So you're putting either Keelon Russell or Austin Mack ahead of guys like Bryce Underwood, Marcel Reed, yes, John Mateer, definitely, Demond Williams Jr.? Yes. Okay. That's a choice. Well, just that the track record of Kalen DeBoer quarterbacks has been quite good. The receivers should be good. And so I'm putting the upside there. They're not in the top group. They're in that second group, but that's what I have. I'd be interested to get feedback from the Verballerhood on that one. Same.

The common theme that kept coming up for me as I'm going through doing early previews and whatnot is there's, I think, a fairly well defined class of — generously, let's say, like 12 to 15 quarterbacks — that you could include in that top tier. But there is also a pretty good size — a pretty good sized group of quarterbacks that you kind of don't know where to slot them. And in some cases, it's a quarterback going to a new team. In other cases, there's an ongoing quarterback battle that I think could dictate. And there's plenty of like Brendan Sorsby is a good example. I don't know what to make of Brendan Sorsby. When I heard the numbers that were thrown out, how Texas Tech was able to get him and secure his services and what it costs to bring him down to Lubbock, my gut instinct was, "Well, that's way too much." But if Brendan Sorsby can give them more consistency, not get hurt and add a dual threat element to his game that Behren Morton did not have. Suddenly, Brendan Sorsby could very easily find his way into that top tier. That's not even a take.

So there are guys like that, like the quarterback competition going on at Alabama, as you pointed out, where it's not going to take much longer than September for us to realize if a guy deserves to be in that top tier. And it could very easily happen. So I'm curious. I don't know. But it's going to be a very interesting quarterback year, to say the least. The combination of newcomers, guys, either first time starters going to a new team with the likes of like the CJ Carr and Arch Manning. It's a really interesting mix.

Yeah, and there's more of those like Bama situations, right? Like the Tennessee starting quarterback. Exactly. Yeah. You know, that's been a position at a place that has thrived in developing quarterbacks. Like. Aaron, whatever, Philo, Philo. I think it's Philo, right? At Florida. There's the confidence in the experience in that system. They have good receivers. That should be an interesting offense. He has the ability to catapult himself up. I would say somebody like Alonza Barnett at UCF, that feels like a really nice system for him. He has the ability to catapult up.

I'm not super high on a lot of the quarterbacks on these lists that are like very much wild cards in here, like Conner Weigman, but like, can he stay healthy? It's that kind of thing. JKS, okay, new system, new coaches, whatever, wait and see. Rocco Becht, new system, new place. Like, there's a lot of wild cards on a lot of these lists that I'm just like, "Yeah, they're good." But I'm not confident in their situation launching them into the stratosphere. No, I think that's — that tracks with everything I've been seeing.

Okay, fair enough. All right, give me another list. What else you got? Let's do one more here. Let the fine people go.

Okay, coaches. I got coaches. Elite. Where is it? Do you have a line in mind? Can I tell you what happened in between? Who do you got in your top tier? I've got six. Okay. In kind of a particular order, but like, I don't know. Good with. I'm flexible. Okay. I have Kurt Cignetti, Kirby Smart, Dan Lanning, Ryan Day, Kalen DeBoer, Steve Sarkisian. I do not have Marcus Freeman in that top group. I have him just below the cut line. He's made one playoff. Right. He's had a couple bad losses. His offensive coordinator hiring has been weird to me. I think he's figured it out now. But just in terms of his recent resume, I think he's an excellent coach. I'm not fully there with some of the others. So, your top was — I also went back and forth with Sark.

All right, so you have Cignetti one, I'd imagine, at this point. Yeah, I mean, look, if you want to mess around with who's where, that's fine, but that's the grouping I have as members in my club. So you got Cignetti, Kirby Smart. You said Ryan Day, right? I said Ryan Day. And who were the other ones? Lanning? Lanning, DeBoer, and Sark. Okay.

So Sark I went back and forth on because started his career a little bit disappointingly at Texas. Wait. Subsequent coaches at Washington were clearly better than him. But I'm going more recent history. Like, yes, obviously, Chris Petersen and Kalen DeBoer did a better job at Washington than Sark did. He flames out at USC. He's an excellent coordinator for Alabama and has recently established Texas as a terrific program. Making the final four, recruiting really well, trajectory is great. I knock them a little bit because, like, last year's team, at its best, should have been good enough. The defense takes a step back. Arch is inconsistent. They don't make the playoff. So if your club does not include Sark, I'm not going to put up much of a fight.

Why do you have DeBoer over like Cristobal? I have Cristobal on my other list. Cristobal has had a really good year. I want to say 2019. It's just a matter of how far you want to go back in time to sort of define who they are now. I mean, Cristobal just made the national championship. Just made the national championship. Made the Pinstripe Bowl. Right. And like, look, it's a new program. It's a new team. He had a lot of work to do in terms of getting the roster to a point where he thought it could compete on a high, high level. Hasn't won his conference. Not that it really matters because he won games in the College Football Playoff last year, but I don't think Miami was undeniable heading in. They were — until the playoff — defined by disappointing losses in predictable ways. So I think he is a hell of a coach. I think he did a ton to bring his name into the conversation. I just think some of the lowlights at both Oregon and Miami keep him in the very, very good, not world-class part of the sport.

I would probably have both Lanning and Freeman sort of on the lower end of that elite list. Okay. And maybe right on the cut line for it. The thing I'm holding against Marcus Freeman is last year, he clearly had a playoff contender team. Like they were probably one of the best five or six teams in the country, right? I don't think that's a take. No. Notre Dame. Now, they didn't have the schedule to do it, and he had two games that he had to split those games, basically. He had to split those games. New quarterback, you know. That it was not beneficial to Notre Dame that they played their two toughest games the first two weeks of the year. Totally agree. And that's not on him. The scheduling isn't necessarily on him. But when you know going into a season, this is what we're circling, this is what we have to be ready for. And your defense with a new defensive coordinator gets destroyed by a Texas A&M passing attack that did not score a touchdown to finish out the season. Right.

We can only judge, and that's why Marcus Freeman has been talking about the need to be undeniable, right? That Notre Dame has to be in control. They have to own what they are or what they are not in terms of their status as a playoff team. They were Pop-Tarts Bowl eligible this year? Yes. They were. I mean, it just took a while for the defense to get figured out. It took a while for them to understand that they could trust CJ Carr. Because if you go back and watch the Miami game, it was clear to me that they didn't really trust CJ Carr to do a whole lot. They didn't really know what to expect. I think they realized pretty quickly after that that they could put more on his plate and he could handle it. But the game plan against Miami to close or to open up the year was drastically different than the way they closed it out. I mean, they barely thought Jeremiah Love the ball. So it — yeah. I mean, taking the first two weeks of last season in a vacuum, I can understand the criticism of Freeman.

I think Freeman and Lanning are similar in that they're two young coaches. They're both recruiting at, you know, an S tier level, right? Best that either program has ever seen, both in terms of what they're bringing in from the high school ranks and how they are kind of filling in holes via the transfer portal. Lanning's probably a little bit stronger on that side of things. What does it, I think, for both of these guys and why they're not higher is, you know, winning something of, you know, now Notre Dame got to a national championship game. Sure. Lanning did not, but both guys are right there. And so the second one of them kind of gets over that proverbial hump — and either if your Notre Dame gets back to a national championship, if your Dan Lanning gets to a national championship at all, going a little bit deeper in the playoff, or in the case of Notre Dame, doing it again — I think is going to be enough to push Freeman up into that class.

I mean, look, what's the big difference? What's the difference between Marcus Freeman and all of these guys? Marcus Freeman's just not going to have the data points, even fewer now that they're not playing USC. So you want to compare Sark and Lanning and DeBoer or something to Marcus Freeman. They play three times more big games than Marcus Freeman does every season. So the barrier to entry for Marcus Freeman to be in the top conversation of the sport means when he has those big games, Notre Dame has to win them. Because when you play a schedule of Boston College and Navy and Syracuse and Boise and NC State and Purdue, like you're just like, "Okay, it's awesome, but DeBoer's at Alabama. Lanning's at Oregon. You know, Sark's at Texas. Well, it's just different."

What about Sark? So why Sark? Why Sark? Yeah. Um, the Texas success recently in the SEC, seamlessly going to a much more difficult conference and immediately thriving I think is crazy impressive. The recruiting has been there. The hiring for the most part has been good. The development has been excellent. They reached the Final Four. They're basically a horrendous play away from getting to the championship game two years ago. The — was it Jack Sawyer scoop and score for Ohio State? They're knocking on the door. That what he's done at Texas has been excellent, and he has positioned them to be a national champion, like a clear top four or five team at their best, you know, a national championship type team for years to come, it seems. I'm not as — like, the cutoff line could be before Sark to me because I think if your team were to hire any of these guys in the top level, you'd be like, "Hell yes," right? You'd say, "I am so excited that my team, whoever it is, I don't know that Sark gets you as excited as those other guys. But because of the recent results and how he's done in the SEC, I'd have him here." I don't know. I'd have him over Lane. Yeah.

And the other ones in this conversation are excellent coaches. They're all excellent coaches here. I have James Franklin in this conversation. Obviously, recent results haven't been — he was just in the Final Four, though. Like, he's led successful teams. I have Lane in this conversation, Cristobal, Whittingham, Satake, and Riley. Now, the Riley thing is interesting because you have to go back further, right? But I don't fully discount it, but I'm not there. Like, I don't have Dabo on this list, even though he does make the 12-team playoff. Just too inconsistent recently, but that's who I have in my club.

How do you feel about Sark? You'd have Sark in the second list? I think so. Yeah. But he's at the top of the second list. I think Lane's in there. I mean, some other names that I think are really interesting that it wouldn't take much for me to put them a little bit higher, I'm not saying necessarily in that top tier, but guys that I think are sort of overlooked: Rhett Lashlee at SMU is a guy who comes up in almost right away. A really good coach. Navigated their conference transition really well. Yep. I mean, a really, really good coach that I think is very much in that conversation.

Willie Fritz, another guy in Texas that I think just knows what he's doing. And guys like that are in short supply. Just knows what he is doing. James Franklin's another one. You know, I don't know if we need to go on too much longer about him. People who listen to this show know that I'm pretty high on Jeff Brohm as well. Yeah. I took some heat for that by calling out Jeff Brohm a couple episodes back as one of my top coaches. There were plenty of programs around college football legitimately making calls to Jeff Brohm to inquire about his interest in places perceived to be much bigger than Louisville. So I think there is a reason for that, and it wasn't just one program. There's a reason for that. People see that he's a guy that perhaps with more resources could elevate another program.

But what I think struck me the most about making a list like this is how clear I felt the cutoff line was. Quarterback side, or really any of these other types of lists that we put together, I don't know if the cutoff is quite as clear as it felt to me when looking at Dan Lanning, Marcus Freeman — that's sort of, for my money, where that elite tier sort of ends. Right. It's um — it's an interesting conversation. I always like to see these lists, and there's always guys like Kirk Ferentz and Kyle Whittingham, and guys who've been around forever and have gotten the best out of their teams.

My only problem with putting those types of dudes in that top class — it's not that they're not great coaches. They're unquestionably great coaches. It's, at a certain point, if your greatness is going to be, once again, undeniable or unquestioned, and you don't play in huge games in January, and when you do play in those games, like what did we mention, 2023, you get shut out in a Big Ten championship like Kirk Ferentz did? Where you're just like, "He's a great coach. There's a very clear ceiling." Or we just have no data on them when they have to play Ohio State, Oregon, Texas, Alabama, Georgia, whoever in January, right? That they can take their team to an unprecedented level, but like we also don't see them play in the biggest games that this sport has to offer, where I'm just like, "I don't know, man. Like, uh, it's great. Your career is great. You're a Hall of Famer, whatever." But when you see those conversations, like "Kyle Whittingham's the best college football coach alive," you're like, "Maybe."

And you know what? I'm actually like pretty excited to see what he can do at Michigan because he's going to have the resources and stage that he never did at Utah to sort of take that next step in terms of legacy. I also think Whittingham has to prove things to me. There are also different expectations. Of course. First and foremost, because it's Michigan, a traditional power, a blue blood. Secondly, they won a national championship just a couple of years ago. Third, it is not a situation like we have seen in previous iterations under Whittingham, where he is trying to attract a big name quarterback to come and play for him. In this case, he inherited one. And I think as a result of that, expectations will be a little bit different, just in terms of how they run their offense. Though there will be some element of physical ground and pound part of this offense, I would expect nothing less. I also think that there will be a real impetus to make sure that they're getting the most out of Bryce Underwood and keep him happy. Sure. Give him a reason to want to stay and play his junior year and not go elsewhere because we know there'll be other people after him.

It's fascinating to me that he ended up there. Basically, he fell off the back of a truck for Michigan. But I think this is the needed next step, right, that is going to separate the definitely a great coach to clearly one of the best in the sport because now he will have more at his disposal to take a team in a bigger conference to 10 and 2, 11 and 1.

Why don't we leave it there, Dan Rubenstein? Solidverbal@gmail.com is where you can write in if you have thoughts on anything we discussed here today. Let us know your lists. Let us know what we got right, what we got wrong, who you'd include, who you want to — I'm sure they will. I'm sure they will. Texas Tech, this is a shout out to you guys. Let us know. I stand by him. I call my own team an elite loser. I get it. I'm just saying. Let us know. Are you closer to clarity? Closer to clarity. Yes. Than at the start of the episode, yeah, I think so. Okay. It's a special. Sometimes just talking it out helps, you know. I agree. That's what we do here. That's what we do.

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All right. Well, I'm going to leave it there, everybody. Enjoy the Masters this weekend, if that's your thing. If not, just enjoy hopefully a nice weekend wherever you are in the country and in the world. We'll be back at it next week. Got some more fun stuff planned for all y'all. In the meantime, for Dan Rubenstein, for myself, Ty over here. You know the drill. Stay soft. Peace.